Johan Santana

Alright, I think its time I finally tackle this one. The Minnesota Twins traded Jo-hizzle to the Mets for four prospects. Gomez has the most name recognition, while reports are saying Guerra could be the best one. I don't really care. Now, before I get all excited, I'm not knocking the Twins organization for this trade. They traded Santana before the season, which was a good move, got him out of the AL, which can't hurt, and they got some talent back for him. Besides, these guys know a lot more than I do about Santana, Gomez, Guerra, Mulvey, and Humber. I have no doubt the Twins got the best offer available to them at that time. I think the Twins biggest mistake was not getting someone who is ready to play center. That's not to say the Twins aren't prepared for this year. They have three young guys fighting for the spot, plus four corner guys who are proven big leaguers. One of them, probably Young or Monroe, could play center. Monroe is good buds with the recently departed Torii Hunter and has shown interest in getting a shot to play center inside the giant inflatable toilet. The reason this is a problem is that the Twins will try a bunch of guys out in center, and probably use an older guy at first, thus blocking the progress of a younger player. Its like signing Ponson last year. He just got in the way. And when you're that fat, you're hard to move. But other than that, I'm fine with this trade. And I'm not so sure that there isn't something wrong with Santana. The Yankees and Sox passed on him when the asking price wasn't that high. The best pitcher in baseball, on the right side of thirty, and they can't do better than the Mets? Something smells funny. I think the Twins wanted to unload him before signs started popping up during the season. I mean, he gave up thirty some dingers last year. That's a bit of a caution flag. His fast ball is slowing down, and he doesn't throw the slider as much any more. Is he a one trick pony? Alright, his one trick would be like a pony pulling an elephant out its ass. That changeup is good. But can he dominate with one pitch? I don't know. That's what we'll find out this year I guess.

Spring Training Thoughts

Ahhhhh..... Atlast, my favorite season is upon us... that's right, Baseball season. Spring Training is under way across Florida and Arizona, and I couldn't be more excited. There's so much going on this year and I have a lot to say about it. I'm saving my biggest one, the Santana trade, for last. First off, I want to talk about what teams I'm excited about this year.

The Mets - Who isn't excited about them this year. They got the best pitcher in the game, Pedro claims his arm feels better than it has in ten years, and they still have a bunch of young talented players. Uh, last I checked, Pedro won quite a bit of hardware over the last decade. I know he's not going to be able to throw it 95 any more, but every Mets fan must be excited about him being able to throw more than five innings and 80 pitches. Here's my biggest problem with them though. Reyes is saying he's getting rid of the handshakes. Oh-Kaaaaayyy... what's that gonna do? Is that why you broke down at the end of the season? I know it's hard to memorize a bunch of handshakes and steal around 70 bases, but can't you do like The Manny Ramirez and take a month off around August, when you aren't really needed, then come back strong and ready to go for the post season? Worked well or him. Hell, the way he performed in the playoffs last year, and if he can do it again this year, is going to keep him making twenty plus million a year.

The Angels - First of all, I have to say, Torii Hunter for 90 mil is a bad deal. But if it gets the Angels to loosen up, have some fun, and it keeps Big Bad Vlad happy, who gives a damn? The Angels are ready to handle any injury to the outfield with very capable replacements or steroids fall out. (On a side note, does it bother any one else that the "steroids scandal" is now just referred to as "PED". Can't someone come up with a better way to talk about steroids and HGH than PED? It sounds too close to PDA, and if we start getting PDA conspiracies in baseball, then we have a problem.) Also, the Angels got a nice pitcher pick up in Jon Garland. I've never been a huge fan of Garland, but he's reliable and can give a team a boost as long as he isn't one of your top pitchers.

Milwaukee Brewers - Little bias here because I have now been living in Milwaukee for three and a half years. But the Brewers do make this list while my beloved Twins are left to the "intrigued, but not excited about this year" pile. Actually, the Twins remain on a permanent pedestal in my heart and will always excite me, even if we have a 260 pound guy named Boof as our number two starter and God knows who playing center, third, short, and second. But that's OK! This is Twins Territory! The Brewers are doing what the Twins did 8 years ago and are trying to so again. Building with a lot of young, talented guys who grew up together. They get along great and can lean on each other for support. If Brittle Ben Sheets could ever put together a year without throwing out his shoulder, getting a blister, pulling a hamstring, quad, shoulder, or back muscle, the Brewers would be locks for the central division. That's right. If Brittle Ben is healthy this year, I guarantee I'll be drinking Miller Lite and eating a Polish Sausage at Miller Park in October. Count it.

