NFL- The big news of the week is that the current CBA will expire Thursday night, and it appears that there will in fact be some sort of a lockout in the NFL. Both sides from all reports remain very far apart and it appears that it would take something of a miracle to prevent a lockout. The main argument between the two sides continues to be money; some reports have the difference between the two sides at a billion dollars. Can you believe there arguing over such a small figure as this? Other elements such as an eighteen game schedule and a rookie pay scale also are factors but these issues are relatively minor compared to the issue of money. Obviously a difference that is rumored to be as large as billions of dollars is not a positive sign and it is starting to look like the best case for next year might be a delayed start to the season. Nonetheless the buildup to the NFL draft, which will still happen if there is a lockout, continued with the NFL’s weeklong combine for draft eligible prospects from Indianapolis. I’m not going to go over the combine in great detail but I do have a couple quick notes starting with the quarterback group. This group was obviously hurt by Stanford’s Andrew Luck staying in school and as a result there still isn’t a clear-cut prospect from the quarterback group. If I were to rank the prospects I would rank Blaine Gabbert as the best followed by Cam Newton and Jake Locker. The difference between Gabbert and Newton is fairly small and a reasonable argument could be made for either prospect to be the top quarterback prospect. I wouldn’t take either Gabbert or Newton as a number one pick (sorry Panthers and Steve Smith) but I think that they will be at least above average quarterbacks in the NFL within a couple years. Behind these two prospects it becomes a crapshoot between prospects such as Jake Locker, Ricky Stanzi, Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder, and Ryan Mallet. Locker made a mistake in coming back to Washington this year and his draft stock has taken a pounding but if you select him as a developmental prospect and give him a couple of years to learn the system he will be a solid starting quarterback. From watching him this year it is obvious that he still has trouble understanding defenses, but he has all the athletic ability you want in a quarterback and is an outstanding teammate who does all the right things in the locker room. Ryan Mallet on the other hand apparently took it upon himself to ruin his draft stock through the interview portion of the combine by refusing to answer questions about drug use and coming off as incredibly arrogant, kind of surprising since he seemed to choke in about all of the big moments in this past season. Something about Mallet screams not a franchise quarterback whether it be his late game struggles, lack of mobility, or his mindset but I’m quite sure some general manager will fall in love with his arm and draft him in the first round (guaranteed mistake).
I think Christian Ponder out of Florida State is a much safer prospect but even after a strong showing at the combine he for some reason seems to lag behind Locker and Mallet. The drafting of quarterback in the draft will certainly be intriguing but the more interesting storyline has to be what the Raiders will do in this draft after they had a draft last year that actually made some sense. Common sense says that it is impossible for the Raiders to have two straight drafts that actually make sense. In local news Oregon State’s man beast of a defensive tackle Stephen Paea broke the NFL combine record with 49 reps on the bench press. As has been stated these stats mean relatively nothing but 49 reps speaks for itself, the guy is an absolute animal. While Paea might see his stock rise fellow Beaver Quizz Rodgers will see the opposite in regards to his draft stock as he measured slightly under five foot six and ran in the mid 4.6 40 range. Regardless of the results Quizz will be a great addition to any team; he is great receiver out of the backfield, an able blocker, and is a tough runner between the tackles. He will slide a little bit in the draft but from day one I would expect him to contribute to whatever team drafts him as a third down back in the NFL.
NBA- I’m not quite sure what happened between about 11:30 AM Pacific time and noon last Thursday but the trade deadline went from little activity to full on tradeaplooza. I left my house thinking that most teams, including my Blazers, were going to stand pat in the last thirty minutes to the deadline but upon arrival to class my twitter feed (twitter is certainly not the way to follow any sports event) exploded with the news of tradeaplooza. For a quick refresher tradeaplooza is defined as any event where almost ten percent of current players change teams exemplified by the most recent trade deadline. The action got kicked off Wednesday morning with the shocking departure of Deron Williams from Utah to the New Jersey Nets. The Nets gave up an awful lot in second overall pick Derrick Favors, point guard Devin Harris, and two future first round picks for all-star Deron Williams but I would still give the Nets the edge in who got the better end of the deal. How often can you acquire a proven elite young point guard in the NBA? The answer certainly isn’t everyday and its not like the Nets were in position to contend with a core consisting of Devin Harris and Brook Lopez. Deron Williams doesn’t make this team an instant contender but this does make the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets a more desirable location for free agents. This is a considerable risk for the Nets due to the fact that Williams can become a free agent after next season, but the fact is the Nets had to do something after it became apparent that they weren’t going to get Melo in a Nets jersey. It will be devastating for the Nets if Williams chooses not to resign, but the Nets had to make a splash at the deadline and with this move they made arguably the biggest splash in the league. For the Jazz, how drastically can things change in a time period of less than a month? This team looked like a Western Conference contender at the beginning of the season only to have the bottom drop out in the past three weeks. I can understand why they made this move and they did get a pretty good return from Williams but the question remains, was Williams a lock to not return to Utah after his contract runs out? If General Manager Kevin O’Conner felt that the answer was yes, than this was probably the best deal that they could get. They get Devin Harris who is an above-average point guard (albeit overhyped), a lottery pick from the Nets this year, and an intriguing prospect in Derrick Favors. I’m not quite sure where they go from here because as of now they don’t look like a playoff team and they have quite the logjam of power forwards after the acquisition of Favors. I would look for the Jazz to reshape their team over the summer with a trade of either Paul Milsap, Al Jefferson, or Derrick Favors for more picks or a young guard prospect. The Jazz will more than likely have two top fifteen picks in this summers draft, the Nets (projected at 6th) and their own (projected at 14th), and I would look for them to target a point guard, such as Josh Selby, and a wing prospect like Texas’s Jordan Hamilton. Ideally they would like to get a promising shooting guard through the draft but there doesn’t appear to be a lottery worthy shooting guard at this point.
The Hornets in my opinion have to come out of the trade deadline as a loser even with their addition of Marcus Landry. They had a glaring hole at shooting guard, not frontcourt depth. It’s true that they needed insurance in case David West leaves as a free agent over the summer but do you really think that Chris Paul wants to resign in New Orleans with Marco Belinelli as his shooting guard? That’s what I thought the answer is a resounding no. The Hornets could have had O.J. Mayo or maybe Stephen Jackson if they had kept their first round pick instead of trading it for Jerryd Bayless (great first trade by Portland’s own Rich Cho). The Hornets then traded Bayless as part of a package that netted them Jarrett Jack and a bunch of garbage. This was a poor play by management in New Orleans as they probably could have acquired at least Mayo and maybe Jackson (Bobcats were in full sell mode) for a first rounder and some other spare parts. Another relatively minor trade went through on Wednesday with the Hawks and Wizards essentially swapping Kirk Hinrich for Mike Bibby. Hinrich may be a slight upgrade over Bibby but this trade doesn’t change the fact that the Hawks are going to be eliminated in the second round for the third straight year. From the Wizards perspective this was a relative no brainer as they were also able to net rookie guard Jordan Crawford and another first round pick in the upcoming draft. Lastly on Wednesday the Nets were able to move Troy Murphy (never heard the complete story on why he couldn’t play in Jersey) for Brandan Wright. Murphy will be bought out by the Golden State Warriors and will most likely join a contending team like the Boston Celtics. I’ve always been confused as to why Wright could never log significant minutes for Golden State, besides the fact that he might get hurt if you look at him the wrong way, he seemed to be the stereotypical Warriors player in that he plays zero defense but is an athletic, exciting offensive player. An interesting piece that may benefit from extended minutes and the presence of Deron Williams.
Thursday began with the news that Baron Davis and a lottery first round pick were getting shipped from the Clippers to the Cavaliers for Mo Williams. This trade basically amounted to the Clippers removing Baron Davis’s contract from their books as they gear up for a run at an elite free agent in the summer of 2012. The Cavaliers received Baron Davis who will undoubtedly give up on the season upon reporting to Cleveland, and what looks to become a top ten pick in this upcoming draft. The Cavaliers hampered their future ability to go after free agents but lets be realistic, no free agents are dying to play in Cleveland anymore, except for Joakim Noah of course, but this was a great trade for the Cavaliers as they continue to struggle to recover from “The Decision”. They are the favorites to land the top pick, rumored to be looking hard at Duke point guard Kyrie Irving, and in addition to that will also receive another lottery selection from the Clippers. It’s not like the Cavaliers have any strong positions on their team so who knows what they will be looking for in the Clipper’s selection.
Finally if you hadn’t heard Carmelo Anthony was dealt from the Nuggets to the New York Knicks in a move that surprised absolutely everyone (please tell me you got that sarcasm). Side note I think that this is the longest that I have made it in an article without mentioning Melo, I believe a standing ovation is in order for me (yes I am this humble at all times). The Timberwolves also were involved in this trade exchanging Corey Brewer for Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry’s contract (I say contract because I’m not sure Eddy Curry the player actually exists anymore). I love this trade for the Nuggets considering they had to do it, they robbed the Knicks considering that Melo wasn’t going anywhere besides New York. The Knicks gave up Wilson Chandler, Danillo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofy Mozgov, and a future first round pick for Melo, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and America’s favorite towel waver Renaldo Balkman. The Knicks obviously do get a dynamic scorer in Anthony and a championship caliber point guard in Billups but their bench now has absolutely zero depth, that might be putting it kindly as well. They have one true center in Ronny Turiaf and only one player that I would consider an above average backup, guard Toney Douglas. This trade obviously makes them more of a contender for both today and in the future but they were bidding essentially against themselves in this move. Melo was blocking any trade not to New York, but the Knicks continued to up their offer until they gave up basically everyone not named Amare Stoudemire. There of course was a slight risk that Melo would resign in Denver or somewhere else but did anyone actually believe that this would happen? The Knicks in all likelihood could have added Melo this summer without sacrificing their depth, which ultimately takes away from this trade. Still this is an exciting move for the Knicks and a Melo, Stoudemire, Billups trio can make some noise in the playoffs but I don’t see this move advancing them into the elite status of East powers Boston, Chicago, and Orlando. For the Nuggets I think that everyone is glad that the circus has moved on (I’m quite sure that only Melo is only liked in New York now) and as of now I still have them as a playoff team. I actually had the chance to watch them this past Friday play against the power house Frail Blazers and came away very impressed with their team. Gallinari will probably never be known as an elite three man in the league but he is a very good player in his own right. In his second game as a Nugget he was able to amass an impressive thirty points and nine rebounds against the Blazers. He doesn’t always score in the flashiest of ways and is obviously never going to be able to replace the scoring that Melo provided, but he is an elite shooter and is actually quite crafty in his drives to the rim. Wilson Chandler basically amounts to a third of the season rental, but he will help the Nuggets in their quest for a playoff berth. The Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson point guard split is obviously something that won’t last past this season as Lawson looks to become the point guard of the future, which would obviously lead to the departure of Felton through trade. The Nuggets if they can Nene to a long-term extension actually still posses a nice core group of players and if they can stay healthy and add a power forward could be back competing in the West before you know it.
Now were getting into the madness area of the deadline and I feel like it’s fair to start with perhaps the strangest trade of the day, which involved the Celtics and the Thunder. The Celtics had long been rumored to be in the market for some help on the wings but I don’t think that anyone saw the Celtics adding wing help at the expense of Kendrick Perkins. The reaction to the Celtics giving up Perkins for swingman Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic has ranged from confusion to befuddlement. And yes I realize confusion and befuddlement are the same thing but I don’t think there was any different reaction besides confusion or befuddlement. The Celtics had just gotten Perkins back from injury and looked to be primed to make another at a championship with the same group as last year and then this happened. I understand the sentiment that the Celtics had gotten to this point in the season without the services of Perkins, who was still recovering from a knee injury that he suffered last year, but Perkins, as evidenced by his teammates reaction following the trade, was such a crucial part of their chemistry. The Celtics do have other big bodies in Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal but relying on both of these guys to stay healthy is like betting that Ray Allen will miss two free throws, it just doesn’t happen. Its obvious from this trade that the Celtics think that they will be relying on more of a small-ball type of lineup with the addition of Jeff Green but I don’t understand why they sacrificed Perkins. Perkins was an upcoming free agent, as is Green, but I think that I would take my chances this season with Perkins rather than Green. For the Thunder this is a great move as they fill their main weakness with the addition of Perkins, who can now bang against the likes of Andrew Bynum and Tim Duncan. If they are able to resign Perkins this deal would resemble something of a robbery as they weren’t expected to resign Jeff Green to a long-term deal. Still maybe Celtics general manager knows something regarding Perkins, whether it is he’s injured beyond our knowledge or that he wasn’t going to sign a long-term deal, so its tough to call this trade as a failure from the Celtics end. As of now I would give the slight edge to the Thunder but this deal is one that will take until the summer to fully evaluate.
