Went to see the “And 1″ team-a sort of updated, hip-hop Harlem Globetrotters–at Madison Sq Garden last week. I’m not a big basketball fan, but had become familiar with them through idle late-night channel-flipping and had come across their show on ESPN. They’re better on TV than in person (at least at the Garden), unfortunately. First, the Garden is much too big a venue–there’s clearly more energy in the small gyms that they play across the country. Second, they miss about 80 percent of their shots, which is generally edited out of the ESPN version. Partly it’s because they’re trying such crazy stuff. Partly it’s because none of them seem to have developed a jumpshot–the average WNBA player probably has a better shooting percentage from the outside. But it was still great fun. The passing and dribbling were rousing, and the dunks that worked out spectacular. “Hot Sauce” brought the crowd to their feet every time he touched the ball, and it all seemed a nice antidote to the NBA, which strikes me as (at least in the regular season) the most boring major sports league.