Teams with a lot of hype that won't be that exciting or, for that matter, good.

Yankees - I'm not saying they'll miss the playoffs. But this team is going to have a rough year. Pettite might as well retire and move to Alaska. This guy could not be in a worse situation. He followed Roger Clemens all over America for the past several years, then finally says "hey, F-you Roger. You ate all my thin mints back in 2000 and I'm still mad about it! Remember when you told me about taking HGH? Guess who I'm gonna tell." A Rod will do his thing.... bash fifty homers and a hundred and a million RBI's, bat three something, and still wonder how to win games by himself. Phil Hughes and or Ian Kennedy will choke big time against the Mets or Sox or anyone and all of New York, and especially that Steinbrenner cat, will start asking why the number one selling jersey in the world isn't pinstripes, the number 57, and Santana stitched across the back. Wait, do the mets have pinstripes? Hughes and Kennedy will lose it because they're young and if they aren't as good as or better than Santana, no one will like them. Young pitchers don't like that. I just hope Posada buys some Kleenex with all that money he got this year.

Cardinals - They were winning a hundred games not too long ago, but are a train wreck now. Aside for Pujols, they don't have much. There is one reason I will pay attention to them though. Juan Gone is trying to come back. It's either going to be another train wreck (like the team as a whole) or he's going to remind everyone why he was once considered among the best hitters in the game. Either way, I'm tuning in, at least for a little while.

Seattle - Yeah, they spent a lot of money this offseason. Yeah, they look like a better team. But they still don't have a big threat in the middle of the lineup. Their pitchers are ok. Hernandez I think still has a ways to go before he's in the Ace category. Bedard can strike some guys out, but I'm not convinced he's an ace either. Did anyone ever hear of him until last year? And then he got hurt. I want to see him stay together and put up good numbers for another year before I decide he's the real deal. And I've watched Silva for a few years. Yeah, the guy is going to pitch a bunch of innings and play decent. Unless he doesn't. Which he could do. As soon as he loses it for one game, its gone for a LOOOOONG time, maybe even the whole year. He lacks confidence, can't finish games because he's in bad shape, and gets sick all the time because he can't handle big games. Yeah, here's 48 million. The toilet and trainers room are down the hall to the left, next to the motivational speaker's office. Call us when you're ready.

Well I have to go do some actual work that doesn't involve sports so I'm not excited about it. More baseball soon, with an in depth look at Johan Santana, the trade, and the state of the Twins (and Minnesota).

And The Team That Wins The Honor To Lose To The Patriots Is...

Grab a brat, throw some cheese and mustard on it, sit down with a case of beer, and get ready for the game Sunday. That's right, coming to a TV and Super Bowl near you are the Green Bay Packers. In the past three years, the Packers have gone from 4-12 to 8-8 to 13-3 and are playing in the NFC Championship game. Not only are they playing in it, they look like the favorites to have the honor of losing to the Greatest team ever assembled in the Super Bowl. But they might not lose. Now, I don't want to get ahead of myself. I know how the sports gods work. as soon as you concede a team will win and start looking to the next week or next game, that team gets surprised and loses. Well for the rest of the week I'll be knocking on wood, avoiding ladders, running away from cats, placing all mirrors in bubble wrap and setting them in safe places.

(Actually, check that. I'm NOT putting mirrors in bubble wrap because I might start popping the bubbles and accidently break the mirrors. I'll just calmly place them on the other side of my roommates bed. No one, especially any women, ever lays there. Also, that way, if somehow a mirror breaks, I'll know my roommate is sleeping with either angry Bears fans or some loud annoying girl from New York.)

