Pardon My Bias

So another year has arrived, along with the spectacle of the NHL’s Winter Classic (featured by Bridgestone, in case you missed it). Once again, it also displayed a very exciting game. Well, from the second half on. Still, I can’t help but find a few little things the league, the Classic, and NBC for that matter should work on…

Photo courtesy of NHL.com

The Legends Game is awesome even if it gets relegated to the backwaters of the NHL Network. The fans of the teams show up in massive force, and frankly everyone seems to enjoy it. In my ever so humble opinion, the Legends Game really shows off the old glory days of hockey more than the actual Winter Classic game. You just have a bunch of guys who are out there enjoying playing, and of course they want to win, but there’s no one trying to kill each other out there unlike Mr. Werewolf of Phily, Scott Hartnell. Or if they do want to kill each other, they do a really good job masking it.

Figuring out your start time would be a good idea. It really wouldn’t be the NHL if they didn’t do something slightly moronic, and switching the start time of the game in 24 hours beforehand certainly qualifies. The fact the league said it was for player safety works as a nice reason as to why, but why no one thought, “Oh, it might be sunny out and light reflecting off the ice may be problematic.” And guess what? It barely interfered with the Rose Bowl.

Mike Milbury being asked for analysis always blows my mind. Seriously, what in the hell is he doing being asked for anything besides to step away from a child? Is he NBC’s response to Don Cherry? And did no one inform them that Don Cherry shouldn’t tried to be replicated? And at least Cherry was successful as a coach. Maybe not a ton, but he didn’t run the Boston Bruins into the ground such as the state the New York Islanders are in.

You know, there is another part of the country outside of the Northeast. I’m not saying have the Winter Classic in Phoenix, nor even have the Coyotes involved in one. But seeing how the furthest west the league went was to Chicago playing Detroit shows that they and NBC really have their minds set only on a few certain teams. Cities that I am surprised have been ignored outright for a chance to host are St. Paul and Denver. The NHL, and their rating’s game they have with networks, discovered that even with only one impassioned city that viewership can still be impressive. I know the whole underlying theme is the history of the game and teams involved, but rotating between only six or so teams gets old really quick. Which leads to…

Really hard to argue that it's not just a really flashy spectacle. Photo courtesy of NHL.com

Ease off the old time hockey feel. Yes, it is fun. And yes I said the Legends Game does show off the history and past time of hockey, but that’s just the thing. It does enough of that. Wearing retro jerseys does enough of that. The fact the game is being played outdoors like we never invented refrigeration and rely on cold weather does enough of that. The Classic is a spectacle. Because it says, “Hey look, we have technology and refuse to use it in this case even though we are taking that technology we refuse to acknowledge this once to make sure what we do here works fine.” The Winter Classic is the sport world’s hipster movement. Yeah, it is cool to remember what things were like back in the day, and going back to try that out is fun. Like oversized glasses or Atari. But once you start flaunting it too much and shoving it down people’s throats that crap bugs people. Hockey fans and really anyone that has ever heard of ice knows that the Winter Classic is a nod to the really old days. There is no need to beat everyone over the head with the fact, we get it, so show the audience some respect to figure that out on their own.

Once a year is the perfect amount. And yes Canada can keep doing the Heritage Classic. It really doesn’t dilute the experience of having Canada run their own show. Because yes, the Winter Classic is a relative cash grab, but also is a fun event for its quirkiness. So it having it once for all of America and once for Canada works. It does already have a bit of tradition to it, as in you expect to see a listing for it on your DVR guide around New Year’s Day, and hockey fans do enjoy attending even though I am sure the view from wherever at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark probably sucked. It’s a fun experience. Once a year. It’s a good amount. Plus it’s something Canada copied (sort of) that the league instituted. I don’t know if that will ever happen again.

Lastly, don’t mic the audiences during the flag bearing, especially in Philadelphia. I know, reinforcing stereotypes, and it wasn’t just Flyer fans to be fair. Shouts of “RANGERS SUCK” and “F@#& THE FLYERS” are going to be shouted. Yes, even during flag bearings before national anthems. And you don’t need to have the mic turned on to the audience during that period. Just saying…

And now for a few suggestions for future Winter Classics:

San Jose vs. Detroit @ Comerica Park

These two teams don’t like each other. Shocking that there is a rivalry in the west, but both teams have big time talent, and there is a history with the Wings so all the bases are covered.

