The Most Boring Week of Them All

Welcome to the most boring sports week of them all.

No football for Sunday, unless you count the Pro Bowl (I’m not), and baseball confined to those last few weeks of wringing hands in anxiety and pocketbooks in desperation as agents haggle with GM’s to find that elusive hostess with the mostest, so to speak.

I’ve been making a whole-hearted attempt to boycott pro and college basketball this winter. It’s so incredibly boring. Maybe it’s just the Nets but I don’t think so. It’s the whole star system which will only be exacerbated by the 2010 free agency chase of skatey-eight teams for the same ten or so players, which makes an almost obscene sense in the NBA, as they get no fouls called on them while at the same time capturing all the ink.

That situation combined with the home team bias makes pro basketball totally unwatchable.

I’m boycotting college ball too, as it is just the fodder for the pros. Do any of those guys study? Do any of them belong in college? But, geez, what would happen to the tattoo and gun industries if it weren’t for organized basketball?

I’m actually beginning to think my boycott will be easily do-able. The Super Bowl and the attendant brouhaha should take me into the middle of February, at least, and then MLB spring training starts the first week in March.

I’ll be spending a week in Port Lucie and Jupiter watching the Mets, Marlins and Cards, which, for me, will really kick off the baseball season. There’s nothing quite like spring training…baseball at its finest…where you can watch the best players in the world just play the game in a relaxed atmosphere…no pressure to win and not even that much pressure to even play well.

So, anyway, I’ll just have to get through the last half of February. And that I can do by just taking a couple of day trips to the Poconos or upstate New York for some Alpine fun. And, yes, there will be all that prelude to March Madness and that ridiculously large 65 team NCAA tourney, in which no more than 50 have even a prayer of winning….and all in the name of killing the NIT.

Enough negativity for you? (I’ve got plenty).

Okay, there’s tennis and hockey and ice-skating with big TV contracts, which puts them ahead of, for example, soccer and even more obscure American sports such as weightlifting, for example. But I think I’ll pass on paying attention. While I do enjoy tennis, I don’t really see myself getting inspired, y’know?

So, for now, it’s New Orleans and Indianapolis, unless you’re into who’s hiring what coaches around the NFL, or who’s having what surgery. Worthy of mention, I suppose, is Sanchez’s recommended knee procedures and the Giants hiring of the old Buffalo coach as their defensive coordinator. But there’s really not that much to say.

It’s a guessing game as to whether the Colts Dwight Freeney is really hurt, an injury that would surely affect the outcome of the game. Shockey’s still hurt too, but it looks as if he’ll be even healthier for the Colts than he was for the Vikings game.

The Saints have come out saying they’re going to be going after Peyton Manning, much as they sent Favre to the sidelines gimping a few times. Now, while that’s not really news, going into Super Bowl week, it’ll be a huge deal. The Colts can use it as motivation, much as they allegedly felt insulted by the Jets thinking they could win.

I for one would love seeing Manning on his back a few times. More than that, though, I’d like to see some receivers knocked off their routes, thereby messing up the timing that’s so important to Manning and all his receivers. If the Saints can do those two things and nothing else, it’ll be quite a game.

I’ll be looking at the point-spread next week, but whatever it winds up being, it’ll be difficult to forecast. The Colts are the better team overall. They have a better offense and defense. They arguably could have gone unbeaten this season.

But, while you may think it’ll an aberration for the Saints to get a few more turnovers than the Colts, it really won’t be. If a team does the same thing over and over all year long, it really can’t be considered an aberration. As all it takes is one more turnover to win the game, you have to take the Saints chances very seriously.

And, if Freeney’s really hurt, that’ll be another justifiable bump to the spread. As big as Manning is to the offense, I’d say Freeney’s worth about half as much, which is saying more than you might think. With Manning, the Colts are 4 ½ point favorites. Without him they’d be dogs by at least twice as much. That would be a swing of about 13 or 14. So I’m saying that Freeney’s absence would be about a touchdown difference in the Saints favor. More on that next week.

I suppose the biggest hot-stove personality right now is Johnny Damon. He won’t be back with the Yanks, which is a real shame for Yankees fans. But what’s about 15 million dollars between friends? I think the Yanks blew the negotiation. If they think Randy Winn and Nick Johnson make up the difference, they’re sadly mistaken.

My Mets really haven’t done much lately, unless you count their losing out on available players. But, I have to say, the later they wait, the better deal they’ll get. And I can’t be too terribly upset they didn’t get Molina or some of those available pitchers for that kind of money.

I could actually live with the starting rotation as it looks right now. I really feel Ollie Perez will be better. I think John Maine and Pelfrey will only improve too. Johan Santana is looking good after his minor surgery as well.

But stay tuned, Mets fans.

