Paul's Not. And Don't Call Him Shirley.

It got lost in the 81 points hype last week, but here's some NBA news worth ass raping someone over - NBA journey and funny man Paul Shirley appears well on his way to challenging Rosie Greer in the "random situations sports figures find themselves in" sweepstakes with word that his NBA promo blog slash Bill Simmons backed ESPN advice column cum look at life in basketball's minor league turned book deal has been picked up as a Fox sitcom pilot. "The 12th Man" for Fox, in Paul's own words:

"It's mostly just a way to examine the ludicrous nature of professional sports from the perspective of a guy who is sort of in between, a liaison between the normal people and professional athletes."

The Shirley character will be named Adam Rump. As in what Shirley sits on. And what black mambas feed on in their native Colorado.

Read more about it hereabouts. Scroll down to "The Producer". That's the best Bob Young of The Arizona Republic could come up with? How about "The (Did Not) Player (Coaches Decision)"? Or "Lead Character in Shirley Sitcom Pilot's Surname is Euphemism For Ass"? Jesus fucking Christ, you would think people worked at The Arizona Republic were second rate hacks or something.