Now that the Packers' season has come to an inglorious end, it's time to turn my undivided attention to the sport that I like best of all.

Basketball.

I have long been convinced that the best athletes in the world are basketball players. Think of it -- they need size, strength, speed, coordination, stamina and intelligence. No other sport demands all of that.

But, there is a lot of basketball. I mean a whole lot. There's basketball on television, in person, on the radio and on the Internet. That's an infinite amount of basketball and I have a finite amount of time. What that means, of course, is that I've got to make some decisions.

For me, the battle is over which basketball is more enjoyable -- the college brand or the NBA.

In Wisconsin, it would seem that this argument is a hands-down winner for colleges. With Marquette and Wisconsin, we have two of the best and most passionate programs in the country. Toss in UW-Green Bay and UWM and you get a little added fanaticism.

You compare these teams and games with the Bucks, and the easy way out is to claim there is no comparison, with the college game winning easily.

I'm not so sure.

I'm going to grant a couple of things about college basketball. The fans, clad in school colors, are absolutely nuts. They cheer from the introductions until the final buzzer. They love their team, win lose or draw.

I'll also grant the charm of college basketball. The little David slaying the mighty Goliath in the tournament. The way the players line up to shake hands after the game. Pep bands. Wholesome cheerleaders.

College basketball has its drawbacks, though.

You have slow guys and short guys and uncoordinated guys and guys who can't jump. You've got polls where people who don't play decide which team is the best.

You have fans that have absolutely no standards about the game. They cheer no matter how bad a team is. College basketball is also a coach's game. It's becoming less and less about the players as the babies declare for the NBA.

In the NBA, you have excellence that is unparalleled. These guys are everything that a professional athlete ought to be. Sure, they get paid tons of money and it seems obscene. All professional athletes make obscene amounts of money.

In the NBA, you might get an upset or two during the regular season, but once the playoffs roll around, the best team almost always wins. I like that emphasis on skill. You don't see any kids on NBA teams who made the squad because they worked hard and the coach liked them. In the NBA, you've got to be able to play.

We also need a word here about the fans.

NBA fans are generally people who have standards. They know good basketball from bad basketball. When they are watching bad basketball, they sit on their hands, unlike their college counterparts.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, like an NBA arena rocking when the home team stages a stirring comeback, seizing momentum and providing thrills and chills. I've seen lots of sporting events in my life, and nothing matches the thrills I've seen in NBA arenas.

Cheering in the NBA is genuine, a response to the game. In college they cheer when the TV cameras are on or the pep band plays a fight song.

The other thing that's amazing is the speed of the NBA game. The difference between the speed in the NBA and the college game is like the difference in speed between the men's game and women's game at the college level. It's a chasm.

Don't blink at an NBA game or get up to go to the bathroom or get another beer. You might miss the most significant play of the night.

People say the NBA stars don't try. Well, I think those people don't have any idea what they're talking about. Part of the excellence of the NBA is that they make it look easy.

There was a time in my life when I traveled with the Bucks. Night in and night out, another hotel, a strange city, and an arena that seemed cold and unfriendly. And those athletes hustled and busted their butts every single night. The problem, again, is that they make it look easy. They are almost too good.

Think of that college kid who runs around like a chicken with his head cut off. He dives for loose balls; he is a step late on picks and gets thrown to the floor. He has skinned knees and elbows and is maybe missing a tooth. What he's doing is making up for a lack of talent.

In the NBA they glide. They float. They are like Cassius Clay or Mikhail Baryshnikov with a ball in their hands.

One final thing...

People always say that these college players are such good kids, going to class, loving their mother and helping their teammates. These same people say that the NBA is filled with nothing but thugs.

Well college kids are just that -- kids. The big stars on campus know they are only going to be around for a year or two and then they're gone. They expect the school and its fans to give them their due while present for a class or two.

And for every NBA star with a reputation as a thug, I can show you a dozen players who help kids learn to read, who build homes for the homeless and who spend their own money to feed the hungry. There may be no professional league that has a more active and compelling program of community relations. They don't shout about it from the rooftops, either.

I like college basketball. When there is a choice, give me the NBA, anytime.