Blake Griffin Interrupted The Crenshaw Choir To Jump Over A Kia

Your morning roundup for Feb. 20, the day autistic children surpass problem gamblers once and for all.

• Charles Barkley hated to tell the truth about it, but Blake Griffin's jump-over-the-hood-of-a-Kia alley-oop from Baron Davis last night "wasn't the greatest dunk." To hear Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times tell it, however, the " legend of Blake Griffin has just gone turbo." Here's the lingering question: If the NBA powers-that-be hadn't foretold Griffin would be a finalist, why was the Sprite logo already affixed to a car in which Griffin's teammate had likely already rehearsed? Question No. 2: Has Spike Lee always frolicked like a pixie in the glen? Watch all the dunks here. [ Washington Post]

• You know who else dunked over a car? Marko Milic. In the mid-nineties. When he was a 17-year-old Slovenian All-Star. There was a living scarecrow covered in ivy there, too. Starts at 3:20 of this video. (H/T icd_forever)

• Top 10 college-hoops upset victims: No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Pitt, No. 7 Notre Dame. [ Lincoln Journal Star, New York Times, Gazette-Mail]

• If you've always wanted to take a gun to the Super Bowl, next year's in Indianapolis could be your time to shine! There's a bill pending in the state House that would make it legal to carry a piece into Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as other municipally owned properties. That's a great idea, even if Colts owner Jim Irsay has already Tweeted in opposition. [ Indianapolis Business Journal]

• A medical examiner has ruled former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson committed suicide by gunshot to the chest. Some good will likely come from tragedy, though.

In a text message to loved ones, Duerson asked that his brain be left for NFL research, emphasizing he wanted the "left side" checked out in particular. 
 Chris Nowinski, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine, received a call from a friend of the Duerson family Thursday night. He made arrangements to have the brain prepped in time for research and sent to Boston University.
 [ NBC Chicago]

This is not the first time CSTE has looked for links between suicide and the repetitive head injuries/trauma of football; Duerson joins former Philadelphia Eagle Andre Waters and former U of Penn captain Owen Thomas in an ongoing study. [ Metro Philadelphia]

• Stop me if you've heard this one before: At a Friday night MMA amateur-series event in Houston, a staff member scrapped with a former Mighty Morphin Power Ranger who now runs the "Jesus Didn't Tap" clothing line. [ Cage Door]

• The St. Louis Blues trade former No. 1 overall pick Erik Johnson to the Avalanche for promising prospects. He was a -1 with two shots on goal in his Colorado debut, a 4-0 loss to San Jose. [ Denver Post]

• NBA All-Star day is the perfect time to watch Penny Hardaway hit a game-winner. In what appears to be a gym-franchise league in Memphis. [ YouTube]

• According to the headlines on Yahoo Sports last night, the New Jersey Nets are expected to meet with Carmelo Anthony. Story No. 2: The New Jersey Nets are not meeting with Carmelo Anthony. (H/T Anthony T.)

• Carlos Noe Gomez, the vice president of the last-place team in Guatemalan soccer ( Deportivo Xinabajul), was shot and killed as he left a team meeting on Friday. [ San Francisco Chronicle]

• A young player in the Manchester United system barely avoided jail time for threatening a mugging victim. If Ravel Morrison gets into any more trouble, he'll do a year in jail. "During the conversation Morrison, from Denton, warned: 'You don't know me any more. You don't know what I'm capable of.' The victim later received a threatening message on Facebook from Morrison, saying: 'Watch yourself. You trying to set me up like that.'" [ Daily Mail]

• And, finally, from the "Hickey's Biased" coverage files … We should all be proud that we live in a world where fewer people are worried about solar flares disabling global power grids than they are about life without NFL football next season. [ What'd They Say]

**** Good morning to you. Start your engines.