Shanoff’s Wake-Up Call: Shaq vs. Kobe Still Rules

By Dan Shanoff
Today’s Calls: Shaq vs. Kobe, Kelvin Sampson vs. Indiana, Mike Bibby vs. Pau Gasol, Drake vs. Expectations, Coach K vs. Roy Williams, Tiger Woods vs. the Field, Matt Walsh vs. the NFL, Miguel Tejada vs. David Ortiz, Hank Aaron vs. the Haters and More!
The Opening Pitch: Tonight’s Lakers-Suns matchup is the NBA’s Game of the Year.
It is Shaq’s debut with the Suns, which would be a must-see on its own.
[img=http://i.tsn.com/i/photos/20080220/86890.jpg]
It is Shaq vs. Kobe, which Kobe is trying to play down, but we all know is the best individual rivalry in the NBA over the past decade.
It is Shaq vs. Pau Gasol, matching up the two (literally) biggest players in the last month’s “Big Three” NBA trade extravaganza.
It matches up two of the few real NBA title contenders in the West.
It’s a litmus test for the Shaqified Suns. It’s a litmus test for the new-look Lakers on the road.
And it’s a litmus test for how much draw the NBA has for casual fans in the regular season: If they don’t care tonight, they never will.
Kelvin Sampson says, NOW try and fire me. He leads Indiana to a huge win over sizzling intrastate rival Purdue. Even that might not be enough to save his job (nor should it be).
Everyone off the Drake bandwagon! The Bulldogs were shut out over the final 5 minutes in a 1-point loss at home to Bradley.
Mike Bibby’s debut for the Hawks was a dud: 5 points (1/5 FG shooting) in 16 minutes in a 29-point loss to the Lakers, who were led by their own midseason acquisition, Gasol, who had 23 in his debut in front of the Staples faithful.
(Meanwhile, no Bibby, no problem for the Kings: Sacto beat the Blazers, behind new starting PG Beno Udrih’s 6 assists.)
In a couple of intriguing games between playoff-quality teams: KG played 21 benign minutes (4 points, 7 shots, 0 assists) in a Celtics loss in Denver ... The Magic got only 8 and 8 from “Superman,” but still went into Detroit and snapped the Pistons’ 10-game win streak ... LeBron’s triple-double (26 pts./13 reb./11 ast.) was irrelevant in a Rockets W in Cleveland (the Rockets are the NBA’s New York Giants: 9 straight road wins!)... Stud: Deron Williams (29 pts., 12 ast.), who paced Utah past Golden State.
(Lost in the hype over Shaq’s debut in the Lakers-Suns game, Jason Kidd likely will be making his Mavs debut tonight on the same New Orleans court where he put on his Eastern Conference finale on Sunday.)
Coach K vs. Roy Williams: If you hate both Duke and UNC, it’s hard to take a side in this silly slap-fight between coaching rivals. K said Duke doesn’t discuss injuries “unlike other schools,” which got Roy all huffy because K was alluding to UNC’s incessant whining about its injury problems. Really: Give me Bruce Pearl and John Calipari.
Golf: Match Play Mania! I have never understood why this event hasn’t caught on nationally -- it’s a bracket, people! If someone shows you a bracket, you should automatically be intrigued! As far as I’m concerned, this tournament should be a Major. Where are the office pools? (Tiger is my pick to win, even though he choked in the “Swing 16” a year ago to Nick O’Hern.)
Suns and Nuggets to play an outdoor game in October: I love this idea, if only for its novelty and the spiritual association with basketball’s roots as an outdoor game of the playgrounds.
(Considering that the NHL’s outdoor game in Buffalo on New Year’s Day was the best -- and most well received -- NHL gimmick since before the strike, this will be a huge event.)
Matt Walsh vs. the NFL, Cont’d: Walsh wants to be indemnified against the NFL (or anyone else) suing him into oblivion, no matter what he says; the NFL thinks that is unreasonable.
I side with Walsh over the “truthful” clause: No matter what Walsh might reveal, the NFL could easily just say, “Hmmm: Nah, he couldn’t be telling the truth” (which I’m sure is the plan).
NFL: Franchised! Dallas Clark (Colts TE), Terrell Suggs (Ravens LB), Jordan Gross (Panthers RT).
Miguel Tejada goes the avoidance route about steroids: “I can’t really talk about that situation.”
Tejada is under investigation for possibly lying to federal investigators in 2005 when he told them he never used performance-enhancing drugs, which unfortunately makes this situation a little trickier than Andy Pettitte’s.
Everyone else though should learn from Pettitte -- own up to it, ask for forgiveness and move on!
Spring Training: David Ortiz’s knee seems fine, but let’s not mistake a few BP swings in February for big at-bats down the stretch in September.
“Havana Marlins”: One of the first things I thought of when I heard Fidel Castro was stepping down in Cuba.
(Or, at least, Florida playing half their home games in Havana; who needs a new stadium when you have access to a new market?)
You all know I’m not an NHL person, but I recognize a superlative performance when I see it: The Canadiens, arguably the greatest team in hockey history, pulled off their biggest comeback in franchise history -- 5 goals, in a wild 6-5 win over the Rangers.
The Last Word: Hank Aaron. “It’s unfortunate for baseball, but baseball has been through some tough times ... It went through a lot of things and survived. It’s going to survive this, too.”
Dan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com.
↵