The Houston Rockets, fresh off a 12 game winning streak, will be without the services of their All-Star Center, Yao Ming, for the remainder of the season.  Yao suffered a stress fracture in his foot and will miss the rest of Houston’s basketball season.
Already sitting in the 7th playoff seed position w/ Yao, the Rockets will be hard-pressed to keep that position.  The Western Conference is already tight as can be; this latest injury will certainly help clarify the playoff positioning.  I guess it’s good to be a Denver Nugget …

Even after the Lakers, Suns and Mavericks made trades to strengthen their chances of going to the NBA Finals, a flurry of NBA trades change the landscape across the league.

In his first race since joining Hendrick Motorsports this racing offseason, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88) passed Tony Stewart (#20) with a few laps left to claim the Budweiser Shootout.  Granted, the win doesn’t count towards points, but it has to feel good for Dale Jr. to get out of DEI and enjoy a win in his first start w/ a new company.
Dale Jr.’s issues w/ DEI are well documented, so I won’t get into them here.  What counts today is that Earnhardt scored a victory in his first race of the 2008 …

The NBA’s Western Conference is a mess right now, with a number of acquisitions, trades and power moves by the NBA’s elite teams.  Pau Gasol was traded to the Lakers, Damon Stoudamire was signed by the Spurs and rumors are still buzzing about Jason Kidd being moved to the Mavs.
Of course, these moves all pale in comparison to the season’s first blockbuster.  The Phoenix Suns traded fan-favorite Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat for future Hall of Famer, Shaquille O’neal – yes, the big Shaq daddy, Diesel, …