Well, it took precisely one day for all the questions I asked about the Suns yesterday to be answered. Amare Stoudemire is out for eight weeks with eye surgery after suffering a detached retina on Wednesday against the Clippers. That essentially eliminate any chance they had of being relevant down the stretch. It seems like Steve Kerr is cursed. He certainly can’t catch a break as GM. I know a lot of people are really down on Kerr, but I’m not one of them. He has certainly struggled to get this team going this year, but I put a lot more of that on Terry Porter than Kerr. Sure, Kerr made the decision to bring Porter in, but that decision turned out to be much worse than it looked at the time. Mike D’Antoni had to go, the team couldn’t lay much defense, and Porter was respected, so it made some sense. I also think that not trading Stoudemire was the right move, even if it really doesn’t look like it right now. Picking up Jason Richardson was also a good move, and Shaq was a solid gamble.
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There is an impressive amount of interesting news out there today. Let’s get to it:
It’s official – Ken Griffey Jr. is a Mariner again. I thought for sure he was going to Atlanta, but it turns out he fooled everyone. The move makes sense for many reasons. First, he’ll finish his career out as a returning hero. He’ll also be on a team that won’t have a lot of pressure for him because expectations won’t be huge. Most significantly, the AL has the DH. That makes so much more sense than Atlanta. It will be fun to watch.
I was worried for a while, but Marquette is finally living up to my expectations. They were the last team in the Big East to lose a game, but now that they have done it they seem to have developed quite a taste for it because they did it again. The first loss against South Florida was a bad lapse of concentration and focus. Tonight’s loss, though, was just a confirmation of what I have long felt about the team – they aren’t that good. They had no answer for Villanova’s offense, they could keep up with their own offense, and they just weren’t good enough. There will be plenty more opportunities to bet against this team in the coming weeks because their Big East schedule is back-loaded – they still have Georgetown, UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Syracuse left. I don’t see how they go better than 2-3 ATS over that stretch.
Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao couldn’t agree on money, and their fight that was supposed to be on May 2 has been called off. It sounds fairly permanent, but I am hopeful that they can get over themselves and get the deal done. This one was going to be a great fight, and boxing needs all the big fights it can get. These are quite likely the two best fighters out there right now, and they clearly don’t like each other, so this thing could have ended with a corpse. Hatton is looking for a new opponent after pulling Pacquiao’s contract, but there is no one he can find who will be any better. Unless, of course, Floyd Mayweather can be coaxed out of retirement for a rematch. That would be one to watch. Actually, the only thing better than that one would be Pacquiao – Mayweather.
I’m amused by all the discussion of the benching of Donovan McNabb, the implications and the meaning. Growing up in Canada, I guess I am conditioned to be used to seeing stars benched. If a goalie is having a bad game he’ll often get the hook, no matter how big of a star he is. The player might not like it at the time, but it gets their attention usually, and they often come back next time and play like they are supposed to. I don’t see, then, why football is any different. McNabb got benched at half time of the Eagles’ game against Baltimore for one simple reason – he was totally, incredibly, and irredeemably awful. He was 8/18 for 59 yards and two picks. He deserved to be benched. The Ravens totally had his number, and Andy Reid, a guy who is now notably being referred to as a genius again after being washed up just a couple of weeks ago, had no reason to believe it was going to get any better. Since then, though, McNabb has pouted about the decision, pretended it wasn’t an issue when it clearly is, and done everything but move on and let it go. Here’s the thing, though – since McNabb was benched he has played much better, and he has led his team to where they should be. In other words, the move worked just like it was supposed to. I don’ get why we are still talking about this like it is a big deal almost two months after it happened. The way McNabb is dealing with it you would think the guy was somehow violated, not given a shot to regroup for another day. The sense of entitlement that he has, and that he is allowed to get away with, is ridiculous.
The New Year certainly saw the face of college basketball change quickly and fairly drastically.
The AP top-10 in week seven looked like this:
As NCAA basketball starts conference play, this is a good time to look at the top teams in the nation. They’ve played non-conference clubs primarily. Many, but not all, of those games were cupcakes as some of the best in some of the toughest conferences met weaker teams in weaker leagues. Now the battles begin to determine league dominance and national prominence. Each team has about 16 regular-season contests left to go. Here’s a thumbnail sketch of the five top-ranked clubs in the nation.
I am clearly a curse of death for any college basketball team. Without a word of exaggeration, my plan for tonight was sit down and write a piece about Syracuse basketball. With a win tonight over Cleveland State they would be 10-0 for the first time in a long time, and their combination of talent, outstanding coaching and expectations tempered by a tough conference set them up very well as a sleeper in my book. It was going to be good. But then I fired up my computer, looked at the scoreboard, and felt my heart sink. See, Syracuse was favored by 10.5 at home over Cleveland State, but they forgot to show up and lost to a late three pointer. That’s yet another team to add to the list of teams that flounder and fall as soon as I jump on the bandwagon. The loss could be worse for Syracuse, I guess – Cleveland State was only 6-4 coming into the game, but they had been well tested, with games against teams like West Virginia, Butler, Kansas State and Washington under their belts. They were a perfect 0-4 against that group, though, so there really wasn’t an excuse. I obviously don’t think that this is reason enough to write of Syracuse, but they have a bit to prove before I believe in them again.
Amazing how close the Heisman was. Fitting. The only shame is that Graham Harrell wasn’t more competitive. He had a lousy game, but a heck of a season.
I have noticed a trend this year – I watch a college basketball game, get impressed by the team playing, write nice things about them, then they go out and get beat at their earliest possible opportunity. First Duke, and now Gonzaga. Arizona looked very good in the win. As a service to all of you, I will be sure to let you know what games I watch as soon as I watch them so you can fade who I like.
Colt McCoy says that he is coming back to Texas for his senior year. That’s a bit surprising, but I’m glad. Not that I have any love for Texas at all – their suffering makes me happy. I just like it when guys come back for another year. Not that it makes much sense here, really. This year he is in an ideal situation – no matter what happens in the BCS Championship game he can tell anyone who will listen that they would have been the better team if they were given the chance to prove it. Things can’t get much better for him next year,but they can get worse. Somebody should give McCoy Matt Leinart’s number. Or Brian Brohm’s.
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