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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: Lebron traded to Cavs

Just kidding.

That'd be about the most surprising trade I could possibly think of. Though, today's Deron Williams to the Nets deal is nearly as surprising. No one saw this coming.

Nets get: Deron Williams
Jazz get: Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, 2 1st round picks

The Nets, a team completely out of the playoff picture, trade to get a superstar player in Williams while giving away current young talent and future young talent with the two first round draft picks.

The Jazz, a team in the thick of the Western playoff race (if the season ended today, they would be the 8 seed), trade away their most valuable player, seriously downgrade at the point guard position, acquire the raw hot-headed Derrick Favors who will certainly require a few years before he can be any good and 2 draft picks.

This trade goes against the logical trend of trades where the currently good players get traded to playoff teams and the promising young talent gets traded to the teams out of contention. From it's outward appearance, it seems like this deal could've waited for next year when the Nets can start over with a fresh record and the Jazz aren't in the middle of the playoff race.

For the Nets, it doesn't particularly matter whether or not they acquire Williams for this season or next season, because this season has already fallen victim to a 17-40 record. Any hopes for salvaging a birth into the playoffs has been lost.

However, for the Jazz, it is almost unthinkable that a team would trade away it's best player in the heat of a playoff race. Until, of course, you think about the circumstances.

Deron Williams has a contract that expires after next season. Someone within the Jazz organization must've sensed that Williams was not going to resign after next season. They certainly didn't want a Melo drama like the Nuggets suffered through this year. This was a preemptive strike by the Jazz.

With this trade, the Jazz are going to get worse, but perhaps the trade will payoff a couple of years from now if Favors develops and Harris gets back to playing at the all-star level. The new draft picks will help reinforce the depth of their roster even further into the future.

The Nets are building a team that people might actually want to go see, a stark contrast from the Nets teams of the past few years.

Overall, this trade will pay dividends to both teams. It's just a matter of the time frame in which these teams see those dividends. The Nets are looking to see them now. The Jazz are now looking to reshape their roster for a couple of years from now.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Great NU Debate

As Adam Rittenberg outlines, there is a growing debate between Northwestern University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln over who will get to use the much sought after NU abbreviation in the new Big 12 11 Ten. I've been a firm proponent of giving Northwestern a new abbreviation for years: NERDS. However, I'm against giving the new guys the abbreviation they want. Therefore, I submit that for one season Nebraska should play with the abbreviation CORN. It can be the Big Ten's way of hazing the new guy.


After the first year, Northwestern and Nebraska should have some sort of competition over the abbreviation. Although, they might have trouble agreeing to what that contest should be.

Northwestern might suggest:
- "whose parents have more money" contest
- research contest
- fencing
- "who has the better fight song" contest (for those that don't know, Northwestern's fight song is fantastic)
- "Armani and Brooks Brothers-wearing" contest

Nebraska might suggest:
- beer chug-off
- football attendance contest
- wrestling
- a campus-wide fistfight
- any sort of athletic contest
- "quantity of hot girls" contest

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Pullen Pun Here

He's Pullen his own weight.
He's Pullen the Wildcats to victory.
He's Pullen K State back to the tournament.

However you want to say it (and many media outlets had their punny ways of saying it), Jacob Pullen was the man yesterday as Kansas State finally lived up to the wild expectations they had at the beginning of the year. The Wildcats came out with the energy that they have been lacking all year, jumping out to a 29-16 lead with 8:36 left in the 1st half and never letting that lead slip away. When the buzzer sounded, it was pandemonium on the court and an 84-68 score on the scoreboard.

This game has got me thinking, is Kansas State going to be the most compelling bubble team in years?

K-State has undeniable talent, but the fact is they've lost to suddenly decent Colorado twice, Oklahoma State, and UNLV among 5 other teams. None of those losses are unforgivable, but they beg the question of how this team can be expected to put together enough consistent performances in the tournament to make it deep into March. We'll find out a lot on February 28th when K-State travels to Austin to play the Longhorns that are in line to be number one in the country on Monday if they can keep up their winning ways.

