How to take a good idea...

and completely ruin it.

First off, the NBA decides that All-Star weekend will feature a game of H-O-R-S-E. Fantastic idea. Everyone loves H-O-R-S-E, everyone plays H-O-R-S-E. It's one of the first games you can play and it doesn't involved any of that pesky running, dribbling or passing that always slows down a good game of basketball. You can be on crutches and play H-O-R-S-E. People have been calling for this for years. They were even smart enough to include a 'no dunking' policy so that it wouldn't infringe on the dunk contest. The only problem was that it took them this long to listen. I wish Larry Bird was still around for this. He was notorious for taking teammate's money playing H-O-R-S-E after practice. It was a great move by the NBA.

Or, at least it was until they decided that they could make even more money by getting a sponsor for the event. Kind of cheesy considering the NBA typically makes money and it's not like ticket prices are going down anytime soon, but yeah, I can roll with "HORSE presented by Company X". That's just the way that sports are now. But they went too far with this one. Instead of spelling horse, the players will now be spelling G-E-I-C-O. Oh, come on.

As it is, All-Star games are barely hanging on. They didn't even sell out the Pro Bowl this year. People don't want to waste time or money watching a game that the players don't even care about. The only thing that they have going for them anymore is the sideshow that comes with them. Baseball has the home run derby, basketball has the dunk contest (which was getting stale, hence the new twist) and hockey has the skills competitions. Football has no such thing, which could be why the lack of interest. But, when you take a great game that people have been playing in their driveways since they were kids and turn it into another corporate promotion, it's going to turn a lot of people off. They could have left it alone and been the heroes for finally listening to the public cries for something new, but now people are going to be focused on the fact that they bastardized the game. So close to getting it right, NBA; just not close enough.

-Now, from the "Why don't you stop talking for a while, Champ" files: Republicans want us to know that the economic stimulus package will lead to "disaster." Thank God you guys spoke up - wouldn't want to ruin the sweet roll we're on now. You know, in the face of economic collapse I don't think it's best to listen to the guys who were in charge when it happened. That's like demanding the drunk driver who put his car in a ditch be the one who's in charge of getting it out.