Slate Praises Bill Walton

In case you have been wondering I am not going to talk about a certain teams victory last night. It is just my way of dealing with it, OK?

On a related subject Slate has offered a cautionary defense of NBC basketball commentator Bill Walton: Bill Walton, Broadcasting Genius - The NBA's most hated announcer is also its best.

Bryan Curtis feels that Walton "has taken the dreariest NBA Finals in years and made it weirdly gripping." While Curtis admits that Walton can act like "a loon" but argues that "minus all the bluster, he's the best NBA color man out there."

I know this may be controversial but I agree. The key is that Walton actual offers strong opinions about the game. I could do without what Curtis calls Walton's "trippy '60s nature-speak " and his tendency to overstate the importance of a particular move or subject but overall he at least brings a little energy and knowledge to the game. I also give him credit because, while he praises Shaq with abandon like everyone else, he at least mentiones it when the refs call ridiculously stupid calls in Shaqs favor. Walton, having been a center, knows that when a defender is simply standing in position and Shaq runs him over, that it is wrong to call a foul on the defender. Walton has time and time again asked the question and no one has answered: Why is Shaq allowed to knock down stationary defenders whenever he wants and the refs call the foul on the guy who is not moving? Bill Walton may be arrognat and wierd but he knows his basketball.

Well, I for one am going to try and forget about the tragedy that was the NBA playoffs this year. I will think about Bill Walton again in about 11 months.