How do Presidents celebrate this day?  Is Bill Clinton getting breakfast in bed from Janet Reno right now?

  • 108,000 people were in a building that was hosting the All-Star game yesterday.  However, judging by the quietest crowd at any event in recent history, only 2,000 could actually see the game.  I've heard vigils that were more raucous.  I could pick out individual people clapping.
  • The game was alright...I guess.  I'm always struck by how much more impressive LeBron James is than even his fellow all-stars.  He never fails to stand out in a crowd. 
  • Since the 2008 Olympics, there's a major "cool kids table" going on with James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and the rest. 
  • And how about that dunk contest...
  • Fans and media should have to take a class on cyclical trends.  The dunk contest is not dead.  It's certainly no more dead than when Freddy Jones was the star of All-Star Saturday night.  When someone with athleticism and imagination puts their name in the hat, it will be cool.  Otherwise, we get to see Shannon Brown do alley-oops...regular alley-oops. 
  • My Lakers buddy was one of the ring leaders of the Shannon Brown hype campaign.  Living in Los Angeles, we all considered it a foregone conclusion that he would walk away with the trophy thanks to the Lakers media posse that talks up Brown like he's Vince Carter.  He can jump, but apparently, he has the creativity of a Marty Schottenheimer offense.
  • I don't watch makeover shows, but I have a wife.  Gerald Wallace needs to consider a makeover or a wife.
  • "The Rooster" did not crow, but I enjoyed watching Paul Pierce win if only because he showed that competitiveness trumps talent.  Steph Curry will win that trophy two or three times before he's done.
  • The "old guys" for the shooting stars event should exclusively be TNT employees.  Kenny Smith and Chris Webber participated, but the other two teams needed to be captained by Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller.  Mic everyone up and they'll talk a ton of trash.  Sounds entertaining to me.  It will be like the H.O.R.S.E. competition, but we'll actually see a few made shots.
  • Deron Williams should have been called for palming the basketball in the point guard competition.  There are rules here Deron, "this isn't Vietnam."
  • Is the Daytona 500 track maintained by "the city"?  Who do they blame for their potholes?
  • I watched about 11 seconds of the race, but I did see the interview with the winner, Jamie McMurray, at the end.  He seemed truly humbled by the experience.
  • During a moment of Winter Olympics delusion on Saturday, I started thinking that short-track speedskating could be a legitimate sport in this country.  It's basically car racing on ice.  The finishes are always close, it's fast paced, violent and unpredictable.  Plus, they have a marketable, although not charismatic, American star to work around in Apolo Anton Ohno.  After coming to my senses, I would still argue that the Winter X Games should add it.  It's plenty violent.  Did you see the video of young American J.R. Celski almost bleeding out on the ice last year?
  • Who created the sport "nordic combined"?  They give a gold medal to the rare athlete who combines the skills of ski jumping and cross country skiing.  How are those at all similar?  Would we make two Olympians play one-on-one in basketball and then have them box? 
  • Do you think Jonny Moseley regrets losing his Real World/Road Rules Challenge gig to T.J. Lavin or laughs about it?  Moguls color-commentating can't be payin' the bills in the Moseley household.
  • Syracuse will likely be my bracket pick come March, but I have one concern.  I don't know where they go when they need a bucket.  I know where Kentucky (John Wall), Kansas (Sherron Collins) and Villanova (Scottie Reynolds) go for the big two, but not the Orange.  Wes Johnson is a lottery pick, but he does not create half-court offense.  PG Scoop Jardine can be a liability. 
  • UConn and UNC have not missed the same NCAA tournament since 1974.
  • USC swept UCLA in basketball for the first time since 2004, which will likely be the legacy of this team.  USC has their NCAA infractions meeting this week.  While we won't hear the verdict for a month or so, my great concern is that the basketball program will get steeper sanctions handed down that could bury the program if they lose another recruiting class.
  • UCLA is filled top-to-bottom with non-descript basketball players.  They are all highly rated, but they don't have obvious strengths.  Even when the Bruins underachieved under Steve Lavin, they had NBA guys like Jason Kapono, Matt Barnes and Dan Gadzuric.  Actually, this team is similar to the Dijon Thompson era, except those teams were not filled with top-ranked recruiting classes.

Dan Gadzuric was famous for missing dunks at UCLA, but at least he was famous.