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I'm Back...

Hi there---

This site has sat dormant for a little while. I'm sorry.

But I have been doing some different projects and haven't really felt the pull of writing about things outside of business or what I absolutely need to write...until now.

Over the next weeks and months, I have a few projects that I will start rolling out...

I'm going to do some longer pieces about stuff I like. Maybe review an album or two. Or, go back and review albums that have a few years under their belt....just like us. 

So I am going to try and repopulate the blog here with some stuff to make it interesting. 

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The 5 NBA Free Agent Signings or Trades Most Likely To Get You Fired This Year

This post is dedicated to all of the GMs around the league and especially those guys that are in the Isiah Thomas league of having a gut feeling about a guy and lavishing huge contracts and/or making huge trades to obtain them...(I'm looking at Jerome James, Stephon Marbury, and Eddie Curry right now)

But these are for the 5 moves that are going to definitely put you on the unemployment line sooner rather than later this off season.

Now, in order from safest to most volatile, here you go:

5. Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce: I get it, the Nets have money to spend and don't give a damn. The only thing is that this team is going to fall apart at some point because of age and then they are going to be Deron Williams and a bunch of minimum salary cadets. Because the Nets for the near future aren't even going to have some scrub 1st rounders to plug into the roster. 

What makes this trade even worse is that the Celtics probably would have dumped Pierce in a few weeks anyway and you could have got him for nothing.  

So it goes.  

4. Al Jefferson: If I could put a probability on this one, I would say its the least likely one to bring about a firing directly because of it being a bad signing because who among us really thinks MJ has the long term interest in being an NBA owner?  So when MJ sells out, his GM is going to be out the door with him.  

But here's the thing with Jefferson, he is getting paid star money but isn't a star.  

Sure, he showed improvement in Utah, but you are still paying him $14M and he isn't a star.  

Look...I know this is the biggest star signing of MJ's time in Charlotte, but c'mon this and the return of the old purple and teal Hornet's uniforms isn't going to be enough to rescue this team.  

3. OJ Mayo: I'm with that chorus of opinion spewers that doesn't think the OJ Mayo signing by the Bucks is a bad signing, but I am also in the camp that thinks that this signing also doesn't make a lot of sense.  

What are the Bucks doing?  

If you look at their moves this offseason, all you see is a team treading water.  And that is the worst place to be in the NBA.  No man's land.  Either suck or be good.  Don't just sit in the middle.  

2. Andrew Bynum: Some NBA GM is going to bite on the big contract demands of Bynum.  I know it.  Just like I know that the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west.  Some GM is going to sign Bynum to a head scratching contract.  

When that GM does make the signing, I will email him right away and thank him because it is going to be fun watching whatever town's media eviscerate the GM and Bynum for the next several seasons.  

Here is what you are going to get...a fat, unmotivated, pampered center. Someone that didn't really respond to the motivational tactics of one of the best players and coaches in NBA history. 

You are going to get a guy that didn't feel it was worth suiting up or trying to get on the court once during his contract season.  But someone that put his money making knee in danger by bowling.  BOWLING! 

So good luck NBA GM that signs Bynum...good luck! 

1. Dwight Howard: If you thought I was going to let DHoward off the hook here, you haven't been paying attention.  

I've been reading the NBA columns that are talking about all the reasons Howard needed to go to Houston and why it is such a better fit and all of that stuff.  

Here is the deal, I don't buy a word of it...except the gist of the comments from the Big Aristotle.  And that is that Howard is too soft to play in LA.  

I get the feeling that the media is setting Howard up to tear him apart in Houston, but I want to go on the record as the first.  The Rockets are going got be a disaster.  

Here are a few of the things I am going to predict will happen in Houston next year:

* Howard is going to get into a spat with Harden because he will feel like Harden is taking up too much of the spotlight.  

* Howard will try and stab McHale in the back because he doesn't feel like he is getting the unconditional love that he needs. 

