Posted Monday/March 8, 1999; 8:01 a.m. PST

Remember the TV commercial a few years back where grade-school kids in a spelling bee were trying to spell "Wausau"? After a couple of students misspelled, a little boy steps to the mike and spells it correctly. After his accomplishment, he explains, "There's an 'wa' in the beginning, a 'usa' in the middle, and a 'u' on the end," or something like that, right?

Well, whether you remember it or not, neither "THAT kid, RIGHT there" nor any other spelling bee champ in the country could spell "Poli$port$Biz." In fact, you could ask college students from east to west how to spell Poli$port$Biz, and they wouldn't have a clue. You could even help them by asking how many letter "S" are in the word Poli$port$Biz. If they say "two," they would be incorrect because there are no letter "S" in the word Poli$port$Biz; they've become dollar signs.

The NBA lockout made it crystal clear Once And For All that the "Games of Sport" are mercilessly sandwiched between politics and business. As sports tries to push its way out of a rugby scrum against the two forces, the pressure on the "S" has caused them to grow "bull market" horns. Politics and business each grabbed a dollar sign. The result is Poli$port$Biz. However, unlike the comforting assurance of the insurance company's commercial, there's no "us" or "we" in Poli$port$Biz, only "them."

So it is on that (with "Cosell-like 'THAT man, RIGHT there' enthusiasm") premise this Site was founded and dedicated to WeTheFans.

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