That game will be pretty ironic, seeing as K-State has drawn comparisons to last years Texas basketball team. Though, perhaps those comparisons are unfair.

Recall that last year's Texas squad started the year at 15-0 before spiraling into mediocrity. This year's K-State started off the year failing to live up to expectations with 8 losses before February. Now, perhaps they're getting their shit together. Yesterday's blowout of #1 KU will certainly do a lot to gather said shit.

K-State is now staring at a probable 8 or 9 seed and a second round date with either Duke or Pitt (they won't be put in the same region as Texas or KU). And wouldn't a rematch with Duke do a lot to measure if this K-State team has improved?

Whoever K-State plays in the first round of the tournament, they will be overwhelming favorites in Vegas despite being a similar seed. I would not bet against them either.

Perhaps, this is a situation that's exactly the opposite of what we saw with Texas last year. Perhaps, Kansas State is finally finding out how to turn all of that talent into wins just in time. Perhaps, Jacob Pullen is going to finish the season playing like the superstar we expected him to be. Perhaps, you're tired of the word perhaps.

I think this team gets it done in March.

They'll need some help from Rodney MacGruder, Jamar Samuels, and Curtis Kelly.

Jacob can't be Pullen the whole team by himself.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Football Hangover Cured

For those of you out there who are struggling to cope with the fact that football is in fact over, tonight provided some wonderful medicine in the form of college basketball. Wisconsin battled back to get an overtime win over an Iowa team that was coming off back-to-back conference wins for the first time since 2007. Duke played terrible first half basketball against UNC, followed by an out-of-his-mind second half performance by Nolan Smith to get the Duke victory. Rutgers stunned Villanova on its home court. Notre Dame topped Louisville in overtime in a battle of 2 top 15 teams. Georgetown battled back late to get a road victory in Syracuse in yet another top 15 contest. Texas A&M won in overtime against Colorado. Yes, it's that time of year for the casual basketball fan to start watching college basketball so he can pretend to be knowledgable when filling out his bracket. Tonight should mark the night that everyone starts paying attention to what's been a truly interesting basketball season. As my old girlfriend once said, if tonight's events didn't get it up for you, I don't know what will...Wait...

Well, for those of you who haven't been paying attention, I'll give you some advice to help you beat my bracket come March.

1. This is the year a 16 seed beats a 1. College basketball has much more parody...
2. Texas still has no team chemistry. You remember when everyone said that last year, right? well, nothing's changed. At all..
3. The A-10 is deep with sleepers like most years. They haven't lost a beat...
4. The Big East is a weak basketball conference...
5. The Ivy League is stacked with athleticism this year. Yes, things change quickly, I know...
6. Jimmer Fredette will be ineligible for the tournament, so pick BYU to lose first round...
7. Every postseason game will be played in Utah this year. So if Utah makes the tournament, I'd probably pick them to win it all. Don't mind the 14 losses...flukes...
8.  Due to the high elevation in Utah, jump shots will be hard to make so pick the teams without good guard play. It's not even important in the NCAA tournament anyway.
9. Leave parts of your bracket blank. It'll make you look smart. Just do it. Trust me. It makes sense if you don't think about it.
10. Write in teams that aren't actually playing in the games. If they manage to get into the game last minute, you get more points.

There. Now you're educated on what's going to happen in March. You'll probably even beat me if you follow my advice close enough. We'll talk about how much money you want to gamble come tournament time.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Wish List for Super Bowl XLVI

Clearly, there were some things wrong with the XLV edition of the super bowl. Here's my wish list for next year:

1. Alright, firstly, are you kidding me NFL? You give me an anthem sung by Christina Aguilera and the Black Eyes Peas? Do you have any idea who your fan base is? Your fan base is not 16 year old girls. Your fans are men that want to hear good rock music. Christina Aguilera botched the anthem and Black Eyed Peas was mostly what I expected- boring pop music. Give the NFL fan what he wants with a rock band like The Who or Aerosmith again. And don't make them play alongside Britney Spears!

