If you were the Nuggets GM, what would you have done?

So the NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and the long nightmare in Denver is finally over.

Goodbye Carmelo.  I’m not sure how badly you’ll be missed.  What I do know is that He Who Talked His Way Out of Denver won’t be missed as much as point guard Chauncey Billups will.  Even though Chauncey’s return to Denver was significantly shorter than Carmelo’s entire stay, Billups had a significantly greater effect on Denver as a whole.  He had played his college ball at the University of Colorado, and his presence as a team leader won’t be readily replaced.

Let’s face it, Denver had no choice but to move Anthony.  Carmelo wanted out of Denver and the fact that the Nuggets received anything in return for Melo is significant.  Only because Miami and Cleveland worked out a sign-and-trade maximum deal for LeBron James last summer, the Cavaliers received several draft picks, but there was the distinct possibility that Cleveland would receive nothing when James left.

Had Denver held on to Melo for the remainder of the 2010-11 season, they likely would have received next to nothing for Carmelo under the new collective bargaining agreement.  Who knows if any of the players (current players and future draft picks involved in the deal) will pan out for the Nuggets, but at least they got a few cents on the dollar.

Thankfully I’m now done talking about the NBA.

Was that a great weekend in sports?

The best answer I can give is definitely maybe.

NBA All Star weekend use to be must see TV at my house, but as documented before, that version of the sport has almost completely fallen off the radar.  The All Star weekend ended with a defensive slugfest that sounded like the score of a Nuggets-Suns game, 148-143, but one image will forever be imprinted in my mind.  Say what you will about the Dunk Contest being slanted in Blake Griffin’s favor…come on, even if you watched it, can you name any of the other participants?...but the man jumped over a car.  I don’t care that he cleared the hood instead of the roof...the man jumped over a car.  I believe the props are way overdone...but the man jumped over a car.

College basketball continued its march towards the madness of March with the top four teams in the land losing within the last week, and thus Duke jumping from fifth to first by virtue of their ability to stay clear of the loss column.  Are there any crazy dominant teams heading into the tournament?  No, but this should make for an even more entertaining Big Dance.  We’re only three weeks away from the madness!

All MLB Players have now reported for Spring Training, and we’ve got only nine months until Albert Pujols signs with the Cubs.  (Sorry Christian.)  Besides the Pujols storyline, it will be interesting to see how four exceptional pitchers fair together in the City of Brotherly Love.  Unfortunately Pujols will dominate the storylines of the year, but it’s hard to argue that the best player in baseball hasn’t earned that right…just wish it was only for his play on the field.  At least we’re not talking about PEDs.

The Daytona 500 had a 20-year old win in only his second Sprint Cup (top level of stock car racing) race.  What does this prove?  One, anyone who makes the 43 car field at a restrictor plate track has a shot at winning the race, and two, unfortunately Tony Stewart didn’t win the Daytona 500 again.  He restarted the final two laps on the outside of the front row in prime position to overtake Trevor Bayne, but it wasn’t to be.  Stewart fell like a rock through the field, finishing a disappointing 13th.  He’s won 16 times at Daytona in various races, but the biggest prize eluded him again.

The best event of the weekend lasted a mere 50 seconds on Sunday.  Of course I’m talking about the tribute to Dale Earnhardt at Daytona.  It was ten years ago that Dale Sr. died on the track at Daytona during the final lap while blocking for his two drivers, race winner Michael Waltrip and runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr.  NASCAR asked for silence yesterday for the entirety of the third lap in recognition of the Intimidator’s iconic number three car.  In addition to the silence (as much silence as there can be with 800 HP cars driving 200 mph), the vast majority of the crowd held up three fingers.  Dale Sr. somehow mastered the art of being both a hero and villain at the same time, and the roar from the crowd when the third lap came to end for once drowned out the cars.

How much is Albert worth?

Well, the deadline has come and gone.  Of course I'm not talking about the NFL deadline of March 3rd to get a new deal done...yet.  I firmly believe a deal between the NFL and Players' Association won't happen until at least August.

Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals failed to reach an agreement by noon February 16, 2011 on a contract that would start following the upcoming baseball season.  Pujols and his agent, Dan Lozano, had set this deadline and vowed that negotiations would cease at that point until after the 2011 season.  (Also, they stated that all trades would be rejected.)

