A very good start
I need help to refrain from becoming too excited about last Sunday’s game. Sure the Lakers lost the game to the Kings BUT! I was anxious to see Dwight Howard in action for the first time post-surgery. I haven’t heard or read his comments yet but these are mine. He moved pretty smooth on the court had at least two lob slams I witnessed. He did have 5 turnovers which could be attributed to having not played since last spring. Howard finished the evening with 19 points 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in 33 minutes. I lost count the number of shots he forced the Kings to miss due to intimidation around the rim. At this point we are unsure who might be elected president; Howard should be given consideration for “Secretary of Defense” which ever candidate wins.

The flip side of the story
I’ve been rather critical of Phil Knight and Nike for marketing shoes out of the range of the average youth. There are lesser priced shoes but the question becomes do they appeal to young people? I have no figures to back up this statement, I would venture a guess youth between the ages of 14-19 purchase the majority of athletic shoes. Retailers such as K-Mart, Sears and Walmart offer less prices shoes endorsed by NBA players. Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson and Rodger Mason Jr. are with the Protégé line of shoes available at K-Mart and Sears. The Protégé brand ranges in price from $29.99 up to $49.99. Shaquille O’ Neal and his Dunkman brand are available once again after going on hiatus for a period. His signature shoe is available on line, retail prices for his footwear range from $20 to $30 for children’s, and $25 to $40 for men’s. Former NBA player Stephon Marbury also had a shoe several years ago the Starbury. The $20.00 shoe was sold at Steve & Barry’s stores which are now closed. The shoes are still available on-line; the web sites I checked indicate the shoes range in the $40.00 to $50.00 range. As you can see even at $50.00 it’s considerably less than a $100 pair of Nike Air Jordan’s.

To Live and Die in L.A.
News from Los Angeles is not good, highly touted freshman Shabazz Muhammad might not play. This is a developing story and no decision has been reached by the NCAA. The number one (or two depending on the website) prospect in the Class of 2012 will remain on the sidelines. The investigation is far too involved for me to detail here but points the finger clearly at the NBA. Why waste time (and money) for an athlete who will be history after his freshman year. The NBA should change its policy and allow high school athletes to be drafted once again. We don’t know the outcome at UCLA as I indicated but just don’t act surprised to hear Muhammad’s name announced by David Stern in June 2013.

Is the conference on its death bed?
Earlier I’d written Football is the culprit when detailing conference changes across the nation. No where was this change more evident than in the Big East conference? If you said Big East even casual sports fans probably would conclude you were not pointing out a direction. They knew you were referring to the first conference with basketball as its foundation.  This conference begun in 1979 was dominant for years, successful programs at Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse and St. John’s provided a solid footprint on the basketball landscape.  In succeding years schools with rich basketball traditions were added, among them Marquette, Louisville and Cincinnati. The landscape began a change several years ago, schools began moving or hinting at moves. The BCS issues and football bowl games were a driving force behind change. As an example West Virginia left the conference, on the way out the door are Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pitt. There is no method of future predicting future events, we certainly are unsure if the conference will survive. One fact, the conference will probably never dominate the basketball landscape as it once did