The NBA - "I hate this Game!"

Charles Barkley- “This is a hip-hop weekend not a NASCAR race.”

I have been a fan of basketball for as long as I can remember. I wasn't good enough or tall enough to play in High School so I stuck to track. But that didn't stop me from playing as much as possible, imagining I was Michael Jordan as I took it strong to the hoop. Currently I have a membership to the YMCA where I play at least three times a week, and I exhibit the same intensity and love for the sport as I did as a teen. Even though the average age of my opponent at my local YMCA is about 45 years of age or older, that doesn't stop me from blocking their shot and screaming "Get that weak shit out of here motherfucker!!" Man I love this game.

Also, for as long as I remember, I have been a fan of the NBA's All Star Game. Nothing beats seeing your favorite player participating in the dunk contest, or wondering who was going to dunk on who in the All Star Game. But sadly, the All Star Game has lost much of its luster due to my slipping interest in the NBA in general and the lack of big names that actually enter the Dunk contest

But this year I decided to watch the All Star festivities, not to reconnect with a pastime that I once enjoyed, but because I didn't have shit else to do. It was a pretty uneventful All Star weekend, the Dunk Contest lacked any Big names and the Three point contest was just as boring. But last night's All Star Game is what really caught my attention. The game itself was alright, nothing to write home about. Those games are pretty much summed up with no one playing any real defense, your favorite player not playing more than 15 minutes, sloppy passes, and someone being dunked on at least 5 times. My criticism is the music selection that the NBA used the entire weekend.

First off, they had R&B singer Tamia sing the Canadian National Anthem and she did a pretty good job. After that you'd expect them to bring out Patty Labelle or some other strong voiced R&B icon to sing the American National Anthem Right? Wrong. They had some Military Chorus Group sing the national Anthem. Listen, I know that we all support our brave men and women who risk their lives daily, but I don't want see their ass in a Chorus group making the National Anthem as boring a experience as listening to Queen Latifah's latest jazz album. I mean, Vanessa Williams sang the National Anthem at the Datona 500 for Christ sake! Even though they had Destiny Child as one of the featured performers, that didn't stop the musical catastrophe that would be the lineup for the entire night.

Destiny's Child performed, but every time I hear their song "Soldier" I want to to go out in public and brutally assault any man that considers himself a thug. To quote Sticky Fingers in the song "Slam", "but, but, but, but, wait it gets worse!!" The entire weekend consisted of performances from Leann Rimes, The Goo Goo Dolls, American Idol Kelly Clarkson, and a country group called Big and Rich. I know that the NBA is trying to reach out and get a broader fan base but Big and Rich?? I don't have any problems with each act specifically, but when a league is 92% black you would think that they would have musical talent that was more fitting with the make-up of the league. Hell, yesterday was the first time that I can think of where I wouldn't have minded if Nelly had performed.

The performance of Big and Rich took the cake. Sadly, I knew who Big and Rich were prior to their performance last night. To get a few cheap laughs, I will watch the country channel because Country and Western videos are as cheesy as Gospel Hip Hop videos. I am easily entertained. Anyway, I watched them perform last night and couldn't believe that the NBA would pick such horsehit talent.

After the performance Charles Barkley said that the country better get over the Janet Jackson "incident" because the talent that the NBA picked was horrible. He went on to say “This is a hip-hop weekend not a NASCAR race." Even though Barkley has a history of putting his foot in his mouth, occasionally he gets it right. Amen Charles.