I’ve always been a fan of Peter King’s weekly Monday Morning QB article that I decided to use his idea and try to expand it a bit. I’ve been looking at ways to change the format of the blog to expand my readership and I hope at some point over the next few years, that this idea will atleast spark some of you that read me (I can’t begin to express gratitude to you) to tell your friends so they can tell their friends. I hope that this new changed up, and perhaps a little more organized, spread will help me attain the one goal that I’ve always sought: world domination.
But on a serious note, if you have any suggestions on ways to make the site better I’m always looking to improve and nothing is fixed on the site. So feel free to communicate with me at lazyeyeofsports@gmail.com.
I’m sitting here trying to write the article while watching Cee Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow confuse 20,000 in the Staples Center and millions on television as to whether they are watching something real or stuck in a scene from “Inception.”
With that auspicious start, I give you the news that matter to me and I hope everyone else:
MELO WATCH
“Carmelo Anthony said after shootaround that he would ‘take a hard look’ at signing 3-year extension if he’s not dealt by trade deadline.”
@dempseypost Chris Dempsey
With Carmelo watch heading into day ??? Carmelo Anthony scored 50, 29 and 42 but the Nuggets went 1-2 and lost the two games by 5 and 2 points respectively. Their lone win came against Dallas and they won by a single point. Amar’e Stoudemire ‘s Knicks went 1-2 and lost by a combined 25 points to the two Los Angeles teams. So the idea is that the two team up and find a way to beat those teams, right?
That might work, but not if the Knicks decide to trade away the building blocks that will eventually form the heart of the roster. As much as I would love Melo to join the team right now, this instant, I have enjoyed this season from a basketball perspective because this team has competed.
Which is all New York fans have ever asked for. This is the city that has the New York Yankees- the most decorated team ever and yet the inner cities of New York make this a basketball town. This used to be point guard city and most of the talent used to stay within the tri-state area to make it big but its very rare nowadays to see that happen.
With Stoudemire’s presence, that dynamic is changing and we’ve seen that with the St John’s basketball program having a renaissance as well. Coincedence or not, its good to note that the Knicks are not an embarrassing headline every night for the masses.
But as presently constructed, the Knicks won’t make any noise in the playoffs and as time goes on, Knick fans will grow tired of the bad defense and close call defeats that leave fans heartbroken against much more skilled line ups. Eventually expectations will far exceed what we see on the court and then we’ll be awoken from this great dream we’ve been treated to.
I think Donnie Walsh realizes this and may be rolling his sleeves to try and trigger a trade, but will Melo be enough and is he the answer? Only time will tell that.
But in my opinion, I say wait out Carmelo Anthony. If this past offseason taught me anything its this: New York isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and maybe that’s not enough anymore for athletes to come here and take on the responsibility of bringing this city a championship. But just because you can’t get the hottest girl at the dance, doesn’t mean you won’t walk away with the right girl.
Think about how much more mature Amar’e is than Lebron and just consider that perhaps one was more mentally capable of handling the pressure than the other. Maybe decisions will work itself out. Maybe its time for us to be the Prom King again and let them come to us. So Melo, either you come in the offseason or you go elsewhere.
Your move. New York doesn’t need you, you need us.
DOLAN OUT TO TRY AND GET MELO?
“NY will work trade on its terms but knows it can get Melo in free agency. Anyway, Jim Buss has made it clear within org: Bynum is staying.”
@WojYahooNBA Adrian Wojnarowski
Speaking of which, did you hear the joke about the owner who wanted to be his team’s GM? Well that one’s kind of not that funny because every Knick fan is having a mini panic attack as rumors began flying around about the Lakers possibly entering the trading fray for Melo by dealing away Andrew Bynum straight up for Melo.
First of all- no. As much as this trade had sense because of the fact that the Lakers were struggling and word began spreading that perhaps Mitch Kupchak was looking to shake up the roster and make a deal so naturally the Melo magnet attracted trade talks with the Nuggets which are absolutely smoke screens. According to ace scribe Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, CAA (Melo’s agents) were behind this latest piece of fabric-ated trade talk in order to make the Knicks jump into the pool with both eyes close and make a trade so that they could get him that $65 million extension he may not receive if the new CBA comes out and lowers the salary cap.
