In Motown, we have: Arguably the best women's basketball team in the world, arguably the best men's basketball team in the world, arguably the best hockey team in the world, currently the best baseball team in the world.

And we have high hopes for our football team! Come on Lions! Step up!

having read kaufman on salon for the past several years, i am well qualified to opine that this column needs a makeover; news of the detroit shock (and the wnba in general)is a tedious read, and we all know this!

heres some news for king kaufman: its late august and the ny mets are threatening to win 100 games with a woeful, ERA challenged staff of cast-offs and saw dust. this is a team that may have the worst pitching staff (in terms of a pitchers abilty to limit the opponent from scoring) of any division winner in history! and yet 'King Kaufman's Sports Daily' devotes its entire effort to ... womens basketball!

didnt we get enough inane basketball 'analysis' during the overly long and boring nba regular and post seasons? ans - YES we did! ...something about dirk nowitzki's lack of 'toughness' and how said lack of toughness would prevail over the miami heat in 6 or so games.

and how about a few words about the uk baseball player killed in yesterdays plane crash! nope. cant do. gotta write about bill laimbeer, gotta cover that wnba!

lol. omg! easily the worst read in sports this monday. king, is there something we readers can do to help? are you angry with us? let us know!

I for one am happy to read about the WNBA, and considering the usual lack of coverage of it, I find it bizarre anyone could criticize your choice (especially as I completely agree with you about Laimbeer -- who knew??). Of course, I know I will never read anything here about what I am obsessed with over the next two weeks -- the US Open and Agassi's imminent retirement -- but that's why there are many different sports outlets. Instead of whining about what one writer covers or doesn't, just go read about it somewhere else.

And gone out and scored 30 points in that game. He would have had about 9 blocked shots and 20 rebounds also. Wearing his suit. Yes, I know, "so what?" is right. But it would have been fun to watch. Congrats to the champions of the WNBA. Which team was it again?

"lol. omg! "

Just in case anybody was inclined to take his griping seriously. What non-child writes like that?

I'm not a WNBA fan, but this was an interesting column.

I come to this column everyday b/c I want to read something fresh, something different. I especially enjoy how King is able to take topics that I normally wouldn't care about (like the WNBA or -- last week -- the Kansas City Royals) and make it interesting to fans and non-fans alike.

If I want to read about the Mets (and I don't, thank you) I can go to just about any other sports web site out there. Same if I want to get the latest on Barbaro, Maria Sharapova, The Sox or Tony Kornheiser/Monday Night Football.

But the market is saturated with stories like that. They all read virtually the same, offer no distinctively different information and in some cases aren't really even "news."

At least King puts some effort into it and brings something fresh to the table, day after day after day. That's why I keep coming back. Keep up the good work, King.

I should admit up front that I was a vertically challenged high school basketball player when Laimbeer's Pistons were beating the hell out of the NBA -- and winning titles for it. I couldn't jump but loved to rebound and, as a result, Laimbeer because my lumpy, white idol. (So much so that I somehow persuaded my family to name our black, female standard poodle "Bill" after him, but that's a story better saved for therapy.)

That said, I've been a fan of his coaching from the beginning -- anything you read about the Shock makes it clear that his team adores him, and that he, in turn, treats them with a ton of respect. They have short practices, get things done, and win. Period. Plus, he drafted Karl Malone's daugther. What's not to love?

Dear King,

Good topic, and good take on the topic. When print newspapers die out, and Salon finally takes over as The Journal of Record for Western Civilization, you will be Global Sports Executive Managing Editor DeLuxe, and you will hire a vast staff. The staff will include a least one full-time person to write about whatever Pear-Lu wants to read about.

Until then, though, please keep on with the 5 good topics + 5 interesting slants per week.

Timbuktom

P.S. I know a guy who might write about race horses for you. Do you want to talk to him? Do you have room for a turf column? Serious!

Bill's whining was to Detroit fans more like an art form, it seems like you are crticising a Pavarotti aria for being "too emotional"; to us it was an integral pert of his gratness, made only better by the fact that he was rich kid !Fabulous

King, ignore Pear-lu's criticisms. As others have pointed out, there are lots of places on the web to read mainstream sports news. I read your column each morning because of the variety of subjects that are covered. I don't follow the WNBA, heck I don't follow baseball which you cover with some frequency, but the engaging writing and well-argued opinions in your column make just about any sport interesting.

In other words, keep it up and don't let the naysayers get you down. Your column is almost the sole reason I renewed my subscription to Salon this year. Long time reader, infrequent letter writer.

The semi-literate, semi-intelligent rant by pear_lu gets an editor's choice star?

Whoever made that choice needs to check the want ads for pizza delivery or something. Because even in a publication on the downhill slide like Salon is (King Kaufman being one of the few exceptions) that is stupidity and ineptitude of beyond explanation.