SPORTS: Pittsburgh Penguins Doomed;Tony Romo, Michelle Wie and Steve Nash Aren't

NHL - Penguins Plight... Leads to Flight?
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board unanimously awarded Pittsburgh's lone slot machine gambling license to a group that promised to build a casino, rather than the Penguins ownership group. This group, led by Mario Lemieux, promised to build a new $290 million arena if it won the license. Now, it appears increasingly likely the Penguins will move, rather than continue to play at the 45-year-old Mellon Arena.

NFL - Romo Rules Roost, Bangs Celebrity
San Diego will send nine players to the Pro Bowl, Chicago seven. Despite both teams individual dominance, the biggest selection was Dallas QB Tony Romo--the first Cowboy QB to be selected since Troy Aikman in 1996. With rumors of involvement with Jessica Simpson false, Romo admitted he is dating former American Idol hotty Carrie Underwood.
Talk about a huge year for Romo.

LPGA - Wie Brings Winless Streak to Stanford
Michelle Wie announced she will continue her education at Stanford University, following in her family footsteps. Her grandfather, aunt and uncle attended Stanford. She is leaning towards majoring in business, economics or marketing. Considering she made almost $20 million last year in golf and endorsement related endeavors, I'd recommend finance. The smart business move would be to wait for college, as she lost her amateur status.

NBA - Nash (& Co.) Dominates Despite Pre-Season Haircut
Phoenix won their 15th straight game Tuesday, a franchise record. "What does it really mean?" Two-time league MVP Steve Nash asked. "Not Much, but I think it's fun and I think it's an accomplishment, nonetheless. We should probably be proud of ourselves. But at the same time, we realize it doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot, either." Nash is among the great team leaders in professional sports, which shows in comments like this.

NBA: Stern's Relenting Autonomy

by Steve Cernak

NBA Commissioner David Stern announced Monday the league will revert to the old leather basketball January, the first time in pro sports a mid season equipment change occurred.

"Our players' response to this particular composite ball has been consistently negative and we are acting accordingly," Stern issued in a statement. "Although testing performed by Spalding and the NBA demonstrated that the new composite basketball was more consistent than leather, and statistically there has been an improvement in shooting, scoring, and ball-related turnovers, the most important statistic is the view of our players.”

The commissioner acknowledged a mistake and acted accordingly. When Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd—three of the league’s most marketable players—sustained cuts from the league ball, most players hoped the ball would change in the off-season.

Yes, Stern committed an egregious error by not seeking player input prior to the ball swap, but he should be applauded for protecting the integrity of the game sooner rather than later.

Contrast Stern's proactivity with the other commissioners reactivity. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig issued an in-season steroids policy only when prompted by Congress. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has yet to even comment on this year’s ridiculous rules interpretation of roughing the passer, perpetuating preposterous penalties and defensive tepidity. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman required league failure before addressing two-line passes, goalie equipment size, adding a shootout and what drove the league from network television: the trap.

Here’s to the typically autonomous David Stern bringing in 2007 by admitting and undoing his error, rather than inviting a season defining controversy by maintaining status quo until the off season.

SPORTS: Weekend Recap, Michigan Robbed

NCAA Football
The BCS selection of Ohio State vs. Florida defined the weekend’s sports landscape. The wrong one-loss team was selected. Both Florida are Michigan great teams, but everyone I know wanted to see Michigan avenge their 42-39 loss to Ohio State.

The shame in this situation is everyone—AGAIN—is talking about a broken system rather than (1) USC blowing its BCS hopes vs. UCLA (complete with free furniture), (2) Arkansas hanging tough against Florida or (3) Rutgers losing out on the Big East title--and the Orange bowl--by losing in 3OT to West Virginia.

When the championship game is set right, the outcome is last year’s Texas vs. USC game, which was an all-time great game.

NFL
Rex Grossman killed my fantasy match up against Kenny Bloggins and seems destined to do the same to the Bears in the playoffs. Assuming the Bears win after their first-round bye, I’m predicting Grossman tosses three interceptions in the NFC Championship game.

More novice QB eras were unfolding this weekend too. Vince Young looks like a winner, despite what ESPN analysts said. Jay Cutler debuted Sunday night, while Mike Shannahan waited for the toughest possible game to introduce his young QB to the league. I like David Garrard and Jack Del Rio made the right albeit difficult decision by benching their “franchise player” Byron Leftwich (if he avoided taking monster hits, he’s a franchise player. Unfortunately, that won’t happen). Jason Campbell threw interceptions and his footwork is poor, but he has a strong arm.

Tony Romo started this novice QB trend, and had an effective game against the diminutive Giants. There’s a reason Romo went undrafted; he’s, at best, average in the pocket. Having said that, there’s a reason Bill Parcells is a genius; I’ve never seen a more accurate passer on the run than Romo, a rare talent indeed. He did this all day against the Giants, and Romo knocked the Giants down from Super Bowl contender to playoff pretender.

NCAA Basketball

FSU’s AL Thornton continues to be a stud against college basketball’s elite. His 28 points and 9 rebounds led the Seminoles to a stunning upset over the fourth ranked Florida Gators.

