It's being reported that often-injured Houston Rocket center Yao Ming will announce his retirement on July 20th.

Ming has been suffering from several foot ailments the past several years which has set back his otherwise valuable contribution on the court for the Rockets and on/off the court for the NBA.  Ming, China's greatest export in the world of basketball, has permitted the NBA to make huge headway into the lucrative Chinese market.  Ming is so popular that he has single-handedlygotten the Chinese public to make basketball the biggest sport in the country.

The NBA has been able to bankroll his presence in a Rocket uniform to be able to sell Kobe Bryant jerseys (among many other players) in China, and export players of their own, such as Stephon Marbury.

How Ming's proposed retirement will affect the NBA fans in China will be closely watched by all on Madison Avenue.

The Game Over Trophy Sale is now on.  Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to see what savings you can get on your order of 10 or more trophies - basketball or football.

Seems like there are two seasons - the NBA season including pre-season and post season, and the lockout/strike season.  We're now into the later, as the owners locked out the players when the present Collective Bargaining Agreement expired at midnight on June 30.

There is a lot of talk going around that there are several teams that are losing money, that the players have to give back some of the shared money they receive.  They have already offered to give back $60 million that they have already received.  How much are the teams losing?  Their values only go up when owners sell.  So what is reality?  Lets hope we don't have to invade the other season to find out.

The president of Game Over, Eric Hicks, was interviewed on BlogTalkRadio on the This Week In the CBL (Continental Basketball League) Talk Show on Tuesday, June 28, 2011.  For a listen-in of all the discussion, click here .

It's time for the 6th Annual Game Over Classic to be held in New York City June 17 - 19.  Early registration is now being accepted.  From last seasons successful tournament we are expecting to reach the capacity for each age group this year.  Don't miss out on the premier basketball tournament in NYC.  Register your team today by clicking 2011_game_over_classic_registration_form.

Game Over and Flexx Sports have teamed-up to create the premiere Basketball Combine, Clinic, and Showcase event in Lansdowne, Virginia.  The events are scheduled for Saturday, May 14th at the Flexx Sports complex.

Participants can register for 1, 2 or all 3 events.  The Combine will have participants measured and evaluated.  The information collected will be made available to the participants for their understanding on areas they may need to work on, as well as coaches that may be looking to recruit on various levels.  The Clinic will have coaches instruct on various basketball individual and team skills.  And the Showcase event will be games where participants will have their chance to show off their skills.  The Showcase will be videotaped and made available to participants, coaches and aspects will be put on the Game Over web sites.

Early Registration Fees (before May 6th) for 1 event is $75.00, any two events is $135.00, and all the events is $195.00.  Click here to Register .  

Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with any inquiries.

Two weeks into the trade for Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks have twice lost to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers.  It may take a while to correctly assess the trade that had the Knicks give up 6 players and draft choices, but why wait?  Fans never do.

It was the fans, in today's instant-gratification-I-know-better-than-the-professionals (Donnie Walsh) that inundated talk shows and twitter accounts with Anthony will solve all the Knicks problems and be the superstar that we need to get us over the top (sorry Amare, you're just a piece to the puzzle).  Is Anthony the savior, a key piece, or will he be just another in the long line of succession that will claim the throne of Stephon Marbury, a native New Yorker that failed to live upto the hype because he was what he always was - lacking in the skills to provide a championship but succeed in the skills to further bring the Knicks into the dark(er) ages.

Anthony will never remind anyone of a defensive lockdown player.  Nor should he.  But when going against another player that can score, he would have to provide not basket-for-basket production, but better, for the Knicks to win.  All that has to happen is his player to out score him.  Now that wouldn't be a death knell, except for the fact that no one on the Knicks is defensive minded.  Part due to the players on the roster (say goodbye to Cory Brewer, we hardly knew ya) and part on the system employed by Mike D'Antoni.  Throughout the history of the NBA, or NCAA, or any sport for that matter, scoring as the main focus of the philosophical means to win, just does the opposite, especially during play-off time.

Now don't get us wrong, we understand the Knicks do have several other productive members, such as Chauncey Billups, but he is only a stop-gap for the next year and a half.  The hope is to acquire via free agency in another year New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul.  That is a plan.  And a good one.  Just like the one to acquire LeBron James.  A lot of time will happen between now and then, including the possibility that Paul will be traded elsewhere, desire to remain for more money with the Hornets, or the NBA free agent structure will change during the off-season CBA discussions. 

So the Knicks have traded away assets, regardless of how Knick fans view them or value their performance, they are (were) trading chips.  And now all used on one primary figure.  Who everyone is hoping not just performs, but remains healthy.  Otherwise he will be the next Marbury in the Knicks timeline.