The All-Star Weekend discussion thread

[hrdboild]

If they went back to an East vs. West game with the players repping their team jerseys again, took away the fan vote popularity contest and let the coaches and players just pick who deserves to be there, and actually tried to make it more of a competitive game that might make it more compelling to watch. Or maybe nothing would change because these players all like each other and don't have any personal pride connected to who wins an exhibition game?

It's tempting to think that the way the game used to be was better but maybe we just remember it fondly because we were younger then and it's taken on a little bit of the nostalgic glow of memory? I think @TaxMan is on to something that it's largely a game for casual fans and/or kids. It's a chance to watch star players enjoy each other's company while doing star player things. It could also be that most of the appeal of seeing the league's stars in the same event has dissipated now that NBATV, YouTube, et al have made it incredibly easy to watch any team you want, any player you want, any time of the day. There used to be one time a year I could watch all of these guys play and now I can just type in say "1985 NBA Finals" and pull up footage of Magic and Kareem vs. Bird and McHale. The genie is out of the bottle at this point.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Or how about not have a game? Compress the weekend down to one day, Sunday. Do the rising stars game, 3 point contest, dunk contest and then maybe some fun games like horse or maybe an esports matchup since a lot of these guys play.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

People have had a problem with the All-Star game since way before the format change; that ain't it at all. The players cared about competing in the All-Star game when the "Who's better?" debate was centered around whose game was nicer? Whose post game was nicer? Whose jumper was colder? Whose handle was sicker? When we decided that the "Who's better?" debate was to be centered around who had the most rings, that other stuff stopped being as important. And when that stuff stopped being important, so did competing in the All-Star game.

Richmond was brought up earlier in the thread: Rock spent the prime of his career in Sacramento, made one playoff appearance, and only won a single game, and somehow avoided being tagged as "Not a Winner" guy. In fact, to the contrary, most people remember him as the second-best shooting guard of his era. That could never happen to a player with Richmond's résumé today.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Or how about not have a game? Compress the weekend down to one day, Sunday. Do the rising stars game, 3 point contest, dunk contest and then maybe some fun games like horse or maybe an esports matchup since a lot of these guys play.

Or... we can keep the game, and the people who don't like it don't have to keep watching it, and that can be okay, too?

 

[Sluggah]

Yeah my son who has been begging me to take him to a concert at the Moda Center forever turned down 10th row of the Eagles last night to watch the game on tv.

I was at this corporate anniversary event many years ago, and there were going to be a handful of surprise performers…Foo Fighters came out first, then Black Eyed Peas, then Bob Dylan…we were all wildly speculating who the last act would be….and then the Eagles walked out, and I immediately left. Your kid is a wise man.

 

[iowamcnabb]

He probably got a pass for playing for one of the worst sports franchises in history and the Jordan quotes

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Is there any chance that the Eagles are still jamming in 2023? Like, live performances, not talking about their catalog?

 

[iowamcnabb]

Or... we can keep the game, and the people who don't like it don't have to keep watching it, and that can be okay, too?

If you polled NBA fans (casual or not) on whether they enjoyed the game (not the rest of the weekend), what do you the think the results would look like? I’d say it would be something like 85 15 not in favor.

Considering you like big man play and hate threes I’m surprised you enjoyed it. I don’t see any harm in taking a look at another format.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

He probably got a pass for playing for one of the worst sports franchises in history and the Jordan quotes

Okay, but we also just used to appreciate a dude because he was cold. Like Bernard King. Like Sidney Moncreif. Like Adrian Dantley. Like Chris Mullin. None of those dudes won championships, but they played in an era where they didn't catch heat for it.

 

[mrlaze]

Maybe poll the players too.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

If you polled NBA fans (casual or not) on whether they enjoyed the game (not the rest of the weekend), what do you the think the results would look like? I’d say it would be something like 85 15 not in favor.

Considering you like big man play and hate threes I’m surprised you enjoyed it. I don’t see any harm in taking a look at another format.

I like it because I accept it for what it is, i.e., not a real basketball game. I don't indulge in a lot of "Back in My Day" stuff. I don't see any harm in trying another format, either, I just don't have a problem with the present one.

EDIT - The only proposed change to the All-Star game that I'm legitimately philosophically opposed to is taking the vote away from the fans. I would like to see a return to where the fans didn't get to vote multiple times, but the only way to really enforce that is to go back to the days when you had to vote in person, at an NBA arena, which was exclusionary to all the fans that don't live in NBA cities and/or couldn't afford to go to games.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Does he go by "The Dude"?

I was at this corporate anniversary event many years ago, and there were going to be a handful of surprise performers…Foo Fighters came out first, then Black Eyed Peas, then Bob Dylan…we were all wildly speculating who the last act would be….and then the Eagles walked out, and I immediately left. Your kid is a wise man.