* Harden will get tired of Howard's whining and take Kobe like shots at him.

* Jeremy Lin will be untradeable and will bring down the vision of the Rockets as a legit contender in the West.  

I'm sure that at least one of these things is going to come to be true.  I've given you 5, but what do you think?  I am on?  Off? What...

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I Haven't Discussed the NBA in a Long Time...

I haven't written about the NBA in a long time and the reason is pretty simple, David Stern is a dirt bag and I loved the Seattle Supersonics.  Put them in what ever order you'd like.  

Since the day the Sonics left Seattle, I haven't really had any use for the NBA.  I'm not going to even lie.  I'm not even sure if I have been to an NBA game in that period of time, despite the fact that I was the top ticket broker around.  

And so it goes. 

What happened this year is that my lady and my son decided that they liked the NBA.  Kathryn spent a lot of time traveling back and forth to Miami.  Her office in Miami is about 4 blocks down from the American Airlines Arena.  My son likes Chris Bosh.  (I can't explain it.)  

I grew up in South Florida.  I remember people making fun of me when the Heat started their first season 0-17 or some ridiculous thing.  

I also remember sitting in the kids' room that lived behind me in Ft Lauderdale, giving each other huge high 5's because the Heat drafted baby Jordan, Harold Miner, one year.  

I also remember having to buy all 3 South Florida papers on the day that Pat Riley was named President and Coach of the Heat and on the day after.  

Or, how about this one...I remember sneaking into FAU on the first day Pat Riley coached the Heat.  My buddy and I posing as student reporters for the FAU newspaper, even though we went to BCC down I-95.  

I remember going to my first Sonics game when the Sonics were playing the Jazz in the 2000 playoffs.  Gary Payton vs. John Stockton.  

I remember being 25 and having a full season of tickets and missing one game all season long.  

This only goes to tell you how much of an NBA fan I was.  

Then, it all fell away.  

So this year the Heat made a second run.  I think the ice in my heart began to melt last year during the playoffs when the Heat were in the Finals for the second year in a row.  Obviously I didn't want the Heat to lose that one.  

But this year I was really into it.  Every time Kathryn went to Miami she would bring back a paper, shirt, or some other article of Heat paraphernalia.  

I found that Heat's playoff run becoming a must watch.  

And, so I am going to write about the NBA again...not in the way of a scorned lover.  Even though I can't pretend to be unbiased.  

But I will discuss the NBA.  I will write about the drama of the game.  But I still won't be completely a fan until the Sonics return.  

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2013 MLB Hall Of Fame Ballot

I'm not a member of the BWAA or anything like that, but I am a big baseball fan.  So I have been watching the columns on who writers are going to vote for and the reasons why or why not.  

Typically this might seem like a bit of an uninteresting affair, but this year it is huge deal because this is the first collection of stars that are associated with steroids.  And, because of that, a lot of questions have been raised about which players should make it or not because of their possible drug use.  

If I were casting my ballot, it would look like this and I will explain some of the whys below.  

1.  Jack Morris

2.  Fred McGriff

3.  Dale Murphy

4.  Barry Bonds

5.  Mike Piazza

6.  Roger Clemens

7.  Larry Walker

8.  Lee Smith

9.  Edgar Martinez

10.  Jeff Bagwell

Buster Olney says that if a player was in good standing with MLB, he will vote for them.  And, I agree...up to a point.  If you notice my ballot, I left off Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.  

The reason I left off Sosa and McGwire is because they were connected to steroids in such a way that I have to question whether or not they would be Hall worthy without the assistance they received from performance enhancing drugs.  

In McGwire's case it is tough to turn your back on 583 home runs and the epic home run record race he had with Sammy Sosa, but its also tough to imagine him hitting even 500 home runs without the assistance of steroids.  If he doesn't have the extra umphh from the juice, does he have a .300+ career average?  Does he hit as many doubles? 

