Hey now, you’re an all-star

… get your game on, go play.

I guess we are back to song lyrics from my childhood being the title of this column. I would apologize if I felt even the smallest bit bad about it. But, once again, the lyrics are fitting.

This weekend was most people’s first without football. Since I forwent the Super Bowl, it was my second. I know what other sports I have to fill that void, but many don’t. It just so happened to be the all-star weekend for two pretty popular professional sports leagues in America, which is one heck of a come-down from the NFL finale.

The major winter sports — hockey and basketball — had their professional all-star tournaments this weekend (or at least a portion of them), and the stories of the two couldn’t be more different if they tried. One was lauded by the masses for its excitement, meaning, and change of pace from the norm. The other was the NBA.

I used to be a massive fan of the NBA’s all-star weekend. This weekend used to mean so much to fans of Dr. Naismith’s sport. We got to see absolutely giant human beings, modern-day gladiators, relaxing and having fun while still providing us entertainment. The game used to mean something.

It wasn’t just the all-star game, either. It was the entire weekend. I vividly remember watching Peja Stojakovic win back-to-back 3-point contests when I was a kid. The dunk contest was something to look forward to. Recreating this weekend on NBA Live 2004 is something that will forever be a cherished memory of mine. And now, it means nothing.

I could go on for hours about my favorite all-star weekend moments. Vince Carter’s 2000 Vinsanity run with his honey dip, 360 windmill, and a foul line dunk, Nate Robinson jumping over Dwight Howard, who was donning a cape, or even LeBron’s refusal to ever participate in the dunk contest, even though he is one of the greatest dunkers to ever live. The skills challenges, 3-point contests, and just the overall flair of the weekend have made it must-watch television for nearly my entire life. ‘Nearly’ I say, because it has seriously tapered off and fallen short as of late.

The last time I watched anything from the all-star break, I cannot accurately remember. It has to have been longer than five years ago (because that’s how good — or bad — my memory is these days). I do know that Mac McClung has won three straight dunk contests and LeBron sat out of this weekend’s game for some reason, but besides that, I don’t really know much of what is going on.

Apparently, there are now four teams, each headed up by one of the members of Inside the NBA. And they play first to 40. No more is it the offensive onslaught without a defense in sight between the east and west. While I’ll admit that these games got boring and repetitive, they still carried the names and traditions of the games before them.

Now, I don’t know what all-star weekend entails, and I’ll be honest, I don’t really care, either. I watched some of the celebrity all-star game since I had the rare Friday night without a game to cover. But it was full of people I didn’t know and the 4-4 first quarter score was anything but exciting. I guess I’m in the ‘old man yelling at clouds’ era of my life, but I don’t care.

Hockey, though? They did it right. Realizing that fans were bored with their current setup, they developed the 4 Nations Face-Off, which has made for a lot of excitement, even if you don’t care for the sport. Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the U.S. have all fielded a team of NHL stars from their country to compete in a multiple-round tournament spanning a couple weeks, which culminates this Thursday. The United States and Canada clashed this weekend, with ‘clash’ not telling the full story.

The first nine seconds of the game saw three fights, with the Tkachuk brothers from the American squad serving time in the sin bin together. Global politics aside, this was a fiery match-up that could also be the championship game for the tournament.

The NHL saw there needed to be a change, and they made it. They found something new, refreshing, and fun, and just from this weekend’s fireworks alone, they have now drawn in more fans. Adam Silver could learn a lesson here.