Wild Card Post

It's been a while my friends and there's oh so much to cover as a lot has happened since I last graced your presences...presence - not sure which of those (or if either) are correct, but you get the idea. Bottom line, dig in for this one folks, it's going to be a doozy.

NBA:
Although we hit the "official" half-way point in the season a couple of weeks ago, the all-star break is a always a good time for half-season analysis, awards and generalizations. And don't worry, we'll get to the All-Star game in a moment.

With the obvious caveat that I am a Laker fan, this team looks to be the most impressive right now, at this point in the year. With Bynum being out for who-knows-how long yet again, it's a good gauge against last year's Lakers at this same time. And this is a different team primarily because of the experience of the Laker bench and supporting staff. And geez, you think Lamar Odom is in a contract year? His performance over the last 5 games going into the vacation weekend has been amazing - he had consecutive games with season highs in rebounds. This team has stepped up quite a bit and is most definitely playing with a toughness that we never saw at any point last year. A big part of this Trevor Ariza - Bynum's health and growth this year has held most of the media's attention, but Trevor Ariza's play and aggressiveness was the primary reason they could afford to move Vladimir and bring in the Stache. I'm not one of these crazy Laker fans who think he's one of the best players in the West, but he's a most definite upgrade in that position - remember, he missed the entire year last year.

At the end of the day, they've swept the Celtics and Cavs this year and they didn't do either last year. Their schedule going into the second half of the year is certainly tougher than what they saw during the first half so they'll have ample opportunities to prove themselves.

Another surprise, I think, is the Spurs - I know that sounds crazy, but I certainly didn't expect them to be this good at this point in the year. Obviously Ginobli means a tremendous amount to this team and has stayed pretty much healthy. I still think they could tumble a bit in the last stretch because their age may catch up to them, but they are the undisputed second best in the west. The western conference is a bit of a juggernaut - I think it's the Lakers and Spurs and everyone else, but that everyone else is certainly what Kobe calls a "murderer's row". Who *wants* to play Portland, Denver, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans or Utah? There's your playoff field most likely. A healthy Melo and Chauncy Billups is a scary, scary proposition in a seven-game series.

Observations and Awards:

• I really like the Marion/Oneal trade for Miami - Wade, Beasley and Oneal is a pretty good threesome - it may help them this year, but I really think this pays dividends next year.....altogether now, "IF ONEAL STAYS HEALTHY"!!
  
• This year's MVP is really Kobe vs. Lebron and everyone else in a separate discussion - Garnett, Howard, Paul, all having very nice years, but really can't be seriously considered with either Lebron or Kobe. I say Kobe by a slim hair and the only reason I say that is because he's beaten Lebron both times they've played this year - and both games weren't blowouts, but it was decided before the horn sounded if you know what I mean.
  
• This will never happen, but go look at stats and someone make an argument on how Kevin Durant DOESN'T belong at least in the discussion - more on him below.
  
• Defensive Player Award - Kevin Garnett. First, second and third.
  
• I think if you're a Phoenix fan and you don't have a real bad feeling about this team over the next few years than you either don't care or haven't been paying attention. How Kerr hasn't/isn't building a young team around Amare is beyond me. It's clear he's on the trading block and I guess that's fine, but what are you going to do, build a team around Shaq and Nash? Both of these guys *were* tremendous, premier players - WERE. These guys are done (whether they retire or not is undecided) after this year. You had better get one hell of a deal for Amare if you do move him - I'm talking veteran and good draft pick at least. And if you take Tyrus Thomas and a non-lottery pick then you're stupid - Thomas is a great athlete, Amare is a freak athlete.
  
• And now you're looking for a new coach? I like Kerr a lot, but it would appear he's struggling to keep this thing from completely imploding.
  
• Portland is another team that seems to be looking to make a move - and this could work well, but I think there are a couple of guys that are no-touch status including Aldridge, Roy and, I guess, Oden. Although, I wouldn't consider Oden untouchable, but that's me. These guys could bring in a Vince Carter and have a serious, legitimate shot to upset anyone in a 7-game series.
  
• Rookie of the Year Award - I'm still saying it, watch out for Brooke Lopez. I know Rose has the flash and Mayo has the scoring, but Brooke Lopez is very consistent. I'm cheating a bit and going with him over Rose based more on what I think he'll be able to do.

All-Star Weekend Observations:

• I admit, I kind of like the shoot around competition.
  
• Dunk competition was pretty lame - Howard and Robinson were fun to watch, but wasn't spectacular. Had Fernandez made that "behind-the-backboard" dunk on the first try, he may have stolen the show. No one likes to see you miss it 37 times and then finally make it.
  
• Shaq was awesome in the big game - awesome. The give and go with Paul was classic - passing through Howard's legs. By far the only entertaining part of the game. That and him doing the "Big Phantom of the Opera" during his entry - he's just got to hang it up after this year, he won't be able to top that All-Star performance.
  
