Of course the winter solstice is December 21st and every day there after brings bliss for summer lovers like me. Slowly but surely the wicked days of winter begin to fade away, and professional sports are right there to mark the times.
First a month after Christmas the NFL post-season comes to an end with the Super Bowl, the biggest event in professional sports, and my first sign of the coming spring. The Super Bowl is always played in some beautiful warm weathered city and reminds us snow and ice and wind and chill are not long for the world.
The second sign of Spring comes two to three weeks later. It happened this weekend and is just another progressive symbol that happy days will soon be here again. The second sign,
the NBA All-Star Game.
The NBA did right by the city of New Orleans, totally redeeming themselves from last years Las Vegas All-Star Game Debacle. TNT and ESPN had nothing but great things to
report from the host city, and the sights, sounds and smells of the Big Easy came back to me in an instant. I wish I had been down in New Orleans this weekend. Hitting the Palace Café on Canal Street. Taking in the great music, bright lights and sin from Burbon Street. And watching NBA action from The New Orleans Arena. I haven’t had a drink in almost two and a half years, but watching all the NBA hype and excitement of All-Star Weekend in Cagen Country made me awful thirsty!
The pre game ceremonies and half time show also magnificently captured the sprit of New Orleans and had more of my attention then the game itself.
The first half was all East. Lead by Orlando’s Dwight Howard and the New Jersey Nets/ (soon to be Dallas Mavericks) Jason Kidd, the East went on an initial 6-0 run to start the game. It was almost as though both teams had a preconceived agreement to play as little defense as possible. And the half time score represented that idea, 74-65 East on top.
Then in a surprise turn of events, the West made a massive fourth quarter tear. At one point running an 8-0 streak the West took it’s first lead with less then five minutes left in the game. Down to the wire it was Miami’s Dwayne Wade, Boston’s Ray Allen, and Cleveland’s MVP Lebron James who subjugated the scoring, and extinguished the West’s momentum. The final three minutes were as thrilling as any NBA game this season. But in the end the East had defeated the West.
Final Score, East 134 – West 128
So what’s in store for the second half of the NBA season?
Six teams are controlling the game of Basketball, and that should continue thru June. In the East, Boston and Detroit are almost locks to play each other in the Conference Championship. In the West four teams dominate and all four are equal in talent, an probability to win the NBA Championship. Los Angeles, San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix are the afore mentioned big four.
But soon my attention will shift to from the NBA to my third and final sports symbol of the coming of spring.
Major League Baseball Opening Day 2008.
