IN THE SPORTS SECTION of today’s print version of the New York Times (the online version of the article lists Friday as the publication date), in an article about the Golden State Warriors’ chances in the NBA playoffs, sportswriter Marc Stein has penned the following two sentences:

No one, mind you, is ever going to feel sorry for a juggernaut like the Warriors, after two championships in the past three seasons and given the talent Myers has assembled. That’s especially true when San Antonio has only had the All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard in uniform for nine games all season and when the two biggest threats to the Warriors besides Houston — Oklahoma City and Utah — are on the Rockets’ side of the playoff bracket.

So according to Mr. Stein, the three teams with the best chance of defeating the second-seed Warriors are the first-seed Houston Rockets, the fourth-seed Oklahoma City Thunder, and the fifth-seed Utah Jazz. But what team, you might ask, is the third seed in the NBA’s difficult Western Conference? What is the identity of this team Mr. Stein has ignored.

It is the Portland Trail Blazers.

“I contacted one of the editors this morning to ask if I could retaliate in print. His response: ‘Knock yourself out.’”

I’m not decided yet on whether not bothering to even mention the Blazers is somehow journalistically sound (don’t mention a team you’re not writing about) or just a total dick move (ignore the team from Portland.) But here’s the thing: I don’t care.

I only came upon Stein’s article because, as you may or probably don’t know, I occasionally lower myself to reading the business section of the New York Times. Because the business section is filled with idle speculation, yesterday’s news, and pointless puff pieces, it often shares the same physical section (I’m sure there is a technical name for physical sections of the newspaper, but I am not wasting time looking it up) of the newspaper as the sports section—because the sports section, especially in the New York Times, is also filled with idle speculation, yesterday’s news, and pointless puff pieces.

Insulting the Portland Trail Blazers by acting as if they don’t exist and are less of a threat than the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz is certainly something a writer at an east coast newspaper would think is totally fine and will not result in any repercussions. Because of this, I contacted one of the editors at this artsy-literary blogazine this morning to point out the insult and to ask if I could retaliate in print. His response:

“Knock yourself out.”

So it is done. Retaliatory anti-New York Times articles will begin appearing in this space shortly. Because Stein is obviously not much of a writer or thinker, I consider his editors (if there are any) to be acting as enablers and therefore complicit in the insult, and I reserve the right to critique not just Stein, but the Times editorial staff and Times coverage in general.

I didn’t want to do this. Marc Stein started this. So I’m sorry, but: it’s on.

Pete Tothero is the magazine’s former sports editor. He has become more and more interested in the myriad ways contemporary American society attempts to make individuals feel weird and alone unless they do what they are told.