H-O-R-S-I-N-G around

We've all played the game of H-O-R-S-E in driveways and school gyms. We've tried the crazy tricks. And failed.

The NBA already has with the Slam Dunk Contest, the 3-Point Shootout and the Skills Challenge for its All-Star Weekend.

And they're making quite possibly greatest addition ever to this year's event in Phoenix: H-O-R-S-E.

For years, ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons has joked about how the trick shot competition should be added to the all-star weekend. Somewhere on the West Coast, Simmons is smiling.

Some of the most memorable moments have come the night before the "big" game during the skills competition. No sport brings the fireworks quite like the NBA does during its mid-season break.

Granted, I don't even like the NBA. I've only managed to sit through one game start to finish-Game One of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Lakers last year-- but you better believe I'll be tuning in to TNT on Valentine's Day.

H-O-R-S-E's participating players, yet to be named, will have the ultimate chance to be creative. We will see some of the most talented athletes in the world go shot-for-shot with one another with the only real rule being that they can't dunk.

I've got a feeling we're going to see tricks attempted that none of us could even dream of. I'm sure there will be some half-court shot attempts, something from behind the net, a few no-look shots. Who knows? Someone might find a way to incorporate the Jumbotron. The sky is the limit.

Yeah, it was a blast watching kickers like David Akers and Adam Vinatieri duke it out in a game of H-O-R-S-E on the gridiron. But the NFL's version of a skills competition during the week of the Pro Bowl just wasn't the same-it wasn't live and there were few fans around to impress.

And it's been kind of interesting to see the NHL's edition of the dunk challenge the last two years. Watching Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin cruise down on a breakaway with two sticks and wearing giant sunglasses two weeks ago was entertaining. But the hype that will build around the NBA's new event will be unprecedented.

All-Star weekends put fans to sleep. Players rarely give a full effort and, in the end, the result (usually) doesn't matter. The game is supposed to showcase the game's best talent and bring in fans that normally wouldn't care about the sport otherwise. The skills competition's role is to purely entertain and when the players are having fun, the result is a great product.

The NBA always finds a way to make their all-star weekends exciting. When the league used Las Vegas for its all-star venue in 2007, checking the morning police reports which celebrities were arrested for illicit acts was more fun than watching the game itself. The dunk contest has returned to prominence now that showstoppers like Dwight Howard are participating.

With the introduction of H-O-R-S-E, the Saturday portion of NBA All-Star Weekend has become must-see TV. Who doesn't want to watch guys like LeBron James and Kevin Garnett re-enact that old McDonald's commercial featuring Jordan and Larry Bird?

As for watching the actual all-star game on Feb. 15? Eh, we'll see.