youmetaxidermy

I called it four months ago.

Inventing an argument that no one else is trying to make with you is not how you win a debate. This has nothing to do with MJ - all I said is that he would be under more scrutiny if he was playing in today's world. Which is true. No one in sports is safe in 2012, even if they turn water to wine while they get a triple double. I also never said that LeBron was without weaknesses. He just isn't as terrible and overrated as 90% of the internet seems to think he is. Amateur sports journalism is pretty much all hyperbole and nothing else. Besides that, come on, the Celtics have one of the best defensive squads in the Association. Even LBJ is going to run into major problems with that kind of squad.

Damn Youkilis for being so good after his DL stint. I have no idea how we could get equal value and some worthwhile pieces for him, even though everyone agrees that he should unfortunately go. Who would have thought a month ago that our big issue would be having too much talent in our line-up?

The internet in a nutshell.

I watched the Bulls play. The Bulls were my number one team growing up (Seattle being my number two), and I watched his games all of the time. I grew up in the Jordan era. The reason why no one dissed him was because the sports media was nowhere near as obsessively snarky as it is today, and the internet was nowhere near where it is today, where any idiot can hate on anything just because he can whether what he says has any basis in reality or not. I'm not saying that any bashing of MJ back in the day would have been ACCURATE, but I could see it happening if it was happening in today's world. You seem to forget that the generation we live in now is far more cynical than any prior to it. LeBron also is more humble than you seem to believe he is. Have you actually followed his life and career? He hero worships MJ and acknowledges that he is the best of all time. This is what I'm talking about. Anyone with a keyboard and mouse is now able to invent the man's biography, way of thinking, and playing ability through sheer hyperbole.

The Mets are one of the teams that I have always enjoyed watching and cheering on, and I have always been a firm believer in the talent of Johan Santana. I was really happy to see this. The Mets deserve a good year after everything they have been through.

Welcome, sir. I love watching traditional basketball. Lots of passing, lots of teamwork, lots of technique. Just because you're the best player on the team does not mean you should be the only one to take the potential game winning shot. This is why I am such a big fan of Spoelstra. Despite having a menacing Big 3, he makes sure that the entire team shares responsibility in any win or loss and the ball gets around. Once Miami acquires a true star point guard, you will see this even more.

To be fair, just about all of our starts against the White Sox were fantastic. That was a fun series.

That's his only weakness. No one was openly hating on LeBron this much when he was in Cleveland. Move to a big market team, and all of a sudden he is basketball's Antichrist, and the worst player of all time, and apparently doesn't take ANY shots in the final minutes, if you are to believe the popular opinion on the internet. They will argue against ANY AND ALL statistics, proof, and facts if it goes against their "argument" that LeBron is terrible. Imagine if the internet had been like this back when Michael Jordan was in his prime, there would probably be some pretty similar ridiculous rhetoric. I just love how people like to complain when superstars constantly have their hands all over a possession, but the moment they play real basketball and hand the ball off, they are a choker. Anyone who complains about something like that so much cannot be a real fan of basketball.

Yeah, he really has. I'm impressed. I knew that once we got past all of the awkwardness and verbal faux pas that he would do wonders for this club, but our issues run much deeper than just managing the bullpen.

Rajon Rondo is the best in the league when he's at the top of his game. He just needs to work on his consistency. Doc Rivers said that he's trying his best to get over the negative slumps in games when he feels like what he's doing isn't working. If he can fix that and apply himself all the time, then he earns the title of best PG quite easily. Nash is still excellent even if he is past his prime. He is the sole reason the Suns didn't have a record as poor as the Bobcats'. Objectively, I'm still pulling for him to sign a multi-year deal (two or three) with either the Lakers or Heat this offseason so he can close out his career with a Finals win with a team that sorely needs his level of talent at the PG position.

The bullpen is finally stable for the first time this season. Our bullpen is fantastic, in fact, and I didn't think that we would be able to do that so quickly with Papelbon leaving in free agency and all of the drama early in the season with trying to find a pitcher to close. The only logical idea to solve this would be to either bring up Dice-K or possibly chase a trade for someone who could be an answer at least for this season, although I'm trying to figure out who we could tempt with Youkilis and maybe a prospect in a trade for some good quality starting pitching.

I was never a fan of the project to begin with. He showed some promise now and again but I still think he's better off in the bullpen. I don't think there are too many immediate answers to the rotation for this season, really.