Nba All Star Game

Dennis Miller: a good sport, tooWhat's the statute of limitations on sneaking into a World Series game?Dennis Miller had better hope it's 20 years or less.During a news conference this week to discuss his role as host of Thursday's American Sports Awards show (ESPN, 9 p.m.), Miller was recalling some of the sports memories of his youth. And that's where he got nailed.Miller told of the time in 1971 when he and some friends from hihometown of Pittsburgh sneaked into Memorial Stadium on the morning of a World Series game, hid in bathrooms by standing on toilets to avoid detection by guards and then watched a game without having a ticket.

Someday, the networks are going to put a show on Saturday night that is consistently worth watching. Someday.* "Song of Freedom" (1:30 p.m.-3 p.m., WHMM, Channel 32) -- The great Paul Robeson, a man whose beautiful singing and fine acting was woefully underused by Hollywood in the 1930s and '40s, stars as a singer who gives up a career in opera to work with a tribe in Africa.* "Wide World of Sports" (4:30 p.m.-6 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- You're not going to believe what they're showing on "Wide World" this week.

NEW YORK -- The Washington Bullets, who already have lost all five of their starters to injury for at least several games this season, received more discouraging news yesterday, when general manager John Nash estimated that neither Bernard King nor Mark Alarie would return to action until after the NBA All-Star Game Feb. 9.King and Alarie started the season on the injured list after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last September. The two veteran forwards have experienced pain when trying to run, delaying their rehabilitation.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- If the NBA All-Star Game is the place for the bigger names around the league to strut their stuff, tonight's three-point shootout and slam-dunk competition are the place for the lesser lights to shineFor example, Chicago guard Craig Hodges, who has won the last two American Airlines-ITT-Sheraton Shootouts, is generally mired on the Bulls' bench.And Kenny Walker, who won the Gatorade Slam Dunk Championship in 1989, is no longer in the league. He now plies his trade in Europe, after being released by the New York Knicks following last season.

One of Magic Johnson's physicians dismissed speculation yesterday that the Los Angeles Lakers guard would return to action for the NBA playoffs this season.David Ho, director of New York University's Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, said an attempt to play professionally, even for a limited time, would be detrimental to Johnson's health.Ho, who is advising Johnson on long-term care for an HIV infection, said Johnson could participate in the NBA All-Star Game, scheduled for Feb. 9, but not the playoffs.

CLEVELAND -- After nearly five days of discussions, the Washington Bullets have agreed to a contract with Bernie Bickerstaff, who will be introduced today as the team's new coach.Bickerstaff, who began the season as the coach of the Denver Nuggets before stepping aside to resume his duties of general manager, was the top choice of the Bullets from the time the team fired Jim Lynam on Wednesday."We've agreed to a contract, in principle," Bullets general manager Wes Unseld said last night before the start of the NBA All-Star Game.

State and federal authorities announced criminal indictments Monday in an alleged $70 million mortgage fraud scheme that ensnared more than 1,000 homeowners, most of them from Maryland. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer said charges had been brought against four people in connection with the alleged Ponzi scheme, including Andrew H. Williams Jr., who was enjoined by Maryland authorities in 2007 when they froze his Metro Dream Homes operation. The victims of the alleged scheme were persuaded to invest $50,000 or more to refinance their homes or buy new ones under a program that promised to pay off their mortgages within five to seven years.

The weekend's NBA all star game gave halftime show junkies a fix after their Super Bowl withdrawl, Danica Patrick ran a fast qualifying lap, and Christoph Waltz shows everyone the lighter side of Hitler. Welcome to the post-weekend edition of your daily trends. The all-star game had by far the most related searches this weekend, with Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and halftime performer Alicia Keys among the big names sought by online readers.  There was also heavy interest in WWE coverage, the roster on SNL and the Walking Dead plotline.

Magic Johnson wants to educate the world about the AIDS virus. But it's impossible if people refuse to consider the evidence, change their thinking, abandon their fear.The chance of Magic infecting another player with HIV in a game of basketball? Nil, zero, infinitesimal, according to one AIDS expert after another.For a confused public, the message could not be any clearer. But with AIDS, as with any plague through the ages, the tendency is to panic. To overreact. To smear.So here's Magic, intending to make a bold statement in the NBA All-Star Game next weekend and the Olympics this summer.

The question is legitimate. You don't have to line up with the yahoos when asking it. This doesn't have to be a political-correctness litmus test.The question is simply this: Should Magic Johnson be back on a basketball court?He's going to be there Sunday, in Orlando, for all to see. When Johnson steps onto the court to play in the NBA All-Star Game, there won't be a dry eye in the house.What a phenomenal story. It was an act of love as much as anything else that prompted fans to vote Johnson to the All-Star team even though he had retired.