Yesterday I was able to take in a few hours in New Orleans before the All-Star game, which I didn’t attend. I understand tickets in the lower level had a $400 face value, and were $300 in the upper level! A ticket “reseller” later told me on the plane back home that the demand for after-market tickets to this All-Star game was probably the lowest he’s ever seen, due to the fact there just aren’t that many people in New Orleans who have that kind of cash to throw around.

I suspect another reason had to be the limited number of flights that fly into New Orleans compared to larger cities. Still, even if I could get a ticket at face value (or even lower than face value based on low demand), I was content to watch the game on TV.

One of the main reasons why I went to New Orleans for the day was because Yao Ming’s agent invites folks associated with their athletes to attend an annual brunch they have the morning of each All-Star game. Since working on the site is more a labor of love for me than a financial windfall, it’s always nice to get a little perk like that from Bill Duffy & Associates (BDA).

When I walked into the House of Blues where the brunch was held, the first person I saw was Colin Pine, former translator for Yao Ming, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. Colin was in town for the game since he is working in China for the NBA.

Also with him was Christopher Chen and Adam Del Deo, producers of the “The Year of the Yao” film. It was great to get caught up with the guys who followed Yao so closely those first couple of years of Yao’s NBA career. It seems so much more calm now compared to the crazy days of 2002 and 2003.

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Because he had been playing alot of minutes before the break, Yao requested that Western Conference coach Byron Scott play him limited minutes in the All-Star game Sunday night. Scott obliged by letting Yao just play 13 minutes. Yao scored 6 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field, including 0-for-2 from three-point land.

Here he launches one of those 3-pointers with a smile on his face (he’s obviously having a good time):

I ended up going to New Orleans for the afternoon (didn’t attend the game) and have some interesting non-Yao stories to share. I got in so late, though, I’m pretty beat to write about it now. But I’ll post some of those stories on Monday.

Meanwhile, Raymond and other YaoManiacs has done a great job posting tons of cool photos in the YaoMania! forum from the weekend.

Click here to see the page (#2 in the thread) with photos of Yi Jianlian, as well as Yao watching the Rookie-Sophomore game Friday night.

Click here to see the page (#3 in the thread) with photos of Yao at the All-Star practice on Saturday, and cool photos of Dwight Howard during the slam dunk competition (as well as other participants from All-Star competitions on Saturday night).

Click here to see the page (#4 in the thread) of photos from the NBA All-Stars China Night attended by Yao, Dikembe Mutombo and Yi Jianlian (among others). Scroll down this page to see Yao in the locker room on Sunday before the game.

Click here for the page (#5 in the thread) of photos of Yao playing in the All-Star game Sunday night.

Thanks for the pics Raymond and folks!