Boston vs. Minnesota @ Target Field

Boston showed they can carry ratings on their own, so a small market like Minnesota shouldn’t worry the league or networks. Minnesota has the weather for an outdoor game, and even though the North Stars aren’t exactly the Wild’s history Minnesota goes crazy for hockey.

Chicago vs. Colorado @ Invesco Field

The weather in Denver would be fine, and I highly doubt the Broncos can keep winning with Tim Tebow. Again, a golden chance for the league to recognize the west coast a bit.

What would we do without the Pinstripe bowl to decide between Rutgers and Iowa State? Please observe the size of the crowd. Photo courtesy of TheGazette.com

Los Angeles vs. New York Rangers @ MetLife Stadium

For all wondering, the stadium is Giants Stadium. And yes, I know that the Devils would be the more apt team. However, the Rangers are the bigger draw and a good ol’ NY vs. LA match are plenty entertaining. Obviously, Yankee Stadium would be the better locale, but with some greedy jerks deciding to get involved with the BCS racket for another pointless college bowl game that spot likely won’t open up. Which sucks.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the NBA is back! We’ll be previewing each and every team division by division, posting analysis on each division per day all the way up to Christmas Eve to get you ready for the NBA kickoff on Christmas Day. Here is a look at the Atlantic Division by Zayd Sharif and Avi Shah!

Pierce, Rondo, KG courtesy of NJ.com

D-Will courtesy of myradionetwork.net

Melo and Amare, courtesy of gothamist.com

Team Needs in 2011/12:
ZS: The Knicks just keep rolling in those huge contracts.  Obviously they are trying to bring in the talent but they need to clear up some cap room.  Players will want to join forces with Amare and Melo to battle Miami but they won’t for minimum wage…if the Knicks can even afford to pay that much.  Oh and some defense…

AS: The team needs to find a way to build some chemistry and keep the ball moving amongst the superstars. The Knicks felt that they needed a big man and therefore went and got Tyson Chandler from Dallas. They unfortunately had to lose Billups to ammnesty in the process, but picked up Mike Bibby and Barron Davis to fill the void. Bibby and Davis are both old, and Davis has his back problems, but it may be enough to get the job done.

Outlook for 2011/12:
ZS: Well they added Tyson who makes them a very formidable team if Tyson provides the same tenacity he did in Dallas.  They could still use a better PG but this team is looking to keep improving and can really challenge Miami.

AS: Like Zayd said, Chandler makes this team a much better squad. Chandler is the ultimate clean up guy, and can be a real presence in the post with Amare. I think the Knicks have a roster that can compete with the Celtics for the 3 seed.

Jrue Holiday, courtesy of phillysportscentral.com

DeMar DeRozan courtesy of bleacherreport.com

It’s fairly hard to garner a ton of sympathy for Chris Pronger given his track record, but if I was to place a bet, I’d say his career is ending. What does draw a lot of sympathy is the fact is that the rest of his life may be severely affected due to concussions. The whole topic of concussions have been the hot button  topic in the NHL for about a year or so now, starting with Sidney Crosby getting sidelined during last year’s Winter Classic, and hitting the ultimate low with the passing of three NHLers this summer where the link to the deaths are potentially being connected to brain trauma. I will credit the league for starting the move to make the game safer, and really trying to make sure their athletes are being taken care off. The NFL has also, but the steps taken there have been far smaller.

One bad concussion has more than just Pronger's career in jeopardy. Photo courtesy of aeryssports.com

Concussions in general are nasty business. If you have ever read any of my other blogs, that’s just an indicator, given how I have had seven at least, six of which came in a four year span. The baseline tests done directly after a concussion really don’t gauge very accurately if there is a head injury. It’s a good precaution to have, but as many can attest, including myself, you really cannot tell sometimes until a day or even two afterwards. I had instances where I had my bell rung during a hockey game, finished the game, then the next day during a class would have an awful headache along with a mental fog. These typically lasted from a week to a month, and I had minor concussions.

So while the NHL has stepped up the protection of players from each other with strict enforcements against hits to the heads, and checks from behind into the boards, it clearly hasn’t been enough. Pronger and Crosby were simply the two biggest names to go down due to concussions this year. Claude Giroux’s season is in jeopardy, Milan Michalek is shut down, Mike Richards is struggling coming back from a concussion, and David Perron just returned from a nasty one. In Giroux’s and Michalek’s cases, the hits that sidelined them were just accidents also. There wasn’t another player to blame, it was from contact with their own teammates unintentionally.

