More bashing of the idiocy at CBS (Big Brother stunk it up in the ratings again last night with a mere 3.3) will follow in the overnight update once I have viewer data, but I wanted to talk about something else for a change.
Something I didn't expect. Being absolutely excited about an NBA game before say, May, when the playoffs are in full swing. I can't remember being excited about regular season NBA contests since the 1980s.
The NBA may have some weird and wacky rules for how trades get done, but starting with the trade that sent Kevin Garnett to the Celtics before the season through the Dallas Mavericks acquiring (through some pretty crazy wheeling and dealing) Jason Kidd from the Nets - the landscape of the NBA seems very changed.
I'm sure Lebron is somewhere thinking: "HEY! HEY! What about ME!? Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit! (said like Clay Davis from The Wire Update: Lebron apparently did ask, and they answered, that didn't take long!).
I wouldn't fault Mr. James for thinking that, heck I'm thinking it on his behalf. Nonetheless, I got excited about basketball and watched the Lakers vs. Suns matchup featuring the return of Shaquille O'Neal to the Western conference.
Shaq SHAME ON YOU for being such a lazy azz in Miami this year. But I'm over it. You seem to move pretty well when there is no humidity. It was nice to see. The Suns lost, but the game lived up to expectations. I came home from the sports bar and watched next week's episode of The Wire on the On Demand (unlike the Sopranos, the Wire seems to be cleaning up everything. And then...
Then I caught like the last quarter and a half of the Boston Celics vs. the Golden State Warriors. NBA TWICE in one night (and none of them my favorite team, I'm a Washington Bullets, er Wizards guy). What a great ending to that game. Baron Davis is clutch! Wow!
So David Stern, Mark Cuban, Kobe, Jerry West, Shaq, Chris Paul, Dirk, KG, Lebron, et al - I don't know how you did it, but THANK YOU. You made the NBA 1980s style fun again. The ratings for the All Star Game were up about 30% this year and I'm really interested to see if the Lakers vs. Suns game winds up making the cable top 40 next week. I doubt it, but I don't doubt this: regular season and playoff ratings are going to be higher this year.
And predicting higher ratings for anything? That's just not something we usually get to do. We got to do it with the Super Bowl and were right, so if we get to be right like that twice in one year? That's a nice little trend for the sporting world. But I think all the crazy trades will be a ratings bonaza.
