My sources say Kobe's going to the Suns

This Kobe thing is crazy. I hate to say never, but I NEVER thought this would happen. Even after hearing all these reports, I still am having trouble accepting it as truth.

First, regardless of what Kobe says, it is next to impossible to trade someone of his caliber. There's the salary issue and the fact that there's no way the Lakers are going to get someone of equal value, unless it's two star players or three All-Star players.

This is also eerily similar to the Garnett and Iverson situations. Garnett has been rumored to be traded for a couple of years now, and as far as we know that's nothing but talk. Iverson was the same thing, and he wasn't traded until he 31 years old and arguably at the end of his prime. Kobe is in the MIDDLE of his prime, leading the league in scoring two years running and single-handily taking an awful Lakers team to the playoffs two years in a row.

I'm just having trouble believing that Kobe asks for a trade and before the start of next season he's with another team. History tells us it's not that easy. I can't think of any player on Kobe's level that was traded in his prime. Kareem was traded when he was 27, but that was 30 years ago and I think that a Kobe trade would be an even bigger deal.

I also can't believe that the Lakers are going to go from a team led by future Hall of Famers Shaq and Kobe to a team three years later being led by Lamar Odom and whoever they get for Kobe. That's not bad management, that's unbelievably bad management.

I hear what Kobe's saying, but I'm having a hard time seeing it.

The end of my NBA season

The NBA this year was awesome. Dallas flirted with 70 wins and played two great regular season games against Phoenix, a team that had a 15 and 17 game winning streak. Then there was the Suns game with the Nets in which the teams combined for 318 points.

Gilbert Arenas established himself as the most entertaining player in the league. Future Hall of Famer Allen Iverson was traded to the Nuggets, forming a dream duo with Carmelo Anthony. Kobe Bryant is still good and LeBron James isn't bad either.

The league also switched to a more up-tempo style, with nine teams averaging at least 100 points per game. Last year only five teams averaged that many points and in 2003-04, only two teams averaged that many.

What made all this better was that the playoffs initially appeared to be an improvement. Golden State was 33-39 on March 26 and a playoff afterthought. They then won nine of their final 10 games to sneak into the playoffs and followed that by destroying the best team in the league.

The Warriors series with the Jazz was short, but entertaining. The Suns and Spurs second round series was incredible for many different reasons. The Bulls toyed with coming back from a 3-0 defecit and put on the first watchable Eastern Conference series.

And now we've reached the Conference finals, and I'm done. After a season this great, we're left with Detroit, Cleveland, San Antonio and Utah. Thanks, but no thanks.

Detroit is great, but boring and without a true superstar (sorry Chauncey). Aside from LeBron, Cleveland is a bad team. I actually enjoy watching the Jazz, but in all honesty they have no chance against the Spurs, the most evil team to ever step on a basketball court. Not only are the Spurs the most boring and personality-deprived teams of all-time, they also eliminated the two most entertaining teams in the playoffs already.

While there are plenty of great things to take from this season, I can't help but be left with a bitter taste from a disappointing ending.

NFL's Elite going to the Dogs

Based on the latest edition of ESPN's Outside the Lines, Michael Vick is in deep trouble. And even though this isn't drunk driving or domestic abuse charges, it's still a P.R. nightmare for the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. Yes, dogs are not human beings, but surely they don't deserve to be unwillingly thrown into fights against other dogs. The NFL even made it clear in a statement they released to Outside the Lines.

The reality according to ESPN is that many more professional athletes are involved besides Vick. This means, that like steroids, there is more to this than meets the eyes. And now the world of dogfighting, which a lot of people knows exists but very few people talk about, may now hit the mainstream.

As a pet owner, and not even someone who likes dogs for pets, this whole situation just bothers me to know end. I find it bad enough that some cultures eat house pets as food, but at least they're doing it for survival. But if NBA and NFL players are involved in this animal abuse, then they need to be exposed as quickly as possible so that this sub-culture can be severely damaged. Obviously, there's no way we can ever be rid of something like this, but something has to be done.

UFC: The Next Big Thing?

So the results are in: The Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather apparently drew in over two million total buys and $120 million in revenue. That's all well and good, but the question I asked myself in all the hype was "What's the point?" Sure, there are two great personalities with De La Hoya and Mayweather, but the fact that they were fighting for any sort of championships was barely even mentioned by any of the writers or by the announcers.

And now, just two weeks later, Sports Illustrated examines whether or not UFC is the next big thing. The answer to that question is blatantly obvious. No. Why no? Because it is already a big deal. And although many of the fighters are anonymous to a mainstream audience, they already average with a paid audience, what the NHL playoffs drew on the Vs. network. For fifty dollars and an average of just under one million buys for 2006, According to a story on SI.com, UFC's 2006 PPV revenues were almost $223 million, compared with $177 million for boxing on HBO and $200 million for WWE.

And UFC is already training the next generation of fighters with a reality television show on the Spike TV channel. A recent episode 1.2 million viewers. And although this is only just a decent number for cable television the holy grail demographic, 18-34 males , continues to do very well. And this season has seen growth in the over-35 crowd, traditionally a tough crowd to grab for what some people still think of as bonafied human cockfighting.

But UFC has cleaned its' act considerably since being purchased by boxing promoter Dana White in 2001. Since then, the company has experienced all of its' mainstream growth. Spike has the reality show. HBO, the channel that's kept boxing breathing the last 15 years, will begin broadcasting UFC events very soon. UFC also bought out one of their top competitors, PRIDE. Copycat leagues have formed and will continue to form. And many states are beginning to allow MMA events. Illinois recently loosening its' laws has already caused copycat International Fighting League (IFL) to run a show and Dana White had talked of running the Allstate Arena or United Center for a big UFC Pay-Per View.

People can choose to hate UFC. I've remained ambivalent to this point about the fights, but with all the attention it's getting, there's a good chance I too may become a fan. Especially when certain leagues continue to screw their fans by charging increasing amounts of money for a depleted product. Here is a sport at its' purest. Two men getting into a ring (or in this case Octagon) and settling a score. Not a single fighter has died in a UFC ring. And White has put certain rules (no eye-gouging, fish-hooking, or choking) to make sure that UFC is relatively safe.

While UFC is nowhere near the NBA, MLB, NASCAR, and especially the NFL, it certainly is a big thing.

America's Most Wanted

Never mind the fact that Michael Dwayne Vick has failed to live up to the expectations that accompany the highest paid contract in NFL history to date.

Never mind the fact that in seven seasons in the League he's yet to ever complete more than 60 percent of his passes, throw for more than 20 touchdowns or have a passer rating higher than a B- by even the most generous of collegiate grading standards.

Never mind the fact that in a single off season he's been a part of two potentially image devastating scandals that have been sandwiched around a horrific shooting at his Alma mater.

Despite all of that, Michael Vick is still the brightest, most entertaining, creative, explosive, intriguing player in the National Football League.

Just as another prolific young star found out the hard way, it's not easy being a well-known and generously paid African-American professional Global Icon. However, just as that other well-known and generously paid African-American professional Global Icon quickly figured out; the cure for such a perplexing position is winning and doing what he does best-- ENTERTAINING THE PAYING FANS!

In a recent interview with a Washington radio station, (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18783681/) Clinton Portis said "I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it's his property, it's his dog," Portis told WAVY-TV. "If that's what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their business."

Now although I don't support animal cruelty in anyway, I do agree with the premise of what the former University of Miami running back is proposing. Essentially, it's not my place or any fan's place to judge what the outstanding community activist, Vick, does in his spare time. However, if the media feels the need to publicize his off-season ventures, there should be an equal platform for the charity work that the VICK Foundation did during the past year, or the amazing amounts of money that he doled out for the families of the Virginia Tech massacre, or the work Vick does with the Boys & Girls Club of the greater metropolitan Atlanta community, or the dozens and dozens of other great things that Vick does in his spare time.

As Lucky 7 embarks on his Golden Season in the National Football League it can be more than expected of him to elevate his level of play and prove all of his critics, doubters, naysayers, conspirators and antagonists wrong by showing why he was the number one draft pick in the 2001 Draft, the recipient of the highest paying contract to-the-date in the NFL on December 23, 2004, and the most sought after figure in the league of shoulder pads and helmets. Although Vick isn't perfect, I feel more than confident acknowledging that none of us are either.

Nonetheless with so much controversy surrounding the made-for-silver screen talent, it will truly be a colossal endeavor that the fleet-footed southpaw prepares to undertake.

I don't care about feelings

Days like yesterday make love Chicago. During his post-game interview yesterday, Ozzie Guillen's wife texted him that she was watching him on TV and he starts talking to her, telling her he'll pick her up at the airport at 11. Hilarious, Ozzie is great.

Not to be outdone, Lou Pinella called out his closer and informed a group of reporters that he doesn't care about feelings. For most managers, this would have been a meltdown, but this was nothing by Lou's standards. Ryan Dempster alone is going to be worth 5-6 screamdowns this year.

What I'm really hoping is that they can keep it up with the Cardinals already 8.5 games out of first place and our top pitcher out for 3 months. Would it be too much to ask for a reality show with Lou, Ozzie and a group of reporters (including Mariotti)? Somebody should get on this.

Pistons-Bulls Series

I was walking down Michigan Ave. en route to a party at the Billy Goat last Thursday night. In one of the windows along the way I saw that the Bulls had a comfy 19 point lead against a tough Detroit team. I was pleased and continued my journey to the goat.

Upon arriving I learned that the Pistons had cut the lead drastically.

I decided to not watch the rest of the game for fear of what was to come.

The Pistons came back and won the game.

The series at that point was essentially over.

A couple of days before that Mario asked me if I would still stand by my Bulls in 7 prediction.

I said yes, simply.

Friday my friend asked me if I would still stand by the Bulls in 7.

Again, I replied with a simple yes.

As I post this I realize that I can jinx the Bullies, but it is of no matter at this point because the Bulls journey doesn't end with this series.

I still believe the Bulls can do the impossible.

These last two games the Pistons have had the same body language the Heat had in the last series.

The "We're too damn good to deal with this team" demeanor.

There is a lot of talk in the media about this "flipping the switch" mentality that the Pistons have and I agree with that sentiment.

Maybe now that the pressure is on the Pistons wake up and win the game.

Maybe now that the Bulls charge is on they decide that they want to play.

But I don't see it.

I see the Bulls pulling off a miracle.

Bulls Make It a Series Again

So the baby Bulls have shown some heart and moxy before theire elimination by the Detroit Pistons. While very easily calling it a season and getting ready for vacation is what the Bulls could have done, they have responded to a 3-0 deficit by giving the Pistons two straight beatings. The first was admittedly not the Pistons' best effort as they looked apathetic and seemed disinterested. But everyone in the media wrote this off as just the team just wanting to win a series on their homecourt. Where are the excuses tonight? This team still looked old, apathetic, and very tired. Chris Webber has disappeared from the postseason limelight. Maybe he should try calling time-out again. I know it's a cheapshot but when you go scoreless in two straight games and do next to nothing with a chance to close your opponent, you deserve to be smacked in the mouth. And Rasheed Wallace's outbursts don't strike me as being that of a mature basketball team poised to win a championship. I know the Bulls have shot the ball very well the last two games and the odds are good that they will indeed lose on Thursday or Monday night. I'm not delusional enough to think that this Bulls team can do what no other team in NBA history has done and only three teams in professional sports have done. But I think Bulls fans should take something very positive away from this team. When they could have thrown in the towel like Miami did in their Game 4, they didn't. The Bulls kept fighting, kept trying to win basketball games, and even took away a lot of the Pistons momentum regardless of what happens.

Not to turn this into a Suns blog, but...

When the Suns signed Jalen Rose earlier this year, I was excited. Last year they turned Boris Diaw into a good player and Rose is at least that talented, albiet quite a bit older. 53 DNP's later, I think it's safe to assume it didn't work out.

But in the back of my mind I always knew that Rose would help out the Suns eventually, and today that's been confirmed. On ESPN, Rose showed a video from the second quarter of Game 4 of Bruce Bowen and Tim Duncan walking onto the court after a Francisco Elson dunk in which he Elson landed on a Suns player (sorry, I couldn't find video). Rose argued that it was a potential incident and that Duncan has to be suspended for a game. As the Big Aristotle said on TNT after the game "If you break the crime (sic) you must do the time."

The league should suspend whoever they have to and IMMEDIATELY get rid of this rule. Why does the NBA need a rule specifying when a player should be suspended, is there no room for subjectivity here? I don't know about anyone else, but Game 5 without Stoudemire and possibly Diaw and Duncan will be incredibly entertaining for me. Not really.