There of course has been some resistance (though it has been few and far between) to the precautions taken by the NHL, and more resistance in the NFL. In the NFL’s case there has been clamoring that quarterbacks are overly protected, and that the whole call of “hit on a defenseless receiver” is stopping all hits all together. The equipment measures taken in the NFL also have been regularly ignored by players. Back when Michael Vick was out with a concussion he returned a week later and was told by doctors to wear a mouthpiece that would help prevent head injuries. Vick of course opted not to wear it.

Hopefully Crosby's career won't be remembered as one cut short by concussions. Photo courtesy of washingtonpost.com

Both of these cases in football also carry into the NHL. There’s the old mantra taken up by a few of the older guard in hockey (like a certain Mike Milbury) that the game is becoming too soft, and players are being overly protected. The most referenced point has been that players in the 80’s all the way to the 40’s didn’t have concussion issues nearly as frequently. This kind of goes into the second case, regarding equipment. In the past the NHL had far less padding, and for a while helmets weren’t required at all. The padding was also softer, less durable, and over time the evolution there has been sturdier and more durable equipment that has in turn become far denser. Football and hockey players were far less protected then, and players laid up instead of throwing out devastating hits. Any pickup game in hockey shows just how drastic the differences can be. Less padding=less hitting the vast majority of the time. The athletes won’t take the risk of throwing a huge hit with disregard with the possibility of inflicting serious injury more apparent. There’s also the factor that they could be hurt in the process as well.

Never mind the whole fact that concussions were more of a mystery back then and no one really knew the long lasting effects from concussions. If you got hit in the head and had a headache, that only made sense. There was the broad education in head injuries where a brain breaks down if battered enough.

Additionally, strange as this is, mouthpieces do in fact help prevent head injuries. Keeping the jaw from slamming when there is a whiplash effect reduces the bouncing around, and there have been leaps in safety regarding mouthpieces over the years. In the NHL, mouthpieces in general are only encouraged, hardly even required. You can ask Duncan Keith about that one.

Giroux's symptoms of a concussion didn't fully surface until over a day after he injured his head. Photo courtesy of the700level.com

The NHL, and I’d say even the NFL, need to get more drastic about changes implemented to protect athletes. A lot of people may not like it, but hits to the head should be removed outright from both sports. Mouthpieces should be mandatory, and the equipment in general should be less armor like. Players feel invincible, and it frankly makes the whole game more dangerous. Even still, the most preventive precautions taken likely wouldn’t take concussions out of the game entirely. Accidents like Giroux’s where he fell then was kneed in the back of the head by his own teammate trying to avoid him can happen just due to bad luck.

Evaluation should not just be limited to the day of the blow to the head, but following days for the reasons mentioned earlier. Each player should also be evaluated for head injuries every one or two weeks just a routine checkup. Minor head injuries are far less pronounced, but accumulate to be just as damaging. Concussions won’t go away for good, but limiting and preventing compounding ones can go a long way. And keeping athletes healthy after their playing days should be paramount.

Who is this guy?

LOS ANGELES, CA

The Los Angeles Lakers have been a glorious franchise that has always done whatever it takes to put the best players on the floor and have been committed to winning at all costs since their move to city of Angels from Minneapolis. More than anything else, Dr. Jerry Buss has shown a major committment to having a family atmosphere of ownership and management of the NBA glamour franchise. Yes, they are the Yankees of the NBA, not the Celtics.

Something has gone completely wrong though and if changes aren’t made soon, the Lakers could be on their way to self destruction.

Let’s look at the transactions the Lakers have made through their entire organization since the end of the 2010-2011 NBA season.

1) Despite potential leading candidates such as Brian Shaw and Rick Adelman being available to the Lakers, they go with Mike Brown. Brown has had success, don’t get me wrong but his inability to handle one superstar (see every story about how the Cavs gave LeBron ultimate power) raises major red flags when it comes to the Lakers. Worse than that, they don’t even CONSULT with Kobe Bryant about the decision process. If anyone in the general public in So-Cal actually has a brain, you can bet Kobe was ticked about that.

2) They have let go of all the longest tenured staff including scouts, equipment manager, trainers around the team including Ronnie Lester, who has been with the organization for 26 years. If you want insight on this check out the LA Times link. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/22/sports/la-sp-lakers-layoffs-20110723 . The most telling quote of all: “You think of the Lakers and you think they are a great organization,” Lester said. “But if you work inside the organization, it’s only a perception of being a great organization. It’s probably not a great organization, because great organizations don’t treat their personnel like they’ve done.”

