Welcome to another edition of The Chat House where Post columnist Michael Wilbon was online Monday, May 12, 1:15 p.m. ET to take your questions and comments about the latest sports news and his recent columns.

The transcript follows.

Discussion Archive

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Southeast Michigan: Hey Mike -- I felt like I needed to write after Friday's "PTI" where you discussed empty seats at Red Wings games. I can attest that the horrible state of Michigan's economy bears most if not all of the fault. The bulk of Wings fans in the area are blue-collar suburbanites -- auto workers, construction, etc. -- and when the belts are tightened, the cost of tickets/travel to the Joe are the first thing to go, especially given that all the games are televised. It's a tough situation with seemingly no end in sight. Thanks for the time.

Michael Wilbon: And thank you for the insight. ... Hi everybody, just getting back from Bristol, Conn., at the Mothership where I spent the weekend doing NBA stuff and travel right now is a nightmare ... sorry I'm late. Anyway, we'll do plenty of NBA, some NHL and whatever else people are into. ... Here we go.

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Raleigh, N.C.: I watched your appearance on "Costas Now" this weekend on HBO. I am a huge "PTI" fan and have been for a few years. After watching you on HBO, I have a whole new level of admiration for you as a journalist. I am a 31-year-old African American female sports fan, and the things you said about race and sports completely sum up my sentiments, but in the black community it can be an unpopular opinion You also have gotten to read real sports columns in the newspaper (which I never really have done). Thank you for opening my eyes about real sports journalism and thank you for your voice. Keep doing what you're doing Mr. Wilbon!

Michael Wilbon: Thank you. ... We've gotten quite a bit of feedback about the "Costas Now," and HBO has gotten so much that they're thinking about doing some of the individual segments as entire shows. I hope they do, because the media needs to be so much more accountable than it is...

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More Mayo: This guy Louis Johnson seems like he doesn't have any scruples whatsoever and is a desperate man. He has the random luck to fall into the "inner circle" of a star, then can't hang and falls out, and shows how much of a friend he really was -- a friend who sells cocaine, and collects evidence of your questionable amateur status.

The college status is something that's pushed to the edge by a lot of stars and their circles, including whether they actually are attending classes and doing the homework, coach/staff contact outside of proscribed standards, and lifestyles above their means. It doesn't seem to mean much, and Mayo is under question only because he had a really rotten apple in his circle.

Michael Wilbon: Well, Mayo has to take some accountability. He took the money knowingly. Now, everything else I'm largely with you -- the sleazy adults who prey on these kids get whatever ridicule and shunning they deserve. Tim Floyd should be fired, the athletic director at Southern Cal should be fired, and the football program and all its coaches should be put on notice.

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Dulles Airport, Va.: How worried should the Celtics be that they have yet to win a road game? Is this a "must-win situation" tonight in Cleveland?

Michael Wilbon: The Celtics should be very worried simply because no championship team has won fewer than three road games on the way to the title. And the Celtics aren't close in these road games. ... Remember, they've never played together in the playoffs until now, and that could be a factor. If the Celtics can't win on the road, they're not going to win the championship. Having said that, the Cavs are in the must-win situation tonight. Cleveland has to win, not Boston, tonight.

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Barno, Md.: Who would you rank No. 1 among NBA basketball color analysts? For my money, the guy who dissects a game best has got to be Hubie Brown. The man is 74 years old, and yet he sees the action as well as anyone out there. Thoughts?

Michael Wilbon: For me, Doug Collins and Hubie Brown. ... There are a ton of good NBA analysts because they're candid ... I love listening to Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy and my partners, Bill Walton and Jon Barry. ... But Collins and Brown are Hall of Famers with microphones ... I have the added benefit of getting to have dinners on the road with each of them. ... They're storytellers who played and coached at the highest levels and are not full of themselves and can criticize without ridiculing. ... They're just so damn good at explaining the game and opening up your head to what's happening and what might happen and should happen next.

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Washington: I saw you on Bob Costas's special on the changing media, athletes and race, and you were excellent. If ever there were program that Ralph Wiley should have been around to see and participate in, that was it. My question is, has an athlete ever asked you advice in terms of how to handle themselves or how to speak out on race, or is that a dumb question given the makeup of today's athletes?

Michael Wilbon: Thank you. ... And my goodness, Ralph Wiley would have been so, so great for that show -- yes, you're right. And yes, there are more than a few athletes -- not all of them black by the way -- who've asked me about dealing with race in their public comments. ... Believe me, one of the fascinating things about being in a locker room all the time is the not-for-public consumption conversations you have with coaches and athletes -- real conversations, not just guys standing before a microphone and saying what owners and coaches want them to say. And yes, race is always up for discussion. And I've learned more from those conversations than I've contributed.

