I Pledge Allegiance to the Nugg...

"Yes, pardon me, but which way to the Denver Nuggets bandwagon? I'd like to hop on board."

That's right LCG readers, I'm Mile High about this Denver team. The nice thing about being a Knicks fans these days is that come playoff time you can root for anyone you damn well please. The Knickerbockers haven't been good enough for quite awhile to have any real rivals, nor competitive enough for me to develop any true distaste for a team.

In the East, there is the Pope and his Cavaliers. As a sports fan without a team in the running, I'm not sure who else you would throw your support behind. I'm eager to see his highness take the next step -- and that means heading to the Finals and winning the thing.

And while many others are desperate to watch the Kobe-LeBron showdown that so many experts claim is predestined, I, for one, am not. Not to say that the series might not be of classic proportions and unrivaled entertainment value...it very well could be. It's just, well, I still don't like Kobe or the Lakers. Plain and simple. So, who's got us all fired up in the West? Who would this NYC-based fan being cheering on to make a run? The Denver Nuggets, of course.

If I had more time (or if this blogging thing was my primary occupation), I'd wax poetic on the many tangled, twisted, yet compelling storylines threaded through this Denver team. Trust me, they're there. You've likely heard half of them already. So, I'll save all of that. Besides all of those things, this team is just flat-out fun to watch. They play hard. They fly around. Their coach is a no-BS, "old-school" basketball guy. I love it.

I love Billups giving them some direction. I love Birdman swatting shots while bouncing around like a grade-schooler hopped on pixie sticks and bounding on a trampoline. I love the fact that J.R. Smith can be an absolute headcase or one of the most prolific scorers in the League, sometimes within the same game, sometimes at the same time. I love that they've got a guy named Nene. Melo...

The reasons are numerous. I explained them poorly here. Regardless, the point is I pledge my allegiance in the West to the Nuggets. Go forth and prosper.

posted at 9:14 AM