2012

Wake me up in a couple of years. That's when the Knicks will have a chance at winning a championship. Not this year, not next year. This trade needed to happen, but it needed to happen not for a chance to win this year, but to attract the free agent class of 2012.

Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

Both will become Knicks as the team is beginning their slow rebuild and becoming the Boston Celtics version 2.0. In 2012, after signing Howard and Paul, the Knicks will have fully assembled a team of ring less stars yearning for that championship to validate their careers. Howard and Paul won't be winning a title this year or next year. There is no doubt in my mind that these two will vacate their current homes and will likely move into the Garden.

OK, maybe there is some doubt, but there's a lot of hope, and that hasn't been a word in the Knicks' vocabulary recently.

Chris Paul has already expressed desire to be traded and with the uncertainty of the Hornets' franchise, he will likely leave if given the chance. Dwight Howard is the second coming of Shaq. Both started their careers with the Magic and became the best centers of their generations. Shaq left the Magic for La La Land and Dwight will leave the team for New York, New York.

The Knicks had to make this trade. Sure it weakened their depth by losing Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, and Timofey Mozgov, but they're gaining a superstar now and maybe more in the future. They couldn't back down from this trade just because they didn't want to give up the players they already have. The players they have are good, but Carmelo is great. There's no guarantee their players may not become great, but with this much potential for greatness, you have to make it happen.

Because of their lack of depth, the Knicks simply do not have a chance at winning the championship. The Celtics are too deep. The West is too deep. Heck, even the Heat is too deep. Without Carmelo, they wouldn't be winning this year or anytime in the future. You need stars to win. Lakers have stars, Celtics have stars, Spurs, Heat, Mavericks, Bulls. The Knicks wouldn't win with just Amare, and they won't win with just Amare and Carmelo.

So I'm looking to 2012. By then, either the Knicks will have Amare, Melo, Howard, and Chris Paul. Or the Knicks will have Amare, Melo and depth. Amare has brought some magic back to the Garden, Melo brings super high ticket prices. Howard and Paul will see that along with the allure of rings and bring their talents to NY. Until 2012, Knicks' fans just have to be patient and be satisfied with a very competitive and exciting team. Just not a champion.

Winning is Everything, Part Deux

LeBron James is on pace to win another MVP this year. That elusive ring is dangling in his face but he needs to navigate through the postseason first, which he has yet to prove. The MVP, though, seems prime to return to him. Sure, there are contenders for the crown who will take away votes, but LeBron is a sure thing, as much as it pains me to say.

There's Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose. All would be worthy for the MVP award if LeBron weren't playing. Amare is the best Knickerbocker since Patrick Ewing. He is consistently scoring 20+ and has singlehandedly brought the Knicks back to relevance. They are sliding as of late and just barely playing over .500, but I thought they'd barely be able to sneak into the playoffs. If they can 'right the ship', the Garden will be an exciting place to be come playoff time.

That's not enough though. The Knicks would have to work their way past the Hawks, past the Magic and obtain home court advantage to give Amare a shot. That's not going to happen. Amare may get a couple East Coast voters, but that's it.

Kevin Durant is one of the three best players in the NBA, grouped in with Kobe and LeBron. The Thunder will probably win the division they're in. Sure, he is the most valuable player on his team but without Westbrook, this team is not winning their division, especially being that they play in the West. Durant and Westbrook are probably the best combo since Stockton and Malone. How many MVPs did Malone win?

Derrick Rose is probably the toughest competitor, both for the MVP and a Finals appearance this season. The Bulls are nothing without him and he carried the team through early injuries to Carlos Boozer (great name) and Joakim Noah. If Noah can somehow guide his squad to the number one seed in the East, the MVP is definitely his. I don't see the Bulls overcoming the Heat and Celtics in the regular season though, so he loses votes for the Bulls finishing below the Heat.

The easy answer is LeBron. The Heat didn't make the playoffs last year, and now they're battling the Celtics and Bulls for the top seed in the East. The Cavaliers were a number one seed last year and they're now the worst team in the NBA. LeBron was thought to be giving up on personal achievements by taking his talents to Miami. He has seen his numbers drop slightly, but not enough to lose votes. Assuming the Heat finish number one in the East, the MVP is his. The Heat will then need to do what they have been unable to do all season though. Beat Boston.

Winning the MVP won't hurt LeBron's image, obviously. Winning the championship is his main goal though and until that happens, he is the number one villain in the NBA. Because winning is everything.

