February 8, 2023 News and Notes

• LeBron did it.  Only needed 3 quarters to get the 36 he needed to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and become the NBA's all-time leading scorer.  A fade-away with about 11 seconds to go in the third did it against the Thunder.
• I have never seen such an uninspired team as this Lakers mess.  Good...   God....
• The game was stopped for about 15 minutes, the first commercial afterward was a specially-prepared Nike ad for the achievement.
• On the other side of the coin is a high-school game in Oklahoma.  17-1 team played a 2-3 team, so the 2-3 team decided to try to slow the game down -- to an abject STOP.  Final score?  Weatherford Eagles (the 17-1 team) 4 - Anadarko Warriors 2.
• Beggings for the coaches to be suspended or fired, a shot clock in Oklahoma basketball (the NFHS, this year, has placed a national allowance for states to implement a high school shot clock -- Oklahoma has not), etc.
• More details on the debacle:  The first quarter was completely scoreless.  The third quarter had one possession which literally lasted seven minutes before a foul.  Sophomore CJ Nickson, who has 1,000 points for the Eagles in just under two seasons, scored both baskets for his team.
• OK, #1:  There was a rule, back in the day, to handle something like this, and the NFHS took it out -- the Lack of Action Rule.  The team that was behind (or the offense, IIRC, in case of a tie) had the impetus under the rules to make a degree of action, and the referees had the authority to order a team to do so -- failure to do so would result in a technical foul.
• #2:  At some point, isn't there the authority of the officials to take nearly unlimited action (up to forfeiture) if it is clear that the game is an abject farce?
• #3:  Did anyone's eyebrows get raised at a team which has played 18 games and won 17 playing a team, in early February (so we're quite a bit into the high school boys' basketball season here) which has only played five games????  
• COVIDIOT-12 wants some time to himself -- he says he may have a decision on his career after a four-day "darkness retreat".
• Michael Irvin has been expelled from the NFL Network and it's coverage of the Super Bowl -- an interaction with a woman on Sunday is the reason, but no other details have been noted.  It apparently took place in a hotel lobby and is claimed not to be sexual in nature.