duncan228
02-15-2010, 01:18 AM
All-Star Game's bigger in Texas (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/All-Star_Games_bigger_in_Texas.html)
Mike Monroe
ARLINGTON Tipoff time for the 59th NBA All-Star Game was more than three hours away, but a line of fans waiting for the Cowboys Stadium entrances to open stretched at least as far as the length of a football field.
The air was a chilly 38 degrees. According to the National Weather Service, a brisk wind made it seem like 28. A young fan, clad only in baggy red basketball shorts and a Tracy McGrady authentic Rockets shirt, shivered in the queue but never stopped smiling. He knew he would be part of a record crowd, eventually counted at 108,713, that would see the Eastern Conference defeat the West 141-139.
The previous largest basketball audience 78,129 who watched Kentucky defeat Michigan State at Detroit's Ford Field on Dec. 12, 2003 never had a chance.
The vastness that is Cowboys Stadium overshadowed everything about Sunday's event. Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, who scored 28 points and handed out 11 assists, was named the game's Most Valuable Player by a panel of media voters, but the real star Sunday was Jerry Jones.
The Dallas Cowboys owner had the vision for a stadium so spectacular that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban relaxed his objection to hosting a game at which his season ticket-holders would have been shut out of their prime seats at American Airlines Center.
Moments before Spurs captain Tim Duncan won Sunday's opening tip, Cuban stopped by press row.
I wish this is exactly how I pictured it, he said, beaming, but it's better.
Indeed, most early attendance projections were short of 100,000. Even with game officials acknowledging that about 20 percent of Sunday's attendees had gotten complimentary tickets, the turnout exceeded expectations.
Ticket prices were scaled from $30, for standing room, to $500 for courtside seats.
Voting for the MVP Award wasn't easy. In addition to Wade, there were three strong candidates: Denver's Carmelo Anthony, who scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds; Clevleand's LeBron James, who scored 25 points and had six assists and five rebounds; and Toronto's Chris Bosh, who scored 23 points, including the eventual game-winners, and grabbed 10 rebounds.
All four were members of the draft class of 2003. Wade, James and Bosh will be free agents this summer.
Wade sealed his selection with two fourth-quarter steals that led to scores in a game that wasn't determined until Anthony missed a long 3-point attempt that just grazed the rim as time expired.
The Heat star, who led Miami to an NBA title-clinching victory at American Airlines Center in 2006, stole the ball from Utah's Deron Williams with 18 seconds left and the score tied at 137.
Apparently forgetting the score was tied, Williams intentionally fouled Wade, sending him to the line for two critical free throws.
Wade made both, but Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki matched them with 7.7 seconds remaining when he was fouled before he could launch a 3-point shot.
Bosh scored the game-winning points, making a pair of free throws after Denver's Chauncey Billups fouled him as he made a drive to the basket with five seconds left.
Denver coach George Karl called a timeout to set up his star, Anthony, for what could have been a game-winner, but Anthony's shot, well contested by Wade, was well short of its target.
Duncan, still amazed that fans vote him into the starting lineup season after season, played only 13 minutes and seven seconds, none of them in the decisive fourth quarter.
Though he scored only three points, on 1-for-4 shooting, Duncan was happy to have been part of Sunday's Texas-sized extravaganza.
It was really cool, he said. The crowd was great; the gym was unbelievably set up. To see the vastness of the amount of fans that were in there was really cool to be a part of.
Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki said he was proud of the attendance record.
You know, I've never been in a gym this big, he said. It was amazing how many people came out to support us and see this game and be part of history.
Mike Monroe
ARLINGTON Tipoff time for the 59th NBA All-Star Game was more than three hours away, but a line of fans waiting for the Cowboys Stadium entrances to open stretched at least as far as the length of a football field.
The air was a chilly 38 degrees. According to the National Weather Service, a brisk wind made it seem like 28. A young fan, clad only in baggy red basketball shorts and a Tracy McGrady authentic Rockets shirt, shivered in the queue but never stopped smiling. He knew he would be part of a record crowd, eventually counted at 108,713, that would see the Eastern Conference defeat the West 141-139.
The previous largest basketball audience 78,129 who watched Kentucky defeat Michigan State at Detroit's Ford Field on Dec. 12, 2003 never had a chance.
The vastness that is Cowboys Stadium overshadowed everything about Sunday's event. Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, who scored 28 points and handed out 11 assists, was named the game's Most Valuable Player by a panel of media voters, but the real star Sunday was Jerry Jones.
The Dallas Cowboys owner had the vision for a stadium so spectacular that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban relaxed his objection to hosting a game at which his season ticket-holders would have been shut out of their prime seats at American Airlines Center.
Moments before Spurs captain Tim Duncan won Sunday's opening tip, Cuban stopped by press row.
I wish this is exactly how I pictured it, he said, beaming, but it's better.
Indeed, most early attendance projections were short of 100,000. Even with game officials acknowledging that about 20 percent of Sunday's attendees had gotten complimentary tickets, the turnout exceeded expectations.
Ticket prices were scaled from $30, for standing room, to $500 for courtside seats.
Voting for the MVP Award wasn't easy. In addition to Wade, there were three strong candidates: Denver's Carmelo Anthony, who scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds; Clevleand's LeBron James, who scored 25 points and had six assists and five rebounds; and Toronto's Chris Bosh, who scored 23 points, including the eventual game-winners, and grabbed 10 rebounds.
All four were members of the draft class of 2003. Wade, James and Bosh will be free agents this summer.
Wade sealed his selection with two fourth-quarter steals that led to scores in a game that wasn't determined until Anthony missed a long 3-point attempt that just grazed the rim as time expired.
The Heat star, who led Miami to an NBA title-clinching victory at American Airlines Center in 2006, stole the ball from Utah's Deron Williams with 18 seconds left and the score tied at 137.
Apparently forgetting the score was tied, Williams intentionally fouled Wade, sending him to the line for two critical free throws.
Wade made both, but Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki matched them with 7.7 seconds remaining when he was fouled before he could launch a 3-point shot.
Bosh scored the game-winning points, making a pair of free throws after Denver's Chauncey Billups fouled him as he made a drive to the basket with five seconds left.
Denver coach George Karl called a timeout to set up his star, Anthony, for what could have been a game-winner, but Anthony's shot, well contested by Wade, was well short of its target.
Duncan, still amazed that fans vote him into the starting lineup season after season, played only 13 minutes and seven seconds, none of them in the decisive fourth quarter.
Though he scored only three points, on 1-for-4 shooting, Duncan was happy to have been part of Sunday's Texas-sized extravaganza.
It was really cool, he said. The crowd was great; the gym was unbelievably set up. To see the vastness of the amount of fans that were in there was really cool to be a part of.
Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki said he was proud of the attendance record.
You know, I've never been in a gym this big, he said. It was amazing how many people came out to support us and see this game and be part of history.