Mid-Lull - Tennis, Basketball and Hot Stove

Well, here it is again, the annual big lull, that is, the period between the end of the Division Championships and the Super-Duper Bowl. Even worse than that, we’re almost in the direct middle of the lull. What this means for me is that I start watching tennis again, pay more attention to the Knicks and Nets, and even try getting into hockey. The “hot stove” stuff from baseball is almost over, of course, and will Manny Ramirez ever get signed by anyone?

The Australian Open, the first major tennis event of the year, is in full swing now and it’s always interesting to see which established stars are going to bomb and which newcomers will knock our socks off.

This year it seems that Venus Williams has bombed spectacularly. She lost to some great forehands from 20-year old Carla Suarez Navarro while Ana Ivanovic was done in by an even younger Russian, Alisa Kleybanova. There aren’t that many big names left on the board either.

The biggest name, Maria Sharapova, has been hurt for some time of course. Serena Williams is still alive, though just barely from what I saw of her last match, as are some of the old reliables, Elena Dementieva, Nadia Petrova, Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo. But it’ll be exciting to follow some of the up-and-comers, Alize Cornet from France, Victoria Azarenko and the Bondarenko sisters.

I can’t get that excited about the men, not only because they’re, well, men, but it’s always the same guys. How often do I want to hear about Nadal and Federer?

The Knicks may have found a new small forward in Danilo Gallinari. The 6’10” Italian is showing recently why he was a #1 pick with a display of shooting, rebounding and even some defense. David Lee has been showing he can shoot from beyond a few feet lately too, and the combination of the two of them playing together might be just what the Knicks have needed.

I was never too high on Richardson. But now there is Wilson Chandler. And, doing his best Marbury impression at times is little Nate Robinson. Jersey’s Al Harrington provides some height and toughness and can shoot, but not as good as he thinks he can.

But at least it’s interesting basketball, something the Knicks haven’t seen in oh, maybe three or four years now. There’s also talk of Marbury going to Greece. That’d be nice. Oh, and Eddie Curry’s still on the roster, although I wouldn’t expect to see him on the court anytime soon. What more could a Knicks fan ask for?

I think that, in order to really follow professional basketball, you’re forced to pay attention to the local teams. There just isn’t enough information to be had on the other teams. If your name isn’t Kobe or Lebron, the NBA isn’t interested. It’s a shame, really, this star system in the NBA, where rookies can’t get a break and the stars can’t commit any fouls.

And that’s the reason that Brook Lopez has been having a little trouble establishing himself. The league makes it virtually impossible for a rookie, especially a rook unlucky enough to be playing center. The Nets might be in trouble for a while now, as Devin Harris is hurt, Vince Carter seems unexcited, and they get only sporadic play from everyone else.

It’s amazing that their record is as good as it is. Guys such as Keyon Dooling, Bobby Simmons and Yi seem to play well enough in spurts to keep the team from falling totally into oblivion. And Lawrence Frank juggles things up enough to keep everyone on their toes.

At 19-23 now, though, they’re in danger of slipping beneath the Knicks in the standings. The Knicks are 17-24 and seem to be on an upswing. Not so the Nets. If you’re interested in seeing a whole hell of a lot of different combinations on the floor, though, the Nets are the team for you.

As for “hot stove”, there still are some blockbuster things going on. Prince Fielder just signed a 2-year 18 million dollar contract with the Brew Crew and, closer to home, the Phillies re-signed clutch outfielder Jayson Werth. He might be the best utility player on the planet and, as a result, managed to extract a 2-year 10 million dollar agreement from the Phillies.

That Werth contract makes me think we’ll see more of him this year, definitely a bad sign for Mets fans. And the Phils seem quite interested in keeping slugger Ryan Howard happy. He’ll be pulling down something between 14 and 18 million next year. Oh well, at least Mets-killer Pat Burrell will be somewhere else.

The Mets haven’t done much lately, but then they really don’t have to. Everybody’s making a big deal about left field and second base but, really, I’m content to watch Murphy and Evans and Tatis make a go of it. And, hey, Luis Castillo can only get better, right?

You can’t have everything. At least that’s my stance. I’d rather take a chance on that Mets left field situation than have “established” stars such as Damon, Matsui and Nady, although I do wish the Mets had never gotten rid of Nady. And, as much as I like Manny Ramirez, I don’t think I want to see him spend his last few years in New York. I can see another Andruw Jones situation developing.

As good as Manny has been, and as good as he was in his contract year, I can definitely see a guy like that retiring on his next team. Maybe he won’t practice so hard, maybe he won’t run as hard, and, worst of all, maybe he won’t even be as entertaining.

Well, I guess that’s enough to keep me entertained through the feared Media Week at the Super Bowl. I still think Omar Minaya might have an ace up his sleeve, though, and I’m kinda hoping the ace is a somewhat crazy left-hander named Oliver Perez.