3) The Lakers handle the Brian Shaw situation completely unprofessionally after stringing him along as a potential replacement for Phil Jackson. Don’t believe me, read this: http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2011/07/16/brian-shaw-speaks-lakers-dont-come-off-well/

4) The NBA rejects a trade sending Chris Paul to the Lakers with Gasol going to Houston and Odom to the Hornets (other players involved are not the point here). After the veto (which was completely messed up btw and I’m a Kings fan saying that), Lamar Odom cries like a little baby for a couple of days (AS IF HE’S NEVER BEEN INVOLVED IN LAKER TRADE RUMORS BEFORE) and then walks into Kupchak’s office demanding a trade. The Lakers aka Jim Buss then decides screw you Lamar, we’ll send you to the team that spanked us in the playoffs and then spanked Miami in the finals for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. There is no way you can justify this trade at all. Forget a stupid trade exception or a pick (that will not be valuable at all). You just traded a man that can a) play all 5 positions,  b) won 6th man of the year, c) once had the potential of being a franchise player and no. 1 scorer on any other team d) maybe the most unique player in basketball currently. You traded him for nothing. Kobe Lamar Pau Bynum. On top of that, you don’t get CP3.Do you think Mitch Kupchak would ever be behind a trade of Lamar Odom for a bag of chips? This absolutely smell of Jim Buss.

This puts the Lakers in the worst potential disaster ever. The gap is closing with the Clippers (they acquired Chris Paul yesterday) and many Laker fans are going on the defensive as if So-Cal has run out of botox, while making elitist comments about the Clippers and how they will always be the Clippers and blaming Stern for this whole mess. You can blame Stern all you want, but you don’t put out a fire by throwing more fuel on it. What was the motive to trade Lamar so quick? That guy is an exploding array of emotions. He would have gotten over it at some point. Jim Buss is an idiot, period. He’s changing the whole landscape of how the Lakers have been run as top of the line organization.

The Lakers are in a horrible position now, Orlando WILL gather competing offers now that they have taken D12 off the market and force the Lakers to have to give up both Bynum and Gasol with the threat of Nets being able to acquire a 3rd team to sweeten its potential deal for Howard. Its not about leverage anymore, there are too many smokescreens out there to determine who has leverage. The facts are that the Lakers still have both Bynum and Gasol and therefore because they do, Orlando CAN ASK FOR BYNUM AND GASOL, which gives the Lakers an impossible predicament. They can’t sign any middle to upper tier free agents now for more than the minimum (see their insane payroll even without Odom) they can only make trades but the trades they can make will only weaken their team. The Odom trade hurts them so much more than people are realizing. In other related news, no one wants World Peace and his contract and unpredictable production.

Last point, Kobe Bryant is pissed off. The great Stephen A. Smith even said on 710 ESPN radio LA that he predicts Kobe will demand a trade by the mid season if things don’t change. I won’t go that far, yet. But he is fuming. Just read the quotes from training camp and you can tell. He is upset about the Odom trade and justifiably so. The Lakers just weakened their team for 1 of the final 2-3 typical Kobe elite seasons. Father Time is the only undefeated being in this world. Even if the Lakers get Dwight Howard, they will still be stuck with a bunch of overpaid role players and no size advantage (which was the prime reason for their titles 2 of the last 3 years).

Jim Buss is calling the shots here and Kupchak can’t do anything about it. Worse than that, if the Lakers do somehow (highly unlikely) get a shot at Dwight Howard without having to give up Gasol, who is to say that Buss won’t nix that deal because he doesn’t want to give up Bynum at all costs due to his love for the man with questionable knees.  Bynum is a good player right now and has a lot of potential, but “potential” at some point gets unfulfilled and gets coaches fired and gets management chastised. His health issues come up every year.  He’s not much younger than Howard, it’s a no-brainer to me.

What makes the situation even more pathetic is that Jim Buss is making Kupchak speak for the moves. That is worse. I want to hear what he has to say about the Odom trade and how it makes the Lakers better… wait it doesn’t.

The Lakers will now have to deal with 1) unhappy Kobe 2) mentally unstable Pau 3) unhappy and health risk Bynum 4) World Peace and his antics . They can still make the playoffs and be a top 4 seed in my opinion however, they got worse this offseason. They got smaller, lost length and did not get much younger and athletic. On top of that, they have made becoming a Clippers fan, the new hipster movement target in LA.

