As we sit outside, waiting for Gilbert to take off his Do Not Disturb necklace, here’s some reading material for you to spend some time with.

- Kyle Weidie explains why we should change Hibachi’s nickname to Hikikomori over at NBC Washington.

- Wizznutzz has a theory on why we haven’t seen a lot of Gilbert lately:

Gilbert’s injury is especially troubling. There is much mystery surrounding his latest setback. There is even a rumor floating about that Gilbert has polio, and that the league has agreed to only film him from the waste up so that fans won’t notice the unsightly metal braces on his legs.

- Finally, over at The Good Point Austin Kent has done a great job examining how Gilbert’s career has changed since he started blogging.  He may have interviewed some guy who does a blog about Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards, but you’ll have to read it to find out.

You may have heard that TNT has added H-O-R-S-E…. I mean G-E-I-C-O to its All-Star programming lineup that will air live during TNT’s two-hour Inside the NBA from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on Sat., Feb. 14.

Participants for the event have yet to be announced but may I suggest Gilbert Arenas for consideration.

Some reasons for his nomination:

• Gilbert is a former All-Star and a fan favorite. Who wants to see a no name 12th man playing?
• Gilbert may be too injured to play in a game but he’s not too injured to be able to shoot
• The Wizards need some representation during the All-Star weekend

And finally, he can make crazy one-handed shots:

and between the leg trampoline dunks:

If you got any other valid reasons, feel free to leave a comment!

A bit of an interesting comment from Ivan Carter a few days ago regarding the news (or lack thereof) on Gilbert Arenas:

Me thinks that Gilbert Arenas has been given a gag order (not that it really matters with him but still) because he’s been keeping a VERY low profile of late.

I can say this: he is feeling pressure, implied and otherwise, to get back onto the court and start earning that $111 million but he’s also looking at this team’s record and at the fact that he has undergone three surgeries on the same knee and that’s made him very cautious. That pressure he’s feeling – from upstairs and from fans – is only going to increase as this season continues to go into the tank.

It’s certainly understandable to see why the team would try to keep Gilbert from talking.  One of the things about Gilbert that can simultaneously be endearing and infuriating is his honestly.  Especially given the flap over Gilbert’s tanking comments earlier in the season, it’s not that hard to understand why the Wizards might want to keep him away from the media where he might blurt out that he’s being shut down for the year, or whatever else he might say that could cause an uproar or distraction.

It sounds kind of sneaky and I’m not a big fan of it since it gives me less to blog about, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t be considering the same thing if I was in there position.  Of course, there’s no way to know for sure if that’s actually what’s going on, but given how little we’ve seen of him lately, it would be a stretch to assume that’s what we’re looking at here.