Moving on the Trail Blazers acquired rugged forward Gerald Wallace from the Bobcats for Dante Cunningham, Joel Pryzbilla, Sean Marks (thankfully he is no longer a Blazer), and two first round picks. I’ve gone both ways on this trade from a Trail Blazers perspective and as of now I’m kind of in the middle. I think Wallace will definitely help the Blazers, but its not like the Blazers had a gaping hole at the power forward or small forward position. Wallace is probably better than Nicolas Batum at this moment but the difference between them is pretty small. Of course I say this without having seen Wallace play in about two years since he’s always hurt when the Bobcats play the Blazers and a Charlotte Bobcats game hasn’t been on TV since they entered the league. Wallace will make the Blazers a better team but I still don’t think that they are a legitimate Western conference contender (I’d love to be wrong on this) that’s why the cost of two first round picks is rather steep. Granted these picks are probably low to mid twenties but when you have needs for a young point and a young center and don’t look the part of a contender its tough to sacrifice two first round picks. I was more hoping that the Blazers would be sellers rather than buyers at the trade deadline but with the return of Brandon Roy and Marcus Camby from injury general manager Rich Cho must have liked the Blazers chances of making a deep run in the playoffs.
Their were a couple of other minor moves on the day, but the award for dumbest trade has to be the Suns acquisition of Aaron Brooks from the Rockets for Goran Dragic and a first round pick. Brooks, who is revered in Oregon from his days as a Duck, has been simply awful this year and has had some clashes with the team to boot. I have no idea how the Suns thought this would be a good trade but props to the Rockets for getting rid of a player that they didn’t want for a similar player and a first round pick. The only good news that I can find from this trade is that the Suns acquisition of Brooks likely signals that Steve Nash will be on the market this summer (about time).
To briefly recap, trade action got started a little early with the Deron Williams departure and then Thursday was crazy (tradeaplooza) bringing some obvious trades (Melo) and some unexpected (Perkins) trades. Worst news of the day was that the Timberwolves didn’t acquire any more point guards in their quest to make the playoffs with Kevin Love and ten other point guards. My big winners on the day would be the Thunder, Nets, and the Cavaliers. The Thunder are the winners for obvious winners but some may be surprised to see me listing the Nets and Cavaliers as winners. My reasoning behind the Nets is as follows, they were trying to get a marquee star through free agency last year and when this failed they aggressively pursued Melo in the trade market. Once they realized that this wasn’t going to happen they struck fast in acquiring Deron Williams who I believe is a more valuable player than Anthony. Of course this trade bears with it a huge risk, as there is no guarantee that Williams will resign, but this proved that the Nets under new ownership will be aggressive in their pursuit of a championship. I think the Cavaliers also fall under the winner category because they acquired what will likely become two top ten picks in the draft. As I stated before Cleveland is no longer a destination for free agents so they have to acquire talent through trades or the draft. The acquisition of Davis hurts their cap flexibility for the future but they should be able to acquire two building blocks for the future in the draft. My losers at the trade deadline would be the Suns, Pistons, and the Hornets. One paragraph later I still haven’t been able to get the slightest clue as to what the Suns were thinking, if I ever figure it out (not likely) I’ll come back and edit this. As for the Hornets, I understand that they were in a tough situation financially but they desperately needed to upgrade at the shooting guard position but they seemed fine staying with the guys they have. The Pistons have to be the big loser at the deadline as they failed to unload disgruntled players (this could be their whole roster) Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton. As will be discussed later this team is a complete train wreck and needed some sort of change. The Blazers, Celtics, Mavericks, Knicks, and Bulls would then fall in the wait and see category. Blazers and Celtics are in this category because it will be interesting to see how Jeff Green and Gerald Wallace fit in with their new teams. Wallace’s first game was pretty disappointing but I’ll give him ten or fifteen games before I really formulate some sort of opinion. The Mavericks needed help because they have Peja Stojackovic as their starting three man, which means I can’t consider them a Western elite team but maybe Caron Butler is recovering faster than expected. The Knicks most people will have as winners but they lost an awful lot (translation- no depth) to acquire Melo. Try and name eight players on the Knicks, it’s a tough task. Besides having no depth they have very little cap room to acquire another marquee player but maybe they can convince some one to take a pay cut. I actually considered putting the Bulls as a trade winner even though they did absolutely nothing, but even though they have a hole at the shooting guard position I was a fan of them not sacrificing any of their frontcourt depth. They quietly added Rasual Butler on Monday and while this isn’t a long-term answer he will help this year and then I would look for the Bulls to go hard after a shooting guard over the summer. The wait and see part for the Bulls is basically who they can add over the summer, if the player they add is better than O.J. Mayo than they made the right decision to wait.
Really wasn’t expecting the trade deadline review to stretch on that far but that’s what will happen when more Western conference stars decide to join the Eastern Conference. I’m thinking it’s the Eastern Conference All-Star jerseys that are causing all of these players to switch conferences. From the actual slate of basketball this week there were a handful of entertaining matchups. The first would be the Blazers versus Lakers game on Wednesday. This game is considered a rivalry to Blazer fans which is pretty laughable considering that I’m quite sure Laker fans would consider at least three or four teams more of a rivalry than the Blazers (Celtics, Thunder, Heat, Spurs, you get the point). Regardless the Rose Garden was rocking only to see the Blazers allow a late seven zero run by the Lakers extend the game into overtime. Its official, Kobe Bryant is my favorite player to watch in the league at this moment. I know there are many reasons for why I should hate Bryant but its amazing to watch a player that is so intense at all times and never backs down from a big moment. It was painful to watch Bryant annihilate Portland down the stretch but it was also breathtaking to watch a player literally become indefensible. Of course my repeated bashing of Ron Artest came back to bite me as Artest had a field day compared against the Blazers. If Artest can continue to be at least decent on offense, as he was against the Blazers and Thunder, I will continue to say that the Lakers are the top team in the West. The Thunder put up a good fight on Sunday but came up just short, mainly due to the fact that they were massacred inside (Perkins obviously will help). A Thunder versus Laker series like last year would be an absolute treat to watch and something that I will hope for in the postseason. Chris Bosh proved that he isn’t an elite player, everyone should have already known this, by going a remarkable, not in the good way either, one for eighteen against the Bulls. Then in news that really no one will care about, there were some shocking plus minus splits in the Minnesota Timberwolves versus Golden State Warriors game on Sunday. I’m not sure if anyone actually watched this game in person or on TV but somehow Darko Milicic, yes I am mentioning Darko Milicic, put up a plus twenty-four line in only thirteen minutes. As good as this line was it was outdone by Anthony Randolph going minus eleven in only four minutes, maybe there was actually a reason that Mike D’Antoni kept Randolph glued to the bench in New York. Then in your crazy Kevin Love line of the week Love recorded 37 points and 23 rebounds in this game. The best moment of the week, besides Melo getting traded (duh) was a referee telling Kobe Bryant to stop complaining about what Bryant believed should have been a foul and “make the shot”. This is was simply awesome, you have a referee telling the greatest scorer in the game today to just put the ball in the basket, remarkable.
MLB- Spring training began with the sad news that St. Louis Cardinals star pitcher Adam Wainwright will be lost for the season after sustaining an injury that will require Tommy John surgery. It’s always sad to see these kinds of injuries happen and I kind of liked the Cardinals to be my pick to win the National League but this injury obviously changes things. It was apparently two weeks of hell for Cardinals fans as this followed last weeks news that Albert Pujols would be testing free agency. Good news for Cardinal fans this week I begin my short breakdowns of each baseball league this week. More bad news for the Cardinals, they will have to wait until next week when the NL Central gets their day.
AL West- Also known as the weakest league in the AL.
1. Texas Rangers- The reigning AL champions once again posses a strong team and are odds on favorites to become AL West champions again. They did lose ace Cliff Lee and DH Vladimir Guerrero but they still possess a potent offense that actually might have improved with the addition of Adrian Beltre. Beltre was phenomenal last year but this can be attributed to the fact that he was in a contract year and he seems to have truly remarkable years only when he's in the last year of his contract. Unfortunately for the Rangers he just inked a five-year deal so no word on what to expect from Beltre this year. One thing is certain make sure you don’t rub his head because this is apparently makes him furious for whatever reason. Look for the Rangers to win the division fairly easily behind Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz.
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim- After a disappointing season last year the Angels pledged to be active during the offseason to get back to the postseason. Unfortunately for the Angels they struck out on their attempts to sign free agents Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre and ended up trading for outfielder Vernon Wells in a move that was criticized by just about everyone. Their offense does have some holes mainly on the left side of the infield and at catcher but their pitching rotation will keep them competitive in the majority of their games. If they had been able to sign Crawford or Beltre we could be talking about the Rangers as the AL West leaders but things just didn’t work out. Still this team can compete in the relatively weak AL West and I would look for them to finish with around 85 wins but fall short of a playoff bid in both the AL West and the wildcard.
3. Oakland Athletics- The Athletics surprised many last year when they battled to an 81 win and 81-loss campaign and due to this some are touting them as a dark horse for the AL West this year. If they had any semblance of an offense I could see this but I have no clue how they are going to score runs next year. The heart of the order could read something like Daric Barton, Josh Willingham, and Hedieki Matsui, I’m not sure if this would even scare a college team, and because of this I see the Athletics wasting many fine efforts from their outstanding young pitching staff. Maybe they will magically find some offense but ultimately I see them putting together a season that resembles last years campaign, find some hitters and this team can contend.
4. Seattle Mariners- They have in fact clinched the most boring off season of all time and maybe this would be good thing if they were coming off a season in which they won 100 games but the fact remains that they actually lost 101 games last year. This team at this time last year came in as the AL West favorites and then proceeded to fall flat on their face with the exception of Felix Hernandez. The Mariners were absolutely brutal to watch offensively last year and while its fair to say that some players will bounce back this offense is not something that you will see in an instructional hitting video. Bottom line you should only watch this team if Felix Hernandez is pitching, they will struggle to compete in the AL West and I would expect around 75 wins.
NL West-
1. Colorado Rockies- Colorado finished a disappointing third in the NL West last year as they collapsed down the stretch but I think this year will be different mainly because one of my roommates insists that they will win it all this year. Don’t worry about the logic behind me picking them their roster speaks for itself, they have a phenomenal top of the order to go along with a top of the line ace in Ubaldo Jimenez. The back end of their rotation leaves something to be desired but I think that Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki will carry this team to a division crown.
2. San Francisco Giants- The defending world champs made relatively minor changes to their aging roster and will once again ride their rotation to what they hope culminates with a repeat. Their offense once again will struggle to score runs but they hope that a bounce back year from Pablo Sandoval and the addition of Miguel Tejada will add something to the mix but I remain skeptical. This team will contend with the Rockies all season long for the division crown and if they fail in that endeavor I would look for them to snag a wild card spot.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers- This is a team very much in transition with the ongoing ownership saga and Don Mattingly taking over for the recently retired Joe Torre. They have a nice rotation headlined by Clayton Kershaw and a potent top of the lineup. I was tempted to pick the Dodgers to win the division as I do have a soft spot for Matt Kemp and James Loney, but this team almost always gets snake bit by injury and I just couldn’t bring myself to pick a team that will likely start Jay Gibbons in left field (really? Jay Gibbons??). The Dodgers are a bit of wild card in this division and I could see them contending for the NL West crown, on the other hand I could see them struggling to get to .500.
4. San Diego Padres- The surprise team of the 2010 season, the Padres after just missing the postseason proceeded to blow up their roster due to fact that they can’t sustain a competitive payroll. The Padres contended based off of their rotation last year and while it is still promising they did lose starting pitchers Jon Garland and Kevin Correia who were rock solid all last season. This team will struggle to score runs once again and as a result will have a record that will more than likely fall below .500.
5. Arizona Diamondbacks- The good news is that this team probably won’t break any strikeout records this year. The bad news is that there really isn’t anything exciting about this team besides Justin Upton as they undertake a much needed rebuilding project. Their rotation consists almost entirely of soft throwing pitchers that will have Diamondback outfielders turning and watching long balls exit Chase Field. Not a whole lot to watch on this team, as they will be one of the cellar dwellers in the MLB.
NCCA Basketball- Conference season continues to wind down as masses of people begin to gear up for the NCAA bracket madness. Nothing really noteworthy to say but Louisville will be a legitimate final four contender next year (they might be this year too after their OT victory over #4 Pittsburgh) as they only lose one starter from this year’s squad. A contender for top sports moment of the week occurred at the end of this game when a Louisville player dunked and a Louisville male cheerleader picked the ball up and threw it in the air even though there was still time remaining. Louisville was then assessed a technical foul for his actions and this actually gave Pittsburgh a chance to tie the game with a desperation three, which was missed. Louisville coach Rick Pitino remarked after the game that this would signify the end of the male cheerleader in sports. I’m sure some people took this comment the wrong way and considered it offensive but does sports humor get any better than that?
