Had a smilar, albeit not life-threatening, experience with a formerly very close friend. I lent him my car, he returned it with a nail in the tire, but didn't realize since it was a slow leak. When I went to drive the car home (I was bartending, he dropped it off at work) the tire was completely flat. I cabbed home. When we discussed it the next day, he was so concerned about avoiding the cost of any repair on my car that he forgot to even say, "Sorry I returned your car with a flat tire." He also didn't offer help me deal with getting it fixed, which would have helped me out a lot. Ultimately, it only cost about ten bucks to patch the tire, but all day to accomplish, a day I spent vowing never to loan my car to anyone ever again.

Same situation here, where a friend fails an ethical test because he's too concerned about his own side of the issue. The only answer is, sadly, you gotta write the person off. Espcially in a life/death situation. Most friends, you may never know how they'll respond in a real crisis. This guy has already informed you that he WILL let you down. Lose him.

Had a smilar, albeit not life-threatening, experience with a formerly very close friend. I lent him my car, he returned it with a nail in the tire, but didn't realize since it was a slow leak. When I went to drive the car home (I was bartending, he dropped it off at work) the tire was completely flat. I cabbed home. When we discussed it the next day, he was so concerned about avoiding the cost of any repair on my car that he forgot to even say, "Sorry I returned your car with a flat tire." He also didn't offer help me deal with getting it fixed, which would have helped me out a lot. Ultimately, it only cost about ten bucks to patch the tire, but all day to accomplish, a day I spent vowing never to loan my car to anyone ever again.

Same situation here, where a friend fails an ethical test because he's too concerned about his own side of the issue. The only answer is, sadly, you gotta write the person off. Espcially in a life/death situation. Most friends, you may never know how they'll respond in a real crisis. This guy has already informed you that he WILL let you down. Lose him.

Had a smilar, albeit not life-threatening, experience with a formerly very close friend. I lent him my car, he returned it with a nail in the tire, but didn't realize since it was a slow leak. When I went to drive the car home (I was bartending, he dropped it off at work) the tire was completely flat. I cabbed home. When we discussed it the next day, he was so concerned about avoiding the cost of any repair on my car that he forgot to even say, "Sorry I returned your car with a flat tire." He also didn't offer help me deal with getting it fixed, which would have helped me out a lot. Ultimately, it only cost about ten bucks to patch the tire, but all day to accomplish, a day I spent vowing never to loan my car to anyone ever again.

Same situation here, where a friend fails an ethical test because he's too concerned about his own side of the issue. The only answer is, sadly, you gotta write the person off. Espcially in a life/death situation. Most friends, you may never know how they'll respond in a real crisis. This guy has already informed you that he WILL let you down. Lose him.

Kinda surprised about your take on this one, King. If Stoudemire and Diaw stay on the bench, the only one suspended is Horry. That's justice. It was denied by Stoudemire and Diaw's actions, not anybody else's. They knew the rule. It's telling that you have to go back ten years to cite the last time somebody tried to test it, with disastrous results. I felt the same way then; bad for the series, good for the game. That New York/Miami brawl was ugly, the last thing I want to see ruin a hard-fought, competitive series Not the suspensions, the brawl. That "keep your ass on the bench rule" prevents stuff like that from happening every year. So how do you stop players from following the human urge to protect teammates? The same way you teach them to rebound. You fucking coach them. Before the game, you tell them, "If Robert Horry takes a cheap shot on our star, take revenge on the court, not from the bench." Just another thing to coach for, and pretty predictable in a series when the lesser team is desperate and has a Robert Horry or Bruce Bowen. I think the NBA did what was best for the game in the long run at the expense of some short term pain. That's actually a pretty amazing sacrifice for a professional sports league. Thought you'd give them props for it.