How do you know its Tuesday?  You're roused out of bed by a screeching fire alarm...

  • I cannot remember HBO Sports making a bad documentary, but Magic vs. Bird is one of their best.  Set the DVR and learn something about basketball history...
  • Today's And-1 mix tape generation thinks they play with style.  They have no idea.  Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played with more flare than anyone in the current game.  They never sacrificed an ounce of offensive efficiency, but they still understood their responsibility to entertain and help a dying league. 
  • To this day, the NBA has more race issues than any other American league.  The players are mostly black, which was the case in the 80's as well, but the fans are still mostly white.  While Larry Bird was "The Great White Hope," Magic was "The Cosby Show," universally appealing.  He did not transcend racism; he understood commercialism.  After Michael Jordan took commercialism to new levels, the NBA hit a lull.  Allen Iverson's generation was "too black" for the fanbase, so the term "thuggish" became the racist buzz word of today's white fans and journalists.  Now, the NBA's popularity is rising because LeBron James and Kobe Bryant crossover all races and creeds, but Carmelo "Don't Snitch" Anthony, who once threw a punch in a game (gasp!) does not get to be a part of the elite club.
  • Speaking of throwing punches, violence was okay in the NBA when Kevin McHale was clothes-lining Kurt Rambis.  They are just gritty, hard-nosed, blue-collar boys.  When J.R. Smith and Nate Robinson square off, they are "thugs from the 'hood." 
  • I just missed the Magic/Bird era.  When I saw Larry, he was a broken down shooter.  When I saw Magic, he was a back to the basket point guard.  I grew up on Michael Jordan's NBA, which was great, but it was all about Michael.  He had no peers.  The 80's NBA had star power, but they had great teams, which meant great games.
  • The documentary details the split personalities of Earvin "Magic" Johnson.  By some twist of fate, I met both Earvin and "Magic."  When I was a kid, my mother did PR for a toy company that made "Magic Johnson's Double Dunk."  It was one of those games with two little hoops and you both shot until somebody made five.  Toy Fair is an annual event in Manhattan that showcases new toys and I got to play "Double Dunk" against Magic Johnson in front of the media.  The date was February 10th, 1992.  How do I know that?  It was the Monday after the All-Star game when Magic won the MVP in his return to action after announcing that he was HIV-positive. 
  • As the game counted down for us to begin, I was convinced that I was going to beat him.  I was nine at the time, but I had played this game many more times than he had.  Sure enough, as we go to take our first shots, "Magic" swats my ball into the cameras to the roar of laughter in the room.  I did not realize that you could play defense, but I also did not know the type of competitor that I was playing against.  "Magic" entertained and won.
  • After the game, "Magic" was taken to a separate room.  To this day, I can vividly remember the scene when I walked in.  "Magic" had been left in the other room as Earvin sat exhausted at the table with his head in his hands.  He cordially signed my basketball card, but there was no entertainment.  He understood the gravity of the death sentence he had recently been given and he was preparing for the fight of a lifetime.
  • On a list of crazy things that have happened in my lifetime, "Magic" Johnson NOT dying of AIDS ranks right near the top. 
  • As for Larry Bird, he was a weird dude, but he owned that, which is the kind of honesty that you do not get from many athletes, who understand how much money there is to be made by presenting a commercial image. 
  • You could lose a lot of money betting on Gonzaga this time of year.  For all the publicity that Mark Few gets, he has a terrible track record in March.  Usually, they win the West Coast conference tournament, but last night, they were flattened by St. Mary's.  Do yourself a favor, don't put the Bulldogs past the Sweet 16. 
  • Siena and Old Dominion are good enough to win two games, let alone one in the NCAA tourney.  This could be a great year for mid-majors.  Seeds 3-6 will be loaded with overrated, ripe for the upsetting BCS teams.
  • The Big East tournament starts today.  It ends sometime around the Sweet 16.
  • In case you have not heard the name, Braves OF Jason Heyward is baseball's next superstar.  Yesterday, he hit a ball that has not landed yet.  While Stephen Strasburg is headed to the minors after Spring Training, Heyward looks like he's winning a place in the opening day lineup. 
  • Aroldis Chapman hit 100 mph on the gun in his first Spring outing Monday.  The left-handed Cuban defector supposedly lacks control, command and secondary pitches.  Maybe so, but the Reds investment looks sound.  At worst, he'll be Billy Wagner.
  • Joe Nathan is out for the season, which opens the door in the AL Central.
  • With NASCAR ratings in decline, the execs gave the drivers a license to wreck in the offseason.  Over the weekend, Carl Edwards exacted revenge on Brad Keselowski by crashing him out of the race.  Of course, when cars ram each other at 195 mph, there's no telling what will happen.  What did happen?  Keselowski went airborne.  Now, NASCAR is in a spot where they cannot support this type of behavior, but they're hypocrites if they punish it.