http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/020627.html Speaking of Yao, can they televise the first meeting when Steve Francis, Moochie Norris and Cuttino Mobley get introduced to Yao Ming? Better yet, couldn't they just televise the whole season, like one of those "Hard Knocks" type deals? Wouldn't you love to see Cuttino and Stevie teaching Yao how to play the PlayStation? Or Yao coming along when Moochie gets his hair braided? They could even get thrown into a "Real World"-type house for eight months. Would anyone object to this? another part of the article about the Rockets draft: On to the draft ... 7:30 p.m. We're coming to you live from Madison Square Garden! TNT starts off with a retrospective montage, as Ernie Johnson Jr. pulls the "For nearly two decades, we brought you images of emotion ..." routine. He's joined by Chuck and Kenny, as well as Hubie Brown, Craig Sager and wild-card guest Quin Snyder (the Missouri coach), who looks disturbingly like the guy from "American Psycho" tonight. Meanwhile, I'm joined by my Dad, his golden retrievers (Abbie and Maggie) and my stepmom, who's cooking dinner for us tonight and lurking as a potential "second-half-of-the-draft monkey wrench" for my Dad. By pick No. 16, she'll be showing him a health care plan or something. I can feel it. 7:32 p.m. All right, how come whenever they show footage of Yao Ming, he has that distracted, beaten-down, "You have no idea how much my life sucks" aura about him? He looks like a hostage in a hostage video -- all he's missing is a blindfold and a black eye. Can we get this man out of China, please? 7:33 p.m. TNT's Heather Cox (live from Houston) shows off the "OK, you can take Yao Ming" letter of approval from China and the Shanghai Sharks, sent at about midnight Tuesday. "This is a very gamble draft," Heather says about Houston's situation. Would you like to buy an adjective, Heather? 7:35 p.m. Dei Lynam (live from China) tells us Yao has been surfing the Internet for hours, reading up-to-the-minute news about his draft situation (just to make sure he's still headed to Houston). You can read more about it on Yao's website, www.getmethehelloutofhere.com. 7:36 p.m. As Stern announces Yao as the No. 1 pick, TNT quickly switches to their live feed in China, just to catch the Ming, his parents and his coach exchanging awkward high-fives. There's no way to possibly express how funny that was. That's the Draft Night Highlight of all-time. I'm not kidding. 7:38 p.m. Lynam interviews Yao (with his interpreter). That always makes for riveting TV ... especially the parts when people are speaking uninterrupted Chinese for over a minute. This exchange was fun though: Yao (in Chinese): "Thank God this worked out. You would have found a 7-foot-5 body hanging from a bunk bed if this didn't work out. Thank God. Thank God." Interpreter: "I'm confident I will learn from the NBA and improve myself."
LOL, good stuff. In all seriousness, I thought the ESPN Sidelines of LA Hoops chronicling the Clippers was awesome! I really enjoyed that program. That team is really tight with one another. I think that is why it was so good. I can't think of another team in the NBA that is that tight with one another except the Rockets. Then you throw in the Ming/Nachbar international flavor and I think you have a hit on your hands. They DEFINITELY should do an ESPN Sidelines show on the 2002/2003 Rockets! Who do we need to contact to get this done? Chris
