"'BIG AL' WATCH" FEATURE SUSPENDED -- by Steve Nadis
We're often starting new features here at "Call Me Snake," which is something our readers seem to like. We've rarely cancelled a new feature, but I have taken that extreme measure today in terminating the "'Big Al' Watch" feature. There are several reasons for taking this step: First and foremost, our readers just didn't like it--something I've learned both from perusing the "Comments" section, as well as from several focus groups. Frankly, I'm dumbfounded by this reaction, and disappointed, but I can't make people like something, even if--by any rational measure--they should. Some people said that an ankle injury wasn't serious enough to get that worked up over (a bit callous, if you ask me); others claimed to have not even heard of "Big Al," if you can believe that.
Another reason for cancelling "'Big Al' Watch" is that he seems to have recovered from his ankle injury already, leaving us little to "Watch" on that front. In a pre-season tuneup against the Raptors on Friday, Big Al was the "first player off the bench," scoring 8 points and hauling in 4 rebounds in 18 minutes 22 seconds of action-filled play. Against New Jersey on Saturday, he scored 10 points. All of which points to one ineluctable conclusion: Big Al is back and the injury watch, at least for now, is over. It was a great ride while it lasted.