So what are the Cardinals up against?  Twice in his career, Alex Rodriguez has set the standard against which all contracts would be judged.  In 2001 he left Seattle as a free agent for a 10 year, $252,000,000 (crazy how many zeroes there were) with the lowly Texas Rangers (who many believe were bidding against themselves), while after the 2007 season, Rodriguez opted out of the final years of that contract, only to sign a new deal with the New York Yankees for 10 more years and $275M, plus incentives which could make the deal worth as much as $305M.  Again, Rodriguez got a team to bid against themselves.  When he is 41 and 42 years old, Rodriguez will still be making over $20M a year...regardless if he's injured and not playing baseball anymore.

The latest A-Rod contract has been the biggest cause for consternation by the Cardinals' brass (and others around the league).  Nobody who follows baseball will argue the fact that Albert Pujols is the best baseball player in the game.  Not only has he won a World Series title and three MVP awards, he has statistically shown that he is the most dominant player of the last decade.  It's hard to believe, but he's actually significantly outplayed the seven year, $100M that will wrap up after this season.  For those that think that, like me, Albert is just a pretty face, he has hit at least .300, with 30 home runs and 100 RBI in each of his 10 seasons.  Nobody in baseball history has ever compiled numbers like that.

But now come the dilemmas.

How long can Pujols sustain numbers like this?  It really isn't a matter of if his body would break down; it's a matter of when.  Only Barry Bonds was a prolific hitter in years well past what should have been his prime, but the * that has been affixed to his name by many sports writers and fans has seemingly answered that.  Maybe Pujols knows the location of the Fountain of Youth, but the odds are not in his favor to be still performing at the same level even six years from now.

Would the Cardinals have to pay more because they're bidding against themselves right now?  (A-Rod just smiled.)  Allegedly, Pujols and Lozano are seeking the highest paying contract in baseball (if not sport's) history.  Numbers being speculated are 10 years, $300M.  While a salary of $30M/year is reasonable (can't believe I just wrote that), the 10 years is not palatable to even the richest owners.  It was reported today that the Cardinals went as high as an eight year deal, but it too was rebuffed.

So who will sign Albert?  Major League Baseball is flush with cash and many owners would love to add the best player in baseball to their payroll.  Unfortunately for Pujols, the two notoriously biggest spenders in baseball have locked up their first base positions for the foreseeable future (Yankees-Teixeira and Red Sox-Gonzales).  Both teams also have players occupying their Designated Hitter positions, with the Yankees planning on A-Rod taking over that spot when his play declines enough to warrant it.  The Phillies also have their first baseman (Ryan Howard) locked up at ~$25M year.

So without those three teams that would drive costs absurdly high, who's next?  If Pujols honored the Cardinals traditions, he wouldn't sign with the Chicago Cubs, but it appears obvious that money is driving Albert's thought process.  The Cubs have several expiring contracts, so Albert's costs wouldn't significantly affect the Cubs' bottom line, but I believe the biggest issue here would be the Cubs swooping in and stealing their division rivals' best player.  I also think the Angels would be an enticing option because over the past few years they've been runner up for several big name free agents.  What better way to get back in the free agent signing game than to ink the best player in baseball to a deal?

Although I'm trying not to be biased, why shouldn't the Rockies make a run at Pujols?  Yes, adding $30M to the next 8-10 payrolls is not the Rockies way of doing business, but having Tulo, Cargo AND Pujols benefiting from hitting in the Mile High city would firmly put the Rockies as (at worst) 1A to the Broncos' #1 status in Denver.  Todd Helton is at the end of his career and Pujols would be an incredible addition.

When it's all said and done, I think St. Louis will implode when Pujols leads the Cubs to their first World Series title in over 100 years.  Better schedule that Arch visit soon.

So what do we do now?

The Packers won the Super Bowl and Aaron Rogers played brilliantly.  Even with at least four bad drops by his receivers, Rogers finished SBXLV with a passer ratting of 111.5.  Normally we'd have the fantastic Pro Bowl to look forward to but now all we have to look forward to is the Scouting Combine, NFL Draft and pending NFL Lockout 2011...coming to a city near you soon!  Brilliant idea to choke the Golden Goose.

So without football to watch, what should sports fans tune into?

Why not the NBA?  A better question I have is should I?!  For the last 5+ years I have found the NBA game completely unwatchable.  It has become a league of a few superstar teams and a bunch of nobodies. Quick, name a player in the Eastern Conference not on the Celtics, Bulls, Heat, Magic or Knicks.  That's what I thought.  Can you even name another team in the East?

How about College Basketball?  It's on TV all the time, so you actually have to try in order to not see it.  While I believe College is superior to the Pros because it is a team game, its season seems to drag on for too long.  That said, even though I won't have watched a single game during the regular season, March Madness is must-see-TV at our house.  College Basketball owns the entire month of March...but we've still got a month to go to get there.

