1. I’m going to start the Week 1 NFL column with the NBA, in part because I’m my own editor, but also because it will eventually make sense, so stick with me.
The NBA regular season is a slog, a blatant money grab with no real consideration for what it does to the on-court product (think Thursday Night Football to the extreme). It is impossible to enjoy. Except, that is, for when the Spurs are slated for one of those premier Thursday night games, and head coach Gregg Popovich decides he’s going to have Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker in street clothes, trotting trot out Boris Diaw, Matt Bonner and Patty Mills for 40 minutes apiece for the national audience.