Wet Bandits over BYE week- Tough matchup this week as we struggled to conquer the dreaded bye week. Luckily enough we got some clutch performers from our role players and were able to persevere. Still no word on when and whom we will play for our next game, we may need a new league commissioner at this rate, but it should pop up on ESPN whenever it is announced. Once again no autograph signing session this week, as I have to stay focused on obtaining the free intramural t-shirt.
The Week Moving Forward
NFL- The current NFL CBA will expire plunging the league into a lockout that must end before the season starts so that I can reestablish my fantasy football dominance. The NFL combine will wrap but not before Ryan Mallet finds a couple more ways to sabotage his draft stock.
NBA- Finally the trade deadline passed so we can get back to focusing on the actual game of basketball as teams make their final push for the playoffs. Detroit Pistons coach John Kuester stands a good chance of being fired due to the fact that he has completely lost his team. This situation has turned hideous with players led by one time Detroit star Richard Hamilton boycotting practice. The Pistons have been struggling mightily all year and long time Piston players Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince have been open with desire for either a new coach or a new team. It is being reported that the Pistons actually had a deal in place to trade Hamilton to the Cleveland Cavaliers but Hamilton vetoed the trade. This is truly mindboggling because the Cavaliers would try and work a buy out for Hamilton so that he could join a contending team. I have no clue as to why Hamilton rejected this trade and this ongoing debacle in Detroit is doing serious damage to Hamilton’s reputation as a good teammate. I don’t have any idea of what kind of coach Kuester is but he will undoubtedly be fired which may or may not be justified. Lastly the deadline for teams to add playoff eligible players is Tuesday so it will be interesting to see which players are bought out and which contending teams are able to secure these players. Troy Murphy, Mike Bibby, and T.J. Ford are just a couple of players whose situation bears watching.
MLB- Spring training continues and one hopes that this week won’t bring anymore serious injuries to any players.
Wet Bandits (-.5) over Unnamed Opponent- Assuming that we actually play this week I still like our chances of getting a victory despite the fact that we haven’t played in two weeks. Yours truly might struggle considering the fact that I am coming off of a weekend were I received home feeding. Apparently the coach isn’t pleased with my conditioning so I might be coming off the bench for the foreseeable future. This situation could escalate quickly but my agent should be talking with upper management in the near future to make sure that they understand what kind of caliber player I am.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Recapping the Week 2/14-2/20
NFL- No real news to report regarding the NFL and the impending lockout that the league is facing, most of the experts continue to predict that the league will have some short of work stoppage. It kind of makes you wonder what these players will do if there is a lockout and if they will be able to survive money wise. The NFL players are much worse off in a lockout than the NBA players, who also are bracing for the possibility of a lockout, due to the fact that there really isn’t an overseas market for professional football. Basketball does offer this, as seen by Josh Childress and Brandon Jennings defections to club teams that offered lucrative contracts. NFL players would really have nothing to go to besides Brandon Marshall who insists that he could make it in the NBA (doubtful). I maintain that commissioner Goodell will get it done due to my insistence that I must win my fantasy football league next year. Seriously this has to happen, I have way too much pride riding on next season after this past seasons catastrophic run.
NBA- It was a short week of games leading up to an All-Star weekend that I found slightly disappointing, then again I really didn’t watch too much of it. I’ll start off with the celebrity game which will now be renamed the Justin Bieber game in his honor after that majestic performance. Really ESPN, Justin Bieber? I must have forgotten that your main audience was thirteen-year-old girls. Not that I was really going to watch the game but once I saw them interviewing Beiber pregame I decided there were about a million better things for me to do. I must have been missing something special because the next day I saw on ESPN that he won MVP, maybe the Cavaliers can use him. Didn’t watch any of the Rookie vs. Sophomore game and really don’t care to say anything about it besides the John Wall bounce alley-oop pass to Blake Griffin was pretty great. Next up on the events that I somewhat care about menu (sorry team hot spot and skills competition) was the three point shooting contest which James Jones (who?) won. Jones was a great shooter for the Blazers way back when and in his mind felt he got snubbed from the three-point contest in his final year as a Blazer so I can’t say I’m upset he won. Funny comment overheard somewhere was the comment that he’s usually more open during games due to the attention paid to his Heat teammates. I might be able to shoot at a thirty percent clip if I had those teammates but I don’t think Pat Riley is going to sign me anytime soon (obviously I’m way to expensive due to my play on the Wet Bandits). Unfortunately I was unable to watch the one event that I actually wanted to watch, the Dunk Contest, but I decided that I needed to get off the Top Ramen diet so I accepted an invitation to grab some food with the roommate’s parents. I’m not quite sure if this goes in questioning my manhood category for missing this but really you have to understand that eating free real food rates much higher than any sporting event. Of course it’s always nice to watch the highlights without the actual missing of a million dunks, looking at you JaVele McGee and Blake Griffin, and overall I was pretty impressed with all of the contestants. Of all places I wouldn’t put the all star game as the place where home court advantage would play a huge role but this has to be the only reason he won the event. He had some great dunks in round 1 but DeMar DeRozan was much more deserving of a berth in the finals than him. Serge Ibaka didn’t put in a bad showing either but he really didn’t have a shot with the dunks that DeRozan and McGee put up and Griffin’s hometown edge. Griffin ended up winning to the surprise of no one, but the real surprise was McGee who shocked me with his dunks. When the picks were announced way back who knows when, I remember my initial reaction was how much did McGee pay to get in the contest but he definitely proved me wrong with some amazing dunks. I’m still confused as to the Ibaka pick but that’s an argument for some other time. Somehow commissioner David Stern missed the memo that the actual All-Star game coincided with our intramural game (more on that later) so I was unable to watch most of the second half but don’t worry I’m not crying over it. It’s kind of funny to me when people say that certain players don’t deserve to make it to the all-star game because they don’t play any defense (Andrea Bargnani). I may be wrong but does anyone actually play defense in the all-star game? I’m pretty sure that Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, and possibly Carmelo Anthony had a running bet on who could exert the least amount of effort in the All-Star game. I would lean towards Duncan on this one just because of his one possession in which he got an offensive rebound under the basket and then passed it back to the three-point line. I know he doesn’t want to get hurt and such but its not like anyone was going to try and foul him hard. Props to Doc Rivers for his Celtic four substitution, I was waiting to see Kobe and Pau Gasol stay out on the court with Derek Fisher and Ron Artest subbing in for the West but unfortunately Artest somehow got snubbed from the game (he’s been on a tear recently if you hadn’t heard). Kobe Bryant deserved the MVP as one of the few players that actually cared, it really only came down to him, LeBron, and Kevin Durant. For all Blazer fans still clamoring (facebook news feed) about Aldridge making the game, shocking statistic Blake Griffin and Kevin Love both had a plus minus of negative nine. If anyone actually says this to me I will just laugh, yes Aldridge had a good first half but really Love and Griffin were more deserving, get over it. On another note I understand the goodwill gesture to get Duncan in the game but if he’s playing not to sweat can we get someone else in there? Last note from the All-Star game, the Carmelo Anthony fast break ending in a layup was pathetic; did he forget he’s six foot eight and playing in an all-star game? Really, really weak stuff I would give him more grief but at least he doesn’t have any off court distractions like some other players (if you didn’t get that sarcasm stop reading).
Back to the NBA and what actually happened, which was relatively nothing besides the Cavaliers beating the Lakers. I’m almost sure that the Lakers tanked this game so the front office is forced to make a move that or the Cavaliers are much, much better than their recent twenty six game losing streak suggests (not likely). I really don’t think that there’s anyway to logically explain losing to a team that you beat by fifty-five points a month earlier. Check that there actually is no way to justify this loss but I still maintain the Lakers will be there in the conference finals. The Utah Jazz continued their graceful descent from a top seed in the West to a team contending for a playoff spot. Absolutely shocking how bad they have been this past month but maybe I drank too much of their Kool-aid early in the season. The Blazers continued their recent hot-streak (thank you schedule makers) but no matter how hot they get I can still guarantee they won’t make it out of the first round (great fan aren’t I?). The Carmelo Anthony trade talks continued for the three hundredth straight week nearing the mythical Brett Favre status for news that everyone is sick about. Side note I’m not quite sure where Tiger Woods scandal ranks but I think it’s behind Favre. The news this week revolved around the Knicks (surprise) and the Nets and possible meetings with Melo in Los Angeles during the All-Star break. The Nets did meet with Melo and their owner left saying that it went “fantastic”, unfortunately this is just posturing by Melo to force the KnickerBoxers to up their trade offer. The Knicks on the other hand are apparently about to implode once again with the news that owner James Dolan might be angling to get Isiah Thomas back into a managerial or executive role in the future. This is completely baffling considering current general manager Donnie Walsh is still struggling to rid the Knicks of Thomas’s disastrous run as general manager. I actually find myself impressed with either the stupidity of Dolan (how does he have so much $$$$?) or the ability for Thomas to blame his last run on other people. It’s probably a combination of both, but the person in the worst situation besides the Knicks fans (forever miserable), is Donnie Walsh who will watch all his work cleaning up the Knicks go to waste if Thomas comes back into power. I have no idea how the Melo situation plays out but as of now it appears that the odds are that Melo will not be playing basketball in Denver past Thursday at the latest. Of course if Melo doesn’t get traded that means were subjected to the last third of the season with the constant question of where will Melo sign with at the end of the season (so exciting!!!).
MLB- Jamie Moyer remains unsigned for some weird reason. I mean what does he have going against him? Most pitchers pitch up until their fifty right? Next week and in the future of the MLB sections I’ll start breaking down each division leading up until the season, just too tired after such a tough game tonight (look below for the recap).
NCAA Basketball- Ducks swept the Beavers in the Civil War, I don’t think anyone outside of Oregon cares (not really sure that much people even in the state of Oregon care) but still another good win for the Ducks under new coach Dana Altman. Way too many top five teams lost this past week, of course St. Johns took part in this because they upset a top ten team every week, which reinforces the thought that there really isn’t a dominant team this year. I disagree with this to some degree, if Kyrie Irving ever recovers from what I’m sure is a debilitating foot injury (still have no clue how he's been out forever) I think Duke is a dominant team. Unfortunately once again there is no word on if and when Irving will return.
Wet Bandits victory by forfiet over The Tropics- Apparently our reputation is preceding us at this point because the opposing team didn’t even bother to show up for this tilt. I can’t say I’m that surprised this happened considering our teams ability and too be honest I’m a little shocked other teams didn’t forfeit to us like this team did. Regardless we remain playoff bound, unfortunately for the fans (that would be you) I don’t know when, where, and against whom our next game is. Don’t worry I’m sure SportsCenter or whatever channels you people watch will have a breaking news announcement whenever our teams next game is finalized. No autograph session this week, I have to start focusing on the playoffs, I’m sure you understand.
The Week Moving Forward
NFL- The NFL combine is this upcoming week, which basically means that it ‘s Christmas for Mel Kiper Jr. Every prospect will get over-analyzed on how fast he runs the forty yard dash or how many bench press reps he can do. Every single year there is some player that wows all the scouts in attendance and shoots up the draft boards only to bomb out in the NFL because he has no idea how to play the game. Best draft story is former USC kicker David Beuhler’s combine back in 2009 in which Beuhler put up 25 reps on the bench press (at 225 pounds) and ran the forty yard dash in 4.56 and 4.63 seconds. His forty-yard dash times were good for first among tight ends and linebackers. His bench-press efforts consisted of more reps then fellow USC linebacker Rey Maualuga and two offensive linemen (Michael Oher and Eugene Monroe) who ended up becoming first round draft picks. The point I’m trying to get at is combine results should mean something but they are ridiculously over hyped for the most part.
NBA- The trade deadline will come and pass, hopefully bringing with it the news that Carmelo Anthony has signed an extension somewhere and will no longer be featured daily on SportsCenter. It only makes sense because were getting close to the point that Brett Favre begins to ponder whether he will return for another season of football. The Nuggets have to move Melo because I still have serious doubts of whether he would sign an extension in Denver. Ultimately the Knicks are probably going to gut their team to trade for Melo, which is stupid because they could probably get him over the summer for nothing or next to nothing. A team consisting of Stoudemire, Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and ten other scrubs isn’t going to get it done in the East this year and not in the future unless they can draft smart (never easy for the Knicks). The Hornets need to make a move to acquire a legitimate wing scorer but I’m really not sure that they have the assets to make this happen. As I’ve said here before if they can snag Stephen Jackson they become a scary team. Another team that could use a shooting guard would be the Chicago Bulls and there has been chatter about trading for O.J. Mayo of the Grizzlies. I like this fit even though Mayo wouldn’t exactly help out their team defense he would certainly be an upgrade over incumbent starter Keith Bogans. I’m trying to set up a tryout with the Bulls to prove that I actually might be a better starter than Bogans but unfortunately school obligations keep getting in my way. Acquiring a shooting guard of Mayo’s caliber would put the Bulls on the level of the Celtics, Heat, and Magic (they might be there now anyway), but I’m opposed to any deal that sacrifices backup power forward Taj Gibson. Once Joakim Noah gets healthy the Bulls could arguably have the deepest frontcourt in the league behind the Celtics and come playoff time their going to need this depth when battling against the Dwight Howard’s, Kevin Garnett’s, and Chris Bosh’s of the East. Lastly there is the Blazers who are in an interesting situation leading up until the deadline. This team is playoff bound but is not nearly good enough to contend for a title as currently constructed. They have significant assets in expiring contracts and multiple first round picks but I’m not to sure if they should be buying or selling at this deadline. A month ago I was in the selling category and I think that this is the direction that I would still lean. I can understand why Rich Cho would go out and make a deal that strengthens the team for a playoff run but ultimately I think that this would be the wrong move. It’s time to move on from this team and rebuild around Aldridge. I would say that Cho should explore the trade market for Andre Miller, Marcus Camby, and Joel Pryzbilla at the deadline and if the right offer comes up for more first round picks and or developmental players he has to take it. Realistically the Blazers need a franchise point guard but this isn’t something that can be acquired at the trade deadline. If the Blazers remain quiet at the deadline that would be fine as well but at the latest the Blazer’s should start remaking this team this current summer. It won’t be an ugly rebuilding project as the team can still contend for the playoffs but they are going to get much younger at certain positions namely point guard and center.
