One of my friends recently sent the following email to a sports columnist at the Democrat and Chronicle. It is so ridiculous that I had to put it on here 
His E-Mail:
Bob:
The more I read your columns, the clearer it has become to me that you do not actually watch basketball but rather randomly select topics to discuss, take an opinion different from the consesus news media, then try to agrue your claims without thinking about the absurdity of some of your comments. A while back, I debated writing an email to you after you asserted that Steve Nash was not even the MVP of his team, much less the league. Your claim of Amare Stoudamire being the MVP of the Suns was easily proven false given the Suns losing streak while Nash was out and Stoudamire’s drastic decline in production.
Now today, I have no idea what you were trying to prove in saying you do not understand why the Spurs would not want Karl Malone. Karl Malone is arguably the greatest power forward to ever live. While he certainly is not the Karl Malone of old, he still averaged 13 points per game last year as a third option and averaged over 20 points per game just two seasons ago when he was the primary scoring option on the Utah Jazz. To think that the Spurs would have no use for Karl Malone, you must have never seen him run the pick and roll. With Tony Parker, Brent Barry, and Manu Ginobilli all capable of hitting the 20 ft jumper, a pick and roll run by any of those individuals would lead to an open shot for either one of them or Malone. If you have ever watched basketball before, you would know the importance of a power forward who can step out and drain a 17-20 ft jumpshot. This ability forces defenders to decide whether or not to help out either on a Duncan post entry or Parker’s dribble penetration. No help means Duncan one on one in the post. If you help, you leave Malone or Barry or Ginobili open. While Malone is certainly not the post player or defender he once was, he can still drain the open jumpshot. Finally, your argument that the Spurs have depth at the 4 spot with Horry, Massenburg, and Malik Rose is just laughable. You obviously have not seen Robert Horry play recently. Horry’s skills have diminshed much more than Malone’s and since he was a one-dimensional outside shooter to begin with, it does not say much about his game. Known for hitting the big 3′s in his heyday, he is nowhere near the deadly 3 point shooter he once was averaging only 33% from outside the strip. Second, you also mistake Malik Rose for the player he was during the Spurs championship runs. His playing time has consistently gone down and he has been benched numerou s times this season by Coach Popovich. Third, I must laugh when you mention Tony Massenburg as a player who would take time away from Karl Malone. The man has career averages of 6pts and 4 rebs a game. On top of that, he is averaging a measly 2.7 pts a game this year while shooting an awful 41% from the field.
I ask that you take some serious thought the next time you write about basketball in your columns. It is an embarassment not only to yourself, but the Democrat and Chronicle, and the city of Rochester when you make such inaccurate remarks.
Sports Columnist Response:
Actually, I watch a lot of NBA basketball, probably MUCH more than you do…I don’t think you overrate Nash (even if he does play matador defense). Considering how the team struggled when he was out, (I believe the Suns would’ve struggled nearly as much if Stoudemire had missed those games instead of Nash, but we’ll never know), I agree that he was MVP of the half-season (I made my pro-Stoudemire comment prior to Nash’s injury). But I believe you underrate Stoudemire. He’s probably the most improved player in the NBA and he’s the main reason for Nash’s success this season. He’s an incredible talent and will only get better…Obviously, you’re not real familar with my work. I for YEARS touted Karl Malone as the all-time best power foreard. He replaced Bob Pettit (another player I had great respect for) as the No. 1 PF a few years ago…Malone WAS a great player. He now is closing on 42 years old and coming off a MAJOR knee injury. He isn’t CLOSE to the player he was….Sure, he could add to San Antonio’s depth. My point is that the Spurs are deep enough without him so why risk messing with the chemistry’s of the league’s best team? Malone is a proud man and I’m not as sold as you seem to be that he could accept a secondary role on this particular… No, I don’t “take an opinion different from the consensus news media and then try to argue (my) claims without thinking about the absurdity of some of your comments.” I have a mind of my own. I don’t always agree with the consensus and I’m glad I don’t. If I did, I’d be a pretty boring read. Just because you disagree with me hardly qualifies me as an “embarrassment” to me, my employer and the City of Rochester. C’mon. Give me a break. You take sports MUCH too seriously to be making disparaging comments like that just because someone has a different point of view. Lighten up. I’ll continue to call them like I see them, as I have for a long time. Yours in sports, BOB MATTHEWS.