Lebron in a New York State of Mind

I'm not a New York Knicks fan.

As a matter of fact, I've always taken strange delight in watching the utter ineptitude that the Knicks have shown this decade. It seemed that there was no contract too big and no player too dysfunctional for New York to throw some money at. They were laughable, with unarguably the worst coach and GM in professional sports.

Unfortunately, Isaiah Thomas will be remembered for his views on
women and race relations, than for being one of the best point guards to
ever play the game.

The list of signings and trades the Knicks made in the post-Patrick Ewing era were laughable. Guys like Howard Eisley, Shandon Anderson, Jerome James, Steve Francis, Jalen Rose and the always popular, Stephon Marbury (who's worth an entire blog post by himself) showed that the Knicks had no idea how to run and manage a successful basketball franchise anymore.

What made these signings so egregious was that instead of wasting their salary cap on has-beens and nobodies, they should have been clearing salary cap and positioning themselves for a player that could arguably go down as the best basketball player ever (and that includes MJ): Lebron James.

After jettisoning Isiah out of the Big Apple, the Knicks finally started making decisions, to , ya know, actually win some basketball games. Signing Mike D'Antoni to coach in the offseason is proving to be an enormous upgrade, and GM Donnie Walsh has a proven track record of managerial success.

And after the Knicks pulled off two HUGE trades last Friday, the Lebron sweepstakes is officially back on. No one's going to confuse Al Harrington for Patrick Ewing or Cuttino Mobley for "Clyde" Frazier, but their play the next two years won't matter.

What's important is that all of the new Knicks' acquisitions will come off their salary cap in 2010. That summer, the cream of NBA's young crop of talent will be available, with guys like Lebron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh all finishing their current contracts.

These trades have saved the Knicks $27 million in cap room, and as it stands now, they currently only have four guys signed for $24 million for the 2010 season. It's expected that the 2010 salary cap will be upwards of $64 million.

As much as I've enjoyed ridiculing the Knicks; this move was genius. And in all honesty, the NBA is better for it.

I'm sorry Cleveland fans, but it's better for the league when superstars play in the biggest markets. I'm not a Lakers or Celtics fan, but the NBA had one of its most exciting and intriguing seasons last year when those two teams were on top. It's good for the NBA to have a good team in New York. When you factor in the latest hot rumor that Nike is willing to pay King James a $50 million bonus for signing in New York, Chicago or L.A., you can see why this move makes complete sense.

And it was one thing for the Knicks to position themselves just to get Lebron, but with these salary cap dumps, New York may also have enough money to sign another one of the marquee free agents of the 2010 class. What if I told you that Lebron might be playing with Bosh or Wade in NY in 2010? Is that something you might be interested in?

It's not Cleveland's fault. Recently they've been doing everything right, by getting Lebron guys that can spread the floor and make open shots (Mo Williams and Delonte West) and the Cleveland fans have shown nothing but love for their superstar.

But the NBA is a business. Lebron is a business man. He's going to New York.

The only real question now is which New York team it'll be. It was widely believed before the Knicks recent transactions, that he would follow friend and part owner Jay-Z to Brooklyn, where the Nets will move to in 2010.

Like I said earlier, I don't like the Knicks. But I must admit, I like the idea of Lebron playing for them in Madison Square Garden. I like what his signing will do for the NBA as a whole and I like the idea of the Knicks mattering again.

Cleveland fans, enjoy the King while you can. In 2010, he'll be where he belongs.


Photos courtesy of Google Images

Appreciation for D-Will

It's been nearly four years since Derrick Williams promised to take Penn State back to the top of college football's mountaintop.

It was Dec. 22, 2004. Penn State was coming off a disastrous and unprecedented two seasons, where it only managed to finish 7-16. In the previous five seasons, the Nittany Lions had four losing seasons.

Somehow, someway, Joe Paterno (and to a larger extent, defensive line coach Larry Johnson) persuaded the nation's top recruit in the country to join a fading dynasty, led by an over-the-hill coach.

D-Will wanted to come to Penn State because he wanted to win the Lions another National Championship. He wanted to be the explosive receiver that keeps college defensive coaches up at night. He wanted to be the guy that would restore the fallen legacy back to where it belonged. He wanted to show that he was the player to make Penn State matter again.

I still remember the jubilation in Happy Valley when we learned he was coming. He was athletic. He was talented. He was cocky.

He was exactly what Penn State needed.

