Daily Rant: 2/22/11

It's done! 3 teams, 12 players, and some drafts picks and Carmelo Anthony is back home, traded to the NY Knicks. Wasn't that the plan the whole time? A lot of Knicks' fans have been uneasy about the players that the Knicks gave up for the All-Star. As this season played out, the players who were involved in the trade from NY were having a good season, they are young, meshed well and the Knicks had finally moved past mediocrity and were showing some serious life. But did fans believe that without another superstar (along with Amare Stoudemire) the Knicks would really compete with the other Eastern power houses? This deal had to be done and the Knicks and the fans have to forget about the first half of this season. The future is now and with this trade, two big time, young NBA players are teaming up in NY to hopefully bring back the winning. This will also seriously impact the next couple of seasons of free agency. Who wouldn't want to play on a team with Anthony and Stoudemire, in NYC?? It's clear that the NBA has changed, no more do players want the competition amongst each other, they would rather join forces and create All-Star teams to dominate the rest. It happened in Boston, it happened in Miami, in LA and now it's begun in NYC. Unfortunately for the smaller market teams, this will seriously impact them as well, but not in the positive sense, which will only leave more for the owners to work out when they meet to discuss the new collective bargaining agreements. No matter what, this will be marked as the season of change for the Knicks. Not since Patrick Ewing, have the Knicks had a starter on the All-Star team, they did with Stoudemire. Now, instead of the pressure being on his shoulders, he will have a bonafide co-star in Carmelo and things can shape up to be one heck of a ride at MSG.

Daily Rant: 2/17/11

Make the trade! The Denver Nuggets want Danilo Galinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton and Eddy Curry (and his expiring contract), the Minnesota Timberwolves want Anthony Randolph and a first round draft pick and the New York Knicks...well they just want respect (and Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups). What's wrong with this deal?

Starting lineup for the Knicks if they make this happen before next week's trade deadline; Chauncey Billups, Landry Fields, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Timofey Mozgov.

If this deal gets made, the Knicks not only will lock down their playoff spot this year, they will actually have a better chance to go farther and deeper into the playoffs for years to come. Also, having Carmelo and Amare on one team, in NYC, will surely entice this summer's free agents (Chris Paul and Deron Williams) to sign with the Knicks next year. And if the Knicks have a threesome of Amare, Carmelo and either Paul or Williams? There will be a power shift in the East. There is no doubt, with those players, the Heat, Celtics and Magic will have to go through NYC to get to the Eastern Conference finals. The Western teams will also have to deal with a much stronger and more youthful East. The Lakers, Spurs and Mavericks have great teams, but their average age is 35.

Even though most Knick fans have come to love Galinari and Chandler, they will have to sacrifice that for the good of the future and for the respect the Knicks will get back with Carmelo wearing the blue and orange. This is not a popularity contest, nor is it personal, the NBA is a business. Emotions and feelings are to be left for the fans, not to the people who make the business transactions. For if this deal is made, in a few weeks, no one will be complaining about seeing Carmelo Anthony playing for his home team alongside Amare Stoudemire.

Daily Rant: 2/15/11

They say that youth is lost on the young. The problem is that "they", who are saying that, are usually old. In sports however, youth is not wasted, it is coveted. With the NBA trade deadline looming (2/24), teams are starting to get tired of losing and are looking to dump their older, expensive talent and get younger for next year or for the playoffs. The Lakers, whom most believe are one of the elite teams in the NBA, are beginning to show some of their age lately, as well. They have a superstar in Kobe Bryant who, surprisingly, has been in the NBA for 15 years. Kobe is still at the top of his game, but those surrounding him in LA can't seem to hide their wrinkles recently. Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom might not have enough in their tanks to secure another championship for LA. So what are the rumors about in LA?? No, not that Lindsay Lohan is applying for a Laker-Girl position, it's that the team is looking to trade for youth (Carmelo Anthony). There is no substitution for talent, but, the combination of talent and youth will win championships 9 out of 10 times. It looks like "Melo" will either stay in Denver or end up in NY via trade, but the fact that LA, a team at the top of the NBA, is still looking to make moves just goes to show that youth is never a waste when it comes to securing more wins then the others. The teams who aren't making any trades, but are out of the playoff hunt, have been displaying their youth night in and night out and are filling their arenas. Fans will watch young, athletic players that have potential, even if their team has a losing record. It is the hope of the future that will always draw attention. No one will watch a bunch of older, washed up players go at it and lose. Milwaukee, the Clippers, Washington and even the Nets, have drawn bigger crowds because of their rookies and younger players that are all just that much fun to watch. Mixing talent, experience and youth will always be the recipe for success in sports, it's going to come down to which ingredients in the pot stir up a tasty victory.

