Commenter Newbie has started a new feature called "RandBall Round Table." It is about our intense love of tables that are round. It is a chance for two (or more) commenters to square off in a debate somewhere outside the comments or a back alley. The first one is between Newbie and Clarence. Here we go: ---------

This week Clarence and Newbie discuss the importance of basketball posts on RandBall.

Clarence: I'll start with this: I don't hate basketball and I don't hate the NBA. I'm just indifferent. There's a huge gap between indifference and hatred. That said, I do hate basketball highlights -- mostly because they use up precious SportsCenter time that would be better spent showing hockey highlights.

Dunking a basketball when you're almost 7-feet tall is the athletic equivalent of standing nearly motionless in the crease. If that were fun to watch, ESPN would show nothing but Todd Bertuzzi. Despite this, SportsCenter is littered with NBA dunks while Sidney Crosby has to score a goal standing on his head in New York while talking about Tom Brady to make the highlights.

I wouldn't mind an extra dose of hockey highlights on SportsCenter, and if the NBA lockout happens, I may get my wish. The same goes for RandBall. There will probably be less basketball posts and more time to talk about hockey. Or Pugs. Or whatever. Just not basketball. And that will make me happy. I don't hate RandBall's basketball posts, I'm just indifferent.

Newbie: I am certainly not a basketball rube. I go to maybe less than one game a year, if I get free tickets. But you've said it yourself, Clarence. The fact is RandBall's twice annual basketball posts save lives. If he doesn't post his "The Timberwolves Will be Better than We Think" post in early fall, and his "Maybe the Wolves Aren't as Good as We Thought" post in the spring, people may forget to change the batteries on their smoke detectors. Do you really want to put that on Rand?

Besides, I don't go out looking for information on basketball, so if it comes to a place I am already reading, I can at least get some insight into what is happening.

I also highly doubt that fewer basketball posts will lead to an increase in hockey posts. I have countless "sports-themed" decorations for my son and none of them include hockey stuff. Some even include soccer, but not hockey. So, the "anti-hockey media elite" that Rand is a part of goes deeper than just being blocked out by basketball.

If you and a fellow commenter have a topic you would like to discuss at the RandBall Round Table, please email Michael.