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HBO and you: So, Mike, help those of us who don't have HBO ... what did you say about race and sports on Costas's show?

Michael Wilbon: Sorry, but there's not enough time here for that. There must be a way you can go online and see HBO. I hope you can, because the show -- even without my participation -- was compelling television. HBO, specifically Bryant Gumbel and Bob Costas, do the absolutely greatest work regarding sports and culture on television today.

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Baltimore: Hey Mike. So what happened to the buzz about Tom Izzo and the Bulls? Does it pick up again now that D'Antoni went to New York? Moreover, as a Bulls fan, would you really want Izzo? Lest we be reminded of Pitino, Tarkanian, Kruger, Montgomery, etc., maybe it's a good thing that that talk seems to have died down, right?

Michael Wilbon: Izzo's a bit different because he's always around pro basketball ... goes to games and practices. ... Izzo reminds me in that way of Jimmy Johnson, who did the same thing while he was coaching at Oklahoma State ... Jimmy would go to NFL practices and chalk-talks. Izzo's like that, which I think gives him a better chance to do well than others.

I think Tom Thibodeau, the Boston Celtics' defensive guru, will be the next head coach of the Bulls. The Bulls don't pay big bucks to high-profile coaches ... never have. Dick Motta was a little-known college coach back in the day. Doug Collins had been a college assistant and that was his first pro head coaching job. Phil Jackson was Collins's assistant who'd come to him from the CBA because owner Jerry Reinsdorf wanted Phil and had followed his career. Tim Floyd ... oh please. Scott Skiles was in need of a gig. The Bulls weren't ever going to hire D'Antoni in my opinion -- it doesn't fit what the team does.

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San Diego: Was Mark Jackson disappointed that he didn't get the Knicks job, even though he didn't have any experience?

Michael Wilbon: Yes. ... Pat Riley didn't have any experience either. The NBA isn't the NFL -- guys actually do come out of the booth to coach in the NBA now and then and do fairly well. Phil Jackson, as I mentioned, never had had any experience, though he did coach in the CBA for, I believe, the Albany Patroons...

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Salt Lake City: I appreciated your column on Jazz fans and Fisher the other day. I don't defend the booing (which, thankfully, appears to have stopped). Here's the question, though, that created the resentment: If the best care was available in New York (as might be inferred from the fact that that's where Fisher went last year) and if making the best possible decision for his daughter's treatment (not a good decision, but the best decision) was paramount, why did Fisher choose Los Angeles (and the Lakers) over New York (and perhaps the Knicks or Nets)? No one, including Fisher, has answered that -- and it's certainly his right not to -- but that's the question. Do you know how Fisher would answer it?

washingtonpost.com: For Fisher, Cheers, Tears And Boos (Post, May 9)

Michael Wilbon: The doctors who performed the procedures in New York weren't of New York. They went to New York, at least one did. Fisher told me the doctors in New York were the ones advising him on exactly what to do and where to go, based largely on Tatum's needs, but the needs of their other children as well.

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Charlottesville, Va.: Do you think Kobe would've won the MVP if the Lakers hadn't traded for Pau Gasol?

Michael Wilbon: Good question. No, because if the Lakers finish, say, sixth ... Chris Paul would have won...

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Washington: Okay, so given that you have dinner with Doug Collins frequently, what's his take on his stint/debacle with the Wizards? Does he have any regrets on how he coached up Kwame?

Michael Wilbon: We really haven't talked about the Wizards in a long while. He has some regrets about the way he dealt with Kwame initially, but I think -- and have told Doug this -- that he takes way too much on himself for Kwame's failure. Look at Kwame now -- Phil Jackson couldn't coach him either and wanted him out. Kobe wanted him, or so he thought, then realized the kid doesn't really want to be a basketball player at the level others want him to be. And the dinners with Doug are of the pregame variety at the arena, like Wednesday in Los Angeles.

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Bethesda, Md.: Wilbon, I hope you are aware of (MLS Commissioner) Don Garber's response to your tirade about streamers being present at MLS matches, saying it was "minor-league." Here is what he had to say:

"Like many of you, I watched the recent episode of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption when co-host Michael Wilbon vilified the practice of MLS fans throwing streamers at opposing players when they're getting ready to take a corner kick. 'PTI' showed video of Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna with dozens of streamers around him. Wilbon, who has been a supporter of MLS and the sport of soccer in the past, was literally outraged at this practice and referred to it as 'minor league.' Clearly, I disagree. This is a unique phenomenon that happens all over the soccer world. We're playing soccer, not baseball, football or basketball. Our fans are a part of the game experience. That's one of our points of difference and part of what will drive our future success. There are plenty of sports leagues in the U.S., and we are not trying to offer the same in-stadium experience. We need to embrace the passion and electricity that makes soccer the world's most popular sport. By the way, I was recently watching a River Plate-Boca Juniors game on Fox Soccer Channel, and there were streamers flying everywhere."

