On Saturday, L.A. Times columnist and Around the Horn regular Bill Plaschke asked NBA fans, “How dare you? How dare you hate the Miami Heat?” The guy who regularly makes Woody Paige look intelligent shook his ham fist at the heavens and pondered for 1,000 words why sports fans could hate the Heat, and what LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have done to deserve the scorn and ire of the majority of fans not living in Miami (or pretending they live there, for that matter). And even though Plaschke’s argument makes very little sense, uses poor franchise comparisons and contradicts itself, I thought the idea of this “hate” issue should finally be addressed.

Since “The Decision” aired on ESPN and from the day that James, Wade and Bosh were introduced in some sort of nightclub/man orgy celebration in Miami, it’s been a case of us and them. Us – the anti-Miami, the fans of so-called fairness, balance and order, those of us who despised the grandstanding and boasting before the season even began – against the idea that two superstars and Bosh could do something unprecedented to establish a dynasty and people should just be expected to love the Heat for that. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.

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As the playoffs continue to separate the NFL’s contenders from pretenders, fans of lesser franchises continue to pour over mock drafts and off-season strategies. And while some of those teams are able to find hope in the success they had this season, the rest of us can only pray that our general managers and owners abstain from making some glaring personnel gaffe that will take years of rebuilding to repair. Some people question why we suffer through our team’s incompetence year after year, raising our hopes at the beginning of every season, then having them subsequently destroyed 17 weeks later. Rooting for a perpetual loser is a labor of love. A labor which lifelong Bengals fan Brett Kostoff can’t stand any longer, so he’s selling his NFL allegiance on eBay.

In the item description, the 28-year-old fan describes how he’s fed up with the team’s losing ways and unhappy with the organization’s direction under owner Mike Brown.

“I have come to the conclusion that I will not suffer anymore. I’m looking for bids to become a fan of your city’s NFL team. All proceeds will go to my new team’s gear (hats, hooded sweatshirts, jersey’s), I will not take one penny for my own personal use…strictly apply it to be able to support my new team.” –First Up

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The Stephen Strasburg (shown left after a night with Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney) hype machine finally rolled into Washington DC last night, where the record for largest collection of bandwagon fans (40,315 to be exact), set in 2008 by the Boston Celtics, was finally broken. DC fans were in awe as Strasburg struck out all but one of the Pirates he faced, finishing with 14 Ks through 7 innings of work. He only surrendered 4 hits, one of which was a 2 run home run from Delwyn Young. Stevie would also get the win, getting run support through home runs by Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn, and Josh Willingham. Strasburg definitely proved that he has the potential to have a long career in baseball.

The praise from the usual, talking head subjects has been sickening. The guy pitched a great an amazing game, but I’m not going to cream my jeans just yet. It was only one start, at home, in front of a capacity crowd; of course he’s going to be bringing his best stuff in a situation like that. Obviously, he’s talented. Guys don’t hit triple digits on radar guns as consistently as he does very often, but he needs to handle some adversity (which I’m sure he’ll see playing in Washington) before he gets the blue carpet treatment into Cooperstown. Highlights of last night after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »