You’re picking who?

After watching some footage of the Milwaukee Bucks past two games, I have come to a decision about the next portion of the season known as “the playoff race.” I’ve decided that, with Michael Redd back from his injury, the Bucks have the potential to play spoiler against some of the bigger teams in the league, or at least, the East. After losing a one-point game to Detroit and then taking the Pacers to double OT, the Bucks proved that they can play at a high level and run with the big boys. After proclaiming my pick to the Intern though, I noticed that Holingers’ rating system on ESPN.com had the Bucks in last place in the league. That goes to show my basketball IQ.

After the deadline

DEAD-line was right, with only three trades involving four players; it was one of the most disappointing trade deadlines ever, especially after the talks of big names like Kidd, Gasol, Carter and Bibby moving. So, with the deadline fizzle and is now behind us, the newest major story has taken centre-stage; Dwayne Wade, last year’s NBA Finals, may have to undergo season-ending surgery to repair his dislocated shoulder. What a huge blow that would be to the defending champs who have already struggled with health issues all season. It does help the other teams in the East however, so go Raptors!

Big Brawl in Buffalo

I’ll be one of the first people to stand up against fighting in the NHL but last night got my adrenaline going. There is hardly anything in any sport that is more exciting than a goalie fight. The rarity of these scraps contributes to how amazing it is to see the two keepers skate down to centre-ice while taking off their equipment. But last night there was a bonus fight to the Ray Emery vs. Martin Biron tilt; afterwards, Andrew Peters, Sabres tough-guy, came in to fight against the victorious Emery. For as rare as the inter-goalie fighting is, it is even rarer to see a goalie and player exchange fisticuffs. After the melee which was incited by a Chris Neil cheap-shot on Chris Drury, roughly 100 minutes worth of penalties were doled out to both teams. Not quite a record, but good try anyway boys.

Oh, Buffalo ended up winning in a shootout, 6-5.

Deadline Deals Galore!

Now there’s the trade deadline excitement I was looking forward too. Tons of big names flew coast-to-coast and landed in places most insiders would never have thought. Kobe Bryant ended up in a Lakers uniform, Kevin Garnett will be playing for the Timberwolves, even LeBron James will be putting on a different jersey next game. In case you, the reader, didn’t notice, the preceding was heavily sarcastic. The deadline produced only two trades to speak of and only included three players.

Fred Jones was traded from Toronto to Portland for Juan Dixon; both of whom should have little impact. Both were back-up guards for their teams and figure to play a similar role with their new ones.

Atlanta traded their second round pick in the draft to Dallas for Anthony Johnson. Apparently, the Hawks like Johnson so much, this is the third time they’ve acquired him. Wouldn’t it be more cost-efficient to re-sign when his contract expires?

While the Intern tells me that deals may have been made but have not been announced yet, more stunning moves may still happen, but I don’t find it likely.

Deadline Day Is Here!

Today is a big day for all of the NBA teams either looking towards a playoff push or looking toward the future of their franchise; it is trade deadline day. While what may have been the biggest deal happened months ago (Iverson to Denver), rumours swirl, like always, about big names moving across the board. Stay tuned for more but until something breaks.

Until then, a few notes from last night:

San Antonio 103, Atlanta 96

Manu Ginobili came off the bench and poured in an outstanding 40 points against the lowly Hawks last night. What’s even more incredible than the fact that Brent Barry got the start over him is that he actually scored 24 of the Spurs points in a row; a feat that is rarely heard of. It sure looks like the Argentinean is making a case for 6th man of the year, but technically, he was the 7th man on the floor for the Spurs (behind Matt Bonner). I’m sure the voters wont’ care though.

Philadelphia 104, New York 84

I finally heard a better nickname for Kyle Korver than simply calling him Ashton Kutcher. In a highlight package I saw last night, the announcer busted out “The Butterfly Effect.” It captures the Ashton-look-a-like theme but also adds a new dimension to it. He didn’t have a bad game last night either. In fact, one would say, he had a really good game. The Butterfly Effect dropped 31 on the hapless Knicks while having afflictions on both of his feet (turf toe on the left, plantar fasciitis in his right). It’s not quite Manu’s 40, but the race for 6th man seems to be heating up.

Baseball’s Back!

After a few long, cold months, the sleeping giant known as Major League Baseball has come out of hibernation. More and more stars are reporting to spring training camps every day. I’m sure everyone is (read: I am) already looking at key position battles and early-forms to help establish a cheat sheet for my beloved fantasy baseball league(s).

