Mike Likes Sports

Upset Special: Week 5

2009-10-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Time for the 2nd week of the Mike Likes Sports Upset Special.

First thing's first, however, so let's take a look back at last week's predictions.

#7 LSU at Mississippi State

What I wrote: Seems about time for the Jordan Jefferson sophomore slump. Really thought of taking this one, but new Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen is too unproven for me to stake my pick on him

What happened: LSU escaped, 30 to 26. Safety Chad Jones was the hero, returning a punt for a touchdown and making back to back touchdown saving tackles on a last minute goal-line stand to preserve victory for the Bayou Bengals.

It was a strange day for the Tigers, whose traditional strengths - the run game and their defense - nearly did them in while Jefferson (15/28, 233 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) kept them in the game.

South Florida at #18 Florida State

What I wrote: - I would have been all over this had Matt Grothe not torn up his knee. Nice story with new QB BJ Daniels - a Tallahassee native - coming home but without Grothe, I don't think its happening

What happened: South Florida pulled off the upset, 17 to 7. Daniels was the hero, with an ugly day throwing the ball - 8/21, 215 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs - but also 126 yards rushing.

#22 North Carolina at Georgia Tech

What I wrote: You just know Tech is going to rip off 300 yards rushing in a game that they need to save their conference title hopes. Not big enough to merit a full Upset Special

What happened: Georgia Tech wins, 24-7. Total rushing yards for Tech: 317. I love being right, mostly because it makes me feel a bit better about the last two games...

#15 TCU at Clemson

What I wrote: I don't care if TCU is top 25 and Clemson isn't; I don't care if TCU annually overachieves while Clemson perennially disappoints; and I certainly don't care about everybody hyping the Frogs as a BCS buster when we all know that they'll lose a game sooner or later.

Bottom line is this: a mid major team is going into Death Valley to face CJ Spiller. Barring a Clemson-esque meltdown - and hey, those are always fun - the power conference team is going to win.

Wow, I just sounded WAY too much like Colin Cowherd. Let's get to the pick before I headline a terrible ESPN News show with a much more attractive and talented co-host.

What happened: Everything was going to plan until freshman QB Kyle Parker had a panic attack in the second half (59 pass yards compared to 133 in the first).

Spiller did his part, exceeding 220 all purpose yards for the 3rd straight game and in the process joining Reggie Bush as the 2nd player ever to tally at least 2,500 yards rushing, 1,500 yards in kickoff returns, 1,00 yards receiving and 500 yards in punt returns.

Is there a more under-appreciated great college player than Spiller? Memo to Cal fans and anyone else who thinks Best is the closest thing to Bush since #5 himself - he's not. Spiller is. Enjoy the rest of his senior year, because he bears the torch as the most exciting player in college football.

The Mike Likes Sports Upset Special: Arkansas 35, #3 Alabama 28

What happened: Alabama 35, Arkansas 7, Mike's credibility -5.

Simply put, UGH. Alabama won big for the exact reasons that everyone anticipated: dominating both lines of scrimmage, abusing Arkansas' overmatched secondary, and exploiting Arkansas' nasty habit of giving up big plays (3 TDs of more than 50 yards). Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong for the Razorbacks did.

What Bama did a lot better than I expected was pressuring Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett, and in the process short circuiting Arkansas' passing game. The Hawgs' receivers couldn't exploit any potential mismatches against the Alabama secondary because there was no time for plays to develop, and together with a paltry 63 yards on the ground, that ended any hope of the upset. Ho Hum.

Week 5 Honorable Mentions

#4 LSU at #18 Georgia - A lot of people think UGA is going to win this game, on the strength of being at home and a 3 game winning streak in the series.

Those people have not watched Georgia play this season.

Last week, the Bulldogs had to go to overtime at home to beat an Arizona State team that likely will finish in the bottom half of the Pac 10 (take that, SEC homers!). The week before, they had all sorts of problems beating the same Arkansas team that got demolished in Tuscaloosa. And in week 1, they got beat convincingly by an overrated Oklahoma State team.

The problem, other than the usual spate of crippling injuries that seemingly plagues Georgia every year, is that they replaced a great group of players from last year's team with a group that isn't as good.

Joe Cox isn't as good as Matthew Stafford, just like Michael Moore isn't as good as Mohammed Massequoi. Meanwhile, Richard Samuel and Caleb King have the potential to be as good or better than Knowshon Moreno, ditto Branden Smith and Asher Allen - but they have yet to do so. Only AJ Green is playing at a dramatically better level than last year, but even he isn't enough to compensate for the rest of the team's shortcomings.

So Georgia has issues, and this week the bubble is going to burst against LSU, even though the Tigers have looked just as shaky. All that means is a full week of ESPN hyping Florida vs. LSU next week, followed by the Gators filleting the Tigers in much the same manner of this weekend's game in Athens

#25 Georgia Tech at Mississippi State - Two repeat customers from last week's honorable mentions. Mississippi State looked nasty at home against LSU, holding the Tigers to 30 yards rushing. They also looked toothless two weeks ago at home against Auburn, letting the other Tigers run for 390 yards against them.

So which team is showing up? If they've shown an ability to stop it before, I tend to believe they can do it again, especially since Georgia Tech rarely passes the ball to keep defenses honest.

Just like last week, however, this isn't a big enough upset for the Special

#8 Oklahoma at #17 Miami - This wouldn't have been worth mentioning had Sam Bradford played. But he isn't, and so this is.

Crazy Sooner fans (and they're crazy, trust me) probably want my head on a stick for saying that, and would eulogize me with tales of Landry Jones' 673 passing yards and 9 TDs to this point of the season.

Should that happen, my ghost will haunt them from the afterlife with steady reminders that all 9 of those TDS were thrown at home against Idaho State and Tulsa, and that he spent his only game time against a real team hyperventilating against BYU. In other words, Mr. Jones has proven nothing.

I'm not bringing that up as a means of suggesting that Landry Jones is bad quarterback, but rather to highlight the difference between what he's seen and what he will see - a fast Miami defense in a loud Pro Player Stadium.

Of course, Miami is far from a proven product in their own right. They propelled up the charts on the strength of wins against a clearly lackluster Florida State team, and a disappointing Georgia Tech; their offensive line is a work in progress; and their defensive line is missing two starters for this weekend including star-in-the-making Marcus Forston.

Truth be told, I'm not sure what is going to happen in this one, which is what makes it exciting. Miami's explosive yet green offensive is going to be in for a huge test against Oklahoma's stiff defense, while the loss of Forston is a huge blow to the Canes' chances of stopping DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown.

On the flip side, however, is the sheer athleticism Miami brings to the table as well as a swagger that is unique to the U; do not underestimate either one. Jones has yet to see a defense this fast, while the Sooners' secondary might not have enough bodies to match up with a deep Canes' receiving corps.

The most unpredictable game of the day, which is what will make it worth watching.

The Mike Likes Sports Upset Special - #22 Michigan vs. Michigan State

I'm not sure how Michigan is as low as #22 with a 4-0 record and a victory over Notre Dame, and given that Michigan State is just 1-3, I think this qualifies as a big upset.

Like Georgia, Michigan has quietly struggled in a decent portion of the season. Beating Notre Dame was a tough task against a quality opponent, so no need to penalize the Wolverines there but the same cannot be said for having to eke out a last minute victory against Big 10 doormat Indiana nor for letting Eastern Michigan hang within a touchdown up until late in the 3rd quarter.

As good as he is, Tate Forcier is going to play like the true freshman he is and such a performance would be enough to push the Wolverines over the razor's edge they've walked and into the loss column.

That performance is going to come against a desperate Michigan State in East Lansing. While Michigan will seek to avenge last year's loss in Ann Arbor, Sparty has a much greater need to preserve their bowl game hopes.

A little research into that 1-3 record shows that MSU hasn't played that badly. They lost to Notre Dame, but did so on the road and only after a lengthy drive from the suddenly impressive Jimmy Clausen.

The week before, they fell at home to Central Michigan, which seems pathetic in name only as Chippewa QB Dan LeFevour could start for most BCS teams, and put on a Tim Tebow-esque performance in the win.

Even last week's loss to Wisconsin showed some promise, as the Spartans rallied furiously in the 4th quarter to get within 10 points before running out of time.

The problem isn't talent as much as it is inexperience, particularly QB with first time starters Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol splitting reps. The good news is the pair is starting to get their sea legs under them, and Mark Dantonio is a too smart of a coach not to right the ship.

Never underestimate the capacity of a rivalry game to level the playing field between two teams, and in this case, never underestimate a desperate team at home in a rivalry game. Michigan may want this one more, but Michigan State needs it.

Final Score: #22 Michigan 20, Michigan State 29.

Overall Upset Special Record: 1-1

YouTube Tuesday: Some People Never Learn Edition

2009-09-29T22:20:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the saying "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

It's nearly as old as Al Davis, and timeless enough that I don't even have to come up with a snarky introduction for it, which truly says something because I'm all about the snarky introduction.

So yes, "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

I just have one question: what happens when you get fooled a 4th time?

If someone comes up with an answer for that one, by all means let me know. But before you do, email that bad boy over to the Buffalo Bills because they're about 2 weeks away from finding out what the 49ers, Eagles, and Cowboys already learned the hard way: Terrell Owens is an asshole.

I know, I know this isn't groundbreaking news for the rest of America but seeing as how the city of Buffalo doubles as God's meat locker, I say we cut them a little slack. In all honesty, they probably just discovered cable TV last month. Unfortunately for them, it doesn't change the fact that the Bills' locker room is about to become a war zone.

If you saw TO's post game presser on Sunday, you know exactly what I'm talking about. To his credit, a visibly frustrated Owens' was trying to contain it but even underneath a bucket hat and behind dark sunglasses, you could see the feral animal trying to break loose from its cage. He succeeded in holding it back this time, but he always does at first.

But give it time. The reason the media "goaded" - his word, not mine - Owens with questions about his role in the offense and not catching a ball for the first time in 186(!!!) games is because sooner or later, he'll take the bait and give them a month's worth of material.

For the record, I really do believe TO when he says that he's "trying to do the best job [he] can do as far as answering the questions and trying to be a better teammate and not try to throw people under the bus" but the key word in that sentence is 'try' because eventually, he won't try hard enough.

I'm a Cowboys fan, so I've been through it all before. I have friends who are Eagles fans and 49er fans; they have too.

And despite the visceral hatred those fan bases harbor toward one another, they all have one thing in common: on days like Sunday afternoon, they all shake their heads, laugh, and utter four words that could clear the conscience of a death row inmate: "not my problem anymore!"

Maybe its Owens' admittedly tragic upbringing, maybe its his DNA, maybe its something else altogether...but I won't be fooled again. Shame on those of you who do.

This week's YouTube dedication is a 4:30 postcard from Philadelphia their friends in upstate New York. Buffalo fans, welcome to October 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KEGfpP9XlI

Introducing the Mike Likes Sports Upset Special!

2009-09-26T00:49:00.000-07:00

I said back in July that I needed more bloggy stuff, and I realize now in September that I need an easy go-to column, a concept that I can run with week-to-week, without killing myself putting it together.

Since I'm always looking for an excuse to talk college football, and because everybody loves a good upset, I'm bringing you the Mike Likes Sports Upset Special, which will run sometime every Thursday or Friday, and will predict a top 25 upset for that week's slate of games.

Now, picking upsets is probably one of the toughest things to do in college football, as there's usually only one to two big ones each week and they very often come completely at random; in other words, I offer you no guarantee of success and in no way, shape, or form do I advise you to take these to Vegas...unless you already took one of these to Vegas and it panned out, in which case my cut is about 15% of the profits.

Think of this as using a metal detector to find a needle in the haystack; it's still really difficult with poor odds, but it will save you some time wading through horse crap.

We've got about 10 weeks left of regular season play, and truth be told, I'd be thrilled if I break even, happy if I go 4-6, and content if it's 3-7. Like I said, keep the expectations low; it's more food for thought than anything else.

If I DO have a track record to go on, it's this - last week's pick would have been USC-Washington. Really. I'll even post the write up I had if anyone cares enough to challenge me on this. In fact, I'm starting myself off at 1-0, mostly to buttress my ego in preparation for the onslaught of wrong that I'm about to encounter.

Before we get to the pick, let's go with the honorable mentions:

*#7 LSU at Mississippi State - Seems about time for the Jordan Jefferson sophomore slump. Really thought of taking this one, but new Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen is too unproven for me to stake my pick on him

*South Florida at #18 Florida State - I would have been all over this had Matt Grothe not torn up his knee. Nice story with new QB BJ Daniels - a Tallahassee native - coming home but without Grothe, I don't think its happening

*#22 North Carolina at Georgia Tech - You just know Tech is going to rip off 300 yards rushing in a game that they need to save their conference title hopes. Not big enough to merit a full Upset Special.

*#15 TCU at Clemson - I don't care if TCU is top 25 and Clemson isn't; I don't care if TCU annually overachieves while Clemson perennially disappoints; and I certainly don't care about everybody hyping the Frogs as a BCS buster when we all know that they'll lose a game sooner or later.

Bottom line is this: a mid major team is going into Death Valley to face CJ Spiller. Barring a Clemson-esque meltdown - and hey, those are always fun - the power conference team is going to win.

Wow, I just sounded WAY too much like Colin Cowherd. Let's get to the pick before I headline a terrible ESPN News show with a much more attractive and talented co-host.

Arkansas at #3 Alabama

I really like Arkansas, so much so that this is my pick to be the next Ole Miss (circa 2008, not the underwhelming bunch we’ve seen so far this season).

I like them because their offense is very, very good – not SEC, “we can clear 20 points in a game” good; actually good.

It starts with having a quarterback under center that isn’t a total Dick (get your mind out of the gutter - I’m referring to Casey and Nathan). In particular, it starts with having Ryan Mallett under center, who pretty much hits every cliché in Southern football hero checklist.

*Built like a steel beam (6’7’’, 245lbs) with a bazooka for a right arm? Check.

*Put your small, football obsessed Texas border town (Texarkana) on the map? Check.

*Go away up north to school (Michigan) before coming back to your hometown school? Check.

*Lead your hometown school back to national relevance? Pending.

So far, so good for Mallett, who has thrown for 717 yards, 6 TDs, and 0 INTs in his first two games in Fayetteville, with 5 of those coming in last weekend’s barn burner against Georgia.

The physical skills are there in abundance with more than one comparison being made to a young Drew Bledsoe, which can be both good (the size and the arm) and bad (slightly more mobile than the Washington Monument) depending on your perspective. But make no mistake, he’ll shred secondaries apart if he’s given time to throw.

He’s got plenty of help, too. The running back troika of 2008 rushing leader Michael Smith, USC transfer Broderick Green, and true freshman Ronnie Wingo Jr. give the Hawgs a nice balance of small, big, and everything in between. The receivers – namely Joe Adams, Jairus Wright, and Greg Childs – can flat-out run while tight end DJ Williams is among the top five nationally at his position.

What separates this group from the 2009 Ole Misses of the world, however, is coaching. Say what you want about his professional ethics but Bobby Petrino knows how to win and has experienced success everywhere he’s gone in the college game.

Sure, he’ll probably be coaching at another school before the redshirt sophomore Mallett has completed his eligibility, but for now, he’s going to get the ship righted in a hurry.

Back to this week, though, and the young Razorbacks’ upcoming tangle in Tuscaloosa. Make no mistake about it, the Crimson Tide are every bit the tough, nasty bunch you’d expect an Alabama team to be, with perhaps the nation’s best defense; a power running game headed by Mark Ingram and true freshman Trent Richardson; and The Amazing Julio Jones, whose physical gifts necessitate capitalization.

In many ways, this is a battle of ideologies as much as a football game, the quasi-spread aerial prowess of Arkansas versus the old school, bruising tenacity of Alabama. It’s also a battle of one of the game’s next big coaches, Petrino, versus one of its alpha dogs, Nick Saban.

Needless to say, there is an above average level of intrigue for a game between a top 3 team playing at home against an unranked one.

There’s good reason for that ranking disparity, as Alabama’s defense significantly outclasses the Razorbacks unit and should their new O Line starters (LT James Carpenter, C William Vlachos, and RG Barrett Jones) hold up, they’ll likely have an advantage on both fronts.

So why am I picking the baby ‘Backs on the road? For two reasons.

First, that tremendous offense. I think the Tide should be able to handle the ground game with relative ease, but their secondary – which isn’t as strong as the front 7 – is going to struggle to contain all three of the wideouts as well as Williams; somebody’s going to get loose and with the receiving corps’ straight line speed, Mallet will have opportunities to throw the long ball for big points.

Alabama can counter this by dropping one of their outstanding linebackers, Rolando McClain or Dont’a Hightower, into coverage but that mitigate their advantage against the run, something Saban is likely to avoid, especially given Alabama’s lack of a dominant edge rusher, the closest thing to a weakness this defense has.