MLB- I’m super stoked for the first pre-season game this Thursday between Florida State and the Philadelphia Phillies. Obviously I won’t be watching this but you have to wonder does this really make the Phillies any better? Why don’t they just play their AA (not Alcoholics Anonymous) or AAA team? The Mariners continued their push to secure the award for most boring offseason of all time, if I was on the voting panel I would have already mailed in my vote for the Mariners to win this award. The Mariners are also in contention for worst offseason of all time considering their big move was signing utility infielders Adam Kennedy and Brendan Ryan. I understand they were handcuffed by money, but give me one reason why I should watch this team when King Felix isn’t pitching. I’m not sure which fan base has lower expectations for the upcoming season the Mariner fan base or the Pittsburgh Pirate fan base (not really sure if the Pirates have a fan base but for the sake of this argument they do). I would give a slight edge to the Pirates as of now but with me leading the charge the Mariners are making up ground.
Wet Bandits (-3) over Unnamed opponent- No clue who were playing but we have to win so I can get the free intramural t-shirt that comes with winning the championship. I decided to put the spread at us as three point favorites because we could be slightly rusty coming off of this unexpected bye week. Then again word is probably going to get out once again about how dominant our team is so don’t be shocked if the other team forfeits again. Remember their will most likely be a SportsCenter reminder once our game will be finalized so stay glued to ESPN until there is a breaking news announcement.
NBA- It was a short week of games leading up to an All-Star weekend that I found slightly disappointing, then again I really didn’t watch too much of it. I’ll start off with the celebrity game which will now be renamed the Justin Bieber game in his honor after that majestic performance. Really ESPN, Justin Bieber? I must have forgotten that your main audience was thirteen-year-old girls. Not that I was really going to watch the game but once I saw them interviewing Beiber pregame I decided there were about a million better things for me to do. I must have been missing something special because the next day I saw on ESPN that he won MVP, maybe the Cavaliers can use him. Didn’t watch any of the Rookie vs. Sophomore game and really don’t care to say anything about it besides the John Wall bounce alley-oop pass to Blake Griffin was pretty great. Next up on the events that I somewhat care about menu (sorry team hot spot and skills competition) was the three point shooting contest which James Jones (who?) won. Jones was a great shooter for the Blazers way back when and in his mind felt he got snubbed from the three-point contest in his final year as a Blazer so I can’t say I’m upset he won. Funny comment overheard somewhere was the comment that he’s usually more open during games due to the attention paid to his Heat teammates. I might be able to shoot at a thirty percent clip if I had those teammates but I don’t think Pat Riley is going to sign me anytime soon (obviously I’m way to expensive due to my play on the Wet Bandits). Unfortunately I was unable to watch the one event that I actually wanted to watch, the Dunk Contest, but I decided that I needed to get off the Top Ramen diet so I accepted an invitation to grab some food with the roommate’s parents. I’m not quite sure if this goes in questioning my manhood category for missing this but really you have to understand that eating free real food rates much higher than any sporting event. Of course it’s always nice to watch the highlights without the actual missing of a million dunks, looking at you JaVele McGee and Blake Griffin, and overall I was pretty impressed with all of the contestants. Of all places I wouldn’t put the all star game as the place where home court advantage would play a huge role but this has to be the only reason he won the event. He had some great dunks in round 1 but DeMar DeRozan was much more deserving of a berth in the finals than him. Serge Ibaka didn’t put in a bad showing either but he really didn’t have a shot with the dunks that DeRozan and McGee put up and Griffin’s hometown edge. Griffin ended up winning to the surprise of no one, but the real surprise was McGee who shocked me with his dunks. When the picks were announced way back who knows when, I remember my initial reaction was how much did McGee pay to get in the contest but he definitely proved me wrong with some amazing dunks. I’m still confused as to the Ibaka pick but that’s an argument for some other time. Somehow commissioner David Stern missed the memo that the actual All-Star game coincided with our intramural game (more on that later) so I was unable to watch most of the second half but don’t worry I’m not crying over it. It’s kind of funny to me when people say that certain players don’t deserve to make it to the all-star game because they don’t play any defense (Andrea Bargnani). I may be wrong but does anyone actually play defense in the all-star game? I’m pretty sure that Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, and possibly Carmelo Anthony had a running bet on who could exert the least amount of effort in the All-Star game. I would lean towards Duncan on this one just because of his one possession in which he got an offensive rebound under the basket and then passed it back to the three-point line. I know he doesn’t want to get hurt and such but its not like anyone was going to try and foul him hard. Props to Doc Rivers for his Celtic four substitution, I was waiting to see Kobe and Pau Gasol stay out on the court with Derek Fisher and Ron Artest subbing in for the West but unfortunately Artest somehow got snubbed from the game (he’s been on a tear recently if you hadn’t heard). Kobe Bryant deserved the MVP as one of the few players that actually cared, it really only came down to him, LeBron, and Kevin Durant. For all Blazer fans still clamoring (facebook news feed) about Aldridge making the game, shocking statistic Blake Griffin and Kevin Love both had a plus minus of negative nine. If anyone actually says this to me I will just laugh, yes Aldridge had a good first half but really Love and Griffin were more deserving, get over it. On another note I understand the goodwill gesture to get Duncan in the game but if he’s playing not to sweat can we get someone else in there? Last note from the All-Star game, the Carmelo Anthony fast break ending in a layup was pathetic; did he forget he’s six foot eight and playing in an all-star game? Really, really weak stuff I would give him more grief but at least he doesn’t have any off court distractions like some other players (if you didn’t get that sarcasm stop reading).
Back to the NBA and what actually happened, which was relatively nothing besides the Cavaliers beating the Lakers. I’m almost sure that the Lakers tanked this game so the front office is forced to make a move that or the Cavaliers are much, much better than their recent twenty six game losing streak suggests (not likely). I really don’t think that there’s anyway to logically explain losing to a team that you beat by fifty-five points a month earlier. Check that there actually is no way to justify this loss but I still maintain the Lakers will be there in the conference finals. The Utah Jazz continued their graceful descent from a top seed in the West to a team contending for a playoff spot. Absolutely shocking how bad they have been this past month but maybe I drank too much of their Kool-aid early in the season. The Blazers continued their recent hot-streak (thank you schedule makers) but no matter how hot they get I can still guarantee they won’t make it out of the first round (great fan aren’t I?). The Carmelo Anthony trade talks continued for the three hundredth straight week nearing the mythical Brett Favre status for news that everyone is sick about. Side note I’m not quite sure where Tiger Woods scandal ranks but I think it’s behind Favre. The news this week revolved around the Knicks (surprise) and the Nets and possible meetings with Melo in Los Angeles during the All-Star break. The Nets did meet with Melo and their owner left saying that it went “fantastic”, unfortunately this is just posturing by Melo to force the KnickerBoxers to up their trade offer. The Knicks on the other hand are apparently about to implode once again with the news that owner James Dolan might be angling to get Isiah Thomas back into a managerial or executive role in the future. This is completely baffling considering current general manager Donnie Walsh is still struggling to rid the Knicks of Thomas’s disastrous run as general manager. I actually find myself impressed with either the stupidity of Dolan (how does he have so much $$$$?) or the ability for Thomas to blame his last run on other people. It’s probably a combination of both, but the person in the worst situation besides the Knicks fans (forever miserable), is Donnie Walsh who will watch all his work cleaning up the Knicks go to waste if Thomas comes back into power. I have no idea how the Melo situation plays out but as of now it appears that the odds are that Melo will not be playing basketball in Denver past Thursday at the latest. Of course if Melo doesn’t get traded that means were subjected to the last third of the season with the constant question of where will Melo sign with at the end of the season (so exciting!!!).
MLB- Jamie Moyer remains unsigned for some weird reason. I mean what does he have going against him? Most pitchers pitch up until their fifty right? Next week and in the future of the MLB sections I’ll start breaking down each division leading up until the season, just too tired after such a tough game tonight (look below for the recap).
NCAA Basketball- Ducks swept the Beavers in the Civil War, I don’t think anyone outside of Oregon cares (not really sure that much people even in the state of Oregon care) but still another good win for the Ducks under new coach Dana Altman. Way too many top five teams lost this past week, of course St. Johns took part in this because they upset a top ten team every week, which reinforces the thought that there really isn’t a dominant team this year. I disagree with this to some degree, if Kyrie Irving ever recovers from what I’m sure is a debilitating foot injury (still have no clue how he's been out forever) I think Duke is a dominant team. Unfortunately once again there is no word on if and when Irving will return.
Wet Bandits victory by forfiet over The Tropics- Apparently our reputation is preceding us at this point because the opposing team didn’t even bother to show up for this tilt. I can’t say I’m that surprised this happened considering our teams ability and too be honest I’m a little shocked other teams didn’t forfeit to us like this team did. Regardless we remain playoff bound, unfortunately for the fans (that would be you) I don’t know when, where, and against whom our next game is. Don’t worry I’m sure SportsCenter or whatever channels you people watch will have a breaking news announcement whenever our teams next game is finalized. No autograph session this week, I have to start focusing on the playoffs, I’m sure you understand.
The Week Moving Forward
NFL- The NFL combine is this upcoming week, which basically means that it ‘s Christmas for Mel Kiper Jr. Every prospect will get over-analyzed on how fast he runs the forty yard dash or how many bench press reps he can do. Every single year there is some player that wows all the scouts in attendance and shoots up the draft boards only to bomb out in the NFL because he has no idea how to play the game. Best draft story is former USC kicker David Beuhler’s combine back in 2009 in which Beuhler put up 25 reps on the bench press (at 225 pounds) and ran the forty yard dash in 4.56 and 4.63 seconds. His forty-yard dash times were good for first among tight ends and linebackers. His bench-press efforts consisted of more reps then fellow USC linebacker Rey Maualuga and two offensive linemen (Michael Oher and Eugene Monroe) who ended up becoming first round draft picks. The point I’m trying to get at is combine results should mean something but they are ridiculously over hyped for the most part.
NBA- The trade deadline will come and pass, hopefully bringing with it the news that Carmelo Anthony has signed an extension somewhere and will no longer be featured daily on SportsCenter. It only makes sense because were getting close to the point that Brett Favre begins to ponder whether he will return for another season of football. The Nuggets have to move Melo because I still have serious doubts of whether he would sign an extension in Denver. Ultimately the Knicks are probably going to gut their team to trade for Melo, which is stupid because they could probably get him over the summer for nothing or next to nothing. A team consisting of Stoudemire, Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and ten other scrubs isn’t going to get it done in the East this year and not in the future unless they can draft smart (never easy for the Knicks). The Hornets need to make a move to acquire a legitimate wing scorer but I’m really not sure that they have the assets to make this happen. As I’ve said here before if they can snag Stephen Jackson they become a scary team. Another team that could use a shooting guard would be the Chicago Bulls and there has been chatter about trading for O.J. Mayo of the Grizzlies. I like this fit even though Mayo wouldn’t exactly help out their team defense he would certainly be an upgrade over incumbent starter Keith Bogans. I’m trying to set up a tryout with the Bulls to prove that I actually might be a better starter than Bogans but unfortunately school obligations keep getting in my way. Acquiring a shooting guard of Mayo’s caliber would put the Bulls on the level of the Celtics, Heat, and Magic (they might be there now anyway), but I’m opposed to any deal that sacrifices backup power forward Taj Gibson. Once Joakim Noah gets healthy the Bulls could arguably have the deepest frontcourt in the league behind the Celtics and come playoff time their going to need this depth when battling against the Dwight Howard’s, Kevin Garnett’s, and Chris Bosh’s of the East. Lastly there is the Blazers who are in an interesting situation leading up until the deadline. This team is playoff bound but is not nearly good enough to contend for a title as currently constructed. They have significant assets in expiring contracts and multiple first round picks but I’m not to sure if they should be buying or selling at this deadline. A month ago I was in the selling category and I think that this is the direction that I would still lean. I can understand why Rich Cho would go out and make a deal that strengthens the team for a playoff run but ultimately I think that this would be the wrong move. It’s time to move on from this team and rebuild around Aldridge. I would say that Cho should explore the trade market for Andre Miller, Marcus Camby, and Joel Pryzbilla at the deadline and if the right offer comes up for more first round picks and or developmental players he has to take it. Realistically the Blazers need a franchise point guard but this isn’t something that can be acquired at the trade deadline. If the Blazers remain quiet at the deadline that would be fine as well but at the latest the Blazer’s should start remaking this team this current summer. It won’t be an ugly rebuilding project as the team can still contend for the playoffs but they are going to get much younger at certain positions namely point guard and center.