Jim Buss…what the hell are you doing? You’re like the girl or guy that has a great thing, and doesn’t realize it or doesn’t want it. You want to go down this path of creating your own mark…good luck.

It isn’t official YET, (and we all know what happened last time we got ahead of ourselves with CP3 and LA) but Hornets management have a deal in place to deal their All NBA point guard to the Clippers for a package featuring 22 year old  SG Eric Gordon, sophomore SF Al Farouq Aminu, C Chris Kaman, along with a first round draft pick acquired from the T’Wolves.

Now being a Laker fan, I’m trying to be as unbiased as possible while I try to explain why this was a stupid trade. I honestly believe this trade was not only worse for the Hornets, but it was also a foolish move by the Clippers. On a semi-related note, being a college student, I’m not looking forward to paying Laker ticket prices to see the Clippers play.

First off, I honestly can’t find a perspective that would find this deal better than the package presented by the Lakers and the Rockets. In the vetoed deal, the Hornets would have received Luis Scola (whose stats are better than Kaman’s),  Kevin Martin (whose stats, but not potential, are very comparable to Gordon’s), Dragic (whose potential is comparable to Aminu’s), and a versatile sixth man coming off one of his best seasons in Lamar Odom. I genuinely can’t understand the idea of this being the better package, but clearly the league believed it was.

After the Clippers acquired Chauncey Billups off waivers from the Knicks, as well as Caron Butler through free agency, I honestly believe they had one of the better starting 5′s in the league. With Billups inserted into the lineup, they would have had a more capable leader at the helm than Mo Williams. In addition, with Williams being only 28 (29 in a few days), he could be used as trade bait for a team in need of a scoring point guard who can play off the ball. (say the Knicks, or maybe even the Heat?) Instead, they now created a logjam at the point that is going to significantly hinder the development of young Eric Bledsoe, who showed amazing potential last year.

Additionally, they gave up a rising star in Eric Gordon who showed potential to hit numbers as high as 25-5-5 in the next few years. Gordon proved to play flawlessly with Griffin, and although their record didn’t reflect it, they would have made a terrific 1-2 punch with Blake dominating the inside and Gordon patrolling the outside.

This reminded me of an experience I had recently when I was in the market for Beats by Dre headphones. I definitely didn’t need them, but hell, I had the money and I wanted them. I told myself I’d wait for the right deal and be patient so I could save money, but instead I tried Craigslist and got burned when I found out the headphones were fake. The seller was nice enough to refund my money, but as a result of that experience the first thing I did after that was buy real ones for 300 bucks. Was it the best decision? Definitely not. But it was an impulse buy, and I feel that’s what the Clippers did when they put this deal together for Chris Paul.

This deal did accomplish a few things however. It did give the Hornets younger building blocks than the proposed deal with the Lakers did, as well as helping them avoid the drama around the potential trade dragging through the season like Melo did with the Nuggets. Also, it showed that David Stern is no longer hated by only fans, but the owners that he represents are going to start turning on him. Next year, we may have a new man at the helm of the NBA. And in 6 years, when the owners are likely to opt out of the current CBA, who knows what will happen…

Courtesy of sportsgrindent.com

The Chicago Bears have slowly risen there way up to the top of the NFC and have finally gotten some attention. It is eerily similar to their run that they made to the NFC Championship game last year. Yeah, I know you forgot, it was the Bears that Aaron Rodgers crushed to get to the Super Bowl. This season looks like another promising one, but fans from the Windy City will certainly be hoping for a better finish this season. With strong defense, a fabulous run game, and a determined QB, the Bears may have the perfect concoction to make a charge into the playoffs again.

The biggest issue for the Bears has to be their division. The NFC North is the best division in football with three teams that could very well win the NFC. The Packers obviously being the defending champions, are the favorites to win the division with their 9-0 start. The Detroit Lions have surged this season finally tapping into some of the potential they had built up. The Lions are also 6-3 like the Bears, but it appears the Lions stock is slightly falling, while the Bears stock is certainly rising. The Lions lack the ability to run the ball and stop the run – two weaknesses that will hurt them tremendously in their run to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Bears are getting some of the best performances from their stars. The three-headed defensive monster of Julius Peppers, Brian Urlacher, and Lance Briggs may be the most dangerous trio in the league (although Carlos Rogers, Justin Smith, and Patrick Willis from San Francisco are pretty damn good too). Devin Hester continues to be the most explosive return man the NFL has ever seen. Matt Forte has been the best running back in the league so far, even in Mike Martz’s high powered aerial offense (PAY THE MAN!). Jay Cutler has stepped into his roll as the leader of his team, highlighted by the clinic he put on Monday Night Football against the Eagles.