With Sosa, you have many of the same questions.  While it is true that he played at Wrigley and it is reported that he failed a drug test in 2003.  If you begin to question the home runs, you begin to see a player that was not as good as Rafael Palmeiro and I don't think that Palmeiro is going to be a HOF-er.  

In the case of Bonds and Clemens, you can easily argue their HOF credentials before the point that they became suspected of drug use.  So they still made my ballot.  

I'd love to hear your views on it...?

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Top 25: Week 3 9/16/12

I'm not going to go on the full rant about teams not scheduling big time opponents out of conference.  And I know that Alabama has FAU and Western Kentucky on the schedule this year, wrapped around Michigan and Arkansas....which looked much more formidable than it turned out.  

1.  Alabama

2.  LSU

3.  Oregon

4.  South Carolina

5.  Florida State

6.  Oklahoma

7.  Georgia

8.  Ohio State

9.  West Virginia

10.  Clemson

11.  TCU

12.  Notre Dame

13.  Stanford

14.  USC

15.  Texas

16.  UCLA

17.  Kansas State

18.  Michigan State

19.  Florida

20.  Louisville

21.  Arizona

22.  Virginia Tech

23.  Michigan

24.  Mississippi State

25.  Rutgers

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Top 25: 9/9/2012

Sorry I missed the poll at the end of the first week, but with a late game on Labor Day, I just whiffed.  

As you have probably noticed from the first two weeks of football, the new year hasn't changed the top 2 teams much.  Alabama looks especially dominant and so does LSU.  I am unsure if the nation will go for a rematch in the BCS title game again, but it might be warranted.  

1.  Alabama:  (I think that Arkansas getting beat by LMU is going to be used a tremendous amount this week by Nick Saban.  I'd almost guarantee it.)

2.  LSU

3.  USC:  (I've seen some of both of their games, and I don't think they are ready for LSU or Alabama.)

4.  Oregon:  (Seeing the way that they whiff against big time SEC teams, it is tough for me to put them in the Top 5, but the competition is weak, so here they are.)

5.  South Carolina:  (I'm not going to give FSU and Oklahoma credit for impressive wins against teams that are happy just to show up.  Play someone and I might move you guys back into the Top 5.)

6.  Florida State

7.  Oklahoma

8.  Georgia:  (Georgia fans are delusional.  They struggled against Mizzou and start chanting...?  Try winning before you go crazy.)

9.  Michigan State

10.  Ohio State:  (They are really only getting this high of a ranking due to Urban Meyer.)

11.  West Virginia

12.  Virginia Tech

13.  Clemson

14.  TCU

15.  Texas

16.  UCLA

17.  Notre Dame

18.  Stanford

19.  Kansas State

20.  Florida

21.  Tennessee

22.  Louisville

23.  Arizona

24.  Michigan

25.  BYU

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Views From The Sports Desk: September 3rd, 2012

Happy Labor Day America!  While you are eating your hot dogs and drinking your beer, remember to thank the labor movement in this country for all these really socialist things that you enjoy like a 40 hour work week, paid sick leave, and child labor laws. 

On that note, how was your weekend of sports watching?  Mine, great!

Anyway, so much for Michigan being a legit contender, right? 

I was going back and forth with Lisa Horne from FOX on the Twitter and she gave me some good suggestions on coaches to watch out for at halftime.  You know, coaches that completely blow their tops for no apparent reason.  Like Nick Saban.  I'm going to compile a list in the near future for your pleasure.

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Do you think Nick Saban was giving the nation the finger a little bit in that game on Saturday?  Where does he find these guys?  Yeldon looks like the a bigger, better, faster Reggie Bush from my seat on the couch. 

And, as for the so called college football experts mocking the Alabama offensive line after one series, you should all have your credentials revoked.  Not because I am an Alabama man, but how can you even say anything about a Nick Saban coached team after one series. 

Which was about how long Michigan got to continue under the illusion that they might win on Saturday. 

