The NBA has gone too far

So the sports world has been pretty hectic these past couple days, or for that matter, the past month or so. I never got around to finishing the 2nd half of my last post, but I definitely have some things to say about what has transpired in that time.

The biggest thing and the thing angering me the most right now, is the Chris Paul-deal-that-wasn't. I think this is unfair and completely unethical. David Stern has overstepped his boundaries as commissioner and is meddling in things he should not. I also do not care what Dan Gilbert thinks. He is an owner of the Cavs, not the Hornets, Rockets or Lakers. He should mind his own business. If he doesn’t like it, too bad! Maybe he should have put up a trade offer that was better, or not embarrassed himself after Lebron left. What player is going to want to play for this fool?

J.A. Adande wrote an excellent article tonight about the trade that wasn't, so I want to link to it since a lot of my opinions coincide with things he said, as well as because I also think it is a really well written, and thoughtful piece. His article can be seen here.

First of all, this trade was NOT unfair. In fact, all the teams, in my opinion, gained something and lost something. The Lakers lost one of the top power forwards in the game, at least offensively, by trading Pau Gasol. They also lost Lamar Odom, who is one of the most versatile players in the league, and was also important to the Lakers as a 6th man as well as someone who could start when Bynum or Gasol was hurt. The Rockets lost Luis Scola and Kevin Martin, both of whom are good players. Martin is a 20 point scorer, and Scola is a double-double guy. The Hornets were not going to get a better package of players than they would have gotten in this deal. It is RIDICULOUS that this trade is not happening!!!

I don't even want to get into how wrong it is that the NBA is controlling the Hornets in the first place, but it is even worse now that Stern is vetoeing trades. I have never EVER seen a commissioner nix a trade because "he didn't like". His apparant excuse was "basketball related reasons" but who actually believes that? He nixed the trade because he didn't like!

I understand the NBA currently owns the Hornets, but their general manager, Dell Demps, is still the man in charge of making trades. He decided that it was in the best interest of the HORNETS to make this trade, so it is his call. As I stated before, the trade was perfectly fair. Heck, the Pau Gasol trade the Lakers made a few years ago was a lot worse than this. If the trade was so bad, the owners have no reason to complain. 27 other teams had the opportunity to offer up a trade—Demps decided this was the best offer. Stern has no right whatsoever to nix a trade, and there is no precedent for this.

Now what does this mean for the future of the NBA? How can teams operate and make trades now that they know Stern might possibly decide to come down with an iron first and block the trade? How can the Lakers even make a trade now, they have the NBA playing big brother over their every move now. Same thing with the Hornets. They will not get a better package of players then they would have gotten in the nixed deal. What team is going to offer them a reasonable trade now? The Hornets have no leverage at all. Now the NBA has made it so the most likely scenarios is Paul plays for the Hornets and then leaves in the offseason and the Hornets get no compensation. Way to go NBA!!!

I also feel for the players involved. Paul thought he was leaving, and now he is in the difficult situation of being stuck on a team that he doesn’t really want to be on, and he thought he was gone. I mostly feel for Odom though. He was already distraught enough for being traded. He really loves LA, and he loves being a Laker, which I appreciate. Now he is back in LA, and feels unwanted. Now the NBA has put these players in a situation where it will be really awkward and uncomfortable. This, after a lockout in which the owners and players got into such a strong argument they almost had no season. Completely asinine.

I hope the NBA is satisfied with what they have done. They had a lockout because they wanted to become richer, even though they used basketball as the excuse. Now they are doing the same thing with this trade. This trade has nothing to do with competitive balance. Stern didn’t like the trade, so he didn’t allow it; it’s as simple as that.

I'm not even angry about this because I'm a Lakers fan. I'm angry about this because as a sports fan, I do not like seeing the commissioner of a league meddling in the affairs of team transactions and abusing his power. By blocking this trade, he has done more to upset the competitive balance than he is maintaining it. As a sports fan, I think this is unfair and unjustified; it makes me furious.

Scattered Thoughts

It has been a while since I have updated the blog, so I have decided to begin working on it again.

I am now pursuing a career in journalism, so hopefully this blog can help me with getting some writing out there. Obviously I want to a be a sports journalist.

Because it has been so long, I have a lot to say about the various sports:

BASEBALL:

I was disappointed the Giants didn't win the World Series this year, but I can't complain because when they won it all last year that was the greatest moment of my life. I never thought I'd see the day.

With that said, it was painful to see Buster Posey get hurt and lose him for the whole season. I hope he when he comes back next season he is able to regain the form he had during his awesome rookie year.

Another point about the Giants...I HATED the trade for Beltran. I wanted them to get him, but I did not want to see them give up a prospect as valuable as Zach Wheeler. Of course, Beltran ended up being a bust as well.

