NBA

It was a nail-biter between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.  The Mavs Dirk Nowitski had an incredible game, scoring 37 points, but he only had six of those points in the 4th quarter.  So when the Mavs needed him most, he was just 2-of-8 from the field.  The Celtics Rajon Rondo picked up his second career triple-double (19 points, 15 rebounds, 14 assists), but the man of the night was the Celtics Paul Pierce who helped the Celtics rally from 15 points down to edge the Mavericks in the end.  He finished the night with 31 points, as the Celtics improve to 44-11.  Boston 99, Dallas 92.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Something happened that nobody saw coming this season.   Every year UCLA either has a dominant team or at least a very good team.  This year, they fall in the very good category.  Their Pac-10 counterpart, Arizona State, is almost always at the bottom rung of the conference.  This year ASU is pretty decent.  They’re ranked #18, mainly because of James Harden, the Pac 10’s leading scorer.  ASU won the first meeting, and last night they beat the Bruins again to sweep the season series.  James Harden had 15 points and 11 assists. Also, Arizona State is having a better year than Arizona.  Now that’s rare.   Arizona State 74, UCLA 67.

GOLF

Michelle Wie made her debut in the world of PROFESSIONAL women’s golf.  She is now a full fledged member of the LPGA, and everyone wanted to see what she could do.  Wie burst onto the golf scene when she was just 14, and has been turning eyes ever since. Now… she’s 19, and ready to hang with the Big Girls in the SBS Open.  And in her first outing, she’s just one stroke behind the leader, 31-year-old Angela Stanford.  Wow!  She could actually win this thing.  We’ll keep you posted on her efforts.

BASEBALL

Finally, some exciting news out of baseball.  Ken Griffey Jr. is definitely nearing the end of his career.  He’s been plagued by injuries for the past 8 years, and it looks more and more likely that he won’t grab that World Series ring on his way out.  However, his agent is supposedly talking to the Seattle Mariners.  Griffey was absolutely beloved in Seattle during their heydey in the mid 90s.  Not necessarily a performance heydey, but that’s when they really turned the franchise around and beat the New York Yankees in that exciting first round playoff game.  Griffey was a hero that season, and he was always good with the fans and community.  They worshiped him in a Brett Favre way.  And he just might go back there to close out his career.  It sure would feel good to get a standing ovation for every at bat.