Today was slow on the Detroit sports front. The Tigers swapped out one youngish right-handed reliever for another. Can you believe that a couple years after being part of a Roy Halladay trade that never happened, Ryan Perry is only good enough to get an out-of-options middle reliever? Hindsight being what it is, it seems pretty clear that a Porcello-Perry-Casey Crosby package for Roy Halladay would have been a steal for Detroit. Ugh.
In news local to me, I tuned into what passes for comedy radio on the way home tonight - the Charlie Weis introductory press conference at Kansas!^ At least they can break out their old t-shirts from the Mark Mangino era. But really, this is probably a good move for everyone involved. Best case scenario for everyone - Weis is really successful and that catapults him to a better job. If he falls on his face and KU performs like KU, he'll be gone soon anyway. My prediction - he'll bring KU back to respectability and will land an NFL gig in three or four years.
^Not quitting my day job...or my night job...
In NBA news, the Hornets, Lakers, and Rockets swung a trade that would have landed Chris Paul in L.A. Problem is, Commissioner David Stern vetoed the deal. The deal might be back on but the fact that the veto happened at all is troubling. The NBA itself owns the Hornets, so that is how the commissioner had any say in the trade. Having a team owned by, essentially, each of the other teams in the league leads to conflicts of interest such as this. Dan Gilbert, fresh off of his LeBron Comic Sans screed, kept the hits coming with a few choice words about the Chris Paul trade^.
^No word on the font used in the email. Vegas has Calibri as an early favorite at 1 to 2, but Comic Sans is worth a flier at 4 to 1.
I doubt he would have been voicing any concerns if Paul ended up on the
Cavs, or even if the Cavs facilitated the Paul trade.^ But since someone else profited, he stomped his feet and got Daddy to take away his brother's toy. What a joke. Once again, the conflict of interest when a league owns one of its teams is unavoidable. The MLB did the same thing when they jerked around the Expos for a couple years.
^Not that anyone would want the pu pu platter the Cavs would have to offer up in a trade.
The best thing that could happen to the Hornets is a sale so someone
with the team's best interests in mind can start making decisions. And
with a Paul trade, all accounts are that the team itself would be
improved, and a better team is always a better asset.^
^Unless you're the Clippers.
Now that David Stern has allowed the teams to try the trade again, it will be interesting to see what a new deal looks like. If the same deal goes through, the NBA will be admitting they were wrong to veto the trade in the first place. I am guessing there is some nominal change - the Lakers giving up a second round pick or something - just so David Stern can save face.
2 comments:
Nice post today.
The Wings ended up killing Winnipeg 7-2. Doesn't even look like a hockey score.
Based on my completely scientific method, I think the Wings will sweep the games this week (@Pittsburgh, @Nashville, L.A.). Doesn't hurt that Crosby is out and the other teams are Nashville and L.A.
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