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I’m not a huge Baseball fan. What can I do, the sport doesn’t get me amped up, doesn’t get me excited. Give me Basketball, Football, soccer, boxing. Baseball? Sorry, not my thing. I can watch a game here and there, probably more than that in the postseason. Otherwise? I don’t even bother. Despite great posts like this one, I’m not sold. It’s All-Star game time, with the best of it already gone – the Home run derby, won by Robinson Cano. The All-Star game itself? Another snoozefest in my opinion. Which makes me even be more upset about this NBA lockout.
Remember the shortened 1999 season? No All-Star game. There isn’t an All-Star game in the world as good as what the NBA have got. Basketball is simply the perfect sport for it. Seeing no defense, centers attempting tres, alley-oops and dunks all aronud. Oh, and that final push in the fourth quarter where the teams actually start playing to win. You gotta love it. The Slam dunk contest has its highs and lows, every now and again resurrected into the public interest by some new high flyer or a cool gimmick. The three point contest is always great to watch and the celeb games, especially ones with Justin Bieber getting blocked by Scottie Pippen, are great fun.
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I’m biased, I know. The Pro Bowl, despite having the fans pick plays and watching monsters like the late Sean Taylor deal some punishment on punters, a dream for any linebackers or safety, is something most players want to get out of the way before they begin their vacation. Soccer? Where real football is played, according to the rest of the world, there’s no need for an All-Star game.
But I don’t know if we’re even going to have an All-Star game this year. Like in the shortened 1999 season, which was supposed to be a 1998-1999 season. The league only resumed play on February 5, 1999, around the time we usually enjoy that All-Star weekend. Having to play 50 games in a short time, with some teams playing back to back to back games with terrible basketball displayed on those tiresome night, there wasn’t any time or mood for the AS game. We’re in July, so there’s still time, but the sides are just as far apart today as they were when the NBA finals ended a month ago. They haven’t even met since the lockout began.
So when you’re watching a billion pitchers change on the mound today, and wishing the NBA season would just start already, prepare yourself for having to hold out and be patient. It’s going to be some time before we see NBA basketball again, and hopefully an All-Star game.