Playoff Winds

Playoff winds are blowing, not just in your fantasy leagues, but in the NFL too. It's pretty messy in the middle, unless you are taking about the AFC West, in which case it' messy even at the top. The Pats and Steelers are looking good in the AFC. Whats new? Absolutely nothing. In the NFC, things are a little fresh. Eagles and the Vikings are looking good. It's pretty interesting beyond those 2. Even the upstart Rams at 9-3 do lead their division, but the Seahawks are right on their tail. The way Russell Wilson is playing,  Rams can't even wink in this race. The Rams are going in to Seattle next week and that game may very well decide the division. Rams may regret losing their earlier contest in LA. The Saints let a golden opportunity slip through their hands on Thursday. They could have wrested control of the division and also put Falcons in their place. Instead, Brees put the ball in place between the numbers of the defender while driving to save the game and ended the Saints hope with a killer interception. That result made it hard for teams like the Packers, Lions, and even the Cowboys as those NFC teams have to look at the wild card as the only route available and the wild card standing is stacked with NFC south teams like the Falcons. Big win for the Falcons, who are not out of the division race either.

There are way too many 6-6 teams in the league and they are all in play for the playoffs. Reminds me of the NBA where more than half the league make the playoffs and usually, there are a couple of mediocre teams fighting for the 7th and 8th spot towards the end of the seasons as if it means something. There are 3 teams at 6-6 just in the AFC West and the once formidable Chiefs are in big trouble. The Chargers may be the best team in that division and the Raiders have to play much better to stay in contention. Hope they are not feeling too good about themselves based on their recent wins against bad teams. Their remaining schedule is brutal and road-heavy starting with their trip to Kansas City this weekend. 8-8 might end up winning that division when it's all said and done. There is so much mediocrity in the AFC right now, even teams like Dolphins at 5-7 can pretend to be in playoff contention. We might as well send the Hoodie and Brady to Minnesota for the Super Bowl today. I don't see any legitimate threat to them in the AFC. Sorry, Pittsburgh. Among the 6-6 teams, I do hope the Packers sneak in somehow in the NFC since Aaron Rodgers will be back soon and they can be formidable regardless of what their record says. The next month in the NFL will be crazy interesting. Happy holidays!

In baseball, the Marlins are spicing up the hot-stove by trading Giancarlo Stanton. Of course, he lands up with the Yankees. The Yanks have been a little quite lately by their standards when it comes to big money deals and off-season moves. This puts them firmly back in the headline. It's amazing to even imagine Aaron Judge and Stanton in the middle of a lineup. Initially, it seemed like the Giants and the Cardinals were in the mix for Stanton and I was all for it, though not a big fan of either of those teams. But now, it's the good old Yankees scoring the hot date again. They get Stanton for the next 10 years with his 295 million price tag. There are a lot of similarities between this and their A-Rod acquisition back in 2004. That didn't work great for the Yanks, but this might. Stanton is only 28 years old and doesn't seem to have the baggage A-Rod acquired along the way. These Yankees do need more pitching, but they should be real good next year. It's not bad to have them be good to root against I guess for fans like me. At least the Yanks didn't get Shohei Otani, the Japanese Babe Ruth, who can supposedly throw 100 MPH fastballs and hit 500-yard homers. Good for the Angels to add some help around Mike Trout, the best player in all of baseball. In other news, Baker Mayfield won the Heisman trophy today. Congrats to him on the hardware and more importantly, for not grabbing his crotch and mouthing obnoxious expletives like he is known for.

No more fundamental

Big day in the NBA today. Every day has been a NBA day lately. The association has been dominating the sports headlines since mid spring, and today, one of it's modern day legends hung up his spurs, pun intended. Tim Duncan retired after 19 seasons, 5 championships, 2 MVPs, 3 finals MVP, 15 all-star appearances, one all-star MVP, 10 all-NBA first team selections, and a rookie of the year award. Thats a career. If we all had a resume like that in our respective professions, we can all retire happy, fulfilled, probably rich, and more importantly with the ultimate currency - respect! Tim Duncan is in fact so universally respected and exalted, fans outside San Antonio never really connected with him the way they connect and derive joy by loving or hating their other superstars. Folks just looked up to him like he was some kind of a basketball unicorn that can't be hated and consequently, can't be loved either. His fundamentally sound big man's game wasn't as sexy to watch compared to the athletic wings. But he was a truly dominant big man at both ends of the floor. He played power forward in a center's body and soul. He played offense like a power forward and defense like a center and was great at both.

As we stand here in the modern NBA, Timmy might be the last great low-post scorer. There are your occasional low-post artists in Zach Randolph, Al Jefferson, and LaMarcus Aldridge still at work, but the "big fundamental" was the last dominant big man around whom a team's offense was built. Trends tend to be cyclical and may be low-post scoring will be back in fashion again someday. But until then, Duncan's videos is all we got, especially if we insist on watching low-post moves in HD. He was kind of a bridge between the old-school NBA and the the guard centric, 3-point loving, motion oriented new world. As he was aging, the NBA was also changing and coach Pop deftly transformed even the Spurs offense to leverage the younger scoring talents in Parker and Ginobli. This was one of Pop's biggest achievement and a huge reason for his sustained success. Speaking of Pop, aside from his on-field heroics, Timmy's biggest strength was his coachability, class, and unassuming demeanor. I can't think of a superstar in any sport with less of a visible ego, fanfare, and attitude. Supposedly, Pop was ruthless with him too and he let him be. Unthinkable in the NBA with any other star, let alone a MVP caliber superstar.

The only time Timmy said anything even remotely interesting or controversial was just before the 2014 finals rematch against the LeBrons when he actually said that the Spurs will get it done this time. That kind of bravado was uncharacteristic of Timmy and he did go out and back it up in the finals by beating that Heat team. It just showed how hurt he and the Spurs were with the 2013 finals loss. They were the better team and they blew it. So they had to come back with everything they got and put the Heat away. Ironically, that is the most memorable Timmy moment I could remember. For a star of his magnitude, he did not have too many memorable moments or even games that are etched in our memory and NBA's history. Of course as a Suns fan, I have to pretend that he didn't hit that 3 in OT in the 2008 playoffs that I remember like it happened yesterday. But even thats neither here nor there since it was only an early round playoff game. He sure was a big thorn in the Suns' side in all those memorable western conference playoff series between the 2 teams but never had a lot of signature moments. I love his nickname the "big fundamental", but even that is not quite as catchy as the "black mamba" or "the king." Thats Timmy in a nutshell. He came, he conquered with no drama, and now he is gone. We will miss him as he walks away the same year as Kobe putting an end to an important NBA era in our lives. 

In other news, the Durant tremor is still being felt. He was introduced last week and it's still the big news being discussed and analyzed across the league. Some folks are actually not as sympathetic as me towards OKC. They think OKC stole the team from Seattle and hence have nothing to complain with this loss of Durant. In any case, it's time to move on for the Thunder and it's going to be interesting to see what they do with Westbrook now. They sure can't afford to lose him as well without getting anything in return. He either assures them he will stay or he will be traded. Good story for the NBA fans either way. In MLB, the all-star break is here. I am not a big fan of the home run derby but it was fascinating to watch Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton tonight. That guy won the derby with ease and it's just amazing to watch him hit. He makes it look so easy and effortless. It didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat while crushing the ball 480 yards. John Carlos is the man!