Weekend Headlines

A few musings from Friday night in the world of sports...

• The Celtics must be out to prove how little value Kevin Garnett actually has to the team's success.  Boston is now 4-2 without "The Big Ticket" in the lineup, and put forth an outstanding effort at home Friday night against the Cavs.  A game back in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the game, Boston came out on a mission and out-willed Cleveland 105-94.  The Celts made it their mission not to let LeBron James beat them, and they succeeded.    LBJ had just 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, but shot a miserable 33-percent from the field.  Mo Williams was great, scoring 26 points on 8-15 shooting, but if he's the only guy doing well for Cleveland you know they're in trouble.  Granted, the game was in Boston which no doubt was an advantage for the Celtics.  But the fact that Cleveland played as poorly as it did last night at TD Bank North Garden sends the message that if they don't nail down that top seed before the regular season ends, they're going to have to figure out a way to win in Beantown if they hope to reach the NBA Finals.  The Celtics are now 49-14 and while KG may be out another week or so, Boston is showing it doesn't need him for now.  A big statement was made between the top two teams in the East, and right now it appears Boston has the upper hand.
• Speaking of the Association, while the top teams in the East are the cream of the crop in the NBA, the opposite could be said about the teams holding the bottom seeds in the conference.  With their 15-point victory over Milwaukee Friday night, the lowly Chicago Bulls have now taken sole possession of the 8th seed in the East.  Let me be the first to tell you this Bulls team is not good.  The fact that they would make the playoffs if the season ended today is merely a product of the fact that there are just too many teams that qualify for the post season in the NBA.  I know, I know.  It would theoretically be good for the league if the Bulls made the playoffs because of Chicago's market size and the fact that Derrick Rose is one of the league's bright young stars.  But if the NBA were smart, they'd allow just 6 teams from each conference to make the post season and have the top two seeds earn a bye like the NFL.  Is it perfect solution?  Well, no, frankly.  But it's better than having teams like Chicago or Milwaukee who are five and six games below .500 respectively earning a spot in the playoffs.  That's really a joke, isn't it?
• Thankfully I didn't go to Florida State, nor am I a fan of their athletics.  It's not that I don't like them, but man are their fans bumming tonight.  The NCAA slapped the Seminoles with four years of probation and may force the football program to forfeit some of their wins in the record books as punishment for their academic cheating scandal.  Bobby Bowden's 382 wins ranks 2nd all time to Joe Paterno, who has just one more career win.  But if he has to give back some wins JoePa really distances himself in that book, doesn't he?  The 'Noles football program will have to forfeit two scholarships in recruiting this year and one next season, and that's just part of the problem.  Other sports are going to lose a bunch of scholarships and victories too.  Apparently the track and field program will have to give up three NCAA championship crowns.  That's what happens when a reported sixty-one FSU athletes cheated on an online test in 2006 and 2007, and also were provided the answers to tests and had papers written for them by university staff.  A couple of things I thought when I saw this:  1) While this is pretty significant corruption, athletes at every school in America cheat.  If they were going to cheat, they should have been better cheaters.  2)  What does it say about the pressure to win at FSU when university staffers are cheating for these athletes?  Apparently Myron Rolle didn't need the help.  Maybe they should be recruiting smarter athletes so they can handle the academics so FSU doesn't have to spoon feed them to keep them on their respective teams.  Or here's a thought, mandate some study time in their practice schedule!  Florida State basketball is actually good this year, but forget about that for a while.  Now that recruiting takes a hit the upstart team will decline, and so will seemingly every other sports team in Tallahassee.  Yikes.
• Is there a bigger joke than agent Drew Rosenhaus's claim that there are "several teams" interesting in signing Terrell Owens?  I guess the thought would be plausible if he hadn't thrown in the thought that he won't identify the teams that are in fact interested.  If you can't identify teams, then how can we believe there are several teams interested?  Conventional wisdom would suggest Oakland is interested, because they'll take anything they can get.  But beyond that, who?  San Francisco?  Maybe Washington?  That's three teams, which wouldn't suffice for my definition of several.  This could end up going a lot like the Manny Ramirez situation went.  No, T.O. won't end up signing back with the Cowboys, but Rosenhaus will try to create a market that doesn't exist for a player with significant character flaws.  Like Ramirez, there's no question that you'd want T.O. for the talent he possesses.  But how many teams want a guy who seemingly obliterates every locker room he enters?  Rosenhaus is doing his job as an agent, trying to create some leverage to find Owens a contract.  But please, enough with this garbage about how there are several teams interested.  I cannot believe that's true.  Can you?

Hump Day Headlines

In this week's version of Hump Day Headlines, we discuss the latest steroid news in baseball, Mo Williams finally gets his all-star bid, Mike Brown crushes the referees, and the best in hockey duke it out in Beantown...