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I'm kind of glad to have removed myself from the NYC metro area.  You may ask why and one of the reasons is that I can completely ignore the navel gazing beat writers of teams like the Yankees and Knicks. 

On that note, how awesome would it be to see the Yankees collapse? 

I'll save my thoughts on college football and the NFL for later....

Seelah!

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Preseason College Football Top 25

I was reading the papers yesterday and everyone was revving up their college football coverage.  And, with that I am going to present my annual Preseason Top 25. 

1.  Alabama:  (Let's get this out of the way, I'm an Alabama boy.  But, this pick has nothing to do with having gone to school in Tuscaloosa and more with the idea that since Alabama is the defending champions and they have a pretty strong track record, that they should be number 1 at the beginning of the season.)

2.  LSU:  (Ditto Alabama, minus the defending champion thing.)

3.  USC:  (I'm not completely sold that a team that has only 75 scholarship players can make it all the way through the season without depth becoming a factor, but the Pac 12 isn't the SEC, so we will see.)

4.  Oklahoma:  (I'm reluctant to rank them this high because, let's face it, they don't have a lot of competition in the Big 12.)

5.  Florida State:  (Last season people were very high on the Seminoles.  This year, I think they may live up to the hype.  Jimbo Fisher has a process in place and I think we will begin to see whether or not the process is truly working or not.)

6.  Oregon

7.  Georgia:  (I'm about to lump Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas into one comment.  For Georgia and South Carolina, I'm not ready to write them down as serious contenders.  I'm just not.  As for Arkansas, they have a ton of talent and if Bobby Petrino had listened to Tom Leykis about getting involved with women at the workplace, they probably would be a contender.) 

8.  South Carolina

9.  Arkansas

10.  Michigan

11.  West Virginia

12.  Wisconsin

13.  Michigan State

14.  Clemson

15.  Nebraska

16.  Virginia Tech

17.  Texas

18.  Ohio State

19.  Notre Dame

20.  TCU

21.  Boise State

22.  Auburn

23.  Stanford

24.  Oklahoma State

25.  Florida

*  As an aside, I typically think that preseason polls are pretty pointless.  I offer this one up as tradition, not because I have any clue as to how the season will play out. 

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News From The Sports Desk: 8/18/2012

We are 2 weeks away from my favorite day of the year, the kickoff of the Alabama Crimson Tide's season.  

I'm pretty sure that Michigan is in for a world of hurt.  But we will see.  

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I just finished Jack McCallum's book on the Dream Team and I really enjoyed it.  

While I didn't buy into all the stuff people were saying when the NBA Network produced a movie on the team earlier in the year, but the book shed a lot of light on the team and the players for me.  

I'd strongly encourage  you to buy it.  

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About 4 weeks ago I said that I thought the Nationals were about a year away from being ready for the World Series, but I have to reevaluate that.  They seem to be having one of those magical runs that teams that win championships go on.  

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I have to admit that I've seen a lot of the press in regards to the Olympics, but I didn't find this year's Olympics nearly as compelling as the 2008 Olympics.  

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Is there anything worse than preseason NFL football?  

Or, what about NBA preseason games?  

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News From The Sports Desk: 7/30/2012: MLB Trade Deadline Eve Edition

Here we are just ahead of the MLB waver deadline to make a trade.  I'm with my man Paul Lebowitz and I think a lot of the chatter you hear is totally BS, but some of it is actually, probably, relevant.  

Having said that, here is what I've seen on the day and week or so before the trade deadline.  

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First off, you see a lot of the big name guys talking about the Red Sox trading Josh Beckett.  Here's the thing, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to know that the Red Sox should be trying to trade Beckett and that they should have been trying to trade him every day since the end of last season.  

So I don't put a lot of credence into these reports, but I won't be at all surprised if the Red Sox do trade Beckett.  

Where I think you can test the merit of these rumors and what is going to go down is when the idea of what the compensation for getting Beckett will be.  

If I were the GM of the Red Sox, I'd be looking to dump the salary and the player.  If I could get someone to pay him for the rest of his contract, I'd take a wet mop and some ammonia.  

