"CHA!" SAID THE POWER FORWARD

For the past year, there's been an amusing real-time experiment in "god bless the internet" taking place at the hands of a bench-warming NBA player named Paul Shirley. A former Bulls backup, he now plays for the league's best team, the Phoenix Suns.

Shirley is basically that guy who flunked out of college his freshman year because he played too much Goldeneye except that he happens to be 6'11". Like all good nerds, he decided to start a blog. Except unlike every other blog on Earth ("God, my mom is such a bitch", "No one likes me", "I hate Bush") his blog is about…well, all those things that don't make it into NBA promo commercials.

The crux of it (and the league has repeatedly tried to censor him) is that he would write long entries about how half the players in the league play stoned on any given night and how an alarming number of Your Favorite Stars can't string three words together without getting another stripper pregnant. Sample: "I am not going to suggest that the Miami Heat just went to some local titty bar and hired the whole roster as their dance team. Instead, I will simply say that I was impressed with their dancing abilities." It was good, good stuff.

Anyway, this phenomenon went to a new level for me in his April 24 entry when he talks about going to a Local H concert. Mind you, his team is in the thick of the playoffs. The life of an NBA player is presented as either A) playing basketball or B) attending high-priced NY/Miami/LA nightclub events with one's entourage in an appropriately ostentatious Hummer. Not Paul Shirley.

Kobe Bryant: "I'm attending Beyonce's private birthday party at '21' in Manhattan."
Shaq: "I'm spending extra hours in the film room preparing for the next playoff series."
Paul Shirley: "I hope they play 'Son of Cha' tonight."

Ginandtacos.com salutes you, Paul. You are officially our favorite undeserving millionaire.