My typical response to the Eagles is the Dude's. I made a deal with myself a while back that I would do a better job seeing the dinosaur acts before they all pass on, chief among that would be Rolling Stones and then Watts died before they could tour again.

So anyhow buddy sent me the tickets. I couldn't say no. I'm glad I went, it was great. Guitar porn up the yazzoo and while they are hardly my favorite band Henley sounded great and Walsh is a tasteful guitarist. Vince Gill has taken over for Frey and I actually think that might be an upgrade. The Portland Symphony and University of Portland choir backed them up. They played Hotel California front to back took a break and thend did all the hits including Walsh and Henley's biggest solo hits.

All in all I enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure I'm still punk rock.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Maybe instead of two all-star teams playing against each other, they could have one team play against the Washington Generals.

 

[Jc121]

I have not watched the all star game since Boogie was playing. Well until this weekend I tuned in Saturday night and after watching the slam dunk contest and then the Daytona 500 on Sunday I turned the game on.

It didn’t take me long to decide that I had other things to do like read a book .

But I want to thank Fox for standing away from the action and not get hurt.

oh I was wondering if the thought crossed his mind hey that’s the way we always used to play defense before this season.

 

[Warhawk]

My typical response to the Eagles is the Dude's. I made a deal with myself a while back that I would do a better job seeing the dinosaur acts before they all pass on, chief among that would be Rolling Stones and then Watts died before they could tour again.

So anyhow buddy sent me the tickets. I couldn't say no. I'm glad I went, it was great. Guitar porn up the yazzoo and while they are hardly my favorite band Henley sounded great and Walsh is a tasteful guitarist. Vince Gill has taken over for Frey and I actually think that might be an upgrade. The Portland Symphony and University of Portland choir backed them up. They played Hotel California front to back took a break and thend did all the hits including Walsh and Henley's biggest solo hits.

All in all I enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure I'm still punk rock.

(A little off topic for the thread, but the thread is likely pretty much over for AS discussion already.) Yeah, my wife and I are also trying to catch more of the "older" acts (or those that don't tour as often) as well while we can.

• That's one reason I caught the Stadium Tour last year with a couple friends - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Poison, Motley Crue (sounded the worst of the bunch by far) and Def Leppard - these groups aren't going to be playing forever and I hadn't seen the first three before. I'm not really a Crue fan (like a couple of their songs, but that's about it), but all the others did a really good job, especially for their age.
• Don Felder opened for Def Leppard in 2019 so I got to hear a bunch of the Eagles stuff from one of the band members at that concert.
• We wanted to catch the Go-Go's in concert just over a year ago (New Year's show in Las Vegas) but COVID intervened the week before and they canceled it. However, we were able to catch Belinda Carlisle solo last October and she played several of the Go-Go's hits (in addition to her decent catalog of solo stuff), so that was a win-win for us.
• We are catching Depeche Mode, The Chicks, Shania Twain, Duran Duran, and Garth Brooks this year, and maybe more. Shania, DD, and Garth will all be first-timers for me, and the last time we saw The Chicks play was 2003. We caught Depeche Mode for the first time at the G1C in 2018 and enjoyed it. My wife is a country music fan, but Shania and Garth have some crossover appeal as well.
• I'm going to try to get tickets for Springsteen playing in SF when the presale hits; hopefully that process goes more smoothly than how Taylor Swift's ticketing process was handled.

 

[mrlaze]

I saw Crue in 2015 in Wheatland. Everyone sounded good except Vince, Mick was rippin'. Vince either forget lyrics or was too out if shape to walk around and sing at the same time.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Another thing that none of us have really discussed or considered is that the way the All-Star game is played these days largely reflects how people who are significantly younger than most of us prefer to consume sports: as a collection of highlights, rather than a complete game:

https://twitter.com/statuses/1628071991633752068

 

[Warhawk]

I saw Crue in 2015 in Wheatland. Everyone sounded good except Vince, Mick was rippin'. Vince either forget lyrics or was too out if shape to walk around and sing at the same time.

Yeah, he really didn't sound very good - I noticed much of the same thing. The band itself wasn't bad at all, but they also had the volume too high for their set (beyond what the speakers could accurately play - believe me, the other three sounded MUCH better at slightly lower volumes and they were PLENTY loud for everyone).

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Another thing that none of us have really discussed or considered is that the way the All-Star game is played these days largely reflects how people who are significantly younger than most of us prefer to consume sports: as a collection of highlights, rather than a complete game:

https://twitter.com/statuses/1628071991633752068

Nothing to really add here but it is somewhat fascinating to me that the ASG still had a lot of more established players that seem to have pre-dated this most current crop that are routinely criticized for being highlight mixtape obsessed and treating the NBA like AAU. So for those of us who hate it now, this would indicate it's going to get much, much worse when the current crop of all-star locks retire or sit out.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Yeah, he really didn't sound very good - I noticed much of the same thing. The band itself wasn't bad at all, but they also had the volume too high for their set (beyond what the speakers could accurately play - believe me, the other three sounded MUCH better at slightly lower volumes and they were PLENTY loud for everyone).

