Whatever the reason, I’m feeling surly and have been this way for the past few days. I think it’s a pretty good time for a rant…

SURLY ISSUE #1: Bad losses. NICE games against New York, Sacramento and Chicago this past week and a half. I know we play 82 of these things during the regular season and not one game does the season make, but it’s disappointing when your team comes out and loses…like that…to teams that are inferior.

I guess the Knicks loss proves the theory of “any given Sunday”. A bad movie, by the way, in which Al Pacino only continued his role in Scent of a Woman. He’s been doing that since Scent…The Devil’s Advocate, Sunday, Insomnia, Two for the Money (another stinker)…same stuff, just put a different name on it. It’s too bad, because he was so good as Lt. Col. Frank Slade. Hooo waahhh!

Side Note I: Can you believe Pacino has only won one Oscar in his career? As I was just looking through IMBD and seeing all the movies Pacino has made, look for a future rant devoted to why Pacino has only won one Oscar in his career.

Side Note II: Quit worrying. The guys will get it together. Being hot this time of year does nothing, other than set you up for a down turn closer to the playoffs. We will be fine…I don’t want to hear about breaking up the team, or sitting the rookies or why we didn’t draft Carmelo or Bosh.

Side Note III: The Pistons just lost to Orlando on a last second shot by Rashard Lewis. Another loss, which makes it three in a row now. I’d call it a good loss because the Pistons played hard on the road and kept it close…but are there really ever any good losses? Hey, did Rashard call double glass on that shot?

SURLY ISSUE #2: I heard some rumblings about our consecutive sell-out streak (currently at 203), and since I’m ranting, here’s my attempt to set the record straight.

A SELL-OUT is, by definition when all of your tickets have been sold for a game. There aren’t any tickets left to purchase. A FULLY-ATTENDED game means that everyone (or nearly everyone) who purchased tickets is at the game.

There is a big difference and I think many forget the definitions.

I have heard doubters saying that the Pistons can’t have sell-outs because they see empty seats in the stands. To me, if the seats have all been sold, it’s still a sell-out even if there are seats unoccupied.

My point is, you can have a sell-out but not a 100% attended game.

A perfect example of the differences between the two definitions came from our game against Golden State on December 16th. The night before, it snowed like crazy and the weather continued to be bad during the day. On that Sunday, many fans exercised their right not to attend the game.

The game was not well-attended, but was it a sell-out? By definition, the game absolutely was a sell-out because we sold all the available tickets.

Think of it more personally: if you purchased a ticket, and on the way to the game had car trouble, would you expect your seat to still be available to you when you arrived? Yes you would. How about if you didn’t show until the second quarter? Can we put someone else in your seat then? How about the fourth quarter? When can we put someone else in your seat?

The point is there is a difference between a sell-out and a 100% attended game, and I want you to remember that the next time you see empty seats in the arena. Those seats are sold and the fans that purchased them have the right to sit in them anytime they want…or not.

Side Note IV: Do you know what the all-time record for consecutive sell-outs is in all of professional sports and what team holds it? You are absolutely correct if you said 814 by the Portland Trailblazers, spanning from 1977 to 1995.

SURLY ISSUE #3: Heaven help us, it’s American Idol time again. Now, for the next several months, I have to listen to morning radio talk about the night before and the contestants on the show. Even though I don’t watch the show, I am already completely sick of it. How’s that? I don’t even watch and I’m sick of it.

I’m so tired of stupid TV. Give me a break with shows like Rock of Love with Bret Michaels and I Love New York (Part Two) and My Big Fat Redneck Wedding and Celebrity Rehab and Bad Girls Club and The Girls Next Door and Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant and The X Effect and…ahhhh, enough, already.

Thank goodness for The Soup, the show that makes fun of all of these other shows. It is the only saving grace and really, the only reason that these shows should be allowed to exist. Let’s settle the writer’s strike, please. I need my next seasons of The Office and Entourage.

SURLY ISSUE #4: The Pistons Mailbag…are you kidding me? I cannot believe some of the things that people want to discuss. If I’m Keith Langlois, I’m not even printing some of these questions. But Keith is a kindler, gentler soul than I.

Reading the recent edition from Monday, I can’t believe the guy in Oxford, England…yes, England…who is writing in asking about the 2008 off-season and what moves are we going to make. WHAT?? Are you serious? Give me a break! We are just halfway through THIS season. Stick to cricket, governor.

Then we have a guy in Toledo who is questioning the rotation because it includes developing Rodney Stuckey and how we should be putting in Flip Murray and Lindsey Hunter. I’m thinking this is the same guy who was complaining last year that the veterans were so tired in the playoffs because Flip (Saunders) didn’t go deeper into his bench.

Was I the only one listening to Joe Dumars during this off-season?

There was one from Muskegon where the guy actually “damned” us (the Pistons) for “not paying Ben Wallace what he wanted” and that we “almost deserve all these problems.”

All these problems? Like what? Being ONLY 29-13 at the halfway point of the season? Having only the SECOND best record in the league? Being FREE of the burden of one player’s $15 million in each of the next four years? Yeah, damn us. Why can’t we be more short-sighted? Why do we have to have so many options available? Why can’t we overpay players and give ourselves no future? Why, why, why?

But my favorite came from Grand Rapids….talking about Carmelo Anthony (I told you to stop it) and how “we would have at least three championships by now” if we had drafted him. First of all, give it a rest. Secondly, give it a rest, already. And third, I’d argue that if we had drafted Carmelo we wouldn’t have won ANY championships.

Think about this: where would we have put him on those teams? And would he have demanded playing time immediately? And would we have had to shift the rotation, if not the first year than the second and third? And do we get Rasheed if we draft Carmelo? And what about chemistry with a high-profile rookie? And what kind of attitude would we get if we didn’t find time for him? And, and, and…what the heck am I talking about this for?

God love ya, Keith for answering these questions. If it’s my Mailbag, we would only have one, maybe two, letters a week. Yeah, that’s right, I’m challenging you regular Mailbaggers to bring something in the next few weeks. Bring it, or I’m calling you out again…

Side Note VI: Patriots go 19-0. Mark it down. It’s a lock.

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