Thanks, A.I.

Well, now they’ve done it.

Since it is somehow the fault of Allen Iverson that the Philadelphia 76ers could not assemble a cast of talented supporting players to complement him, and apparently since it was asking too much for Iverson and Coach Maurice Cheeks to try and reconcile, it rested upon Team Chairman And All Knowing, Omniscient Philadelphia Sports God Ed Snider to make sure general manager Billy King traded him.

I’ll be honest with you; I’m not going to say that trading Iverson at some point would have been the wrong thing to do.

But if you’re going to do it, wait as long as you can until the end of the year until you can move him to a contending playoff team and get the most value that you can. Don’t paint yourselves into a corner and advertise to everyone in the world that there is a problem, lessening Iverson’s value in the process.

Oh, but if that had happened, then Ed Snider would not have been able to act with authority, and let’s not forget that, in this most recent episode, it was paramount that Ed be portrayed as the man in charge as opposed to doing the right thing by the team’s best player (and even if you didn’t like Iverson, you had to give him his due for that).

Well, as he is now leaving, I want to take a few minutes and say thanks to Allen Iverson for all of his highlight-reel plays (which, as noted in this Sports Illustrated story, will be dutifully expunged, thereby shortening the film to about fifteen seconds). I want to say thanks to him for trying to lift this hopelessly moribund franchise from the seamy depths of mediocrity. I want to say thanks for his courage on the basketball court (which, as far as I’m concerned, is the only factor that should be considered in this entire situation).

Episodes like this have a lot to do with why I am a sports fan of only passing acquaintance these days. It’s more important in this media market to generate headlines, fan chatter and a whining sort of agitation than to field a winning team (of course, that energy could be used towards more important issues, but I know I won’t win that one).

And everyone who thinks that this is actually going to make Chris Webber a happy camper should clap their hands.

Oh, and by the way, somebody let me know when either the Flyers or the Sixers win a game this month, OK?