Feeling Sporty

Lots of big things happening in the sports world, and I know you'd all feel incomplete without my comments.

The Pats are going to Super bowl XLII. The biggest prize in this year's free agent class is coming to town, along with some other parts that have us Pats fans feeling downright giddy. Adalius Thomas, a guy built like a defensive tackle, who can run like a safety will be Bill Belichick's newest weapon next year. The possibilities are seemingly endless, the way the mastermind will frustrate Pats opponents next year in so many new ways, it should be very fun to watch. But the great news does not stop there, they also picked up some complimentary pieces to help the offense. Their latest acquisition, Wes Welker is a do everything mighty mite in the mold of Troy Brown. He's not a traditional number one receiver but he should be able to get at least 50 catches next year and provide help on special teams. They also signed Kyle Brady, as a cheaper alternative to Daniel Graham as a blocking tight end. Brady is clearly less explosive than Graham, he won;t be taking a screen pass to the house, and he probably won;t be pancaking Julius Peppers anytime soon, the way Graham did in super bowl XXXVIII, but he will serve their needs as a strong blocker to help spring their run game and provide extra protection against a strong pass rush. They were also able to pick up sammy Morris as a number two back to Laurence Maroney. Morris is clearly a downgrade from Corey Dillon, but he comes at a much lower price tag and he won;t be asked to do as much as Dillon because they expect Maroney to blossom into an elite runner next year. As a side note this makes Maroney a true sleeper for fantasy football next year where should perform as a top ten back. The best part of all this news is that the Pats still have two first round picks in next month's draft and they should still be able to sign useful pieces on the cheap as has been their hallmark in recent years. I don;t mean to put the cart before the horse, but I'm already considering buying a new hat and gloves for next year's parade.

This whole off-season has been very exciting, it's getting to the point where the football off-season is more exciting than the "hot stove." The only difference really is that just about everyone thinks they can be a baseball GM whereas with football they know better. But the amount of changeover in football is so much greater due to there be no guaranteed contracts and a hard salary cap, this year especially there is so much going on, I can't imagine that a fan of any team isn;t excited on some level right now. And all this excitement is before the draft, which is by far the most popular draft of any major sport, and before the many cuts that usually come June 1st, which leads to a second set of crazy movement. Just look at The Dolphins, sure they lost Nick Saban as their coach, and Wes Welker, an emerging young receiver, but today they signed Joey Porter, which in their minds has to override any negatives fo the off-season. At this time of year the possibilities are endless, even Raiders fans think their team could be good next year (although there's really no possible way,) and how can you blame them. Football just needs to come up with a cool nickname for this time of year i.e. "Hot Stove" so they can market it the way baseball does, hopefully ESPN will come up with something in the next few weeks.

Ok, that's enough about Football, it is of course March which is the time when College Basketball is king. right now we're in the early stages, where everyone is just dying to be one of the 65 teams who are still alive come sunday. The mighty BU Terriers have already fallen by the wayside, so that really opens up things for Kansas or Ohio State. There's nothing quite like the phenomenon where you can root hard for a team that you had never seen play before that game, but it happens every March. Last night I wanted very badly for Santa Clara to knock off Gonzaga, whom I now consider the Duke of the mid-majors, and by next thursday it will be far more prevalent.

Speaking of Duke, I just have to weigh in on the Gerald Henderson elbow incident. In the interest of full disclosure, I don;t like Duke, never have. I root against Coach K, I root against Tommy Amaker, and on down all the way to Elton Brand and Shelden Williams. So with all that out of the way, I have to say that the elbow looked very intentional, and I think the punishment fit the crime. You can't increase the suspension just because of the damage that the elbow did. I think that Gerald Henderson wanted to hit Hanborough hard, maybe he didn;t mean to hit him in the nose and break it, but he definitely meant to hit him hard for no real reason other than the fact that he had the opportunity. The fact that Hansborough seems to be genuinely disliked by his opponents because of his physical, sometimes chippy play also may have played a role, and in my mind is perhaps evidence against Henderson in this case. I actually enjoyed watching the reaction of both players afterward, Henderson had look to suggest, "yeah I did, and I'm not sorry." Wheareas "Psycho T" looked like he really wanted to go after Henderson, but there were too many people around. It's too bad they aren't seeded differently so they would be likely to play again in the ACC tournament, but I don;t think Duke has the horses to make it there this year.

One final note on the incident, I thought coach K came off like a real A-hole in the postgame when he insinuated that it was Roy Williams' fault for leaving Hansborough in after the game had been decided. Duke has always had this holier than thou attitude, Coach K's kids would never do something wrong even when the evidence says otherwise. How could anything ever be the fault of a Duke player, has there ever been an explanation for why Laettner wasn't suspended for stomping on the Kentucky player back in 92? I doubt Coach K admits that Laettner did that, he probably argues that Laettner just meant to step on the ground.

I'll be back with more College Basketball soon with so much going on.

-Bender Out