I remember this because on Saturday, Penn State will play Michigan State in the 2008 regular season finale, and the final regular season game of D-Will's career. It'll be the last time he plays at Beaver Stadium, and the second-to-last game he'll ever play in a Lions uniform.

When I look at D-Will, I can't help but feel a little bad for him. Sure, his career stats are respectable, but he never became the superstar player that we all hoped and expected he would be.

And I don't blame that on him at all. He showed flashes of greatness his freshman season, scoring four touchdowns in just seven games, before a broken arm against Michigan robbed him of the rest of the season. During that first season, he had six plays of 20 yards or more, and flashed the speed, elusiveness and overall swagger that you would expect from a rising superstar.

That year he helped get Penn State to the Orange Bowl, and had Penn State not lost on a last-second touchdown against Michigan, the Lions may have played in the National Championship, just like he expected when he came.

Unfortunately, he never seemed to parlay that freshman season into stardom. One major reason why was that his quarterback, the now-infamous Anthony Morelli, couldn't get him the ball. It didn't help that the coaching staff seemed to never figure out how to correctly use him. And when the other team knows that there's only one big-play guy on the field, it's not too difficult to game plan for him and force the others to hurt you.

This season we got to see more of the D-Will we expected. He probably still won't be mentioned as one of the best receivers in college football, but he has shown that he can beat you receiving, rushing and on kick returns.

Most importantly, he's always been a class-act and a leader.

And that's what I think I'll remember about D-Will the most. Who knows how great he could've been if he went to Texas or Florida, where the coaching staff might have utilized his speed and athleticism the way it was intended? He could've easily went to those schools, but he wanted to come to Penn State and put the school back on top.

He never got us to a National Championship, but a win on Saturday puts us in the Rose Bowl. I think two BCS bowls in his four-year career will do just fine.

So D-Will, enjoy your final game in Happy Valley. And when you look back on your career, know that there's an entire nation of Nittany Lion fans that thank you for choosing our school.

You certainly didn't have to. But you did, and for that we'll forever be grateful.

Photo Courtesy of Google Images.

Below is my favorite D-Will highlight, his first career TD, that got us a come-from-behind victory over Northwestern. The play's at the 2:54 mark

The Inaugural NFL Power Poll

This is my first post on "Flavors of Lovelace" so I feel like i should do it right. We'll start with an NFL power poll, since every other "expert" and talking head seems to have one.

32 - Detroit Lions (0-9)
I can just picture Calvin Johnson waking up at 2 a.m. every Monday morning, calling Barry Sanders and asking "Why me?!?!? Why did the Lions have to pick me?!?!" while he hysterically and uncontrollably weeps. Fun times in Detroit.

31 - Cincinnati Bengals (1-8)
I can't figure out why Marvin Lewis is still gainfully employed. Maybe they're waiting for him to resign, or maybe they're hoping he'll attempt to strangle Chad Johnson to death so they can fire him without paying the rest of his contract, but something just doesn't make sense there.

30 - Oakland Raiders (2-7)
It's hard to tell exactly when the Raiders imploded. Was it in the off-season, when Al Davis drafted a resignation letter for Lane Kiffin to sign, and he refused? Was it when Kiffin thought it was a completely reasonable idea for Sebastian Janikowski to attempt a 76-yard field goal? Was it the now YouTube famous Al Davis press conference that made him look like a mix between a grouchy, senile old man and that skeleton from "Tales from the Crypt?" Whatever it was, the Raiders really, really suck.

Al Davis is a scary-looking human being

29 - St. Louis Rams (2-7)
It was cute a few weeks ago when the Rams tried their best to be good, even winning two straight games. It was like a 3-year old reaching for the cookie jar that was just out of reach. Glad to see after last Sunday's crapfest against the Jets that they've fallen back down to Earth.

28 - Kansas City Chiefs (1-8)
Can't seem to find a way to win football games. But at least Larry Johnson, a fellow Penn Stater, has taken time off his busy schedule of spitting on women at the club, to play in next week's game.

27 - San Francisco 49ers (2-7)
I'm a 49ers fan and the last good team I've seen was when Terrell Owens was accusing Jeff Garcia of liking guys. So don't mind all of us Niners fans who are talking ourselves into Mike Singletary being the savior. Just let us have a little something.

26 - Seattle Seahawks (2-7)
I'm guessing when Mike Holmgren decided to come back for one more season, this isn't what he had in mind.

