Big ups to my buddy Pat Somerville, who celebrated the release of his new novel, The Cradle last night at the Book Cellar. Colleen O’Brien, whose mini-book will be up on the featherproof site later this month read, and I had a ton of fun reading. My pal Eamon Daly lifted a bucket of rocks with his beard for charity, raising $155 for Chicago’s oldest Boys & Girls Club, the Off the Street Club. Just a blast in one of the country’s greatest bookstores. Check out Pat’s book, which the New York Times loved despite itself.

Last night was also crazy for basketball, with the Bulls and Heat hitting two overtimes, before Dwyane Wade stuck a ridiculous three at the buzzer. I checked the box scores last night, and was happy for my boy Ben Gordon, who went 8 for 11 from beyond the arc, racking up 43 points to D-Wade’s 48.

Then I watched the highlights on ESPN.com. Incredible. You would think that no one on the court had a good game except for Wade. It’s such an annoying ESPN move, the persistent need to create these mythical tales around a select few players. In a double-overtime game there are only two Bulls possessions featured. It’s hilarious. Check out ESPN’s highlights, then MaxaMillion711 (this YouTube genius who turns NBA games into NFL Films). Are they even taken from the same game?

Lots of talk about the new Obama ad, which is the first overt strike at Palin. Of course, I laughed when I saw it, and I think stylistically it’s very effective. But, I don’t know. I’ve enjoyed the high-road approach the campaign has taken with Palin. Let her dig her own holes without getting us dirty.

I struggled with whether to embed the video here, but decided not to. Instead, we’ll go with two videos that made me feel good this morning. The first is just about the greatest campaign coverage of the season. I love how seriously Biden takes it.

And then, my boy Leon Powe. Of course, the Celtics and Obama are inextricably linked for me, particularly Powe.

I wish I was joking. I really, really do:

While professional sports is the least of just about everyone’s concerns when it comes to what’s happening with the economy right now, I couldn’t help but find Dave Zirin’s thinking in this True Hoop post intriguing:

First and foremost, the NBA, with its high level of casual fans, is very susceptible to fluctuations in the economy. Second, the NBA doesn’t have the diverse revenue streams of baseball or certainly football. Not even close. The absence of personal cable television contracts or massive network agreements means that the NBA has always been more reliant on ticket sales and merchandise to fill its coffers. Its non-guaranteed revenue is tied to the disposable income of the typical fan. It will be interesting to see how this affects free agent positioning, the attractiveness of Europe, and the beginnings of serious saber rattling in advance of the next collective bargaining agreement.

A few things pop out to me here. The first is a lack of data on any of these points, which I don’t blame on Zirin, he was just answering a question. But I don’t see how “the attractiveness of Europe” is going to increase at all, since the problems in the economy are now obviously global.

But he makes a good point about the television contracts. I’ve never understood why the NBA hasn’t pushed this harder. They have the NBA on ABC on Sundays, but that doesn’t start up until the second half of the season (basically, when the NFL relinquishes the holy day). And even then, the NBA doesn’t allow itself the flexibility of scheduling the way the NFL does, so we were treated to the Kasib Powell–led Heat instead of, say, more than one Celtics game. This year’s schedule is the same deal. It’s no stretch to say that the most exciting team to watch this year will be the Hornets, who almost won the Western Conference last year, and they’re in for one game. Dallas, who probably won’t even make the playoffs this year, are in for five.

The NBA is stuck in a Jordan-era mindset: The only way fans will connect with the sport is to show superstars over and over (And, I guess, Nowitzki’s a superstar?). The NFL knows better, and gives its prime time slots to big-time match-ups. Great games will convert those casual fans, not a couple of pretty Kobe turn-around Js. I’ve believed this, basically since I stopped collecting cards: Sports is about the script, not the actors. Drama is what gets people to invest in sports. Admittedly, superstar personalities play into that, but the NBA relies to heavily on branding its players and not its game.

Ticket sales do seem to be an issue, and I can’t help but think the Bulls will finally see a marked downturn this year, despite drafting Derrick Rose. To my mind, the Bulls need to implement the sort of fanbase-building programs the White Sox have created, like half-price Mondays. I’ve steadily watched a large sector of my pals—who weren’t even big sports fans—gravitate toward the Sox because of half-price Mondays (and while the Cubs persistently raise ticket prices and add more “premium” games to the schedule). If the Sox can foster a base in a city still enthralled with the Cubs (despite the org’s anti-fan, classist ways), the Bulls could/should use the same methods to elevate its standing.

I just called the Cubs classist and anti-fan. I’ll just let that one sit, unsupported. It’s what blogs do!

Nothing says the NBA preseason like uncomfortable interviews with foreign journalists. Exhibit A: Nets “bad boy” Sean Williams talking with a real-life Ali G on BBC radio. Something tells me that Williams, who was kicked off the BC team, and was largely an unheralded shot-blocker on a water-treading team in his rookie season, isn’t too used to ten-minute–long live interviews, hence the amateur music video that breaks out at the five-minute mark.

But by far, the strangest thing is this guy’s fetishization of race in America. He brings up the fact that there “aren’t many white guys on the team,” forces Williams to show him how to dance, and asks questions like “What’s the crib like?” In some sense, it’s amazing, because American journalists won’t touch the topic. But on the other hand, it’s incredibly painful. Like this exchange, after the crib question:

Williams: “I’m like 24, 25 stories high in the air looking at all of New York City, like, damn. What up? Motivation.
Radio guy: Man! That New York skyline is inspirational, dog. And, I mean, what is your background like from Texas? Humble?
(weak glance into Williams’ eyes)
Were you from the hood?

The magic begins around 1:55.

For a week now I’ve drafted and deleted various posts about the election, and how increasingly angry and disenchanted I’ve become with it. It all boils down to this: I believe in Obama’s attempts to elevate the political discourse in the country, and was impressed by how on-message his campaign had been for so long. I think that has all but disappeared now, thanks largely to the fact that the Clinton campaign can’t discern the difference between an opponent and an enemy, and Obama has, perhaps inevitably, succumbed to it. It’s disappointing and disheartening.

So I’d rather just watch a video like this (turn off the sound, the commentary is annoying, or, maybe, that’s just reflective of my current mood):