So many thoughts, so little space...
-- There were few things more painful in sports last week than watching the first three quarters of the NBA All-Star game. I understand that in the NHL and NFL, players are primarily concerned with not being injured, and thus defenses are nowhere to be found. But the NBA has no excuse. These guys refused to play any sort of defense whatsoever until the fourth quarter rolled around. Occasionally one defender would put up his hands to defend a shot, but that was about it. Criminal, greedy, uneducated...now we can tack on lazy to the growing string of glowing adjectives for the NBA and its players.
-- CBS announced that they have signed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a commentator for the NCAA tournament this season. Maybe it's just me, but I think it would be great if the other guys in the booth refused to refer to him as anything but "Murdock," the former Laker center's name in the film classic Airplane!
-- I think that the Simpsons episode where Homer becomes a genius by having a crayon removed from his brain belong among the top-five Simpsons episodes of all time.
-- Two years after moving from Vancouver to Memphis, the Grizzlies are both a) not selling tickets and b) playing horrible basketball. It took less than five years after baseball created the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for rumors to swirl regarding their contraction, so why hasn't the same happened here?
-- I never thought that I would say this, but Nick Horvath has the potential to be a savior for Duke this season. Not so much as a player, where improving freshmen will continue to cut away at his playing time, but rather as a captain. He and Dahntay Jones were both named as captains Monday, and the news couldn't have come soon enough. Chris Duhon has enough to worry about with his own play, and the added stress of being the team's lone captain certainly wasn't helping the situation. Horvath is a vocal leader on both the court and the bench, and head coach Mike Krzyzewski did the right thing by recognizing him as such.
-- The Cameron Crazies this season have been far worse than in the past three years, perhaps more. Cheering this year basically consists of chanting a player's name when he does something good and then clapping five times. Duke basketball fans were once known for their ingenuity, cleverness and, well, craziness. The outfits have continued to be quite elaborate, but the lack of any real originality has really been disappointing. (One notable exception: the fan who was holding up a "Fox Sports sucks" sign at the Clemson game. Props to you.)
-- Shawn Kemp violated the NBA's drug policy for the third time Tuesday, which got me thinking: Remember when he was skinny?
-- There's been a great deal of talk about the "LeBron Lottery," as this year's NBA Draft Lottery has come to be known. Is there any reason why they refuse to actually pull the ping pong balls in front of a television audience, rather than doing it behind closed doors and then just announcing the results?
-- Most addictive song so far this year: DMX's "X Gonna Give It To Ya." Notice that I didn't necessarily say that it's good, just addictive.
-- Hearing that the wrestling team ended its six-year ACC losing streak made me realize one thing: the football team has a long way to go.
-- If Evan from Joe Millionaire doesn't pick Sarah next Monday, I'm going to be really pissed off.
-- I was glad to hear that Carl Franks brought in a talented and promising recruiting class for Duke football next year. Hopefully, whoever is coaching the Blue Devils in 2004 can continue the trend.
Evan Davis is a Trinity senior and senior associate sports editor. His column appears every Wednesday.
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