If the Giants do decide to re-sign him, I would not offer more than $9/year. I would offer him a 2 year $18 million deal, or a 3 year, $27 million deal. I just don't feel he is worth $10 million/year anymore. He gets hurt too much and he doesn't put up the numbers to demand that much money. In fact, here's how I would characterize Beltran if he were a woman: Beltran is that girl who comes to all the parties and her make-up and clothes make her look better than she is. She's attractive, but she's not THAT attractive. Basically, Carlos Beltran puts up some okay numbers, but his name carries more weight than it deserves. Specifically for the Giants, yes their offense sucks but they shouldn't get put a ton of money in Beltran just because of his name, even though he improves the offense. Sign someone who can increase the offensive output EVEN MORE than Beltran.

Finally, one last note from the baseball world. The Rangers loss. That. Was. Painful. That has to go down as one of the most painful/signature losses in baseball history. The Game 6 collapse was a stomach-punch loss. I knew they wouldn't win Game 7 because teams just don't come back from that kind of loss. One strike away from winning the World Series, TWICE? That's just painful. At to make matters worse they even took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 1st inning in Game 1. Lets take a look at some of the memorable stomach-punch losses in recent history:

2002 World Series, Game 6: This was why 2010 was so great for me. The team vindicated what happened in 2002. The Giants were up 5-0 heading into the bottom of the 7th. Then that stupid monkey came out and ruined everything. Even worse, the Giants were still leading in the bottom of the 8th and 5 outs away from winning the World Series when they gave up the lead and lost 6-5. They lost Game 7 4-1 after leading 1-0 after the top of the 2nd.

2003 ALCS, Game 7 - We all remember this game. Grady Little leaves Pedro Martinez in the game 8th inning, and he gives up the lead by allowing 3 runs. The Yankees win the game in extra-innings on Aaron Boone's walkoff home run.

2003 NLCS, Game 6 - With the Cubs only 5 outs away from their first World Series appearance since 1945, Luis Castillo was up to bat. We all know what happens next. He hits a foul ball that Moises Alou tries to catch, but poor Steve Bartman interferes with the play. Castillo ends up walking. Later in the inning Alex Gonzalez bobbles a ball that could have been an inning-ending double play and the collapse was complete, the Cubs lost the game 8-3 and also lost Game 7.

1986 World Series, Game 6 - Poor Bill Buckner. With the Mets down to their last out Mookie Wilson is at bat and a wild pitch is thrown to tie the game. Later in the at bat Wilson hits a slow ground ball to Buckner down the first-base line. The ball goes through Buckner's legs and Ray Knight scores the winning run. The Red Sox lose Game 7 (which people always forget. They always think the Buckner game was the last game of the series).

Hopefully the Rangers can come back from the loss and play well next year. Hopefully they don't become the Buffalo Bills of baseball though.

Also, congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals on winning and good luck to Tony LaRussa in retirement. They MUST re-sign Pujols otherwise they have completely blown it.

NBA:

I don't even know where to begin with this sport. I think the NBA is completely retarded. However, while I sided with the players in the NFL lockout, I do actually agree with the owners in the NBA lockout. However, I do not agree with how the lockout has been handled. Why did it take until August/September for the owners and players to have their first meeting?????? This is something they should have done in, oh, you know April, May, June, and July!!! Way to show the fans you care. The NBA: Where greed, corruption, stupidity, and ineptitude happens!

I think the players and owners should just agree on a 50/50 split of revenue, do the amnesty clause, and create a hard cap. And maybe owners/GMs should not offer ridiculous contracts to the likes of Eddy Curry, Kenyon Martin, Larry Hughes, Amir Johnson, and MANY others. It was reckless and now the fans are getting punished for it.

For the record NBA: We don't care all that much! We still have the NFL, college football, college basketball, and now I'm paying even more attention to the NHL! Your loss, rich people.

NCAA BB:

As for college basketball, I am very excited for this season! I'm not expecting much from Texas Tech, but I am still anxious to see how different the team is under Billy Gillespie. I look forward to seeing a more mentally-sound team, and one that plays the game more fundamentally.

My mom and I are also doing a season-long NCAA pool where the team/person with the most wins, wins the pool. There is a $25 buy-in, and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place teams/people win money. You pick 3 teams in the top 25 of the ESPN/Coaches poll, and 3 teams not in the poll. Our 6 teams are North Carolina, Duke, Ohio State, Butler, Belmont, and Wichita State. I can't wait to follow these 6 teams all year long, and have a vested interest in some of the smaller conferences in college basketball this year.


This has turned out to be a much longer post than anticipated, so check back later for my thoughts about college football (particularly Tech beating OU and then following that up with a loss to Iowa State), the NFL (some fantasy stuff too), and the NHL (Penguins are in first place!).