letter to espn.com's chris broussard

[rone]

[The Allen Iverson trade] could backfire [for the Philadelphia 76ers] if [Andre] Miller makes the Sixers too good this season. Too good meaning "not the worst team in the league."

At this point, Philly should be playing for the top pick in (what they hope is) the Greg Oden Draft. If Miller leads them to far more wins than Charlotte, Memphis or any other bottom-feeder, it will be a failure.

No athlete, no team, should ever play to lose.  That attacks the very concept of sport.  A team should "earn" the top pick on "merit"; they should play their hardest, their best, and still end up last, because that's as good as they are.  For a team to tank just to try to get the top draft pick is unsporting, unprofessional, and not entertaining.  It's an insult to the paying fans.  And i never want to see you advocate this again.

Comments

[littleamerica.livejournal.com]

The folks at ESPN are not interested in "the very concept of sport." They are very interested in the business of sport, the businesses that crop up around it (gambling, sports bars, theme restaurants, themed clothing, magazines, etc.), and so far as I can tell not much else.

Also, there is no Santa Claus.

This isn't the first time I've heard of someone at ESPN suggesting with the appearance of seriousness the idea that a team should tank the remainder of a season to skim the cream off a thin draft. And I haven't paid much attention to Greg Oden, but he is apparently this year's LeBron James, or something like that.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he's basically the first high school kid who got "screwed" by the NBA's age limit.