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Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Updated: May 31, 3:04 PM ET
What's hot, not for the week

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By Dan Shanoff
Page 2 columnist

Here's a hot new trend that will really help develop those young kids out there who want to learn to play basketball like the pros -- whining for calls. What's not hot appears to be some sort of civil acceptance of the fact that, unbelievable as it seems, you missed that layup because you aimed wrong, not because the ref jobbed you.

And that's what is on display every time Vlade Divac contorts his face and flops backward, or looks astonished every time the ref makes a call on him. (Did anyone else catch the replay where Vlade seemed to grab Samaki Walker's arm and pull it back into his face? Before getting the call, of course.) Or every time Antoine Walker howls and hurtles himself to the floor. (Did any non-Celtics fans appreciate Walker's fourth-quarter tech for complaining in Game 5?)

You know who Vlade and 'Toine are? The guys at your local Y or outdoor court who call a foul every time they shoot. Taking a jumper? Foul. Driving to the rack? Foul. Breathing on them? Foul. Abusing the unwritten code to "respect the call" of the shooter, even when the player seemingly has no self-respect. Ironically, this is going on at the same time World Cup refs are promising to put the clamps on soccer's greatest divers, floppers and actors.

OK, enough. Now take a look at the rest of what's hot and what's not this week. Feel free to share with your co-workers, buddies and significant others  they will really appreciate you for it:

What's Hot, What's Not this week
Category	Hot	Not
MLB "outing" controversy	Pharmaceutical preference	Sexual preference
Unsolvable defense	The 2-3 zone	Straight man-to-man
Press-conference fashion	Sunglasses	Hats
On-court celebration	Signaling to hostile crowd	Signaling to family
NBA draft hype	Dan Dickau	Yao Ming
Hairdo	Rick Fox	Hedo Turkoglu
NBA controversy	Preps practicing with pros	End-of-game instant replay
Eddie Griffin vehicle	"Undercover Brother"	"The New Guy"
Laker-killing move	Bibby J around a pick	Bobby J around the rack
Bench-warming cheerleader	Mateen Cleaves	Mark Madsen
Home run-hitting audience draw	Shawn Green	Barry Bonds
NHL goalie factory	Latvia	Canada
Clutch goal-scorer	Martin Gelinas	Luc Robitaille
Movie blockbuster	"The Sum of All Fears"	"Insomnia"
French Open star	Serena Williams	Anna Kournikova
Pressure situation	Spelling-bee finals ... F-I-N-A-L-S ... finals.	Last-minute free-throws

A very special What's Hot, What's Not List supplement
World Cup 2002 -- "Love It Live ... even if that means 3:30 a.m.!"

Look for special World Cup items all month long, developed with an assist from Page 2 editor Jim Wilkie.

What's Hot, What's Not at the World Cup
Category	Hot	Not
Current bandwagon team	Portugal	Cameroon
Spectator tip	Set the alarm for 5 a.m. to watch TV broadcast	Book that flight for S. Korea
U.S. name to know	Clint Mathis (it-guy flashy striker)	Tony Meola (has-been back-back-up goalie)
Group	"Group of Death" (Group F -- England, Argentina, Sweden, Nigeria)	"Group of Dearth" (Group H -- Belgium, Japan, Russia, Tunisia)
Scourge	Flopping (The NBA has taken a lesson! See above.)	Extreme nationalism
Unwanted fan	Diego Maradona	Sepp Blatter
Interesting effect to watch	Will Argentina's success bolster country's economy?	Will Italy succumb to The Curse of Roberto Baggio?
Hairstyle	The Beckham	ZZ's top (Zinedine Zidane)
Bonehead	Roy Keane	David Beckham
Kit	Cameroon (Sleeveless)	Poland
Underdog	South Korea	China
Goalkeeper	Oliver Kahn (Germany)	Fabien Barthez (France)
Superstar	Luis Figo (Portugal)	Ronaldo (Brazil)
Phenom	Owen Hargreaves (England)	Landon Donovan (USA)
Advantage	Sex (on recommendation of Ecuador coach Hernan Dario Gomez)	Continental

Dan Shanoff is a columnist for Page 2. His "What's Hot, What's Not" trend-spotting list appears Thursdays. Got inside scoop on an up-and-coming trend? Want to declare something passé? Send this glimpse of your hipness to hotnotlist@yahoo.com.

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