Much like the Marlins did with Hanley Ramirez, its better to be rid of a guy that is a killer to the clubhouse.  

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In 2008, I really loved the Olympics.  I thought the drama and everything about it was fascinating.  Plus, it was fun to see what inappropriate thing George W Bush would do on any given day.  

So far the 2012 Olympics haven't left the same taste in my mouth.  

Yesterday I had to search all over to find the USA Basketball game.  

I've found the tape delay policy a little absurd.  

I get that NBC knows what they are doing.  

Unfortunately the stories that the network is telling have no impact on me emotionally.  The only story that seems to be getting to me is the one that will get Michael Phelps' mom off of the stage.  

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While I am on the subject of NBC and the Olympics, I'm also completely over Matt Lauer and the entire Today show.  

I didn't like the handling of Ann Curry.  Savannah Guthrie is terrible.  And, the way that they package the news is just terribly vapid.  

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If you haven't been watching the Showtime show The Franchise, you are missing out.  If you haven't been watching, you have been watching a team coming apart at the seems.  And, now that they have basically blown up the season, its only going to become more fascinating.  

So you should get Showtime immediately and catch up before Wednesday's episode.  

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On that note, I am going to head back to MLB for just a moment and give you a quick rundown of what I think may or may not happen before the deadline.

*  Look for the Marlins to dump Zambrano and Lee.  I doubt that Josh Johnson is going anywhere and I really doubt that anyone will take Heath Bell.  

*  I'll be surprised if the Yankees make a trade for a 3rd baseman of any consequence.  The NY media gets their panties in a bunch any time they think that they Yankees should make a trade because they are the NY media.  But I don't think giving up a ton of players is worth it at this point for a third baseman.  

*  If the Phillies are smart, they will look to sell, sell, sell.  

*  I hope to see the Pirates make a big move.  

*  The big player I'd like to see moved is Felix Hernandez.  I think the Mariners are still so far away from being relevant that they need to fast track their rebuilding and I don't like the idea that they are going to sign him to a long term extension at the end of his current contract.  

*  One other big move I'd love to see is the Nationals make a move for another pitcher to help ease the shutting down of Stephen Strasburg.  Whether you believe that the Nats are making a wise decision or not is besides the point.  What you need to know is that the Nationals are in need of a big play to push forward at a really great opportunity to make the World Series.  

After the Grienke trade, one of the big targets is gone.  But, I am concerned that a lot of the good targets would not be able to come to the Nationals because I don't think Cliff Lee would get traded in the division.  

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Since it would be irresponsible of me not to post at some point tomorrow, look for some news from the sports desk during the day when its appropriate.  

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Penn State, the NCAA, and What All Of This Really Means...

I'm sure at this point you've heard more than your fair share of things on the whole Penn State/Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky thing.  And, my ego will fully allow that you probably don't need to hear my thoughts on the issue, but I am going to post a few things anyway. 

1.  Do I think that they penalties brought down on Paterno and Penn State were fair? 

I don't think the penalties can or should be looked at in terms of fair or unfair.  The only thing I really heard that made me think the NCAA was acting in a manner consistent with trying to bring some closure to the situation was when the President spoke of a system that had lost focus on academics and was all about football at all costs. 

Granted, that can be said about a lot of colleges.  But I think the penalties needed to be severe to rachet down the expectations of the alumni and fans that they would be able to quickly brush aside this incident and move on to the next chapter in the Penn State Football history books. 

As far as was the vacating of wins for all games from 1998-2011 a fair penalty? 

I think one of the pillars of the Joe Paterno mythology was that he had the most wins in college football history. And by taking out all the wins since he had a chance to intervene, the NCAA acted in a way that would allow them to take that one aspect away from him.  (Not that I think people would have been super concerned with that either way at this point.) 

2.  What to make of the JoePa apologists?

I think that if you ask 100 people the same question, you can pretty safely assume that a third of the people you ask are going to answer in a way that leaves you scratching your head. 

