Was that a great weekend in sports?

The best answer I can give is definitely maybe.

NBA All Star weekend use to be must see TV at my house, but as documented before, that version of the sport has almost completely fallen off the radar.  The All Star weekend ended with a defensive slugfest that sounded like the score of a Nuggets-Suns game, 148-143, but one image will forever be imprinted in my mind.  Say what you will about the Dunk Contest being slanted in Blake Griffin’s favor…come on, even if you watched it, can you name any of the other participants?...but the man jumped over a car.  I don’t care that he cleared the hood instead of the roof...the man jumped over a car.  I believe the props are way overdone...but the man jumped over a car.

College basketball continued its march towards the madness of March with the top four teams in the land losing within the last week, and thus Duke jumping from fifth to first by virtue of their ability to stay clear of the loss column.  Are there any crazy dominant teams heading into the tournament?  No, but this should make for an even more entertaining Big Dance.  We’re only three weeks away from the madness!

All MLB Players have now reported for Spring Training, and we’ve got only nine months until Albert Pujols signs with the Cubs.  (Sorry Christian.)  Besides the Pujols storyline, it will be interesting to see how four exceptional pitchers fair together in the City of Brotherly Love.  Unfortunately Pujols will dominate the storylines of the year, but it’s hard to argue that the best player in baseball hasn’t earned that right…just wish it was only for his play on the field.  At least we’re not talking about PEDs.

The Daytona 500 had a 20-year old win in only his second Sprint Cup (top level of stock car racing) race.  What does this prove?  One, anyone who makes the 43 car field at a restrictor plate track has a shot at winning the race, and two, unfortunately Tony Stewart didn’t win the Daytona 500 again.  He restarted the final two laps on the outside of the front row in prime position to overtake Trevor Bayne, but it wasn’t to be.  Stewart fell like a rock through the field, finishing a disappointing 13th.  He’s won 16 times at Daytona in various races, but the biggest prize eluded him again.

The best event of the weekend lasted a mere 50 seconds on Sunday.  Of course I’m talking about the tribute to Dale Earnhardt at Daytona.  It was ten years ago that Dale Sr. died on the track at Daytona during the final lap while blocking for his two drivers, race winner Michael Waltrip and runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr.  NASCAR asked for silence yesterday for the entirety of the third lap in recognition of the Intimidator’s iconic number three car.  In addition to the silence (as much silence as there can be with 800 HP cars driving 200 mph), the vast majority of the crowd held up three fingers.  Dale Sr. somehow mastered the art of being both a hero and villain at the same time, and the roar from the crowd when the third lap came to end for once drowned out the cars.