Parity is hurting trade deadline excitement.

Ask one of your friends who follows sports, in particular football, when the trade deadline for the NFL is and more often than not, they won't be able to answer. Very rarely are players traded in the NFL and even rarer when it happens midseason. 2006’s trade deadline in the NHL was the first of such since the lockout and ergo, the first with a salary cap in place. While there are usually a ton of buyers and sellers and superstar names often are on the move, there was the least amount of movement in recent years. In the NBA, due to their complicated salary cap/ luxury tax system, it can also be hard at times to make big moves at the deadline or at any time for that matter. Most teams in the NBA are already over their "soft" salary cap which hinders movement. The only league of the "big 4" sports where there is a possibility of multiple big name moves every deadline is in Major League Baseball. It figures that baseball is the only sport of the four without a salary cap, even though it has instituted a nearly laughable luxury tax which only few teams have ever had to pay. Looking at these facts alone, it seems fairly obvious that salary caps are killing the excitement of trade deadlines.

The desired effect of a salary cap and, to a lesser extent, a luxury tax, is to create parity in the league to level the playing fields between the "have" larger market franchises and the "have not" smaller market teams. The leagues want teams in lesser populated areas to have a chance to compete with the gargantuan markets. These salary ceilings limit big name and big money free agent signings in the off-season and also prevent teams from buying out all of the top available talents (even though the Yankees are proving money doesn't buy championships). With most teams seemingly level, playoff races are tighter and it's easy for a team on a well-timed winning streak to justify becoming deadline buyers as opposed to the deadline sellers that they should be. Any economist, or even a person with a regular amount of common sense, could tell you that when a marketplace is lacking sellers, not many deals can be done. The same can be said when buyers are up against their allotted budget; when people can't afford to make a deal, no deal can be done.

With these caps in place, free agency becomes more of a factor than ever. While most player movement is done throughout the off-season now, there is a bigger role that free agency plays in trades. Most teams will either look to take on expiring contracts through trades and buyers will use these contracts as bargaining chips in trades. Players with semi-large expiring deals mean that the team holding them will get that cap-room freed up in the free agency period and be able to put that money towards players they covet. Players with expiring contracts may also be traded away because their team may feel that they will be unable to re-sign them, ergo, lose them and not get anything in return.

Just recently, there were two contrasting evidences in my trade deadline theory. While the NBA had only 3 deals involving 4 players take place, the NHL set a record for deadline movement. Even though the standings say otherwise, it seems that every team in the NBA felt fine with the rosters they had and didn’t feel it necessary to make any splashes in the pond. The NHL, on the other hand, has proven that the GMs around the league have figured out their ways to deal with a cap in place, but many of them still haven’t figured out how to build a proper team.

I remember years ago I would stay tuned to the ticker to see every trade come in on the wire. I was excited to see big names changing postal codes and role players brought onto rosters that lacked ideal depth. There was an immediate on teams who suited up their new players as soon as they could. With free agency, there's nothing like that; there's a wait of an entire off-season to see if the moves work out. There’s also no excitement of deals coming across the board by the hour; days and weeks can come between signings. While I'll never argue that salary caps are a bad thing, they're ruining the most exciting days on the sporting world calendar and that has to be said.

The NFL Offseason kicks off

Free Agency Begins!

Joey Porter – One of the biggest mouths in the game, both literally and figuratively. Seriously, have you seen this guy’s jaw? It’s huge! He also used to be a great linebacker, now, he’s just good.

Drew Bledsoe – The statuesque one will be looking for a new team to go to and make everyone realize how good their back up QB is.

Nate Clements – The best CB on the market will attract a ton of attention. Leave it to the Bills to let one of their best players go. At least they still have the best punter in the game. Go Brian Moorman!

Adalius Thomas – The versatile former Raven will be looking for new digs after Baltimore realized they wouldn’t be able to keep him.

Joe Horn – The former all-pro missed some of last season with an injury but should be back in full form next season. I would make some sort of joke right here but I really don’t have anything on Joe besides the fact he nearly killed my fantasy team this year.

Jamal Lewis – The ex-con will hit the market but expect Baltimore to be right back in the mix. After all, how far can he really go with a tracker bracelet on his ankle?

Plummer retires to avoid trade.

This is a pretty good example of selfishness in sports. After the Broncos agreed to trade Jake the Snake to Tampa Bay, Plummer announced his retirement when he learned that he would have to compete for the starting job with the incumbent Chris Simms. That does seem like a slap in the face considering this is Chris Simms we’re talking about. Anybody should know that even Jake Plummer is superior to Chris Simms. Sadly, now we’ll never know if Jake would grow his beard out in a warmer climate.

