We're talking about games.

...Not practice. We're talking about games. We're not talking about practice. We're talking about games, man. We're talking about games. Not practice; we're talking about games. Regular season games.


So baseball season is over, but from its ashes rises the start of a new professional sporting season. It's kind of like that song "Lightning Crashes." (I think.)

And unless you're a soccer-loving geek who still pines for the days when the fade hairstyle and John Tesh theme music were king, you're probably excited, as I am, for the start of this NBA season.

Here is what we at YCS will be watching for this season:

Daaaaaa-Bullsss (...da bullss da bullss da bullss...). And seriously, who even needs Ben Wallace? The beloved team of half this blogstaff was primed to kick some ass and make the maidens wail even before the Wallace acquisition.

With talents the caliber of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Andres Nocioni all hitting the happy cusp of their primes, it should be an excellent year for us not-long-but-semi-recently suffering Bulls fans.

And if I can be blasphemous for a moment, I truly believe that this year's team--on pure entertainment value--will bring us more viewing pleasure than any of the JordanBulls teams. And I don't just mean because Thabo Sefolosha is so handsome.

The Bucks. I only mention them out of fairness to our couple members who are sort of Bucks fans. They're not the Bulls, but at least they flizzity-fleeced the Raptors out of a really talented hairless dude.

Tyson Chandler. The frightening downside to the Ben Wallace signing for any Bulls fan is the very real chance that TC will blossom into a star. And perhaps immediately.

Admittedly, I had a huge talent crush on this guy since his first season with the Bulls, so I already assume he'll be an All-Star--and better than Wallace--by 2008, at the latest. I don't think that giving up on Chandler will prove nearly as awful as the infamous Artest trade. But I have more than a hunch that Bulls fans will be wishing we had him back in a couple years.

'Sheed. I dare say only one website loves 'Sheed more than we do. We look forward to Rasheed Wallace maintaining his stature as one of the game's greatest talents and its single greatest personality.

Steve Nash. Last season, good NBA point guard and beloved whitedude Steve Nash won the league MVP. Back in May during this blog's infancy, we hotly contested the merits of this voting decision. (Fuck me if I'm actually gonna find all of these posts and link them, but if you'd like to search our archives, be my guest.)

Basically, we at YCS look forward to seeing how Nash backs up the honor this season, undoubtedly on his way to a third-straight MVP regardless.

Stephen Jackson. The true villain of the famed Basketbrawl two years ago is already busy being a srew-up and pissing off the old guard, and the season hasn't even started yet. Now that he's stepped into the NBA's bright searchlight, I could see Jackson drawing at least a couple more suspensions by the end of the year.

Fisticuffs. Speaking of brawls. I may very well be speaking only for myself, but I hope to see a few more players sticking up for themselves--even if it means jumping in the stands.

A lot of NBA fans are obnoxious, racist pricks. And as I don't see this fact changing anytime soon, I'll continue to take sick pleasure in seeing fans learn the hard way what it's like to have an athletic 6'6" guy ready to beat their ass.

Look--if all-time niceguy Dikembe Mutombo was baited to anger during a preseason game, we know something bad is going on. Certainly, NBA players have to realize there are severe consequences to any retaliation, but just the same, fans need to learn that there are consequences to being an insufferable jag.

Warriors. No, not those Warriors, silly. With all due respect to the people in the lovely beachfront city of Golden State, we couldn't give a flying fugazi about those chumps.

However, former Marquette Warriors are starting to make their mark on the league. And I'm not even talking about Dwyane Wade. That's pure yesterdaysville. D-Wade's off posing for GQ and playing Jesus on TV commercials, and besides, he was never one of us at MU to begin with--raising his kid and excelling at basketball and all that.

But Travis Diener and Steve Novak--now there were some priviledged suburbanites we could relate to. (Not to mention that everyone of us on this blog has at least a couple good stories about one of these two guys enjoying the Marquette night life.) And as it turns out, both guys caught some attention this preseason.

We don't expect a whole lot out of either guy this season, but look out NBA--these two Wisconsin whiteys are on their way.


Predictions:
Bulls in five.
Bulls in four.
Bulls in seven.
Bulls in three. (Wha?!?!...)