2. I politely request that if you buy a ticket to the game, you should be able to attend it.

3. I do not want Joe Buck and Troy Aikman calling the super bowl. Joe Buck's a much better baseball announcer and Troy Aikman is utterly boring. Give me Jim Nantz and a CBS broadcast.

4. If it's going to be a Fox broadcast, give me more dancing robot. Every transition should have a dancing robot graphic. Also, make him do more than 2 different motions.

5. Take the godaddy.com ads off, easily the least funny/cool ad each year. They are so annoying, and I really can't imagine that it's a successful ad campaign. Does anyone really visit that website to watch "the unrated content?" I promise they aren't showing pornography on the domain name site. It's just an extended ad.

Elite Quarterback Class

I try to be as unbiased as possible when viewing sports, but I found it difficult at times on Sunday to withhold myself from cheering from the Packers. Mostly because I was absolutely sick of people referring to Ben Roethlisberger as an elite quarterback in the weeks leading up to the super bowl. ESPN pundits were talking about Roethlisberger in the same category as Brady, Manning, and Brees which is absolutely ridiculous. Roethlisberger is a winner- that much we know. However, much of his success is due to the team's he has been on instead of his own merit. Remember the super bowl against the Seahawks when he was dreadful yet they still managed to win? Roethlisberger had the chance to earn the credit for this super bowl victory. He was one two-minute drill touchdown away. However, it was abundantly clear that he's not the type of quarterback with the capabilities to lead an effective two-minute drill. Calling Roethlisberger elite is like calling Jeter an elite shortstop in today's game. Yes, they're winners but the stats just don't measure up.

Brady, Manning, Brees. That was the elite class last year. Now I think you have to add 2 guys to that class of superstars- Rivers and Rodgers. Phillip Rivers took a Chargers team that was depleted from injury all year and churned out unbelievable statistics. He managed to post a quarterback rating that was second only to the MVP Tom Brady. He also led the league in passing yards with 4710. Rivers joined the elite class this year. The only knock on him is that the Chargers missed the playoffs, but that was due to many factors that Rivers had no control over.

Rodgers won the super bowl, so he is an obvious candidate to move into the elite category. Rodgers had the 3rd best QB rating this year, behind Brady and Rivers. It became evident in the playoffs that Rodgers has an absolute cannon of an arm. I remember thinking during the super bowl after his receivers dropped all those balls how he is becoming more and more similar to Favre. Favre often threw balls so hard that his WRs could not maintain possession of the ball. While causing WRs to drop balls isn't exactly a positive quality, it points to his tremendous arm strength. The accuracy was also there. He threw perfectly placed balls into tight spots of coverage. Everything Rodgers did during the game was near perfect- from the movement of his feet up to his arm. Rodgers has been playing at this level for two years now, and it took a super bowl victory for the majority of people to realize that Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

So tier 1 of quarterbacks has been extended this year to include Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The Recruiting Pitches of the Surprisingly Successful Classes

I've always stressed that caring about the recruitment process- what essentially amounts to underage kids showing off their muscles- is creepy. In general, SEC fans are creeps, following there favorite local defensive end home and explaining that Auburn has better barbecue than Tuscaloosa. However, some creeps also have a computer. They friend the high school recruit on facebook and tell him LSU has really really hot girls, like, I promise. You're still a creep if you have a membership to rivals.com and look at pictures of juniors/sophomore/freshman in high school. However, now that all ink is on the paper (sort of), it's fair to have some discussion. Basically, the teams you'd expect are at the the top, but there are some surprises that lead me to question some players' judgement.

Florida State- Florida State got the 3rd best class in the country. Not bad for a team that hasn't won the ACC since '03.
Pitch that wasn't used: "You don't happen to kick field goals too, do ya?"
Pitch that was used: "So there's this website I think you should check out."