MLB- I’m super stoked for the first pre-season game this Thursday between Florida State and the Philadelphia Phillies. Obviously I won’t be watching this but you have to wonder does this really make the Phillies any better? Why don’t they just play their AA (not Alcoholics Anonymous) or AAA team? The Mariners continued their push to secure the award for most boring offseason of all time, if I was on the voting panel I would have already mailed in my vote for the Mariners to win this award. The Mariners are also in contention for worst offseason of all time considering their big move was signing utility infielders Adam Kennedy and Brendan Ryan. I understand they were handcuffed by money, but give me one reason why I should watch this team when King Felix isn’t pitching. I’m not sure which fan base has lower expectations for the upcoming season the Mariner fan base or the Pittsburgh Pirate fan base (not really sure if the Pirates have a fan base but for the sake of this argument they do). I would give a slight edge to the Pirates as of now but with me leading the charge the Mariners are making up ground.
Wet Bandits (-3) over Unnamed opponent- No clue who were playing but we have to win so I can get the free intramural t-shirt that comes with winning the championship. I decided to put the spread at us as three point favorites because we could be slightly rusty coming off of this unexpected bye week. Then again word is probably going to get out once again about how dominant our team is so don’t be shocked if the other team forfeits again. Remember their will most likely be a SportsCenter reminder once our game will be finalized so stay glued to ESPN until there is a breaking news announcement.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Recapping the Week 2/7-2/13
NBA- I considered making a D-League column for the Cavaliers but decided against it based solely on the fact that I’m not sure they would win games in the D-League either, so for the time being they remain in the NBA portion of this column until I can gauge what league to actually assign the Cavaliers to. On to the real news of the week, the Cavaliers did break (unfortunately) their twenty-six game losing streak by defeating the Clippers in overtime. I along with millions of other NBA fans was depressed to hear about this victory due to the fact I wanted the streak to continue until Sunday so Cleveland’s inability to win would face off with the Wizards inability to win on the road. The Clippers, always known for their losing ways, of course decided that they had had enough of the Cavaliers stealing the losing headlines and decided to drop the game in overtime. Following this monumental victory there was talk that the Cavaliers might be heading for a two game win streak but this talk was put out after the Wizards left Cleveland with their first road victory of the year. In probably the last Cleveland sports news for a very long, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert apparently text messaged Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo “to hang in there” in the midst of Michigan States recent basketball troubles. Why exactly is Dan Gilbert telling Izzo to hang in there? Did he not realize that the sports franchise that he owns was well on its way to tying the record for futility across all four major sports? Seems like a nice gesture and yes the Spartans have been struggling lately, but as of last glance ESPN still has the Spartans making the NCAA tournament so its not as if Izzo’s squad was doing something unthinkable such as losing twenty-six games. Now back to talking about teams that people actually care about. Not sure how many people actually care about the Jazz but their legendary coach Jerry Sloan retired. I had commented about two weeks ago about Deron Williams and his attitude after watching recent Jazz games and it appears that this was one of the factors that led to Sloan’s abrupt departure. Not blaming the whole thing on Williams but from all reports regarding the Jazz, it is clear that Williams and Sloan weren’t on the same page anymore. It really is sad to see one of the great coaches in the NBA retire in such fashion but I applaud Sloan for retiring when he thought that he felt he could no longer do his job. Not that this mattered at all to Sloan, but he departs basketball twenty-three wins shy of the all time record. The Jazz started off the season on a tear and looked like Western Conference contenders but recently have really been struggling, at this moment they are in the midst of a battle for one of the last slots in the West. Of course it wouldn’t be basketball without Carmelo Anthony trade talk and in this weeks edition a new team was added into the mix. The possibility of Melo playing for the Los Angeles Lakers was the hot talk of the week and the Lakers could be real contenders for his service if they wish to pursue this angle. The deal would be centered around Lakers big man Andrew Bynum heading to Denver in return for Melo heading to Los Angeles. My opinion on this trade has changed as the week has gone on and as of now I think that the Lakers should go for it. Anthony is a dynamic scorer and pairing him with Kobe Bryant would be a nightmare for opposing coaches. I don’t think Kobe, at this point in his career, can handle the wear and tear of being the primary scorer throughout the whole season and in recent games it has been made clear that he needs help in the scoring department. Pau Gasol should really just be given a ten game break so he can regain some his early season form. Side not Gasol might be my least favorite player to watch based on the fact that whenever there is a chance that there might be physical contact he yells. I half expect him to yell when he goes up for a wide-open jump shot but unfortunately this hasn’t happened yet. Anthony can obviously provide scoring help but it remains unclear if he would sign the extension that the Lakers would want him to sign upon getting traded. Andrew Bynum is great young player but if I’m the Lakers I’m willing to sacrifice him in this deal for a couple of reasons. The first reason is his injury history. While it doesn’t come close to matching the Frail Blazers Greg Oden’s injury history, Bynum isn’t known as the most durable player in the league. Second there’s the fact that Ron Artest is the Lakers starting three man right now. I have pondered what has happened to Artest in recent columns but still have no clue what has caused him to be in this funk (my moneys still on a new rap album) but as of right now he is killing the Lakers offensively. Watching the Lakers play the Magic on Sunday was brutal offensively for the Lakers and it didn’t help that they were playing four on five offensively due to Artest. Of course Artest still prevents value through his defense, but with him playing like he has been recently I’m not quite sure if this justifies his putrid offense. Then again the thought of Kevin Durant dropping fifty-five on Carmelo Anthony in a Laker jersey during the playoffs probably isn’t that exciting of a prospect for the Lakers. Lastly the Lakers window to compete for titles is closing pretty quickly and at best I would give them three more title contending years. You wouldn’t believe it because Kobe’s still putting up the stats but he’s up getting up there in years (32 to be exact). Kobe needs someone else to carry the scoring load with him and Gasol because right now there’s not really another consistent scoring threat for the Lakers. Bynum has shown flashes of this in recent weeks and I have no doubt that he’s going to be an All-Star center soon if he stays healthy, but I don’t think you can count on him as a reliable scoring option at this moment. He was pretty good against the Magic on Sunday, his length will always be a weapon for him on both ends of the court, but I would still give a Melo for Bynum trade the green light from the Lakers end. From the Nuggets end it’s a little tougher, but I’m not really to sure who they can get that would be better for Bynum right now. The Knicks keep trying to go ahead with a Danillo Gallinari package but that sounds about as exciting as watching the Cavaliers, and the Nets don’t appear to be that serious about this trade anymore. Of course Anthony had to make the situation even more confusing from the Nuggets side by stating that if he’s not traded he would be willing to entertain the notion of signing an extension in Denver. I’m not completely sure, but I believe this news was caused because Melo thought SportsCenter wasn’t giving him enough coverage in recent days. I still think there’s little chance that Melo signs the extension in Denver but you just never know so I could see the Nuggets trying to convince him to stay. I think this is a bad idea because Melo seems to desire playing on a bigger stage than Denver and if they don’t trade him they run the risk of winding up like the Raptors post Bosh and the Cavaliers post James (twenty-six games truly remarkable). Bynum is a promising prospect but as has been stated his injury history is worrisome, but if Bynum does stay healthy the Nuggets would have an interesting roster in a couple years. They have young talent at the guard positions; Afflalo, Lawson, and Smith, and adding a healthy Bynum would give them a legitimate post player as well. The only problem about this trade is I’m not exactly sure what else the Nuggets would be getting from the Lakers that could help them out. It’s not like the Lakers are going to provide you with a lottery pick in the first round and besides Bynum and Shannon Brown they don’t really have any exciting young talent. Still if it comes down to the deadline I would have to say that if I’m the Nuggets, the Laker deal is the best one currently on the table. In actual basketball news the Celtics beat the Heat for the third time on the year but unfortunately Paul Pierce didn’t issue any LeBron humorous tweets post game. This might be due to the fact that Pierce was a ghost out there tallying only one point on a zero for ten shooting display. I’m shocked at how the Celtics won this game due to the injury list that they were sporting and also the Garnett, Pierce, and Allen trio only racked up only thirty-three points. Rajon Rondo once again was the difference maker in logging a triple double while providing solid defense on LeBron throughout the game. The Celtics continue to show week in and week out that in my eyes they are the Eastern Conference favorites. They are facing some serious depth concerns with the number of injuries they have sustained but they keep on getting the W’s and if they can stay healthy heading into the postseason I like their chances to make it out of the Eastern Conference. Brief side note did anyone see that screen Wade had on Big Baby Davis during the final play? That was a legitimate NFL safety hit and I am baffled as to how this wasn’t a foul call. The Spurs continued to quietly roll through their schedule and the Blazers are on a nice streak thanks largely to schedule makers putting together a very soft February schedule.
NFL- The NFL finally entered the offseason and there really isn’t much to talk about except for the fact that a new labor agreement hasn’t been reached and it appears that there hasn’t really been too much progress made between both sides. NFL draft hype continues to build and Panther fans still are wondering how exactly Andrew Luck turned down the chance to be their quarterback. The Panther roster as currently constructed would also make me return to school for another year. I will get more in depth in the NFL draft coverage as we get closer but as of right now I’ll let Mel Kiper Jr. handle the draft duties. Parting shot to Jake Locker and his smart investment on returning to school this past year. From top ten pick to a possible third round draft choice is always a good investment no matter how you look at it.
NCAA Basketball- This isn’t really related to this season but I found it pretty interesting that the McDonalds All-American Game (highest regarded high-school all star game) for the second straight year won’t be taking any players from the state of California. I’m not quite too sure how this happens but these are the kind of things that make people believe in the East Coast bias. Of course if you are from California and commit to either Duke North Carolina or another Big East school you are automatically entered into the game. I don’t think they even watch tape of the players anymore they just fill the roster with players heading to big name colleges and hope the players can live up to the hype. Kyle Wiltjer from Jesuit High School in Oregon helps prove this and I’m sure the biggest reason that he made this game is due to his Kentucky commitment. I’ve seen Wiltjer play a couple of times in person and while he's a nice player I don’t think he's one of the top twenty five players in the country. Plus no one really wants to see a face up four playing in the game do they?
MLB- Baseball season starts in a couple days with pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training. This is newsworthy just for the fact that the MLB will be a solid staple of these columns from now until baseball season ends, whenever that is. Then in surprising news I have determined that the Mariners will still suck besides Felix Hernandez. Seriously when the big news of the offseason is the signing of Jack Cust and Adam Kennedy why should I be at all excited especially when you managed to become the first team in modern history to lose more than one hundred games with a payroll of greater than one hundred million?
In news that relatively few of you care about the Wet Bandits were once again victorious. For those that didn’t watch the Wet Bandits (49) beat PhiPsiUno (42), you didn’t miss any posterizing dunks by me but you did miss your chance to watch us clinch a playoff berth. We won another ugly game based on one of two things, lockdown defense or the other teams inability to shoot (one or the other, I’m leaning towards the latter). Last week I theorized that PhiPsiUno was either a frat team or a math club and unfortunately or fortunately, really depends on how you look at it, they turned out to be neither and I am still left wondering if there is a team out there with a name that makes sense. Yours truly racked up nine points on a dazzling display that featured a three pointer along with a couple drives to the hoop. It’s rather safe to say after this performance that I will never be confused with Ray Allen again after giving a poor effort at the free throw line (2 for 5). Regardless we won in a game that I’m almost sure featured us shooting more air balls than makes from the three-point line.
In news that by my count no one cares about, my brother’s city league team was able to pull off a shocking one-point victory in the first round of the playoffs. I say that this is shocking news because apparently they actually had a fan show up to the game. This only made the column due to a brother request and once the story gets out I’m sure the fans will think more highly of me for this charity. My brother for those that were wondering tallied by his counts three points, like twenty five rebounds, and a couple blocks. For those not up to date with his lingo this translates to; three points on a three pointer that he probably banked in without meaning to, a hugely inflated five rebounds, and “blocks” that consisted of the other team losing the ball out of bounds.
