WEEKEND WARRIORS
Good weekend to be a sports fan. Make that a great weekend. After the NCAA tourney ended a few weeks back, it got slow out there for a minute. Baseball is great and all, but it’s a sport that’ll tear your heart out if you let it. End up watching 150 Mets games starting in April, and when they lose in October, it hurts that much more. Plus, what fun is it watching games in the snow? Ah, the price we pay…
But it has been a great start to the NBA Playoffs for me. First, as a Bulls fan, love to see them getting a W to start the series. Here’s a few highlights of other games this weekend:
Nets (W) @ Raptors: Predictably, Vince Carter stunk. I’m past the point of disliking Carter. I just don’t understand why he’s such a good player who blends into the crowd when it comes time for the playoffs. Still, Chris Bosh, who’s quickly developing into one of my favorite players in the League, didn’t look much better. The Nets have a bunch of guys who seem to know how to win on command. That said, I’m interested to see how Toronto fires back tonight. Either way, I see them using this series as a learning tool for next year. (Creativity points, though, for the Raptors fans donning baby bibs for Carter. Nice touch!)
Heat @ Bulls (W): Highlight reel. Seeing Tyrus Thomas block a shot, run down the court and catch an oop? You’ll definitely be seeing that for another two months, regardless of how far the Bulls advance. Oh, and Luol Deng dropping 33 points…Superstar?
Magic @ Pistons (W): Snooze. This is like watching wine age. The Magic clearly don’t have the goods to win this series. Still, Dwight Howard can essentially keep the young Orlando team in games and keep us interested with his barrage of dunks. If nothing else, the general public will know his name by the end of this series.
Jazz @ Rockets (W): I unfortunately missed this one. But I heard it was slow from the beginning. The sports gods smiled down on Peyton Manning out this year. I’m expecting ‘em to do the same for Tracy McGrady.
Wizards @ Cavaliers (W): Did I miss this one on TV? It seemed like the Cavs were on TV every Sunday during the season, but there was very little hoopla around this one. Biggest news was LeBron going down for a minute with a sprained ankle. Oh, and Gilbert Arenas making a stop in the Cavs’ locker room before the game. Funny stuff.
Lakers @ Suns: At halftime, the Suns looked like they were in some serious trouble. But, much like the Mavs/Warriors series, I see the Lakers just hanging around before gracefully bowing out in 6. Kobe can’t do 50 every night, and while I’m not as quick to blame his teammates as others, they just aren’t a very good team.
Nuggets (W) @ Spurs: Allen Iverson. The guy knows how to win big games. That became clear once again. And, while they’re not number one or even number two in the West, doesn’t it seem like everyone is rooting against the Spurs? You guys hate Tim Duncan that much?
Warriors (W) @ Mavericks: Seriously? Loved seeing Baron Davis, (sigh) Stephen Jackson and (who?) Matt Barnes run around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off, but I don’t see it lasting. Don Nelson, their coach, didn’t even sound like he thought they had a legitimate shot. Anything can happen, but I don’t think it will.
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LIL ROMEO TO USC?
Guess I can’t ignore this altogether. For those who don’t know, Master P, Romeo’s dad, had a couple of NBA tryouts in the past and, from what I’ve heard, is a decent baller. Last year, Romeo got himself a nice feature up in SLAM for his own hardwood accomplishments. (Even if most of the story was about P’s role in all of that).
Anyhow, now there’s word that Romeo will be attending USC to play ball in ’08. Actually, the word has been reported everywhere. Do we really care about this that much? USC’s got O.J. Mayo coming in next year, arguably the best high school recruit in the country and a future lottery pick, and there’s bound to be a circus surrounding his arrival. Now, Romeo, the star of (ahem) Beverly Hills High, is up the following year...Yeah, I tried, but I really don't care about this. But props to Mac over at Mass Appeal who watched a full Nickelodeon flick featuring Romeo in honor of his signing!
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CLOTHING THE POOR?
And, finally, I made it out to the Jordan Classic at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night for the annual high school all-star game. No O.J. Mayo. No Kevin Love. Still, there was plenty of folks out to catch the game.
Some casual observations: Why was there no halftime performer this year? (maybe that says something about the quality of music out there right now?)…Sean “Diddy” Combs’s son Justin rushed to the front of the line when Brand Jordan started sling-shotting T-shirts and other gear into the stands. Seriously?…Fabolous made his rounds all night. Literally. Remember the dude in high school who would show up to games just to walk around the gym all night, posting up so you could see his new outfit? That was him…If you’ve never seen MJ in person (I hadn’t), it’s not hard to see why he dominated the league for so many years…The game was pretty low-key, especially for an event being held at the Garden. (What was with all the sappy R&B songs during timeouts?)…
Nets and Raptors, Rockets and Jazz tonight. Enjoy.
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