WELL THAT WAS RANDOM: David DuPree, basketball expert, relationships guru:

germany: david, my boy-friend is absolutely crazy about basketball: magazines, pay-per-view, hip-hop music and of course he plays himself. now it's that thing, we had a weekend-trip planned for saturday and now his coach called yesterday that a game is re-scheduled for that day. what am i gonna do about it? we are both working and he spends his rare time in the gym. can you give me a hint what can i do? thanx, D

David DuPree: D --
I think you need to let him know that you don't want to tell him what to do and you do't want to nag him, but you want to take that weekend trip. You sound like someone who doesn't ask for much and it sounds like you have made a lot of sacrifices to accommodate your boyfriend. I don't want to start anything between you, but he needs to at least put you on the same scale as going to the gym. In my experience, the longer you let him get away with tat kind of stuff the harder it is going to be to get him to change. There is always a middle ground and a scheduled weekend getaway should take precedent over a re-scheduled game (unless he's a pro and it's his job). If he does go on the trip with you, don't let him tell you he did it for you. He has to want to do it for the both of you and do it because he wants to be with you and he cares about you. Don't let him tell you he's doing you a favor. Good luck.

This he does without breaking a sweat in the midst of a determined basketball chat. I love DuPree, and hate myself for forgetting to check in on the USA Today basketbal section more often. He's the great below-the-radar American basketball commentator in the pages of America's great below-the-radar paper. If I had more money I'd be getting the USA Today in my driveway every day, and the Financial Times for that matter. Yes I would. But this is, you know, an insolvent republic.