Any way you cut it, Arksansas’ offense is talented enough to create opportunities for Mallett to put points on the board, and as he’s shown so far this season, he makes opponents pay when he has time to throw.

But the bigger reason, more than the x’s and o’s, is a gut feeling that the time is now for Arkansas. This game is eerily similar to last year’s Ole Miss’ victory over Florida in Gainesville, and the young 2009 season already has established a pattern of top 5 teams going down in upset fashion.

Alabama is favored for their dominance in the trenches and the very high likelihood that Julio Jones will abuse the Razorbacks’ smaller corners.

But for as well as they’ve played so far, this still is a team with a first year starting QB (Greg McElroy) playing behind an overhauled offensive line and if Arkansas’s big play offense goes up a couple of scores, nobody knows how well the Tide play catch up against a deficit larger than one point (which they faced against Virginia Tech).

Every up and coming program needs a statement game, a put-it-on-the-map type of victory. This is Arkansas’, Ryan Mallett’s, and Bobby Petrino’s, and it comes, ironically enough, against the team that did the very same thing at around this time last season

Arkansas 35, Alabama 28

YouTube Tuesday: Run Like a Man Edition

2009-09-15T23:07:00.000-07:00

There are two types of running backs in this world: those who eschew contact, and those who seek it out.

The former are the ones we'll tell our kids about, complete with the jukes, cuts, dives, and blazing speed. They are the Maseratis, the Ferraris, the Aston Martins; they look great and turn the corner better than you or I do anything.

The latter are the bulldozers who run with a vengeance. Certainly, they want to score touchdowns, get their yards, and make the evening highlights show, but they want to hurt people along the way.

It's a special breed of back; hell, it's a special breed of human that wants to punish someone along their own way to personal glory, which makes it less surprising that the prototypical contact-seeking back, Jim Brown, was a hot magnet for controversy who felt so unappreciated by the NFL that he retired at age 29.

Now, let the record show that I have nothing but love and ardor for that first group of running backs. I was fortunate enough to grow up in Dallas in the 1990s and attend USC in the mid 2000's, which means that my formative football watching years have been shaped by Emmitt Smith's career and Reggie Bush's junior season. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

That being said, there is something immensely satisfying about watching a 225 lb (or thereabouts) running back pound men who outweigh them up to 40 lbs (or thereabouts) flatter than Carlos Mencia punchline.

Trouble is, while the number of average contact-seeking, power backs is probably equal to or even a little greater than the average contact-eschewing, speed backs, there is a disparity between the great contact-eschewing backs and the great contact-seeking backs at the NFL level.

Indeed, I've grown up regaled on stories of Brown (by my father) and Earl Campbell (everyone else in the state of Texas), but I've never seen a really great, transcendent one in my 15 years or so of following the NFL.

Until now.

You know where I'm going with this (probably because I slapped a nice big photo of him at the top of this post), but Adrian Peterson is the closest thing to Brown since Brown himself...and if you don't believe me, listen to Brown gush about AD (as in All Day, or what Oklahoma fans demand he be called under penalty of death. Seriously, OU fans are crazy - bring up the 'AP' moniker around one sometime and see what happens. Or don't. Actually, don't. It's for the best.) sometime.

Simply put, he runs like a man, and it's just so damn entertaining. Bill Simmons once wrote that he runs like the biggest kid on the playground, and that's most apt, simple description I can of.

Sadly, he'll probably suffer the same cruel fate of Earl Campbell and wind up in a wheelchair 20 years from now due to all the abuse he'll take but for right now, all we can do as fans of the sport is watch him do what hasn't been done for decades.

What prompted all this? A 64 yard TD run against Cleveland on Sunday that ironically resembled the greatest Brown of them all. It's barely a minute long, but this YouTube clip just screams greatness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrhBXbVmrWc&feature=popular

Nine Worth Noting: Breaking Down the Champions League Contenders

2009-09-15T03:25:00.000-07:00

With the group stages of the Champions League opening today, fans from team across the globe have their hearts aflutter over the romantic notion that their club could take home the claret jug and be crowned the best team in Europe.

While that’s adorable, it’s also delusional. Soccer is a game of economic haves and have-nots and the occasional 2004 Porto notwithstanding, the haves win.

Every. Damn. Time.

I’m a pragmatist, so rather than go into detail about all thirty two teams, let’s instead delve into discussion over the real contenders for European glory. By my count, there are nine and only nine.

Below is the breakdown of why each team can, or cannot win, as well as the player that will make or break their fortunes. Enjoy.

Arsenal

Why They Can: Creativity. Arsenal have long been lauded for playing attractive football and this group is no different. Cesc Fabergas and Andrey Arshavin are two of the game’s premier attacking midfielders while the versatile Robin Van Persie can stymie defenses either from the wing or more commonly up front as a striker.

It will only get better for the Gunners, as Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky just returned from a lengthy injury layoff while 21 year old French wizard Samir Nasri should be back on the pitch by late October, giving them a group whose technical ability is rivaled only by Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Why They Can’t: Strength. For all their skill, Arsenal can be easily bullied. The center back pairing of William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen are technically sound but neither is taller than 5’10’’, making them ripe for bigger strikers to out-jump and out-muscle.

Of even greater concern is the glaring lack of a powerful ball winner in the midfield, a weakness that has gone unaddressed since Patrick Vieira’s departure in 2005. None of Arsenal’s great playmakers play much defense, so if they lose possession it takes a while to get it back.

Put it together and Arsenal could really struggle should they run into physical sides from England or Italy, having already lost league matches to Manchester United and Manchester City this season.

X Factor: Manuel Almunia. Given their reliance on highly skilled young players, the understated 34 year old keeper seemingly flies in the face of Arsenal’s entire philosophy. The former backup to Jens Lehmann, Almunia has done just fine since being promoted into the first team midway through the 2007-2008 campaign.

Yet given the Gunner’s struggles with fitness and the aforementioned problems with bigger and stronger teams, Almunia could face a much heavier workload in this year’s European campaign; how he fares could be the difference between being an above average shot stopper and a potentially great one.

Barcelona

Why They Can: Because they’re even better than last year. Barcelona already won the treble in 2008-2009, and that was before they added Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose ball skills and ability to play with his back to the goal are a better fit for the Catalans’ up-tempo style than the departed Samuel Eto’o.

Why They Can’t: Barcelona is the most complete side in the world, so any criticism really is nitpicking. That being said, Barcelona’s defense is very rarely tested and given the individual qualities of their backline, could show some leaks if it was. Both Dani Alves and the left back duo of Eric Abidal and Maxwell are subpar in defense, while Victor Valdes has never inspired full confidence among the Blaugrana faithful.

Of course, much of this is conjecture; Barcelona boasts such a superior possession rate that the defense seldom has much work to do. Until someone applies consistent pressure to it, it will be impossible to tell just how good – or bad – the backline truly is.

X Factor: Valdes. Seemingly every transfer campaign begins the same way for FCB: Valdes to be sold, ______ to replace him. Yet when the summer ends, there stands Valdes between the pipes. Though the keeper has been prone to the occasional mental lapse, he is still a very solid player who has more than earned his blue and maroon stripes. But like an erratic closer in baseball, you never feel fully safe with Valdes in goal and if one of those errors comes at the wrong time…

Bayern Munich

Why They Can: “Robbery” aka wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. They give Bayern the world’s best pair of wide men, bar none, and together give Bayern the rare ability to wreak havoc on either flank. Indeed, since Robben’s arrival just before the transfer window closed in late August, Bayern have gone from sputtering to sensational in the blink of an eye, most recently dominating Borussia Dortmund 5-1.

Why They Can’t: Goalkeeping . When German legend Oliver Kahn retired after the 2007 season, everyone knew that he would leave some big boots to fill but nobody expected Germany’s most flagship club to struggle so mightily in filling them. 25 year old Michael Rensing was seen as Kahn’s successor both at Bayern and with the German national team, yet he has struggled under the weight of those expectations and was replaced by veteran Hans-Georg Butt. While Butt is solid, he is hardly spectacular and coupled with an often shaky backline, will struggle against Europe’s elite attacking units.

X Factor: Daniel Van Buyten. Bayern was defensively suspect last season, which made the sale of long time defensive stalwart Lucio to Inter Milan that much more puzzling. If the Bavarians are to make a serious run at the Champions League crown, they will need the Belgian international to shepherd the defense as well as marking some of Europe’s top strikers. No small task to say the least, but unless youngster Holger Badstuber plays well beyond his years, Van Buyten is the only man fit for the job.

Chelsea

Why They Can: Balance. If Barcelona is the most complete team in the world, Chelsea is a close second, with no discernable weakness. They boast two prolific strikers in Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka; an outstanding keeper in Petr Cech; an elite center back tandem in John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho; perhaps the world’s finest left back in Ashley Cole; and quality midfielders galore in Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, John Obi Mikel, Deco, and Florent Malouda.

On top of that, it’s an experienced group, both in the amount of time played with each other and the games spent competing at the game’s highest level.

Why They Can’t: Age. For all those prolific names mentioned, many of them are entering the latter stages of their prime. In particular, Lampard, Ballack, Drogba, Anelka, Carvalho, and Deco are all on the wrong side of 30, with Terry and Cole each turning 29 before the year is out.

The problem is exacerbated by FIFA’s recent ruling that the Blues can’t transfer in any players until January 2011, a brutal blow should anyone in Chelsea’s aging squad go down with an injury.

The cherry on the sundae? Drogba, Mikel, and Essien will miss nearly all of January playing in the African Cup of Nations.

X Factor: Mikel. New Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has been determined to put his stamp on the side by importing his signature 4-1-2-1 “diamond” formation from AC Milan, irrespective of the fact that the personnel at hand might be better suited for a different batch of tactics.

Indeed, while Lampard has had little problem slotting behind the strikers and though Essien is right at home in the holding midfielder role, John Obi Mikel has experienced difficulty replicating Andrea Pirlo’s role as the deep lying playmaker. While his strengths (attacking runs through the middle of the park) are different than what the position calls for (deferential, visionary passing), Ancelotti has nonetheless slotted him into the position and likely will keep him there.

His success will be crucial, as none of the other midfielders have the technical skills to routinely beat defenders off the dribble. If he can catalyze from the back half of the midfield, they won’t have to worry about that.

Inter Milan

Why They Can: The world’s strongest defense. It starts in net, where Julio Cesar’s 2008 performance launched him into the elite stratosphere of keepers along with Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon. In front of him are any two of Lucio, Walter Samuel, Ivan Cordoba, or Christian Chivu; between the quartet’s depth, quality, and versatility, nobody has a better set of center backs than Inter.

The wingbacks are equally stout with Davide Santon, already a full Italy international at 18, on the left and Maicon, the world’s best at his position, on the right. As if that weren’t enough, Inter also features one of the world’s best holding midfielders in Esteban Cambiasso, and talismanic captain Javier Zanetti can play either wingback spot or as a defensive midfielder.

Put it all together and it’s a nightmare for even the strongest of attacks.

Why They Can’t: Creativity. Inter fans, stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Nerazzuri won’t win any European glory until they can find a link between their fearsome backline and the formidable strike force of Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito. For the past three years, Inter dominated Serie A thanks to the almost single handed efforts of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and far too often, their game plan revolved around giving the ball to Ibra and hoping something would happen.

But Ibrahimovic is now at Barcelona and while Eto’o is perhaps the world’s best finisher, he lacks the Swede’s technical abilities. To compensate, Inter will rely on Maicon as well as new midfield arrivals Wesley Sneijder and Thiago Motta. For Inter to have any chance at taking home the elusive title, they must to move the ball efficiently and effectively.

X Factor: Sneijder. After a seemingly endless transfer saga, the Dutchman became Inter’s latest bargain pickup from Real Madrid, following the path of club stalwarts Cambiasso, Samuel and the retired Luis Figo. Needless to say, Inter will be thrilled if Sneijder plays as well as the other names on that list and if he does, Inter will be on the short list of serious title contenders. Should he live up to expectations, Sneijder will solve two long standing problems for the Beneamata – a trequarista and a dead ball specialist.

Great teams are built through the spine and with their plethora of center backs, Cambiasso, and Eto’o, Inter are set at 3/4ths of those positions. Although Sneijder suffered through an injury prone 2008 season, he was one of the world’s best midfielders for Madrid in 2007 and is markedly better than anything Inter has enjoyed in that role in recent years. More than any other player, his performance will determine how far Inter goes in the Champions League.

Juventus

Why They Can: The revamped midfield. Three years after being demoted to Serie B in the infamous Calciopioli match-fixing scandal, Juventus finally have a side capable of challenging for European glory, starting in the center of the park.

The Turin based side made possibly the best signing in Italy by bringing aboard Brazilian playmaker Diego, and already he has breathed life and unpredictability into a previously stale midfield. A relative bargain for 20 million pounds, at least in the recent wildly inflated transfer market, the ex-Werder Bremen man is the next big star of the Italian game.

Joining him is countryman Felipe Melo, a revelation at Fiorentina this past season and with the Brazilian national team in the Confederations Cup this past summer. A true box-to-box midfielder, Melo’s relentless running, stiff tackling, and crackling long shot make him an asset in any area of the pitch.

They are joined by Malian tackling machine Momo Sissoko and club staple Mauro Cameronasi. The foursome is a perfect blend of technical skill and strength, allowing the team to succeed in any style of play.

Why They Can’t: The backline. There’s no doubting Gianluigi Buffon between the posts but the group in front of him has its warts, despite (or perhaps due to) featuring 3/4ths of the Italy’s starting defense.

For all his exploits with the national team, newly signed left back Fabio Grosso hasn’t come close to replicating that form at the club level, flopping out at Inter last time he featured for an Italian club team. Giorgio Chiellini is quickly becoming one of the world’s elite center backs, but he’s reckless and prone to accruing costly penalties while his partner, Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, is 36 and was seemingly fit for pasture just four months ago. At right back, Jonathan Zebina is, well, Jonathan Zebina – how the man is employed by a club of this stature, let alone starting, is a mystery that may never be solved.

X Factor: Cannavaro. He’s been nothing short of sensational since his controversial return to Turin, but one has to wonder how sustainable this run is, given his horrendous form at Real Madrid last season. If he keeps it up, Juventus has a center back pair that can rival anyone’s; if he doesn’t, Buffon is going to have to be on top of his game to keep the Old Lady in title contention.

Liverpool

Why They Can: Steven Gerrard. Fernando Torres. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Does anything else really need to be said? Two of the world’s absolute best, a nearly guaranteed 50 goals between them, and two of the most clutch players in the sport. Regardless of who else occupies the other nine places in the lineup card, Liverpool always bears mentioning in the discussion of title contenders by virtue of such an outstanding combination.

Why They Can’t: Not enough match winners. As brilliant as Gerrard and Torres are, their teammates too often let them down, leaving countless matches in the hands of the dynamic duo to pull late game magic out of a hat and steal victory in the waning moments. It’s exciting, sure, but Liverpool walks the razor’s edge too often to go through the brutal Champions League gauntlet.

The loss of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid only exacerbated the problem, as the Spaniard was the only other player consistently able to manufacture attacks for the Merseyside club. Players like Yossi Benayoun, Glen Johnson, and Alberto Aquilani must take the next step from good league players to consistent continental performers if Liverpool has a chance of earning their second Champions League title of the decade.

X Factor: Aquilani. The direct replacement for Alonso, it’s up the 25 year old Italian international to inject some much needed playmaking into the midfield alongside (or behind, depending on the day) Gerrard.

Aquilani demonstrated flashes of brilliance for his former club Roma, to the point where he was considered a key building block in the future of the Italian national side. But he’s battled injuries for the better part of three seasons, dimming his once bright star and keeping him out of the Azzurri altogether. Liverpool took a huge gamble by spending much of their transfer budget on him, but there’s no doubting his talent; if healthy, Aquilani could become the third big time player for the Reds.

Manchester United

Why They Can: The back line. While Inter has the world’s best overall defense, the best defensive foursome resides in Manchester. Nemanja Vidic is the world’s top center back while his partner Rio Ferdinand is not far behind; both players are big, fast, and strong enough to matchup against the world’s elite strikers. Left back Patrice Evra, himself on the shortlist for top honors at his position, provides attacking flair down the flank while right back is rotated between the equally capable captain Gary Neville, Wes Brown, and Jonny Evans, with the latter two also deputizing at center back.

While the individual quality of the key ingredients is admirable, what makes this group special is that they’ve had time to marinate together; the group has played together for the better part of four seasons and is the major reason for the club’s massive trophy haul that includes three consecutive Premier League titles to go with a 2008 Champions League title and 2009 runner-up finish.

