Word of the Day: scalper's night off

scalper's night off (skalp'-uhrs nit ahf) noun. Any regular season game that is of little or no interest to the general public and even most hard core fans. As a result, an ample supply of legally attainable tickets are readily available.

Word Usage: It's scalper's night off, so we should be able to get tickets to the Bobcats when we get to the arena.

Word Rant -- Miami Heat Edition: The Miami Heat have played on national television more than most teams in the league, and in most cases the result has been textbook "scalper's night off"; empty seats galore, Shaq sporting a giant honking windsor, and Jason Kapono playing 40 minutes a game. We've speculated that Pat Riley and the boys have already taken the first half of the season off and, by glancing at the stands, it seems as if the fans have followed suit.

Thankfully TNT and ESPN spared us the sight of last night's Heat/Knicks game, complete with an apathetic Isiah Thomas and a gimpy-kneed Stephon Marbury. This was compounded by Dwayne Wade sitting out with a bum ankle. The wrath of Udonis Haslem quickly buried Zeke and friends with a 40-12 first quarter clubbering and, unless you're some sort of machochist, you stayed far away from this one.

Want a romantic evening alone? Go see the Bobcats.