NHL
Viktor Kozlov’s four goal outburst put the Islanders atop the Atlantic Division after beating the Rangers 7-4.

NBA
Kevin Garnett said he’s angered by the trade rumors and he’s happy in Minnesota. Well, Kevin, I’m calling your bluff you liar.

The storyline for this NBA season is: if KG or Allen Iverson get traded, which uniforms will they don?

FANTASY: Blue Chips vs. Day Trades

Potential Fantasy NBA Blue Chips

While SF/PF Andrea Bargnani, SF/PF/C LaMarcus Aldridge and SF/PF Shelden Williams have yet to justify their NBA draft selections, all three appear poised to do so. As is the case with all rookies, you need to exercise a little patience, both from a consistency and playing time perspective, but these are all guys who can help you in the short to medium term.

Bargnani is scoring points (averaging 12.3 ppg in his last six) and showing some nice potential in the hustle categories, but is rebounding like his effeminate first name suggests he would. Aldridge was just starting to play a more prominent role in Portland, but took an elbow to the chops on November 26 and has played just 12 minutes in the last two games. Williams is beginning to put it together, but remains a little weak in the points and rebounds departments.


Historically Awesome Fantasy NHL Blue Chips

After the NHL lockout, many young stars emerged. The trend in fantasy hockey is to take youth, which means there is tremendous veteran value on the waiver wire.

Pittsburgh's LW Evgeni Malkin and C Sidney Crosby have been the talk of the hockey world, but why not pick up RW Mark Recchi? With 490 career goals, he's the perfect veteran to play on their line. ... C Brad Richards and LW Gary Roberts similarly had great months and may be worth a look.


Day Trading to Fantasy NFL Glory

In my fantasy football league, there is literally nothing available on the waiver wire. You're likely screwed if you need waiver help now. But everyone thinks they can strike it rich in a week. A good place to look for quality depth this point in the season is WR.

Marty Booker was once was nasty and since Joey Harrington took over, Booker is 17 yards behind Wes Welker for the team lead in receiving yards. ... In my league, Kenny Bloggins just picked up Santonio Holmes, a strong short-term buy. Hines Ward could miss two weeks and Holmes is a pedigree wide out with a bright future, one Kenny hopes begins Sunday. ... Tom Brady consistently spread the ball this season. Maybe, just maybe, Reche Caldwell will replicate his 9 reception, 90 yards and 1 TD Week 10 performance? Against a soft Detroit defense this week, I'd say the chances are better than average.

NHL: Why I love Hockey

By Steve "Supreme Commander" Cernak

As one of seven Americans that still proudly claims to love hockey, it's tough to get NHL content up. I want to talk about, say, the Rangers beating the rival Devils. The Devils dominated the first two periods and were up 2-0, which led to an emotional speech given by Head Coach Tom Renney at intermission.

Then, the third period started and the Rangers exploded for three goals in a 90 second span--2 G by double shifting Jaromir Jagr followed by Brendan Shannahan's game winner. Martin Brodeur melted down against the Rangers, a team he sports 33 career wins against.

That flurry allowed the Rangers to tie the Devils atop the division. The win was because of toughness, determination and all the other emotions we embrace in the sporting world.

That was introduction as to why hockey is a great game. If you don't agree, here are three reasons you should get into hockey:

1. There isn’t a better live game. Hockey is a game of speed and passion, which is difficult to capture on television. Unless you’ve played or seen a game live, it is impossible to tell how the play is developing on a screen but it all makes sense live because you can see everything.
2. There aren’t better fans. Hockey fans are just as passionate about the sport as the players. I get into more hockey-related arguments than any other sport. Considering hockey is no where near as popular as it used to be or as the other sports, that says something about how much the fans care.
3. There isn’t a better postseason. Of all the professional sports, the Stanley Cup Playoffs is by far the most compelling. The team that ultimately hoists the Stanley Cup over their heads is the one that has the most grit, passion and determination.

That’s really what I love about hockey. The Cup winning team is usually decided by emotion, intensity, discipline, hard work and leadership. Every fundamental emotion, feeling or philosophy the sports world values are present in determining the league champion.

Not to mention I love Canadian beer.

FANTASY NHL: I Love Hockey and Don't Care That You Hate It

Before I get into the hockey post, I will be attending the Michigan at PSU game with Kenny Bloggins. We will update with our experiences there ASAP. Back to the post:

I'm the only American (that isn't foreign) that cares about Hockey, so I'm just going to throw out two names that will help you win your league:

Anze Kopitar: The kid can play and he's getting major minutes. He was the 11th pick in the 2005 draft and only fell that far because he's from Yugoslavia. Not exactly a strong hockey country... or strong in anything for that matter. Anyway, he's getting 20+ minutes a night.

Alexander Semin: Without a doubt, he was the NHL 2k6 MVP. First, he's got a nasty shot. Second, many drunken Swingers-esque hockey games were played and it led to many intoxicated semen-in-your-face jokes. He's a second line LW, behind possibly the best sniper in the league, Alexander Ovechkin. Teams gameplan around Ovechkin, so Semin will have benefit of dealing with the opponent's third defensive pairing.