Why They Can’t: The midfield. Cristiano Ronaldo was responsible for a much of Manchester United’s success but perhaps his greatest accomplishment was masking the relative mediocrity that is the rest of United’s midfield.

Michael Carrick is a nice player who makes all the right passes but is too easily forced off the ball and can’t create chances on his own. Ryan Giggs is stellar for a 36 year old but has lost the pace that was once one of his calling cards. Darren Fletcher is a glorified utility player. Nani and Anderson are transfer disappointments bordering on busts. Paul Scholes is too old. Owen Hargreaves would add the steel so sorely lacking in the center of the pitch, but he hasn’t played in 16 months and there’s no guarantee that he will again.

Now Ronaldo is in Madrid, replaced by the erratic Antonio Valencia, and suddenly all eyes rest upon the elephant in the room that we should have noticed two years ago: United’s midfield may not rank among the top quarter of Premiership sides, let alone other European powerhouses.

United too closely resembles the disappointing Inter Milan teams of the past several years, with a woefully inadequate midfield sandwiched between its world class defense and attack. Unless two or more of the aforementioned players dramatically raise their game alongside Carrick, Man U is heading toward an early knockout round exit.

X Factor: Really, this should be Hargreaves but until he steps foot on a pitch, it isn’t worth discussing. Instead, the honor goes to Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov, who has everything to prove in his second season with the Red Devils after a disappointing 14 goal 2008-2009 campaign.

On paper, the 6’2’’ Berbatov is the perfect complement to Wayne Rooney, the powerful target man who should benefit from Rooney’s workaholic runs and great dribbling. He’d better be, as Sir Alex Ferguson no longer has Ronaldo nor Carlos Tevez to keep the Red Devils on the score sheet and defenders off Rooney’s back.

A minimum of 20 goals is needed for United’s offense to keep pace with its previous lofty standards.

Real Madrid

Why They Can: Firepower, and lots of it. You’d certainly hope so after they spent a world record 254 million euros in the summer transfer window. At the very least, though, Madrid appeared to choose their targets wisely as Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Xabi Alonso are among the world’s best players with plenty of great football ahead of them – Alonso’s the oldest and he doesn’t turn 28 until November.

Plenty more can be said about each one but all you really need to know is that 21 year old Argentine sensation Gonzalo Higuain scored 24 goals last season and yet he’s rooted to the bench as the third choice striker. Simply put, Madrid is loaded up front.

Why They Can’t: Too many cooks in the kitchen. Having a ton of offense is all well and good but at the end of the day, there’s only one ball to share between them. Alonso, as the deep lying playmaker, needs the ball to orchestrate attacks further up the pitch. Sergio Ramos needs the ball to make his often misguided runs from his right back position. Kaka needs the ball to play his hybrid trequarista-center forward role just as Raul and Benzema need the ball to score goals.

Ronaldo? Well, anyone who’s watched him play more than five minutes knows that he needs the ball, and he can get a bit testy when it doesn’t come his way.

The last era of Galacticos proved many things but chief among them was the futility in building a lineup fit for video games and expecting the titles to rain down in rapid succession. Madrid must lay down a pecking order very quickly or things are going to fall apart during the pressure packed knockout stages.

X Factor: Lassana Diarra. If that last paragraph was the first lesson to be taken from the Galacticos Mach I, then the second is the importance of defense, and in particular the role of the holding midfielder. The transfer of Claude Makelele to Chelsea in 2003 not only provided the London club with one of the cornerstones of their rise to prominence but also stripped Madrid of the man who cleaned up the multitude of defensive messes that its attackers left behind. Not surprisingly, many pundits point to this as the catalyst of Madrid’s relative downfall.

Diarra was bought in the January 2009 transfer window and has been nothing short of tremendous for Madrid thus far. His performance in the so-called “Makelele role” is paramount, as he will be expected to provide enough steel for nearly half the side.

So who will win, you ask?

It’s far too early to guess, but the four teams that seem to be a cut above the rest are Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid.

Without the benefit of foresight or the possession of crystal ball, I’ll cast out a way too premature prediction:

Barcelona 3-1 Chelsea in the Champions League final, making the Catalans the first team ever to repeat in the Champions League era.

Final Countdown: 9 Returning Starters that Will Take the Leap

2009-09-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

-Joe Adams, sophomore, WR, Arkansas – Originally committed to play CB at USC, Adams spurned the Trojans on signing day in order to play WR for his hometown Razorbacks – and Hawg fans everywhere are glad he did.

Extremely shifty and uncommonly instinctive, Adams is a terror in the open field who possesses enough deep speed to beat most corners. With rocket-armed Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett under center, Adams should catch plenty of long balls this season in Fayetteville.

-Danario Alexander, senior, WR, Missouri – Some receivers have trouble running routes. Others have issues catching balls. Danario Alexander’s troubles deal with staying out of the trainer’s room. Over the course of his career, the Missouri senior tore his ACL in the 2007 Big 12 title game, only to re-tear it months later during his rehabilitation. He’s missed 8 more games over the past three years due to various other ailments.

It’s a shame, because Alexander is a game breaker when he does take the field. Physically, he’s everything you’d want in a top tier receiver – 6’5’’, 215 lbs with enough speed to stretch the defense. Kansas knows that all too well; in the 2007 border war between the #2 Jayhawks and #3 Tigers, Alexander abused the KU secondary to the tune of 8 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.

Expect a lot more of that this year with All American Jeremy Maclin now in the NFL – assuming, of course, that Alexander can stay healthy.

-John Clay, sophomore, RB, Wisconsin – One of the most highly touted recruits to come out of the state of Wisconsin in years, the 247lb Clay is the latest bulldozing Badger tailback. After receiving sporadic playing time to start 2008, Clay supplanted the prolific PJ Hill halfway through the season and never looked back, totaling 542 of his 884 yards in the last six regular season games. Now, with the job to himself at one of the nation’s premier running schools, Clay could challenge for a conference rushing crown.

-Montel Harris, sophomore, RB, Boston College – The best running back you’ve never heard of. Last year, in his true freshman season, Harris ran for an even 900 yards on 5 yards per carry and was a huge part of BC’s second consecutive ACC title game appearance. He comes up big when it matters, too, putting up 121 yards and a touchdown at Florida State and 116 yards vs. Maryland in two must win games for the Eagles. At any other program, Harris would be a household name already; at BC, he’ll have to settle for becoming one sometime this season.

-Aldarius Johnson, sophomore, WR, Miami – Between 2007 and 2008, nobody signed more receivers than the Hurricanes, who inked 10 – coun’t em – 10 receivers to letters of intent. Needless to say, someone has to step out of that crowded mess to become the go-to man, and the bet here is Johnson. At 6’2’’, 205, Johnson has the frame and the willingness to go over the middle and get tough balls, but also has superb open field skills for a bigger receiver.

The x-factor that might set him apart, however, is his familiarity with QB Jacory Harris. The two formed one of the elite pass-catch combos back in their high school days at Miami Northwestern, and figure to reprise that in 2009.

-Detron Lewis, junior, WR, Texas Tech – Coming off a 76 catch, 913 yard season, Detron Lewis is hardly neither unknown nor unproven. But his headlines – and opportunities – still were limited next Michael Crabtree’s dominance.

Now, it’s Lewis’ show and while that likely will entail more double teams, it also means that Lewis will be the first, second, and third options in Texas Tech’s pinball offense. If nothing else, Lewis should have no trouble tripling last season’s 3 touchdowns.

-Ryan Matthews, junior, RB, Fresno State – Another star-in-waiting who has been held back by injuries. After running for 866 yards as freshman, Matthews missed half of 2008 with a knee injury yet still cleared the 600 yard barrier. Over 3/4ths of those came in the first four games of the season, which happen to be the only ones he was truly healthy for. With a week 2 road game against Wisconsin, Matthews will have an early opportunity to show the rest of the country what he’s capable of now that he’s healthy.

-Rahim Moore, sophomore, FS, UCLA – A highly touted recruit out of Los Angeles Dorsey High, Moore became the first Bruin true freshman to start a season opener since 2001 en route to starting all 12 games at FS. He possesses a safety’s build with a cornerback’s coverage skills, and barring injury, will likely start every game of his UCLA career. Only a matter of time before he is a first team all conference pick.

-Donovan Warren, junior, CB, Michigan – Other than quarterback, cornerback might be the toughest position for a true freshman to play at a consistently high level. Between learning complicated coverages, undertaking what often is their first weight-training program, and going up against receivers who are older and more mature, the demands are often too much for an 18 year old to handle.

Donovan Warren was not most 18 year olds, and he is not most corners. A 2007 freshman All American, Warren enters this year having started 22 of the first 24 games of his collegiate career. Now, only halfway through his eligibility, he is the Wolverines’ most experienced cover man, which means he’ll be the one tasked with stopping receivers such as Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd, Ohio State’s DeVier Posey, and Michigan State’s Mark Dell among others. Warren will give them all they can handle with jumbo corner size (6’0’’, 185lbs) and veteran corner savvy.

Final Countdown: 10 High Impact First Year Starters

2009-09-11T00:48:00.000-07:00

This is Part 1 (or item 10) of my intended college football preview, The Final Countdown. As is the case with the other player specific sections, I had two main goals:

1. Spend at least part of the section highlighting players under the radar nationally

2. Try to mention as many schools as possible

Also remember, as per my disclaimer on the original post, that all of this was written before the season began. That means that if a player failed, then I missed on the prediction. But that also means that if someone is blowing up, I didn't just hop on the bandwagon after a strong week 1 performance (and there are quite a few of those to be found).

Overall, its much shorter than something I normally write, but it was intended to be part of a much, much larger piece; I didn't want to tire the reader (or myself out) in the first section.

But while there's less analysis than what I'd normally provide, I'd wager that at least two or three of these names are players that nobody is talking about, with a few more not getting the recognition they deserve.

I think you'll be entertained and get some insight that you won't see on other national previews. Enjoy

-Jurrell Casey, sophomore, DT, USC – The next collegiate standout from high school superpower Long Beach Poly. A 6’0’’, 300lb fire hydrant of a nose tackle who is built like recent Trojan standouts Mike Patterson and Sedrick Ellis – and he plays with the same relentless streak too.

-Marvin Jones, sophomore, WR, Cal – With Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen set to run Pac 10 defenses ragged, there will be plenty of single coverage for the Golden Bear receivers, and Jones, unusually savvy for his age, figures to the main beneficiary.

-Corey Liuget, sophomore, DT, Illinois – Upon Ron Zook’s arrival in Champaign, one of his primary goals was building a recruiting pipeline into Florida to take advantage of the connections he made as the Florida Gators’ head coach.

Liuget, a Miami native, is going to be the first of those Sunshine State recruits to make an impact for the Illini. Heading into his second year of college, he already boasts ideal size (6’3’’, 290 lbs) coupled with incredible athleticism; very rarely do men this big move this fast.

Illinois already featured three of the nation’s most talented athletes in Juice Williams, Arrelious Benn, and Martez Wilson; expect Liuget to make it four.

-DeVier Posey, sophomore, WR, Ohio State – Perhaps the most physically gifted receiver Jim Tressel has ever recruited, the 6’3’’ sophomore will be the Buckeye’s top receiver this season. Expect him to join classmates Julio Jones, AJ Green, Michael Floyd, DeAndre Brown and Jeff Fuller in forming one of the greatest receiving classes in college football history.

-Baker Steinkuhler, redshirt freshman, DT, Nebraska – The son of legendary Husker OL Dean Steinkuhler and the brother of recent almnus DT Ty Steinkuhler, Baker also doubles as the most decorated recruit in school history. Orginally slated for the offensive line, Baker switched to defense upon reaching campus. Though he may start out the season as a backup, players blessed with his physical talents are uncommon in Lincoln these days, meaning that he should be starting by midseason, and together with All-American Ndamukong Suh, forming one of the most imposing sets of tackles in the nation.

-Cooper Taylor, sophomore, LB/DB, Georgia Tech – The main reason Georgia Tech is switching to a 4-2-5 defense this season. He finished second on the team in 2008 with 69 tackles, and he did so as a true freshman while only starting 3 games. At a rangy 6’4’’, Taylor will team with All-American S Morgan Burnett to provide matchup problems galore for the rest of the ACC

-Jermaine Thomas, sophomore, RB, Florida State – As a true freshman last season, Thomas averaged a staggering 7.0 yards per carry, the highest average by a Seminole freshman since Warrick Dunn’s freshman year. Big enough - 6’0’’, 190lbs – to absorb punishment; fast enough to avoid it entirely.

-Jordan Todman, sophomore, RB, Connecticut – How can a player be overlooked after scoring 67 touchdown in his high school career while rushing for the third highest total in his state’s history?

If that state is high school football afterthought Massachusetts.

But despite only receiving a handful of scholarship offers, 5’9’’ speedster Jordan Todman was impressive last year in spot duty, backing up the nation’s leader rusher Donald Brown. Now that Brown is off to the NFL, the job is Todman’s and if he gets anywhere near Brown’s 2008 workload, don’t expect him to fly under the radar much longer.

-Carson York, redshirt freshman, OG, Oregon – Oregon returns just one starter from last year’s offensive line, no small trifle considering the Ducks’ run-heavy spread offense. York, a former Rivals 250 prospect, is the youngest of the group’s projected starters, but he’s also the most talented.

-Ryan Williams, redshirt freshman, RB, Virginia Tech – Before Darren Evans came out of nowhere to rush for 1,265 yards as a redshirt freshman, Ryan Williams was supposed to be Virginia Tech’s next star tailback. One year and one Evans’ knee injury later, it’s up to Williams’ to do just that. At 5’9’’, 205lbs, Williams combines powerful, low center of gravity with the open-field shiftiness needed to get yards in any situation, and maybe make Hokie fans forget about Evans altogether.

So About That College Football Preview...

2009-09-11T00:27:00.001-07:00

As you may recall, I promised you an epically huge college football preview. Well, believe me when I say that I didn't forget, but seeing as how we are officially into week two of the 2009 season, those of you who eagerly perched on the edge of your seats can now safely return to your customary reclined positions.

I do feel I owe you an explanation, so here it is: life gets in the way. Obviously, MikeLikesSports isn't my job (and thank God, otherwise I would have been fired somewhere between late August and that horrendous YouTube Tuesday effort from this week), so whatever time I have to write will always be subordinate to my real career.

Hopefully, this one day WILL be my full time career and I WILL fulfill the promises I make about writing more consistently as it will be my source of income. Right now, however, it isn't.

Of course, this is compounded by the fact that as a recent college graduate, I need to get a full time job to begin with, which isn't so simple these days; I don't know if you heard, but there's a rumor going around that the economy isn't doing so hot lately.

So, full time job hunting + working long hours for no money = exhaustion, and for the past month or so, that means coming home from work with little to no creative energy.

Hence the lack of material.

The good news is that while this college preview was only 2/3rds of the way completed, it's still chock full of content. As in 5,000 words of content.

That's right, I was going to give you a 7,500 word college football preview (I TOLD you it was going to be epically huge).

The format was a MikeLikeSports original called The Final Countdown. Basically, I'd start with an item of 10 (ie 10 first year starters to watch), then progress to an item of 9 (9 returning starters who will make the leap), 8 (words that will affect college football in 2010), and so on. It's something unique, catchy, and insightful - everything I'm striving to do here.

But, alas, it didn't happen. So what I'm going to do is post what I do have - all 5,000 words of it - over the course of the season (I might retool sections and flesh them out a bit). Remember this format, though, because I'm going to use it again in the future.

One last disclaimer that will likely be reposted on the individual sections. I wrote all of this before the college football season started. Already, that entails both inaccuracy and validation, which happens with every set of predictions. Just remember that as you read these, especially since certain players are already doing what I expected, and some teams **cough Oklahoma** did not. Nothing was changed after football season started.

Now that we have that out of the way, I'll post the first section momentarily and likely the second one later tomorrow. Hope you enjoy, and that things straighten out soon.

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease,
Mike

YouTube Tuesday: Rematch of the Century Edition

2009-09-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

Bookies wouldn't have put odds on me talking smack about my beloved USC Trojans taking on Ohio's only successful football export this weekend. I mean, I am an alumni after all.

But what to say...what to say...? I wish we had played the Buckeyes a few times over the past few decades, and won a bunch of games against them. Like Rose Bowls and stuff. Yeah, that'd be good.

It'd also be good if the two schools had widely disparate records in BCS bowls, with USC demolishing their competition while Ohio State continually gets run off the field by theirs.

AND it'd be really great if one of those games was, say, around this time last year in what was billed as the game of the century, and USC embarrassed the Buckeyes in front of the entire country.

Wait, what's that? OH, you mean all of that DID happen? And that I knew all of that, choosing to write that intro to intentionally sound like a condescending jackass?

You know me too well.

