Why you should love the Memphis Grizzlies

Not for what they do on the court, for heaven's sake. They are 11-26 for a reason, 11.5 games out of the playoff race and damn near drawing dead for the rest of the year. Rookie guard OJ Mayo gives them a reason to be watchable, Rudy Gay is good, and there's some young players that might be good someday, but it's the Griz. Ever since they ran Hubie Brown and sold Pau Gasol to the Lakers for 5 cents on the dollar, they are more or less irrelevant, and might as well still be in Vancouver, for all that anyone cares about them.

But then there's this. A year ago, Portland waved goodbye to the troubled Darius Miles, mostly because he sucks, costs a ton of money, was poison in the community and was probably never going to rehab his microfracture injury to the point where he was going to be worth having in the Association. They did so with a a medical hardship move that fails to pay out if Miles can play. Then, just to make their highly leverage position even more obvious, they sent an e-mail to the rest of the NBA, threatening a lawsuit to any team that plays Miles just enough to make them pay out against the salary cap. Which is, of course, total bullspit. You can sign who you want in this world, and the Blazers can go pound sand.

So kudos, with all sincerity, to the Griz for signing Miles to a second 10-day contract. I hope he can stay on the floor long enough to jam Portland for years. And the fact that I'm happy to see this happen has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I once worked for a Paul Allen backed company, which is to say, I once got laid off for no reason when Paul Allen failed to, well, tell the truth. Karma's a bitch, Paul. And so, blissfully, are the Griz...