NBA All-Star Game Dallas 2010

There was an article in the Dallas News that said something about Dirk. It was titled, "True to All-Star nature, Dirk Nowitzki's quiet with 22 points" (click here for the article while it lasts). Dirk opened the game with two attempts, two made, four points. It was a nice gesture to have the hometown hero start it off right. No pressure. Fast forward to the end of the game with something like 5 seconds left and who should have gotten the last attempt for the West? Yes, Dirk...in my opinion and just about everyone else's. Who took it? That dumb ass Carmelo! Why? Cuz he's a dumb ass! The game is on the line, the All-Star hometown hero has 22 points, hit or miss he should have finished the game just as he started it -- being the one to take the shot! Just my two cents but I think Dirk would have either tied it with a two-pointer or hit the three-point shot. Either way, I'm sure he wouldn't have come up short like that Carmelo guy.

So, onto the critique of the All-Star game.

If you Google the 2010 NBA All-Star game you'll get results that say what I posted as the title. What most people don't actually know (or probably don't care) is that the All-Star game was actually played in Arlington, Texas which is about 20-30 minutes outside of Dallas and Fort Worth but in between the two metroplexes.

Why then do they bill it as "in Dallas" or the logo even says, "Dallas 2010"? Is it because anybody outside say a 50-mile radius of DFW doesn't know where the hell Arlington is? Probably. But if I were the city of Arlington, I'd be feeling kind of gypped because a venue like this could have put them on the map...if only temporarily. The only thing(s) that were held in Dallas, mainly at the Dallas Convention Center, was the Friday-Saturday preliminary stuff like the celebrity game and jam session.

Anyway, semantics aside, I wanted to share my thoughts on the game. In a word, "LAME!"

I believe I've confessed a few times before that I really don't watch that much basketball anymore. I occasionally catch a few Mavs games but I don't make it a point to know what's going on in the NBA realm. That being said, as someone who isn't into basketball all that much, I think they could and should have made the game a little more interesting.

Let's go back one day before the game for the slam dunk contest. In two words, "VERY LAME!"

It was pretty cool how this 5'9" guy named Nate Robinson could dunk like Spud Webb (although I think Spud was much better) but there was no style, no grace, no form...no pizazz! It was actually pretty boring and I think the whole crowd (celebrity and non-celebrity alike) agreed. There were no "Oos," "Ahs," or "Ohs." As a non-fanatic, I should have been awed and wowed but I wasn't. Instead, I was almost yearning to see the Winter Olympics' curling competition as it would provide more excitement.

There's a reason they have basically nobodies in this competition because they don't want the really well-known players to get hurt doing something stupid like showboating and breaking a wrist or hand which meant they'd be out of the regular season games for however long.

I really wanted to see something like the following:

• the Superman - although to me not technically a dunk but as high as he was and just the pure showmanship made it awesome
• the 720 - this was pretty cool and the height he got
• the Vince Carter dunks
• Any dunks from this clip

I think you get the point. I think the difference between the dunks in the past and the 2010 participants is the height the players got allowed them to do just about anything they wanted while in the air. They seemed to be able to palm the ball much better as well.

Now back to the game, short and sweet, hopefully.

The All-Star game is supposed to be the showboating event of the year. It's the one time that whatever you do, hit or miss, win or lose, it doesn't really matter in the overall scheme of the NBA season. Sure you miss an arrogant shot or dunk here and there but who cares, it's supposed to be entertaining. What I saw was not that entertaining. There should have been almost nothing but slam dunks, alley oops, behind-the-back passes, and the like. Out of the first two periods, there was much excitement left to be desired.

The half time show was kind of lame too. I wasn't impressed with Shakira or Alicia Keys at all. Usher was good but I still wasn't given that BAM! feeling that would make me remember them after the night was over. In fact, I had to Google it to find out who did the halftime show because I just barely could remember Shakira.

I didn't get to catch the 3rd period and most of the 4th because I had to play taxi to some out-of-town relatives that drove from Illinois on Friday to attend only the game on Sunday. Their transmission was going out and they didn't want to drive it too much before they attempted to make the drive home on Monday.

Anyway, I did make it back just in time for the last couple of minutes of the 4th period and you already read my opinion on that at the start of this post.

So, the game has been done for a few days. More disappointment has settled in with the Mavericks losing to the Oklahoma Thunder City yesterday. I didn't even know where the hell the Thunder played out of much less that Oklahoma had an NBA team. To me, the Thunder is like the Toronto Raptors or Memphis Grizzlies: teams that "real" teams should never lose to or teams you never hear of making the playoffs. The Thunder was good enough to kick the Mavs' asses...which is utterly ridiculous whether the Mavs had new players or not. There's no excuse.

Days after the All-Star game has been completed, the only thing that stands out in the news is that the East won (which I hear is the norm) and it had a record attendance (which is a no-brainer since the Cowboys Stadium holds like a 100,000 people. It should set a record since no stadium comes close...yet).

Finally I think the city of Arlington did a great job hosting the event. While being taxi boy, I must say that there were a lot of police and security around the venue that people were able to safely walk around the stadium and the surrounding streets seemingly without fear of being threatened. They were very helpful to a few of the driver-bys that I saw as well as the pedestrians needing to get across the street. I was also surprised by the drivers around the area. They didn't do anything stupid like cut people off, speeding unnecessarily, or just being plain stupid. I truly believe that the city of Irving/Dallas would not have done as well as a job.

Okay, that is my take on the 2010 All-Star game as seen from the eyes of a driver-by and TV watcher.