Simmons’s latest column is dedicated to the age-old question: which month is better for sports/time-wasting — April or October?

On the Russian billionaire’s purchase of the New Jersey Nets…

You know the NBA is in at least a little trouble financially when it allows a Russian billionaire to buy a team. Five or six years ago, how fast do you think David Stern squashes the idea when someone says to him, “So, I guess the best way to describe him is that he’s like a Russian Mark Cuban”? Two seconds? One second?

Which raises the question: Did Stern just open the door to all foreign billionaires, or was this a one-time thing? I’d argue that the NBA was soooooooooo desperate to fix this Nets situation and salvage the Brooklyn complex that it didn’t care where the money came from. This was a one-time exception. We need a cash buyer. Period. I think a Saudi oil sheik would have been approved as an owner. I think Tom Cruise would have been approved. I think everyone short of a Pablo Escobar-type buyer would have been approved. It’s the NBA and it’s faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan-tastic … ( … -ally in need of some cash).

On CAR Steve Smith versus NYG Steve Smith…

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- SPORTS BUSINESS DIGEST informs us that Russia’s richest man is considering financing the Nets new stadium in Brooklyn and in return will receive a considerable stake in the team.

- BALL DON’T LIE features a guest blogger from RealGM who offers a few reasons why fantasy basketball is struggling when compared to fantasy football.

- SHUTDOWN CORNER discusses why 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or in severe financial distress within two years of retirement.

- PRO FOOTBALL TALK thinks that Lou Holtz has lost his mind.

- THE WORLD OF ISAAC offers up eight reasons to hate Notre Dame. Reason #8: “The douche bag fans.”