The Post Mortem

Now you can kind of understand Mr. Goodell's unnatural fascination with trying to make the Pro Bowl a media event. The NBA All-Star game is a well organized and well attended event. Words you would not associate with the Pro Bowl. (Plus, the NFL has long had NBA envy anyway.)

The celebrity game is decent enough. The whole Harlem Globetrotters deal, though, is kind of played out. The skills competition is actually an excellent event. The slam dunk contest is lamed but popular. And something that I never realized before, people are really into the NBA All-Star game. Like seriously.

I went to a friend's birthday party on Sunday night at a place called Big Wangs in North Hollywood. Imagine a slightly trashier version of Hooters, but better food. What's funny is that when you think of Hooters, you have busty women in tank tops. The fear was that Big Wangs would have a bunch of dudes from the valley (if you get the drift) in bikini bottoms. Thankfully, Big Wangs employed a bunch of broads.

The point is (sorry WCT), the bar was packed with people watching the All-Star game. Not just watching, but cheering every bucket in the early going. Until they realized that it was an All-Star game and the teams were going to score on every possession. The crowd still popped for the big moments, though, and gave a standing ovation at the end of the game.

Does this happen anywhere else?

Now Los Angeles is Lakers crazy. The whole region is united by the Lakers for the most part. Angels, Dodgers, Raiders, Rams, Chargers, Kings and Ducks fans love the Lakers. But honestly, to see people this into the All-Star game was a huge surprise.

Though, not a bigger surprise than to end up sitting next to the Chotchkie's Waiter from Office Space. I typically never go north of the Orange Curtain in my spare time, but every time, there is a celebrity. And I can't help but to ask some dumb question. But it's cool. Think about your profession. Would you like people to recognize you for what you do? Not every working actor is a fan-hating mega star. These guys like to be acknowledged. So I threw out an obvious question, "Can you ever go to a chain restaurant and not be harangued?" A slight nod to recognizing him, not obnoxious enough to drive the dude crazy. Plus he turned out to be pretty cool, so there you go. For the record, it does happen. Typically in the restroom when he's midstream.

Now, Shaq and Kobe played well together and were clowning around. And there is talk that the two could reunited in Los Angeles. Hard to imagine that happening. The duo can get together during All-Star weekend, but they are not far from the whole "Kobe, tell my how (buttocks) taste?"

Besides, Kobe wants to win a ring on his own. There is no way he would agree to this. Kobe might say all of the right things, clown around with Shaq in public during All-Star weekend, but you have to imagine that deep down, he still hates the big fella. Kobe is fully aware that Shaq has an extra ring. And by allowing Shaq to come back to L.A., he would be admitting to the world that he can't do it without Shaq.

No way that reunion happens.

• The Vikings came out and said that they would not be interested in Brett Favre. Ever. Maybe 15 years ago, according to owner Zygi Wilf, but not now. Wow, when a team that has Tarvaris Jackson as its starting quarterback doesn't want you, that's hard to live with.

• Favre admitted to lover Peter King that he wanted to stick it to Packers GM Ted Thompson, Yeah, he really showed him. Good one. He showed Thompson that he could ruin the Jets season the same way he killed the Packers hopes in the 2007 NFC Championship Game.
  

• The Buccaneers have parted ways with quarterback Jeff Garcia. One of the rumored destinations for Garcia is New York. But come on, the Jets have already gone through Favre, do they want a weaker armed signal caller?

AND FINALLY
If you ever wondered by the Bengals were the worst organization in football, look no further than the team franchise tagging their kicker. In the meantime, T.J. Houshkjjkfgcvmdah will be allowed to walk away as a free agent. With him leaving, Carson Palmer possibly being killed on the field next season, and Cedric Benson as the likely starting running back; a guy who kicks field goals might come in handy because they will not be scoring any touchdowns.