• Was there any question at all that Kevin Durant should have been on the all-star team? You think the coaches and fans finally realized that? He won the stupid Horse game (of which I saw none) and he poured in 46 points in the "futures" game (sophomores vs. rookies) which has never been done. Needless to say he was the game's MVP. And as I mentioned above, he's having a really amazing year - he's a superstar in the making. Go look at what Joe Johnson, Danny Granger and Allen Iverson did in last night's game.
  
• I'm sure you noticed this, but the refs made a conscious decision to never call traveling in the all-star game. Has to be the case.
  
• One more thing on the dunk off - I'm not sure it's very impressive to dunk by jumping off of some one's back as they're on all fours.
• The intros of the teams in this game were beyond ridiculous. I think it was like 20 minutes.
  

College Basketball:
Ugh - it's a bad year to be a Longhorn fan on the hardwood. Although they've recently gotten back on the winning track with victories over Okie State and Colorado, this team still falls under the "needing to right the ship" category in my book. I've not seen a Texas team that looks so discombobulated so much of the time. It was nice to see Connor Atchley rebound for a nice game last week, but he has been horrendous this year - it's quite astonishing really. The really bad thing about that 3-game skid (and in turn the 2-game win streak) is that they weren't against the better competition of the conference. Their losses were to Kansas State, Nebraska and Missouri - of course Mizzou has turned a corner in big 12 play. They damn-near lost to Colorado (by yet again, blowing a second half lead) who has won 1 game in conference play.

To be fair I guess they *could* win out and go 12-4 in big 12 play, but it ain't going to happen - especially with games left at A&M (tonight), OU at home and at Okie State. These guys will likely end up as an 8-10 seed, but they are certainly more than capable of missing the tourney altogether if they continue to play like they have of late - they really have to get a quality win which they haven't had much of this year (Villanova and UCLA are the only ones that fall into that category).

On the flip side, you've got UCONN and Pitt playing tonight (preceding the Horns/Aggies) in what may end up determining the league's number 1 seed...because you just know one of them will get one, if not both. These two teams are playing really well, but UCONN has to be the favorite right now with Oklahoma a very close second - I can see these two teams moving methodically through the tournament more than anyone else. I know the Huskies lost Dyson, but I still think the size wins out. I like Wake Forest, I just don't trust them as much. UNC will likely get a 1 seed (Wake could snag it), but I don't like them as much either. Other top 2/3 seeds I see include Michigan State, Louisville, Marquette and probably, unfortunately, Duke. These guys will get benefit of the doubt, but I can't see them winning more than 2 games (3 tops). They'll eventually just run into better athletes - a hungry mid-major could easily gobble them up.

I'm not quite yet to concede that Missouri can do any damage in March, but we'll see. Clemson, Memphis, Kansas and teams like that don't even register as teams who could hang with Uconn or Pitt or Oklahoma on any given night so it's hard to pay much attention to them. I think you'll see Monday's Big Monday match up between the Panthers and Huskies that's as big a regular season game as we have seen or will see all year. I'll take the Huskies at home who have a surprisingly dominant resume against the brutal Big East. I'll also make my pre-tournament pick of Uconn vs. OU in the finals - not an "out there" pick I know, but right now those two teams seem like the best of the best. I reserve the right to change that when the tournament rolls around.

NFL Quick Hits:

• If I'm Brett Favre's wife I'm taking his cell phone, laptop and whatever else away for like 6 months. Stay Brett.....staaaaaaay.
• Seriously, one year doesn't do a single, bad thing to his legacy. He's Brett Favre for crying out loud.
  
• I think someone will take a chance on Michael Vick - Atlanta will get a last-round pick or something for him.
  
• I think depending on what Haynesworth asks for, the Titans may actually be tempted to move VY. It will all come down to the price tag on the big man though.
  
• I think the Arizona Cardinals are dangerously close to moving 3 or 4 steps backwards next year if they don't get some things solidified. I know they've got Fitzgerald locked up, but I think Boldin was a huge part of that team the last couple of years and it sounds like he may be gone. That wouldn't be as big of a deal if they didn't also have to replace both coordinators and convince Kurt Warner to stick around (which I think they will). I'm just saying....lot of changes for a team with not accustomed to handling success like this.
  
• Really Burress? You *want* to be traded from the Giants? Well, OK. If I'm Reese, I may consider trading him for a pick or two and then try and sign TJ from Cincy. Not sure if that works out financially, but I think you could get a very good receiver brought in who will be hungry to be a part of a better team/environment.
  
• Of course, who's going to trade for Burress when he's potentially looking at a long suspension and/or jail time stemming from his gun charge.
  
• I think it Will be a matter of days before TO is no longer apart of the Cowboys - either by cutting him or trading him. Probably going to get cut.
  

A-Rod:
First off, I can't lie and tell you that I'm terribly surprised at this. Not because I always thought he was juicing, but it's because we've seen so many other people who have been juicing during that same time frame. Second, he's been consistently putting up just ridiculous numbers. I'm not going to say that it's all because of the juice, but it certainly didn't hurt - and I'm still one of those guys that believes that with or without his steroid use, he's still the best pure baseball player in the game today. Like it's been said a thousand times before - steroids don't make it any easier to hit a major league fastball, they just make them go farther when you do hit them.