Daily Rant: 2/4/11

How's this for a scenario?? It's April 1st, opening day for the NY Mets and Angel Pagan is playing center field, Jason Bay is in left field and Carlos Beltran is in right field?? Well, that's not much of a dramatic situation, but for Mets fans it is an attempt to move forward and try to make due with what they have. Giving Angel Pagan a chance to control the outfield and discontinue his role as a "platoon" guy is very important.  Beltran, unfortunately, has fallen into the "post-injury-big-contract-hope-to-play-a-full-season" category. He is joined by many other current Mets players, such as Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez, Jason Bay and Jose Reyes. Reliance on these players is a scary thing when it is combined with the absence of any significant free agent signings this off-season. If the Mets do come to terms with their current situation and work with what talent they have, things might not be so bad for them. In the past, when the Mets ignored the back ups and reserves and were just relying heavily on the big names they had, failure was one injury away from being a reality. Role players are as important, if not more than, as the starters and the star names. Because of the financial situation of the Mets, this season, it has become much more apparent that the team will need to get a lot from their unrecognizable players. This season will also be the first time, in a long time, that the team is not having a news conference to introduce a new, big name guy to the public. It might just benefit the Mets to not have all of the extra media attention. Falling under the radar is foreign to the Mets. It's also impossible being in NYC, but with the Yankees failing to upgrade their team as well, the back page will be an easy and welcoming concession for the Mets. It will no longer be a battle for bragging rights anymore in the local NY sports sections. Neither team wants to have the spotlight when both have huge question marks leading up to spring training. The Mets will hopefully just be a blurb on the bottom of the back page of the newspapers, underneath all of the possible Yankeee quotes that we'll see... "Calling for Girardi's Head", "Cashman's Job in Jeopardy", "Jeter Traded to Boston", "NO MO MO RIVERA", etc., etc., etc......

Daily Rant: 2/3/11 (Super Bowl Decisions)

When Big Ben Roethlisberger sent a 14 yard pass to Antonio Brown for a first down against the NY Jets in the last minute of the AFC Championship, he also sent his Pittsburgh Steelers to yet another Super Bowl appearance. But besides those living in the "Steel" city or surrounding areas, who is that happy to see him in the Super Bowl?? Two totally different stories are meeting up in the biggest game in American sports this Sunday, one told about Big Ben and the other one about Aaron Rodgers.

Ben Roethlisberger started out as the likable, unknown, underdog, who took his licks and hits and got right back up. He came out of a smaller conference school, Miami of Ohio, and is now in his third Super Bowl with the Steelers. But unless you bleed gold and black, rooting for him is really hard to do this year. Ben's off the field issues from his past have gotten him in some trouble, he was accused of sexually assaulting two different women in two different states and he nearly killed himself when he crashed his motorcycle in 2006. Even though the allegations against him never became convictions, he was still suspended by the league for four games this past season.

Aaron Rodgers has also been in and out of the spotlight off the field, but for completely different reasons. Unlike Big Ben, Rodgers had no control nor did he partake in the attention he got from the media outside of his athletic performance. Rodgers just happen to be the backup to the one time golden boy, three time retiree, Brett Favre. Each time Rodgers was about embark on his own journey as the starting QB for the Green Bay Packers, good old Favre would interrupt it by either coming out of retirement and playing somewhere else or by sending sexually explicit text messages to Jets cheerleaders. Each time Rodgers and the Packers tried to move past the Favre issue, Mr. Wrangler Jeans would do something that the media had to cover and Rodgers would sit in his shadow for a little bit longer. This year however, the distractions were put to rest and Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have written a new book, with a prologue that includes Lombardi, Starr, Holmgren and Favre, but it's first chapter is titled "Super Bowl XLV: the post-Favre road to victory".  

On a day when NFL and non-NFL fans will all be watching, as well as billions of dollars flowing through the ads shown during the Super Bowl, is Big Ben the guy you want to have triumph over Aaron Rodgers?? It is really a character assessment of sorts, because both QBs have enormous talent, but rooting for one or the other is a hard decision when you're not a true fan of either team. Big Ben has won two titles already, but his actions away from football have tainted his legacy a bit. Is a guy who assaults women, someone that people are going to root for to win?? Maybe... because Americans don't seem to care too much about what athletes do off the field anymore, as long as they win on the field. There is though, a feel good story surrounding the Packers this year. They overcame a slew of injuries, including Rodgers himself and the hangover from Brett Favre is over now, thanks to his geriatric performance he gave playing in Minnesota and the clear decision he will make to finally retire. Either way, it will all be decided on the field in Dallas this Sunday, who will raise the trophy named after the iconic, Green Bay coach from NYC, Vince Lombardi. What won't be decided, is who really deserves it?

Daily Rant: 2/2/11

With all of the recent success achieved by most of the NY area sports teams, more then ever comes severe scrutiny of the Mets. Consecutive losing seasons and a 5+ year absence from the playoffs have left their brand new stadium empty and their fans questioning every decision made concerning the team. The Mets losing ways have become normalcy and more of a joke then anything. It's also been very difficult for them to keep up with the changing trends of Major League Baseball when the Mets are paying out bloated  contracts to injured or old or retired players. The ownership is also dealing with the fallout from the Bernie Madoff ponzie scandal, which has in turn made the team cash poor. There aren't many deals out there for the Mets to make that will have an impact on their next two seasons, because without any room on payroll and with a depleted farm system, the front office is handcuffed when it comes to free agency or trades. They don't have a lot of young talent currently on their roster, they don't have much of a pitching staff, they have holes in their outfield and infield and their coaching staff is inexperienced. Couple all of that with having to play in a very competitive National League East, with arguably one of the best teams in all of baseball (Philadelphia), it's hard to say when the Mets will be significant again. For this team to get past all of the negativity, changes in the culture surrounding how they conduct themselves is a MUST. Fans have had enough and are fed up with the mediocrity. If this new GM, Sandy Alderson, doesn't make any headway concerning the Mets' future success, then the team really is a lost cause. This is a delicate situation , the owners, the Wilpon family, are searching for investors to help ease the financial burden and eventually that could mean another NY franchise moving west....