The Musings

1. Is it me, or was Shaquille O’Neal’s pregame dance with the ubiquitously annoying “Jabbawockeez” dance crew the most entertaining part of All-Star Sunday?

2. Speaking of Jabbawockeez, if I’m Muhammad Ali or even Derek Jeter, I’d refuse do be in that bizarro Gatorade commercial with them.  “Uhhh, let’s see… I’m the Greatest of All Time, everybody calls me ‘Champ’, and I’ve got to do a commercial about “greatness” with a bunch of kids in masks who won an MTV dance contest?  Never mind.  I don’t need the money that bad.”

3. I think Dwight Howard would have won the dunk contest if he waited until the finals to do the Superman 12-foot-rim routine… which was awesome, by the way.  Rudy Fernandez wuz robbed in the first round, though.

4. In this rollercoaster Syracuse basketball season, nothing has been as satisfying as watching the ‘Cuse beat Georgetown in front of 32,000 orange-clad fans.  Nothing.  Not the Florida win, not Kansas, not Memphis… especially when your girlfriend goes to Georgetown (even though she could care less about the Hoyas).  For those not familiar, Syracuse/G-Town basketball is akin to Alabama/Auburn football.

5. How good is it to see players reporting to spring training?  In cold-weather climes, just watching spring training coverage makes you three degrees warmer.

6. Good for David Ortiz for speaking out on the steroid issue.  Ortiz said players who test positive should be banned for a year.  As a Red Sox fan, this gives me hope that one of my biggest Red Sox idols achieved his success the right way or stopped doing ‘roids before testing began.  Unlike A-Rod.  By the way, you DID know Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees admitted to using performance enhancing drugs, right?  I just wanted to make sure you knew that.  Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi, too.  Former Yankees Gary Sheffield and Roger Clemens have been accused of using PED’s, too, but claim they’re innocent.  Why is there such a widespread culture of cheating in the Yankees’ clubhouse?  Hmmmm…

7. No, I’m not naïve enough to think no Red Sox stars did steroids.  I just hate the Yankees enough to bask in the glow of their embarrassment until our shoe drops, so to speak.  I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason Nomar looked like Mr. Atlas when he left Boston and broke down more often than my first Saab convertible.

8. Syracuse football fans are celebrating one recruiting service ranking the Orange as having the 99th best recruiting class in the country.  That’s how far this program has fallen.  Just a few years ago, the Orange were ranked in the top 10 for all-time college football wins.  Betcha didn’t know that.  They also won a National Championship more recently than Auburn, so that and $3 will get you something nice at Starbucks.

9. Orange football fans are absolutely giddy that one of the top high school running backs is trying to decide between Syracuse and Auburn.  This falls in the category of “it’s just nice to be nominated.”  I’m biased, but I were David Oku, I’d go to Auburn, too.  Though the Syracuse climate might make the kid run even faster.  I think I once ran a 4.3 40 between the dorm and the dining hall when it was minus 9 degrees and snowing.

10. If you have it, spend a few minutes watching the new MLB Network.  It’s fantastic.  Anything that gets Bob Costas on TV on a nearly daily basis is a good thing in my book.