Yes, you can get injured playing golf

Yesterday at the Honda Classic, everybody’s favourite recovering alcoholic golfer, John Daly, was injured after a camera went off during his swing. Daly apparently pulled a muscle in his ribs as well as his shoulder when he was distracted by the click of a camera. He had to withdraw from the tournament and the extent of the injury is unknown. No word yet as to whether the camera stole his soul as well.

The Intern's on: The West

Memphis Grizzlies

They have absolutely no chance of making the playoffs. They are in a tight race with the Celtics for the worst record in the league though. Their best case scenario is that they finish last, get the first pick in the Oden/Durant sweepstakes, draft Oden, sign Chauncey Billups in the off season and just like that, the Griz are back in the playoff hunt.

Sacramento Kings

This team needs to be dismantled. They might as well start tanking because this team is going nowhere. First order of business in the off season should be to attempt to find a suitable taker for Ronny. Since acquiring Artest it’s been downhill; Brad Miller is currently having his worst season ever and Mike Bibby is shooting a career worst 39%. Is there a team that could actually benefit from having Artest?

Seattle Supersonics

Seattle is going to be very hard-pressed to make the playoffs this year being 11 games out of the 8th spot. One positive is that I have been really impressed with the production from Nick Collison as of lately and Ray Allen is still the best pure shooter in the game. Hopefully they will get a high draft pick and not lose Rashard Lewis to free agency in the off-season.

Portland Trailblazers

They have a great, young nucleolus with a very high ceiling. Won’t make the playoffs this year but watch out for them next season. With Magloire’s expiring contract and a sea full of talented free agents, they have a lot of options.

Minnesota Timberwolves

You can never really count this team out based on the fact that they have the star power of the immortal KG. But you know you have a problem when your second third punches are Ricky Davis and Mike James. Ouch. At least they are giving Randy Foye the minutes he needs to develop into one of the future cornerstones of the franchise.

Golden State Warriors

This team will be in a four way race for the 7 and 8 spots against the Nuggets, Clippers and the Hornets. This team could be a fierce competitor if they could just win a game on the road. They have the largest home/away loss differential in the league. Two major flaws are their absent defense and they have no inside presence. Their run-and-gun style of play somewhat glosses over these issues but can still easily be exposed. Monta Ellis is turning into quite a baller and, more importantly, Stephen Jackson hasn’t shot anyone… Yet.

Los Angeles Clippers

I originally had this team pegged to grab the 8th and final playoff spot but that was before Livingston went down hard. They could still make the playoffs if Maggette ever gets on the same page as Dunleavy and if Brand can transform back into the MVP-caliber player he was last year.

Denver Nuggets

This team by default should make the playoffs on the sheer fact that they have two of the top scorers in the league. Also, to their credit, they have a healthy Camby and, over the last two weeks, Nene has put up some very nice numbers.

New Orleans/ Oklahoma City Hornets

It’s nice to finally see this team almost back to 100%. They should be able to secure 7th spot with CP3 leading them and the solid production from David West and the rest of the team.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers will finish 5th just on the raw talent of Kobe and Lamar. But this team could be a legitimate contender if they had a half-decent point guard. Instead, they have the worst starting point guard in the league being Smush Parker. Given he is also the cheapest starting PG in the league making only 600 G’s, but still, for all that’s good in the world, how can you average only 2.4 assists per game when you have Kobe and Odom on your team. I feel a migraine coming on.

Houston Rockets

With the way T-Mac has put the Rockets on his aching back and the possibility of Yao returning, they could catch the Spurs and finish either third or fourth, depending on how Utah finishes.

Utah Jazz

They have almost completely secured 4th spot in the West. They could make a push now for third spot because Boozer is back in the lineup but, alas, Deron Williams is now out with a groin strain. That’s a real kick in the pants for the Jazz.

San Antonio Spurs

The San-An Spurs are still one of the most boring teams in the league but, hey, it doesn’t really matter when you can dismantle opponents like they can. Personally, I think after you factor in all the characteristics that make up a team in NBA, they have the second best team in the league. They have all the pieces to make a serious run in the playoffs.

Phoenix Suns

What can you say about the Suns that haven’t already been said about a million times? Well, I don’t care; I’m going to reiterate it. They are the most fun team to watch in sports right now. The whole team is a walking highlight reel. They can score on demand and they have the best point guard in the game in Steve Nash. Now its going to take a lot for me to admit this but *sniff sniff* they do not have the depth nor the defensive intensity to get to the Finals. Excuse me while this Suns Fan boy goes and cries in the corner.

