I like Dwight Howard.  This guy is exactly like young Shaq only without the threat of future drama plus he brings some extra leaping ability.  Every time I watch the guy play and joke around I like him a little bit more.  Who else could you have asked to be a prop in his own demise in a dunk contest and had him oblige?  He was in a Charles Barkley commercial and his nickname's Superman.  I'm a big fan.

Howard's side of the backboard dunk was the best dunk in the contest.  The phone booth gimmick was great.  But so was Nate Robinson's green Kryptonite uniform and the Soulja Boy Superman dance.

Am I the only one who doesn't enjoy watching 50-year old former players, NBA bench players, and WNBAers brick half court shots?  I'd rather watch a game of 21 between Mark Madsen and Eduardo Najera.

Why is Manny not a Dodger yet?  I'm about a 3.5 on the worried scale right now.

I uber-jinxed UCLA this past week.  My fault.  I'm back to maybe we're a Sweet 16 team land again.  Joe Lunardi has us as a 5-seed playing UNLV in the first round and Marquette in the second round.  That doesn't sound like fun.

Can I go a day without hearing mention of A-Rod or Joe Torre?

Someone told me that I looked like Chad Billingsley.  I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.  Better than Olmedo Saenz I guess.

I found it funny when shopping for Valentine's Day cards that there were a million categories for married couples, family members, etc. and they were fully stocked yet the section with the biggest crowd was for dating couples and that had only about ten or fifteen selections and almost all were out of stock.  Yes, I do procrastinate on my shopping, but that doesn't change Hallmark's ignoring its clientele. 

UConn took a serious hit to their National Title hopes in losing their second leading scorer.  I think come tournament time it will be North Carolina and everybody else as far as seedings go, but that should by no means guarantee a title for the Tar Heels.  Translation:  March Madness will be very fun and even more unpredictable.

The All-Star game was actually a lot of fun to watch.  I think it was because of all of the competitive guys on the court at all times (Kobe, CP3, KG, Bron Bron, etc.).  Until the last few minutes when the game had already been decided, nobody wanted to just let someone by him on defense.  Nobody wanted to get dunked on.  The defenses weren't stringent, but they also weren't as porous as in past years.  This meant that the teams were forced to run a semblance of an offense in the half court instead of going with the past strategy of throwing up bad alley-oops the whole game.  The only time that defense lacked was in transition which made for great odd-numbered rushes and solid passing on breaks.  All around fun game to watch.

We need better shooters in the 3-point contest.  Kapono choked away an almost assured 3-peat and Daequan Cook should never win this contest.  The field should have included guys like Ray Allen, Rudy Fernandez (remember the Gold Medal game), and Peja.  Is Rashard Lewis one of the Top-3 spot up shooters in the league?  I know he made a lot of threes in the season but I took one look at his form that told me I could name about 20 guys I'd rather in there above him.

I do not like Michael Vick.  I think he's disgusting.  I do, however, think he has paid his debt to society and should be able to be employed.  I would not, however, want him on any team I'm rooting for and I don't think I'm alone there.

The referee in the Martinez robbery, I mean fight, against Cintron should have been fired on the spot.  I've never seen anything like that in my life.  The ref counted to ten, then changed his mind after declaring a winner and the fight continued as if he only made it to nine.  Then, he took a point away in the 12th from Martinez for an unavoidable, undamaging, rabbit punch.  And even after that I had Martinez ahead by 6 points and two judges scored it a draw.  As much as I enjoy boxing, it's fights like this that make me understand why so many people have a problem with it.  I mean, if this kind of officiating happened in the Super Bowl . . . sorry, bad example.

I'm not sure it's a good thing for the MLS that Beckham-watch '09 is the only relevant storyline.  At least Champions League games resume next week.

What's the point of the World Baseball Classic if nobody plays?

Is it just me, or do professional coaches get fired more frequently than bank execs nowadays?

Has the countdown to Lane Kiffen's firing started yet?  He'd better hope his Dad, Monte is as indispensable as Tennessee thinks he is.  Lane is the Dubya to Monte's George H.W. Bush.

I am beyond ecstatic for the L.A. Open this week (Northern Trust Open to those of you who like the corporate sponsors).  I go every year with my Dad, and have done so for twenty-plus years.  It's a day of great live golf and even better, unhealthy eating with my Pop.  Not too shabby.