BD and Me

As I'm sure everyone else does, I've recently completed my yearly audit of basketball likes and dislikes. This year I have an exciting new addition to my "Favorite Current Players" list.

1. Steve Nash
Most entertaining player in the league, no arguments accepted. Also, I'm waiting for him to rip into Dirk and say that Nowitzki stole this year's MVP from him.

2. Amare Stoudemire
Most talented young big man in the league. Unlike Dwight Howard, he can shoot and he's almost as athletic.

3. Shawn Marion
Gave the greatest interview of the year to ESPN the Magazine for this story. When asked if he'd rather be a 30 ppg scorer or be a sidekick on the Suns, he said he'd have to think about it. I guess he missed Joe Johnson's last two years with the Hawks (combined record, 56-108).

4. Pat Burke
The Suns were 19-4 in games Pat Burke played in this year. League's most underrated player? I think so.

5. Baron Davis
Regardless of whether the Spurs or Pistons win this year's championship, all I'm going to remember is Baron Davis. He hit an incredible half-court shot. He made an incredible layup. Oh yeah, then there's one of the top 5 in-game dunks of all time. The only thing that could have made that dunk better is if he celebrated by lifting his shirt and inexplicably showing his man chest. Awesome.

If Davis stays with Don Nelson for a couple more years and manages to remain healthy, we'll be talking about him in 30 years like people talk about Pete Maravich now. There is no way Davis will ever win a championship, but man is he fun to watch. And as every Suns fan knows, that's what's really important.

Still the Babies

All right Bulls fans, I need to hear from you. Game 4 isn't over yet, but at this point it doesn't really matter. Even if they decide to wake up and win this game, it'll end in Game 5.

Ben Wallace just had his worst year since 1999-2000. The only thing he did better this year was pass the ball, but he's still far from an acceptable offensive player. As bad as I am at this predicting thing, I'm guessing he's not going to be better at 33 years old. Oh well, at least he's only around for three more years.

I know it's only one year, but Tyrus Thomas looks like an awful pick. In a couple of years I think he'll be a good rebounder, a great shot-blocker and a great athlete. But he'll never be a good low post scorer, and that's what the Bulls need him to be.

Kirk Hinrich will never be the great player the Bulls think he is. Ben Gordon a great scorer and nothing else. Luol Deng is the only legitimate All-Star they have, but if they are going to make a trade, that's who everyone is going to want.

The Cavaliers have a much better future than the Bulls. Unless Billups leaves, the Pistons are still better next year. A healthy Dwyane Wade might be able to beat the Bulls by himself. So, what does this team do to stop being the Baby Bulls? I'm guessing no one is really happy with the second round, and unless they do something big that's their ceiling next year. What does this team do to become legit?

Loyalty for Big Ben?

I stopped by ESPN.com this afternoon and read this article by this writer named LZ Granderson titled "Can't buy love in Motown" http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/070507&sportCat=nba.

Without forcing you to endure the painfully contrite writing I'll summarize it for you. Granderson sends out a plea to Detroit Piston fans to stop booing former Piston and recently added Chicago Bull Center Ben Wallace, (get this) because Wallace was responsible for the Piston franchise returning to prominence.

I have a few problems with this. First, Wallace is merely a poor man's Dennis Rodman without the offensive skills Rodman exhibited during his tenure in Motown. Also, Wallace has failed to influence the Bulls the way that Rodman did when he arrived in the Windy City, so he's not deserving of that ridiculously overpriced contract he signed. However, the biggest reason I have a problem with this is because Wallace bailed on the Pistons to allegedly do what's best for his family.

Now I'm all for players getting paid fair market value and doing what's best for themselves because it is a business, but Wallace was more than paid fair market value in Detroit. Now I'd also like to stress that there's nothing wrong with taking the money if someone's willing to pay you, but if you're undeserving of that kind of cash and know that you're not but yet skip a championship level town and team to get it, it can only be expected that get booed.

Wallace wasn't even the best Wallace in that Pistons locker room, and because that, he should have appreciated the fact that the Pistons organization gave him the opportunity to become a multiple time recipient of the defensive player of the year award. Big Ben didn't win defensive player of the year this year, and I don't even think he was in the top three (Davey I know you're going to check, but I'm certain he wasn't) in voting this season which is odd because the Bulls are supposedly a better defensive team than the Pistons (statistically speaking of course).