• A day after the A-Rod steroid saga that has taken up post after post on our blog (thanks for the tremendous feedback by the way), now baseball has a new name to worry about.  Miguel Tejada has been charged with lying to Congress, although it was for lying about an ex-teammate's use of steroids, not his own.  Tejada is a real winner, not only because he himself has been accused of taking steroids by his own former teammate, known 'roider Rafael Palmeiro, but the all-star shortstop also lied about his age after he forged documents when coming to play baseball in America to make him appear to be a younger, more marketable player.  So it's not like lying isn't a trend with Mr. Tejada.  The teammate wasn't identified in the court documents, but apparently played with him in Oakland in 2002.  And for the record, the '02 season was the year Tejada won the American League's Most Valuable Player honor.  Miggy is expected to plead guilty.  If convicted, Tejada could spend a year in jail on the misdemeanor charge, but it is believed he won't get that great a sentence.  (Remember, constitutional law doesn't always apply to athletes.)
• After being snubbed, and then being snubbed again, Mo Williams finally has his all-star selection.  First he wasn't selected as a starter, which was no surprise.  But the curious part of this saga is that he wasn't selected as a reserve by the Eastern Conference coaches, and then was passed over by Commissioner David Stern in favor of the Celtics Ray Allen when Jameer Nelson's injury had him out of the game.  Now that Chris Bosh is out, Williams finally will get a chance to represent the Eastern All-Stars at the game in Phoenix this weekend.  The Cavs' point guard is having a very solid season this year, averaging 17.1 points and 4.2 assists per game, and is one of the biggest reasons for Cleveland's 39-11 start.  He ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring among point guards and second in free-throw percentage.  Congrats on the selection, Mo.  I'm sure you're looking forward to feeding LeBron in the All-Star game on Sunday.
• And while we're talking about the Cavaliers, how about their loss lass night in Indiana?  Two fouls called with less than a second remaining in regulation determined the outcome.  First, with the Pacers leading 95-93 with 0.8 seconds left, the Cavs tried an alley-oop inbounds play to LeBron James.  Danny Granger went up with him, and James drew the foul on the contact.  He hit both free throws to tie the game.  Then with 0.2 seconds left, referee Joey Crawford called a foul on Bron, and Danny Granger hit one of two free throws to ice a 96-95 win.  Cavs coach Mike Brown was livid after the game, calling referee Joey Crawford's call "horse crap" and "the worst call I've ever been a part of."  (Click here to read more of Brown's comments.  They're worth the read.) Expect a fine for that one, Mr. Brown.  But the man has a point.  A foul with 0.2 seconds left?  Seems like a make-up call to me.  That's what Brown alleged, and after seeing the replay, it certainly looks like overtime would have been the better option.  Another point here, why is Joey Crawford still employed?  This guy has butchered many calls over the years.  He thinks fans are coming out to watch him referee.  David Stern should have his pink-slip in the mail today.
• Finally, for all you puckheads out there, a great match-up last night may have changed the argument for which team is the best in hockey.  A lot of hockey experts would probably tell you the Boston Bruins are the best team in the league this year.  In 55 games played, they have accrued the most points, with 85, as they're 39-9-7 on the year.  But last night the best of the west, the San Jose Sharks slapped the B's with a 5-2 win in Boston to come within 4 points of the black and gold.  San Jose, in just 51 games, is 37-7-7 after the win, and scored four goals in the 3rd period on Tim Thomas to win it.  (And no, it's not the same Tim Thomas who Scott awarded a spot on the "All Don't Give a Crap Team".)  San Jose is loaded, just as is Boston, but last night was definitely a statement win, especially when you consider the Bruins only have lost four times in regulation on their home ice.  Granted, I'd say the Eastern Conference is tougher than the Western Conference this year in hockey from top to bottom, but the Sharks definitely showed that the best of the west is just as good if not better than the best in the east.  Oh, and what sweet revenge for former Bruins captain Joe Thornton.  

And The NBA's Best Team Is...

The Los Angeles Lakers. Might not seem like much of a shocking, dangerous piece of news to many, given the Lakers just handed the Cavs their first home loss of the season, and completed a season series sweep of the Celtics earlier this week.

But, the Celtics still have more wins, still are the defending champions, and still, in the minds of some, are the best team in the league.

Not in my mind. There's the obvious stuff, mentioned above. Clearly, beating a team like the Celtics twice (the second one coming on the back end of a back-to-back situation) is impressive. Then, ending a 23 game home winning streak for the season, in convincing fashion also is impressive.

But, what makes this team impressive is its depth. Adding Adam Morrison aside (check here to see why Vlad Rad got dealt, first sentence says it all), the Lakers have weapons for days. Andrew Bynum goes down again, no problem. Lamar Odom, the lost and forgotten player on this Lakers team, is averaging nearly 17 points and 11 rebounds in the four games since Andy Goes Down Pt. 2. Who would the Celtics have to step in if KG went down? Or, say, when he even goes out for a breather? How about if Mo Williams got hurt?

The answer is, no one. And that's no crime. Most teams in the league can't lose a guy averaging a near double-double and not miss much of a beat. Usually, only a few of the best teams in the league can. The Lakers, with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, have more than enough firepower to survive an injury.

And that is dangerous news.