If you don't believe that, just listen to some of the discourse on talk radio sometime. 

In this case it is a little more perplexing because this is such a cut and dry case of right and wrong. 

From my perspective, and this goes back to the last bullet, every day that Joe Paterno didn't act was another case of him acting in the wrong way. 

Look at it like this:

For 12+ years, Joe Paterno got up everyday with a mission to do things the "right way" and he looked himself in the eye in the mirror and said to himself that he had done everything he could to lead the team and conduct himself in a way that was right and that benefited the school, community and mankind in a proper way. 

Each one of those days he committed a crime that can't be righted by taking away wins or fining a school or losing a legacy. 

To me, acting to stop Sandusky would have made him a larger man. 

3.  Where does Penn State go from here?

You hope that there is some more self reflection by the school as a collective unit.  You see interviews on the TV of students and alumni that are outraged about what has happened to them.  But I don't buy the innocent victim thing.  We are only as good as the institutions and leaders we pick.  In this way, everyone at Penn State is in some way guilty of taking part in a culture that built up Joe Paterno and the football team in such a way that these acts could occur and be covered up within the organization. 

Not only covered up, but also condoned as a more "humane" way of dealing with them. 

So I think the first thing I would like to see is that the school takes a few moments to really consider what kind of institution they become. 

From there, I know that athletics heals and that sports are a great way to build community.  But first the understanding has to come before anyone should care about what the football team's record is for the next 3 or 4 years or 10 years. 

And, just to be honest, I'd say the same thing if it were the University of Alabama....or, I might be even harsher. 

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Views From The Sports Desk: July 15th, 2012

If you ask me, I think the Nationals are still one year away from being a World Series contender.  But there run has been fantastic to watch.  And, I'd love to see them make a run at another starter to replace Strasburg when he gets shut down in a few weeks. 

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I am kind of embarrassed about how excited I am to seeThe Dark Knight Rises.  But as a kid, I used to love comic books, way before I ever heard the term fan boy.  I just remember being a kid growing up in rural Georgia in the 1980s and being super excited to have a chance to get a comic book once a month when I went to the dentist when I had to get my braces checked. 

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You should be watching Chris Powell's show on Sunday nights on ABC.  It is fantastic!  He's really inspirational. 

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What is the NHL thinking getting so close to another lockout or strike?  After so many people really got turned on to the NHL during the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

And, after reading some of the demands in the owners' first proposal, its a little difficult for me to imagine that there is a deal that will get done quickly. 

If I were Gary Bettman, I would be driving these negotiations daily.  Because I think if the NHL loses another season, you may see the death of the NHL as a major sports league because I don't think you can just poop on your fans twice in 7 years and not have them spend their money somewhere else. 

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If you are into endurance sports, the toughest race in the world is happening this week.  The Badwater Ultramarathon. 

You have to check it out. 

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Check out The Franchise if you haven't already. 

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Views From The Sports Desk: July 8th, 2012

Looking at the early action in the NBA free agency period, I am reminded that there used to be moments of sanity that made their way through the Garden when Donnie Walsh was in control. 

While you see plenty of New York writers talking about how great a story it is that Jason Kidd is going to bring his talents to MSG, you have to know that Donnie Walsh wouldn't have signed off on a 3 year contract for a guy that is almost 40. 

Since I am on the topic, is Jason Kidd at 39 good enough to put your salary cap on complete lock down for the next 3 years?  Especially considering how poorly the team is constructed right now? 

Aren't you going to need some flexibility to do some moves in there at some point? 

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I'm not a huge tennis fan.  I went to the US Open once and I used to watch Wimbledon as a kid when it was on NBC, but I know enough that I think that the officials at Wimbledon could probably do a better job of managing the way they handle the roof being open or closed. 

As I am writing this, the Men's Championship has just completed at 41 minute delay that included initially rolling out the tarp before pausing for about 15 minutes before they decided to close the roof. 