Texas- 5-7, bowl-less Texas managed the 4th best class.
Pitch that wasn't used: "Well, we fought back really hard against Iowa State and almost had 'em."
Pitch that was used: "Clearly, there's opportunity to play immediately."

Clemson- perennially average Clemson hauled the 5th best class.
Pitch that wasn't used: "Well, we usually start off every year pretty well..."
Pitch that was used: "We get to wear orange uniforms and we have a rock and a hill."

USC- sanctioned USC pulled in the 6th best class.
Pitch that wasn't used: "We had this running back. He averaged almost 10 yards a carry...his name?...oh, it doesn't matter."
Pitch that was used: "Let me take you around campus. Males tend to enjoy the sights..."

Notre Dame- ND still gets the 11th best class.
Pitch that wasn't used: "We're almost always in the top 15 in recruiting...Why don't we win? Well, I just got here, that's not my fault..."
Pitch that was used: "COME HERE OR GOD WILL SMITE YOU."

North Carolina-  UNC football does well with the 12th class.
Pitch that wasn't used: "Well, we had a good defense until they all got suspended..."
Pitch that was used: "Powder blue! Sure we call it baby blue, but we're like the Chargers. I bet Phillip Rivers wishes he came here instead of State now- could've been an all-time great college and pro powder blue wearer."

Washington- Sarkisian gets the 15th best class.
Pitch that wasn't used: "We turn great quarterbacks into bad quarterbacks!"
Pitch that was used: "It's easy to win when you only care about one game! We're 2-0 in my time at Washington. Take that USC."

Louisville- Miraculously, Louisville pulls the 22nd best class.
Pitch that wasn't used: "We made the Beef O'Brady's Bowl last year!...almost won it."
Pitch that was used: "Why come here?....ummmm..uhhhh....well, I wasn't really prepared for that question...OH! We have phenomenal fried chicken!"

(All rankings are from here.)

I'm shocked Penn State didn't make the top 25. Who could say no to this?:

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

No, MVP not Rose

As a neutral NBA observer, I most certainly want it to be. Nobody wants the MVP to be Lebron James. Everyone wants the youthful, fresh breakout player that's leading the Bulls back to playing quality basketball to be crowned the best in basketball. Everyone wants the hometown hero who got to stay home and play basketball in Chicago with only a short six-month vacation to Memphis in between his high school and NBA career. Perhaps that sentiment is valued even more highly now that Lebron spurned his homestate to take his talents to South Beach. Rose is by all accounts a great guy who does a lot for the Chicago community. People try to trick you into thinking Derrick Rose is the MVP with non-basketball related facts, and I think most people are trying to trick themselves.

It would just be so cool...

All you have to do is watch the games and it's obvious that Lebron is the best player in the game.

Most glaringly, Rose is not in the top 5 of any major statistic- Points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks...nope, nope, nope, nope, and hell no. He dished out less assists than 9 more generous point guards, he's been outscored by 6 more prolific players, and been outstolen by 70 better defenders. That seems like statistics that would automatically disqualify any candidate from the MVP conversation. I did a little research, and it turns out that no one has ever won the MVP without being in the top 5 in points, rebounds, or assists. So there goes that.

"But, did you see this highlight!"
"WHERE'S MY POSTER MACHINE!"

Impressive, yes. It doesn't make you an MVP candidate. Stacey King, the Bull's color commentator, is doing his best job replacing Ron Santo as Chicago's (and the country's) most homerific announcer. If you crave more of Stacey King's voice, click here and you can make him say whatever you want (as long as you want him yelling about the Bulls).

For all the fun provided by highlights of Derrick Rose accompanied by Stacey King's jubilant factory of overused basketball cliches, I can't call what I see an MVP. I know who the best basketball player is. You know who the best basketball player is. We just don't want to admit it.