The Week moving forward
NBA- All-Star weekend is this upcoming weekend and the big question is why is Blake Griffin in the dunk contest. A really shocking inclusion into the dunk contest based on the fact that he has no noteworthy dunks so far on the year. All-star weekend isn’t really that exciting and I don’t think I’ve watched the game in since Rasheed Wallace made it (Blazer pride) but the skills competition and dunk contest are always worth a look. I don’t think anyone expects Blake Griffin not to win the Dunk contest but I expect Demar Derozan (for the many that have never heard this name he plays for the Raptors) to throw down some crazy dunks as well. Also this week in the NBA the trade chatter will begin to reach deafening levels as the trade deadline draws closer and closer (2/24). What this really means is that there will be breaking news stating that major deals are in the works but somehow at the last second the deals fall through leaving everybody back at the beginning once again.
NFL- The owners and players will still disagree on just about everything that can be debated in their quest for a new CBA. Exciting times for sure.
MLB- Albert Pujols deadline on a contract extension expires this week and if the Cardinals fail to sign him to an extension he will test the free agent market next year. It is believed that Pujols is trying to get a contract that would pay him somewhere in the ballpark of thirty million annually. Pujols is the best hitter in the game right now but is anyone in the MLB really worth thirty million annually? This is the Cardinals were talking about, not the Yankees, thirty million is so much to spend on one player that I’m not sure the Cardinals can do this. In baseball you need at least ten solid field players (eight starters and two backups) and eight solid pitchers (five starters, two relievers, closer) to have a balanced squad. Obviously to be a competitive team you need star players mixed in but pledging thirty million to one player is an awful lot especially when you need money to spend on at least seventeen other “solid” players. I ultimately think that the Cardinals will figure out a contract for Mr. Pujols but I think it’s going to be tough to find good pieces that will fit around him. I’m really hoping that he signs just so I can go without an MLB season clouded with talk of where Pujols will end up.
Wet Bandits (-8) over The Tropics- In our final regular season game of the year (don’t worry there is no senior day seeing as we have no seniors) we take on the one win and three loss Tropics. Once again there is no tape available on the Tropics so I’m forced to make another blind guess at the point spread. There has been talk of the starters resting, due to the fact that we are already playoff bound, but for those that haven’t bought your tickets yet I think you can expect at least one half in which the starters, including me, play the majority of the minutes. Autograph session this week has been moved to Thursday.
NFL- The NFL finally entered the offseason and there really isn’t much to talk about except for the fact that a new labor agreement hasn’t been reached and it appears that there hasn’t really been too much progress made between both sides. NFL draft hype continues to build and Panther fans still are wondering how exactly Andrew Luck turned down the chance to be their quarterback. The Panther roster as currently constructed would also make me return to school for another year. I will get more in depth in the NFL draft coverage as we get closer but as of right now I’ll let Mel Kiper Jr. handle the draft duties. Parting shot to Jake Locker and his smart investment on returning to school this past year. From top ten pick to a possible third round draft choice is always a good investment no matter how you look at it.
NCAA Basketball- This isn’t really related to this season but I found it pretty interesting that the McDonalds All-American Game (highest regarded high-school all star game) for the second straight year won’t be taking any players from the state of California. I’m not quite too sure how this happens but these are the kind of things that make people believe in the East Coast bias. Of course if you are from California and commit to either Duke North Carolina or another Big East school you are automatically entered into the game. I don’t think they even watch tape of the players anymore they just fill the roster with players heading to big name colleges and hope the players can live up to the hype. Kyle Wiltjer from Jesuit High School in Oregon helps prove this and I’m sure the biggest reason that he made this game is due to his Kentucky commitment. I’ve seen Wiltjer play a couple of times in person and while he's a nice player I don’t think he's one of the top twenty five players in the country. Plus no one really wants to see a face up four playing in the game do they?
MLB- Baseball season starts in a couple days with pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training. This is newsworthy just for the fact that the MLB will be a solid staple of these columns from now until baseball season ends, whenever that is. Then in surprising news I have determined that the Mariners will still suck besides Felix Hernandez. Seriously when the big news of the offseason is the signing of Jack Cust and Adam Kennedy why should I be at all excited especially when you managed to become the first team in modern history to lose more than one hundred games with a payroll of greater than one hundred million?
In news that relatively few of you care about the Wet Bandits were once again victorious. For those that didn’t watch the Wet Bandits (49) beat PhiPsiUno (42), you didn’t miss any posterizing dunks by me but you did miss your chance to watch us clinch a playoff berth. We won another ugly game based on one of two things, lockdown defense or the other teams inability to shoot (one or the other, I’m leaning towards the latter). Last week I theorized that PhiPsiUno was either a frat team or a math club and unfortunately or fortunately, really depends on how you look at it, they turned out to be neither and I am still left wondering if there is a team out there with a name that makes sense. Yours truly racked up nine points on a dazzling display that featured a three pointer along with a couple drives to the hoop. It’s rather safe to say after this performance that I will never be confused with Ray Allen again after giving a poor effort at the free throw line (2 for 5). Regardless we won in a game that I’m almost sure featured us shooting more air balls than makes from the three-point line.
In news that by my count no one cares about, my brother’s city league team was able to pull off a shocking one-point victory in the first round of the playoffs. I say that this is shocking news because apparently they actually had a fan show up to the game. This only made the column due to a brother request and once the story gets out I’m sure the fans will think more highly of me for this charity. My brother for those that were wondering tallied by his counts three points, like twenty five rebounds, and a couple blocks. For those not up to date with his lingo this translates to; three points on a three pointer that he probably banked in without meaning to, a hugely inflated five rebounds, and “blocks” that consisted of the other team losing the ball out of bounds.
The Week moving forward
NBA- All-Star weekend is this upcoming weekend and the big question is why is Blake Griffin in the dunk contest. A really shocking inclusion into the dunk contest based on the fact that he has no noteworthy dunks so far on the year. All-star weekend isn’t really that exciting and I don’t think I’ve watched the game in since Rasheed Wallace made it (Blazer pride) but the skills competition and dunk contest are always worth a look. I don’t think anyone expects Blake Griffin not to win the Dunk contest but I expect Demar Derozan (for the many that have never heard this name he plays for the Raptors) to throw down some crazy dunks as well. Also this week in the NBA the trade chatter will begin to reach deafening levels as the trade deadline draws closer and closer (2/24). What this really means is that there will be breaking news stating that major deals are in the works but somehow at the last second the deals fall through leaving everybody back at the beginning once again.
NFL- The owners and players will still disagree on just about everything that can be debated in their quest for a new CBA. Exciting times for sure.
MLB- Albert Pujols deadline on a contract extension expires this week and if the Cardinals fail to sign him to an extension he will test the free agent market next year. It is believed that Pujols is trying to get a contract that would pay him somewhere in the ballpark of thirty million annually. Pujols is the best hitter in the game right now but is anyone in the MLB really worth thirty million annually? This is the Cardinals were talking about, not the Yankees, thirty million is so much to spend on one player that I’m not sure the Cardinals can do this. In baseball you need at least ten solid field players (eight starters and two backups) and eight solid pitchers (five starters, two relievers, closer) to have a balanced squad. Obviously to be a competitive team you need star players mixed in but pledging thirty million to one player is an awful lot especially when you need money to spend on at least seventeen other “solid” players. I ultimately think that the Cardinals will figure out a contract for Mr. Pujols but I think it’s going to be tough to find good pieces that will fit around him. I’m really hoping that he signs just so I can go without an MLB season clouded with talk of where Pujols will end up.
Wet Bandits (-8) over The Tropics- In our final regular season game of the year (don’t worry there is no senior day seeing as we have no seniors) we take on the one win and three loss Tropics. Once again there is no tape available on the Tropics so I’m forced to make another blind guess at the point spread. There has been talk of the starters resting, due to the fact that we are already playoff bound, but for those that haven’t bought your tickets yet I think you can expect at least one half in which the starters, including me, play the majority of the minutes. Autograph session this week has been moved to Thursday.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Recapping the Week 2/1-2/7
Disaster in Dallas- Packers 31 Steelers 25
Thankfully the game turned out to be better than the hosting environment in Dallas, although I’m quite sure that a 49-0 blowout by either of the teams would have been better than the hosting environment. When the words Super Bowl and falling ice injures six are mentioned in the same sentence do I really have to say more? Also I’m going to say that Dallas failed due to the numerous tweets from players and Bill Simmons ragging on Dallas for not having much of a nightlife. If this isn’t one of the better ideas for bringing the NFL to Los Angeles I don’t know what is. They have the weather, the nightlife, and enough celebs for the NFL, just build the stadium and help us all out. Seriously I don’t understand how this doesn’t happen I’m sure that there are good enough reasons including the fact that California already has three teams, (really not sure if the 49ers deserve to count as a team after this past years performance) but LA needs a team. And no USC doesn’t count as a profesional team anymore because it has Lane Kiffin, not Pete Carrol (have to take my shots at Kiffin anyway I can take them). Then once LA gets a team you would switch from Miami to LA every year, no place else really deserves the game in my eyes. The only other place that I could see hosting the game is Arizona but I mean what else is there to do in Arizona? People who argue for cold weather environments such as New York, stop wasting your time, its not going to happen.
Well after that rant on nothing related to the game I figure I can now move onto the game (took long enough right?). Another week, another missed pick I wish I could tell you when I’ll figure it out but I just don’t know. Really right now I’m just hoping I don’t get designated for assignment but will see. Picking the Steelers was something that I actually felt pretty confident about but Aaron Rodgers was just about perfect in leading the Lombardi trophy back to Wisconsin. My keys to a Steelers victory were getting Rashard Mendenhall going on the ground, getting pressure on Rodgers, and hitting Mike Wallace for a couple of big plays throughout the game. The Steelers did a pretty good job of getting some heat and hits on Rodgers (8 QB hits), but there were nothing that was going to faze him during the game. That is besides from his receivers getting a severe case of the dropsies at times. Getting in a 14-0 deficit pretty early in the game didn’t help but I think Rashard Mendenhall was grossly underused throughout this game. This was the same guy who gashed the Jets for 127 yards on 21 carries the previous week but against the Packers Mendenhall only got 14 rushes for 63 yards. The Steelers at times were too one dimensional which hurt their play action passing game deep to Mike Wallace and down the seams to Heath Miller. Mike Wallace had a great game but didn’t have that one “explosion” play of forty plus yards. The Steelers did take some shots with Wallace but just couldn’t connect. The Packers were able to pull this game out due to big plays by their opportunistic defense, unfortunately for fans this didn’t mean that B.J. Raji got in the end zone. I’m not too sure how many others thought Big Ben was going to lead the Steelers down the field on the last drive, but I was pretty convinced that he was going to lead them downfield for the final score. Unfortunately he decided he didn’t need any more rings and decided to turn the ball over on downs. To all Steelers fans; that was not Pass Interference on the last play get over it.
To be honest I’m not quite sure how the Packers won the title because most of the time the teams that stay healthiest are the ones contending for titles, not the ones decimated by injury. Maybe the Packers were just deciding to make it harder on themselves? By the end of the season the Packers had offensive stars Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley (guaranteed top 3 fantasy tight end next season) on the IR along with fourteen others. They also lost difference makers Charles Woodson and Donald Driver during the game, crazy stuff I’m not to sure if they have worse luck than the Blazers though. I’m still waiting for the drama to pop up this week about the injured reserve guys not being allowed in the post super bowl picture. And yes I deliberately chose not to mention Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas for a reason, they were that bad.
Super Bowl Commercials
Almost made my week when a friend told me that there were actually prop bets on Bodog.com about the best add of the Super Bowl but then I realized that people actually lost money on this stuff. Seriously who bets on this stuff? Other crazy bets that I heard were, the length of the national anthem, what Fergie would wear during halftime, and what color Gatorade the winning coach would be drenched with. I can almost imagine these conversations following the game, “Sorry honey, I lost everything betting that McCarthy was going to be drenched with blue Gatorade, not orange.” Still waiting for Hardball 2 to come out and what better way to show his betting problem than losing all of his money on a situation like this? Back to the commercials I have Doritos as the clear winner just through the amount of good commercials they had. I had Cheetos (nonexistent, bad sleeper pick) as my chip to watch but I obviously should have been riding the Doritos bandwagon. Also major props to Chrysler for their “imported from Detroit” commercial with Eminem.