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You know what I like to watch during the Olympics?  The marathon.  But I am a runner. 

This year I am kind of curious to see how Carmelo Anthony fits in on the team.  I know that he has been on the team before, but I have never been exposed to the full Carmelo routine like I was in New York.  And, looking at the makeup of this Olympic team, I kind of see him as having a bigger role on the team.  So I am curious as to how he will adapt his game to fit in. 

Which the curious thing will be is if he molds his game to fit in with Team USA, will he take some of those lessons back to the Knicks? 

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Views From The Sports Desk: July 6th, 2012

Here we go again, silly season in politics, so we may as well turn our attention to the sports world. 

Its only been a few days since the NBA and NHL free agent periods opened for business and the 4th of July.  Nothing says America like overpaying for a 39 year old point guard to pair with your ball hogging, shoot first, shoot second, shoot third small forward, but they are celebrating at the Dolan household none the less. 

Here are some thoughts from the sports desk this morning:

*  Last offseason the NBA almost went nuclear option to try and control their spending.  So what happens as soon as free agency opens?  Landry Fields gets a $20M contract.  Jeremy Lin gets some kind of $32M contract from a team that he wasn't even good enough to make last preseason.  Jason Kidd gets a 3 year contract at about 65.  And the list goes on. 

*  I'm still no fan of David Stern.  I'll never be one.  Let's be honest.  But the smell of the fix surrounds the NBA Draft like no other league event. 

*  I'm looking forward to the Hard Knocks on the Miami Dolphins.  As a kid the Dolphins were my team.  Marino, Duper, Clayton, Shula, and lots of other guys that you may or may not remember. 

I'm not saying Ochocinco and Taneyhill are going to be the next Marino to Duper, but at least in the forum of this show, they should be compelling. 

*  I could give a rat's ass about the All Star Game, but I do think that RA Dickey has been the most dominant starter in the NL this year.  So he deserves the start. 

*  I'm not even going to get into these absurd NHL contracts that extend from now until the end of time to circumvent the salary cap.  Why bother with a salary cap or restraint if you can just easily wag your finger at it and mock it? 

Oh I have more to say, but I have been away from the Sports Desk so I don't want to overload you the first time back. 

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My Final Four Predictions....

Next year I am not going to look at any of the pundits, writers or thinkers and I am going to fill out my brackets blind.  Because listening to other people got me brackets with teams like Florida State and Missouri making it to the Final Four. 

Anyway,

I'm going to go Louisville over Kentucky. 

And Kansas over Ohio State. 

In the Championship Game, I am going to take Kansas over Louisville, but with a coach like Pitino, you never know. 

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Today Is Like A Drug For The Sports Fan...

The title of this post is too generic and too lame to do justice to the day.  You have the opening round of the NCAA tournament.  You've got the NBA trade deadline.  You have one of the first days of free agency in the NFL.  And, you have some intrigue and posturing in Spring Training and the ongoing where will Peyton Manning land, even if that is part of the NFL free agency fun.  

Anyway, here are a few observations so far....

I think all of my brackets are holding up well so far.  There haven't really been any upsets to speak of.  Even if in one of my brackets, I know I picked Harvard to beat Vanderbilt.  

The Syracuse game was pretty intense, but since I've just switched from Time Warner to Comcast, I can't quite figure out which channel I should be watching to make sure I am watching the right game.  So I've ended up on CBS most of the day just because Charles Barkley is pretty funny.  

In the NBA, here are a few of my take aways from the trade deadline:

*  The Nets are going to regret not dumping Deron Williams.  But look on the bright side, they don't have any money committed in 2013-2014.  

*  I'm not sure if the Magic are in a better position now that they have Dwight Howard looked up for another year.  But, having that additional year does buy them time to find a direction and a way forward with Howard.  Or, they can always dump him at the deadline next season.  

