THE IRONY, JOHNNY

* This is the very definition of "ironic": the tax preparation company H&R Block did their own taxes wrong, understating their state income tax liability by $32 million. The irony, Johnny, the irony.

* First it was "Valentine's Weekend". Then I heard on a car commercial about a "President's Month Sale Event". Now it's apparently the beginning of "St. Patrick's Season". Apparently, one day wasn't enough for these "holidays". We weren't spending enough money on chocolate bonbons, SUVs, and stupid green plastic hats. So they've been supersized, to give us plenty of time to celebrate consumerism. Well done!

* Question: When did it become fashionable to start playing the Spin Doctors on the radio again? Answer: Never. So if you're guilty of this (and you DJs know who you are), please stop, for the love of God.

* This is a priceless picture from the press conference announcing the Knicks signing Steve Francis. I'd say that coach Larry Brown's expression pretty much sums up how he feels about his situation.

I'm not an NBA fan by any means, and the entire league could shrivel up and die and I wouldn't miss it. But the Knicks, oh how they make me laugh! GMs seem to be of two types: those that are good businessmen with a handle on the financial aspects of running a team, and those that are basketball savvy and make moves accordingly; if a team is lucky, they get a guy who has a handle on both. Well, GM Isiah Thomas excels in neither, and he's singlehandedly destroying this franchise with his inept player moves that don't make financial or basketball sense. I don't mean to be rude, but I think he may be mentally retarded; he may ride the short bus to MSG every day. He probably has been told to sign players with recognizable names to give fans and corporate ticket holders the illusion of "competing", since it's impossible to "rebuild" in New York. Regardless, I was astonished that they hired him a few years back considering his shoddy track record, and I can't believe he still has a job--and then I remembered that he's employed by Cablevision. Makes perfect sense, since this massive corporation makes money in spite of itself. All the Dolans need to do is raise cable prices to pay for this latest disaster. Good times.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be great if a major city paper (Post, Daily News) just refused to cover the Knicks in one of their editions? No explanation, no apology, no corrections; they just refuse to include a single article about the Knicks, or even mention the team at all. They could omit their game box score, and even remove their name from the bottom of the standings. Basically, you could scan every word in the entire paper, and "Knicks" wouldn't come up ONCE. I'm sure no one would miss them. That would be classic.

Anyway, here are some great e-mails sent to Bill Simmons regarding this issue, and a hilarious article about the 1st Annual Atrocious GM Summit.