WOO WHO CARES by ST

Didn't watch one second of the NBA's All Star weekend. I caught a video and some commentary on the slam dunk contest. I think you can make a case this event is now as insignificant as the NFL's Pro Bowl. Nate Robinson won for the 3rd time. That's a record. When we ponder such lists on SportsTalk, I don't EVER recall his name surfacing as one of the elite jammers of all time. We always hear about ways to add importance to exhibitions. The idiots that be in major league baseball decided to award home field advantage in the World Series to the winning league. Dumb! But for the dunk contest, how about this. It has to be an all-star, not an invited hired gun. I was looking over the list of recent dunk contest winners and it's not exactly a whose-who. Obviously when Dwight Howard won 2 years ago, it was an elite player. In 2005 it was Atlanta's Josh Smith who was a 2nd team NBA All-Rookie guy, but never an all star. The aforementioned Mr. Robinson isn't close to that level. In recent seasons we've seen former Duck Freddie Jones win along with someone named Gerald Green, then with the Celtics(2007), now not in the league. Jason Richardson, now of the Suns, then of the Warriors(02 & 03), won back to back but has never made an all star team. You have to go back to 2000 when Vince Carter put on the last memorable show in Oakland as a member of the Toronto Raptors. The event has run it's course and either the top guys take part or they need to make it about the college or high school guys. BORING!
Let's talk about the Duck men. Another exercise in frustration. ASU didn't blow their doors off like the trip to Eugene and in a rarity, Oregon actually gutted it out a bit to make a game of it late in the 2nd half. But like we've discussed ad nauseum, these horrifying bad streaks just take them out of games. At one point, they held a 22-13 lead, but you couldn't get too cocky because the 22 points took 14 1/2 minutes to pile up. The Sun Devils were obviously even colder but then the usual offensive naptime hit and they scored another 4 points the final 5 1/2 minutes of the half. By the time Ty Abbott nailed a 3 with 7 1/2 to go in the ballgame, the Arizona State lead was 53-38 and the run was 40-16. The U of O ground the edge down to 6 points twice, with 3:18 remaining then again at the 2:08 mark, but each time ASU responded with a dagger. The first was a perfectly executed inbound play out of a timeout for a layin by Abbott which caught the Ducks asleep at the defensive switch. Then the killer. After a nice bucket by E.J Singler, the defense was solid, and as the shot clock was about to expire, Derek Glasser threw one in from the parking lot. 9 point lead, minute and a half left. Good night nurse!
They're home for the Bay Area schools this Thursday & Saturday. If you want in on the drawing for a pair of tickets to one of the games(your choice). E-mail me your top 5 all time dunkers, pro or college to stevetannen@live.com
Good luck!