The Trade Carousel Keeps Going and Going and...

  There were some many trades this weekend that any sportswriter could write 10 pages on the trades themselves but we're going to skip the fancy introduction this week and jump right into digesting this week of crazy trades.

 Carmelo Anthony. The first domino that fell causing a multitude of trades to form after his departure from Denver. Over All-Star weekend, rumors were flying about Melodrama: "is he meeting with Jay-Z and that weird Russian dude," "is he going to actually stay in Denver," "are the Knicks giving up?" There were so many false reports that I eventually tuned out and enjoy the defenseless game on screen (am I the only one who thought Blake Griffin shouldn't have won, dunking two balls at once is way more impressive). Anyways, Melo is a Knick as I thought he would be all along and I think the East distances itself from the West significantly in terms of contenders. What the Lakers, Spurs, and Maverick are doing is impressive but who else is there after that? The Thunder? Yeah we all are infatuated with Durantula and Westbrook but they are still a very young team that needs another year to develop. Where in the East, Melo adds to the Knicks' philosophy of scoring as many points as possible while hoping their defense won't give up too many points. They have become the Indianapolis Colts of basketball. What's going to be so interesting to watch is exactly how Anthony will fit into this puzzle considering how run and gun Mike D'Antoni's offense seems to operate. Carmelo functions best in the paint and mid range jump shots so he gives the Knicks a guy who can create his own shot, something nonexistent in New York for so long, so it will be interesting to see what role Mike D'Antoni fits Anthony into. That being said, they instantly become a contender with Melo and finally can compete with the gauntlet atop the East, all I can say its going to be a fun playoffs this year.

Well he certainly looks happy.

  The other "superstar" trade this week was Deron Williams and I'm still trying to digest this move. At first, it struck me as a desperation move by the New Jersey Nets after being unable to conclude the Melo trade but after some thought I realized its not. A team like the Nets that has acquired a decent amount of young talent but no superstar needs someone who can facilitate the ball and push the team. Well now they fill both roles by trading for Williams because now they have a superstar and a one of the top three points guards in the league right now. This trade may not seem as interesting as the Melo trade because it doesn't equal any instant success but the long term improvement of this team is what makes it such a necessary and great trade.

  One more trade that is going to have a huge impact on the league for the rest of this season is the Celtics-Thunder trade. Sending Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder in exchange for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, and a 1st round pick is questionable to say the least. Doc Rivers will try to sell this claiming that when they won the NBA Finals, they played small with Posey at the 4 position at times, but even he can't sell this one to any Celtics fan. The truth is they're doing it because they realize their team is getting old and they want to rebuild and not have to endure a significant drop off. Its smart but it poses what I consider the ultimate GM question in any sports franchise: compete for the title now or be patient and put the franchise in a position to win championships down the road. It was obvious that the one advantage they had over the top teams in the league was their size advantage but unless Shaq goes all Kazaam for the Celtics, the East is completely wide open for anyone to seize.

Kendrick Perkins' reaction to getting traded

  There were more trades in the league but those were the most significant ones and will have noticeable impact on the league for the rest of the season. All that being said, the game everyone should watch this weekend? The New York Knicks at the Miami Heat this Sunday at 8pm on ESPN. Let's see if Carmelo Anthony was worth it.

Welcome to the Gauntlet.

Hypocrite Owners Lead to a Hypocritical League

   No doubt most of you have heard some rumblings about the pending NFL labor negotiations but as time goes on, we seem more and more headed to a lockout. Although these owners have ridiculous amounts of money and don't really stand to lose much if there is a lockout because of lucrative TV deals (which is why they hold the upper hand), they still want more money. They also want more games, even though they try to claim that they are merely changing two preseason to two regular season, don't let it fool you, they're adding two games to the season. How can the league preach a league of practicing safety and reducing head trauma but add games and decrease salaries AND not provide health benefits for retired players? Do the owners not realize that the NFL is made of the very players they mock, that they are the reason for the exorbitant amount of money they make or are they so caught up in this one moment that they simply forget? When people think NFL, they don't think Robert Kraft, or the Rooney family, or even the tyrant Jerry Richardson who insists on being the bully in these negotiations when he can't even construct a winning team, how is he going to construct a winning NFL?

