FanNation - The Republic of Sport

(Author's note: This article was originally published at http://www.aarontorres-sports.com/)

Forget Christmas, this is the most wonderful time of the year.

Flowers are blooming, baseball season is underway and that pesky swine flu, which has been all the rage the past week, is finally in check (I can't wait to re-read this article some time in 2011 and get nostalgic about the swine flu.  It sure was a crazy week).

But with all that, there's another reason to be excited: the NBA playoffs.

Gone are the has been's (Pistons) and never were's (Philadelphia).  The same with the soon-to-be's (Bulls) and maybe someday's (Portland).

And with it, we have eight super-exciting, supremely fun basketball teams left, vying for the 2009 NBA Championship.  And seven great reasons to watch. 

These Teams Are Inherently Fun To Watch:

Look around.  Besides the clearly entertaining Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers, you've got the Nuggets, Hawks, Mavs, Rockets and Magic left.  Name me one boring team among those eight!

There's teams that play fast (Denver, Boston, L.A.), others that prefer the half court (Houston, Orlando) and others that are in between (Cleveland, Dallas).

There are bona-fide superstars both new (LeBron, Carmelo, Dwight Howard) and old (Dirk, Kobe, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce), evil foreigners (Pau Gasol) and a few guys you'd be afraid to see on a dark street corner (sorry we're talking to you J.R. Smith and Chris Anderson).

If you're a fan of basketball, there is nothing you would want to see that you couldn't find in these final eight teams. 

And while we're on the subject who is there, let's also mention who's not: San Antonio and Detroit.

Listen, this is in no way a knock to either fan-base, but each has done quite enough winning recently (the Spurs haven't lost in the first round since 2000 and the Pistons have been to six straight Eastern Conference Finals) to last us all quite some time.

And in the process of all that winning, they've made the NBA, well a little less interesting.

Since Michael Jordan retired (the second time, not the third) in 1998, there are two things that have pushed casual fans away from NBA basketball.

• Selfish superstars like Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Stephon Marbury, who seemed to care more about what was at the post-game spread than actually winning basketball games. During the early part of this decade, it seemed like these guys cared more about cashing their paychecks and ending up on an episode of MTV's Cribs than actually winning an NBA Championship.

• The teams that actually did have players who cared about winning, were borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring to watch.

I know, I know I'm going to take heat from fans in San Antonio and Detroit, but it's true.  While these two teams played basketball the way it was supposed to be played- top-flight defense, efficient, yet unspectacular offense- nobody cared.

Look around now.  You have LeBron making no look passes all over the place.  Dwight Howard blocking shots six rows into the stands, and Ray Allen making shots with guys on him so tight, they should probably offer to buy him dinner after the game.

This is fun.  This is exciting.  And it is bringing the casual fan back to basketball. 

So regardless of who you're rooting for, just enjoy the basketball that's being played.  There won't be a boring second from here on out.

The Return of the Mohawk, or the Fo-Hawk, or Whatever The Kids Are Calling Them These Days:

It used to be only soccer players, skateboarders, and the occasional odd-ball European tennis player sporting these things.

But a funny thing happened last fall.  Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays brought them back to style, on their magically goofy run to the World Series.

And since then they've been popping up everywhere.  They're cooler than a trip to the strip club with Pac-Man Jones.

Just these playoffs alone I've seen Glen Davis of the Celtics Von Wafer from Houston and Boobie Gibson of Clevland each sport very stylish fo-hawks. 

I think Ron Artest has one too, but it's hard to tell, with all the hieroglyphics he has shaved in his head (The detail and design on Artest's head is so complex, I feel like I'm in one of those movies where if I can make sense of his haircut, I might be able to solve a 100-year-old murder mystery or something).

Regardless, it's an exciting for the NBA and the accompanying hairdo's.  I just hope that somehow, they're not breaking the league's dress code.

Share your thoughts with Aaron, by e-mailing him at ATorres00@gmail.com or by visiting his website, www.aarontorres-sports.com

Yao Ming, the Quote Machine:

Speaking of Artest and the Rockets, did you hear Yao Ming after the Game 1 win?

While not quite Charles Barkley or Don Imus, Ming showed a sense of humor and more importantly, a pulse when addressing the media.

In response to a reporters question about the Rockets being an underdog in this series, Ming responded: "Well that's a word I just learned a couple days ago."

After a nice chuckle from the assembled media, Ming had the foresight to pause for dramatic effect, before adding in his deep, practically in-audible voice, "It's just like the NBA says: Where Amazing Happens!

It was arguably the funniest thing ever spouted from the mouth of someone 7'6 or taller

And if the NBA really can get Yao to loosen up and joke a little, then it really is the place where "Amazing Happens."

The Denver Nuggets Setting a DiMaggio-esque record For Combined Team Tattoos:

I haven't seen a collection of individuals with this much body art since the second season of Oz.  If you took a count, this one would have been as one-sided as LeBron's MVP vote.

Look at the Nuggets roster: J.R. Smith.  Chris Anderson.  Kenyon Martin.  Carmelo Anthony.  That's 4/5 of the All-Star team right there. 

And while Martin's overall performance might be topped by Anderson and Smith, the red pair of lips he's got on his neck will certainly make him a first ballot Hall of Famer.  You know if there was a Hall of Fame for such things.

And while all the hype is in Denver, there is one guy who is putting on his own incredible one man performance back East. 

That's right, we didn't forget about you Mr. Stephon Marbury.  Your company emblem in ink on the side of your head is nothing short of marketing genius.  I don't know how no one else thought of the idea first.

To read the remainder of this article, please click the direct link here, or visit Aaron at http://www.aarontorres-sports.com/