NOff Season

I call the NFL's off-season, NOff season - No off-season. NFL has been taking up more and more of our attention during the spring and summer months the last few years and this off-season has been even more interesting and engaging. The reason being there is way more talent and big names in this free-agent class than usual. There were several people waiting with bated breadth for NFL's new year to begin on March 12-Th. There were transactions like the niner's Alex Smith trade that were informally finalized earlier, but had to be formalized officially after that day. A flurry of activity followed. We have to start with the Super Bowl contestants who are clearly moving in opposite directions. The champion Ravens dropped a lot of change on Joe Flacco. Thats the good news. But now Flacco might have to pass to himself, try to catch the pass, and play defense after the interception. They have gutted their defensive roster with Ray Lewis retiring, Ed Reed on his way out, and with Dannelle Ellerbe, Paul Kruger, and Cary Williams walking away. In addition, they traded Anquan Boldin to their Super Bowl enemy San francisco 49'ers. 

Niners were already having a good off-season because of the surprisingly high draft-picks they got in return for Alex Smith from Kansas City that added to their already rich basket of picks in the upcoming draft. Then they used a lowly 6-Th round pick from that basket to score Anquan Boldin from the Ravens. The niners need a speedster and Boldin is not one. But he is a great receiver and it's a smart pickup. They also had to match the Seahawks, who had a great season last year and have added Percy Harvin to the mix. He is a great talent, but I think they overpaid for an injury-prone receiver. The NFC West just became very interesting with 2 legitimate contenders for the ultimate prize. I am also happy for Alex Smith ending up at Kansas City with Andy Reid. I like Andy Reid as an offensive coach. For him to pursue Alex Smith is in and of itself a vote of confidence in Alex because Reid knows QBs. He has a track record of making stars out of mediocre QBs and thats good news for Alex Smith. KC is also making several other moves and they already had some talent that under-achieved last year. They could be a surprisingly decent team in 2013.

The niners are also mentioned in the Darrelle Revis trade, though Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only serious suitor as of now. Atlanta and Denver Broncos are the other 2 teams that improved themselves a lot among the elite teams to keep up with the niners and the seahawks. The Falcons let go of Michael Turner, but signed a slightly younger Stephen Jackson out of Saint Louis. With Tony Gonzalez un-retiring, the Falcons are locked and loaded for another impressive run. The Broncos lost Elvis Dumervil, but they did add solid talent in the form of cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Wes Welker. Peyton Manning should be delighted to see Welker in the slot to go with all the other talent he has at his disposal. The patriots are playing with fire in letting him go to their rival and instead signing Danny Amendola. Danny is younger and talented, but is also injury prone. There are also reports that Brady took a pay-cut to help the Pats sign free agents like Welker and he is now disappointed that they let his friend walk. I think Bill Belichick's ego is now getting in the way of smart team-building. They have also cut Brandon Lloyd and if they don't re-sign him, their receiving corps might be real thin.

Those are some of the interesting stories of this off-season so far. The Super Bowl champion seems to be headed for a rebuilding effort and at the other end of the spectrum, so are the Oakland Raiders. They didn't have a lot of talent to dump, but they seem to be dumping whatever little they have. They have cut receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and defensive back Michael Huff, both former first-round picks. They have also let Brandon Myers - Carson Palmer's primary safety valve, walk to NY Giants. The black hole is going to feel like a bottomless pit for a year or two. Poor Carson Plamer. He might start missing his "glory days" in Cincinnati. There are rumors that they might cut him too. Terrelle Pryor starting in the NFL might be the best argument for a NFL minor league system. There are also rumors that the Raiders might draft Geno Smith. I like Geno Smith way more than Pryor, but Palmer might have to stay to even make the Raiders remotely watchable. In any case, there are several moves to go for all the teams between now and the draft.  With Ed Reed, Charles Woodson, Osi Umenyiora, Dwight Freeney, and possibly Brian Urlacher still available in free agency, it looks like a pro-bowl roster from a few years back. So the noff season shall continue unabated.

NBA's stretch run

I have not blogged a whole lot about the NBA this season. When your favorite team - Phoenix Suns in this case, is playing a robust .344 ball, it's only natural to lose a little bit of interest in the league. But the interest in the NBA peaks only around this time anyways. Actually, it really peaks about a month from now when March madness is over and the playoffs are just around the corner, but people do start following it a lot more after the Super Bowl. The storyline for the rest of the season is whether or not the Lakers make the playoffs. Thats both good and bad. The good news is, the Lakers are struggling to make the 8-Th spot. The bad news is, once again the sports-world is almost exclusively obsessed about a big market team and it's prospects. Of course there are enough stars in LA to hold everybody's interest. Kobe is a "big market" all by himself! The worse news is, the Lakers probably will sneak into the playoffs. But I don't think they are going anywhere even if they do get in.

The Lakers are 4 games behind the Golden State Warriors for the 6-Th spot, but they are only 1.5 games behind the 8-Th spot. How cool is it that the Lakers are the 3-Rd best team in the state of California? I am pretty sure it will stay that way. The Warriors have had some issues lately with losses piling up due to a tough schedule and road games, but the schedule is easing up now and they should stay above the Lakers, who are playing better these days. Both Houston at 7 and Utah at 8 are good teams but the schedule is going to determine if and when the Lakers overtake them. The lower half of the West is fascinating with some new blood in there. It will be fun to watch the Warriors and the Rockets compete in the playoffs. As it stands today, Warriors play the Clippers, who they have owned in the regular season and Rockets will play the Thunder pitting James Harden - the pride of Arizona State, against his old team. I sure can live without Nowitzki and Kobe in these playoffs, but not sure if commissioner David Stern wants to.

In the East, the Heat and LeBron look unstoppable. They have won 16 straight and LeBron hit the game winner to clinch the game yesterday. That would have been big news last year when LeBron was relentlessly criticized for being genetically incapable of being clutch. It's amazing how 12 months and a championship can completely change perception and reorient the conversation. Now, those discussions sound absurd. Credit LeBron for putting in the work and perfecting his game. LeBron is single-handedly removing any and all drama from the Eastern conference playoffs, though I still have some hopes for the Pacers who have beaten them twice in the regular season. But the playoffs are different and the Heat's only challenge might  have to come from the West. Unfortunately, it won't come from my Phoenix Suns. The only thing I am looking forward to with the Suns is, I want them to disprove ESPN's Bill Simmons' assertion that the Suns will have the worst record in the league. Thanks to the Charlotte Bobcats, Simmons is going to be wrong, but not by much. Simmons by the way was ranked as the most powerful sports media personality by Sports Illustrated. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a good list with a lot of great names - Barkley at 2, Bob Costas at 3, Jon Gruden at 5, and Adrian Wojnarowski at 6. Congrats Bill Simmons.