Condensed Thoughts From All-Star Weekend

Instead of doing a big wordy column about the All-Star Weekend, I just wanted to give some thoughts about different people involved with the weekend. I guess it would look like #HOTALLSTARTAKES, but whatever, enjoy.  

All-Star Game - The game was fantastic. I realize defense did not get played much at all, but that's exactly what you want in this game. TNT's Reggie Miller described it as 'The world's greatest pick-up game' and I think that's the best way to describe. I also think this is the ultimate 'Give the people what they want' game where all that is needed is big dunks, points and fun combinations.

Kyrie Irving - Big game for Kyrie as he continues to be one of the young stars of the game in terms of a marketability standpoint, but now is the time Kyrie needs to start getting some victories under his belt. All of his Pepsi ads and now an All-Star Game MVP trophy are good, but it does not mean shit in the grand scheme of things. Cavs need to do something to ensure their star player does not get away in the coming years like LeBron James.

Skill Competition Duos - Saturday had a ton of faults which we will get to some of them in this blog post, but the skill competition adding the teams was awesome. I almost think they could add one more team to the mix or make it a complete relay with teams of three. There are a lot of things the NBA can do moving forward with this aspect of All-Star Weekend.

John Wall - Since he is sort of a quiet dude, does not do many commercials, casual fans are not really on board with Wall. After Saturday night, I think people are on his bandwagon more so than ever before. We talked on the podcast a couple weeks ago whether you want Wall or Irving and this seems especially given what happened at All-Star that this could be the next great rivalry. Maybe Cleveland can make some noise and be the sixth seed this year... Naaaah.

Blake Griffin - Sure he had a ton of dunks so everybody will act like Griffin did what he normally does, and while that's true, this continues Blake's big run in Feburary. We talked about it in the Roundball Wrap-up, but Griffin continues his hot month even if all he did was throw it down. I keep telling people how he is making a push at being one of the better all-around players in basketball yet people just keep throwing shade at him. Okay.

Giannis' Baby Bro - Thanasis is the Johnny Drama to Giannis' Vincent Chase.



Money Ball Rack - This is pretty much won Marco Belinelli the 3-point contest and it is complete BS. If it were not for the 3-point racks, he does not get to his dominant tie-breaker round. Marco might be the most obscure 3-point contest winner. Somewhere Jason Kapano gleams when you say it wasn't him.

Damian Lillard - I would say this was a sub-par weekend for Lillard. He won the Skills competition which is good, but he did nothing in the other events. No one came away from All-Star talking about Damian Lillard which is a shame because he is a good player but also a reason why people might stay away from doing everything events.

Dunk Contest - Kazz already covered it this morning. He is completely right.

Charles Barkley's hangover - No one has looked more hungover on television than Sir Charles. I am not mad at him, I get it but good God man, get some better cures for the hangover.

Sportandfashion-news Super Bowl Preview: 8.) In Pot Roast's Honor, Greatest Fat Athlete Nicknames

Yes, Super Bowl week is finally here. We will be sick of everything by Friday night yelling PLAY THE DAMN GAME, but it is only right to be excited about it for the first couple days. As we have done in years past, we will be numbering our Super Bowl coverage and then posting a big link dump on Saturday so you have it all at your fingertips before the big game. 

There is not much exciting about Denver. I mean they really do not have many personalities on their team. It is almost like Peyton Manning does these mind tricks over the team he plays for and makes everyone acts like him. Von Miller is one of the only ones, but he is out of the season meaning there is not much. But there is one man that deserves a ton of love and attention especially from this blog... Terrance Knighton, Denver's defensive tackle also known as 'Pot Roast.'  I deem this one of the best fat athlete nicknames ever.

Before we get going on 'Greatest Fat Athlete Nicknames', I do want to welcome Knighton to the 'Buffet Club.' What is the 'Buffet Club?' Something I may or may not have talked about on the blog, but an old roommate and I created a list of defensive tackles we would like to eat Chinese Buffet with. The two locks are Vince Wilfork and Haloti Ngata with some different people rotation in and out. If you are not taking Knighton in this club, you're an asshole.  Without further ado some of my favorite fat man nicknames with thoughts included.

-William 'The Fridge' Perry - The epitome of fat athlete nicknames. Bow to your king.

-Bryant 'Big Country' Reeves: I am glad we live in a world where this picture exists. I also think every big hick looking Causcian center is now nicknamed 'Big Country'

-Frank 'Bag of Donuts' Winters: I do think people forget about how great this one is and it might be the best. NEVER FORGET... John Madden loved this one.

-Angel 'El Pato' Cabrera: Are ducks fat?  Is it because Cabrera walks a duck? Do I want to get extremely drunk and smokes two packs of cigarettes with El Pato? Yes, yes i do.

-Gilbert 'Gravedigger' Brown: Any time you get a Burger King burger named after you, you deserve to be on this list.

-Robert 'Tractor' Traylor: Always a good one as it worked with his last name. Any time you can do that, it is gold.

-Oliver 'The Real Meal' Miller - I FOUND THIS NICKNAME LAST NIGHT AND IT IS THE BEST THING EVER. Fits him perfectly.

-Charles 'Round Mound of Rebound' Barkley: This is a given.

-Pablo 'Kung Fu Panda' Sandoval: Any time your nickname sparks an entire fan base wearing panda hats while they watch baseball, it is a good one.

-Draymond 'Dancing Bear' Green: He really is not fat, but this is a hell of a nickname. One that I have used on myself becuase I am a tool.

-Butterbean - You are a boxer but also nicknamed after a turkey. At least he has America shorts.

-Larry 'Grandmama' Johnson - Is Larry Johnson fat? He got fat at the end of his career. Why do all NBA teams have fat man nicknames.

-B.J. 'The Freezer' Raji - One that Wisconsin fans would kill me If I leave it off this list, but still not worth eight million a year.

There are many other ones, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Charlie.