It's Just a Basketball. Chill, Dude.

So apparently, Win Butler of the Arcade Fire (aka the band with this year's front runner for Album of the Year) likes to play basketball. So much, in fact, that when he was asked to leave a UC Berkeley court so that a group of guys could play an actual game, Win allegedly freaked out and had to be removed by security.

Anyway, one of the guys who was waiting to play foolishly left his basketball unattended. Someone stole it, and the guy claims it was Win Butler. So, he did what any good citizen would do; he started a blog. Whaaaaa?!

At his blog (which has since been mysteriously taken down), the story is told as such. Dudes show up to play basketball. Win Butler of indie darlings the Arcade Fire is playing a solo game of half-court while waiting for some friends to arrive. Dudes ask Win if he wants to play. Win says no. Dudes ask if Win can leave so they can play. Win allegedly grumbles something about paying too much money ($10) for the use of the facility to not use the time to its fullest.

At this point, the narrator gives up trying to reason with Win (?), and two supervisors apparently try to explain the "court rules" to Mr. Butler. Over the next 45 minutes, security shows up, someobody may or may not have been pushed, Win Butler was "extremely agitated and animated", and this dude left his basketball unattended on the court while he played basketball with his friends (I know; "the whole situation was so intense, I struggled with my jump shot").

So, the story is sketchy at best. But it all went overboard when a rebuttal blog was opened, allegedly by Win Butler's brother, claiming that Win, in fact, did not steal this dude's basketball.

Have you had enough of this story yet? Because I sure as shit have. Not because it's so mind-numbingly ludicrous, but because it's spread like wildfire across the globe! All of the major music sites have been over this; chances are, you heard about it before you read this. It's been discussed, analyzed and ridculed to death, and it hasn't been a week since the story broke. Across the interweb, smartass hipster comedian wannabes have already made other, equally ludicrous claims against other bands and artists. Stuff like, "Sufjan Stevens anally raped my cat while the Shins watched", and "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah annoyed me with garlic breath", and "Wilco made a shitty album" (the latter of which is not true; you fucking indie snobs aren't getting another Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, so stop fucking bitching incessantly about Wilco's new album. I can't believe an album could be dissed so heavily for having melody).

I think it's safe to say that shit is out of control. The internet has gone too far. Know how I know? More people know about what's going on with some random asshole's basketball than what's happening at the G8 summit (to save you some time, $60 billion aid package to Africa, an agreement was reached to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the world... er, I mean 2050, and the poison didn't work).

Anyway, I just thought I'd share this with you as we head into the weekend. I've got no intentions whatsoever of posting a video roundup, so have a random jank video to go. Later, suckas.



P.S. If you're wondering what the fuck just happened, it will all be explained here.