The Giants are going to put up one hell of a fight. Or maybe they won't. I don't even know. They have been playing so well and remind me of a couple years ago when the Steelers won it all. Not because they're a hot team with a good D that runs well. It all has to do with Eli. Ben Roethlisberger had an extreme amount of confidence that year. That's what Eli looks like now. That's why these Giants remind me of those Steelers. And as a Packers fan, I am worried. Favre is going to get hit. In the cold. And it will hurt.

But I know who's going to win. I can't say who, because that might jinx it. So I'll leave you with this. Brett Favre has broken several records. But there is one record that he set that will never show his name nor any stat he has put up. But anyone who saw this record happen knows it was all Favre. The player who holds the record I'm talking about is going to lose on Sunday.

And if you know who that is, you know he owes him one

NFL Awards

First off, it's been almost an entire month since I've written anything. There's two reasons for that. First, I went back to Minnesota to visit my parents for Christmas during my break from school. They still have dial up internet, which is essentially no internet at all. Second, I found out I have a blood clot and blocked arteries. Not good stuff, but I'm on the way to recovering now. Hopefully I can have a good year where I get back to where I was, and then I can work on living a healthier life.



Alright, on to some sports. I'm going to offer up my choices for the NFL award winners this year, as well as a couple honorary nominees who didn't quite have enough stuff to win.



MVP - Tom Brady
I want to pick Brett Favre. Not picking him is like not picking America to win at anything. Not picking Favre is like rooting against democracy. If you don't love Brett Favre, you're a communist. But Tom Brady accomplished a LOT this year. Yeah, he had an awesome team around him, but damn.



Offensive Player of the Year - Randy Moss
Brady means more to the team. Moss means more to the offense. If Brady wasn't such a damn good leader, Moss would have won both.



Defensive Player of the Year - Ed Reed
Bob Sanders won it. But until you show me how Bob Sanders is better than Ed Reed, I'm taking Reed.



Offensive Rookie of the Year - Joe Thomas
I love Adrian Peterson. He is an absolute stud. But there's a problem. He couldn't break a hundred yards rushing COMBINED in his last three games. I had the pleasure of finally watching AD while home in Minnesota and what does he do? NOTHING. Asshole. I drive six hours and he can't even give me a fifty yard touchdown run? Hell, I would have settled for a fifty yard touchdown reception. The point is, Joe Thomas played awesome as a rookie. Cleveland was actually good this year. I think he helped a lot. I don't think Thomas is better, but Peterson let me down and looked absolutely human the last couple weeks when teams figured out how to stop him.



Defensive Rookie of the Year - Patrick Willis
No debate. Stud. I wish I could watch him play more often. This guy is a tackling machine and will probably keep getting better.



Wide Receiver Who Might Have Kept His Job If He Just Caught One Ball But Instead Lost His Job - Troy Williamson.
In the last game against the Broncos, Williamson blew by every defender, sat down in the middle of the field, read the paper, got up, and then had a wide open touchdown as long as he didn't drop it or get struck by lightning and....... coming to free agency this offseason, the #7 overall draft pick in the 2005 draft, Troy Williamson.



(How do the Vikings get Williamson one year with the seventh pick, then a couple years later get Adrian Peterson with the seventh pick? Doesn't it seem like one of those two should have been drafted a lot higher than the other?)



Guy Who Had A Really Good Year And I Think Is Really Good But Maybe He Isn't Because No One Else Is Giving Him Credit - Nick Barnett
He had something like 131 tackles and was everywhere on the field. I watched every Packers game this year and I haven't seen someone tear ass wild up and down a field like Nick Barnett did in years. He was literally everywhere. His body split up down to the molecular level and spread out across the field, then reconverged around the guy with the ball to make the tackle. Amazing. He should be in the Pro Bowl next year.



The Michael Irvin Award - T.O.
Star receiver. Hall of Fame bound. Will only be remembered for his mouth, not his stats, because he played udring the same time the best receiver ever played. (Irvin played when Rice was around, who at the time was the best receiver ever. T.O. plays at the same time as Moss, who is the best receiver ever).



Quarterback Who Played Well On The Road All Year, Yet Everyone Is Waiting For Him To Self Implode, On The Road, During The Playoffs - Eli Manning
8-1, including the first playoff game, on the road this year? I don't know how he did it. Eli always sucked in hostile environments and pressure situations. That's every road game. How did he do so well? I don't know, but Peyton better make sure he didn't steal his good luck charm.

