Michael Hunt

At least once a week since the lockout began almost five months ago, somebody asked if I missed the NBA.

Well, yes and no.

Yes, because from a selfish point of view, the league is fun to watch when the game is honored, as well as a delight to cover. The players, coaches and front-office people are generally more accessible and friendlier than their counterparts in the other two big leagues. The NBA is far less rigid and paranoid than the NFL's closed society and not nearly as uptight as baseball.

MILWAUKEE -- The worst thing you could've called the Brewers during a two-plus-decade stretch that spanned part of the '80s, most of the '90s and a sliver of a new millennium was, well, pick pretty much any adjective befitting a team that occasionally flirted with, and once even breached, the indignity of triple-digit losses.

The worst thing you could've called the Brewers between 2008 and now would've been one-hit wonders.

As a service to those in the five-county Milwaukee metro area who are not keeping up with the NBA playoffs -- and I'm guessing that's just about everybody -- we're here to provide an update.

Seattle and Vancouver have been locked in a fierce Western Conference semifinal.

Uh, check that, Oklahoma City and Memphis.

MESA, Ariz. -- The Chicago Cubs are nearing the end of their 32-year spring run here at venerable HoHoKam Stadium, a quaint but hopelessly outdated training site.

By February 2014, the Cubs should be in their new $100 million facility just down the road, funded by the selling of city land and a higher hotel tax. Of course, the Cubs had that kind of squeeze-play juice when they put the 100-mph upgrade-or-else heater to Mesa's temple.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Hey, Aaron Rodgers, now that you've won a Super Bowl MVP, where are you going?

From here, it looks like very close to the top of that hypothetical list cherished by fantasy-league geeks and daydreaming general managers alike:

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Media Day for Super Bowl XLV did not disappoint with its typical freak-show smorgasbord.

Ross the Intern from "The Tonight Show" coaxed Packers backup lineman Jason Spitz into fracturing a Cher ditty. Some lunatic from Nickelodeon dressed as a demented superhero thankfully could not get coach Mike McCarthy's attention long enough to ask a question.