NBA All Star Jam Session

While it's not exactly the World Cup (the event that motivated the creation of this blog), NBA All Star Weekend is still a significant sporting event. Thus, I thought it would be fun to do a little live blogging this weekend, something I haven't done since South Africa. Today I'm at Jam Session at the LA Convention Center - it's basically a basketball-themed carnival which doubles (serves?) as a way for the league's corporate sponsors to reach hoops fans. Even though it's essentially a giant commercial, it's still fun.

In past years, I've criticized Jam Session for being overly generic and lacking local flavor. The two I had previously attended, in Phoenix and Dallas, each had the same booths and attractions. This one is different, though; the league did a good job of adding a cool Hollywood vibe. For example, you can get your picture taken with full-sized cutouts of the entire Laker and Clipper teams. You can use spin-art to decorate an NBA-branded music record, which makes for a pretty sweet souvenir. There are also some ads and signage promoting some if the area's stars not named Kobe - Eric Gordon has a giant Adidas poster right by the entrance. It's also weird to see Lakers and Clippers fans congregated in one place, though the purple-and-gold outnumber the red-and-blue here by at least ten to one.

I've always been amazed by how much people love Jam Session. I find it a little overwhelming and pretty cheesy, but it is a great low cost way to get the local community engaged in the weekend. I'll try to post a photo or two later so you can get a visual feel of what it's all about. Now, I'm off to do what all good Jam Session visitors do - wait in line and fight a crowd of hundreds to get a free Taco Bell Quad Steak Taco that retails for $1.99. It seems that at All Star Weekend in LA, the only thing without a huge price tag is my dignity.