Sitting in section 104 of the Verizon Center waiting for today's Wiz v. Jazz matinée to start. Day games on MLK day are so best. I was just down in the media room and overheard David Aldridge, the DA of the NBA, recounting getting fired from the Philly Inquirer while he was out on the West Coast doing a story. Hard to believe a reporter of Aldridge's standing will be out of work for long.

I forgot to mention that the MLS Superdraft happened over the weekend. D.C. United drafted Bryan Arguez in the first round. As usual, The DCenters have all four rounds covered, which you might want to take a look at, because United has a history of making late picks count. Lastly, The Bog has a great read on fourth round pick Ricky Schramm of Georgetown.

Just a few minutes until tip-off. I predict a big game from Carlos Boozer. Check back later and see if I'm as smart as I think I am.

Heady times here at ILB HQ. I recorded a rare trifecta in the last 48 hours or so.

1) Get love from The Bog, (not once, but twice), Mr. Irrelevant, Free Darko, Deadspin and the print edition of Express for my Swag Scale interview.

2) Have the "ballers" at Slam Online throw some hate my way for the same thing. If I'm pissing them off, I must be doing something right.

3) Get mentioned in a Marketwatch article about the WaPo blogger summit. Sadly, only by firstname and not url. Tom also got some love.

On a more serious note, the Celtics season is officially over, and it could not have happened in a more excruciating way. In Wednesday night's game, Tony Allen blew out his knee when he landed awkwardly after a dunk attempt. And did I mention that this was after a foul call, so the play was dead? And that yesterday was his 25th birthday? And that his 80 year-old grandmother flew to Boston just to see him and witnessed the whole thing? Jeezy Creezy. He's done for the season. Pierce's return got pushed back 11 days, so no DC for him. Wally's hurt, as is Scalabrine, Delonte too and Gomes is sick. We only have nine players available for tonight's game v. Toronto. Our SG/SF rotation, the strength of the team at the start of the season, now consists of Gerald Green and Allen Ray. Wow. Greg Oden, here we come.

Duke's not fairing too much better. They lost to a good Ga. Tech team on Wednesday and dropped to 0-2 in the conference. It's going to be a long season. Our shooters aren't athletic enough to get their own shot and our athletes can't shoot. I'll be happy to finish .500 in the ACC. We should be able to do that.

Related: I can't even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. #5!

Much like Truehoop, I like the Steve Blake for Earl Boykins deal for Denver.

The Bog tracks down Esky and gets his thoughts on the trade and Becks.

This got me all excited until I realized they were just talking about the record, not an actual tour.

David Beckham will be playing in the MLS starting in August. He going to sign a five-year deal with the L.A. Galaxy. This is awesome, if only because I'll get to take photos of him when he comes to D.C.

Bravo MLS.

Now get United a player of similar stature!

Slightly related: This is effing hilarious!

[SCENE] Wizards locker room, postgame. Agent Zero is surrounded by reporters with all sorts of mics and video cameras aimed at him. He's discussing how he has to adjust to playing the Bulls and their hard nosed style of halfcourt defense and Caron Butler's chances for the All Star game. He's very serious and everyone's hanging on his every word.

Cut to your intrepid reporter blogger, poised, waiting for his chance. There's a slight pause, he goes for it.

Leaf: "Gil, how would rate your swag tonight?"
Gilbert Arenas: [laughs] "It was a mellow swag until the end."
Leaf: "Is there a scale? Can you get better than phenomenal or is that the top?"
Gilbert Arenas: "No, phenomenal is the top. Phenomenal swag is the top swag."
Leaf: "So mellow swag is in the middle?"
Gilbert Arenas: "Yeah, you're just chilling."

So there you have it. On a scale of, say, 1 to 5, Gil's swag was about a three tonight. Caron Butler's swag, however, reached phenomenal levels, thus the win for the Wiz. As time allows I'll try and find out more about Gilbert's swag scale. Stay tuned! My official DCist game recap should be online later today.

PS - Also had the chance to meet The Sport Bog in person last night. Agent Steinz is just as friendly as you'd expect.

I'm famous bitches! At least, as famous as you can be when you ask Gilbert Arenas a question that makes not only him, but the throng of sportswriters hanging on his every word bust out in laughter. Rejoice leafblower fans! I am big time. Anytime you get to see a buzzer beater live and in person, it's pretty special. And when you get to go into the locker room after the game and talk to the players, that's even better.

Seriously, you'll just have to trust me that it's me at the 3:09 mark of this video from the DC Sports Bog. But just listen to the timing and insightfulness (is that a word?) of my question. I am a natural at this post game reporting in the locker room stuff. So I won't mention that I was scared stiff walking in there and totally felt out of place. But hey, I took my shot and went for it.

Here's my recap of the game for DCist.

I need to perfect my locker room technique before the 20th. Guess who is in town then? And guess who may be playing again on the 19th!