The Week That Was

The NBA held its All Star festivities this past weekend. I wish I could give you some great recount of all of the skills competitions and the game itself but I watched very little. I have the dunk contest DVR'd but it was on Valentine's Day so there was no chance to watch it. I saw Nate Robinson sorta jump over Dwight Howard's back but haven't seen the whole thing. Nate is now being called Krytptonate, which is a lame nickname anyway but I also don't remember the real Superman willingly allowing Krytponite to be forced on him so the nickname makes no sense.

The West beat the East last night by a lot of points. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were named Co-MVPs. Both had good numbers but the whole thing seemed contrived to me, like the media just collaborated to name them co-MVP's so they could have a somewhat interesting story to write about today. I used to get excited for the NBA All Star Game but it just isn't the same to me anymore. They usually show some of those All Star Games from the late 80's and early 90's and the guys actually played somewhat hard in those. In this one with about 2 minutes left everyone decided to stop playing defense and let guys try to show off. It was entertaining to watch LeBron audition for next year's dunk contest but it's hard to get excited about something that the players themselves don't really care about.

Brett Favre retired again and is promising that this is really the end. I actually believe him this time as he ended the season so miserably, much different than the year before where he was a win away from the Super Bowl. For much of my younger life I hated Favre, because he played for the Packers and was responsible for eliminating my favorite team, the 49ers, from the playoffs on countless occasions. Later in his career, as the Niners faded I grew to like Favre. I always liked the passion he played the game with and also the reckless abandon he displayed. As a fan I care, and I like watching the guys care as much as I do. My biggest pet peeve is guys laughing after a loss or generally looking disinterested. You never got that out of Favre and for that I appreciated him.

North Carolina asserted their ACC dominance this week, crushing Duke at Cameron Indoor, and then holding off a game Miami team last night. Ty Lawson was the story all week for Carolina, he was unstoppable Wednesday at Duke and then last night, despite being very ill, nailed huge 3 pointer after 3 pointer to give the Tar Heels their ninth straight win. Unless Carolina goes into a complete swoon in the last few weeks they should have a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament all but locked up.

George Mason is consistent in their inconsistency. Namely, the are an atrocious team on the road, and a team that looks like it could compete with anyone at home. Thursday night, Mason was dominated by lowly Delaware, then on Homecoming on Saturday they dominated the first place team in the CAA, Northeastern. Mason is tied for third in the CAA with Drexel, whom they play at home Wednesday. They are within one game of first place VCU and Northeastern. Mason could finish first, or they could finish as low as seventh. It will be a critical few weeks for Mason, as the goal is to finish in the top four and get a first round bye in the CAA Tournament.