The NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night “opened with a big bang with Christina Aguilera performing with pyrotechnics followed by a drawn out starting lineup introduction that felt like a Super Bowl halftime show production.” The game itself featured an All-Star Game-record 321 combined points as the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 163-158. Thunder G and ASG MVP Russell Westbrook put on “a dazzling show” and delivered “one of the all-time great All-Star performances” (ESPNNY.com, 2/15).

Knicks G Carmelo Anthony addressed the crowd prior to the game and said, “New York City is the greatest place in the world. And these are the best fans in the NBA” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/16). The ORLANDO SENTINEL’s Josh Robbins noted the “pageantry around the game featured a strong Big Apple vibe” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/16).

TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager made a surprise appearance during the net’s broadcast of last night’s NBA All-Star Game and said he hoped to return to the network full-time as early as next month. Sager appeared via satellite from Florida to interview Knicks F Carmelo Anthony, his first appearance on TV since his battle with leukemia last spring. He said he hopes to come back “around March 1st if everything goes well these next two weeks.” Sager: “I think I’m on my road back, and I think I’m looking forward to getting healthy and being there in March and April. I’m looking forward to the playoffs” (“NBA Tip-Off,” TNT, 2/15).

The NBA said it set a new league social media record during Saturday night’s All-Star Game activities with more than 50 million combined video views in a 24-hour period on the @NBA, @NBATV and @NBAonTNT accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Vine. Timberwolves G and Slam Dunk champion Zach LaVine gained more than 1 million mentions on Twitter, the most for any one player in the history of NBA All-Star Saturday night.

The committee created by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer to "build a new NFL stadium and keep the Chargers" from moving to L.A. meets today with Chargers Special Counsel to the President Mark Fabiani and "hopes to close any breach with the team." The meeting "will not be public," but Committee Chair Adam Day "has promised an open meeting soon." Faulconer has said that he wants the stadium issue decided by late '16, and he "gave the committee until this fall to prepare its recommendations" (L.A. TIMES, 2/16).

Meanwhile, Inglewood Mayor James Butts is "more confident than ever" about an NFL stadium deal. He tells USA TODAY, "Let me put it to you this way, buddy. It's going down. This is a happening thing." Butts "dismisses speculation" that Rams Owner Stan Kroenke is using Inglewood to leverage a new stadium in St. Louis (USA TODAY, 2/16).

The USL Austin Aztex this weekend held their inaugural ATX Pro Challenge, and “both days the crowd was estimated at 6,000.” DC United won the preseason tournament, which also included the Columbus Crew and FC Dallas. Aztex CEO Rene van de Zande said of the event: “We woke up Austin to big-league soccer. … To see about 6,000 fans in the stands each day when we really didn’t have time to properly market this is a good indicator that this town loves soccer” (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 2/16).

Crew D Chad Barson said of Austin potentially being an MLS market: “The crowd support was excellent this weekend, and I know this: Austin would be a popular stop for the players” (MYSTATESMAN.com, 2/15). The Austin market "meets nearly every criteria in an eyeball test for the MLS." With an average household age of 31.9 years, "it skews younger than half of the MLS teams" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 2/16).

Memphis Open Tournament Dir Erin Mazurek, who is in her first year with the event, said that she was “impressed with how the crowds built during the latter stages of the tournament.” Mazurek said of the event that concluded yesterday, “The ticket (sales) continued to climb with each day and the tennis was as good as any 500 (or next-level events) could have been.”

The USTA last year purchased the tournament form San Jose-based Sharks Sports & Entertainment after “several disappointing years with waning interest and dwindling attendance.” Mazurek said of the Memphis market: “It was almost like we had to remind the community it was a tennis town. It was a reinvigoration with a new life and a new energy” (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 2/16).

AOL yesterday announced a deal in which it will co-produce and distribute content for Derek Jeter's website The Players' Tribune. AOL also will feature the content on its site, and co-produce sporting events with The Players' Tribune (AOL).

Indiana state lawmakers today have a hearing scheduled regarding a proposed 18,500-seat stadium for the NASL Indy Eleven. The INDIANAPOLIS STAR offers a primer on issues surrounding the $82M project.

“I haven’t signed yet, and he hasn’t signed yet, you know. It’s just been speculations and rumors, but hopefully we can make the fight happen” – Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., on talks for a bout with Manny Pacquiao (Mult., 2/16).

