(probably not a photograph of Amar Panchmatia)

With a couple of exceptions, I’ve long figured the MVN sports blog family to be the sort of low editorial standards clusterfuck that would allow any pretty much any schmoe with a laptop to flex their analytical chops…at least until the association became too embarrassing for MVN to tolerate.  Just the other day, I was curious if Gate D apologist Alex Benesowitz was still toiling on MVN’s Father Knickerbocker and was somewhat surprised to see the blog is instead running the Cavs-centric commentary of one Amar Panchmatia.

Panchmatia recently considered one ESPN commentator’s promise that LeBron James and Chris Bosh were headed for New York in 2010, and replied with the headline, “Jalen Rose : Stop Snorting Coke”.  Not being a regular reader of Panchmatia’s Cavalier Attitude, I wasn’t aware this was mild stuff by prior standards.

Earlier today, Deadspin’s A.J. Daluerio reported that Panchmatia received a home telephone call from Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, offering the blogger a free plane ticket for a face to face meeting.  Sadly, the purpose of such a confab wasn’t a frank discussion about the state of the NBA, nor was Wojnarowski planning on tutoring Panchmatia on the inner workings of sports journalism.

Y’see, earlier this year,  Panchmatia blogged that he hoped to meet Wojnarowski.  “I would bust him in the jaw, throw him to the ground, force him to put his mouth on a curb, and smash the back of his head with my foot. Yes, American History X style.”

No need to take Daluerio’s word on this by the way, because although MVN has removed Panchmatia’s original post on the matter (and his subsequent reply), the first chapter of this sordid tale is still cached.   Panchmatia’s retort to Wojnarowski’s phone call is a tad harder to find, but from this excerpt, he characterizes the Yahoo hoops scribe as someone who “lets bloggers under his skin.”

Imagine that, ladies and gentlemen.  An individual — exercising his First Amendment rights — express his fervent desire to murder Adrian Wojnarowski.   Woj, clearly unable to take take a good ribbbing (who amongst us doesn’t giggle uncontrollably when someone we’ve never met threatens to stomp us to death?), took the bait and gave Panchmatia an opportunity to put up or shut up.   But of course, it’s Wojnarowski who oughta get some perspective and not let this hoops-internet shit bug him so much.

Why is it that when someone, in this case Mr. Cavalier Attitude When It Comes To Making Violent Threats, writes something purely designed to provoke an extreme response, the author seems confused at having actually pissed off the very person he threatened?  In the real world — of which presumably, Mr. Panchmatia is still a resident — when you publicly announce that kicking a man’s brains in gives you a boner, one of three things generally happens ; you get a visit from the P.D., you lose your job or the object of your affections comes-a-knocking.   In the blogosphere, however, you can just erase the posts.