There’s just too much smoke now to say there’s no fire.

The NBA should be reveling in the glory of a Celtics-Lakers championship series.

Instead, it finds itself battling allegations of game-fixing by a rogue former ref.

I won’t go into too many details here. Otherwise, you would find yourself reading a book. However, by now these truths are self-evident:

* Certain referees clearly have certain grudges against certain teams, and the NBA has done nothing to make sure those referees do not officiate key games involving those teams.

* Certain referees (paging Bennett Salvadore) always get assigned to Game 3s when a team is ahead 2-0 and it would be in the NBA’s best interest for the series to go more than four games.

* At least one “big market” team has taken part in every NBA Finals since 1980 except one (and that’s assuming you don’t consider Cleveland last year a “big market”). If it’s a coincidence, it’s a remarkable one.

* The charges rogue official Tim Donaghy are throwing around could be completely baseless, but everything above could still be true.

My challenge to you if you disagree: Prove me wrong

My challenge to you if you agree: To what degree is the fix in?

We were driving home from a shopping trip Saturday afternoon.

We pulled onto the road that leads to our home.

I was watching two of our neighbor’s larger dogs, who were chained up to trees along the road.

That’s how I missed one of their smaller dogs running under my car.

The poor thing never had a chance.

My first dog, Scrappy, was killed by a train when I was in first our second grade, so I know the hurt the loss of a pet can cause.

I work with words every day, and I wish I had good ones for a situation like this.

Instead, all I can think of to say, both that day and now, is, “I’m sorry.”

North Okaloosa County’s high schools will hold graduation exercises at the end of this week.

I remember the moment I realized high school really was over and life was about to change forever.

It wasn’t during graduation itself. It was during a preview of a senior slide show one week before graduation.

Most of the people around me were laughing at the baby pictures and candid shots.

I would have been crying at the realization that I wouldn’t be seeing many of my friends as much in the future … you know, if guys ever cried or anything.

Graduation itself? I didn’t have time to be emotional. I was almost late for the ceremony; we had to speed back 90 miles from Indianapolis, where my sister and two of her teammates were taking part in a regional tennis tournament that day. Then I had two speeches to stress over, and then try to figure out how many graduation “receptions” to attend afterward.

To all graduates — members of the Class of 2008 and before: When did it hit you that high school was really over?

One of the most anticipated NBA Finals in recent memory tips off Thursday.

It’s a classic matchup — the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

I went on record in April as picking Boston to win the title, based on the formula in my book, The NBA From Top to Bottom  www.sportsfromtoptobottom.com).

It’s too late to turn back now. I’m sticking with Boston to win it all — and fully expecting to be wrong.

After watching 40 games in 40 nights, as the TNT commercial implies, the Lakers just look like a better basketball team. They navigated past tougher playoff competition than Boston, and they did it with relative ease.

More than a few of the folks who do “computer ratings” will actually switch teams around in their rankings if they don’t like the numbers their computer spits out.

Huh? How can you call it a computer ranking?

I’m sticking with Boston. But I’m fully expecting to be wrong.

Who do you pick to win the NBA title?

Our graduation special section is barely in the rearview window, and it’s already time to think about our hurricane preparation special section.

One story we have planned is hurricane tips for newcomers from News Bulletin staff members.

Do you have any useful tips for newcomers to help them get through if a storm comes this way?

(Don’t ask me for advice. The only one I was here for was Dennis in 2005, which, I am told, wasn’t a ‘real’ hurricane experience).

Post your top tips here!

You’ll read a report from Crestview Fire Department Chief Joe Traylor’s discussion at the Crestview Chamber of Commerce this past Tuesday in an upcoming edition of the News Bulletin.

This won’t go into the report, but it caught my attention.

Starting salary for firefighters: $25,000.

Traylor went on to say the firefighters do their job out of a sense of duty and not to get rich.

They’re certainly worthy of our gratitude, if not an outright raise.

Someone tell me why this wouldn’t at least start to fix the gas price mess:

This is wildly oversimplified and would need a lot of fine print, but here are the basics, in just 91 words.

* Tell the oil companies they can keep their profits at 2005 levels (that’s about when all of this gas price madness started).

* Any other profits from gasoline or oil products will be collected as taxes and rebated to the public.

* However, the oil companies can keep any and all profits generated by alternative fuel.

* No government gas taxes. If we’re not letting the oil companies maximize their money, then neither should the government. This also is the only realistic way to generate any immediate drop in prices.

I know it won’t happen, but let’s say it did. Any reason why some form of this plan wouldn’t work?

Anyone got a better plan in fewer words? Post it here. I’ll share the best responses in the News Bulletin.

We’ve posted a letter to the editor from a Crestview citizen who was surprised 911 did not consider her close encounter with a snake in her yard as an emergency.

As I write this, we’re had two people post comments saying they wouldn’t consider it an emergency either.

What would you do? My knowledge of snakes is limited to the ditty about “(some color) and yellow will kill a fellow; (some color) and black, venom lack.” We get a lot of all-black snakes in the area where I live and I’m told they are harmless.

I compare this to mushroom hunting. (Stay with me here). I have a pretty good idea which mushrooms are OK to eat which ones aren’t, but I wouldn’t stake my life on it. Same with snakes. I would have a pretty good idea which ones could cause harm and which ones are harmless, but I wouldn’t stake my life on it.

If I was cornered by a large snake, I probably would have called 9-1-1.

BONUS THOUGHT (posted May 27): If we’re not supposed to dial 911 in such a situation, that’s fine. But I must say I have no idea what the non-emergency dispatch number is off the top of my head.

The Crestview Police Department is taking part in a Click It or Ticket seat belt awareness campaign over the next two weeks.

Let me first say this: I’ve worn a seat belt 99.9999 percent of the time since age 3, when my mom announced there was a new law. (I since realized it was her law at the time, but it was a good one).

That said, I don’t believe in laws requiring seat belt use.

I’m not saying I don’t believe in seat belt use. I’m saying I don’t believe the law should require it.

People under the age of 18 should be required to buckle up. After that, if people don’t want to save themselves from themselves, that really shouldn’t be the government’s concern.

Cigarettes appear to be pretty harmful, but we don’t have laws prohibiting people from smoking them.

The CPD is welcome to stop me during the Click It or Ticket campaign. I’ll have my seat belt on.

I would just prefer that the time be spent protecting people from the not-so-nice people in the community; not on protecting people from themselves.

Below is the “response” I got from Sen. Specter in response to my rant in Does He Have Nothing Better To Do, Part I (see below).

A quick summary of what you are about to read: Sen. Specter has time to try to dig up dirt on the New England Patriots — who, last I checked, were not located in Pennsylvania — but he doesn’t have time to respond to anyone outside of Pennsylvania who might have an opinion on the topic.

Is it any wonder our federal government is broken on many levels?

“Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

“I receive a large volume of E-mails, phone calls, faxes and letters every week from concerned citizens like yourself.

‘Unfortunately, due to the high volume of mail, I can only respond if you’re a resident of Pennsylvania.  If you need to find out who your U.S. Senator is please go to www.senate.gov.

“If you are a resident of Pennsylvania, and still recieving this message, it simply means that I need you to use my web form to send your message to me.  Please go to www.specter.senate.gov, click on the link “Contact Info” and then click on “Contact Form”. “