Of course, this year is a different game - with an 18 year old QB playing in the Horseshoe at night and all that. Because, of course, Ohio State never loses there in big time non-conference matchups...unless you count 2005 against Texas, the last time they played a decent non-conference team in the Horseshoe at night.

So let's cut to the chase: I think USC is going to win by two touchdowns. It's not the same squad as last season, but neither are the Buckeyes, having lost 13 starters of their own.

What hasn't changed is that USC is faster, more athletic, and flat out better. Ohio State couldn't run on NAVY last week; how do they expect to move the ball against the Trojans front seven, which features a deeper defensive line and a faster group of linebackers.

And yes, Navy runs a triple option that's hard to prepare for, but it doesn't change the fact that their defensive line was pushed around by the Midshipmen's undersized offensive line. USC features the country's best OLine and no less than five future NFL tailbacks.

What I'm getting at is I don't see Ohio State winning battles in either side of the trenches, and without that, they don't stand a chance.

They're best, and perhaps only hope is to hope Matt Barkley self destructs under the bright lights. What are the chances of that happening? Well, I'll let the kid speak for himself:

I probably don't know what I'm in for [at Ohio State], but I'm not going to worry about that. It doesn't matter the situation, it doesn't matter the environment, it doesn't matter how many people are in the crowd. I've got my offense and I'm confident. We could be playing in Alaska in the snow and I'd have faith we're going to win.

If Matt Barkley isn't afrid, neither am I. 28-17 Trojans.

Oh, and that youtube video? Just a friendly little reminder of last year...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsQDIMHZa2c

YouTube (Wednesday)

2009-09-02T02:01:00.000-07:00

No cheeky caption or picture this time. Too much real work as well as working to finish this college football preview (I haven't forgotten!).

Instead, just watch, for we are mere days away from college football season....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ipxccVyQw

YouTube Tuesday: The Only Thing I'll Ever Write About Brett Favre

2009-08-18T20:33:00.001-07:00

I'm going to do this one time, and one time only, because I promised that I wouldn't help the American media overkill any stories, and no one epitomizes media overkill more than Brett Favre.

Amazingly enough, after all the non-stop, "will he, won't he" marathon coverage, I'm still fascinated with some small segment of this epic. Specifically, to the best of my knowledge/slightly above-average memory, I cannot remember another athlete inspiring such hatred among throughout the American public without doing anything morally wrong.

This isn't OJ and his wife, or Mike Vick and his dogs, or Plaxico Burress and his guns, or even Big Papi and his steroids. In fact, the only thing Favre really did was taking entirely too long to make up his damn mind about the biggest decision of his career....

And then do it again. And again. And now, again.

Along the way there was a pinch of lying, a dash of betrayal, and a whole lot of "he said, they said." You can handle it once, maybe even tolerate it twice. But once Brett hit the trifecta of summer of soap operas, we all reached our collective breaking point and now the mere mention of his name inspires bile of the foulest degree.

I'd be lying if I said that I was above it all, but in my defense, this directly affects me. I currently work for a sports television network, so the better part of my Tuesday was saturated with Favre-a-palooza, just like a decent portion of my July, and my entire summer of 2008. A lesser man would have assaulted a supermarket cashier; I simply choose to bitch on my fledgling sports blog.

There is a silver lining to this monsoon, however. Yes, we all loathe Brett Favre...but that means that we all agree on something! Come on, that's gotta count for something right? We live in a country that's not only fragmented on virtually every important sports issue, but every important issue period.

Gun control, death penalty, abortion, stem cell research, health care, the economy, Iraq...need I say more? You probably have at least one opinion in there that not only runs contrary to mine, but would probably spark a heated argument between us.

Yet when I say Brett Favre, at least some part of you is sick of hearing about him, and rightfully so. Sure, he's a mostly decent guy who doesn't have a rap sheet, is one of the better family men in professional sports, and handled an embarrassing addiction with grace and dignity. But someone has to play the role of national pinata, and if whacking him with sticks is what it takes to bring our screwed up country together, well, it's a start.

So in the spirit of holding hands and kumbaya, YouTube Tuesday (or let's be honest, YouTube Wednesday AM) showcases a video from a guy named bradyfan83, who was hating on Brett well before it was chic. Back then, it was cruel and a little tasteless. Now? it's unifying.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ZBqT_H4Es

Decision 2009: Why Matt Barkley Will Be USC's Starting Quarterback

2009-08-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

In case USC’s head football coach hasn’t made this abundantly clear already, allow me to do so for him: Pete Carroll has no problem relying on true freshmen.

They’ve been his go-to-options on offense (Mike Williams and Dwayne Jarrett), and his stoppers on defense (Taylor Mays).

They’ve started season openers (Kris O’Dowd), and national title games (such as 2005, when Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga composed 2/3rds of the starting linebacker corps).

They’ve even started at the most storied position in school history, as running backs CJ Gable, Emmanuel Moody, and Joe McKnight all have at Tailback U in the past three years.

But there is one barrier even Pete Carroll hasn’t crossed. Quarterbacks at USC wait their turn.

Indeed, no matter what the King of Competition says, the facts remain that since Matt Leinart took over, USC’s starting quarterback is also its’ most experienced, irrespective of pedigree.

John David Booty knows. He was the best quarterback prospect in the country, the prize of one of the most intense recruiting wars in history in which the Trojans triumphed over home school LSU. As if that weren’t enough, he did it in just three years of high school, becoming the only high school football player ever to graduate a full year early, leaving Louisiana prep powerhouse Evangel Christian Academy after his junior year to join USC.

Booty, to that point the best quarterback Pete Carroll had ever recruited, sat on the bench for three years before securing the starting job as a redshirt junior.

Mark Sanchez knows it as well. He too was the best quarterback prospect in the country when he signed with USC in 2005. Coming from the Trojans’ backyard in nearby Mission Viejo, USC beat out virtually every top program in the country for his services, and as the best Orange County signal caller since Carson Palmer, Sanchez had the Trojan faithful hanging on his every practice snap in hopeful expectation.

Sanchez surpassed Booty as the best quarterback Pete Carroll had ever recruited. He too sat on the bench for three years before getting his chance as a redshirt junior.

Given that, you can forgive longtime Trojan fans for scoffing at the gradually building hype train following 18 year old Matt Barkley.

For those unfamiliar with his background (no, he’s not related to Charles), he enters the gates of Troy with similar pomp and circumstance to his predecessors. A four year starter at Santa Ana powerhouse Mater Dei, he three was the best quarterback prospect in the country (aren’t they all?) upon enrolling early at USC in January. Along the way, he not only Gatorade National Player of the Year honors, but did so as a junior, the first one ever to hold the accolade. He has been compared to a young Peyton Manning, with recruiting expert Jamie Newberg going so far as to call him as “the top pro-style QB of the decade.”

It is Barkley’s turn now to hold the mantle of the best quarterback Pete Carroll has ever recruited.

Do not, however, expect him to sit on the bench for three years.

Originally expected to carry the same clipboard that Booty and Sanchez became so intimately acquainted with in their first few years, Barkley scrapped those plans by blowing the doors off USC’s spring camp just as the coaches were getting him fitted for a redshirt. As a result, he leapfrogged Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain, himself a former Gatorade POY, into a head to head battle with redshirt sophomore Aaron Corp for the vacant starting quarterback job at a time when most kids his age were at their senior prom.

Needless to say, Matt Barkley is not most kids, or for that matter, most football players. At 6’2’’, 225lbs, his body is already as developed at 18 as Sanchez’ was at 21, and with a rocket launcher of a right arm to boot.

Mentally, he’s already neck and neck with players going into their third year in the system, which is surprising to say the least. Then again, the guy’s been calling his own audibles since he was 14, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised after all.

Very few quarterbacks are as proficient in either facet of the game at such a young age, much less both. Put them together, and Matt Barkley is special even by USC quarterback standards, which is up there with saying that Marissa Miller is special even by supermodel standards.

Pete Caroll said so himself, asserting that Barkley “[is] able to perform at a level we’ve never seen at this stage.” Now, with Corp shelved for the next two to three weeks with a knee injury, Barkley is running the first team offense while the rest of his classmates are just getting their feet wet.

It says here that he won’t give it up as long as he’s in a USC uniform.

Despite Corp being named the starter out of spring camp, Barkley’s unparalleled rate of development will eventually force the coaching staff’s hand and put him under center.

By this time next year, many around the program believe that Barkley will be the undisputed best quarterback on the team, a highly likely proposition given how the once gaping chasm between him and Corp has narrowed to a sidewalk crack in a mere few months.

Assuming Corp remains the starter throughout the course of the season, Carroll will face a daunting choice come next fall; keep the best quarterback off the field, or strip Corp of his job and hand it over to someone with zero college starts.

Realistically, either path will result in a transfer; Barkley wouldn’t want to sit on the bench knowing that he is the best quarterback on the team, while Corp wouldn’t want to hand over his job after returning to school as the incumbent.

While such a scenario is a full year away, this season brings with it an even greater concern – the dreaded quarterback controversy.

An agonizing conundrum for any team, no school is riper for hullaballoo than USC, between its status as the de facto pro team in the country’s second largest media market and the quality of its recent signal callers. Such potential was realized two seasons ago, when the incumbent Booty spent most of the season under siege from angry fans clamoring for his understudy Sanchez.

Unfortunately, any misstep from Corp would likely result in the same treatment. Don’t forget, Trojan fans jeered Booty in the Coliseum less than a year removed from a dominating performance in a Rose Bowl rout; if they were vicious to a player with that kind of track record, they would have no problem being vicious to a player with no track record at all.

None of this is fair to Corp, who has enough on his plate with the traditional pitfalls of a rookie starter, not to mention the Trojans’ brutal road schedule that includes games at Ohio State, Cal, Oregon, and Notre Dame.

But America loves it’s phenoms, and as Matt Stafford, Terelle Pryor, and even Mustain demonstrated in their first year of college, the media – and fans – will have a much longer leash with freshman mistakes than an a veteran’s so long as the team wins games.

Pete Carroll knows all of this, which is why he’ll name Matt Barkley his starting quarterback heading into the season. Corp’s brief absence may be all Barkley needs to claim the job but even if it isn’t, Carroll will deal whatever growing pains he may have now because doing so is the only way to avoid much larger, potentially crippling problems in the long term.

Helping matters is a running game that returns its top four backs from last season as well as the entire two deep on the offensive line, enabling new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates to pound opponents into submission on the ground rather than rely on his young quarterback to win him games.

Of course, there’s no shortage of weapons in the passing game either in the form of receivers Damien Williams and Ronald Johnson, tight end Anthony McCoy, and fullback Stanley Havili, all of whom will contend for All Pac 10 honors, or in Williams’ and Havili’s case, All-American status.

Regardless of who starts, both Barkley and Corp will have more than enough at their disposal to win games. But when making a decision that will alter the course of the program for the next several years, Barkley is the obvious choice, something Pete Carroll unquestionably did not anticipate six months ago.

We already knew Pete Carroll liked starting freshmen. Now we – and he – are about to be reminded in a whole new way.

Really, I DO like sports.

2009-08-17T01:19:00.000-07:00

And writing, too. Stop laughing. Stop it. It's rude.

Admittedly, I've slacked in the past two weeks, due to a combination of a cough that would take down a police horse and a four day jaunt to Vegas, which oddly enough helped the cough; maybe all the oxygen they pump in casinos is good for something other than spawning gambling addictions?

So, I'm back and here's what I can promise you:

*A column up tomorrow on why USC is going to start true freshman Matt Barkley at QB (yes, I know they named Aaron Corp the starter out of spring ball and no, it won't matter)

*An article on the Rangers (and moreso, my first pennant race as a fan)

*YouTube Tuesday (of course)

*A letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell concerning the changes he made to the NFL Draft (I may end up doing this in April at the time of the draft)

*And coming up in the next couple of weeks, a HUGE, 10 section college football preview that I GUARANTEE will have stuff that NOBODY else in the COUNTRY writes about. MORE CAPITALIZATION! But really, it's going to be good and it's going to be a bitch to write, so read it. Yes, I'm talking to you.

Glad we got that sorted out, and I promise to suck less at blogging.

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease,
Mike

YouTube Tuesday! - Wedding Edition

2009-07-28T17:12:00.001-07:00

Remember when I said that I reserve the right to put a non-sports related clip on here? This is one of those times - slow sports day, nothing in particular I'm doing to show, already wrote earlier today...you get the idea.

So what I'm going to give you is the single coolest video I've seen a while. It comes from a now-happily married couple in St. Paul, Minnesota and it involves Chris Brown. Admittedly, part of the reason I love it stems from the irony of watching them shimmy down the aisle to the tunes of a guy convicted of domestic abuse, but moreso because it's awesome. Don't get me wrong, I'd never do it at my wedding (my mother would probably have a heart attack), but it's still a damn good idea. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8DCt3Lmi28

Things Mike Likes - 7/28/09

2009-07-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

We're trying something new here: a series of bullet point responses on various issues. It's my way to ramble, give an opinion on something that doesn't warrant a column, and/or throw out a link or two. Here we go...

Things Mike Likes

The Mavericks Signing Drew Gooden and Tim Thomas.

Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are to be typing that. But for one year deals, its low risk, high reward.

Gooden gives the Mavs a legit, 6'10'' guy who is athletic and can guard the athletic, hybrid 4/5s like Denver's guys, McDyess, Okur, Aldridge, etc. who run the circles around Erick Dampier (who, say what you will, can do an above average job on the bigger, slower types like Okafor and Duncan). He's a great rebounder, and is an honest to God post scorer, which is something the Mavs haven't had literally since I've been alive. For the record, I'm 22. That's not a good thing.

The downside is he has the basketball IQ of a retarded zebra, and rocks a hideous goatee that he calls "the Johnny" in honor of the Pirates of the Caribbean star, which is something I'd associate more with a male escort than a professional basketball player. He's probably the weirdest Mav since Dennis Rodman's ever-too-brief tenure, so it will certainly be interesting.

Oh, and don't think Donnie Nelson doesn't know this already. Actual quote from the Mavs GM: He’s certainly got personality but the way he brings it to a locker room is a plus.

What does that even mean?!?!? Is Drew Gooden going to strut around naked, imploring everyone to run their hands through "the Johnny"? Is he going to challenge Dirk to a "who can go without shaving the longest contest," which he's done before with the equally insane DeShawn Stevenson of Washington, because Dirk probably wouldn't back down from that and I don't want our franchise player looking like a homeless person.

Now I'm excited! There is no ceiling for what Drew Gooden might do, which is equal parts hilarious and horrifying.

Look, having a crazy person on your team is akin to heavy drinking. It's a lot of fun at first, until you wake up one day with a huge headache and wondering what possibly could have possessed you to think this was a good idea. You swear it off for a while afterward because you know better...but sooner or later, you gloss over the bad parts in order to focus on just how ridiculous and absurd it all was. So you go back for more, figuring it will be different this time, and the cycle begins again.

Is any of that a good thing? No, probably not. But you know you're at least a little bit excited.

Now, about Tim Thomas....

First of all, I did, in fact, have the option to choose a picture of Timmy that was taken after 1997. I declined said option.

As for the actual analysis, I'm going to turn that over to a series of text messages from my dear buddy Jonno:

#1 Tim Thomas. Hahahaha.

#2 I actually like the move as another 1 year deal. I'm glad we signed Tim Thomas. That is not something I thought I would say ever.

#3 Our locker room will be very interesting this year

That's all you need to know, really.

One more reason why this is probably a steal. Tim Thomas embodies everything I loathe about professional athletes in that he wastes his talent, and really only tries when he has to earn his next paycheck. Well, guess what? He's on a one year deal at the veteran's minimum, and at age 32, is likely playing for his last contract. He's going to be plenty motivated, which means the 3 pointers (over 40% in 3 of the past 5 years) are going to fall. Timmy's pulled this act before, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it's bombs away this season in Dallas.

Conventional NBA Line-Ups

So when my beloved Dallas Mavericks are putting together a roster that eerily resembles what the old Phoenix Suns offenses looked like, and plan to play a crunch time lineup that involves Dirk at center, let's just say I'm a little concerned.

This team needs another center, one that gives them more than what Dampier and Gooden are liable to give them. The ideal candidate is the extremely available Chris Kaman, who provides a big time post presence on offense, double digit rebounding, and blocks a shot and a half per game on D.

A Greg Buckner-Shawne Williams-Kris Humphries triumvirate works under the cap and saves the Clippers about $5.5 million this year assuming they buy out Williams and waive Buckner (only 1 million guaranteed on his 4.2 million dollar contract), and they don't need Kaman with Marcus Camby around. Well, they will when Camby bolts LA after this season but don't tell the Clips that.

