Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Favre, Hoops, Mets, Jets
Quick hitters from the world of sports (a departure from our interlude into TV):
-) I feel like I should start with something about Brett Favre retiring, but I don’t have much interesting to say. I always thought this story by Peter King was kind of cool, and I have to say I’ve always really enjoyed watching him play. As to his place in the all-time greats, I’d put him sixth among quarterbacks I’ve seen – behind Montana, Brady, Manning, Marino and Elway and just ahead of Troy Aikman. Still, that’s a pretty good group.
-) I’m finally starting to get into college basketball and, at this point, I’d be surprised if the national champion came from outside these four teams: Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA. I feel like they were essentially the favorites going into the season and still are. Duke, Texas, Tennessee and Stanford all have nice teams but lack the balance or the go-to player to win a title. (Given, Kansas also lacks a go-to guy but they are the deepest team in the field.)
-) The NBA MVP is clearly a two-man race at this point, between the two best players in the league (oddly enough, this doesn’t always happen). LeBron’s numbers are insane (30 points, 8 boards, 7.5 assists) and he is keeping a very mediocre team afloat, but my vote would still go to Kobe, who is both the Lakers’ best offensive and defensive player (and perhaps the league’s best).
-) We’ll have to work on a baseball preview pretty soon, but right now I’m a little wary of the Mets. If the season started tomorrow (and luckily there is still a month to go), 10 of the Mets’ 25-man roster wouldn’t be able to play. That’s not good. I love the (relatively) young nucleus of the team – Santana, Maine and Perez in the rotation and Wright, Reyes, Beltran in the field – but this team is relying on too many old players. And there is little depth in the minor leagues. If everything goes right, the Mets are the best team in the NL. But old players get hurt, and the Mets have a lot of old players.
-) NFL free agency always blows me away. People I have never heard of get huge contracts. And this time from the Jets. I hate Mangini. I hate the way this team is being run. Instead of devising a defense to meet his talent (DeWayne Robertson, Jonathan Vilma and Kerry Rhodes), Mangini kept his system and forced players into it. Now the Jets have dealt Vilma, a former Defensive Rookie of the Year, and are close to dealing Robertson, the former No. 4 overall pick, for essentially fourth-, fourth- and fifth-round draft picks. The Jets moves this offseason (adding Kris Jenkins, Damien Woody, Calvin Pace, Alan Faneca, etc.) will make them a better team this season, but I’m concerned about the financial repercussions down the road. Oh, and the Jets still have no game-breakers nor a set quarterback. It’s gonna be another long season.
-) I feel like I should start with something about Brett Favre retiring, but I don’t have much interesting to say. I always thought this story by Peter King was kind of cool, and I have to say I’ve always really enjoyed watching him play. As to his place in the all-time greats, I’d put him sixth among quarterbacks I’ve seen – behind Montana, Brady, Manning, Marino and Elway and just ahead of Troy Aikman. Still, that’s a pretty good group.
-) I’m finally starting to get into college basketball and, at this point, I’d be surprised if the national champion came from outside these four teams: Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA. I feel like they were essentially the favorites going into the season and still are. Duke, Texas, Tennessee and Stanford all have nice teams but lack the balance or the go-to player to win a title. (Given, Kansas also lacks a go-to guy but they are the deepest team in the field.)
-) The NBA MVP is clearly a two-man race at this point, between the two best players in the league (oddly enough, this doesn’t always happen). LeBron’s numbers are insane (30 points, 8 boards, 7.5 assists) and he is keeping a very mediocre team afloat, but my vote would still go to Kobe, who is both the Lakers’ best offensive and defensive player (and perhaps the league’s best).
-) We’ll have to work on a baseball preview pretty soon, but right now I’m a little wary of the Mets. If the season started tomorrow (and luckily there is still a month to go), 10 of the Mets’ 25-man roster wouldn’t be able to play. That’s not good. I love the (relatively) young nucleus of the team – Santana, Maine and Perez in the rotation and Wright, Reyes, Beltran in the field – but this team is relying on too many old players. And there is little depth in the minor leagues. If everything goes right, the Mets are the best team in the NL. But old players get hurt, and the Mets have a lot of old players.
-) NFL free agency always blows me away. People I have never heard of get huge contracts. And this time from the Jets. I hate Mangini. I hate the way this team is being run. Instead of devising a defense to meet his talent (DeWayne Robertson, Jonathan Vilma and Kerry Rhodes), Mangini kept his system and forced players into it. Now the Jets have dealt Vilma, a former Defensive Rookie of the Year, and are close to dealing Robertson, the former No. 4 overall pick, for essentially fourth-, fourth- and fifth-round draft picks. The Jets moves this offseason (adding Kris Jenkins, Damien Woody, Calvin Pace, Alan Faneca, etc.) will make them a better team this season, but I’m concerned about the financial repercussions down the road. Oh, and the Jets still have no game-breakers nor a set quarterback. It’s gonna be another long season.
# posted by EJ @ 2:20 PM 
Comments:
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OK, let's look at that MVP race. Take both LeBron and Kobe off of their teams. The Lakers are still a viable playoff contender while the Cavs are the goddamn Grizzlies. LeBron means EVERYTHING to the Cavs. And he didn't try to hold the team hostage this offseason.
There is no question that LeBron is the unanimous MVP. Hell, if you want to look at it head-to-head, Bron Bron crushed The Rapist twice this season.
Sorry to go off, but I'm a Cavs fan that wants everyone to know how much he truly means to the success of that team. Keep in mind, they were 0-6 without him so don't look at their 34-26 record without taking that into account.
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There is no question that LeBron is the unanimous MVP. Hell, if you want to look at it head-to-head, Bron Bron crushed The Rapist twice this season.
Sorry to go off, but I'm a Cavs fan that wants everyone to know how much he truly means to the success of that team. Keep in mind, they were 0-6 without him so don't look at their 34-26 record without taking that into account.
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