CSI: Thomas Mack Center

I haven't done much blogging lately (mainly because the "blogosphere" has become an increasingly cynical and, frankly, embarrassing place to do business), but tonight's Rookie Challenge forced my hand. There is a mystery to be solved.

No, not the mystery of the Rookie's complete lack of effort.

Not the mystery of David Lee coming off the bench for a sub-.500 team in New York despite the fact that he is a freakish talent. People mistakenly think he's a "hustle player," but the truth is this guy is incredibly skilled and I firmly believe he will average 20 and 12 for a season within the next three years. And it wasn't just the Rookie Challenge performance that convinced me of this; Lee has been great all season. Of course, going 14-for-14 from the field and finishing with 30 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks doesn't hurt. When you can outperform the likes of Ray Felton and Deron Williams when they are having great games, you know you are doing something right.

Not the mystery of Monte Ellis' apparent 60-inch vertical leap.

Not the mystery of the dunk contest, which is featuring such a crappy field (including Nate "The Human Rain Delay" Robinson and two power forwards) that people are already giving Gerald Green the award by virtue of him being the only guy that even remotely resembles a dunk contest participant. Meanwhile, we have the likes of Ellis and Lee and Danny Granger and Rudy Gay throwing down massive dunks during game action. Good work on that one, NBA.

Not even the mystery of how a player - Chris Paul - was able to collect nine steals in a game where no one was trying on defense (he almost had a pretty incredible triple double with 16 points, 17 assists, and the nine steals).

No, the mystery here is this: what in the world was that cacophony of sound that ran through the whole broadcast? I know that there were tons of kids in attendance, but this didn't sound like kids at a game or even at a rock concert. It sounded like kids on a two-hour roller coaster ride. Or kids being hung over a balcony. I'm telling you, this was incredible. Just high-pitched wails that NEVER let up. In fact, they only subsided after great plays, which makes no sense at all.

If we could get the CSI guys down to the Thomas Mack Center to solve this mystery, that would be great.