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas is definitely the team to beat in the league. They’re riding their 3rd 13+ game winning streak, Dirk is playing possessed basketball and, as a team, they get it done on both ends of the court. Major accolades should go to Avery’s coaching and I seriously feel sorry for anyone that gets stuck in the West’s 8th playoff spot.

The NBA last night

In jumping-the-gun news

Well, it turns out I opened my mouth, figuratively, before I looked up the facts. It seems I misheard a Sportscenter announcer and wrote yesterday that the Suns had already swept the West on the road, when, in fact, they still had to make it through Philadelphia last night. Looking at it again, it’s fairly obvious my words jinxed the Suns, a similar that my Shaun White article had for the X games. What is most shocking about this turn of events is the fact that the Suns, who many will pick to win it all, couldn’t take care of a team that had dealt their, by far, best player away in hopes of tanking the season for a shot at Oden or Durant. People shouldn’t be too confident in the Suns now.

Vegas backlash

After reports of shootings, violence and other crimes in Las Vegas over all-star weekend, Tracy McGrady has come forward and said that he would consider skipping next year’s all-star game in New Orleans if he didn’t feel safe. T-Mac, who is perennially voted to play in said game, may be onto something considering how the all-star festivities are scheduled to take place mere days before Mardi Gras. It will be very interesting to see if any other stars who are guaranteed to be voted to the Big Easy take up a similar stance to McGrady.

Two NBA Notes

Ponder This...

After watching the Cleveland vs. the Hornets last night and reading several stories about LeBron’s slump this year, I had a thought on the subject that I think should be addressed. Does anybody remember when Michael Redd was ready to become a free agent and every team in the league that had the cap space to sign him was chomping at the bit? Then they dreams were shattered when Redd chose to resign with the Bucks. The Cavs ended up bringing in Larry Hughes who was coming off of a huge season with Washington and looked to be a good suitor for King James’ number-two role. Fast-forward to the present and LeBron is still playing without another great starter on the roster while Redd persuaded me to actually believe in a sad-sack Milwaukee team. Imagine where the Cleveland Cavaliers would be right now had they gotten Redd instead of Hughes. LeBron would still be trying, Redd would be at the top of the league in scoring with James feeding him and Hughes would still be injury-prone wherever he ended up. Even the Bucks would’ve benefited from letting Redd go. Do you not think they would be the leading candidate for the Durant/Oden sweepstakes? Oh, what could’ve been.

The Suns burn the East

After taking out the Pacers in Indiana last night, the Phoenix Suns became the first team ever to win every road game against the Eastern Conference in a season. If you had told me this would happen at the beginning of the season, I would’ve believed you. In fact, I would’ve been more surprised if you told that the Suns would be the only team in West to go undefeated on the road against East teams this year. That shows how low the East have slid down the line.

The exact opposite of the NBA Deadline

After the NBA’s trade deadline had expired last week, I had jokingly wrote about huge names relocating in blockbuster deals; this joke cannot be made for the NHL’s deadline because it actually did happen. Here’s a few that caught my eye:

Edmonton’s Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders for Ryan O'Marra, Robert Nilsson and a first-round pick. Edmonton did what they had to do; they traded away a really good player to rebuild. This is a task which is something that some teams in the league still have to learn to do. Word has it that there was no way they could resign Smyth to an extension so they dealt him and got a decent return. I applaud you for looking towards the future.

The Panther’s Todd Bertuzzi to Detroit for Shawn Matthias and two conditional draft picks. Bertuzzi has been injured for the majority of this season and was on a team that wasn’t going anywhere in south Florida. When he comes back, he will play a power forward

The Blues’ Bill Guerin to the Sharks for Ville Neimenen, a prospect and a first round pick. Do you think that a line of big boys like Thornton, Guerin and Cheechoo are going to be stopped in the playoffs? It’s going to be quite the task, especially if they want to roll Marleau out on the powerplay with them. This is a solid, over-the-top move.

The Capitol’s Dainus Zubrus and Timo Helbling to the Sabres for Jiri Novotny and a first-round pick. The Sabres have been fighting off injuries a lot this season and are still winning. Why not pick up some insurance for the playoffs with a fine player like Zubrus?

