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Shanoff’s WUC: NBA All-Star 108, Pothole 500

Feb 15, 2010, 1:21 PM UTC

Today’s Calls: NBA All-Stars vs. 108,713 fans, Daytona vs. Potholes, Hannah Kearney vs. Johnny Spillane, Georgetown upset vs. Syracuse upset, Mavericks vs. Wizards, Coach K vs. Nets, Tim Lincecum vs. CC and Felix and More.â†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: What could eclipse a down-to-the-wire 280-point scoring binge by the NBA’s biggest stars?â†µ

â†µâ†µThe fans. â†µ

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â†µâ†µMark Cuban made good on his “everything’s-bigger-in-Texas” boasts about NBA All-Star Weekend by packing in a record-setting 108,713 fans into Cowboys Stadium to watch last night’s game.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd even watching on TV, you could sense that this was big -- on a scale five times bigger than your standard NBA sell-out. It was a spectacle the NBA needed to assert its place back among the “big” sports, to affirm its renaissance. (And to distract you from the nasty labor negotiations.)â†µ

â†µâ†µI love that if a fan wanted to go to the game -- particularly a Mavs fan -- the ticket was there to be had. I’m not saying your seat would have been any good, but at least you could get into the building. It was basketball populism.â†µ

â†µâ†µIt also set a record that the sport will be hard-pressed to top ... at least until the next time the All-Star Game is in Dallas. (I think that Cuban proved that Dallas should be in the regular rotation.)â†µ

â†µâ†µNow, speaking of “everything is bigger”: How did those 100,000 fans like watching Dwyane Wade starring alongside LeBron ...?â†µ

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â†µDaytona 500: It's all about the pothole. Who can't relate to a street with a pothole that messes with traffic? But say this: Because of the ridiculous stoppages to fix the road -- particularly the second one -- the final 30-odd laps of the race were intense. And NASCAR got a close-to-ideal ending with Dale Earnhardt Jr. blazing through the pack to put a final surge on eventual champ (and 1st-time D-500 winner) Jamie McMurray. Still: Fewer folks will remember this as the "McMurray 500" as the "Pothole 500."â†µ

â†µâ†µDanica a dud: The crash merely offered some crazy visuals; she never really challenged the leaders.â†µ

â†µâ†µHot Winter Olympic Action:â†µ
â†µ• Hannah Kearney’s upset gold over Canadian favorite Jennifer Heil in the freestyle skiing women’s moguls final was the win of the weekend. â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Johnny Spillane enters U.S. Olympic lore by becoming the first U.S. athlete to medal in Nordic Combined. â†µ

â†µâ†µ• It was hard for me to get too excited about Apolo Ohno’s record-setting sixth Winter Olympic medal, given that it took a two-skater crash ahead of him in the final turn to put him on the podium.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Yes, watching Sunday’s luge final was freaky, with Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death on Friday in the back of your mind.â†µâ†µ

â†µâ†µ• Hey, Lindsey: How’s the shin feeling?â†µ

â†µâ†µCBB Mania: Saturday was about decisive wins, Sunday about undermining your confidence that you know anything about college basketball, heading into March. Saturday: From Kentucky out-pacing Tennessee to Duke destroying Maryland to Temple throttling Rhodey. (Granted, all wins were at home -- the neutral sites in March are a different story.)â†µ

â†µâ†µSunday? Big East insanity: Louisville -- on the bubble -- went up to Syracuse and beat the Orange, which should make you question everything you thought about the Cardinals not being Tourney-worthy ... or Syracuse being a Final Four-caliber team. And if Georgetown can lose to Rutgers, do they really belong on that short list of Final Four contenders?â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA All-Star Mania: That was the worst dunk contest ever that didn’t involve spinning a wheel. (The D-League’s winning dunk was much better.) There is no more uninspiring “three-peat” championship in sports than Nate Robinson’s dunk titles ... Stephen Curry should be invited to the 3-point contest every year ... Of my pre-weekend picks, at least the Steve Nash “Skills” one worked out.â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Trade Market: The Mavs fleeced the Wizards, who might as well forfeit their remaining games this season under “Tanking.” But it’s not like the Wiz are tanking for Lottery position to try to get John Wall. They are tanking to get under the luxury cap, tacitly acknowledging that a crappy team isn’t worth paying for. (So: Who wants Antawn Jamison?)â†µ

â†µâ†µMeanwhile, the Mavericks get much better -- they replace malcontent Josh Howard with consummate tough guy Caron Butler, who badly needed a new situation. In Brendan Haywood, they get size to throw at Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. And in DeShawn Stevenson, they get a perimeter defender unfazed by the idea of guarding Kobe Bryant.â†µ

â†µâ†µNext up: Is Amare Stoudemire headed for Cleveland? That would be a huge deal -- but is it big enough for the Cavs to topple the Magic? It’s not like Amare is better than Dwight Howard, and the Cavs still lack the “stretch-four” to keep pace with Rashard Lewis. But it will make LeBron happy ... for now.â†µ

â†µâ†µFrank Thomas retires: I can’t imagine him not making the Hall of Fame almost immediately -- although with this group of voters, you never know. I was living in Chicago when Thomas came up and took baseball by storm, so I’m partial to him. I also think that if you believe -- like I do -- that Thomas never came close to PEDs, then he might be the greatest non-tainted hitter of our generation.â†µ

â†µâ†µCoach K to Nets farce: Why does ANYONE think that Coach K would want to leave Duke for the Nets? (If I was the Russian billionaire and didn’t have to worry about a salary cap for my coach/GM, I would offer Coach K $15 million a year to do both roles, then dare him to not take it. Which he still probably wouldn’t.)â†µ

â†µâ†µTim Lincecum gets paid: 2Y/$23M, with both sides avoiding arbitration. An average of $11.5M per year is still a bargain, if you compare what he is making to what, say, CC Sabathia or Felix Hernandez is making.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: Too early for a 2010 NFL Power Rating? Never.â†µ

â†µâ†µDan 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. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff. â†µ

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