Hockey Fights

I love hockey. I'm from Minnesota, what do you expect. It's fast paced, there are exciting goals and saves, big hits, and plenty of action. But one thing stands out, even if you aren't a hockey fan: fights. Everyone likes hockey fights. Well, not everyone. Some of the purists think its a cheap entertainment that takes away from the game. Some of the hockey haters think its barbaric. I don't care. I think its great. Its not like players fight just to fight, or because they think someone was hitting on their wife. A lot of times its to protect their teammates. I'm not going to stop a guy from sticking up for his teammates to the full extent of the rule book. Without fighting, there would be a lot of skill players and smaller guys getting beat on and taking cheap shots. Enforcers make sure that if someone takes a cheap shot at their guy, you better be ready to trade punches. Not a lot of people could tell you who Marcel Dionne is (number 6 on the all time points list) or Vladislav Tretiak (starting goaltender for the 1980 USSR Olympic team). I bet more people could tell you who Tie Domi is or Ulf Samuelson. Enforcers are needed to take care of stars. If Samuelson thought someone was going to make him swallow some teeth after the hit he put on Cam Neely's thigh, maybe he wouldn't have taken so many cheap shots at players. Besides, I like watching guys fight without having to break it up or worry about being involved in it. And when its bare knuckle and lasts for about ten seconds, its the closest you'll come to a bar fight without hanging out with a bunch of drunk ROTC kids. Its sudden, exciting, and over quickly. Then, when its over, the game continues. Its like the little kids who run onto the court during middle school basketball games. Its fun to watch for a little bit, and sometimes you take pleasure in watching a kid fall or get knocked over. Then the real game starts. And if you really don't like it, go get another beer during fights. I mean, you're watching hockey, so you should probably be drinking some beers. And if not? What are you doing watching hockey? Hockey without beer or fights? It just doesn't seem right. Just go back to Dallas and cheer for the team formerly known as the North Stars while sipping on tang.

Football thoughts

10-2. 10-2. 11-1. 12-0. Indianapolis. Green Bay. Dallas. New England. They're pretty.... pretty good. I think Indy is the worst of these four teams. They're 10-2, but I don't think they're that good. Peyton has looked very human this year, and if Joseph Addai wasn't having such a good year, they wouldn't be leading their own division.

Green Bay looked bad against the 'Boys. Mike McCarthy said they had something like 22 mental errors in that game. They hadn't had more than 9 in any other games. So they played poorly. I'm not even going to use Brett Favre getting hurt as an excuse because Aaron Rogers looked really good when he came in. There's only one problem. Every time Favre gets hurt, and Rogers comes in for him, he ends up getting hurt too. He's supposed to be out this week with a hamstring injury. Poor guy. If Favre goes down again this week, I think Oakland could sneak out of Green Bay with a win and Dallas can coast to home field.

I didn't think Dallas was that good all year. I didn't think Tony Romo was that good. I think I've been wrong. I still think the Packers are going to beat them in the playoffs, but Dallas is good. Great passing game, probably second only to the Patriots. I'd put the Packers up there too, but Dallas has more vertical threats, and uses them more. Green Bay is a great passing team, but they're less aggressive, therefore less dangerous. Dallas can also run the ball. Although every time I see Julius Jones in the backfield, I question what Wade Phillips is doing. Barber is a great runner.

The New England Patriots. They're good. They should have lost to Baltimore, but you can't go undefeated without a little luck. That was one of the best football games I have ever seen, right down to the last second Hail Mary that fell two yards short. If this was in the Super Bowl (AFC teams, so don't start) it might have been the greatest Super Bowl ever. It was that exciting. If you missed it, go jump off a cliff. And since Pittsburgh is kind of like Baltimore but better, I'm sure people think they have a legitimate chance to win. I'm predicting Pats win by 30. Don't get all excited. This game will be over at the 8:37 mark in the second quarter.

Pats Packers Super Bowl? I hope so.
Undefeated Patriots? I Think so.
18-1 Patriots only loss comes in Super Bowl? No. 19-0, and shut up Dolphins, because this season is going to be ten times more impressive than your weak, shorter schedule. Not only are they on your block, but you're being evicted and they're tearing down your house and building a bigger one.

