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I have something to rant about today, so here goes: How can it be, that Derrick Rose, Joe Johnson and Devin Harris are ranked 8th, 9th and 10th (scroll down to see the votes) in the Eastern Conference All-Star guard voting? How can it be that Jameer Nelson, Jose Calderon, TJ Ford and Luke Ridnour are all ranked ahead of them? I mean, Luke Ridnour! The Luke Ridnour…ahead of Rose, Joe Johnson…and Devin Harris!? Impossible, right? But it’s true.

Now let’s look at this seriously, and seriously, this is a joke. I know the All-Star starters are meant to be chosen by the fans, but there is still value in being selected as an All-Star, especially for the players. Why else would Chris Bosh go out of his way to publish videos in which he asks fans to vote for him, or Gilbert Arenas try to vote himself as an All-Star, by trading in a pair of shoes for a box of All-Star ballots? It’s because it means something to them, it gives them a certain status, and it might even help to determine their next pay-check. All-Star selections are what people talk about when comparing two players. Playing at the All-Star Game is something every NBA player, or rather every basketball player for that matter, has dreamt about ever since picking up that leather ball for the first time.

So now here we are, with Luke Ridnour ahead of Derrick Rose, Joe Johnson and Devin Harris in the all-star voting, and I haven’t even told you about the worst thing yet; guess who is ranked third in the Eastern Conference forward voting? Unless you knew about it already, or saw it in the link I posted above, you probably guessed wrong, because it’s no other than China’s own Yi Jianlian. Ain’t that something? But as much of an outrage as that is (and, boy, is it ever), I want to focus on the guard voting in this article, because the problem with China voting in the All-Star game is a different story.

Let’s take a look at why I think the three guards I mentioned should be in the top 5 of the Eastern guard selection, or in Harris’ place, 2nd only behind Dwyane Wade.

I will only briefly talk about Joe Johnson here, a guy who has been overlooked his entire career (until he finally got to the All-Star game in recent years), even though he consistently puts up good numbers, because JJ has been an All-Star before. Right now I want to focus my attention on the other two guards, who haven't had the chance to play during the All-Star weekend yet:

Starting with Rose; Derrick Rose is putting up some really nice numbers as a Rookie: 19 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Now 4 of the guys voted ahead of him, Jose Calderon, Jameer Nelson, TJ Ford and Luke Ridnour….every single one of them pales in comparison to the 20 year old Bulls rookie sensation. Not only has Rose turned around the Chicago franchise and has them competing for a playoff berth, he is also playing at a higher level than any of them ever have in their career, yet he is ranked 8th on the first voting return. Now, I’m not saying Rose should make the All-Star team in his Rookie year, although he would deserve it, I’m just saying that the guy should get way more credit than he does.

But my main grief isn’t with Rose or Johnson not being ranked higher up; it’s with Harris’ ranking. Devin Harris is having the best season of his career: He is 6th in the league in points per game, 2nd in free throw attempts per game, (only behind Dwight Howard, who doesn’t really count as number one, because where else would he be…just look at the guy) leads the league free throws made per game, while also putting up 7 assists a game and leading a New Jersey Nets team, who a lot of experts thought (me included, though I doubt I belong in that expert category), thought were going to end up at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Devin is looking unstoppable on the court at times and plays with a speed and tenacity that Luke Ridnour only knows from watching old A.I. tapes, yet he is voted ahead of Harris (again: Luke Ridnour? Seriously?).

By looking at the vote returns, I get one picture: That the All-Star game has pretty much become nothing but a popularity contest and doesn’t mean anything in terms of real basketball skill. While I do realize that there have been weird All-Star selections before - a first year Yao Ming comes to mind - this year really caps it off.

If fans can’t realize that an All-Star selection should still be deserved, than I think the NBA should take the voting out of the fans hands, because I personally want to see the leagues best players compete at the All-Star game, the way it used to be and the way it is meant to be.