Obviously this is and will continue to get the attention because it's the biggest name in the game right now. And I don't necessarily scoff at the notion that his excuse was that he felt pressure after signing the biggest contract in the history of the game - wouldn't a lot of people? Not defending him, not at all, but why do people always go, "yea right" when they hear that - is it not plausible?

Look, at the end of the day, this isn't about A-Rod, this is about Major League Baseball which has failed miserably of not only defending the integrity of the game, but of pretending that they give a sh*t about defending the integrity of the game. And the Player's Union? Forget about it. How do you defend NOT testing when you know for a fact the act exists? And please don't read into this that I'm furious or passionate about this - I'm not. It's just ridiculous how the rich and powerful involved can be so bad at offering the notion that they want to do the right thing, much less actually doing the right thing - it's almost funny.

And weren't these names supposed to be anonymous? I wonder how many incompetent parties had to come together in the perfect storm for this to come out and bite A-Rod and A-Rod only in the ass? And before we burn A-Rod at the cross, let's remember that there are, allegedly, 100+ other names on that list, albeit surely none as big as Rodriguez's name. I wonder if those people will ever get "outed".

Finally, if I'm A-Rod, here's what I'm doing:
1. Answer every single question the media asks about it, every single time, 100% honestly whether you're tired of hearing about it or not. Seriously, you will have to do this for months and months if not years.

2. Apologize, profusely, to the Yankee fans. Yes, many of them hate you and have always hated you, but you still have to do it.

3. Donate lots and lots and lots of money to steroid/HGH/testosterone prevention awareness and education. Take time out of YOUR schedule to go around the high schools and middle schools and preach about the dangers, risks, etc.

4. Put more effort into seeming grateful for your God-given skills and opportunity to be paid $25 million per year to play f'ng baseball.

5. Go out and put up the same numbers you have been putting up your entire career.

Non-Sports Thoughts for the Week:

• I really think that if companies aren't taking this current environment to shift energy towards building and maintaining employee morale and loyalty they are dumb. "You should feel lucky to have a job" may very well be true in most instances, but will do very little to inspire folks to think and execute differently - and isn't that what most everyone needs to learn to do?
  
• Speaking of business - I wonder if our current economic situation will at all change the ways (and what) that business schools teach. Certainly no blame at all being implied, but I think it's safe to say that this goes down as a fairly significant economic shift. Just curious...
• If anyone happened to catch the Simpsons on Sunday night (and are big enough fans to notice this), I hope you were able to see the intro - I think it may be the first time in the show's history, that they've changed the intro sequence. I won't get into it (primarily because I don't remember the details), but it was great. I'm sure you can find it on You Tube if you really want to.
  
• Un-Christian Moment #22: I was in the self-checkout line at HEB last week and there was a guy - I'll be honest, a hippy looking guy - who was buying produce, but who hadn't weighed it and put the pre-printed bar codes on them. For those who don't follow, this means he has to put the produce on the scanner while it literally scans the fruit or veggie to see what it is. If you're in the self-checkout line it means you want to get your sh*t and get out of dodge - put the f'ng stickers on your produce or next time you're getting a size 11 in the diaphragm.
• Funny follow up here - was at the store with my wife and she wasn't putting the labels on them (wastes paper, can't reuse the bags, blah, blah). Either way, she did have a good point in that she doesn't use the self checkout line...so I guess she gets a pass.
  
• I can't help but to wonder that if the top, top people in our Government (now or anytime over the past 10 years) wouldn't be indicted if they were running a company the way our country is run, financially speaking. Saw something on Enron recently that made me think of this.
  
• Why is it so absurd that if your bank/financial institution takes funding from the Government that you have to limit executive salaries? I don't get that. I'm not saying they should do it all around (no way), just if you take federal funds. I'll tell you something else - this an opportunity for executives to not only take a pay cut, but to publicize the hell out of it. Joe Q. Public and his evil twin, Joe Q. Consumer are quite sensitive and emotional to the topic - use that to your advantage. I've heard Roger Goodell being praised numerous times for taking a pay cut to save jobs at the NFL front offices - he's still making $11 million this year. Point is, they see pay cut and they like it.
  
• So the Sheriff in South Carolina (I think it was) where Phelps' bong photo occurred has now come out and said that he's going to try and pursue bringing charges against Phelps. What? Is it an election year? And if so, are you sure this is what the folks in your county want you spending their time doing? Isn't there a Governor or Senator who can call this dude and tell him to simmer down now?
  
• Un-Christian Moment #17: I really think I hate Nancy Pelosi. I've thought about it quite a bit and I think my mind is made up.
• We're taking a big step up in the Bearden household - we have officially made the transition to toddler bed. As I type this we are already in nap #1 (first sleep in the new bed) and I think she's laying down right by the door - so we're getting there. The excitement level is high, but the self discipline needs some practice. We'll see how this takes....

That's what I got gang - have a good week.