 Then these owners (and Roger Goodell is included when I say owners) talk about reducing concussions and reduced head trauma when they simply look at the short term effects and refuse to examine the long term effects of these injuries. Their solution is to pad the helmet more and more thinking its going to protect the head on collisions with other players. They're right, its not going to hurt at the moment. However, if I put on one of those helmets and bang my head on the wall everyday, sure my head isn't going to hurt then, but what are the long term effects of me continually hitting my head against the wall? Couple this with scientific reports that not only multiple concussions will cause long term emotional and physical instability but the fact that multiple subconcussive injuries, meaning head collisions that cause damage but not strong enough to produce a concussion, will produce a near same effect as multiple concussions would. Maybe there is a reason that old school NFL player wore small, leather helmets without a face mask, so they wouldn't lead with the helmet. If the NFL wanted to be radical and see a significant drop off in concussion and concussion like symptoms, they would remove the face mask on helmets. Players would certainly be more scared to lead with their helmets because who want to mess up their own face? But they won't. That would reduce big hits, and even if they don't want to admit it, the NFL is built upon big hits. I love big hits. However, I hate hypocrisy like the hypocrisy that oozes from anything that the NFL owners say.

Why would owners think more games would benefit the NFL in any way except their wallets. The games would be diluted and more players would be injured, things I don't think any fan would enjoy. The truth is the players are dependent on these owners and may have to submit to the owners' demands if a deal is not completed by March 3rd and with owners storming out over some of the less complex issues in the CBA, its looking more likely they will. Fans should be worried because its looking like we might finally see "The Replacements" play out in real life, something no fan should want to see.

Its A Great Day to be Great, Baby!

Let's skip all the crap about commercials, the Black Eyed Peas showing us how to (read: not to) use autotune (although I loved the Where is the Love? freestyle), and our great food selections. The Super Bowl is about football, something sometimes lost within the context of the event, and this game proved the old adages of football: defense wins championships, turnovers can be a team's downfall, and a new age adage, your quarterback has to be great.

Aaron Rodgers played beautifully in the Super Bowl, like he had to for his team to win (what we're they going to do? hand the ball off to James Starks?), but what's so impressive about Rodgers is the throws he doesn't make. Rodgers is the answer that Packers fans needed post-Favre because Rodgers has the arm of Favre but the mind of Manning. Meaning what exactly? Rodgers isn't going to throw the ball into a place he can't fit it because he believes he can "will it" in there, much like Favre does. However, Rodgers is no Captain Checkdown especially judging from some of his throws on Sunday Night, he was scary accurate all night that his incompletions hit his receivers' hands, how often does that happen? I was amazed that some of the voters legitimized in their heads that Rodgers wasn't the MVP. For those of you who didn't know the breakdown was: Rodgers 17.5 votes, Jordy Nelson 2.0, and Clay Matthews .5. A final thought on Aaron Rodgers, I believe with that win he has entered the upper echelon of the quarterback hierarchy, the VIP room. Whose in my VIP room? Brady, Manning, Roethlisberger, Brees, and now undoubtedly Rodgers. I have been doubtful about Rodgers throughout this season and postseason but I can no longer question his greatness.

The Champions

The deciding moment of the game went to the defensive side of the ball for the Packers when Clay Matthews did his best "Remember the Titans" impersonation, the Green Bay LBs coach approaching Matthews before he forced the fumble and simply telling him, "its time. Its time."

The Steelers' turnovers were their ultimate downfall in the game, caused by their lack of an offensive line. However, credit goes to the Packers for taking advantage of it where the Jets or the Ravens could not. The game looked to be over when it was 21-3 but Roethlisberger, as he so often has, tried to lead another Super Bowl comeback. The Packer defense's flaw of being unable to put a team away almost cost them the game much like it almost did in the opening round Wild Card when Eagles QB Michael Vick was able to lead a similar comeback but the Packers bend, not break, and rose to the occasion once again when needed to despite their multiple injuries during the game. Also people, please stop with Ben Rapelisberger and that crap. Its dumb and although Ben may have a poor judgment of character issue, it reflects more poorly on you for the trite comments. Do you think people should approach you at your job discussing your poor decisions on who you've slept with? No, didn't think so. All that being said, in no way do I think that this game tarnishes Big Ben's reputation and would still choose him for a game winning drive out of the multitude of quarterbacks in the league. He was the only reason the Steelers remained in that game, so no it wasn't his fault.

The Packers rose above in a year where parity was the norm and no team could be called "great." The Packers win was a product of getting hot at the right time and having all of the components necessary to win in this day, much like the Steelers of 2005 when they defeated the Seahawks in the Super Bowl and the Giants two years later defeating the Patriots with some star heroics by Eli Manning and David Tyree. Maybe now, in this new era of NFL football, bye weeks don't mean as much, maybe they make you soft and the harshest road is the best. Maybe home field advantage doesn't matter and neither do winning all of your games. That's why the NFL playoffs are great, you truly don't know who will win and David has as much chance as Goliath. What's important is getting hot at that right time and having players that have the ability to make plays when it matters like Rodgers, Jennings, Matthews, and even Jordy Nelson. That's how the Packers won the Super Bowl, who'll be next?