Yet another reminder that, yes, Bill Simmons actually gets PAID to write

From his NFL "Power Poll" this week:

6. Baltimore

Very good defense, crummy offense. We've been here before. We'll be here again.
Speaking of Baltimore, after watching the season finale of "The Wire" this week, I wrote up an extended rant about the show and how much it means to me -- both as a writer and a human being -- and how I believe it's the most important show of my lifetime, how I can't remember being more attached to four TV characters than the four school kids from Season 4, how I simply can't fathom why more people wouldn't give it a chance ... but it ended up sounding too preachy, so I'm just going to say that it's my favorite TV show of all-time and leave it at that. Name another show that could peak during a season in which its best character (McNulty) basically disappeared for 12 of the 13 episodes? How is that possible? What a show. I miss it already.

(One more "Wire" note: I have a friend named Brad who's famously crusty, a grizzled Giants fan who blurts out whatever he thinks and refuses to edit himself. He's also the biggest "Wire" fan alive. So we're watching football with the boys one Sunday and somebody in the room mentioned how they weren't watching "The Wire." Uh-oh. Brad turns to the guy with complete contempt and says, "If you aren't watching 'The Wire,' the government should be forced to come to your house and repossess your television. END OF STORY!" They should use that quote on the posters for Season 5.)

I...I'm speechless.

Honestly, how does that require any talent? Couldn't any one of us do the exact same thing without the slightest bit of effort?

The answer, of course, is no. I for one could never live with the guilt of making a handsome paycheck (to finance an evident gambling problem, by the way) for writing my nonsense inner-monologues and go-nowhere stories about my stupid friends. As it is, I often feel guilty and annoying when I do that on this free, lightly-read blog.

I did, however, enjoy the little "Sports Gal speaks" sidebar thingy, which includes--along with her pokes at Bill--a better gambling record than the Sports Guy himself. Really, though, I think I'd much more enjoy an entire weekly column of the Sports Gal telling stories that make Bill look like a jackass than Bill's actual column.