I was happy to note that there was no leverage until I read further about reports that Knicks owner James Dolan was going over Donnie Walsh’s head to make a move which I can’t begin to describe how disheartening that is, and maddening at the same time.
Dolan can be blamed for many things like keeping Isiah around for as long as he did/does, but if he were to somehow make this trade happen, I can’t see any competent GM being able to run this team. And why would they? After working miracles to put the Knicks in the running for Lebron James, Donnie Walsh has still not been given an extension.
Why would Dolan NOT want to give Donnie Walsh an extension? The man who pulled a rabbit out of his butt and somehow still made this team somewhat relevant. These are the kind of non moves that, as a Knick fan, scare the bejeezus out of me and convince me that James Dolan is not from this planet and cares very little to not care at all about what the fans want. Which is simply: STAY THE EFF OUT OF THE WAY!
VISITING THE GARDEN:
The Knicks had some high profile visitors this past week. Probably the most anticipated, outside of Kobe, was the arrival of Blake Griffin. I’ve said this often, but a newbie’s debut at the Garden is a very important rite of passage for every superstar to take that next step. While he didn’t quite have that game- but I will give him this, he got quite the nod of approval from one of the most respected NBA writers in the game; the Post’s Peter Vecsey wrote a pretty cool profile piece on the budding NBA superstar.
HALL OF LAME
Filled up some vacants in Canton, Ohio. I’m stilled pissed about the HOF selection process. Don’t take it personal. It’s just tough love.
@WhitlockJason Jason Whitlock
Every year, the NFL announces its Hall of Fame class and every year people have problems with who got snubbed and so this year was no different because, let’s face it, there’s never a moment where everyone wholeheartedly agrees with everything- unless it has to do with Tom Brady winning the NFL MVP. But that’s a discussion for a different day.
For today’s big bowl of beef, I give to you Jason Whitlock’s piece on how he would fix the Hall’s selection process.
I’m a fan of Whitlock’s work usually but I think he’s a bit unfair in this matter. I’ve never had the pleasure of sitting in on the meeting and can’t speak on some of his allegations that it’s a network of fat white men who love the power they wield over athletes they may/may not have liked during their playing career. Maybe Whitlock knows something that I don’t and so he speaks from experience but when thinking about what they have to go through I can’t imagine you could’ve walked out of that room without knowing that you would offend some.
Also Whitlock’s idea is beyond ridiculous. How is he removing the element of favoritism for popular athletes in his version? I do agree that the whole idea of limiting each year’s entry to 7 people doesn’t make sense.
My big thing about the hall of fame is this (and this applies to every sport): if the player can’t pass the five second test then they shouldn’t get in. Pure and simple. If you say someone’s name and have to think about his candidacy for longer than 5 seconds then he isn’t a hall of famer. Hall of Fame has changed into the Hall of Very good and its pretty sad.
One day I’ll expand my thoughts on it but for now, you’ll have to make do with that.
Finally, I save you the bad news for last:
NFL SEASON GOING TO BE DE-LABOR(ED)
You know by now that the NFL is headed towards a strike. Its one of the most unbelievable situations ever in sports when you consider that there’s only ONE issue that’s keeping a resolution: money.
From what I’ve read and heard, its clear that the gulf separating players and owners is $1 billion. That’s the amount of money that the owners want before the $9 billion annual pot gets split. They already receive $1 billion in the current CBA, now they want an extra $1 billion to pay for new facilities and etc.
I have a few problems with that. One, what is etc? The players have asked to look at the league’s books to see if they have a valid case to ask for that extra money and the owners have thus far not budged which tells me all I need to know.
Secondly, a majority of these facilities are funded through friendly state programs that give them tax breaks and all sorts of financial mumbo jumbo I won’t get into*. The players can’t be put on the hook for that. The owners want newer stadiums to generate more revenue. For themselves.