The Bears have what it takes to make it into the playoffs, and I believe they will surpass the Detroit Lions and secure on of the NFC Wildcard spots. Left on the schedule is the AFC West, which has been a struggling division to say the least, and most notably one more matchup with the Packers. It is not going to be an easy road for the Bears, but their confidence is at an all time high with wins against the Buccaneers, Eagles, and Lions over the last three weeks.

At the end of the day, defense and the running game always win December and January. The Bears have some of the best personnel at each of those positions. Jay Cutler has a chip on his shoulder, especially the way he went out last year in the NFC Championship game. His commitment was questioned, and he has come out shutting down all his critics. The stars may just line up for the Bears to make a deep run into the playoffs. This is a team that should not be slept on.

Courtesy of hoopsworld.com

2011 seems to be the year that nobody can get along. In Washington DC, the Republicans and Democrats held their lockout with the National Budget deal. In the NFL, the owners and players held their ground strong in a lockout, luckily being able to salvage their season and only losing the Hall of Fame Game. Finally, through the world we have seen many uprisings against governments such as Egypt, Libya, and Syria. Many of these problems have now been solved, but in the case of the NBA though, it seems like this lockout could be in place for the long haul.

I am in no way comparing the circus of the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) of the NBA to the major world problems such as those listed above, but the fact that many of the other issues have been able to be worked out and the NBA is still lingering around is ridiculous. Quite frankly, the CBA is the same thing as the National Budget deal that was set by President Obama and Congress. If it did not pass, the government would shut down. All government agencies would not receive pay, and the United States would be in a state of “lockout.” Fortunately a deal was made, even though both sides had many polar differences. They realized much of the economy was on the line and egos had to be put aside.

I just don’t understand why the same does not apply to the NBA. It is the exact same situation. If you don’t have a deal, the league and everything that has to do with shuts down. The issue here is that you have lions and tigers controlling the jungle in which a lot more animals live in. Making public statements and writing apologies to people who’s livelihood relies on there being 41 games a season being played in their city makes absolutely no difference to their struggle.

I also feel bad for the players who don’t make max deals or strike gold after a contract year in this scenario. I feel bad for the journeymen in the NBA who fight to keep their jobs and provide for their families. Unfortunately, those guys don’t seem to really matter. Why is Billy Hunter so keen on having big name stars like Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Paul Pierce attend these meetings. Do you really think those guys are going to notice much if their cut of the profit goes down from 57% to 50%? Absolutely not. They are too busy planning exhibition games around the world and attempting to make their own league. Why doesn’t Billy Hunter get the guys who really need the money in a room and ask them if they would take the 50% over the 0%?

The CBA issue comes down to a bunch of egos. I’m not putting the blame all on the players either. There are plenty or dumbass owners to go around as well. Owners like Dan Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers), Robert Sarver (Phoenix Suns), and Paul Allen (Portland Trailblazers) are more then content with sitting out the whole year. Gilbert and Sarver have screwed over their own teams by giving ridiculous contracts to either washed out or scrub NBA players. Paul Allen is a billionaire who could buy the entire league himself, yet he is complaining about a percentage splits. The NBA has the wrong guys running the show here. Why did the NFL strike a deal so fast? Because they had owners like Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones who really care about having a season. Ask Jerry Buss (Lakers) or James Dolan (Knicks) if they’ll take any split and  they will.

Finally, the blame should not be pointed to David Stern. As much of a jackass as David Stern seems to people, he has done more for the NBA than what any other commissioner has done for any other professional sport. When Stern entered the league in 1984, the average salary for the NBA player was $300,000. The average salary today for a NBA player is $3.2 million. Those numbers speak for themselves.

Stern has allowed players to brand themselves more than any other professional sport. Everyone always says that basketball has more stars because the guys wear shorts and a jersey, so their faces are more recognizable compared to sports like football, hockey, and baseball which all use some form of head equipment.  Sure, that has some truth to it, but basketball has branded its players more than other sports as well. David Stern allowed for the name on the back of the jersey to be more popular than the name of the front of the jersey. Just for example, look at the brand Air Jordan. Not only is it one of the most iconic logos in sports, but it became a cultural trend that is still present today even though Jordan retired from the NBA 15 years ago. Now Michael Jordan is technically David Stern’s boss since he is the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.

