With All of My Running and All of My Cunning

Why do I enjoy reading the writing of Chuck Klosterman so much? It's probably because whether he is writing about how everyone in the world is either a "Celtics person" or a "Lakers person" or how The Empire Strikes Back is the defining movie for Generation X, he is convincing, albeit convincing in his own bizarre way.

In his latest article for ESPN.com, Chuck has put forth his plan to save USA basketball, and I have to admit, he puts forth a pretty good plan.

"When Greece beat the U.S. in the semifinals, it was the greatest day in the history of Greek basketball; in fact, I assume it was the greatest day every member of that Greek squad will ever experience. When Mihalis Kakiouzis is lying on his Athenian deathbed five decades from this summer, he will still be thinking of the day he beat LeBron James in 2006. Who can compete with that kind of emotive intensity? How do you defeat an enemy who's playing for his self-identity? These are the same reasons America won the Revolutionary War but lost in Vietnam -- motivation matters. And it's unreasonable to expect guys like Dwyane and LeBron to care about beating Argentina more than they care about beating each other."