Did it have to come to this, so early in the NBA season?  Yes, of course it did.

Michael Wilbon, fresh from the humiliation of  'The Decision', and the disastrous D.C. Winter of 2009/2010 proving DC is perfectly capable of getting more snow than Chicago and that people CAN actually deal with it, realized he was becoming an irrelevant caricature of himself in the town he adopted as his own, but still despised deep down.

TV and Scottsdale have made him soft, rich and out of touch.  This realization has only made him lash out more at everyone not on the Bulls or not named LeBron.  Indeed, he is becoming a bizarre hybrid of Skip Bayless, Tony Kornheiser and Jim Gray.  You know his points before they come out of his mouth.  Calling for Arenas to be gone one game into the preseason, prompted by 2nd or 3rd hand reporting of some answers to questions was the last straw.   Has he learned anything about Gilbert Arenas in his years as an NBA, um, journalist? Hype man? Whatever you call it.  Adding no new insight, he relied on the hackneyed journalistic ‘he needs a fresh start somewhere else’ argument (as pointed out by other writers and bloggers).

Wilbon may be able to be a productive and insightful writer again somewhere, just not D.C.  Too much history, too much self-righteousness, too much Disney $$$, too many unmet expectations.  His last productive season seems like ages ago.   

Look, everyone knows things could fall apart regarding Arenas and the Wiz this year.  But still, Wilbon used to be better than this.  

So, in theory, I like the idea of the Wiz playing it cool in this years free agency bonanza.  Makes sense on many levels, see what they have, who develops, if Arenas works with Wall, and they're not getting Wade, James or Bosh anyways. 

HOWEVA, in a chat today, Chad Ford (espn) said he thought the Wiz could be a darkhourse for signing Gay.  This got me thinking.  IF he could be had for a non-max deal, what would you think?  Wall, Arenas, Gay, Blatche and McGee would be in some ways a really bad-ass entertaining team,  providing tons of excitement.  Gay could be a pretty good defender if motivated. 

Obviously size is an issue to be resolved, and McGee may never be a starting center.  Still, think of the fast breaks...

What the hell is going in 76er land?  At this rate, Gar Heard, Leonard Hamilton or Jimmy Lynam will be coaching them in the next few years.  Too bad Wiz are not in the Atlantic division any more.  I would be so frustrated right now if I was Philly fan.  

What is the deal with retread coaches in the NBA?  I really hope that if Flip doesn't work out, Ted Leonsis will look to hire a young up-and-comer instead of older, average and un-inspiring guys like this.

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Seeing interviews with both Jamison (halftime) and Butler (end of game) after whipping the Bulls got me thinking about the Young Guys/ Old guys rift.

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