Winning is Everything: Part One

Every athlete can attest to the value of a championship. Athletes are judged solely on statistics and the primary stat is number of rings, (majors, gold medals, etc). Championships validate an athlete's career or tarnish one when their trophy case remains empty. Not only do the 'ships validate a career, but they also fix prior mistakes. Ben Roethlisberger had a "mistake" needing fixing, but was foiled by a man looking to validate himself from a legend's shadow.

Dan Marino was statistically the best quarterback ever before Number Four came along. However, he was unable to win a Super Bowl, which was no fault to him. Football is a team sport, so putting up those crazy numbers and not winning the big one can't really be blamed on the QB. That's how QB's are judged though, by the amount of rings.

Brett Favre has one. Aaron Rodgers has one and a whole career ahead of him. Aaron officially stepped out from Favre's shadow, though many would say he already owned Green Bay's heart before the ring. That it came in a season that saw Favre, the traitor's, demise can only make it that much sweeter for fans. Rodgers likely owes Favre a debt of gratitude for what he learned as his backup. Just as Steve Young waited patiently for Joe Montana to retire/flee to Kansas City, Rodgers was patient. And that patience paid off with a trip to Disney World.

Roethlisberger's career was immediately validated with two Super Bowl wins before he turned 27. Then, he made questionable decisions resulting in two rape accusations and a four game suspension. Apparently, his teammates did not come to his defense when Roger Goodell questioned them and Steelers fans were OK with getting rid of him before the season. Big Ben's career looked as if it could be done before he could prove himself worthy of a yellow jacket.

Then he came back from suspension and led the Steelers to a division title and a first round bye. He took the Steelers to their 3rd Super Bowl since 2005. The first Super Bowl Ben starred in was won in spite of him, the second was won because of him and this one was lost because of him. He did not play well in this matchup, throwing a couple interceptions and failing to produce a game winning drive as he did against the Cardinals.

This was his chance to truly validate his career. He will likely be a Hall of Famer assuming he plays out his career with the numbers he's been averaging and makes the playoffs consistently. He's already the owner of two rings and that is huge in the voters' eyes. He still needs to do a lot of work to change the perception of many, that he may be a rapist.

Big Ben will have learned that athletes are now judged as guilty until proven innocent. And even if 'proven' innocent, the public perception doesn't change. Kobe is still viewed by many as a rapist, though that number is dwindling with him continuing to win rings. Vick is still a dog fighter, Big Ben is still a Big Rapist. Any time an athlete is connected to drugs, they're a performance enhancer regardless if that is never proven.

Though Michael Vick did not win a championship this season, he has won over some people to his side both with his play on the field and work off. He has truly been an upstanding citizen and his whole situation can actually be turned into good as the spotlight on dog fighting is brighter than ever due to his conviction. Big Ben on the other hand seemed to do only what was required by Goodell and deflects any question about what occurred. Both had winning seasons, but there are too many questions left unanswered with Big Ben's situation. What exactly happened on those nights? Where are those girls now and why haven't they released memoirs or talked to TMZ?

For most people, a player's indiscretions are absolved as the player continues on with their life and works to a championship. It happens all of the time and it has with Big Ben. As much as I don't agree with it, the city of Pittsburgh and mostly every fan of the Steel Curtain, has allowed Big Ben to atone for his mistakes. Providing he continues his career as a "upstanding Christian" as he claims to be currently, Ben will be remembered more for his playing ability than his off the field because "Winning is Everything".

His Dog Days are Over

Word on the streets is that Andy Pettitte will be announcing his retirement tomorrow. The first of the 'Core Four' to hang up his cleats, Pettitte has provided countless moments for the Yankees, (and some for the Astros). He leaves the Yankees with a gaping hole in their rotation but leaves with his head held high and will be remembered as one of the best Yankees ever.

Andy Pettitte has finished his career with a 240-138 record and an amazing 19-10 record in the postseason. Mariano Rivera will be remembered for his dominance in critical situations, but the Yanks relied as heavily on Pettitte in those moments as they did with Mo. You can see that reliance even as his career was winding down. In their 2009 Championship season, Pettitte won the clinching game in all three playoff series.

Sure, Pettitte has his flaws. I remember going to a game in the scorching heat, sitting upper deck, under the sun. Pettitte got clobbered and that was my only memory of leaving a game early. I left in the 3rd inning. His biggest flaw though is the usage of HGH. He did an excellent job at deflecting the attention once his name was found to be in the Mitchell Report. He told the 'truth' and the media turned their eyes on those denying the charges. His 'truth' was that he only used HGH to bounce back from injury quicker so that he could help his team.

(I say 'truth' instead of truth because it is hard to fully believe what an athlete says at this point. Even when it's as heartfelt as Pettitte's excuse.)

