I see that the All-Star game turned into a shooting match. 207-186 I believe. That's 393 points in a 60 minute game. Between them, they were putting up 6.55 points every minute. More than one point every second of the game. I guess both teams decided to use the "Milwaukee defense." Lillard was the MVP. That makes sense. He's proven to be the master of the olé defense. You know, just wave your cape in front of the bull and let him charge past? The game has changed considerably, and not really for the better. If all there was to it was cool buckets, it would be a different story, but there needs to be a mix of good defense to make it more exciting. It's not going to take too long before fans start watching, and seeing these guys with their circus moves, and start saying; "Seen it before. It's getting boring."
On a side note, it was great seeing Michael J. Fox at the Bafta awards last night. I accidentally caught it, but was glad I did. The man is special. He's turned a deadly disease into a campaign to find a cure for it. His foundation has raised over $2 billion to find a cure for Parkinson's disease.
But, he's special to me. A long time ago, and I do mean a long time ago, Michael and I were in a fantasy baseball league together. We had a mutual friend, who was organizing it, and through it, we became online friends. In fact, before it became public knowledge, he'd confided in me that he had developed Parkinson's. He said that it would be his last year playing, and that he was going to have to use his energy to fight it. I wished him luck, and told him I was sorry to hear about what happened.
But, it went beyond that. Over the nearly 3 years that I knew him, I found he was a genuine person who was grounded in his beliefs. A man whose fame was nothing compared to the type of person he was. I know this may sound goofy, but even though we'd never met in person, I think he was one of the nicest people I ever met. Now, remember, he's 62 years old now, and when I first met him out here, he was..... if I recall correctly because past years can sometimes be a blur...... he was in his late 20s if I recall. He'd already done the Back To The Future movies. He was by all means, a "super star" in the entertainment world. Yet, here he was, just an average Joe, playing a game on the internet, with more average Joe's.
I had tears in my eyes watching it. All I could think about is how determined he was when we talked about it, and when he finally stepped away from pretty much everything, to concentrate on his battle against this disease for himself, and everyone else who has been attacked by this horrible condition. He's a fighter. It's coming at him, but he keeps fighting back.
There's a message in all of it, to all of us. Never give up. You only lose when you quit fighting. I noticed, immediately afterwards, that those aches and pains you get when you get older just didn't seem nearly as significant as they did, minutes earlier. I still have fight of my own.