Johan Santana and Miggy

Well Detroit and Florida stole the show, at least for a day or two. I have to absolutely praise Detroit on this one. They picked up one of the best hitters in the game and a guy who may not be very good but save your bullpen some innings, or they got a guy who could be a pretty good pitcher. Dontrelle Willis will determine if this trade is a steal, or a good trade. I've always felt that trading prospects for proven players is always a good deal. Yeah, it sucks if you traded the next Sandy Koufax, but how can you know? What I do know is that Miguel Cabrera is a top five hitter in MLB and you know he's that good. I'd take this trade any day. As for Florida, this is what they do. They pick up really good young players for their stars, then in a few years win the World Series. The best thing? Then they trade those guys who became stars for more really young good players and do it again. They're good for a ring at least once every five to seven years because the guys they traded for were good prospects, then become good players, then win, then get traded for more good prospects. They always have good young players, and good young players eventually get good. They just can't keep them.

Now, the area I'm most concerned with, Johan Santana. Everyone seems to be penciling him in for opening day at Fenway. But just because the Yankees "dropped out" of the race, that doesn't mean the Twins should trade him. Yeah, having Ellsbury would be nice. Same for Lester. But it should be both. And a lot more. If the Red Sox get Santana, they might win the World Series four more times over the next five years. Lester won't put up the pitching numbers. Ellsbury won't turn into an MVP. So why does everyone think the Twins will trade for Ellsbury and a couple prospects? The Twins would get ZERO proven players. The Twins should be getting either two absolute stud prospects and a few other very good prospects, or they should be getting two proven players and the prospects. The Marlins got a pretty good haul for essentially Cabrera. You're telling me that the Twins can't, shouldn't, and WON'T get more for Santana? I said a while ago the twins should get Ellsbury (Good prospect) Lester (Good prospect) Kevin Youkilis (Proven player) and another guy, not necessarily an all-star, but you know he can play in the big leagues and you know what he gives you. That's how good Santana is. You're telling me the Twins are going to get two of those guys (i.e. Lester and Coco), and probably the worst two they should be getting? Hold on to him. Tell him you're going to do everything you can to keep him in Minny and keep him a winner. Trade another young pitching prospect for another hitter (Like the Garza-Young trade). Try to win this year. If you do well, you'll make money, maybe you can re-sign Santana, and maybe you can be a really good team. Imagine if the Twins had traded for Cabrera. It probably could have happened. Young, and a few pitching prospects? Maybe would have worked. But Pohlad would never pay, so its foolish anyways. Look to see #57 on opening day wearing a TC on his hat.

The Metrodome: The Only Horse Stable in The NFL

296 yards. 888 feet. Over one sixth of a mile. Adrian F-ing Peterson. This guy is amazing. He's the best running back in the NFL, NO doubt. He ran for 256 yards MORE than LaDainian Tomlinson on Sunday. He already has 1,036 yards rushing through just eight games with an average of 6.5 yards per rush. He may set the NFL single season rushing record as a rookie. That's insane. He should probably be asking for more money already. My usual football Sunday consists of sitting in my living room with my friends eating brats, drinking beers, and watching the Packers. I think I'm going to start going to the bar so I can watch the Vikings too, because A.P. is must see TV. Joe Buck and company keep talking about having the rookie of the year award locked up. Um, how about you start talking MVP? I know Brady is going to win it. But holy shit, if Peterson ran for over two thousand yards and twenty some (or more) touchdowns, don't you have to seriously consider the fact that they have high school quarterbacks on the roster and a head coach who doesn't know how to give Adrian Peterson the ball and he's STILL dominating? I predict he'll be each of the rushing leader, touchdowns leader, and MVP at some point with in the next three years. Hell, he might do all three this year.

How 'bout dem Packers? Again, I don't know how they do it, but damn, if I'm any other team in the NFL outside of the Patriots, I don't want to play the Pack. They can play SOOO bad at times, yet they don't let you get up on them by much or at all. And who didn't see Brett Favre doing something amazing down the stretch to put the Packers in the lead? If they're up, you're not going to catch up very easily. If you're up, it's not by much and you have to stare Brett Favre in the face as he picks you apart on his way to another 300+ yard game or throws a bomb between your safeties for an easy touchdown. When I watch them, I get a little nervous, but the result stays the same. Second best record in the NFL.

