OK, so what do Spencer Hawes, Marcus Camby and Marc Gasol have in common? Right, they're on the NBA All-Star ballot and Erick Dampier is not. What kind of nitwit selection committee came up with this? Who in their right mind leaves off Dampier? And, for that matter, Chris Kaman? Yao Ming, I can see. He's hurt and is going to miss most of the season. And if you put him on the ballot, he'd end up being a starter because of the voting masses from China. He may even start anyway as a write-in. Anyway, here's what Rick Carlisle had to say about this idiot committee that made the ballot: "The people responsible for making that decision have got to be pretty embarrassed about it the way he played the first six games. Based on his play on the first six games, it appears to be an oversight. It appears to be the wrong decision.'' Can't argue with that. But in the committee's defense, there has to be three players from each team. And it's hard to justify having three Sacramento Kings on the ballot. But that's the rule. So Hawes is on. Mark Cuban, to his credit, understands it's a tough job picking the All-Star ballot. "I don't know what they were thinking,'' he said. "I don't know what they were thinking. You can't make everybody happy and it's kind of disappointing when you see some of the names on there that Damp is clearly better than. But we've been through this before. It's just the way it goes. But I've already cast my write-in vote for Damp. And hopefully he'll get more.'' Hey, you know what? Cuban has a point. It is a tough job. And when you think about it, the committee picking the All-Star ballot probably did the most comprehensive and smart job of anybody who has ever picked an All-Star ballot. Think about it. They only put one rookie on the ballot, Blake Griffin, and that one only because he was the No. 1 overall pick. Let the other rookies wait a year. Plus, it's hard to pick out a player, with the possible exception of Kaman, who deserves to be on the ballot and isn't there. Zach Randolph is the highest-scoring player in the league right now (outside of Kaman) who is not on the ballot. And Z-Bo is 18th in scoring. So let's give a big cheer for the committee that picked the All-Star ballot. By the way, did I mention who was on the committee? At least one member is a frequent (hourly?) contributor to this blog. That's yet another reason to give a standing O to the committee. --Eddie Sefko