The Winds Are Changing

I've got to admit, I have grown tired about writing about myself and have decided to stop doing it on this blog. I have found it increasingly hard to get motivated about sharing my personal status as it is not only intensely boring but mostly depressing as well. For these reasons I have decided to change this blog into a topic related affair. I figure I will go the path of sports blog since that is what I seem to read about online the most. That doesn't mean that on occasion, when the right topic should arise, I won't deviate from the sporting world but I plan on at least narrowing down the focus of the blog. Let's get things rolling with the new focus.

NBA
It's All-Star weekend which roughly marks the halfway point in the season. Some interesting stories have started to develop at this point as well. Not being a sports writing professional I am going to start with the Orlando Magic due to an overwhelming personal bias. Jameer Nelson's shoulder injury was a huge blow to a team that was emerging as a very serious contender in the East. After briefly sharing the honor of best record (for one day) the Magic have lost three of their last five since Nelson went down. Few teams need the All-Star break as bad as Orlando at this point.

Another basketball story is that of the Hall of Fame finalists being released today. Sixteen finalists made the cut and though unlikely all could get in under the voting structure for basketball's hall. The headliners of this class include Michael Jordan, who is widely considered the best player of all time; John Stockton, who retired as the NBA's leader in career assists and steals; and David Robinson, who had an amazing career with the San Antonio Spurs that included steady production in addition to being one of four players to post a quadruple double in the NBA. I would be shocked if any of these three didn't make the hall this year and it would be a shame. All three of these players had tremendous careers and provided countless hours of entertainment for me as I began to gain interest in sports as the nineties progressed.

The last story I want to mention is the Shawn Marion to Toronto for Jermaine O'Neal. Sure Jamario Moon follows O'Neal to Miami and Marcus Banks is packaged with Marion but clearly that's not the substance of the trade. Miami really needed a legit center type which Jermaine is if he can stay healthy. Don't get me wrong Udonis Haslem is a solid player but he's a PF not a C. Marion certainly helps Toronto athletically and should give them some good rebounding and perimeter defense from the Forward slot. This trade really works for both teams, and I have to admit I like it from a fantasy standpoint also. I have Chris Bosh in my league and with JO leaving town he should control the paint in Toronto even more now. I also have Haslem and while O'Neal will certainly take some boards from him I am hopeful that he will also take some of the pressure off Haslem. Now teams have to put their centers on JO allowing Haslem to be the cutter and free ranging rebounder he used to be when the more well known O'Neal was in town.

MLB
It's a little early for baseball news as most teams are just now starting spring training sessions and haven't even begun playing spring games yet. However, due to the era we live in now it is apparently never the wrong season for steroid news, which is most unfortunate. Clearly the big news on the steroid front right now is Alex Rodriguez admission. 2001 to 2003 is a pretty long time frame to only have one tainted sample, which goes a long way for putting the flaws of the whole MLB drug testing program at the time. Three years of steroid use for a player of that magnitude is a fairly large scar for the league, especially when he was an MVP winner or candidate every year in that span. It is a sad fact to learn that he was on steroids as he is a great player regardless and was one of the best players in the league when he left Seattle for Texas in the first place. I don't care much for the Yankees but I do like A-Rod (stems from my time as a Mariner fan early in my baseball life). It is my hope that Alex becomes a poster boy for the post steroids era. What I mean by that is this: He admitted to using them, so we all know he did, but what he does now is crucial. He needs to cooperate with the league offices as much as possible and if he leads the league in one statistic this season it should be drug tests taken. If he takes a large number of drug tests this season and has a good season it would serve as an example to the rest of the league that there can be life after steroids.

Aside from Alex himself, I think that baseball's drug testing should be mandatory and more frequent than once or twice a season. Considering the history this league is unfolding with steroids I don't think it is unreasonable to want monthly testing, is it? Of course not, didn't think so. Also, I need to ask who the brainchild was that decided to make samples collected for drug testing anonymous? Who is the sales genius that proposed this terrible festering pile of an idea and got the higher ups to think it was a good idea? Amazing. We took drug tests when I was playing basketball in high school and when we were done filling the cup there was an underpaid school nurse waiting outside the stall to write your name on that cup with a giant black marker. What's wrong with that system that the MLB doesn't believe in?

NFL
Not a ton of news here yet as it is very early in the offseason. I will get more excited in a week when the NFL combine statistics start pouring in. It is ridiculously fun to sit and dive into tons of 40 times and try and decide which player is helping and hurting themselves by being examined like some sort of equine. Odds the lions get the first pick wrong again this year? I'm going with something in the area of 2 to 1 as I am guessing they take Stafford. I really don't think that there is a QB worth taking at the top spot even if your starting QB at this point is Dan "I'm not sure where the endzone ends and I begin" Orlovsky. The right move is trading down, but who wants to jump up and how badly? Who knows.

Until next time sports fans, take care of yourself and don't inject foreign hormones into your blood streams unless you want to make the baseball hall of fame! Errr...wait...