In case you weren't among the sold-out crowd of 1,800 that saw Sun Ming Ming's Maryland Nighthawks debut against the Strong Island Sound on Saturday, here are the particulars. The 7-foot-9 center had 8 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes. Seems like a fairly solid debut, until you remember that formerly academically ineligible University of Delaware product Andrew "Spongebob" Washington had 32 and 8 in that game. Nevertheless, ABA CEO Joe Newman remains convinced that Sun will "be in the NBA shortly."
(Also, the team's Fan of the Month, a 9-year-old named Carter, likes ABA action because "It's just like an NBA game, but the score is higher." Problem is, this is a tough market to make that claim. Saturday's Sound-Nighthawks game, for example, featured a grand total of five more points than Saturday's Lakers-Wizards game. The Nighthawks have averaged 112.4 ppg over their past 11 games; the Wiz average 107.0 ppg. So I guess Fan of the Month Carter is technically right, but it's not a huge difference.)
(And exactly where does Newsday get off referring to Big Gheorghe as a "monstrosity?" That's legitimately offensive.)
(By the way, does anyone remember when Slate ran a story saying that Yao Ming would "never approach Rik Smits' achievements, such as they were?")