His number will certainly be retired and he will be immortalized in Monument Park, as will Mo, Jeter and Posada. Whether he makes it into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is in question. His numbers may have been just good enough had he not taken HGH, but the HOF voters are adamantly against performance enhancers. I'd like to see him voted in, but I grew up rooting for him, so I may be just a tad biased. Hopefully his playoff numbers and his menacing stare will sway just enough writers.

Him retiring essentially leaves the Yankees screwed. Going into the offseason, the Yanks had a potential of CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, and Phil Hughes. The Phillies stole Lee and Pettitte retired. The Yanks rotation now consists of CC, Burnett, Hughes, and a toss up of Sergio Mitre, Ivan Nova, (who I like), Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and any other pitcher who wants to put his name in the hat. What looked so good about a rotation containing CC, Lee and Pettitte is that they are all proven lefties. The Yanks needed that to counter the Red Sox's lefty heavy lineup. (Ellsbury, Crawford, A-Gone, Ortiz, JD Drew, Varitek). It is ridiculous to declare a division winner before pitchers and catchers show up, but congratulations Boston.

What a Weekend

This may have been one of the best weekends in the sports world. Tennis, PGA, NBA, NHL, NFL and NCAA basketball were all producing pretty big stories over the span of 4 days.

We'll start with golf. This weekend was the first big golf tournament of 2011, the Farmers Insurance Open. It was newsworthy because Tiger Woods was playing in it. Golf remains newsworthy so long as Tiger is still playing. He doesn't have to be good, he just has to show up, as he did this weekend. He played well enough on the first two days, keeping himself in contention to make a run in his red shirt. Instead, his play collapsed on Saturday and Sunday rather than improving. He clearly still needs work to win anything, let alone try to match Jack Nicklaus' major record.

This one was won, barely, by Bubba Watson. Watson just edged out Phil Mickelson and Jhonattan Vegas by scoring birdies on the final two holes. It was a great finish to see Mickelson go for an eagle on the final hole, but people still watch for Tiger. He was untouchable at his peak and fans want to see him regain that form. Until he proves he is completely washed up, fans will watch to see when he turns his career back around.

The Australian Open also culminated this weekend without Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in the final. Instead, the next best in the world, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, entered the final match geared for an epic showdown. Murray was a big let down however and Djokovic disposed of him easily. Though it may be hard for most of the American public to follow the Aussie Open due to the time difference, it was pretty thrilling to follow Murray's run to the final as well as Federer's attempt to work back up to the number one spot.

On the women's side, Kim Clijsters is proving to be a fan favorite while clawing her way to number one. The "pregnant" interview was quite funny, showing her sense of humor off the court. Winning it all displays her seriousness on it. Another woman may have been more entertaining, Francesca Schiavone. If you want proof of that, listen to this.

The Aussie Open was a great start to what could be an interesting tennis season.

On Friday night in the NBA the Heat lost to the Knicks in what will be remembered as the "Goggle Game". Dwyane Wade wore a specially designed pair due to migraines caused by bright lights. They seemed to help for the first three quarters as he was unstoppable. The Knicks were able to quiet him in the fourth quarter and finally took down the Heat this season.

On Sunday, the marquee matchup of the season took place. The Lakers hosted the Celtics in a Finals' rematch. Only one team showed up for this one however as the Celtics easily took the win. The Lakers may still be the team to beat as they are defending champions, but they have been beaten by all of the teams that will need to beat them when it really matters. They'll need to stop showing their age if Phil Jackson wants to coach his way to a fourth three-peat.

In NCAA basketball, Duke was one of a bunch of top teams to lose. They went into Madison Square Garden, home away from home, and lost to St. John's University for the first time in eight years. SJU has been in a rebuilding process for what seems like forever, but now it may actually be working. A couple more wins like that and they can sneak their way into 'Madness'. This is another season without a clear favorite which will lead to another unpredictable Final Four. In my brackets last year, I basically picked all Big East teams and they let me down. I will likely do the same this year as that is clearly the best conference in the NCAA.

That leaves us with the NFL and NHL both having their All-Star weekends. While the NFL Pro Bowl is generally considered to be a joke, 8 million people watched the game. The game was terrible, as expected, and if you need any proof of that, watch the final play of the game.

The NHL revamped their All-Star game to playground rules. The players who were voted in had to vote for captains. The captains then selected teams. Team Staal vs. Team Lidstrom. The NHL and NBA All-Star Games are very similar in that the offense thrives. The final score saw double digits for both teams. Exhilarating. Before the game, players participated in skills competitions, which is always fun, and the NFL should take note.

Such a great weekend in sports, I don't know how any weekend can top that.

...

Oh, right. The Super Bowl is next weekend. I guess that will be entertaining enough.