Fan-tastic? Only baseball's All-Star Game is close
Commentary by JOE BIDDLE
Staff Writer
All-Star games have become little more than network filler.
The NBA All-Star Game needs to take a hike. They took their Sunday best to Philadelphia, a city that eats its own.
There is nothing I like more than to see NBA players race up and down the court unimpeded, trying to concoct their next dunk or launch a 3-ball from a Pizza Hut parking lot in Vineland, N.J.
Defense? Iraq played more defense in the Gulf War.
Worse than watching the NBA All-Star Game are all the festivities surrounding the game. The Dunk Contest. Please. We have already been through the Rolodex of the world's greatest dunkers. These guys today are nothing but cold leftovers.
The 3-Point Contest? What intrigue to empty a rack of balls from one spot, then move around the 3-point line until all the racks are drained. Bonus balls are worth more. Just like in real games.
The NBA game is a hangers-on shelter. From P Diddy to Shaq Daddy, they were all there. Shaq was sitting out with an arthritic toe. He appeared comfortable, however, in his role as world's largest clothes horse.
It was painful seeing Michael Jordan miss an uncontested dunk. Michael yukked it up later, offering a thought process that lasted longer than the state income-tax issue.
It was also fitting that fans chose to boo MVP Kobe Bryant, a homeboy who played his high school ball in Philly. They booed him during introductions, the game and when he was given MVP hardware.
I guess they are still irate that Bryant skipped college and went straight to the Lakers. What did they expect? Bryant to hone his skills for a couple of years at Villanova? Or learn to play a match-up zone at Temple?
I will give the NBA All-Star one thing. It beats the NFL Pro Bowl, which is totally useless.
To follow what is arguably the best Super Bowl in history with a cheesy Pro Bowl game that offered no redeeming value was so NFL.
Why not vote on the team, send the players and their families to Hawaii for a week? You want competition? Have a tanning contest. A closest-to-the-hole competition at Kapalua. A hula contest for the wives and/or girlfriends.
As one former NFL player said, the players don't get serious until the final 10 minutes, when they realize the winning team gets more money and they can use the extra cash to help defray the shopping trips their wives and/or girlfriends have taken during the week.
The NHL All-Star Game has taken a page from the NBA All-Star Game. They have now added skill contests before the game.
This year's game was lost between the Super Bowl shuffle and Winter Olympics. I'm not sure it was ever played, was it?
The only All-Star Game with true grit is baseball.
The best starting pitchers in each league work an inning or two to see how many of the top hitters they can mow down from the other league.
Give me Roger Clemens bringing heat in Barry Bonds' kitchen. Or Randy Johnson staring over the top of his glove as he gets ready to uncork against Derek Jeter.
Pride is on the line. There is no backing off and letting P Diddy dunk on you.
Joe Biddle is a Tennessean sports columnist and can be reached at [edited by taoist for Jack].
Commentary by JOE BIDDLE
Staff Writer
All-Star games have become little more than network filler.
The NBA All-Star Game needs to take a hike. They took their Sunday best to Philadelphia, a city that eats its own.
There is nothing I like more than to see NBA players race up and down the court unimpeded, trying to concoct their next dunk or launch a 3-ball from a Pizza Hut parking lot in Vineland, N.J.
Defense? Iraq played more defense in the Gulf War.
Worse than watching the NBA All-Star Game are all the festivities surrounding the game. The Dunk Contest. Please. We have already been through the Rolodex of the world's greatest dunkers. These guys today are nothing but cold leftovers.
The 3-Point Contest? What intrigue to empty a rack of balls from one spot, then move around the 3-point line until all the racks are drained. Bonus balls are worth more. Just like in real games.
The NBA game is a hangers-on shelter. From P Diddy to Shaq Daddy, they were all there. Shaq was sitting out with an arthritic toe. He appeared comfortable, however, in his role as world's largest clothes horse.
It was painful seeing Michael Jordan miss an uncontested dunk. Michael yukked it up later, offering a thought process that lasted longer than the state income-tax issue.
It was also fitting that fans chose to boo MVP Kobe Bryant, a homeboy who played his high school ball in Philly. They booed him during introductions, the game and when he was given MVP hardware.
I guess they are still irate that Bryant skipped college and went straight to the Lakers. What did they expect? Bryant to hone his skills for a couple of years at Villanova? Or learn to play a match-up zone at Temple?
I will give the NBA All-Star one thing. It beats the NFL Pro Bowl, which is totally useless.
To follow what is arguably the best Super Bowl in history with a cheesy Pro Bowl game that offered no redeeming value was so NFL.
Why not vote on the team, send the players and their families to Hawaii for a week? You want competition? Have a tanning contest. A closest-to-the-hole competition at Kapalua. A hula contest for the wives and/or girlfriends.
As one former NFL player said, the players don't get serious until the final 10 minutes, when they realize the winning team gets more money and they can use the extra cash to help defray the shopping trips their wives and/or girlfriends have taken during the week.
The NHL All-Star Game has taken a page from the NBA All-Star Game. They have now added skill contests before the game.
This year's game was lost between the Super Bowl shuffle and Winter Olympics. I'm not sure it was ever played, was it?
The only All-Star Game with true grit is baseball.
The best starting pitchers in each league work an inning or two to see how many of the top hitters they can mow down from the other league.
Give me Roger Clemens bringing heat in Barry Bonds' kitchen. Or Randy Johnson staring over the top of his glove as he gets ready to uncork against Derek Jeter.
Pride is on the line. There is no backing off and letting P Diddy dunk on you.
Joe Biddle is a Tennessean sports columnist and can be reached at [edited by taoist for Jack].