The Sabres deal Martin Biron and a fifth-round pick then end up with Ty Conklin and a second-round pick. This is how a great GM works. You have a goalie (Biron) who is making $2 M this year for sitting on the bench, backing up the fantastic Ryan Miller. He’s going to leave this summer as a free agent so why not deal him now and then pick up Conklin for a lesser cost? Sure, Conklin isn’t as good as Biron but he is one of the better backups in the league. Not to mention that Buffalo also upgraded their draft pick by 3 whole rounds.

The Penguins beef up by acquiring Gary Roberts and Georges Laraque. Look at that! The Penguins finally got a legitimate tough guy to defend Crosby and Malkin. Gary Roberts is a gritty player that will stand up for the young guys too and can be a good mentor.

The Ducks beef up by getting Brad May. Even though they’ve been fighting injuries, the Ducks didn’t make strong enough plays to land any of the big names this deadline; they will probably regret this come playoff time.

Another thing of note in the NHL

Defensive iron-man Karlis Skrastins’ consecutive games played streak ended on Sunday when he couldn’t play against the Anaheim Ducks due to a knee injury. Quite frankly, up until the story broke that he had tied the streak the only thing I thought note-worthy of Skrastins is that I used to have him on my team in, roughly, NHL 2002. He’ll always be remembered for far more than that feat in my mind now.

Two Questionable NHL Signings

***NOTE: With the NHL Trade Deadline today, expect another post***

Last night I saw two announcements come across the wire and scratched my head as to the logic behind them both. Darcy Tucker had tentatively signed a new deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Fredrik Modin had signed an extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets. These two were set to become unrestricted free agents after the season, were sought-after commodities for today’s trade deadline and are currently on non-playoff teams. So what sense does it make not to deal them for the future?

In Tucker’s case, his resigning is bad for both parties. If he had tested the free-agent waters, he would have come home with a much bigger contract. But perhaps he wanted to stay with Toronto and take a “home-town discount” deal. In that case, had the Leafs dealt him today, there would still be a decent chance that Tucker would come back in the summer. Then the Leafs would also have the talent they acquired for him on the roster too.

While I’m not as familiar with Modin’s situation in Columbus, I am aware of two things: A) Columbus is 14th in the West and 20 points out of the playoffs. B) Several teams wanted to trade for the hard-shooting winger with playoff-experience.

These moves make especially less sense after seeing what Dallas and Atlanta gave up for their rental players. But then again, I’m no General Manager, I just play on in video games.

An NBA theory

Often we look at teams in the upper-echelon of the leagues and try to decide who will win in the play-offs; take home the championship. One of these ways that I use is the common opponent theory. What you do is take the results from recent games that both teams have played against a common opponent and compare them. This scenario just so happened to manifest it self over the past few days. On Sunday, the Phoenix Suns played in Atlanta and beat the lowly Hawks 115-106, largely due to Amare Stoudemire’s 43 points. The next night when the Hawks faced off against the mighty Dallas Mavericks, they were pounded 110-87. When you compare a 9-point win and a 23-point win, it’s fairly easy to see who the superior team is.

Also, don’t even try to give me any excuse that because it was their second game in two days, the Hawks would be tired. These are professional athletes; they are getting paid to play this sport and should be able to run for, at most, 48 minutes two nights in a row.

Another concern you may raise is that the Suns game was in Atlanta and the Mavericks game was in Dallas. If you’ve ever watched a Hawk’s home game, it’s fairly easy to see that they don’t have a home court advantage because hardly anybody will come out to see their sad-sack team.

NCAA Fever heating up

With the number one and two ranked teams in the nation squaring off on Sunday in Columbus, one couldn’t help but get excited about the upcoming NCAA tournament this March. Phenom Greg Oden and his Ohio State Buckeyes slugged it out down to the wire against number-two Wisconsin and came out with a 49-48 win. The sheer, unabridged joy that these players demonstrate after a huge game like this one helps remind us that there is purity in the sport still; that players still have to play to eventually be paid. The Vince Carters of the world could learn something if they watched a good college game and remembered his days when he wasn’t getting paid for what he’s doing now. It may just warm that empty cavity in his chest.

Thrashers pick up Tkachuk

In a move that doesn’t really make a ton of sense, the Atlanta Thrashers traded for one of the premier players available in NHL with the deadline coming up. The thing that doesn’t make sense is that Atlanta is already very talented on the wings and could’ve used a centre more than a winger like Tkachuk. This move does help the Thrashers in the grit department which they have been lacking but what they gave up in this deal, first, second and third-round draft picks over the next two draft and Glen Metropolit, should be considered as mortgaging their future. This is a big splash move but it isn’t enough to bring a championship to the dirty south.