The latest attempt to pile on the Huffington Post comes from Aaron’s cc:, who complains that Huffington’s blogroll has some bad links, which “may offend some of the better-known members of the Blogosphere.”

Sweet mercy! We don’t want to offend some of the better-known members of the Blogosphere by getting their links wrong!

And these people complain about the vanity of the “MSM”?

Mickey Kaus links to this very funny New York Times correction:

An article on May 6 described a demonstration at Princeton University against the proposal by Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader and a Princeton graduate and board member, to bar filibusters on judicial nominees. The writer, a freelance contributor who is a Princeton student, did not disclose to The Times that before she was assigned the article, she had participated in the demonstration.

Forget questions of political bias, what I want to know is: Why is the New York Times assigning stories to college students? I’m on record as believing that the Times is the greatest thing since sliced bread–surely they can afford to use professional reporters to cover stories in central New Jersey. Aren’t stringers supposed to be for remote, unreachable locales? Or maybe for Manhattanites Central Jersey is a remote, unreachable locale?

Galley Friend (and occasional basketball teammate) N.T. writes in:

I know that all three of you all follow the NBA . And so, while it pains me as a lifelong Knicks fan to ask, don’t you think Reggie Miller deserves a little blog love for all that he accomplished in his now-complete career?

Good point. There are a number of things about Reggie Miller that deserve remarking.

(1) He was certainly the best clutch shooter in the modern game (post-1980) not named Bird or Jordan.

(2) He will probably be the last great player to spend an 18-year career with the same team.

(3) He is the only great player of recent vintage who has been able to stay with the same team and completely (and successfully) remake his role, going from star to supporting castmember. This speaks not only to his talent and determination, but to his very fine character.

(4) He is one of a handful of great players to retire from the game without a ring. I would argue that of the modern players, he is the second or third best (after Barkley and Ewing) to be denied the ultimate victory.

(5) How good was Reggie? I would pose this question to N.T. and other readers: If you were assembling a team to play one game, upon which your life depended, who would your starting five be?

I would argue for Isaiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Bill Russell. But if Jordan was unavailable to suit up, I might put Reggie at the two-guard. And no matter what, he’d probably be my sixth man.

(Those of you taking Joe Dumars aren’t wrong.)

(6) It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Reggie became a very successful NBA coach. He has all of the tools and temperament and leadership skills, too.

Farewell, Reggie. Thanks for playing the game the right way.

Update, 5/22/05, 11:34 a.m.: Many commenters and emailers are extolling the virtues of John Stockton and Karl Malone. I simply can’t let this slide.

Stockton and Malone are the most over-rated players of my day. Stockton himself was a very good point guard. Nothing more. If you were picking an All-World team he wouldn’t even get on the bench. At no point in his career was he ever the best (or second- or third-best) player at his position. And let’s not forget that he was one of the dirtiest players you’ll ever see. If you ever watch an old game, pay close attention to Stockton on the defensive end of the court. He holds, pulls, hooks, and pushes constantly. He was almost never without a hand full of jersey. Yet he got away with it because he was short, white guy with a baby face. Don’t be fooled by his Gonzaga creds: John Stockton made Danny Ainge look like the picture of sportsmanship.

And what can you say about Karl Malone? He put up a lot of points because he was the only scoring option for his franchise for almost two decades. He was terrible in the clutch and couldn’t even win a championship when he sold his soul to the Lakers. I know that I wouldn’t even want him sitting on the bench in a game for which my life was on the line. If you’re interested in go-nowhere forwards who put up gaudy numbers, you’d be better off with Dominique Wilkins.

Here’s everything you need to know about Karl Malone: In December 2000, on the night he passed Wilt Chamberlain and became the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer, the team stopped the game in the second quarter to throw a miniature celebration in his honor. With under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter, with the Jazz blowing out the visiting Toronto Raptors, Malone was ejected for berating an official over an (obviously correct) call.

Pure class.

David Adesnik continues his slide to the Dark Side. By the time Sith hits DVD, he’ll be pulling for the Empire full-out.

Come, join me David . . .

Speaking of the president, I just saw him this morning at the Second Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton. It was a record turnout for what hopes to be an annual tradition and equal the other longer-standing prayer breakfast. Bush was very well-received by the 1,600 guests, who gave him an extended standing ovation. (“Thanks for the warm reception,” quipped W., “especially for a Methodist.”) The president spoke of Catholic American contributions to society and the importance of the “culture of life,” which brought even more applause from the audience.

This year’s formal presentation was given by Sister Margaret Mary of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a fine group that cares for the elderly.

As for the breakfast itself, which Bush and Cardinal McCarrick didn’t stick around for, it consisted of scrambled eggs, sliced red bliss potatoes, and pancakes with maple syrup already on them. There might have been some disappointment concerning the lack of breakfast meats, but the pancakes did just fine. (Yet again, the question is posed: Do pancakes replace potatoes on a breakfast platter or a meat? I argue that, as a starch, pancakes ought to be served in lieu of meat.)

(A single ticket to the breakfast normally costs $50 but I was lucky to get invited thanks to the kindness of Galley friends Alexandra Preate and Michael Tew of Political Capital, LLC.)

Thanks to Galley friend Clif for passing along this truly outstanding link to a Civilization addiction support group. You won’t believe who else finds himself addicted.

(This brilliant send-up, done by the folks at Firaxis, comes on the heels of E3 and the release of Civ IV.)

My review of Revenge of the Sith and roundup of the prequels is up now.

Not content with having mere dozens of people knowing the embarrassing level of my geekness, I have a commentary on NPR defending the Sith, Palpatine, and the Empire.

Just so you know, when I get home tonight I’m going to take my Star Wars and Lord of the Rings editions of Trivial Pursuit and mix all the cards up to make one Omnibus Giant Nerd Edition. Then I’ll play. All by myself.

Let’s see Greg Gutfeld top that.