“Celebrity” hoops

The Hoops on the River “celebrity” match between local public figures and members of the KPTV news crew ranked somewhere in the middle as far as entertainment value.

More entertaining than watching “regular” 40-year-old men playing basketball. Less entertaining than the slam dunk contest that featured a windmill dunk.

The best part of the celebrity match was watching and hoping someone would do something blog-worthy.

Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt didn’t disappoint.

A few minutes into the game, Leavitt had the ball and made an aggressive drive to the basket.

After laying the ball in, Leavitt slammed into the metal basketball hoop stand. He teetered around for a few minutes with his arms out in an attempt to regain his balance and make the earth stop moving.

The collision instantly reminded me of the cartoons where a character gets smacked in the head and see stars.

Kinda like this:

But to Leavitt’s credit, he did score the bucket and got right back out on the court to play some D. (My high school basketball coach would be proud, Mr. Mayor)

Some other interesting notes from the “celebrity” game:

-Clark College President Bob Knight is a fierce rebounder. He was crashing the boards on offense and defense and snatching the ball from the KPTV players’ hands.

-Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart left his double knee braces at home. The neon green shoes, however, made another appearance.

-While the announcer referred to players on both teams by their full names while giving the play-by-play, Leavitt got special treatment. He was “Mr. Mayor.” It was nauseating.

-Vancouver City Councilman Bart Hansen may have been more vocal while watching the game, but his daughter won the “cutest cheerleader” award.