AP/TOM LYNN Milwaukee Bucks rookie Joe Alexander showed his comedic talent by submitting a video campaigning for the final spot in the slam dunk contest at All-Star weekend.
Alexander slams home his message
If Joe Alexander can do with a basketball what he does with a cookie or pingpong ball, he could be a threat to Superman.
Now he just needs a chance.
Alexander is one of three rookies bidding for the fourth spot in the slam dunk contest at All-Star weekend, which was won last season by Dwight Howard dressed in a Superman shirt and cape. This season, that spot will be determined by voting at www.NBA.com/dunk.
Portland's Rudy Fernandez and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City are the other first-year players in the running, and all three have filmed videos to boost their campaigns.
But neither Fernandez nor Westbrook went as far as Alexander, whose campaign has a Web site at www.seejoedunk.com. The Milwaukee Bucks forward launches his bid with a news conference in which he takes questions from a few reporters, all played by himself in disguise.
There are also some comedy skits. In one, he ruins teammate Charlie Bell's snack break when he slams a cookie into a glass of milk so powerfully that it spills. In another, a game of pingpong between forward Charlie Villanueva and Bango, the Bucks mascot, ends when Alexander grabs the ball after an errant shot and dunks it into a garbage can.
Voting continues until Wednesday, with the winner announced Jan. 19.
Break out the razor
A close shave is expected for either the announcer or bandleader on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, based on who wins the New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles playoff game Sunday.
Announcer John Melendez, a Giants fan, vows to shave his head if his team loses. Bandleader Kevin Eubanks will shave his mustache if the Eagles don't win.
Leno's monologue was repeatedly interrupted early this week by bickering over which team would win Sunday's NFL divisional playoff game. Leno explained the problem during Wednesday's monologue.
"We had a bit of an outburst the last couple of nights," Leno said. "John's a Giants fan; Kev's an Eagles fan. To keep them from arguing in the monologue - they kept interrupting me - if the Giants win, Kev has to shave his mustache. If the Eagles win, John has to shave his head."
He has a point
One of the knocks on Bert Blyleven's candidacy for the Baseball Hall of Fame is that the former pitcher never won a Cy Young Award.
"But a lot of guys in the Hall of Fame never won a Cy Young Award," Blyleven, 57, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota. "My wife says not even Cy Young won a Cy Young Award."
Say it backward
Florida State and South Florida have agreed to a home-and-home football matchup, with games in 2009 and 2012. Or as the headline at Fark. com put it: "FSU, USF to play in Palindrome Bowl."
Quick quote
Minnesota basketball Coach Tubby Smith, to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, when asked what it would take for his team to reach its full potential on defense: "A shutout."
Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post on the Denver Broncos' expected attempts to sign a free agent defensive tackle: "Show Albert
the money. Denver goes off to work with the least intimidating front seven since Snow White's dwarfs."
Quote of the day
"Correct me if I'm wrong. We haven't bought any rings, we haven't cut down any nets, and nobody has given us a trophy."
Arkansas basketball Coach John Pelphrey on his team's fast start
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