Getting a center like Kaman firmly plants this Dallas team firmly in the West's top 3, with potential for more. Standing pat leaves them somewhere in the murky, 3 to 6 range depending on what else they do for the rest of the offseason.

Hearing About Important Sports Stories

As opposed to the avalanche of recycled garbage about Brett Favre, Mike Vick, and Erin Andrews.

This is the dark side of the instant access, 24/7 nature of the society we live in. Once the media opened the Pandora's box that is the Internet, they not only opt to run with it but now feel compelled to do so. In other words, they constantly feel the need to provide a new angle, a new scoop, a new update...even when there isn't one to provide.

That's why we have The Brett Favre Saga (yes, it really does necessitate a proper name at this point), Michael Vick watch, and my two favorites, the LeBron video and the Tim Tebow-Steve Spurrier fiasco.

And really, who cares? None of this stuff is at all important, and in most cases it's truly irrelevant. Even if LeBron had gotten dunked on (and if you saw the video, it was more a case of Bron Bron getting out of the way because it wasn't worth the hassle of playing defense ), it's just another example of what happens to every superstar who plays the game professionally. Even if Tebow didn't get Spurrier's vote for All-SEC, he still won his spot by a 10 to 1 margin.

Get used to it, because it's the flip side of the coin that brings you box scores, stats, highlights, and news at the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, it's not going anywhere for a while.

Seeing Zlatan Ibrahimovic Play

Yes, I did manage to see Ibracadabra after all, in what turned out to be his last match with Inter Milan. I was planning on writing about it, too, but after spending 3 hours in traffic and subsequently only seeing 45 minutes of actual match time, I get drained even thinking about it. As my father described it as the worst driving experience of his life, and keep in mind this is a man who spent half his life in New York City. Moral of the story: don't live in Los Angeles.

The MLB Trade Deadline

As you can probably tell, after writing 2,000 words about it in my Roy Halladay column, which conveniently appears in the post directly below it.

"Shameless plug," you say? You are correct, sir.

And last, but certainly not least...

YouTube Tuesday!

No, I haven't forgotten. The link will be up in a couple hours. Get excited. Yes, that would constitute shameless plug #2. I'm quite OK with that.

The Best Laid Plans....: Why the Rangers Must Trade for Roy Halladay

2009-07-27T04:08:00.000-07:00

Put up or shut up.

Do or die.

Sink or swim.

This time two years ago, those hackneyed forks in the road were staring down Jon Daniels like the barrel of a loaded gun. He was 29 then, and only in his second season as the Texas Rangers GM, yet the luster had long worn off his once incandescent star.

Bad trades will do that to you. You flip an All-Star second baseman (Alfonso Soriano) here, a couple wunderkind prospects (John Danks and Adrian Gonzalez) there, with nothing to show for it, and soon the same baby face that once got you branded a young genius begets labels such as “naïve” and “overmatched.”

Ahead of the July 31st, 2007 MLB trade deadline, Daniels had an opportunity to redeem himself – or destroy his career for good. He was dangling Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne, the best available position player and relief pitcher respectively, and badly needed an infusion of prospects to stimulate a barren farm system.

For the next two weeks, Jon Daniels would be trading for his job. But more than that, he would be trading for his image, his reputation, his legacy. He would be trading to put his career on a fast track down one of those forks in the road.

Make or break.

Kill or be killed.

Theo Epstein or Paul DePodesta.

***************************************************

Today, the Rangers are on their way to becoming the darlings of baseball. They boast one of the best offenses in baseball – no surprise there – but also feature Baseball America’s top farm system, stocked to the brim with promising minor league arms that could potentially slake the franchise’s eternal thirst for quality pitching.

No less than four established every day players – Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, and Elvis Andrus – are core guys on the right side of thirty, with team leader Michael Young capable of providing solid play at third base for another three to four years as a complementary player.

The bullpen runs five deep in quality arms, including baseball’s statistically best 7-8-9 combo in Darren O’Day, CJ Wilson, and Frankie Francisco.

Even the rotation has improved by leaps and bounds under the tutelage of pitching coach Mike Maddux, unearthing a potential long term building block named Scott Feldman while slowly developing uber-prospect Derek Holland.

All of that with nary a mention of the individual star-caliber talents lurking in the minor leagues, and for good reason; even a brief synopsis includes enough names to warrant a completely separate column.

For the first time in a long time, the Rangers have a plan; patiently acquire long term assets, build through the draft while aggressively pursuing Latin American talent, curb spending in the free agent market, and trade any non-essential assets while they have peak value.

Even more important than the plan itself, though, is the franchise’s commitment to it. Over the past eight years, the organization’s pendulum has swung back and forth from trying to buy a team through free agency (think A-Rod and Chan Ho Park), to developing from within (Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira), back to buying a team through free agency (Kevin Millwood), back to developing from within (the ballyhooed trio of John Danks, Edinson Volquez, and Thomas Diamond – none of whom experienced success in a Ranger uniform), with a few meek attempts at balancing the two approaches in between.

None of it worked.

Not even close.

Yet here they are, on the right track and for once, showing no signs of veering off the road.

***************************************************

All of this can be traced back to July 31st, 2007, Daniels’ day of reckoning. It’s the day that changed everything, a line in the sand that created “before” and “after;” “then” and “now;” “B.C.” and “A.D.”

By the time the trade deadline had passed, Daniels turned Teixeira, Gagne, and Kenny Lofton into nine players. Already, four of them (Andrus, David Murphy, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Matt Harrison) have become big league regulars, while three more (Neftali Feliz, Max Ramirez, and Engel Beltre) rank among the team’s top ten prospects. An eighth, Kason Gabbard, made a half season’s worth of starts before eventually being jettisoned.

The immediate impact was akin to a meteor’s in that it was big, and easy to spot; 3 trades, 3 wins, and quickie-remodel of the farm system.

But the ripple effect was even greater, and the team has ridden the wave of momentum ever since, and they have Jon Daniels to thank for it.

Post D-Day 2007, the man just can’t seem to miss. Fresh off striking out in his courtship of Torii Hunter, Daniels turned around and flipped Volquez to Cincinnati for Hamilton, who instantly filled the voids in center field, the middle of the batting order, and as the face of the franchise.

He brought in Milton Bradley, fresh off the worst year of his career, and watched him have his best one. Milton might be gone now, but the two first round picks he brought as free agency compensation certainly will not be forgotten.

He turned others’ trash into his treasure, plucking key relievers O’Day and Jason Grilli, each of whom sports a sub 2.00 ERA with the team, off waivers, as well as coaxing 15 home runs and counting from Andruw Jones, last seen decomposing in Dodger blue.

Most important of all, he shelled out for pitching coach Mike Maddux. Maddux has gotten a young pitching staff to be aggressive by trusting their stuff and the team’s much improved defense. Simply put, it’s working; the Rangers currently 12th in the majors in total pitching after finishing dead last in 2008 with an atrocious 5.37 ERA.

For two years and counting, Daniels has been building something special. It’s no longer a question of ‘if’, but rather a declarative of ‘when;’ soon, very soon, the Rangers will be a force to reckoned with.

***************************************************

‘When’ was supposed to be 2010, or at least that was the plan. Daniels said so himself during spring training, citing that as the date when some of that young pitching would not only trickle into the majors, but also begin to pay dividends.

What Daniels didn’t count on was the pieces coming together ahead of schedule. The Rangers are currently 54-42, good for 3.5 games back in the AL West. Given the sorry state of affairs that passed for a track record over the past decade, that would be impressive enough in its own right.

Yet it’s even more significant in how they’re accomplishing it. The Rangers aren’t playing out of their heads to get to this mark, nor are they even playing within them. If anything, the Rangers might be underachieving.

That’s the term I’d use when Kinsler, a career .280 hitter who raked to the tune of .320 in 2008, is plodding along at .244.

It’s the word that describes Josh Hamilton’s injury-plagued campaign; “Hambone” is hitting .228 with 7 HRs and 28 RBIs.

Chris Davis barely staying above the Mendoza line? The switch-hitting Saltalamacchia, formerly the best hitting prospect in the minors, re-defining mediocrity at .246 with 7HRs? Yeah, I’d call that underachieving.

Here’s the thing, though: these guys are way too talented – and in Kinsler and Hamilton’s case, too accomplished - to be this bad. Soon, they’re going to turn it around. Considering that the Rangers are currently in the thick of a pennant race, all the while fighting off a collective slump at the plate, there is certainly reason for optimism.

It’s also evidence that this season is no fluke. While the finished product is still a ways away, it would be foolish to dismiss the 2009 Rangers’ accomplishments as anything less than the beginning stages of contention. Contention that wasn’t expected this soon.

This brings us to Friday’s trade deadline.

Despite the dramatic improvement that Mike Maddux has coaxed from the pitching staff, it’s apparent that the starting rotation isn’t strong enough to hold up down the stretch of a pennant race, much less on the battlefields of October.

The nominal ace, Kevin Millwood, is best suited to be a second starter, with Feldman and Vincente Padilla as the third and fourth starters rather than their current lot as two/thirds of a playoff rotation. While Derek Holland’s talent is considerable, so too are his growing pains and at this stage of the season, he’s doing the team more harm than good during his starts.

Normally, these types of issues cannot be resolved until the off-season, when teams have time and energy exclusively devoted towards shoring up these shortcomings.

But these are not normal times. Not when Roy Halladay is available.

It’s been well-documented that the Toronto Blue Jays ace won’t come cheap, which is to be expected. Pitchers of his caliber are so rarely available, even less so when they still have two years on their contract remaining. At age 32, Halladay is the total package; in his prime, under control, dominant, and capable of inducing ground balls, an absolute must at Rangers’ Ballpark in Arlington.

Acquiring Halladay requires the Rangers to part with one of the organization’s three elite prospects – Holland, Feliz, or first baseman Justin Smoak – as well as three other high-level minor leaguers.

That’s no small matter, considering:

A. the team has invested so much in building the farm system;

B. these prospects project as upper rotation starters (Holland and Neftali Feliz) or middle of the order bats with Gold Glove chops (Smoak);

and C. the issue of cash strapped Tom Hicks having to take on the remaining $22 million on Halladay’s deal.

In this case, the risks are worth the reward. For all these prospects’ talent, their best case scenario is becoming Halladay. Best case. Worst case – there are exponentially more of these – they go any number of other routes including injury, failure, or not being good enough.

Nobody knows for certain what Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz will ultimately give the Texas Rangers. We certainly didn’t with Mark Prior and Doc Gooden, the epitome of “can’t miss” pitching prospects who did just that.

But I do know what Halladay will give them: a true ace, and the best pitcher to grace Arlington since Nolan Ryan was on the mound over 15 years ago. A rotation of Halladay, Millwood, Feldman, Padilla, and Holland or the emerging Tommy Hunter ranks among the league’s stoutest, and would make them the favorites in the AL West.

The farm system, while shaken, would still be overflowing with talent; in the words of Rangers insider Jamey Newberg, “Texas would have to make five blockbuster trades in the next six days to empty its system.” Moreover, when those young pitchers reach the big leagues, they’d find no better role model than Halladay, who was sent down from the majors all the way to A ball only to then remake himself into arguably the best pitcher in the game.

Trading for Halladay would be the perfect blend of trying to win now while working towards the future, an approach that they are so unaccustomed to succeeding with. Surrender the right mix of prospects, and the Rangers can probably get Toronto to foot some of the bill on Halladay’s salary too.

Yes, the Rangers are on the right track, but standing still nonetheless will get them run over.

Thus, two years after that eventful trade deadline, Jon Daniels again has the chance to change his team’s fortunes. Will he capitalize?

***************************************************

So, no, this season wasn’t part of Daniels’ plan.

The thing with plans, however, is that they’re all projection. And projection only gets you so far in baseball, a sport where untold legions of tomorrows never see their day, yet teams still mar the present for a shot at such uncertain glory.

Sometimes, that’s fine. It was the right call two years ago, when the team needed a way out of baseball irrelevance. That time it worked, for everything that the Rangers are and will be stems from the decisions made during that week.

But it’s not now.

Not when the Rangers, for once, have a chance to win their division for the first time in over a decade.

Not when Texas, one of the great baseball states, is starved for a winner in the professional ranks to rival the success they’ve relished at the collegiate level.

Not when Roy Halladay is on the market.

Once again, Jon Daniels is staring down two paths.

Trade or stand pat.

Adapt, or stick to the plan.

Give it a shot, or wait ‘til next year.

Let’s hope he knows which one to take.

YouTube Tuesday: Ibra-cadabra!

2009-07-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Roughly six hours from now, my father and I will hit the Rose Bowl to see two of the half dozen best soccer teams in the world take the pitch in the grandiosely named World Football Classic. Its something I've looked forward to for a while now, and making matters convenient, it pits my least favorite club in the entire world, Chelsea, against my favorite club in the entire world, Inter Milan.

There are many reasons I love Inter, but one of the most aesthetically pleasing is a Swede. Now before images of scantily clad Swedish women begin bounding through your head, let me temper your enthusiasm: I'm talking about a male Swede. A male, 6'4'' Swede with a very crooked nose who with a tongue twisting name of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or Ibra to those in the know.

Less excited? Well, I can't blame you. The reason I use the term "aesthetically pleasing" to describe him isn't because he's particularly attractive, but because "Ibra-cadabra" performs the kind of magic with a soccer ball that's so out-of-this world, it bring you back to the days when you believed in the Tooth Fairy and booked round-trip tickets to Narnia.

Allow me to clarify. 6'4'' is very, very tall, for a soccer player and the majority of players that size tend to lumber across the pitch, using their size to outmuscle their opponents. Ibrahimovic, however, is an anomaly; not only can he use his strength with the best of them, but he also dribbles with a deft touch normally possessed by men a foot shorter than him.

To draw a familiar parallel, that's like a crossing Tim Duncan's size with Allen Iverson's handles.

Now, I've seen plenty of Inter games on TV and am well familiar with Zlatan's heroics. But seeing him live is something that I may never again have the opportunity to witness; after all, it's not exactly convenient to travel halfway across the world for 90 minutes of soccer.

So you can imagine my abject horror - and fury - when Inter agreed to sell him to Barcelona last Friday.

While the clubs are still working out the final details, the odds are very long that Ibra steps onto the field tonight in a meaningless game, for an outfit he is shortly about to vacate. In all likelihood, he played his last match in Inter's black-and-blue striped shirt on Sunday evening.

That's right, I missed out on possibly my only chance to see my favorite soccer player by two f*cking days.

Sports Gods: 1 Mike: 0

I'm the stubborn type, though, and one way or another I'm going to see some Ibrahimovic today. So are you, because I'm dedicating YouTube Tuesday to Ibra-cadabra and his magic.

Watch and be amazed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBvrb_4fwdM

It's YouTube Tuesday!

2009-07-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Epiphany: I need more "bloggy" stuff. Let me explain.

Most of the material I've written for this site is pure column/op-ed stuff. Which is good, since I intend on making a career out of this sort of thing. As a result, I've taken to re-posting most of this stuff elsewhere, in an effort to build a name for myself and get a readership going.

This is all peachy-keen, except for one nagging question: If I'm writing a blog, and posting a good majority of the material elsewhere (namely Bleacher Report), then why keep doing the blog at all?

Because this is a lot more fun. Even though journalism's center stage is increasingly internet-centric, many of the tools of the trade were still forged in the newspaper age. The profile, the column, the editorial, the cut-and-dry news story... this stuff is still the backbone of what we absorb every day.

As well it should be; just because cars go faster than they used to doesn't mean we should stop putting engines in them.

But the downside to this, and the upside to the internet, is that these traditional methods often discourage spontaneity. For a column to be good, it has to have a point behind it, and the structure to match. I certainly enjoy doing that and believe I'm effective at it, but sometimes I want to just throw down a bunch of bullet points about how the NBA offseason, or go off on a 3 paragraph mini tangent.

The internet allow for that creativity. America's Twitter obsession is exhibit A, the journalistic equivalent of a teenager rebelling against the structured environment of his/her parents. The key is balance; nobody wants their news exclusively in 140 character snapshots, but it would also be silly to waste to the internet's immense potential.

Hence the need for more "bloggy" stuff to complement the analysis. And as a result, I've decided to institute YouTube Tuesdays.

Every week, I'll post a link to a video on YouTube that I find to be fascinating for whatever reason. Generally, these will be sports related but I reserve the right to post something random should the mood strike me. I also reserve the right to post YouTube videos on days not called Tuesday, because should Uncle Ron Ron come up with another Jackson tribute on a Wednesday, there isn't a snow flake's chance in hell that I'm waiting six more days to spit out that URL.
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For the inaugural edition, we're going with a highlight video of Jason "White Chocolate" Williams' 10 greatest plays.

