Line Of The Night — 08/10/2008
Sunday, August 10th, 2008Forget the Olympics… forget perhaps the most-watched single game in international history… the NBA on NBC music is back! Hot ish!
Line Of The Night:
Dwyane Wade — 19 points, 2 assists, 2 steals
That’s 19 points on 100% shooting. 100%! D-Wade follows up his star turn in the Olympic warm-ups with another brilliant performance, shooting a perfect 7-7 from the field and 5-5 from the free throw line.
Worst Of The Night:
The global domination of Nike’s laser etching. It started out innocently enough, used in shoe designs for Kobe and LeBron, a few years back. Eventually it even spread to the highest profile of Nike lines — Jordans. Now? Both Team USA and Team China featured the etching on their uniforms and warm-ups! ENOUGH. Dead it.
Star Of The Night:
LeBron James — 18 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal
We gave D-Wade and his cleanly shaved dome the L.O.N.nie, but the highlight reels for the game were supplied by LeBron. This entire experience is looking like the coronation of King James as King Of The Basketball World, and he showed why in the team’s first game. A TWO-HANDED BLOCK/CATCH? A couple more spectacular blocks… alley-oop after alley-oop… LeBron is the face of the so-called Redeem Team and is anxious to eliminate “LeBronze” from his nickname portfolio.
Hometown Hero Of The Night:
Yao Ming — 13 points, 10 boards, 3 blocks, 1 assist
Yao Ming has the weight of billions on his shoulders, serving as the China’s face of these Olympic games. He served as the flag-bearer during the Opening Ceremonies (off the chain, by the way) and provided one of the enduring moments of the entire Games, as he walked in with a little 9 year-old (making Yao look cartoonishly tall) that survived the recent tragic Sichuan Earthquake, saving two of his classmates in the process. He’s the most famous athlete in the country leading an under-manned team in what may be the most popular sport in the country. On top of that, he is fresh off a stress fractured foot that put his Olympics appearance in doubt.
And what? Yao did not have a great statistical game against the U.S., but he and his mates put up a decent fight, and delighted the electric home crowd. He came out of the gate firing, nailing a three, and attempting a Globetrotter-ish two-handed, over-the-head, no-look pass, early. Yao was clearly fired up, showing perhaps more emotion than he has in his entire NBA career to date. He stayed emotionally involved throughout, celebrating and supporting his teammates even as his country trailed big. We praise him here, but he would tell you he is only performing his expected duty.
Presidential Ish, George Bush Of The Night:
In tune with his desire to take full advantage of all Presidential perks, G-Dub has been everywhere at the Olympics, including Team USA’s opening match-up against Team China. He was seen in the hallway as part of the team huddle, looking clearly uncomfortable and out of his element, and then in the stands getting an Omega-1 Death Stare from First Lady Laura Bush. His forte seems to be his rapport with any and all female athletes (tips from the preceding President, perhaps?). He participated in a little beach volleyball with Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and then got a big kick out of waving to the women’s hoops squad. World leadership at work.
Gold Medal In Advertising Of The Night:
The ad execs have brought their gold medal game to the Olympics so far and the basketball-specific ads have been especially top-notch. Nike is airing a spot combining a couple classics that hope to an inspire a new classic. In 1983, Marvin Gaye performed what is widely regarded as the greatest rendition of the Star Spangled Banner ever. Clips of this performance are combined with shots of the USA basketball preparing for their gold medal run, and the iconic “Just Do It” tagline is shown at the end — great.
Coke came up with a concept centered around arguably the two largest figures in the game — Yao Ming and LeBron James. They enter an arena as adversaries, attempting to one-up each other with national flavor after national flavor, before finally realizing that a common ground — sweet and delicious Coke — can bring them together. Gold medals all-around.
Doug Collins saying slippage over-and-over again makes us uncomfortable… Who invited Craig Sager, and who let him wear “normal” clothes?… Thanks for another screw-up Time Warner. The Los Angeles-area Time Warner service does NOT feature the NBC Basketball Channel which is airing EVERY Olympic basketball game. Thanks again… Meeelllloooo not even close to his goal of 10 boards, only bringing down 4…. Deron Williams looking like Common during the Opening Ceremonies, with the beard and the hat… Tayshaun looked truly amazed walking into the Bird’s Nest… Manu looked 10 years younger during the O.C., and then 10 years OLDER after Argentina lost it’s first game in a battle vs. Lithuania…