Barry Bonds reports to media frenzy

Very predictably, Barry Bonds showed up to Giants’ camp and was mauled by reporters asking about his sordid affairs. While this is all old hat to him, shouldn’t this motivate him to break the record quicker? The media pressure will be eased incredibly after he breaks the record because that’s one less storyline to chase. Way to egg him on boys.

Cubs dodge a bullet

It seems Chicago has lucked out by signing Carlos Zambrano to a $12.4 M, one-year deal just days before he was set to go to arbitration. Their ace had originally commanded upwards of $15 M and may have gotten it had they not settled. The bigger question now is will the Cubs be able to hammer out a multi-year extension with Zambrano before his opening day deadline? If nothing can come to fruition, Carlos will hit the free agent market next winter and will command a veritable ton of money. The Yankees and the Mets must be licking their lips right now.

Manny-being-Manny

It looks like Boston slugger Manny Ramirez is up to his old routine again. Close friend and Red Sox teammate Julian Tavarez has told the media that Manny won’t be showing up to spring training on time because his mother has an undisclosed surgery scheduled. While that is all fine in my books and probably in Boston management’s as well, the issue is that they learned of this the same way that the media did; from Tavarez. It turns out that Manny didn’t call anyone to let them know about this turn of events, which just reminds us that there is no personality in sports like Manny Ramirez.

A-Rod vs. Jeter

All is not fine in Yankee-land as Alex Rodriguez’s and Derek Jeter’s friendship is now on the rocks. Actually, it depends on who you ask about it; A-Rod seems to think it’s cooled down but Jeter seems to think they’re ok. Two things that are more interesting arise from this “feud.” Firstly, the two used to have sleepovers regularly. Second was Joe Torre’s great quote that you don’t need to work as a team to win. Last I checked, this is the reason that the Yankees-philosophy of huge payrolls hasn't been garnering championships. Might be time to re-think that one Joe.

Jimmy Rollins writes cheque with mouth

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins opened his mouth and wrote a cheque that his ass may not be able to cash. Rollins proclaimed that Philadelphia is the team to beat in the NL East. Last I checked, the loaded New York Mets, and the tough, young Braves and Marlins were still in the NL East. While they do have a talented team, “team to beat” seems like an overstatement to me.

The Intern’s Take On: NBA All-Star Weekend

VIVVVAAAAA LAS VEGAS

Sunday night brought close to a momentous event in a very anti-climatic way. There were lots of ups and a lot of downs. The exciting 3-point competition was capped off with Hibachi shooting from behind the arc with one arm but there was also the less then stellar rookie game. Mark my words next All-Star weekend we will see history in the making as the Oden-led rookies will walk all over the sophomores. It will definitely be a sad state of affairs. It will also be the first time the sophomores will have lost since the league instituted this format.

Then there was the joke of a celebrity game which included an insanely juiced up Carrot Top. Seriously, what the hell is that guy on? Then there was life-sized “Ken” doll known as Wayne Newton; I haven’t seen that much plastic since the last time I took out the recycling. Finally, the exhilarating dunk-off showcased Gerald Green performing a Dee Brown-esque dunk over Nate Robinson: classic. The Judges showed no love for Dwight. Come On! He stuck a sticker of his face on the top of the back board mid dunk and then pulled out a measuring tape to measure how high it was: Classy.

The All-Star weekend’s plateau was the dunk comp because the actual All-Star game was lackluster at best. It really was a showcase of the West dominance over the measly East. It was basically like watching an NBA team play their D-league counterpart; except, at least, the D-League team would actually play as a team. It was actually quite scary how well the West gelled as a team. They set an All-Star record with 52 team assists and Kobe was still able to get his 20+ shots. Damn, I love watching west coast basketball. My major gripe with the game came at the hands of King James. Throughout the second half Lebron was playing like he really wanted that MVP trophy. He would march down the court not make a single pass and then jack up a shot. Good job James. What he failed to realize is that his team was down by 20 and he had no chance at the trophy.

On a different note, there were a couple of instances that did bring a smile to my face. Two of them included the big Diesel himself. The first one was when he followed up a missed dunk with a monster slam and finished with a kiss T-Mac’s forehead. Classic Shaq. Second was when point guard Shaq tried to take Memnut Okur off the dribble and threw up the ugliest shot of the night with Memo laughing at him the whole time. Finally, the highlight of my evening came with Agent Zero doing a through-the-legs dunk off the trampoline with all the dunking Elvises. It’s safe to assume that Eddie Jordan wasn’t too pleased. Consequently, Gilbert didn’t see the floor again for the rest of the evening. Yet again Gilbert Arenas’ hi-jinx made my day.