“I just got the craziest email from Jim Dolan” – TNT’s Ernie Johnson, who ribbed the Knicks owner as he emceed Sunday morning’s NBA Legends Brunch at the Javits Center (N.Y. POST, 2/15).

“There’s a lot of people running teams that just don’t know what they’re doing. A good friend of mine got fired this year in Sacramento. They didn’t know what they were doing” – Cavaliers F LeBron James, on the NBA Kings firing coach Mike Malone earlier this season (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 2/15).

“They certainly exceeded expectations and were a great step forward for ski racing in North America” – FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis, on the U.S. hosting the Alpine world ski championships for the first time since ’99 (N.Y. TIMES, 2/16).

Since Twitter became popular no major sporting event has been more upstaged by another show than the NBA ASG was by SNL tonight.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 16, 2015

Interested to see the ratings comparison between the NBA All-Star Game and #SNL40.

— Tariq Ahmad (@tariq_ahmad) February 16, 2015

They're giving writers 15 minutes to clear out of the Garden to make way for the dog show. Not the best week for sportswriters' self esteem

— J.A. Adande (@jadande) February 16, 2015

#30for30 got me to spend an hour watching a story about cricket. Best thing, by a wide margin, about ESPN. Good stories, told well.

— Jeff Bradley (@JerseyJBradley) February 16, 2015

The SEATTLE TIMES looks at the reasons behind the rise in stadium entertainment districts: “Municipalities now balk at handing over the free cash that sent teams on venue-building sprees in the 1990s and early 2000s. With team owners increasingly forced to spend their own money on a stadium or arena, they want additional revenue sources to offset costs” (SEATTLE TIMES).

The Baltimore SUN on the one-year anniversary of the Ray Rice incident looks back on its impact: "(Rice) put himself in legal peril and decimated his carefully constructed reputation. ... The Ravens and the NFL would see their own reputations threatened by sluggish, tone-deaf responses to Rice's assault" (Baltimore SUN).

ESPN’s Claire Smith offers commentary on why she is “grateful for legendary sportswriter Alison Gordon,” a “press box pioneer” for female sports journalists that died last week at the age of 72 (ESPNW).

Also:

• Pirates growing payroll is both good and bad news.
• The “beautiful chaos” of the NBA as labor unrest builds.
• PGA Tour caddies swinging for the green with advertising lawsuit.
• UMass Boston playing an integral part in Boston’s bid for ’24 Games.
• Darrell Williams is this year’s “least-known comeback story.”

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Historic Names on the Map.”

“Nothing is known of his early life in England before 1600 or of the end of his life in North America after June 22, 1611.”

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon: “This week Tiger Woods announced he is quitting golf until his game improves, making him the first man in history to quit his job and play less golf” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 2/13).

CBS’ David Letterman: “We have some drama here in New York City with the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez. Alex met with the Yankees and apologized for all of his actions that caused so much trouble, and it caused him to sit out a year. (He) missed a whole year of baseball. Normally, he just sits out October. … The Little League Championship World Series team was disqualified from winning the World Series last year. They were from Chicago and turns out the baseballs were underinflated. Also, it turned out that the players were not from the area they were supposed to be from. … In fact, they lived way out in the suburbs with their wives” (“Late Show,” CBS, 2/13).

Friday night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Ways To Make Valentine’s Day Special.” Letterman said, “People say, ‘Dave, what are you going to do, plans for Valentine's Day?’ Look at me, ladies. Every day is Valentine's Day” (“Late Show,” CBS, 2/12).

10) “Take her to ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ -- meet her out front when it’s over.”
9) “Can’t afford Champagne? Try vodka and Efferdent.”
8) “Avoid discussing the divorce.”
7) “Write a love song heavily plagiarized from Tom Petty.”
6) “Start a romantic fire in an abandoned mill.”
5) “Dip everything she owns in chocolate.”
4) “Put the NBA Slam Dunk Contest on ‘mute.’”
3) “Avoid breakfast-in-bed cliché by serving breakfast-in-the-shower.”
2) “Surprise her by wearing sexy lingerie.”
1) “Give her the truck you won in the Super Bowl.”

“Who was Henry Hudson?”