Wallace should be booed everytime he touches the ball or steps on the court, because he betrayed a city and franchise that gave him a chance to play on the big stage. Wallace should honestly be playing in Europe right now, because aside from his commitment to the defensive end as a help defender, he's really expendable. Wallace is an average rebounder, a dismal offensive player, and a decent head-to-head defender. I saw the game Saturday evening and that kid Jason Maxiell handed it to Wallace on both ends of the floor.

Well, for any that are yet with me at this point, how do you feel about Wallace being booed, should he be embraced in the manner that Jordan was when he returned to Chicago as a Wizard or Malone in his return to Utah as a Laker? What do you think?

What to make of McGrady

If you watched the press conference after the Rockets and Jazz game tonight, you couldn't help but feel awful for Tracy McGrady. I think after this guy retires, he's going to be a very interesting case for historians; when I watch him play I have no doubt that he's a superstar, but I don't know that he'll be remembered that way. And while he's only 27 years old, his retirement may not be that far off, given the fact that he's already played 10 season in the NBA and he has quite an injury history.

On one hand, McGrady has been on two teams that won 50-plus games (04-05 and 06-07 Rockets), he's been to seven All-Star games, he averaged 32.1 ppg in 2002-03 and he scored 13 points in 33 seconds against the greatest defensive team of our generation.

But he's also now 0-6 in playoff series. And he's played with other stars such as Vince Carter and Yao Ming, though I think it's fair to question the merits of both of those players as well. Still, Yao is the best true center in basketball right now, and I'm pretty sure most Rockets fans thought they were better than this.

McGrady has actually played well in the playoffs, with his only bad series being his first one in 2000. I've got to think that he's been a victim of bad luck (injuries) and bad circumstances (Orlando), but I also think at this point is is fair to question how good of a player he is.

Bulls vs. Pistons- Not even Close to Jordan vs. The Bad Boys

As much as I look forward to the prospect of seeing the Bulls in the second round for the first time since I was in grammar school, there has been something nagging at me for the last few days. ESPN and the Chicago newspapers spend more time talking about the past history of these two teams then the current stars. Why is this? I know a lot of people continue to have man crushes on Michael Jordan, but what we have in this series is two real basketball teams who can actually play both sides of the ball. What happened in the late 80s and early 90s is irrelavent. These are two completely different teams. The Bulls aren't built around one man anymore and the Pistons actually play with some class (except Rasheed Wallace). I don't want to see Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen on the front cover of the Chicago Tribune Sports section. I want to see Luol Deng and Chauncey Billups on the cover since they'll be the two guys actually playing. I'll go with my head over my heart and say Pistons in 7.

Watch the Bulls game I hear they got a guy named LU Deng, heard hes supposed to be good.

NBA Refs, LaRussa and Golden Meltdown

Wonderful Wednesday morning to all, I've got a couple of thoughts today. First, the front page of the New York Times had this story about NBA referees calling fouls more frequently against black players than white players. Before anyone freaks out, don't worry. Papa Stern said he conducted his own study and found no referee bias. Whew, that was close. I would hate to see the issue of racism come up in a sport of predominantly black players and ONE black owner.

This doesn't look like it's going to be that great of a season for my beloved Cardinals. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Tuesday that marijuana was found in Josh Hancock's car. Nothing is confirmed and no one knows if Hancock was under the influence of any drugs, but if he was this brings up an interesting issue. How does Tony LaRussa, a guy arrested less than two months ago for a DUI, enforce any kind of drug policy of a team?

LaRussa is a great manager, but it may be time for the Cardinals to make a change. During last year's playoffs, he fought with Scott Rolen. The most important job of today's manager/coach is to get along with your star players. At the beginning of the latest Cubs series, he refused to talk to Post-Dispatch reporters because of an article that paper ran about the Cubs' curse. This looks like it's going to be an ugly year and I'm starting to wonder if LaRussa is going to survive this one.

Even though I told many people BEFORE last nights game, I'm writing it here as well. DALLAS IS WINNING THIS SERIES. No doubt. Golden State is a great story, but the Mavericks are the better team.

Stern's Plan to Rule the World

on display here.

So NBA Europe is lower on his radar according to this report.

Stern seems to want to control the global basketball market.

Question is, how long before he outreaches himself and drowns the NBA?

A new league in China sounds logistically impossible, but stranger has happened.