The Lions? Are you SERIOUS?! I keep picking against them because I can't imagine a world in which a Barry Sanders-less Lions team wins more than five or six games. I said this week it would be the last time I pick against them if they win just because they're the Lions. Well they won, and pretty damn convincingly. So it looks like I'm picking them next week.

Major Camel Points this week to Adrian Peterson, Drew Brees, and Shaun Rogers. Peterson I've already covered (314 Camel Points, 296 yards, 18 points on TD's). Brees gets 45 Camel Points for throwing for 445 yards. And Shaun Rogers gets 31.7 Camel Points (Because that's how many seconds it took him to run 66 yards for a touchdown) and an oxygen tank.

Look out next weekend for the Vikings over the Packers. I'm scared and it's still six days away.

Parents Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to be Spurs Fans

I came to a realization today. I hate the Spurs. Now I used to hate them. Or at least I thought I did. But now I truly realize I hate them. Not because they win. I actually like dynasties, so it's not that. They represent what is wrong with basketball. Now most people will tell you that they are the epitome of how to play the game (at least at the NBA level). But I disagree. What do coaches tell young kids to do? Hustle, play as a team, pass the ball, and have fun. But that's all bologna by high school, and everyone knows it. Maybe even earlier than that. The way basketball should be played is certainly to hustle, work hard, and have fun. But it's also giving your best player the ball and letting him do something to put it in the hoop. If he can't do it, give it to the next best option, whether they are the next best player or an open player who can make an open shot. So that's how to play right. It can vary at different levels, but there are basic principles that must be observed. Generally all that team work stuff is to compensate for being a bad team or not having any stand out players. As I've said before, the reason Kobe shoots so much is that if he takes thirty shots a game, I would be willing to bet that twenty to twenty five of them were the best chance for the Lakers to score on that possession. So that means he should be shooting it more than the crab fishermen teammates he has. So now that I've explained how basketball should be played, how shouldn't it be played? This doesn't change at any level, and these sort of things would never happen on Norman Dale's court. Whining, complaining, layups with the wrong hand, recklessly dribbling through traffic with your head down and throwing the ball towards the hoop (again with the wrong hand) and dirty cheap shot plays. Does this sound familiar to you? That's how the Spurs play basketball. Tim Duncan whines almost as much as Rasheed Wallace, except he doesn't have a head band to throw. And have you ever seen him after he gets called for a foul? He hits the guy on the head, arm, and body, walks around like nothing happened, then hears shooting foul on number twenty one, and his eye balls pop out of his head, his arms go up, and he looks like someone who just got told there is hard proof that he shot the president, even though the person was watching TV all day. It's despicable. He thinks he can do no wrong. Remember when Joey Crawford kicked him out of the game when he was on the bench? You don't think Duncan was talking shit, complaining about Crawford, or something else completely degrading towards him? Then he made his Duncan face, threw his arms up, then walked off like a victim. Plus he has armpit afros. Gross. Duncan isn't the only whiner though. The whole team does it, they just aren't as good at the faces. Parker and Ginobli are bad at it. Man-ew is one of the worst floppers in the league. I hate when players hit the floor because the wind is blowing. It makes guys who really do give up their bodies look like shams too. Another problem with those two is how they drive to the basket with their heads down, throw up dumb shots with their wrong hand, and either get lucky or a bail out call because that's how the NBA works. You shouldn't drive to the left side of the basket and then shoot a layup with your right hand. You're a pro, and you can't use your other hand? Go back to France. And that final reason I hate the Spurs: Bush league players playing dirty. Bruce Bowen is the second dirtiest player in the league (he would be the run away favorite in this category, but he never grabbed a nut from another guys tool bag during the game... actually Bowen is dirtier, he's probably just too afraid to reach into the tool bag because he might go for the screwdriver). How many guys have to roll ankles on Bowen's foot before this guy gets stopped? How many times can he grab a jersey, arm, pinch your leg, elbow your kidney, step on your foot, or tap your elbow when you shoot? The point of all of this is, don't let your kids watch the Spurs. They play basketball the wrong way. Let your kids watch guys like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and why not, Steve Nash. Those three players might have the most passion for the game in the NBA today. I don't think you'll find anyone more driven to win, whatever that takes. Kobe does it by scoring and playing phenomenal defense. Garnett does it with his all around game and desire to do what the team needs him to do, not what he thinks he should be doing. And Nash does it by making those around him infinitely better by his passing and leadership along with clutch shots. Those guys all want to win. And I bet you won't see any of them stepping under guys when they shoot, whining after hacking a guy on the arm (although Kobe does his share of complaining, but mostly on offense and its not so whiny because he looks kind of scary when he does it), or recklessly going to the hoop without knowing their other options and making the best choice (and again, for you Kobe haters, the guy is a great drive and dish player, but he's also a great finisher, which is why he takes the shot a lot). Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be Spurs fans.

