Monday, February 21, 2011

Feb 2/21 (Presidential) Quickie

Kobe wanted to own that All-Star Game, and he did. I'm trying to figure out my favorite moment: His baseline, feel-like-I'm-20-again dunk or his breakaway slam in front of a desperate LeBron, followed by a butt-slap and a smirk that said, "I still got it."

Rihanna mania: Based on my Twitter feed, I've got to be the only one who thought Rihanna was just OK. Certainly not amazing. When your standard is "But it was better than Black Eyed Peas at the Super Bowl!" (or "Heh heh: Short skirt!), I can understand the enthusiasm.

All in all, NBA All-Star Weekend was a huge success.

*Bieber in the Celebrity game was an event -- even if you hate Bieber, you were kind of curious.

*The Saturday night event -- headlined by the dunk contest -- was the most-watched NBA All-Star Saturday Night EVER.

*And the game itself was an entertaining romp dominated by the elder stateman of the league (Kobe) and its best player (LeBron, who had a triple-double).

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Carmelo: Nothing has changed since yesterday morning, except that the Nuggets have asked the Knicks for even more (Mozgov), knowing that the Knicks (or, more precisely, owner James Dolan, advised by Isiah Thomas) will do it if they think there's a chance that Carmelo wants money (meaning the Nets) more than love (the Knicks).

Supposedly, Carmelo will decide by the end of today whether he is OK taking the Nets money and sucking for the next three years (plus the rest of 2011); then again, it's not like he's winning a title with the Knicks over the next three years, either.

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Daytona: 20-year-old Trevor Bayne wins, entirely unexpectedly. I ended up watching 180 of the 200 laps with my 4-year-old, who was fairly mesmerized and asked a lot of questions. He identified with the two brands he recognized -- Cheerios (Bowyer in the 33 car) and M&Ms (Busch in the 18 car), settling on Cheerios as his car, because it was near the front for most of the race... right up until the final few laps, when Bowyer was involved in a crash and his car was KO'ed. Gabe and I were both disappointed; it was unsatisfying to sit there for 3 hours only to have your car not even get a chance to make it happen in the final laps. But Bayne as a storyline is terrific -- the kid isn't even a Sprint Cup driver, but his reputation is secure for decades.

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Lots going on at Quickish today. Please check it out (repeatedly!). It's not just about Carmelo -- promise.

-- D.S.

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