NBA- The Cavaliers continued their march to what hopefully culminates with them losing their last fifty-five games (we can hope right?). The streak continued to 24 straight losses this past week with my Blazers squeaking by on Saturday with a six point victory. If the Blazers had lost I was ready to throw in the towel, unfortunately for my schoolwork they won and I will still waste two hours watching what they call basketball. I had the Cavaliers getting the victory this week but they decided they weren’t ready to get back in the W column yet. Anyone else in the NBA get screwed more over the off-season than Antawn Jamison? All I’m going to say is that if the Cavaliers don’t get a victory this week it could be get to something like thirty three straight losses. The Cav’s will lose Monday at Dallas and then face the fearsome trio of the Pistons, Clippers, and Wizards. All of these games are at home so you would think that they should be able to pull off at least one victory. I’m hoping it gets to the Wizards without them getting a win, because if they do it would bring on the classic matchup of one unstoppable force going up against another unstoppable force. These two forces would be the inability of the Wizards to win on the road (none on the year) and the flat inability of the Cavaliers to win a basketball game. The Raptors were able to snap their own streak at 13 games after knocking off Kevin Love and his D-League teammates. In news regarding the actual NBA, the Celtics continued to dominate the other elite teams by beating the Magic in Boston. This team is scary good but is so old that I always am left wondering if there going to be able to stay injury free. If I had to pick a winner coming out of the East right now I think you’d have to go with the Celtics but reasonable arguments could be made for the Heat, Bulls, or Magic. The Lakers continued with their inability to beat elite teams, (this is way overrated, there going to be there in the Western finals) this time losing to the Spurs on a last second tip-in. Could it actually be possible that Popovich rests his starters so much that they are rusty come playoff time? Hope the sarcasm carried through but really, I felt like I was watching the second unit for most of the game. The NBA all-star reserves were announced and I don’t really have too much of an issue with the selections but still here is my list of whom I would have taken.
Who should make the All-Star Team
(Starters in bold)
East
Point Guards- Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Raymond Felton
The first two are no brainers as they have both become elite point guards even though they do it in completely separate ways. Felton gets included because he had been great before he decided that the NBA season ends approximately sometime near the end of December. Regardless he is still having a great year (17 points and 9 assists per game) and deserves to make the game.
Shooting Guards- Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson
Wade is still putting up the stats in Miami and in my opinion has passed Kobe as the best two guard in the league. Side note this could have happened a year or two ago but I’m just now coming to this conclusion. Didn’t really want to include Johnson but it wouldn’t be the all-star game unless you have the highest paid player plus this theoretical East squad needed another guard.
Small Forward- Lebron James, Paul Pierce
If you didn’t notice I kind of lean towards players with winning records. This will be my one exception, as neither of these teams will make the playoffs. Side note kind of sad/embarrassing had to look up to make sure I got the right name for the three spot I always want to call it strong forward for some reason. This is when you can doubt my sports knowledge. I must look like a complete idiot for this because what’s the difference between a strong forward and a power forward?
Power Forward- Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh
All three of these guys mean so much to their team even though only one leads their team in scoring. Before Bosh and Garnett got hurt both of their teams could make legitimate cases for their teams being the best in the league. As far as Amare goes Knick fans are still furious that they ended up with him. Best moment of the year would have been if Amare’s three versus the Celtics would have counted, Paul Pierce would have never heard the end of that.
Center- Dwight Howard, Al Horford
Easiest position to pick by far both of these teams would be absolutely lost without these two.
Biggest Snub- Joakim Noah/Carlos Boozer
Both these guys have put up the stats but unfortunately both have endured long stints being injured. Boozer has put up a 20/10 line since he’s been back while Noah was averaging 14/12 while anchoring a stout Chicago defense before injuring his right thumb.
West
Point Guards- Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams
You can’t go wrong with any of these three. Thankfully my Blazers decided to pick Martell Webster over either Paul or Williams.
Shooting Guards- Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili
Easy choices once again as the choices for the West two guard behind these two the choices are really not at all exciting.
Small Forward- Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony
Really debated into leaving Melo out of this but that would be solely because I hate this ongoing trade debacle. Plus Melo had to make the team to ruin my goal of not having him mentioned in this article. In other news I have just joined the Durantula nickname bandwagon. Unfortunately I still think a Black Mamba will beat up a Durantula so I’m still open to new nicknames for Durant.
Power Forward- Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love
Dirk was unreal before he got hurt and Blake is dominating in his rookie season and has at least three dunks a week that you would normally only see once a month. Pains me to leave Aldridge off but I’ve got to put Love on the list, you just don’t see someone averaging 21 points and 15 boards while shooting the three ball at a 43 percent clip. I’m not quite sure that he will fit at all in the all-star game style but he definitely deserves to be there.
Center- Yao Ming (Just kidding), Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan
You’re both centers get over it. This whole system is screwed up by the west center position because the fans have to vote one in a starting center and I’m not to sure if there is anyone in the west who deserves to make it (thankfully Yao Ming’s injury actually helps us out). Also does China realize Yao Ming stopped playing a couple months ago?
Biggest Snub- LaMarcus Aldridge
He probably deserves to make it for carrying the Blazers to just outside of the eight slot but the reality is that compared to the Nowitzki, Griffin, and Love he doesn’t have that strong of a case. He’s one of three players (including Kevin Martin and Steve Nash) that I would argue should make it as reserves on the Eastern Conference. Former Blazer Zach Randolph is also having a monster year (20 and 13) but he plays in Memphis, automatically making him ineligible for the all-star game.
NHL- The NHL makes a rare appearance on this blog due to two fighting instances seen on SportsCenter. No one actually watches hockey on TV right? Hockey moment number one of the week was watching the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars get into three fights in four seconds. This is actually pretty funny to watch and can easily be found on YouTube, but my main question is why do these teams hate each other so much? Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but Dallas and Boston aren’t exactly rivals correct? The thing that amazes me is how do you start a fight just seconds into the game? Either everyone that went out there at the very beginning had the shortest tempers possible or both teams decided pregame that they were going to try and set a Guinness World Record. The other noteworthy hockey moment of the week occurred when Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Brent Johnson dropped Islander goalie Rick DiPietro with one punch in apparently the first goalie fight since 2007. The left hook thrown by Johnson shows why the NHL is struggling with viewers, lack of goalie fights. Unfortunately for DiPietro he will have to miss the next four to six weeks to attend to injuries suffered during the fight.
NCAA Basketball- Apparently there is a division one basketball team in Eugene. Still no word on if a half court line has been found in Matt Knight arena.
NCAA Football- Signing day was this past Wednesday and from what the experts say there will be at least 250 future Heisman contenders. For those wondering I still remain committed to the Wet Bandits. Great recruiting classes always help and I don’t think a team has won a championship with a four year average of over 25th best recruiting class in the country but you still have to develop your players. Prime example is UCLA 10th best in 2010, 17th in 2009, and 14th in 2008 (rankings by ESPN). UCLA, for those that didn’t know division one football existed on the west coast, hasn’t been a very good team for at least five years even with continued recruiting success. Recruiting is usually looked at through looking at a prospects star level. Therefore the more stars a certain team has the higher ranking and greater future indicator of success. Most teams with a perennial top five recruiting class are the national title contenders (Alabama, Oklahoma, among others) but the fall of Texas and Florida this past year show that recruiting is more about “fits” than stars. John Brantley obviously didn’t fit Florida’s offense and because of this the Gator offense was for the most part horrendous this past year. Coaches also have to take into account a players character, ability to be coached, and upside when giving out scholarships. One thing that recruiting sites seem to do is give the team with the best skill players the highest grades but the key to all football is controlling the line of scrimmage (Nick Fairley) on both sides of the ball (underrated Auburn offensive line). You can have all the skill players in the world on the offensive side of the ball (UCLA) but have no way to get them the ball due to suspect offensive line play. UCLA might not be the best example because they also are missing a quarterback but my point remains a team that recruits well along the lines will always be a competitive team. The skill positions (anything other than the offensive and defensive lines) besides quarterbacks in my opinion are easier to find fits for than the lines. Examples of this are everywhere, Michael Crabtree (two star defensive back coming out of high school), Jeff Maehl (unranked defensive back coming out of high school), and James Rodgers (unranked wide receiver). The skill positions are based much more on upsideso there are more unheralded players that succeed in these areas. Of course I have to give a shout out to my Ducks who landed a consensus top 15 class that has Eugene buzzing especially with the signing day switch of DeAnthony “Black Mamba” Thomas from USC to Oregon. The Ducks class is strong along the offensive line, receivers, and athlete groups while struggling to sign a complete defensive line class (recurring theme every year for Oregon). The last time Oregon signed a class with this much hype was in 2007 and four years later this led to a national title berth. With this latest class I think its safe to say that expectations in Eugene under Chip Kelly have now moved to BCS or bust territory (that happened fast).
Wet Bandits 61 Pretty Boy Swag 47- One of the stranger games that I’ve ever played in due to the fact that we played the majority of the game against a team that only was playing with three players. They actually started the game with four players (not sure if they realized you usually play with five) but then one of their players suffered a sprained ankle a couple of minutes in and had to sit out the rest of the game. I know what your thinking, that I sprained another guys ankle with my crossover but I don’t think I was playing when the injury happened. We were actually losing four versus five by eight when their player got hurt so I’m not to sure if we actually would have won this game without the injury. For those wondering how this happens, playing five on three isn’t fun at all (its not basketball). Yours truly only had three points on one shot (efficiency off the chart!!) before sitting out the last twenty five minutes of the game due to the circumstances of five on three. And yes I will be signing autographs on Wednesday.
Week Moving Forward-
NFL- The talks of a lockout will now consume SportsCenter and to be honest I don’t really care that much as of now. I say that I don’t care now but really if there’s a lockout next year I will be heated due to no fantasy football. For those wondering I suffered a brutal six place finish in our ten-dollar league this past year. I’ve already guaranteed a championship next year so there has to be football. Really hoping that there isn’t an eighteen game schedule and I’m not really going to have too much of a problem if the players sit because of this. The good news out of this is that Melo trade drama will take a back seat for the time being but I’m sure I will be sick of the lockout drama by next weekend.
NBA- Melo won’t be traded (shocker). Ron Artest decided he didn’t like LA anymore and requested a trade. Seriously Ron? I actually now am convinced that Artest is crazy, this last trade demand pushed him over the edge. The Blazers will continue their push to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs (need to start rebuilding). I’m kind of feeling like there will be at least one significant injury this week in terms of playoff teams. This is where I should say I hope its Nowitzki or Duncan so Aldridge can get in the All-Star game but I’m not to sure he would even get in if either of those two got hurt (Nash).
Wet Bandits (-5) over PhiPsiUno- I was finally able to locate the intramurals league page for the purpose of this article so I no longer have to refer to teams as unnamed. I’m not to sure if this is a fraternity (don’t think so) or a math club (that’s what I’m hoping) so I ended up going in between even matchup if it’s a fraternity, and the ten point favorite if it’s a math club. Really all I’m hoping for is the other team to have at least five players so we can actually play a legitimate game of basketball. I’m hearing the game might be on ESPN2 but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Thankfully the game turned out to be better than the hosting environment in Dallas, although I’m quite sure that a 49-0 blowout by either of the teams would have been better than the hosting environment. When the words Super Bowl and falling ice injures six are mentioned in the same sentence do I really have to say more? Also I’m going to say that Dallas failed due to the numerous tweets from players and Bill Simmons ragging on Dallas for not having much of a nightlife. If this isn’t one of the better ideas for bringing the NFL to Los Angeles I don’t know what is. They have the weather, the nightlife, and enough celebs for the NFL, just build the stadium and help us all out. Seriously I don’t understand how this doesn’t happen I’m sure that there are good enough reasons including the fact that California already has three teams, (really not sure if the 49ers deserve to count as a team after this past years performance) but LA needs a team. And no USC doesn’t count as a profesional team anymore because it has Lane Kiffin, not Pete Carrol (have to take my shots at Kiffin anyway I can take them). Then once LA gets a team you would switch from Miami to LA every year, no place else really deserves the game in my eyes. The only other place that I could see hosting the game is Arizona but I mean what else is there to do in Arizona? People who argue for cold weather environments such as New York, stop wasting your time, its not going to happen.
Well after that rant on nothing related to the game I figure I can now move onto the game (took long enough right?). Another week, another missed pick I wish I could tell you when I’ll figure it out but I just don’t know. Really right now I’m just hoping I don’t get designated for assignment but will see. Picking the Steelers was something that I actually felt pretty confident about but Aaron Rodgers was just about perfect in leading the Lombardi trophy back to Wisconsin. My keys to a Steelers victory were getting Rashard Mendenhall going on the ground, getting pressure on Rodgers, and hitting Mike Wallace for a couple of big plays throughout the game. The Steelers did a pretty good job of getting some heat and hits on Rodgers (8 QB hits), but there were nothing that was going to faze him during the game. That is besides from his receivers getting a severe case of the dropsies at times. Getting in a 14-0 deficit pretty early in the game didn’t help but I think Rashard Mendenhall was grossly underused throughout this game. This was the same guy who gashed the Jets for 127 yards on 21 carries the previous week but against the Packers Mendenhall only got 14 rushes for 63 yards. The Steelers at times were too one dimensional which hurt their play action passing game deep to Mike Wallace and down the seams to Heath Miller. Mike Wallace had a great game but didn’t have that one “explosion” play of forty plus yards. The Steelers did take some shots with Wallace but just couldn’t connect. The Packers were able to pull this game out due to big plays by their opportunistic defense, unfortunately for fans this didn’t mean that B.J. Raji got in the end zone. I’m not too sure how many others thought Big Ben was going to lead the Steelers down the field on the last drive, but I was pretty convinced that he was going to lead them downfield for the final score. Unfortunately he decided he didn’t need any more rings and decided to turn the ball over on downs. To all Steelers fans; that was not Pass Interference on the last play get over it.