As a loyal reader/fan of yours, I must inform you that you have opened Pandora's Box in reference to all of the soccer lovers out there. Now, I for one like the streamers -- it gives the soccer matches some character, and separates it from all the other major sports as fan-interactive. As long as the streamers do not cause any bodily injury or harm to the players on the field, I'm all for it. Likewise, numerous player's were quoted after the game saying they were in favor of the streamers, and that it brought out the best of what soccer has to offer. I would like to know why you are so against it? Thank you, and keep up the excellent work.

Michael Wilbon: I've talked with Don Garber through the years and he's very, very good for MLS, period, and he knows soccer a trillion times more than I ever well and what kind of entertainment experience he wants his league to have. Having said that, anything that interferes with the actual competition is bad. It's just awful. Don't under any circumstances screw around with the competition. That's not to be interactive, it's not to be influenced by anything and anybody that's not in a uniform or striped jersey on the field. Nothing and nobody is going to change my opinion on that. Ever.

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Costas Now: You can buy podcasts of the episodes of "Costas Now" from the link on the right/middle of the show's Web site.

Michael Wilbon: There we have it. Thanks.

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Bowie, Md.: Mike, you are of a generation that has kind of straddled both old-fashioned, get-your-feet-dirty print/TV journalism, where the outlets were the big papers and the three networks (okay, we can toss ESPN in there since it's over 25 now), and the new wave of everyone-has-a-voice/blog/Web journalism, where all the reporters are on TV giving their opinions whether informed or not. What do you miss about the old days and what do you love about the "new days"?

Michael Wilbon: Goodness, great question. We don't have enough time for that either. I'm not one to dwell on the past all that often; I like the way things are now to a great degree. I hate seeing newspapers die, but that's largely the fault of newspaper people. Yes, the changing nature of the way we communicate and advertising realities have changed the way newspapers operate, sadly, but too many of them are badly edited. The decision-makers are out of touch and have been for years. I hate that because I love newspapers -- now people don't even have any idea what they're supposed to do, what reporters are supposed to do. ... But, we move on, right? I can't just live in the old days. But I'll die reading the newspaper just about every single day of the week.

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Washington: Hi Wilbon -- long-time reader and fan of your work. First, congrats on the birth of your son; as a new dad, I know it is both an awesome responsibility and a source of endless joy. Any thoughts on Romo's offseason antics (trying to make the U.S. Open, throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley)? Will he be ready for training camp and arguably the most important Dallas season since the Super Bowl win in '95? Also -- any chance the Wiz get Elton Brand? Thanks very much.

Michael Wilbon: Thank you. Matthew is doing just fine, thank you. I applaud what Romo is doing, I really do. I think football players, more than any other athletes, need a longer physical and mental break from their sports to simply recover -- and all these offseason activities and minicamps don't allow them to do that to the degree they should. Coaches would practice these players every week of their lives if allowed, and it doesn't help the sport. I'm glad Romo is spending his summer the way he is. Kudos.

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Albany, N.Y.: Mike, I used to love horse racing, but now it makes me cringe. I feel like I can't watch it with my son, as I used to with my dad. Aside from the inevitable tragedies, not one horse from the Derby is stepping up to race in the Preakness. Either they modify the Triple Crown races, or it will die of its own accord.

Michael Wilbon: I don't know. ... Twice in three years to have this kind of tragedy is overwhelming. But these races have been going on for 120 years or something like that, right? There's much less interest in horse racing, nationally, than there used to be. It used to be baseball, boxing and horse racing, in that order in America. So, maybe it's fading. But I don't know whether occasional death, as awful as it is, will define to a great degree how people feel about the sport. I found it crushing, like you.

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Detroit: As a Pistons fan and skeptic, even I have been impressed with their play since Game 5 of the Philly series when they were down at the half. Even without Chauncey Billups, the Pistons played Pistons basketball. With Boston struggling, I'm thinking the Pistons (should they continue to remain focused) could make it to the NBA Finals.

Michael Wilbon: Me too. The Pistons were terrible coming out of the gate, but they pulled themselves together, and the win without Billups was quite impressive -- though the Orlando Magic made the dumbest moves down the stretch after building 15-point lead. ... Anyway, gotta run and prepare for "PTI." ... Talk to you guys next week...

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