This brings up another important point about Stern. He is hired by the owners. For those who have been criticizing Stern through the CBA process claiming that he doesn’t not want to strike a deal or is not giving the players the right respect, he shouldn’t be. He works for the owners and is going to support the best deal for the owners. If he wants to remain commissioner of the league, he has to stay on the owners side

Now this lockout comes down to one thing, who will give in. The players have no real leverage left on their sides, and at the end of the day this deal will be struck at 50-50. All the other issues other than Basketball Related Income (BRI) have been resolved. The players go their large piece of the pie with the last CBA, but there is no way the owners will allow that to happen this time around. Not under their watch. We are missing some great games this month, and if a deal does not get done, we could be missing one of the most anticipated NBA seasons of all time.

Back when the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Phil Kessel it was pretty much laughed at. Sure, the Leafs had obtained a skilled forward who had some big scoring upside. But two first round draft picks? Especially when your team isn’t projected to do well? And it backfired at first. Toronto had the second overall pick the season where they traded for Kessel and that turned into Tyler Seguin for the Bruins. Toronto also wound up missing the playoffs last year as well. Seguin is having a pretty sizable impact for a Boston team that needs a huge turnaround to catch the division leader. The Bruins’ biggest issue has been scoring, something Kessel could have certainly helped them with.

So far Phil Kessel is on pace to score 74 goals. My guess is he may cool down just a bit. Photo courtesy of bleacherreport.com

Coincidentally, the team they are chasing happens to be Toronto. In large mostly because of Kessel, who has turned into a scoring machine as mentioned. It wasn’t a secret he had a load of skill as he had a great campaign with Boston before he was traded and he was an all-star last year, even if he was picked last. As of now, this season though has been all about Phil. He leads the league in goals and points, and his goals and points per game are far and ahead the best in the league with .91 per game and 1.64 respectively.  There’s also the fact he has been doing it largely by himself.

James Neal, Joe Pavelski, and Milan Michalek have the benefit of playing with talent around them to draw attention and set them up with Jordan Staal or Evgeni Malkin, Joe Thornton or Logan Couture, and a resurgent Jason Spezza. Even Thomas Vanek has had some help with Jason Pominville who is having a big year also. Kessel doesn’t have the luxury of a big playmaking center or a winger to open up space for him. Instead it’s Kessel blasting in shots from just about any angle he can. He is tied for 19^th in shots per game, but his shooting percentage has been a diabolical 26.3 percent.

And the goals have been timely too. Kessel is tied for the league lead in game winning goals with three, proving he can net the big ones in crunch time even with defenses blanketing him. The numbers aren’t padded with empty netters either as Kessel has yet to score one. More remarkable is that all but one of his goals has come from being at even strength. A plus six rating, while it could be stronger, isn’t too shabby either.

Proving that being picked last doesn't mean everything, Kessel gives hope to all kids picked last for dodgeball. Photo courtesy of blogs.thescore.com

For me what has been most impressive though has been the clip Kessel is scoring under his circumstances. He leads the league in goals per 60 minutes with 2.73, the next closest being Vanek with 2.71. Vanek has been more opportunistic on the power play more so than Kessel, one knock Kessel has, but at even strength again it is no contest. Toronto and Kessel need to capitalize more on the man advantage in general, though neither have been horrendous. What truly may help both the most though would be the acquisition of a playmaking center (you know, one that actually plays, not Tim Connolly). Toronto has the means to get a bigger name at for center but until then it is Phil Kessel’s show to run. And Toronto seems pretty content with that so far.

While it seems entirely possibly Kessel cools off as the season moves on (look at Steven Stamkos last season), for the time being he is the top guy for the month of October.

Major League Baseball always dreads the World Series ratings. Unless the Yankees or Red Sox are in it of course. Even with the two, the past few postseasons have been forgettable, and this year’s was on pace to a decent yet unremarkable end. Then insanity happened. Much like the end of the regular season, the end of the Series has seen drama unlike anything since the Red Sox in 1975, or the Twins with Kirby Puckett. And boy has baseball needed this. The World Series doesn’t have to compete with the NBA this October, and the biggest opposition has been the weather, which has already factored into the postseason numerous times. But then baseball got a lift.

