Jeff: The Monday Musings

* I was one of, probably, 4 people to watch and enjoy the NBA All-star festivities over the weekend. The Andre Igoudala dunk from behind the backboard was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. The fact he hit HIS FACE on the backboard on his first attempt, well, if I had a nickel for everytime that happened to me...ok, ok I'd have no nickels.

* I said it in the Top 25 NBA players post, and I'll say it again: as an NBA fan I'm concerned about Lebron's development. I swear he and Kobe switched bodies last night: Kobe was passing up open shots, while Lebron was going 1-on-5 the whole night. And yes he was the highest scoring player from the East, but he was NOT the MVP, as the East made their huge comeback in the third quarter with Lebron seated firmly on the bench- where he still managed to shoot 7 times (or maybe I just imagined that). LBJ was so hyped coming into the league because he was supposed to be an all-around player, not a bigger version of Kobe. What happened to the "more athletic, HIV-free Magic Johnson" Lebron was supposed to be?

* speaking of concern, I'm well beyond that point with Olympic hockey. Just not a good time to be a North American hockey fan right now, but hey, at least the American team has an excuse: they're just not that good. USA hockey is in a transition, as the "stars" like Mike Modano, Chris Chelios and others are hitting the twilight of their careers, and the guys in their late 20's and early 30's, like Brian Rolston and Eric Cole, are good but not great players. However, the USA has some of the best, if not THE best, collection of hockey talent age 17-21 in the world right now. The last few NHL drafts are seeing record numbers of American-born players not only going in the first round, but going early. The 2006 draft should be the first time ever two Americans have been taken with the first two picks, as the U's Phil Kessell, and Minnesotan National U-18 defensemen Erik Johnson are battling it out for the top spot. For the 2010 games in Vancouver (assuming NHL'ers as still playing in the Olympics), USA should be right back in the medal hunt.
As for Canada, I wish I had an answer, but I don't. All the excuses I can come up with, be it jet-lag, tired legs from playing so much in the NHL, or lack of chemistry, apply to all the other big hockey countries, and yet it's not affecting them as much. Part of the problem could be one of too many options: the Canadians had so many quality players to choose from, they were bound to leave some deserving guys at home. Wayne Gretzky (by the way, I haven't commented on the gambling thing, because, as is being reported now, Gretzky and his wife did nothing wrong, and won't be charged. It's a non story, so leave The Great One alone) chose to take some more experienced guys who were not playing well when the team was selected in December, like Bertuzzi, Ryan Smyth, Draper, and Martin St Louis, instead of inexperienced youngsters like Eric Staal, Jason Spezza, and Sidney Crosby, who were on fire before the tournament started. I also think, as was pointed out during the broadcast of Canada's loss to Finland, that despite Canada's superior depth, the loss of defensemen Scott Niedermeyer was huge. Niedermeyer is one of the game's top players, and one of the best skaters, and on the bigger sheet, his presence has been greatly missed.

* If I had to pick a favorite to win Gold, I'd take the Russians. Nobody has more skill up front, and their goaltending has been solid. By the way, if you're wondering why I can't get back into Canada, it's because of comments like this: I don't care how much hype Sidney Crosby receives, Russian Alexandre Ovechkin is a better player than Crosby. If I could select any player in the world to build a team around, I'd take Ovechkin over anybody else. And by the way, for you Americans, I think Kessel's got a very solid chance to be better than Crosby too. Canada will now revoke my citizenship.

* Adam Stache Morrison strikes again: Gonzaga was down at the half Saturday night to Loyola, and Morrison had just 5 pts. Head Coach Mark Few's halftime speech went like this: "Adam, shoot the ball!!!" And so he did, scoring 37 in the 2nd half, including 8 of 10 from 3 point range, to finish with 44 points for the game and a 79-70 Gonzaga win.

* Last, and certainly not least, congratulations to the driver who won the Daytona 500 yesterday. A huge accomplishment by that guy, turning left a lot faster and better than anybody else. Needless to say I was so excited for the event, I didn't watch a single solitary second of it.