Packers Run Over Broncos... Can it last?

I hope you watched Monday Night Football last night. If you didn't, find a friend with Tivo. Watch NFL Network and look for the replay. Or hell, watch Sportscenter polish Brett Favre's Hall of Fame plaque and tell you how amazing the game was last night. Yes, Brett Favre burned what many consider to be the best corner tandem in the league for two long bombs for touchdowns. Yes, they were perfect throws. Yes the receivers did a great job. And yes, I was amazed and excited and confused all at once. The Packers have won games because Brett is doing one hell of a job behind center this year and having fun, completely eliminating the "should he, could he, will he retire" talk. They're winning thanks to a defense that while not necessarily the best ranked in the NFL might be one of the best in the NFL. If you're a Packers fan like me or just happen to watch their games a lot, you've seen how this defense is carrying the team. The only element missing was something that resembled a running game not installed by June Jones. At first I thought it was our running backs not getting it done. Then I thought it was the offensive line. Then I thought it was both. But after watching Ryan Grant go for over one hundred yards last night on 22 carries, I'm convinced the problem was a lack of commitment and uncertainty by players. I know the Broncos are bad against the run. But the line looked like it was opening holes that could result in four or five yard runs. And to my surprise, Grant hit those holes like Captain Ivan Drago hit Apollo Creed. Not only did he get the four yards or so until getting hit, but instead of falling over or getting knocked on his ass (again, like Apollo getting creamed by Drago. "If he dies, he dies"), Grant hit them and fell forward. This guy runs like you slept with his wife then pooped in his sock drawer. I think the Packers finally found a guy deserving to be called the starting back. When the Packers traded for him, he drew a lot of comparisons to Dorsey Levens. Big guy, not the fastest, runs angry and with power. Well, that's what Grant showed us last night. Not to mention the fact that his name sounds like a good running back. Ryan Grant. He sounds like he would be happy nailing railroad spikes or tossing rocks for fun. Brandon Jackson sounds like he should be in a boy band. Vernand Morency sounds like some creepy old guy with really angry dogs (not of the Mike Vick variety). And DeShawn Wynn sounds like an underachiever who went to a big football program and got drafted simply because he has talent and if he gave a crap he might be OK (Anyone else think he gets leg cramps and tired/dehydrated because he has his very own miniature house on the sideline with his name on it, a water dish in front and a couple chew toys inside and isn't used to actually playing? If only he had worked a little harder in college so that playing more than five snaps a game didn't exceed his full allotment for the game). I'm excited for the Ryan Grant era. It might not last past the first series of next week. I can easily see the line missing blocks and letting grant get hit in the backfield where I believe he lacks the elusiveness to miss a tackle or two and gain two yards he shouldn't have. But if the line can give him two or three yards to get a head of steam, he's going to get the next couple. And that's all the Packers need. A running game that will make the linebackers bite on play action and bring the safeties up occasionally, opening up the middle and deeper plays or the catch and runs. Ryan Grant, the Packers were missing one element that kept them out of the elite category. If you can keep this up, we may be the team to beat in the NFC. If not, I hope Brett has enough magic tucked away in that grey beard of his to make some magic happen the rest of the year. But if not, it's not like we're going to win the Super Bowl anyways. I believe the NFL already has the Lombardi Trophy postmarked for Foxborough, Mass.