NASCAR's about to start, how about a little racin'?  Full disclosure, I'm a Tony Stewart fan and have been so for 12 years now, but even I think racing doesn't translate well to TV.  Unfortunately it is a sport that needs to be seen in person to appreciate fully.  Sitting at Daytona and watching the entire field of 43 cars complete 2.5 mile laps in less than 50 seconds is unbelievable.  In person it's unreal to see, on TV it looks like fast bumper to bumper traffic.

Should I even mention Soccer?  I enjoy the beautiful game but America doesn't really enjoy finesse sports.  The MLS is a much more physical version of soccer than what Europe plays, but it's still roundly ignored...unless it's the World Cup we're talking about.

Hockey's more physical, how about that sport?  The lockout set that sport back numerous years and I think some Americans hold a grudge against hockey because it was invented in Canada...I just made that up, but it sounded plausible didn't it?

I guess we'll all just have to look forward to pitchers and catchers reporting next week and the debates of whether Albert Pujols will sign an extension before Spring Training and how old Albert really is.

Who ya got?

Congrats to SI's Peter King who in September picked the Steelers to defeat the Packers in Super Bowl XLV.  Pittsburgh's season started off with a lot of question marks...especially at the QB position with Roethlisberger being suspended for 4-6 games.  The Steelers were the number two seed in the AFC, but they aren't the hottest team right now.  For the last five games, Green Bay has been in a win or go home status...they've obviously kept winning.

Much has been made about the two similar defenses that the offenses will have to solve on Sunday.  This week Mark Schlereth on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike, said that during the Broncos Super Bowl win over the Falcons, their offense dictated the personnel that Atlanta would have on the field.  The Broncos knew that the Falcons liked to blitz out of their nickel package, and in order to combat this, the Broncos stayed in their base offense for the game (no three or four WR sets, which would allow Atlanta to employ their nickel schemes).  Moving forward 12 years, in order to neutralize the Steelers' blitzing schemes, I believe it would be wise for the Packers to employ a similar strategy.  Hopefully over the last two weeks, the Packers staff has been studying enough film to know what offensive formations will ensure they have the advantage...and then come Sunday will stick with those plans.

Big Ben is aiming for his third title and to join an elite club (only Montana, Bradshaw and Brady have at least three Super Bowl rings), but Aaron Rogers is trying to cement his legacy in Green Bay.  Rogers quick hits to his WRs will be the difference.

Packers 28

Steelers 24

Is Big Ben role model material?

With the Steelers set to play the Packers this Sunday in Super Bowl XLV, Ben Roethlisberger's shortcomings off the field are once again in the nation's spotlight.  Teammates and those close to Ben have said that he has "changed" and "matured" since the alleged sexual assault that took place 11 months ago, but is he worthy of our admiration? 

 Andrew Sharp's article "Ben Roethlisberger, Sexual Assault, And The Mixed Messages Of Super Bowl XLV" on SB Nation (http://www.sbnation.com/2011-super-bowl/2011/2/4/1974253/ben-roethlisberger-sexual-assault-superbowl-xlv) lays out a compelling case that because the alleged assault was never fully investigated (and what was investigated was handled poorly), we'll never know exactly how Roethlisberger should be viewed.  Michael Vick was charged, plead guilty and served time in prison.  He has paid his debt to society and is now free to pursue a living as he knows how.  That is the major difference between the two starting QBs from Pennsylvania.

Big Ben is admired for his athletic performance on the field, but his desire to be looked at as a role model needs to be tempered.  He is 28 years old, and to date his track record off the field is spotty at best (SI, The Hangover:  Roethlisberger, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1169185/1/index.htm).  It is well within the realm of possibility that Roethlisberger will be a starting NFL QB for the next 5-7 (or more) years, but if he wants to aspire to role model status, he'll have to stay out of trouble for at least that long.  Is it possible that he can settle down and create a new image for himself, yes, but although people say they can forgive someone for their transgressions, they never truly forget.  Also, the internet is just too big to allow people to just forget.  (I know that it's cold in Pittsburgh, but Big Ben's beard is a classic psychological example of a person putting up a barrier between him and everyone else.  He's still not fully comfortable.)

Neither Big Ben, nor many athletes are good role models.  I wish this wasn't the case, but this is the prevailing perception in society.  Many players on field exploits and off field training and preparation should be admired, but until we stop seeing players acting like they are above the law, they shouldn't be considered pure role models.