Fixing the Rookie-Sophomore Game
As you all already probably know, the NBA Rookie-Sophomore All-Star Weekend game is largely a joke. This game has been utterly dominated by Sophomores in the past, as they are just bigger/stronger/faster than their rookie counterparts. Heck, even one of the greatest rookie classes of all time lost this game in 2003 (Lebron/Darko/Carmelo/Bosh/Wade):
| Season | Result |
| 1994 | Phenoms 74, Sensations 68 |
| 1995 | White 83, Green 79 (OT) |
| 1996 | East 94, West 92 |
| 1997 | East 96, West 91 |
| 1998 | East 85, West 80 |
| 2000 | Rookies 92, Sophomores 81 (OT) |
| 2001 | Sophomores 121, Rookies 113 |
| 2002 | Rookies 103, Sophomores 97 |
| 2003 | Sophomores 132, Rookies 112 |
| 2004 | Sophomores 142, Rookies 118 |
| 2005 | Sophomores 133, Rookies 106 |
| 2006 | Sophomores 106, Rookies 96 |
| 2007 | Sophomores 155, Rookies 114 |
| 2008 | Sophomores 136, Rookies 109 |
And no, this post has nothing to do at all with K-Love getting snubbed, which is a travesty in and of itself. Anyways I’ve got a brilliant idea to fix this game. Please tell me that my idea wouldn’t create a TON more excitement for this game? Anyways, here we go:
- Designate a Rookie “captain” and a Sophomore “captain.” Perhaps the captain would be the player from each class that got the most votes for the game. Or the highest scoring average player. Either way, one captain for each team.
- Take the the pool of all 18 players selected for the game.
- Starting with the Sophomore captain, they then alternate and choose which player is on their squad, like good ol’ playground pickup ball.
There, simple as that! Can you imagine the drama/excitement created? Which rookie would be picked first? Which sophomores would the rookie captain pick? Which ones wouldn’t he pick?
Man, I think it would rock. And it would put an end to these blowout travesties that are otherwise known as this game.
Thoughts or suggestions?