About Last Night...

Dice-K? More like Dud-K. Man I'm glad my Sox spent $100mil on this guy. Wait til he's been through the entire A.L. and teams start seeing him for the 2nd/3rd time post All-Star break. The counter argument being give the guy at least 1/2 a season in the bigs to warm up and get comfortable in the new environment. But wow, 7ER in 5 IP? Worse still... 5BB to 1K. His command was horrible to watch.

Again, my push for NHL coverage. Another OT game. 2-1 Ducks. Ducks win series 4-1. What does it say about the Canucks that they cannot outscore the similarly impotent Ducks? Oh that's right- the Ducks have 2 of the top 3 Defensemen in the league blue lining for them. Incidentally... there have been 17 Round 2 playoff games so far in the NHL. 13 of them have been decided by 1 goal- 13 out of 17 games!!! You must watch this happening (and wager on it). I said it preeviously and I will say it again. Top 3 NHL playoffs of all time.

So much playoffs, so little time.

As we are into 2 major sports' playoffs, a few observations:

I know I said back in the Fall I probably would not write another word about the NBA. But this IS the playoffs, so here we go...

Kobe Bryant is a one-man show. And a one-man show does NOT work in the NBA- the latest evidence being the Suns trouncing of the Lakers and Kobe's immediate dismissal in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs. I have argued before and I will again- all great NBA teams have a superstar and a complimentary player who on any other team would be a superstar. Bird/McHale/Parrish, Johnson/Jabbar/Worthy, Jordan/Pippen, Robinson/Duncan, Olajuwon/Drexler, Shaq/Wade AND Shaq/Kobe. All examples since just the 1980's of how NBA teams work with 2 or more stars. And the last example is the best- it shows how even the most selfish player in the league could win a title if he had help and was willing to accept said help.

Present Day Kobe is afloat in his own sea and he does not have a single life preserver on board to help him. I would not call Lamar Odom the supporting cast member to Kobe to get the Lakers another ring. He's not a different enough player, style-wise, not an "X-factor". The only way the Lakers misfortune will change is if either: a) Kobe gets traded to build up the right components or b) the Lakers trade for the "X-Factor". A guy like Iverson (who they could have traded for this season) or even a Ben Wallace type (who they could have bought this past off-season in FA) would be the "X-Factor" to give the Lakers a run to the Finals. But they didn't do that, and they don't have a shot at another title. And thus continues the wasted prime of Kobe Bryant.

If Kobe gets traded, that would be the biggest affirmation in sports history that a team traded the wrong guy (Shaq). And I'm not talking about bad trades or lopsided trades (e.g., Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson or Hershell Walker for every draft pick in Minnesota). I simply mean, the straight out worst decision by an owner/GM/team when being handcuffed by a self-absorbed superstar. It would simply kill the franchise for the next 3 years (about how long it would take to cultivate 2 drafted players to make up the loss of Kobe in the lineup). But after 3 years? Best damn move a team like the Lakers could make. This is a team that's fans will show up almost regardless of whose on the floor starting. How many teams in the NBA can say THAT? Maybe 3? And that would be a BIG stretch. But the Lakers could put a team of under-21's on the floor and bench, led by Lamar Odom and be better for it in 3 years. All without losing a single season ticket holder. Tell me I am wrong on this.

Some in the know feel a hypothetical/nearly probable Spurs/Suns Western Conference Final is the defacto NBA Finals. Something tells me the Pistons or Bulls MIGHT have something to say about that. I truly think the Bulls have all the goods to stop the Spurs or the Suns- and the Pistons are not far behind. Sure, it may make for "Most Boring Finals Ever: Part II" if the Pistons and Spurs make it, but I seriously doubt it is a Spurs cakewalk. The Suns are the more complete team with "better" Superstars. And by better I mean more entertaining. Steve Nash doubles the fun over Tony Parker. Amare Stoudamaire is Tim Duncan and Ginobli in 1 player. And Shawn Marion has no one from the Spurs close to him. Not to mention this team scores at will. But I am sketchy on their defense. Which is why I think the Bulls and Pistons would probably take out the Suns and would give the Spurs a run to 7 games (and flip a coin for the winner).

Preferably, I want to see the Suns make it and give a little life to the Finals. Suns and Bulls, from where I sit, is the best possible match-up given the remaining teams in the playoffs.

If you haven't been watching the NHL playoffs, but you have watched the NBA playoffs, you are SO missing the best post-season of all major sports from the 2006 and 2007 seasons. This year's NHL playoffs are absolutely amazing. And that is coming from a lifelong hockey player and NHL fan- one of the top 3 playoff seasons all time in the NHL thus far. More on this later (because I think it deserves its own post), but watching the Rangers put the foot on the gas against a completely more gifted team on both ends of the ice like the Sabres are, shows you how, more than any major pro sport, the NHL playoffs are a whole new season unto itself. And the Canucks/Ducks and Sharks/Wings games do not get nearly enough play in the media due to their condemned status being on the West Coast. But watch just 1 game, hell 1 PERIOD, any period, and I guarantee you a great show from all 4 remaining series.

The Pats' Family Tree is covered in... Moss

As a lifelong Pats fan, I have to wonder, with Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Reche Caldwell and Wes Welker (also your KR/PR) as your Top 4 WRs, does Troy Brown fit anymore in the Pat's family tree? Who's the #5? I guarantee, within the local media, THAT will be as big a story, if not bigger, than Randy Moss' 1st camp with the Pats.

Don't forget, Troy was still #2 in receptions last year (behind Caldwell).

But this is what the Pats do every year. Bring in about 100 WRs and try them out during camp only to have them inevitably fall into one of the following categories:

1. Release the guy nobody wanted anyway.

2. Release the guy who didn'y play last year due to injury, but they tried him out to see if they catch a sleeper.

3. Leave a 1st or 2nd year Free Agent WR on the practice squad (a la Bam Childress) until someone inevitably gets hurt or benched.

4. The slacker who gets benched and eventually PIP'd or, worse, just left off the active list each week (my money's on Chad Jackson this season).

5. Sign a FA WR, try him out, keep him on the practice squad, release him, sign him, release sign him, release him. This all happens within a 72 hour period. Then Week 8 of the season will roll around and they will re-sign the guy and he'll be starting opposite Troy Brown because Randy Moss has turf toe, Reche "Saucer Eyes" Caldwell has a case of the dropsies, Donte reverts to Donte from New Orleans, and Wes Welker is discovered to really be a disguised Tim Dwight after he let his hair grow 2 inches.

TRUST ME, this will all happen.

And still, at the end of the season, you will look at the stats and see that Troy Brown, again, ranks in the top 3 WR stats on the Pats despite signing a minimum veteran deal, giving his heart and soul on the field, not to mention playing DB/PR/KR as much as he will be a WR. He's a chameleon. Just when you think he's not there, he pops up in 1 of any number of places, always doing something positive when you look back on Monday at the game reel.