Here comes the future
Tonight at 7 pm on ESPN the NBA will hold its annual draft. Almost every expert is saying this is one of the worst potential drafts in years; that there is no consensus number one pick or really that many potential stars to be found. Whatever. There's talent to be found and there's a lot of trade rumors out there so, at the very least, it should be a little exciting. Plus its always nice to see what the kids are wearing these days.
About those trade rumors. SI.com's has Kelly Dwyer and Marty Burns posting pieces dissecting the latest rumors. None of this is probably worth anything but its fun to consider the possibilities. The best source for all news/rumors is Hoops Hype. I hope there are some trades frankly as that spices things up. Names I've heard often include Carlos Boozer, Allen Iverson, Shawn Marion, Wally Szczerbiak, Kenyon Martin and Marquis Daniels. Who knows if any of these guys will be moved but their names are floating out there.
As for the new players coming into the league, I have no real idea who is going to go where. For people who know what they are talking about visit NBAdraft.net. Here's some observations though. Chicago is in a hell of a position (thanks to Isiah Thomas not having a clue). Not only do they make the playoffs this past year riding their young talent; they also get to add a player with the second overall pick (or trade the pick for someone). Thats pretty nice for Bulls fans. Houston has the 8th pick overall and with a healthy Yao and McGrady they might finally live up to their potential. Some teams that were close to being in the playoffs (or actually made it) are picking pretty high up there and have a chance to add some solid talent.
I actually think there's more talent in this draft the most. Brandon Roy is a stud; I saw him play UCONN in the NCAA's and he really has a very good overall game. Hassan Adams, from Arizona, is only projected to go in the second round but he's one of the most athletic guys you'll ever see. It'll be interesting to see where J.J. Redick ends up, especially with this news that he's got a hurt back , plus his DUI arrest a couple of weeks ago. We'll have a full wrap up of the draft on Thursday so be sure to check back in then.
World Cup Fix
And then there were 8. The World Cup takes the next two days off before resuming again on Friday and frankly I'm glad for the break. I've been watching all these games and not getting much else done because the games have been so great. That second goal by Argentina, against Mexico? One of the sickest goals ever. Beckham's goal in the England game was nice but seeing Posh Spice celebrate was a lovely treat. Beckham's a lucky man. Zidine scoring in a French victory was nice to see because he's our favorite player to score with in FIFA.
The sickest thing we've seen all World Cup though was Ronaldo's goal against Ghana. It was Ronaldo's 15th World Cup goal, setting the record for most World Cup goals. We've never seen someone juked as badly as Ghana's goalie was by Ronaldo, in any sport. This is what they mean when people say a guy got his ankles broken. In fact the goal was so sick the Sports Note is going multimedia. Thats right, for the first time we present you with an embedded YouTube video of the goal. Make sure to play it to the end (its only a minute long) for the best view of Ronaldo schooling the goalie.
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Very sad news
The best baseball writer around, Peter Gammons, suffered a brain aneurysm yesterday and is in ICU after surgery. According to various media reports he is expected to remain in intensive care for the next 10 or so days. I've always been a huge fan of Gammons and I loved reading his columns before ESPN stuck it behind their Insider's wall. He always has the best inside information and around the trading deadline he's the best in the business. Here's hoping for a complete and speedy recovery.
American League All-Stars
OK yesterday we told you who leads the fan voting for the NL , now we'll give you the AL leading vote getters:
C Jason Varitek, Red Sox
1b David Ortiz, Red Sox
2b Robinson Cano, Yankees
SS Derek Jeter, Yankees
3b Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
OF Manny Ramirez, Red Sox
OF Vlad Guerrero, Angels
OF Ichiro, Mariners
Some thoughts: The voters did a much better job with the NL then they did with the AL. First off, Joe Mauer, the Twins catcher, is batting .369 and needs to be starting. I'd also put the Blue Jays' Vernon Wells or maybe even Alex Rios ahead of Guerrero. Troy Glaus should be in there instead of A-Rod. Also the Mariners Jose Lopez has 53 RBIs as a second baseman and deserves some consideration. Oh, I'm biased but Tejada should be starting over Jeter. Enough about what I think though, how about seeing what a real expert thinks? Here is SI's Tom Verducci and his picks for the AL and NL .
Odds and Ends
The injury woes continue for the Yankees; now they've put 2B Robinson Cano on the DL because of a strained hamstring. The Yankees have to make a deal at some point right? They've lost so many people, the Blue Jays and the Red Sox are both threatening their AL East dominance and you know King George won't stand for anything less then first. Brian Cashman is going to make a deal of some sort, count on it.
The Baltimore Ravens locked up all-world safety Ed Reed for another six years. Smart move on their part. Could the Ravens be better then the Steelers this year?
Mark Cuban and Dan Marino are joining forces, with some other rich people, to try and buy the Pittsburgh Penguins . I had heard rumors of Cuban wanting to buy the Pirates and even the Cubs but this one is a first for me. If I'm a Penguins fan though I'd be thrilled to have Cuban on board. Say what you will about the guy, and lots of people do, but he cares about having a winning franchise.
The Devil Rays and Dodgers completed a small little trade yesterday. The Dodgers got starting pitcher Mark Hendrickson and catcher Toby Hall and gave up starter Jae Seo and catcher Dioner Navarro. MLBTradeRumors.com rates this as a pretty clear win for the
Devil Rays. Tampa's being pretty proactive in making trades; first Joey Gathright, now this.