Yes, I realize that Williams ended up being a massive disappointment whose ultimate contribution to the NBA was a bizarre fusion of thuggish looks and a West Virginia accent, but everybody forgot way too how much of a sensation this guy was when he hit the league. He had uncanny court vision and the flair to match, and honest to God played like a cross between Magic and Pistol Pete. Really. I'm not kidding.

Anyways, for all his considerable talent, he never could channel it consistently because he never thought like a point guard. He played point guard, but he wasn't a point guard. But when during those flashes of brilliance, he was unbelievable to watch.

Take a look and consider this a glimpse of what might have been:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYnW07d062g&feature=related

I Hate "That Guy!!!"

2009-07-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

Last week, I waxed poetic about the numerous ways the Shawn Marion trade will improve my beloved Dallas Mavericks and as those of you who read the article know, there are many reasons to be excited. I did, however, leave one out. Perhaps my favorite. And as you, dear reader, can probably guess, it involves my amateurish photo-shopping of Devean George's self-involved smirk.

See, as part of this deal, I now sleep content with the knowledge that Devean George will never again infest the locker room of my favorite sports franchise. Let me assure you, this is no small victory; if I had to assign a dollar amount that I would have paid out of my own pocket to banish Devean George to the Island of Irksome Role Players, the ballpark figure would have been around $7500.

So believe me when I say that the emotional payoff of the Mavs shipping him out while simultaneously acquiring one of my favorite players (Marion) is like Moses leading the Hebrews into a beer garden after their 40 year jaunt through the desert.

In case this hasn't clanked you over the head like an errant Devean George jump shot, allow me to make myself Crystal Taylor clear: I hate Devean George. A lot. Ultimately, its a pretty benign hatred, mostly because it would be pretty impractical to really do something about it; I don't intend to embarass him publicly, slash his tires, or even TP his house. But it's as real as your worst college hook-up and just like those "cold sores" you got a week later, it ain't going anywhere for a while.

Why do I hate Devean George, you ask? Because he's "that guy." We all have one, a bit player on your favorite team who is mostly inconsequential to it's success yet ekes out just enough playing time to drive you, and everyone around you, insane.

If he's a football player, he doesn't hit the hole hard, or he arm tackles, or he gets penalized way too often.

"That guy" in baseball takes called 3rd strikes, nibbles around the strike zone, or constantly grounds into double plays.

If it's a basketball player, well, he's Devean George.

In my defense, it didn't have to be this way. I really had high hopes for Devean George and his career 5.6 ppg scoring average. It's not my fault that whenever he touched the ball, he had Kobe Bryant's shot selection with Bryant Reeves' game. Or that I trust his corner 3 less than Shawn Kemp at a buffet line. I certainly can't be blamed for him unleashing his trademark defense, which involved pushing, pulling, grabbing, shoving, and sometimes punching opposing players in ways that I didn't think were legal in at least a dozen states, let alone the basketball court.

Yet he somehow was even more insufferable off the court. In February 2008, he sabotaged a package deal that would have sent him to New Jersey in exchange for Jason Kidd because he didn't want to hurt his market value in a contract year, apparently the last person to realize that his game would do that for him. Five months later, there was Devean George, all to happy to slink back into a Mavs uniform for half his previous year's salary.

Don't even get me started on his theatrics whenever the Mavericks journeyed to the Staples Center, site of his glory years as the 8th man on the Lakers' title teams. Between the incessant flirting with Penny Marshall and his sanctimonious preening for the six remaining fans that gave actually gave damn about him, Devean George's biannual homecoming was equal parts obnoxious and pathetic, an irrelevant piece of self-promotion rivaled only by Guns N'Roses' "Chinese Democracy."

I could go on, but why bother? Much like me 10 minutes into Devean George's Dallas career, you've probably seen enough.

Right now, I suspect some of you are disgusted. You're probably wondering why I get so worked up about a bit player who played 15 minutes per night. 15 agonizing minutes, I say, but point taken. I've never met Devean George, and for all I know, he could be a really nice guy. He doesn't have a rap sheet, never runs his mouth to the media, and that the Dallas front office welcomed him back with open arms after he submarined their intial attempts to get Kidd definitely speaks to something. Personally I'm of the opinion that "something" entails blackmail, but hey, I wasn't in the room when he signed the contract papers.

Yes, some of you are probably shaking your heads. But you know what? I know that a lot more of you are nodding in agreement.

Because let's be honest, this is about more than my loathing of one Devean Jamar George. No, this about every fan, of every team, and "that guy" who the front office deposited on their roster like a flaming bag of poo, rang the doorbell, and expected you, the loyal fan, to deal with the consequences. East Coast; West Coast; Midwest; Southwest, we've all been there. Regardless of where your loyalties lie, you feel my pain on this one, and I, yours.

So I want to know: who's your Devean George? Think of this column as sports therapy, and the comments section as your safe space. It's OK, I don't like to judge.

Except Devean George. I hate that guy.

I Love Ron Artest

2009-07-10T16:45:00.001-07:00

I really, truly do. Mostly because he's crazy. Not in a serial killer way, not in a "fling poop at the walls way," but in a "crazy like your senile Uncle Benny, who you kinda wish wasn't a part of your family but somehow you tell stories about him anyway because he's absolutely ridiculous" kind of way. If that makes sense. In fact, I think I'm going to start calling Artest "Uncle Ron Ron" from now on. It's only fitting.

So anyways, it's a good thing that I think so highly of Uncle Ron Ron because now that we both reside in Los Angeles, I'm going to have a lot more of him in my life. And what better way to endear himself to both me, and the family of the late, great Michael Jackson than by making his own tribute video on YouTube? Hey, Malice at the Palace or no Malice at the Palace, he's a sensitive guy.

Normally, I'd write more of an intro for something like this, but nothing I do can remotely prepare you for...well, take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGo0jGZMawM

To paraphrase my crazy Uncle, "you my n*gga Ron Ron."

Enter The Matrix

2009-07-09T23:51:00.001-07:00

Confession time: ever since Shawn Marion’s second season in the NBA, I’ve been infatuated with his game. More than any forward not named ‘Garnett,’ Marion has been blessed with the ability to blend into the fabric of a game, skirting the line between taking over and slipping into the shadows. On offense, he possesses the rare trifecta of 3-point range, an ability to drive to the rim, and post up skills. Defensively, he’s one of the league’s premier defenders, equally adept at guarding 2s, 3s, and 4s.

Up until now, I’ve followed Marion’s career via an admiring eye from afar, periodically wondering what if my beloved Dallas Mavericks kept the pick Phoenix used to draft him, and instead paired him with Dirk Nowitzki.

Now, a decade after he entered the league, I’ve got my chance to find out. And even though the 31 year-old Marion is reaching the latter stages of his prime, I’m giddy thinking of what he can add to this Dallas team.

Actually, giddy doesn’t nearly do it justice. Right now, I’m the kid in a Corn Pops commercial. “I gotta have my Pops!” Only instead of fructose-laced pellets of death, I gotta have a 6’7’’ combo forward. Probably better for my figure in the long run, anyway.

The reason I’m so excited about Marion is because he is the yin to Dallas’ yang, a one-size-fits-all solution to so many of this team’s problems. Consider the following:

*Shawn Marion is an elite perimeter defender. If the Mavs are serious about prying back open their window to an NBA title, and they are, it is imperative that they find a way to deal with the one constant among every serious contender: a pair of scoring wings. Kobe and Artest; Ginobili and Jefferson; Carmelo and JR Smith; Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter; Allen and Pierce. Cleveland’s the exception to this rule, but LeBron more than compensates for this on his own.

Ignore, for a moment, the offensive potential of a Marion-Josh Howard combo (and yes, it’s considerable enough to perhaps warrant mention with the above group) and instead recall the difficulties Dallas had stopping some of these players last season. Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, and Vince ran roughshod while the others on this list gave the team fits in at least one game during the season.

Last year, against these types of pairings, the Mavs only means of countering was to play Antoine Wright together with Howard, which created two problems. First, Wright is a non-entity on offense that teams would give carte blanche to shoot in exchange for having an extra man to double Nowitzki, Howard, or Jason Terry; Antoine rarely made them pay.

Second, while Josh has the ability to be an exceptional player on both ends of the floor, counting on him to defend the opposing team’s top scorer while simultaneously expecting him to double as Dallas’ co-second option (along with Terry) is not only draining but extremely risky; if he endures a second consecutive injury prone season, Dallas is irrecoverably weakened on both ends of the floor.

Enter Marion. He’s an upgrade in every way over Wright, meaning that the team not only improves defensively, but also eliminates the need to play 4 vs. 5 on offense, a sacrifice they too often made in order to accommodate Wright’s defense. Marion also makes Howard’s life a lot easier by drawing the task of covering the opposing team’s best player, which in turn eases the defensive burden on Josh and subsequently allows him to expend more energy on offense.

Finally, go back and read that list one more time. Apart from the Lakers, none of those teams has two defenders as good as Marion and Howard, and some of them don’t even have one. Obviously, it’s a great thing for the Mavs offense, but it has even more disruptive potential on defense given the likelihood that Dallas will be one of the few teams capable of disturbing those aforementioned teams’ offensive rhythm. Come playoff time, that’s a huge, series-altering edge.

*Shawn Marion will fit within the flow of the offense. The now-exhausted tagline for those following the 2008-2009 Dallas Mavericks was “they need more firepower.” Believe me, I know. There were only three real scoring threats on last year’s team, and two of them, Howard and Terry, missed half the regular season between them. That meant that for weeks at a time, the only way this team had a fighting chance of winning was if Dirk and Howard/Terry combined for at least fifty points. It was brutal to watch. Borderline soul crushing, even.

But did you know that despite that, the Mavs finished 9th in the league in scoring last season at 101.7 points per game? While only having three double digit scorers? What that means is as bad as things looked, the offense really isn’t that far off from resembling the elite units from the ghosts of Mavericks’ past.

It also means that the best way to maximize the offense’s potential isn’t to add another premium scoring option, because it could upset the balance of the offense by taking a chunk of shots away from Dirk, Howard, and Terry. Rather, the solution is to add a few complementary scorers, and nobody plays “complementary scorer” better than Shawn Marion.

In Phoenix, he was technically the fourth option who rarely had plays drawn up for him, yet he flirted with 20ppg in almost every season he played there by channeling the same tenacity that earned him his reputation on defense. Using smarts, fantastic off-the-ball movement, and just plain hard work, Marion forced his way into the box score via putbacks, cuts to the basket, and the occasional three pointer. The proof is in the numbers; Marion is a career 17.8ppg scorer on 14.8 shots per game and 48.1% shooting. In other words, he puts the ball in the bucket at an efficient rate.

Analysts cite his decline by pointing at four consecutive years of decreased scoring, but what they omit is that Marion also posted the four lowest shot totals of his career as well during that period. I’m not saying that he’s magically going to return to his Suns glory days overnight, but the rumors of his demise certainly appear to be over-exaggerated.

Acquiring Marion is an easy way to add offense without taking touches away from the team’s primary scoring options. While he’s bristled in the past at being a third or fourth option, he’s also coming off back to back losing seasons and signed with Dallas after testing the free agent market for the first time in his career, meaning that he knows exactly what he’s getting into and is fine with it. It wasn’t too long ago that Nick Van Exel and Jerry Stackhouse were also considered problem players, but both turned into veteran leaders during their tenure in a Mavs uniform; there’s no reason to think Marion won’t do the same.

*Shawn Marion creates offensive versatility.
By this, I mean both in the personnel available on the floor as well as the style the team plays.

In all likelihood Marion’s arrival will shift Josh Howard to shooting guard, meaning that the Mavs’ starting lineup will be Jason Kidd-Howard-Marion-Nowitzki-Marcin Gortat with Jason Terry essentially playing starter’s minutes off the bench. Thanks to Marion’s versatility, however, the looks that Rick Carlisle can throw at other teams are almost limitless.

They can go jumbo-sized, demonstrated by the aforementioned starting lineup that features above average to exceptional rebounders at all five positions.

They can play small and feature Marion at the 4 (where he made his bones in his Phoenix days), using a lineup of Kidd-Terry-Howard-Marion-Gortat.

Or they could even give Mike D’Antoni a wet dream by playing Nowitzki at center, simultaneously featuring five above average to exceptional shooters on the floor. Simply by virtue of having Nowitzki, the Mavs were already an unconventional team that was tough to strategize against but adding Marion creates limitless offensive wrinkles to explore.

The biggest key to the 2005-2006 Finals team’s success was their versatility. Fast or slow, big or small, it didn’t matter what type of game their opponent played because the Mavs could exploit any weakness with equal effectiveness. That type of versatility has been missing since, and it’s evident in the team’s results.

Shawn Marion changes that. It’s an older squad, but teams once again are going to fear Dallas because they’ll once again be able to play any style, at any time – and win doing it.

So what does it all mean? In a nutshell, by acquiring Marion, the Dallas Mavericks just improved significantly on both ends of the floor without drastically altering their offensive structure. Best of all, it cost them virtually nothing; Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George weren’t part of the team’s plans while the newly signed Quinton Ross replaces Antoine Wright’s contributions.

It’s too soon to pass judgment on where the Mavericks stand in the West until the offseason is over, but even just two weeks into free agency, it’s readily apparent that next year’s team is much, much improved over the 2008-2009 version – and Shawn Marion is the biggest reason for it.

Of Toolboxes, Focus, and Federer: How Andy Roddick Redeemed Himself at Wimbledon

2009-07-06T12:18:00.001-07:00

I’d love to tell you that I woke up at 6:15AM Pacific Standard Time, feverishly anticipating the Wimbledon Final.

I might have prepared myself a bowl of cereal and poured a tall glass of orange juice before parking myself on the couch, willing the minutes to go by faster. I could have pontificated on Roger Federer’s legacy, wondering what kind of a match he would have had with legends such as Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, and Pete Sampras. I would have nodded with the talking heads as they recounted how special last year’s final was, all the while wondering how a healthy Rafael Nadal would have affected Federer’s pursuit of supremacy.

But I did none of these things. Instead, I slept in, content with the knowledge that I would, in all likelihood, see the match results in box score form rather than watching them play out first hand.

I didn’t make that decision because I’d rather undergo a root canal than wake up any time in the 6:00AM hour, although I’m only half-kidding about that. No, I didn’t watch it because I honestly didn’t feel like seeing Andy Roddick lose in straight sets.

And really, can you blame me? Roddick entered Sunday with a career record of just 2-18 against Federer, including three losses in Grand Slam finals - the only ones Roddick has been to since his memorable 2001 US Open Title. Those matches usually played out in the same, demoralizing fashion; Roddick pouring every bit of gasoline upon his house-on-fire serve, only to watch helplessly as Federer cleanly and efficiently ripped his heart out in any and every way imaginable.

Indeed, it wasn’t one overriding cause as much as it was an inundation of the little intricacies of Federer’s game, fitting together like a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. While Roddick tried to bludgeon each opponent to death with brute strength, Federer dug into his toolbox and pulled out the specific shot he needed at that moment. Backhand volley? Check. Drop shot at the net? Check. Winner down the line, pinpoint second serve, crosscourt forehand? Check, check, and check.

Try as Andy might, he couldn’t beat Roger Federer because Federer, simply put, is much, much better at the sport of tennis.

So naturally, I was intrigued when I read the simple text message my buddy Matt sent me at 9:39AM.

WAKE UP AND WATCH THE END OF WIMBLEDON.

When the TV flickered on and the numbers 10-10 stared back at me, that intrigue turned into a pleasant shock. After watching a few points and placing a phone call to my father –a former tennis teacher who knows more about the game than I know about anything – it became readily apparent that not only was Roddick holding his own with Fed, but he was actually giving the Swiss Maestro all he could handle. As Roddick later pointed out, Federer was, “for the first time ever,” struggling to return Roddick’s serve.

In fact, equally important as what Roddick was accomplishing was how he was accomplishing it. As paramount as Roddick’s serve is to his identity as a player, the improvements made to the rest of his game were what got him this far.
Here was Roddick going to net, putting away a Federer drop shot.

There was Roddick flummoxing Federer with a drop shot of his own, no doubt leaving the 14 time Grand Slam Champion wondering when, exactly, Roddick started using a drop shot in the first place.

Everywhere was Roddick, traversing the court with movement not seen since that US Open so many years ago.

Suddenly, Andy Roddick had a toolbox of his own. It wasn’t as diverse as Federer’s, but that’s hardly a fair comparison; at this point, we might as well start calling Fed “Black and Decker.” Still, Roddick put on a display that few would have thought possible, finally playing balanced tennis rather than trying to blast the ball on every shot.

As Roddick’s 27th birthday approaches, one has to wonder whether we’re finally seeing him reach maturity. He’s married now, and the only headlines he’s made off the court recently were commenting about the music in his wife’s iPod, a far cry from the days where his picture would frequent the pages of tabloids newspapers. On the court, he sucked up his pride and sucked in his gut, hiring accomplished coach Larry Stefanski and immediately obeying his request to drop 15 pounds.