*  I can't believe that the Lakers actually traded Derek Fisher.  It just doesn't seem right that he isn't going to be a Laker any longer.  

*  I'm surprised Anthony Carter is still in the NBA, let alone still involved in trade deadline deals. 

*  I also remember when Richard Jefferson was a star.  

*  All in all, the NBA deadline was a lot of shuffling, but not a lot of stuff that I see making a huge bit of difference once the playoffs come around.  Even in the instance where the Lakers get a lot younger at the point with Sessions, they are losing a super clutch player in Fisher.  

With the NFL, I really thought Hutchinson was going to return to Seattle.  From what I was hearing, it was basically a done deal.  He wanted the Seahawks and the Seahawks wanted him.  But now he is a Titan.  

I always thought that Peyton Manning would end up in Denver.  Now it does feel like he is going to be moving on to Tennessee.  The lifetime role with the Titans seems like a good fit.  He's a Volunteer after all.  And, the state of Tennessee loves him.  

This flap with the salary cap and the Cowboys and Redskins seems ridiculous.  I get it.  The other owners don't like Snyder and Jones.  But the thing about it is, Jerry Jones has done more to enhance the amount of money these franchises are worth than almost any owner in the NFL.  He rubs you the wrong way, sure.  But look at all of the innovative ideas that he has used to bring money into Dallas and, ultimately, the NFL.  

As for Daniel Snyder.  He probably deserved it.  

In baseball, I don't put a lot of credence into the performance of players at this point in the spring.  I figure most of the guys are still working on fine tuning their strokes, or developing new pitches.  

That said, I love the spunk that Bobby Valentine has brought to the dugout.  The Braves are having a bad spring.  I think the Nationals will be contenders.  And, finally, I think the Mets and Wilpons are again in trouble.  

I could go on, but I won't.  

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For the Knicks...so many problems.

I'm like an addict that can't quit, no matter how hard I try.  I just can't quit you NBA.  

I'm disappointed that the Sonics won't be returning next season.  I really miss the Supersonics.  On the other hand, I would hate to take another town's team if they are struggling to keep them.  

As we head into tomorrow's trade deadline, I'm fascinated by what's going down in the NBA.  

To kick the day off, we get Mike D'Antoni 'stepping down' in a mutual 'agreement'.  Yeah, right.  

I have to admit that I got caught up in the excitement of Carmelo Anthony coming to New York.  In theory it was going to be great to have a Big 3 in New York to match the Big 3 in Miami.  Of course, when you realized that Carmelo was really only about maximizing everything for Carmelo, then you should have been able to see that it wasn't going to work.  Ultimately, its going to end poorly.  

I broke it down pretty well on my friend's Facebook page today....but at the time I didn't have the stats.  Think about this though:  

Looking at Carmelo's stat page on Basketball Reference, you notice that he averages scoring 102 points per 100 possessions, but he gives up 103.  He's taking 18.3 shots a game but only hitting 40%.  And, lets not get into his lack of defense.  

This doesn't even begin to tell the tale because you have to add in the fall off in production of other plays like Landry Fields, Amar'e Stoudamire, and all of the players that the Knicks traded to get Carmelo.  

For fun, let's look at Amar'e's stats from last year and this year.  

During last season:  

Amar'e shot over 50%, averaged over 25 points a game, had about 31% of the Knicks offensive plays go through him and the team was on the upswing.  

Counter that with the stats from this season when Amar'e seems lost at best most of the time:

His shots are below 15 a game.  He is shooting a career low.  His assists are down.  His efficiency in almost every category is down.  

But the stats are just placeholders for things that don't show up on the stat sheet at the end of the game.  All you have to do is watch a game for a few minutes to see the lack of energy.  The lack of defensive effort.  The lack of offensive consistency and cohesion.  

I'd call for a trade of Carmelo Anthony, but that wouldn't address the real issue, the ownership of the Dolans and the last time I checked, you can't trade or fire an owner.  If you could, I am sure that David Stern would be seriously considering it right now.