The Week In Tv Sports

Saturday 2/8

PRO BASKETBALL
NBA All-Star Saturday Night
Boosted by the hometown crowd, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Bob Sura and his 39-inch vertical leap may steal the Slam Dunk contest from rookies Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers . A Sura win would mean a two-year white-guy stranglehold on the award (the Los Angeles Clippers ' Brent Barry won last year), which could lure Julius Erving out of retirement. Bryant , also in the Rookie Game, is making his first appearance at All-Star Weekend. R&B singer Brandy, Bryant 's high school prom date last June, who will assist in the league's Team Up Celebration, is making her third.
?TNT, 7 PM

Sunday 2/9

COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Villanova at Kentucky
The War of the Wildcats may prove to be an ambush at Rupp Arena : At week's end Rick Pitino 's defending national champs had won 24 straight at their old Kentucky home. Despite having lost senior guard Derek Anderson for the season to injury (page 38), the Lexington Cats have been claiming victories by far more than a whisker. Behind sophomore swingman Ron Mercer , Kentucky was winning by a nation's-best average of 22.6 points per game. Villanova is led by 6'9" freshman forward Tim Thomas , who is vying to succeed last season's star, Kerry Kittles , as the Main Line Cats' alliterative main man.
? CBS , 3 PM

PRO BASKETBALL
NBA All-Star Game
Congratulations, you're an All-Star! Don Pardo, tell him what he's won. "A trip to Cleveland—in February!" The scoring-is-down alarmists should be silenced: The last time an All-Star squad was held below 100 points was in 1973 (East 104, West 84). With Michael Jordan , Grant Hill and Scottie Pippen , the East will have the advantage in this open-court forum. The West will rely heavily on its heavies, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal (right).
? NBC , 6 PM

Monday 2/10

DOG SHOWS
Westminster Kennel Club
Approximately 2,500 non-toilet-trained animals invade Madison Square Garden . Hey, just like a Rangers game! The Westminster canine competition, now in its 121st year, is also the nation's second-oldest continuous sporting event, behind only the Kentucky Derby (one year older). Affenpinschers to English sheep dogs (left) to Yorkshire terriers—153 breeds in all—vie to get a leg up on one another for Best-In-Show, a prize won by a Clumber Spaniel for the first time last year. The event (which concludes Tuesday) is reminiscent of beauty pageants, except that Westminster announcers are permitted to use the words glamour bitch.
? USA , 8 PM

Wednesday 2/12

SOCCER
Italy at England
"I'm a disgrace," says England 's star, midfielder Paul Gascoigne , and no one begs to differ. Gascoigne, who leads England (3-0) into a World Cup Group 2 qualifying match against Italy (2-0) at London 's Wembley Stadium , has in the past six months depantsed teammate Paul Ince during a match against Moldova, been red-carded after kicking an opponent in Amsterdam and made headlines for an alleged assault against his wife, Sheryl. No word yet on what color he plans to dye his hair. The Azzurri, by contrast, are a buona famiglia since avuncular coach Cesare Maldini, 65, an assistant on Italy 's 1982 World Cup champions, was hired last month. Maldini's son, Paolo, is captain.
? ESPN , 2:55 PM

Friday 2/14