Not surprisingly, that newfound focus produced results. After questioning his place in the sport just one year ago, Roddick demonstrated that he’s not only still here, but that he can hang with anyone – even against perhaps the greatest player ever.

Ultimately, Roddick couldn’t hold on at Wimbledon. But for once, a Roddick loss to Roger Federer didn’t leave us with a feeling of disappointment. Instead, it left us with hope and a promise –Andy Roddick is back to where he belongs.

Twas The Night Before Draft Day...

2009-06-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

...and there is a lot going on. Very refreshing, given that this is the "No Balls Association" we're talking about. Several major trades, the most unpredictable draft in history, trade rumors flying around like erotic emails from the esteemed governor of South Carolina - sign me up!

I'll have more draft related stuff up after the draft night festivities are over, but right now I've got a lot on my mind, so we're going bullet point style:

*As a fan of one of the 29 NBA teams that DIDN'T trade for Shaq, I'm relieved. Thrilled, even. And unless you're a Cavs fan or a Suns fan who is preparing for the nuclear winter that is their 2009-2010 season, you should be thanking Yahweh, Jesus, Allah, Krishnu, Buddha, assorted pagan gods, and/or whatever voodoo doll you deem the source of your salvation that your team wasn't a part of this, because its not going to end well.

Now, to the Cavs credit, getting Shaq for this cheap is a coup, especially since the Cavs fans in my life despised Sasha Pavlovic so much they were considering pooling their money to hire someone to go Tonya Harding on his kneecaps.

But lost in the hullaballoo of bringing in the man soon to be known as The Big Dying Industrial City is this: the Phoenix training staff prescribes HGH. Or are pretty good at their jobs. But probably the first one.

Seriously, how is this not a bigger story? You're expecting me to believe Grant Hill, who hadn't played in 80 games since the 1997-1998 season, suddenly went Ponce de Leon (that's a fountain of youth reference for those of you keeping score at home) at age 36? That Steve Nash's body hasn't gone the way of a crash test dummy after the beating he's taken throughout his career? Or more to the point, that the last time Shaq played in as many as 75 regular season games (last year's total) was in 1999-2000 - and that was with him taking mandatory rest days?!? If this was baseball, we'd have already blacklisted the entire team. Yet because it's on the hardwood, we pretend that this stuff is normal. This is straight out of the Barry Bonds playbook, folks. You've been warned.

Anyways, regardless of whatever the hell is going on in Phoenix, the bottom line is Shaq won't have it at his disposal anymore. A 350lb, 37 year old man who already struggled playing 30+ minutes a night...sounds fantastic. Shaq is one of a kind, so nothing would surprise me with him, and he certainly brings a lot to the table, especially for such a low cost. But I'm setting the over/under on his games played at 55, and I'm taking the under.

*You know what deal didn't suck? San Antonio getting Richard Jefferson. You know what deal made me very sad as a fan of one of the 29 NBA teams that DIDN'T make it? Yeah, that one.

It's perfect for what they need: an athletic swingman in the prime of his career who can score, play decent defense, and is durable. Since Ginobili and Duncan are good for missing around 50 games between them, that last part is particularly important. Now if San Antonio has to go to war without one of the Parker/Duncan/Ginobili triumvirate, they're covered. Not to mention that Bruce Bowen will likely boomerang back to San Antonio if and when Milwaukee buys him out. Needless to say, I'm less than thrilled that this development happened in the Mavs' division.

Underrated deal for Milwaukee as well, in that it accomplishes everything they set out to do in one foul swoop. Clear cap space? Check. Get a decent asset out of the deal (Amir Johnson, after flipping Fabricio Oberto to Detroit)? Check. Waste said cap space on soft, defensive liability of a power forward (Charlie Villanueva) instead of the most underrated young point guard in the league (Ramon Sessions)? Pending.

*In the supposed "year of the point guard," three that I love: Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, and Eric Maynor.

*Three that I don't: Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holliday, and Nick Calathes.

*And three that I have no clue on: Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, and Jeff Teague.

*This draft has been called the worst since 2000, with the potential to be even more crap-tastic. No question it's bad, but I have to disagree on the latter point. I doubt there will be many All Stars, and I wouldn't be shocked if there are no superstars but what this does have is depth; you can get a decent player all the way through the mid to late 20s in this draft, and there really isn't much difference between the guy you can get at 10 versus as 25.

Hence, the unprecedented amount of confusion less than a day before the draft, which is incredible given that we live in an age of omni-present media and reporting. Or maybe not, since that same age has given rise to an unprecedented amount of shoddy journalism, creating an ever present digital smokescreen. Honestly, I like it. Give the suspense. If this draft is going to be bad, it might as well be interesting.

*One last thought that I'll expand upon in my post draft column. On Tuesday, I wrote about how Lamar Odom epitomized Stu from "The Hangover" in that you have no clue what to expect from them. Well, this draft is chock-full of Stus, and given the aforementioned parity in the talent pool, you could simultaneously rationalize gambling on one ("I might as well take a shot at something special if the alternative is guaranteed mediocrity") or avoiding them entirely ("You can deal with that headache; I'll take my guaranteed rotation guy, thank you").

Personally, I'm anti-Stu but if there ever is a draft to roll the dice, its this one. Thankfully, Dallas is in the perfect position at #24 because the draft will come to them, and they can simply take the best player available.

My realistic wish list for tomorrow night:

1. Eric Maynor
2. Sam Young
3. Austin Daye (I'd be surprised, but not shocked if he was here)
4. Chase Budinger
5. Wayne Ellington

"The Hangover" and the 2009 LA Lakers: More Similar than You'd Think

2009-06-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

At the risk of vomiting uncontrollably on my laptop, I’ve got another Laker thought:

Having recently seen “The Hangover” like the rest of America, it dawned on me how striking the parallels are between the intrepid cast of the movie, and this year’s Laker squad.

Kobe is Phil, the cool guy who everyone gravitates toward and the de facto leader of the group, even though he’s kind of an asshole. Phil also has a wife and kids, yet doesn’t hesitate to hit on strippers over the course of the movie… I don’t think I have to explain the parallel there.

Odom is Stu because you never know what you’re going to get. One minute, Stu is a respected dentist with a sweater tied around his neck; the next, he’s missing a tooth and marrying a hooker at a quickie Vegas wedding. Meanwhile, Lamar over the course of his career has smoked enough marijuana to fill an entire forest, developed a bizarre candy addiction (and I wouldn’t rule out those two things having a cause-and-effect relationship), and oh, by the way, is one of a half-dozen guys tops who has the potential to slap together a triple-double any night he walks on the court. I don’t get Lamar Odom. Let’s move on.

Derek Fisher is Alan. The rest of the crew hated Alan and tried to pretend that they didn’t know him, mostly because for the majority of the movie Alan ranged from completely worthless in the best of times (with his weird comments, singing, and horribly unkempt appearance) to self-sabotaging in the worst (by roofie-ing his friends). Fish has been the object of scorn for Laker fans all season long for losing the life on his jumper and getting lit up on D all season long. But each one completely redeemed themselves at the most crucial time; Allen made back the group’s money at the blackjack table while Fish buried those 3 pointers in Game 4 of the Finals. Needless to say, nobody’s complaining now – at least until the sequel/championship defense

***Sidebar [and since I don’t have sidebars, I’m using italics]: My buddy Ryan astutely predicted that Zach Galifianakis’ performance would mirror Steve Carrell’s from Anchorman in that he would not only tear it up in this role and steal the show as the 4th lead, which he did, but would use that performance to springboard to much bigger things. Time will tell, but I think he hit the nail on the head. Back to the column***

The two biggest upgrades that made this championship possible for the Lake Show were getting Trevor Ariza and Pau Gasol, and accordingly they represent the biggest upgrade in the movie – Stu going from his completely uptight and borderline insane almost-fiancé to the smoking hot, if promiscuous Heather Graham. Stu’s quality of life had to go up at least 300% after making that switch but to be honest, I’m not sure that 300% even begins to scratch the surface of how big those two trades were for LA. Can you imagine Kwame Brown, Brian Cook, Jarvaris Crittendon, and Marc Gasol (the Billy Baldwin to Pau’s Alec) instead of Pau and Ariza? The Lakers would struggle to be anything higher than a #7 seed. The moral of the story: sometimes you need a bit of luck – and two stupid GMs – to reach the top of the mountain.

Andrew Bynum is Tyler the Baby. Both made were indispensable in making their respective works reach their full potential, both are super young and destined for much better things in the future, and both completely disappeared about a third of the way through the journey.

Finally, Phil Jackson is the Mercedes. He’s old, classy, and still on top of his game, but more significantly, both the car and Phil’s triangle offense were reduced to scrap metal by the end. Still, the beat up wreck of a Benz got the crew to the wedding, and the give-Kobe-the-ball-and-get-out-of-the-way offense [trademark pending] got the Lakers a championship. Without the car, the crew never would have gotten to or from Vegas, or to the desert to pay Mr. Chow. Without Phil, the team would have lost all structure, and Kobe probably would have rebelled.

Deep, huh? OK, probably not, but the parallels are there. I can only hope that like this movie in a few weeks, the Lakers will become completely forgettable…or since that’s not happening, at least an entertaining “Hangover” sequel.

Kobe's All-Time Status

2009-06-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

With Kobe finally winning his own title last weekend, the aftermath naturally centered on his place among the all-time greats. No question Bryant belongs in the mix, or that this ring elevated his status even more among the league’s greats, but where exactly does he fall relative to the history of his position, his franchise, and the league as a whole?

Kobe as a Shooting Guard

Kobe’s position here is most clear-cut. Like everyone else, he’s a level below Michael Jordan but beyond that, there’s only one player at his level – the man who drafted him, Jerry West. But with all due respect to Kobe, he still ain’t The Logo.
Too often we lose perspective of just how great the legends from the past are, and this is true of West perhaps more than anyone. He played before the invention of the 3 point line, meaning that his 27.0 ppg scoring average – already good for 6th all time – would not only have been enhanced, but very well could have become the greatest of all time had he played in a later era. Similarly, West is regarded one of the greatest defenders in league history, yet even this designation isn’t fully appreciated because the league only started tracking steals during his last year in the league; incredibly, at age 36, West still averaged 2.6 swipes per game. For his career, West averaged 27.0 ppg/6.7 apg/5.8 rpg on 47% shooting – each of which surpasses Kobe.

Come playoff time, West got even better. His scoring average of 29.1ppg is third best in league history, and he made the playoffs in all but one of his NBA seasons. Some of these campaigns were just downright silly, such as 1964-1965, during which he averaged 40.6 ppg while shooting 44.2% from the field and 89% from the line.
West’s detractors try to mitigate the significance of these achievements by pointing out that despite nine Finals appearances, he only has one ring to show for his efforts. Of course, West’s Lakers continually ran into the buzz saw that was Bill Russell’s Celtics, a group chock full of future Hall of Famers and who, by the way, might be the greatest dynasty in the history of sports. West is, however, the only player in league history to win Finals MVP on a losing team for his performance in the 1969 Finals.

Overall, Kobe’s one advantage over West is having three more rings, but his competition was nothing compared to West’s. As amazing as Kobe is, The Logo was better across the board and truth be told, enjoyed a career closer to Jordan’s than Bryant’s has been to West’s.

Kobe as a Laker

This is one is pretty tough, because the list of all-time great Lakers is a very long and distinguished one. Ultimately, I put Bryant 6th behind the following players:

*Jerry West, for reasons we’ve already discussed.

*Magic Johnson – Perhaps the greatest Laker (if there is such a thing), as well as the greatest point guard of all time and probably one of the five greatest players ever. Kobe’s good, but not that good.

*Wilt Chamberlain – The single most physically dominant player of all time. Owns the league record for highest scoring and rebounding averages both on the single season and career levels, as well as the distinction of being the only man to score more points in a single game than The Mamba.

*Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – The most decorated athlete in NBA history – and yes, I’m including Jordan. 6 rings, 6 MVPs, 19 All-Star games, the league’s all-time leading scorer… hell, the guy even won a Finals MVP at age 38! Only a couple of other players are in the same stratosphere as that, so there’s no shame in saying that Kobe isn’t one of them.

*Shaquille O’Neal – I could go into why Shaq is probably the second most physically dominant player of all time, or how he made the careers of tons of mediocre role players, or all the specific numbers of how unstoppable he was in his prime but it all boils down to this simple, unavoidable reality: Shaq and Kobe won 3 titles together, and Shaq was Finals MVP all 3 times. In fact, even during the 2003-2004 Finals against Detroit, when Shaq was beginning to decline and Kobe was clearly the best player on the team, Shaq put up vintage numbers (26.6/10.8 on 49% shooting) while Kobe struggled (22.6 ppg on 38% shooting). Although there is a six year age difference between them, those four years dovetailed nicely between Kobe’s ascendance as a superstar and the latter half of Shaq’s prime years; in sum, both were relatively near their peak years, both were two of the game’s most important stars and yet it was indisputably Shaq’s team.

So, Kobe doesn’t crack the top five. Of course, we’re talking about five of the greatest players ever, so this exercise is much more about how loaded the Lakers have been more than it is about Bryant himself.

Kobe as an All-Time Great

Ranking the greatest players of all time is a much larger and more comprehensive project than this column demands. In many ways, it is a futile one; comparing and projecting players across different eras and positions is an impossible task, resulting in an irresolvable debate that would divert attention away from the matter at hand.

Normally I’m all for these, and someday I’ll put together my own list. But for now, we’ll deal in approximates. I’ve heard some columnists say that Kobe has cracked the top 10 but I’m skeptical. After all, we just named five Lakers with better resumes and adding Jordan, Russell, and Bird to the list, that’s an easy eight right there. Going strictly off the top of my head, I’d struggle to place him above Oscar Robertson or Tim Duncan; with some research, you probably can make a case for a few more as well.

What I will say is that he’s firmly entrenched somewhere in the top 20, and most likely in the top 15. Regardless of the exact number, there’s no longer any denying just how great a player #24 has become, and this comes from a man with a long history of attempting to do just that. Winning a title on his own cements Kobe’s status as one of the all time greats, and it is certainly well deserved.

Tower of Power: Breaking Down the 2009 MVP Race

2009-04-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about the NBA is its MVP award and its permanence. Most people couldn’t tell you who the NFL MVP is more than two years after it’s been issued, and MLB’s significance is mitigated by there being an award for each league.
But the NBA’s is always hotly contested and possess additional merit; since the award was first handed out, every single NBA MVP is in the basketball Hall of Fame, the only sport with such a distinction.

The other thing that makes the award so fascinating is that there is no clear cut criteria for who ought to win, and different players have won for vastly different reasons. Thus, in order to break down who I believe should win the award, I’ve devised my own four rule criterion:

1. If you take the player off the team and replace them with an average player, how would the team perform? The award is Most Valuable, not Most Outstanding and this is the best test possible.

2. The closer to playoff time, the more important the stats. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Unless the player’s team is the dominant team of the season, March and April games matter the most because of playoff races and positioning

3. Do they make the players around them better?

4. The player must be the best player on their own team. Often forgotten. If you aren’t the best player on your own team, there’s no way you are the most valuable player in the league.

One more thing, I don’t believe in creating arbitrary lists of contenders. So as an alternative, I’ve devised the “Tower of Power,” in which the contenders are ranked in different stratums. Not all MVP candidates are equal, and there is always a hierarchy. 2009 was one of the best races in recent memory, one in which a few performances could have won the award and several others would have been play in a different season. As such, I found 13 players that I felt bore mentioning in the discussion.

So without further ado…

Tier V: The Red Herrings (Otherwise known as “honorable mention”)

13. Chauncey Billups

Trendy consideration pick because of age old classic “the team played a lot better because he got there” defense. Which, and as Allen Iverson’s biggest fan outside of his immediate family it pains me to say this, is true. But Denver only got five more wins than last year and while that’s all well and good, they wound up as the #2 seed because the conference as a whole (apart from the Lakers obviously) took a dramatic step down.

He also gets a lot of consideration for Denver’s transformation from a soft, run and gun team into a gritty, defensive squad and this too is overblown. No question that his steady presence is a big upgrade over Iverson’s free lancing into the passing lanes, but the Nuggets also made an under-the-radar acquisition getting hustle guy Renaldo Balkman, enjoyed the return of Chris Andersen (6.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.4 bpg in 20.5 mpg) and finally got a full season of health from Nene; that’s a third of a rotation right there.

So was Billups good? Absolutely. But there were much bigger factors at work, and that’s not even getting into the fact that he’s the second best player on his own team (Carmelo being the obvious first) and his numbers (17.7ppg/6.4apg) are nowhere near MVP worthy. Still, Denver’s very good and ironically enough, one Marcus Camby away from being a serious threat to the Lakers.

