Dumbest rule at the NBA All-Star game

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There is a woman walking around press row inside Cowboys Stadium ripping labels off plastic bottles before the start of the NBA All-Star game.

God forbid someone see a Diet Coke or Dasani water label, apparently.

Why all the fuss? Gatorade is the ‘courtside sponsor’ at the All-Star game, so the company’s head honchos don’t want to see any other products when they’re shelling out big bucks.

But, hello? Coke is a sponsor here too. Ever heard of the Sprite Slam Dunk? It’s all so utterly silly. But that’s the way things roll these days.

A record crowd approaching 100,000 is expected for the game, easily surpassing the 78,129 who watched Michigan State play Kentucky at Detroit’s Ford Field on Dec. 13, 2003. The record for an NBA All-Star game is 44,735, set at the Houston Astrodome in 1989.

--Ben Bolch, reporting from Arlington, Texas