*= because I don’t know what I’m talking about.
The other major talking points, in no order of importance:
– Rookie Wage scale- there’s no reason why untested rookies should make more money than proven veterans.
– 18 game schedule- with the commissioner leading a revolution against concussions I find it hard for him to then turn around and say, in the interest of fans, that an 18 game schedule makes sense. Really? NFL fans think of it this way, most teams already rest players during the last one or two weeks with playoff seeds locked up, now imagine a whole month of Curtis Painter at QB for the Colts or a whole month of Matt Flynn in Green Bay? I wonder how season ticket holders will feel about being treated to that? Or how about two more games in which a key player can get injured just in time for the playoffs. The defending Super Bowl champs, Packers, won with 15 players on IR. That doesn’t happen all the time.
Players in exchange for 18 games want better health benefits. Sounds reasonable. Right now the NFL gives 5 years of insurance for players who leave football. The NFLPA wants ten.
For now, these two items are the most discussed. One final note about the 18 game schedule, I’m not in favor of it. I see no point. The reason the NFL is the most popular sport is because its appointment television. The lack of games gives each one a significance. Why would the NFL want more games and threaten a watered down product come the playoffs? Staying healthy is so difficult in a sport as physical as football. Could you imagine this years Super Bowl QB matchup if it were “Charlie Batch vs. Matt Flynn”? It wouldve been a nightmare game.
I listed how I feel about each. What about you? What changes would you want?
The real shame in this match up of billionaires and millionaires is that the regular everyday fan stands to lose.
I was always under the assumption that the NBA was headed to a lockout as opposed to the NFL because the NBA was losing money. But I lacked the foresight to realize that the NBA HAS to make a deal because it would behoove them. The talent level has never been better and attendance is rising in the major markets (thanks Blake Griffin and Amar’e Stoudemire).
But the NFL is making too much money and that means that neither side is willing to budge from their spot because they both feel they are the bigger reason for the success.
Buckle up fans, we’re in for a long and bumpy road.
——Other News and Notes————-
With this section thought I’d rattle off some other cool links and worthwhile newstories that I found interesting and it hopefully isn’t with dated material that will grow old and stale with fans.
– A very cool article written by Jason Fray who writes for Fear and faith in Flushing which is a blog about the Mets. I didn’t just pick his article for that reason although I’m not going to lie- he did win major points for it. I would agree with what he had to say though in this new age, demand beats out anything. The writer with the exclusive is the champion and in today’s day and age that guy doesn’t need to be the one with the press pass. Facing normal citizens in the arena of journalism is as tough these days as it is facing your peers in a who’s got the line up card first.
But I still do manage to follow like twenty beat writers for the Mets. Overlapping doesn’t bother me one bit.
– Finally, SI’s Joe Lemire wrote a great article about the origins and cult following of the enduring game that spawned fantasy sports itself: Strat-O-Matic. The game has a huge following and it still prints and still sells now even having a computerized version.
Follow up note to this piece: I messaged him on Twitter to tell him good job and also that its not a game I could see myself purchasing because most of my friends/cousins don’t like baseball as much as I do and so I would be left with no one to play the game with (stop laughing) and he replied by saying that he had plenty of games by himself which I’m not ashamed to admit was enough to sell me on the game.
I am an only child.
ON TAP
This week I’m tentatively looking at making two posts. One will appear either Tuesday or Wednesday which will focus on the five most pressing questions for both the Mets and the Yankees heading into Spring Training. Also later in the week, if I can figure it out in time perhaps I will be able to do my very first podcast. Let’s hope it will happen.
Again, this space won’t look like this next week. I’m in the midst at looking for sponsors and who knows what will happen. This space is always looking for a bit of change and I may change the whole layout of the piece to make it more aesthetically pleasing and easier to understand all this info that I will be disseminating.
Okay kids, hope you have a Happy Monday and happy Valentine’s Day!
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