12. Tim Duncan

The era of him being among the elite players in the league has officially ended.
Want proof? In March, he averaged 16.5/7.5/1.4 on 45% shooting in 30.6 mpg. In April, it became 15.3/11.3/0.9 on 48% in 28.6 mpg. His career averages are 21.4/11.7/2.4 on 50% in 36.9 mpg.

And this isn’t a case of San Antonio resting him for a playoff stretch. Last week against Portland, in a game they HAD to win at home, he could only go for 24 minutes and put up 4 points and 5 boards on 2 for 8 shooting. Sure, that’s one game but for arguably the most consistent player in league history, that just didn’t used to happen, especially in a game of that magnitude.

What is a more realistic gauge of what to expect of this Duncan came Wednesday against the Hornets. He put up 20/19 and carried San Antonio defensively down the stretch. But he took 11 shots to Tony Parker’s 21 (and 29 points) and in an overtime game, played 34 minutes to Parker’s 43.

In other words, he’s still capable of big performances from time to time, he’s still the face of the franchise, he’s still one of the best players in the league defensively… but it’s not his team anymore. With Duncan turning 33 in under two weeks and Ginobili falling apart, it’s very clear that San Antonio is now Parker’s team and will go as far as he’ll take them.

11. Deron Williams

He averaged 19.4 and 10.7 assists on 47% shooting. Not too shabby given that he was playing on a busted ankle all season, and he deserves a lot of credit for being Utah’s ballast in a year where Carlos Boozer slogged through a mere 37 games and Andrei Kirilenko had an emotional meltdown.

Regardless, Utah is a very soft #8 seed that can’t win on the road and despite the level of talent on the team, can be termed nothing short of a major disappointment.
Ultimately, Williams didn’t help his team overachieve but rather helped mitigate the degree of their underachievement. There’s a huge distinction between the two, and it’s the reason why he can’t be taken seriously in the MVP discussion.

Tier IV: Very, Very Good

10. Paul Pierce

Carried Boston on his back after Garnett went down for the season, to the tune of 23-6rpg-3apg for last three months of the season. Boston’s bench, which was shaky during their title run last year, took a step back this season with virtually no reliable depth on the wing so he stepped up and played the more minutes than he had in three years while guarding the opposing team’s top perimeter scorer night after night. The numbers aren’t as gaudy as they used to be, but he’s learned how to win and is a better player overall.

9. Yao Ming

All season long, I expected Houston melt down like they always do. First it was concerns about Ron Artest blending in as a third option…then it was Rafer Alston tearing up the locker room by calling out his own teammates…after that it was TMac settling into his all-to-predictable period of missing half the season due to injury...and finally it was who would run the point after the mercurial Alston, still the team’s starting point guard for over three years, was dealt at the trade deadline. At one point, I was even entertaining the notion that they, not Phoenix, would be the odd team out in the West.

Except they just…kept…winning, in large part due to Yao playing in a whopping 77 games, his highest total since 2004-2005. Sad as it is to say, Houston became a much better team when McGrady went down for the year because it forced them to back to basics on offense. Instead of trying to divide up shots between TMac, Yao, and the ball hungry Artest, the Rockets structured the offense through Yao and attacked defenses based off how they played him.

As a result, this is Houston’s best chance to get out of the first round. They’ve found an identity on offense; play tough D with three great man-up defenders in Artest, Shane Battier, and Chuck Hayes; and get solid production through the use of platoons at point guard (Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks) and power forward (Luis Scola and Carl Landry). But make no mistake; this team is built around Yao and is much better for it.

8. Brandon Roy

One of the useful new stats in the NBA’s information revolution is “effective age,” which averages the ages of a team’s players and weighs it against minutes played. I bring this up because Portland, at 24.7 years, is the youngest team to win 50 games since 1980, and they have Roy to thank for it. Even crazier, Roy himself is only 24 yet here he is, leading a cadre of lottery talent whose bluest chip, Greg Oden, has barely made a blip since being hailed as the league’s next great center.

More significantly, Roy keeps improving his game; he’s raised his scoring average by three points in each of his three seasons in the league (16.8 to 19.1 to 22.6) while bumping his shooting percentage from a solid 45% in his first two years to an impressive 48% this season. He’s one of the best passing off guards in the game and has shot himself into another stratosphere of crunch time scorers, the rarest of players who can drag his team to victory by sheer force of will. How he handles his first playoffs against the aforementioned Rockets will be among the most intriguing Round 1 plotlines.

7. Tony Parker

It’s scary to think of where the Spurs would be if Parker hadn’t made the leap to alpha dog status this season. He averaged 22ppg/6.9apg on an absurd 50% shooting for the season, which would be been impressive enough had he not gone absolutely incendiary at the down the stretch. In March and April, when Duncan’s decline became most evident, Parker picked up the slack by averaging 24.7/7.3 on a mind-blowing 54.9% (!!!!!) shooting. If that wasn’t enough, he also finished third in clutch shooting percentage.

It is no exaggeration to say that Parker might be the most deadly scoring point guard since Isiah Thomas. He doesn’t shoot the three but he’s almost automatic inside twenty feet between his ever improving jumper, sneaky effective floater, and famous, lighting quick drives towards the rim. It’s worth repeating here that he’s shooting at a clip that rivals the league’s best interior players, only he’s taking some of the toughest shots in the league.

As I wrote earlier, this is his team now and at 26, he’s just entering his prime. He’s not the all around threat that his position-mates Chris Paul or Deron Williams are, but nobody puts it in the hoop like Parker.

Tier III: In A Different Year…

6. Dirk Nowitzki

Absolutely the most underrated great season in the league from the guy who may now be its most underrated great player. Consider the following:

*He closed out the season by scoring at least 20 points in 25 straight games. That’s the longest such streak in the NBA this season

*In those 25 games, the Mavs went 16-9 with wins over Phoenix (twice), at Portland, New Orleans, Utah, San Antonio, and Houston. In those particular games, Dirk averaged 28.7/9.6 on 56.1% shooting

*In the process, they went from treading water as the 8th seed all the way up to 6th including an April of winning 6 out of their last 8 in a gauntlet where the margin for error was razor thin. During that stretch, he averaged 30.3/8.8 on 55.1% shooting

That, folks, is called stepping up down the stretch. His effort throughout the season is no less impressive. He finished fourth in the league in scoring with 25.9 ppg on 47.9% shooting, and did so while expanding his offensive repertoire to include what he describes as “the goofy one footed Euro fadeway,” a shot that looks horrendous but is impossible to stop.

All of this occurred with Josh Howard missing 30 games and Jason Terry missing most of February. In a season where the Mavs suffered through their worst bench play in years, Dirk went through half the season without one of the only other two competent scorers on the team and with the pressure of having to score at least 25 just to keep the team in contention to win; like usual, he came through.

Overall, a rebound to his MVP form and one of the best seasons in his stellar career. Even with Terry putting up his best season ever, Dallas would be helpless without Dirk and in a different season, this effort might have been enough to give him serious consideration for his second MVP award.

5. Dwight Howard

There are five players operating on a different level than everyone else in the league right now. Not-so-coincidentally, they comprise the top five on this list and also not-so-coincidentally, Howard ranks 5th among them.
He hasn’t quite captured the consistency of the other four and his relative mediocrity in April both on an individual level (16.4/12.5/2.6 bpg and 50.5% shooting compared to his season line of 20.6/13.8/2.9 and 57.2%) and in his team’s play as they battled for home court advantage (4-5 with losses to the Knicks, Raptors, and Nets) cost him points

Still, the backbone of Orlando’s rise as an elite team – defense and perimeter shooting – is predicated on Howard’s strengths. His 2.9 blocks per game were a league best and that doesn’t take into account the endless number of shots he altered or deterred entirely; simply put, he’s the most feared defensive force in the game right now.

He’s equally pivotal to Orlando’s offensive efforts. He dunks on anyone he wants to in a manner reminiscent of Shaq in his prime and also like Shaq, creates innumerable shot opportunities for other players to knock down. It’s very telling that they can keep chugging along after replacing Jameer Nelson - the front runner for the league’s most improved player award, an All Star, and on his way to having one of the best true shooting percentages in the league - with Houston outcast Alston and not skip a beat. If he develops any semblance of an offensive game more than five feet away from the rim and starts hitting his free throw, the rest of the league might as well give up trying to stop him

Tier II: The Kobe Zone

4. Kobe Bryant

The reigning MVP put together an extremely impressive title defense with his usual stellar numbers but Kobe’s case is built off team success. That this Lakers squad won 65 games with dramatically worse bench play (Trevor Ariza excepted), a glaring lack of consistent play at point guard, and missing Andrew Bynum for an extended period is a testament to how good Bryant and Pau Gasol were. Most importantly, the Lakers became the team that nobody wanted to play and for good reason; they were so good that they lost only two series all season.

Kobe gets his own stratum because as good as Dirk and Howard were, he was better. But this year, we have been treated to three transcendent seasons, three great efforts that have forced their way into the annals of the all-time great performances. Kobe’s numbers aren’t quite at that level, and he had a much better supporting cast than the top three.

So without further ado….

Tier I: Transcendent Seasons

3. Dwyane Wade
Good God was his team terrible. The gap between Wade and the Heat’s second leading scorer Michael Beasley was 16.3 ppg – which is three points more than Beasley’s season average of 13.9 ppg, and easily one of the biggest margins in history. They’ve coaxed 30 mpg out of Jermaine O’Neal’s corpse, 16.1 mpg out of somebody named Joel Anthony, 15.8 mpg out of the one-dimensional James Jones, and their point guard tandem is two players who each ought to be part timers (Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn).

Somehow that made the playoffs. Nobody has done more for a putrid team since Iverson in the latter stages of his Philly career; without Wade, this mess would be lucky to win 10 games.

And the numbers…wow. A league leading 30.2ppg to go with 7.5apg, 2.19 steals per game (good for 2nd in the league), and the shortest player ever to swat 100 shots in a season. He shot 49% on the season, which is fantastic enough in a vacuum but given that he was double- and sometime triple-teamed with nothing close to a second option, it’s surreal. He had a two month stretch where he averaged roughly 34/8/5 on 51% shooting, including nine games at the beginning of March in which the Heat went 7-2 and Wade threw down 40+ in five of them.

The fact that he’s third on this list shows how special of a year this truly has been. Nobody would be disappointed if he won the MVP; he’s certainly put in a Herculean effort and going off my first criterion alone, he’s the runaway winner. But somehow, two guys were even better…

2. Chris Paul

At the rate he’s going, he may threaten Magic Johnson’s status as the greatest point guard ever. Yes, really. He’s only player in league history to finish top 10 in points, steals, and assists, and did it while shooting 50% and with an 11 to 3 turnover ratio. On a New Orleans team that can only manage 95.81 ppg (26th in league), Paul accounts for roughly half of that between his 22.8 ppg and 11 apg; in other words, they are helpless without him.

Even though his team slipped to the 7th seed with a 3-6 April, you can’t blame Paul for his teammates’ failures. His April numbers were better than his season averages virtually across the board as he exploded for 28.3/11.7/2.4 on 53% shooting, while playing 41 minutes a night.

What separates Paul from Wade is that he makes his teammates better while Wade showcased his brilliance almost in spite of his. Paul’s supporting cast is a bit better but it’s no coincidence that David West’s scoring average has risen every season since Paul has been in the league; it’s because every game, Paul draws defenders away leaving West open for at least a few uncontested jumpers.

Similarly, it’s not happenstance that Rasual Butler went from the Miami scrap heap to starter/crunch time shooter, or that Tyson Chandler and Julian Wright get a few easy buckets per game by throwing down CP3’s lobs. The truly great players elevate everyone else’s game even as they elevate their own, and Paul exemplifies that better than anyone. Oh, and he’s only 23.

1.LeBron James

The MVP by virtually every possible measure.

Numbers wise, he became the first top three scorer in history to finish top in the top 25 in all five major average categories (scoring, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks) highlighted by season averages of 28.2/7.6rpg/7.2apg. He would go off on super-nova level explosions, such as a four game swing in mid-March during which he followed up three consecutive triple doubles with a 51 point night…and yes, the Cavs won all of those.

Speaking of winning, he led a relatively average Cavs squad to 66 wins and probably would have tied the home wins record if Mike Brown didn’t opt to sit his players on the last night of the season. He did it while making his teammates better in the process; Mo Williams went from a good point guard who shot too much to an All-Star, Delonte West from a 10th man carving out a career as a trade throw-in to a starter who keeps the backcourt together, and Wally Szczerbiak played his best ball in years.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about his transformation on the defensive end. Simply by virtue of deciding to put in a consistent effort, LeBron went from a below-average defender into one of the best in the league, able to guard four positions man-up and play tremendous help defense as well. He always seems to make one hellacious, game altering block per night out of nowhere, and his steals average is impressive as well. He’ll probably get some Defensive POY awards and he deserves them; he’s the rare combination of a lockdown on-ball defender who both denies possessions as well as forces turnovers.

Overall, it’s the most convincing MVP performance since Iverson in 2001 and the most dominant one since Shaq in 2000, if not the Jordan era. Simply incredible, and he’s only beginning to truly scratch the surface of how good he can be.

Welcome

2009-03-03T17:24:00.001-08:00

So, this is my blog. Cool, huh?

If you've found yourself here, you probably A. know me B. read my work someplace else and/or C. are looking for some quality sports analysis.

It's "C" that I'm looking to provide you. As the title of this blog suggests, my name is Mike and I like sports. In particular, that includes the NBA, MLB, NFL, NCAA Football and Men's Basketball, Soccer and the NHL. I'll be writing about all of that, and more on this space.

The inspiration behind this stems from my belief that there is a lack of competent, engaging, insightful sports writing on a macro-level; by that, I mean that very few people write about multiple sports, with a wide-ranging geographical focus, and do it well.

Instead, with a few exceptions, most of the columnists that we are exposed to fall somewhere within the following checklist:

1. Write about the hot issue of the week and beat it do death with a stick. UGH. I promise not to do that unless its particularly relevant...or unless, you know, I feel like it. It IS my blog after all. But seriously, we all know its really annoying and a cop out.

2. Write a puff piece glorifying somebody we've never heard of. Now, there's nothing wrong with this. I love reading this stuff from time to time, and I'm someone who believes that there isn't enough good news out there these days. But there are columnists (see Reilly, Rick) who make an entire career out of this...and get paid damn well to do it. Props to the guy for getting that gig but his being labeled a "national voice" is like calling Lady GaGa the "national sound." I'm pretty sure that America is a little more compelling, diverse, and complex than shallow, flavor of the week journalism. At least I hope so.

3. Write about the controversial issue or "play the race card" I'm not touching this with a ten foot pole because I don't want to get sued.

4. Write about the obvious "Kobe Bryant is a great basketball player!!!!!!!1!!!!!" Really doctor? Are you SURE?

5. Write without saying something By this, I mean the type of commentary that involves my least favorite phrase on planet Earth: "____ is as good as anyone in the league." This derives from the politically correct, overly sensitive world we live in; everybody is afraid of being wrong so nobody says anything.

Guess what? Life, and sports, don't work that way. You're going to be wrong, and it's going to be OK. The alternative to that is to assimilate into one of the above categories, forever doomed to a career of unimportant drivel.

And that dilemma is what created our current predicament, which in turn created me. Too many writers worried about their alienating their constituencies, a group that spans the country and with widely varied opinions on virtually every issue. So, they decided not to; after all, you can't burn any bridges if you don't write about anything flammable.

Hence, the checklist. They opt to blend in with the scenery through writing about the same stuff everyone else writes about, either through the same emphasis on the obvious or the same aversion toward orignial thought. Or they write fluff pieces in order to demonstrate that "life is more important than sports," a sentiment that is true but one that does not compell me to navigate my brower towards espn.com rather than CNN. Occasionally, you have someone fall into category #4 but even that counter-culture has become predictably mainstream; the void left by the late Ralph Wiley, a man would dance around the controversial issue with a deft touch and unique opinions, has yet to be filled.

Too infrequently does it extend beyond that. Which is unfortunate, because there are shades of gray and compelling topics to be explored.

They don't see it that way. I do. One promise I can make you is that I do have opinions, and I'm certainly not afraid to express them. Along with that, I'll give you plenty of evidence to back them up. Just as there's a big difference between saying nothing and saying something, there's an even bigger one between expressing an opinion and giving quality analysis. I'm going to fall into the latter category.

So now that you know where I'm coming from, let's get going. I'll put something up soon so we can discuss something more fun and tangible than the state of sports writing in America.

One last thing - feedback=good. Writing is meant to be read, so tune in and let me know what you think. Until next time...

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease,
Mike