Things I will note about the Eagles show. With the exception of Iron Maiden pre-pandemic, I mostly go to $5-10 local underground punk shows.

1) volume: forgot ear plugs but volume was super boomer friendly. All the guys were using 20-30 watt combo amps on stage, a lot of boutique stuff, and a Vox AC-30 I think may have been Henley's. They sounded REALLY good.

2) vocals: no idea if they use tracks. Henley sounded like he did in the 70s and 80s. Walsh was extremely rough around the edges. Vince Gill (and also Deacon Frey came on for a few) sang Glenn's parts and sounded great. The bassist who has been around since the Hotel California days sang the super high parts and was really good too. Frankly - for what someone paid for the tickets I had, which is more than I take home per check - I'd have expected nothing less. If they used tracks, I don't care. Given the tight stage choreography, the Portland Symphony and UP Choirs who I imagine were one night only, I'm sure they had some help. If you can't sing/perform like the album and you are charging people $1000+ a ticket, get help (ie please for the love of god use tracks).

 

[Capt. Factorial]

So anyhow buddy sent me the tickets. I couldn't say no. I'm glad I went, it was great.

Frankly - for what someone paid for the tickets I had, which is more than I take home per check - I'd have expected nothing less.

Man, no disrespect to the tried-and-true, but I need new friends.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Man, no disrespect to the tried-and-true, but I need new friends.

I guess buddy was going to fly in to town just for the show and couldn't make it last minute. So "I'm gonna sit in my pajamas all day and watch the all-star game" became ok, guess I'm going out tonight.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Man, no disrespect to the tried-and-true, but I need new friends.

Yeah, I don't have any friends in that tax bracket.

 

[Section 101]

I saw Crue in 2015 in Wheatland. Everyone sounded good except Vince, Mick was rippin'. Vince either forget lyrics or was too out if shape to walk around and sing at the same time.

Saw them in 1985.

 

[mrlaze]

Wow I guess I won't be seeing the eagles anytime soon.

Did see whats left of The Who at Fox Theater in Stockton. That was far better then the Crue show I saw. They were real professionals, still putting on a show.

 

[mrlaze]

Saw them in 1985.

I was 11. I didn't really get into them until right before GGG came out. I did listen to my friends older brothers SatD record before that, but was more into Legos and GI Joe. Became one of my favorite bands.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

They were floor seats I am pretty sure other seats were maybe more reasonable. But I won't be buying seats like that for TJ to see Post Malone.

 

[PorchSurfin]

If I'm wrong, then so what? This **** doesn't matter. It's not like, if I'm wrong, I'm going to deny that I said it. You could have just said that you don't think it'll be that big a deal and kept it moving, without accusing me of "reaching."

You're arguing semantics to save face, I guess. Whatever.



You created something out of nothing, and nobody is going to care about it.



Call it what ever you want.

 

[PorchSurfin]

To follow up, would it hurt your feelings if I called your take a nothing-burger? I mean, it's the same thing, and still true, but I guess less insulting than a reach? Or maybe it is more insulting? You tell us.

 

[Warhawk]

(A little off topic for the thread, but the thread is likely pretty much over for AS discussion already.) Yeah, my wife and I are also trying to catch more of the "older" acts (or those that don't tour as often) as well while we can.

• That's one reason I caught the Stadium Tour last year with a couple friends - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Poison, Motley Crue (sounded the worst of the bunch by far) and Def Leppard - these groups aren't going to be playing forever and I hadn't seen the first three before. I'm not really a Crue fan (like a couple of their songs, but that's about it), but all the others did a really good job, especially for their age.
• Don Felder opened for Def Leppard in 2019 so I got to hear a bunch of the Eagles stuff from one of the band members at that concert.
• We wanted to catch the Go-Go's in concert just over a year ago (New Year's show in Las Vegas) but COVID intervened the week before and they canceled it. However, we were able to catch Belinda Carlisle solo last October and she played several of the Go-Go's hits (in addition to her decent catalog of solo stuff), so that was a win-win for us.
• We are catching Depeche Mode, The Chicks, Shania Twain, Duran Duran, and Garth Brooks this year, and maybe more. Shania, DD, and Garth will all be first-timers for me, and the last time we saw The Chicks play was 2003. We caught Depeche Mode for the first time at the G1C in 2018 and enjoyed it. My wife is a country music fan, but Shania and Garth have some crossover appeal as well.
• I'm going to try to get tickets for Springsteen playing in SF when the presale hits; hopefully that process goes more smoothly than how Taylor Swift's ticketing process was handled.

Just grabbed tickets for Foreigner as well in Wheatland. Their farewell tour, apparently. Also someone I haven't seen before.

I'm on the Springsteen "wait list" - probably out of luck, as I doubt they will ever get to the wait list for this.