To be honest I’m not quite sure how the Packers won the title because most of the time the teams that stay healthiest are the ones contending for titles, not the ones decimated by injury. Maybe the Packers were just deciding to make it harder on themselves? By the end of the season the Packers had offensive stars Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley (guaranteed top 3 fantasy tight end next season) on the IR along with fourteen others. They also lost difference makers Charles Woodson and Donald Driver during the game, crazy stuff I’m not to sure if they have worse luck than the Blazers though. I’m still waiting for the drama to pop up this week about the injured reserve guys not being allowed in the post super bowl picture. And yes I deliberately chose not to mention Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas for a reason, they were that bad.
Super Bowl Commercials
Almost made my week when a friend told me that there were actually prop bets on Bodog.com about the best add of the Super Bowl but then I realized that people actually lost money on this stuff. Seriously who bets on this stuff? Other crazy bets that I heard were, the length of the national anthem, what Fergie would wear during halftime, and what color Gatorade the winning coach would be drenched with. I can almost imagine these conversations following the game, “Sorry honey, I lost everything betting that McCarthy was going to be drenched with blue Gatorade, not orange.” Still waiting for Hardball 2 to come out and what better way to show his betting problem than losing all of his money on a situation like this? Back to the commercials I have Doritos as the clear winner just through the amount of good commercials they had. I had Cheetos (nonexistent, bad sleeper pick) as my chip to watch but I obviously should have been riding the Doritos bandwagon. Also major props to Chrysler for their “imported from Detroit” commercial with Eminem.
NBA- The Cavaliers continued their march to what hopefully culminates with them losing their last fifty-five games (we can hope right?). The streak continued to 24 straight losses this past week with my Blazers squeaking by on Saturday with a six point victory. If the Blazers had lost I was ready to throw in the towel, unfortunately for my schoolwork they won and I will still waste two hours watching what they call basketball. I had the Cavaliers getting the victory this week but they decided they weren’t ready to get back in the W column yet. Anyone else in the NBA get screwed more over the off-season than Antawn Jamison? All I’m going to say is that if the Cavaliers don’t get a victory this week it could be get to something like thirty three straight losses. The Cav’s will lose Monday at Dallas and then face the fearsome trio of the Pistons, Clippers, and Wizards. All of these games are at home so you would think that they should be able to pull off at least one victory. I’m hoping it gets to the Wizards without them getting a win, because if they do it would bring on the classic matchup of one unstoppable force going up against another unstoppable force. These two forces would be the inability of the Wizards to win on the road (none on the year) and the flat inability of the Cavaliers to win a basketball game. The Raptors were able to snap their own streak at 13 games after knocking off Kevin Love and his D-League teammates. In news regarding the actual NBA, the Celtics continued to dominate the other elite teams by beating the Magic in Boston. This team is scary good but is so old that I always am left wondering if there going to be able to stay injury free. If I had to pick a winner coming out of the East right now I think you’d have to go with the Celtics but reasonable arguments could be made for the Heat, Bulls, or Magic. The Lakers continued with their inability to beat elite teams, (this is way overrated, there going to be there in the Western finals) this time losing to the Spurs on a last second tip-in. Could it actually be possible that Popovich rests his starters so much that they are rusty come playoff time? Hope the sarcasm carried through but really, I felt like I was watching the second unit for most of the game. The NBA all-star reserves were announced and I don’t really have too much of an issue with the selections but still here is my list of whom I would have taken.
Who should make the All-Star Team
(Starters in bold)
East
Point Guards- Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Raymond Felton
The first two are no brainers as they have both become elite point guards even though they do it in completely separate ways. Felton gets included because he had been great before he decided that the NBA season ends approximately sometime near the end of December. Regardless he is still having a great year (17 points and 9 assists per game) and deserves to make the game.
Shooting Guards- Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson
Wade is still putting up the stats in Miami and in my opinion has passed Kobe as the best two guard in the league. Side note this could have happened a year or two ago but I’m just now coming to this conclusion. Didn’t really want to include Johnson but it wouldn’t be the all-star game unless you have the highest paid player plus this theoretical East squad needed another guard.
Small Forward- Lebron James, Paul Pierce
If you didn’t notice I kind of lean towards players with winning records. This will be my one exception, as neither of these teams will make the playoffs. Side note kind of sad/embarrassing had to look up to make sure I got the right name for the three spot I always want to call it strong forward for some reason. This is when you can doubt my sports knowledge. I must look like a complete idiot for this because what’s the difference between a strong forward and a power forward?
Power Forward- Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh
All three of these guys mean so much to their team even though only one leads their team in scoring. Before Bosh and Garnett got hurt both of their teams could make legitimate cases for their teams being the best in the league. As far as Amare goes Knick fans are still furious that they ended up with him. Best moment of the year would have been if Amare’s three versus the Celtics would have counted, Paul Pierce would have never heard the end of that.
Center- Dwight Howard, Al Horford
Easiest position to pick by far both of these teams would be absolutely lost without these two.
Biggest Snub- Joakim Noah/Carlos Boozer
Both these guys have put up the stats but unfortunately both have endured long stints being injured. Boozer has put up a 20/10 line since he’s been back while Noah was averaging 14/12 while anchoring a stout Chicago defense before injuring his right thumb.
West
Point Guards- Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams
You can’t go wrong with any of these three. Thankfully my Blazers decided to pick Martell Webster over either Paul or Williams.
Shooting Guards- Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili
Easy choices once again as the choices for the West two guard behind these two the choices are really not at all exciting.
Small Forward- Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony
Really debated into leaving Melo out of this but that would be solely because I hate this ongoing trade debacle. Plus Melo had to make the team to ruin my goal of not having him mentioned in this article. In other news I have just joined the Durantula nickname bandwagon. Unfortunately I still think a Black Mamba will beat up a Durantula so I’m still open to new nicknames for Durant.
Power Forward- Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love
Dirk was unreal before he got hurt and Blake is dominating in his rookie season and has at least three dunks a week that you would normally only see once a month. Pains me to leave Aldridge off but I’ve got to put Love on the list, you just don’t see someone averaging 21 points and 15 boards while shooting the three ball at a 43 percent clip. I’m not quite sure that he will fit at all in the all-star game style but he definitely deserves to be there.
Center- Yao Ming (Just kidding), Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan
You’re both centers get over it. This whole system is screwed up by the west center position because the fans have to vote one in a starting center and I’m not to sure if there is anyone in the west who deserves to make it (thankfully Yao Ming’s injury actually helps us out). Also does China realize Yao Ming stopped playing a couple months ago?
Biggest Snub- LaMarcus Aldridge
He probably deserves to make it for carrying the Blazers to just outside of the eight slot but the reality is that compared to the Nowitzki, Griffin, and Love he doesn’t have that strong of a case. He’s one of three players (including Kevin Martin and Steve Nash) that I would argue should make it as reserves on the Eastern Conference. Former Blazer Zach Randolph is also having a monster year (20 and 13) but he plays in Memphis, automatically making him ineligible for the all-star game.
NHL- The NHL makes a rare appearance on this blog due to two fighting instances seen on SportsCenter. No one actually watches hockey on TV right? Hockey moment number one of the week was watching the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars get into three fights in four seconds. This is actually pretty funny to watch and can easily be found on YouTube, but my main question is why do these teams hate each other so much? Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but Dallas and Boston aren’t exactly rivals correct? The thing that amazes me is how do you start a fight just seconds into the game? Either everyone that went out there at the very beginning had the shortest tempers possible or both teams decided pregame that they were going to try and set a Guinness World Record. The other noteworthy hockey moment of the week occurred when Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Brent Johnson dropped Islander goalie Rick DiPietro with one punch in apparently the first goalie fight since 2007. The left hook thrown by Johnson shows why the NHL is struggling with viewers, lack of goalie fights. Unfortunately for DiPietro he will have to miss the next four to six weeks to attend to injuries suffered during the fight.
NCAA Basketball- Apparently there is a division one basketball team in Eugene. Still no word on if a half court line has been found in Matt Knight arena.
NCAA Football- Signing day was this past Wednesday and from what the experts say there will be at least 250 future Heisman contenders. For those wondering I still remain committed to the Wet Bandits. Great recruiting classes always help and I don’t think a team has won a championship with a four year average of over 25th best recruiting class in the country but you still have to develop your players. Prime example is UCLA 10th best in 2010, 17th in 2009, and 14th in 2008 (rankings by ESPN). UCLA, for those that didn’t know division one football existed on the west coast, hasn’t been a very good team for at least five years even with continued recruiting success. Recruiting is usually looked at through looking at a prospects star level. Therefore the more stars a certain team has the higher ranking and greater future indicator of success. Most teams with a perennial top five recruiting class are the national title contenders (Alabama, Oklahoma, among others) but the fall of Texas and Florida this past year show that recruiting is more about “fits” than stars. John Brantley obviously didn’t fit Florida’s offense and because of this the Gator offense was for the most part horrendous this past year. Coaches also have to take into account a players character, ability to be coached, and upside when giving out scholarships. One thing that recruiting sites seem to do is give the team with the best skill players the highest grades but the key to all football is controlling the line of scrimmage (Nick Fairley) on both sides of the ball (underrated Auburn offensive line). You can have all the skill players in the world on the offensive side of the ball (UCLA) but have no way to get them the ball due to suspect offensive line play. UCLA might not be the best example because they also are missing a quarterback but my point remains a team that recruits well along the lines will always be a competitive team. The skill positions (anything other than the offensive and defensive lines) besides quarterbacks in my opinion are easier to find fits for than the lines. Examples of this are everywhere, Michael Crabtree (two star defensive back coming out of high school), Jeff Maehl (unranked defensive back coming out of high school), and James Rodgers (unranked wide receiver). The skill positions are based much more on upsideso there are more unheralded players that succeed in these areas. Of course I have to give a shout out to my Ducks who landed a consensus top 15 class that has Eugene buzzing especially with the signing day switch of DeAnthony “Black Mamba” Thomas from USC to Oregon. The Ducks class is strong along the offensive line, receivers, and athlete groups while struggling to sign a complete defensive line class (recurring theme every year for Oregon). The last time Oregon signed a class with this much hype was in 2007 and four years later this led to a national title berth. With this latest class I think its safe to say that expectations in Eugene under Chip Kelly have now moved to BCS or bust territory (that happened fast).
Wet Bandits 61 Pretty Boy Swag 47- One of the stranger games that I’ve ever played in due to the fact that we played the majority of the game against a team that only was playing with three players. They actually started the game with four players (not sure if they realized you usually play with five) but then one of their players suffered a sprained ankle a couple of minutes in and had to sit out the rest of the game. I know what your thinking, that I sprained another guys ankle with my crossover but I don’t think I was playing when the injury happened. We were actually losing four versus five by eight when their player got hurt so I’m not to sure if we actually would have won this game without the injury. For those wondering how this happens, playing five on three isn’t fun at all (its not basketball). Yours truly only had three points on one shot (efficiency off the chart!!) before sitting out the last twenty five minutes of the game due to the circumstances of five on three. And yes I will be signing autographs on Wednesday.
Week Moving Forward-
NFL- The talks of a lockout will now consume SportsCenter and to be honest I don’t really care that much as of now. I say that I don’t care now but really if there’s a lockout next year I will be heated due to no fantasy football. For those wondering I suffered a brutal six place finish in our ten-dollar league this past year. I’ve already guaranteed a championship next year so there has to be football. Really hoping that there isn’t an eighteen game schedule and I’m not really going to have too much of a problem if the players sit because of this. The good news out of this is that Melo trade drama will take a back seat for the time being but I’m sure I will be sick of the lockout drama by next weekend.
NBA- Melo won’t be traded (shocker). Ron Artest decided he didn’t like LA anymore and requested a trade. Seriously Ron? I actually now am convinced that Artest is crazy, this last trade demand pushed him over the edge. The Blazers will continue their push to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs (need to start rebuilding). I’m kind of feeling like there will be at least one significant injury this week in terms of playoff teams. This is where I should say I hope its Nowitzki or Duncan so Aldridge can get in the All-Star game but I’m not to sure he would even get in if either of those two got hurt (Nash).
Wet Bandits (-5) over PhiPsiUno- I was finally able to locate the intramurals league page for the purpose of this article so I no longer have to refer to teams as unnamed. I’m not to sure if this is a fraternity (don’t think so) or a math club (that’s what I’m hoping) so I ended up going in between even matchup if it’s a fraternity, and the ten point favorite if it’s a math club. Really all I’m hoping for is the other team to have at least five players so we can actually play a legitimate game of basketball. I’m hearing the game might be on ESPN2 but nothing has been confirmed yet.
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