News from around the NFL

Brady to be Baby Daddy

It would be far too easy to throw a joke in here about his Visa commercial and the 5 stages of protection or maybe something about Bridget Moynahan being his best receiver but the real question is what did Gisele think when she found out? Wouldn't any woman out there be automatically freaked out when you found out your boyfriend knocked up his ex-girlfriend before leaving her? This, of course, will be an on-going storyline and it will be interesting to see how Brady plays next season knowing that 15% of his paycheck won't be going into his pocket.

San Diego re-tools coaching staff

After the late firing of Marty Schottenheimer, it was fairly obvious that San Diego would be left to pick up the scraps that fell off of the coaching carousel; so they did. With the hiring of Norv Turner, the Chargers actually picked a coach with a better play-off winning percentage than Marty's (.500 v. .278) but with a far worse regular season record (.415 v. .613). In fact, Norv's record is the fourth worst for a coach that's been hired. The good news for Norv is that this Chargers team is good enough to win, in spite of his lowly record.

San Diego also made an impact move by grabbing Ron Rivera who was cast off by the Bears after contract talks went south. Rivera will become the linebackers coach of the Chargers which is actually a demotion from the defensive coordinator position he held in Chicago. The two points of interest in this decision are:

Rivera is accustomed to the 4-3 set the Bears used and the Chargers play a 3-4; can he adapt to the different defensive style? I say yes; with the linebacker core that San Diego has, it shouldn't be too hard to coach them.

How did Rivera slide from being interviewed for 9 head coaching jobs over the past two years to taking an assistant role? I have no idea what's wrong with him; maybe he should work on some offensive schemes with Turner and LDT while he's in San Diego.

Dan, West trounce opponents

All-star weekend in Vegas has ended and no one even got shot, which, actually, is quite surprising. One can only hope this game leads to an actual team being placed in Sin City, or at least make all-star weekend there an annual event.

Skills Comp: In the final round, after Chris Paul and Lebron James didn't make too much effort to move forward, it came down to defending champ Dwayne Wade vs. Kobe Bryant. While Wade had a record setting time, it came down to Kobe proving that he still has learned to pass correctly by missing 4 straight attempts.

3-Point Shootout: I'm going to be straight-up honest and say that if I hadn't taken Mike Miller to win; my second choice was Jason Kapono. In fact, if I had seen a recent picture of Miller wearing his hair band like that, I would have picked Kapono. In case you didn't see where this paragraph was going, Jason Kapono won.

Slam Dunk Competition: In what was comparably a shoddy contest, my boy, G-Money, Gerald Green came out on top, nearly by default. Green busted out 2 of the 3 best dunks of the night to take the crown. One included teammate Paul Pierce laying the ball off of the side of the net, followed by Green dunking it. Green also jumped completely over defending dunk champion Nate Robinson similar to what Nate did last year over Spud Webb. Dwight Howard didn't make the finals but showed some innovation by slapping a sticker onto the backboard while dunking. The sticker ended up at an amazing 12' 6" showing that he could've done something great if Stern had allowed him to raise the rim.

The Game: Kobe showed that he was the star of All-Stars by winning the MVP at last night's all-star game. The West dominated a game that had plenty of offense and very little defensive effort. The only reason I even say "little" instead of "no defensive effort" is based upon the fact that Garnett did have that huge block on D-Wade and there was the occasion errant pass picked off. But if you expected a Spurs-style defensive lock up, you were watching the wrong channel. A 153-132 victory is pretty much the type of score-line you should expect to see. But this is what an all-star game is supposed to be about; a showcase of the game's most talented players proving what they can do.

The Prediction Challenge: We never claimed to be good at picking or wagering so I hope you didn't rely on our wisdom. The final score, including the three events that we didn't post on this site (Celebrity game, Rookie v. sophomore game and Barkley v. Bavetta) was 4-2 for I, Dan, who laid a smackdown of sorts on the lowly Intern.

Note: I took the West in the celebrity game, the Sophomores in the Rookie challenge and Barkley in the foot race. The Intern took the East, the sophomores and Bavetta.

Fiery finish at Daytona

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of NASCAR, nor do I understand the appeal of driving around in circles for hours on end, but the finish to yesterday's Daytona 500 was something great. Kevin Harvik edged out Mark Martin to take the checkered flag while a mess of cars were left in their wake. One car even finished the race upside down while on fire. If something like that happened every race, NASCAR might capture my fandom.