Game six was awful. Except that is was also incredible. Photo courtesy of latimes.com

The funny thing is that the game last night was terrible. At a few points it looked more like the Little League World Series then one between athletes paid millions of dollars to catch a baseball. Largely in part because neither team was doing that particularly well. Cardinals’ left fielder and their outfield “oops” highlight reel machine, Matt Holiday, miscommunicated on a shallow fly ball with shortstop Rafael Furcal and had it fall out of his glove. Third baseman David Freese had a routine popup pop out of his glove. And both errors were followed by extra base hits giving Texas the edge. But it wasn’t Texas’ night either. Gold glove third baseman turned first baseman, Michael Young, mishandled routine plays twice, and Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre both missed key defensive plays letting the Cardinals somehow beyond reason to stay in a game they should have had no business playing in. They couldn’t hit, they couldn’t field, and their pitching was becoming unraveled.

The only offense mustered by the Cards came from their MVP of the Series, Lance Berkman. He hit a two run homerun, but the offense dried up everywhere else. Their next two runs came from a groundout and a bases loaded walk when Texas’ bullpen began to come undone as bad as the Cardinals’. Meanwhile, the Rangers were tattooing the ball all over the place. Yet for some reason they couldn’t hold down a lead to save their lives. They couldn’t expand on their lead either after their offense began to stall and for the game they left 12 men in scoring position. But despite the Rangers’ own stumbling they led seven to four in the eighth inning after the Cardinals handed them the lead over and over again.

But Texas kept giving St. Louis chances. And the Cardinals kept blowing those chances. Following a solo homerun by Allen Craig bringing St. Louis to within two of the Rangers the bases were loaded for Rafael Furcal…who then proceeded to ground out feebly. And that appeared to be the end of that. But then the sloppiest sorry excuse of a baseball game ever turned into history.

One sorry excuse for a game for the most part. Photo courtesy of latimes.com

The ninth inning looked like it could be difficult for the Rangers. They had to go through Albert Pujols and Berkman. Berkman had been tearing the Rangers apart, having the highest average of all the hitters in the Series and Pujols, despite not having a single base hit outside of one game, is still Albert Pujols. It was a tough reminder as he ripped a double off of Texas’ all-star closer Neftali Feliz. Berkman walked, and then Craig struck out. That brought David Freese back in, Freese who botched one of the easiest plays to make in baseball just an hour earlier. The Rangers were literally one strike away except that Freese lifted a hit to deep right and Texas right fielder Nelson Cruz got a bad read on it, and the ball clanged off the wall. Beyond all reason, somehow St. Louis tied the game. Texas couldn’t put them away and poor defense let St. Louis back in. it was ugly. It was sloppy. It was embarrassing. It was also the most exciting World Series game in a long time.

The Cardinals however decided to keep up their trend of letting Texas lead them as Josh Hamilton crushed a two run homerun getting a two run lead in the tenth. Still, Texas seemed dead set on proving their bullpen was going to blow the game. They allowed two hits to lead off the bottom half, letting the Cardinals again sneak back in. Instead of facing the pitcher’s spot in the batting order with two out and no one on, or even one out and one on there were no outs and two on. The Rangers could only watch as Kyle Lohse, a pinch hitting pitcher, only brought in because the Cards had no other position players to hit in the pitcher’s spot, bunted over the runners. And the Rangers’ bullpen for the second time missed a World Series title by one strike as Berkman struck again, tying the game once more.

Somehow the game had one the greatest finishes of all time. Photo courtesy of latimes.com

The Rangers seemed defeated by the time they got up to hit for the eleventh inning. They couldn’t keep their horrendous play slightly better than the Cardinals’ awful performance, where St. Louis’ only strong play seemed to come when they should have been dead to rights. David Freese, the goat turned hero then became hero turned legend with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the eleventh.

It was a game just like the beginning of “A Tale of Two Cities” with the best of times and the worst of times. It was the worst of baseball and the best of baseball. A sport that has seen its popularity dwindle that was watching another rather forgettable World Series, in an elimination game that was absolutely pathetic, only to have the sport prove again this Fall why it is still a spectacle. Two collapses by two historic franchises in September, a remarkable run up by St. Louis and Tampa, and now one of those teams turned the most horrid World Series game into the most remarkable, dramatic World Series game seen in years. Baseball can only hope that game seven is as bad.