25 - Houston Texans (3-6)
Let's look at the bright side. At least Sage Rosenfels didn't attempt to leap over any linebackers and fumble the ball this time. He did have those four interceptions though. Yeah....

24 - Cleveland Browns (3-6)
I'm not sure what sucks more. That the Browns are wasting so much offensive talent, or that we're forced to watch them in primetime two more times this season.

23 - Jacksonville Jaguars (4-5)
Lions running back Kevin Smith said that during last week's game, members of the Jags were taunting him, saying "they stink." It's nice that the Jags went from a trendy Super Bowl pick in the beginning of the season, to belittling a winless team (and just a week after losing to a previous winless team, the Bengals). Keep up the good work guys.

22 - San Diego Chargers (4-5)
It's a shame that a team with this much talent has underachieved this much. Lucky for them, they play in one of the worst divisions in football (I say one of the worst, because the NFC West is fighting them for the honor) so 8-8 may be enough to get them in the playoffs.

21 - New Orleans Saints (4-5)
See paragraph above. Only difference for the Saints is that they play in a much more difficult division and conference.

20 - Denver Broncos (5-4)
I can't see them winning their division with a defensive philosophy of "if we can just hold them under 30 points, we can probably win." That won't work in December. Oh, and the fact that the best kid on your high school's football team is probably suiting up to play running back for Denver this week is probably not a good sign.

19 - Buffalo Bills (5-4)
Fattened their record up on mediocre competition early and now they're free-falling fast. Trent Edwards was getting a lot of hype early in the season. Now? Not-so-much.

18 - Green Bay Packers (4-5)
I feel like they should be better. A-Rodge ain't so bad and their defense can create turnovers, but for some reason, the Packers can't get over the hump. Favre curse anyone?

17 - Minnesota Vikings (5-4)
Gus Frerotte proves that if you can just hang on in the league long enough, you'll eventually get another shot. Remember in the beginning of the season when the Vikings didn't go after Brett Favre because coach Brad Childress was confident in Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback? Well the fact that Gus seems to throw three interceptions every week and still keep his job really shows how much confidence they still have in Jackson.

16 - Dallas Cowboys (5-4)
They're the most entertaining theater in the NFL. I was shocked when DeAngelo Hall was released that Jerry Jones wasn't immediately on the phone with his agent, offering him a six-year, 60-million dollar contract. With so much talent, they gotta still sneak in the playoffs though, right?

15 - Miami Dolphins (5-4)
It baffles me that this Wildcat offense thing is still working in the NFL, to the point where every team has some variation of it in their playbook. The Fins are pretty good, and will ruin a lot of teams chances of making the playoffs.

14 - Chicago Bears (5-4)
Sexy Rexy didn't have enough to get it done last week. Did you ever think you'd see the day when Kyle Orton means the difference between a team making or missing the playoffs? Me neither.

Does this face really look like the face of
a good NFL quarterback?

13 - Philadelphia Eagles (5-4)
They're a pretty average team. They beat up on bad teams. They hang with, but can't beat, good teams. Unfortunately, that won't get it done in the NFC East. But hey, at least the Phillies won right...?

12 - Indianapolis Colts (5-4)
They look like they're starting to turn it on. Peyton Manning needs to just stop throwing it to Marvin Harrison and focus on Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez exclusively though. After watching Harrison miss every big pass play that went to him on Sunday night, it's clear that he has lost a step.

11 - New York Jets (6-3)
Good run game, good defense, solid receivers and a Hall-of-Famer running the show. I just can't wait until their inevitable first-round exit from the playoffs after a textbook late Favre interception that goes for six.

10 - Baltimore Ravens (6-3)
I have to admit, Joe Flacco's been pretty good lately. How is Ray Lewis still awesome? He's like 57-years-old. The Ravens are top-10 material for now, but it'll be interesting to see how they respond when they play all the teams from the NFC East.

9 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3)
I don't think Jeff Garcia can get them in the playoffs. I'm not really sure Brian Griese can either. But hey, Jon Gruden's won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson, so I guess anything's possible.

8 - Atlanta Falcons (6-3)
I'm shocked that they're this good, and I thought Matt Ryan was going to suck when he got in the NFL. I don't know if they play enough defense to get in the playoffs, but after all that has went wrong in Atlanta, you can't not root for the Falcons.

7 - New England Patriots (6-3)
God I hate Bill Belichick. The football Gods sacrificed Tom Brady's knee for Camera-gate and for despicably running up of the score last season and he still finds ways to ugly up the game, control the clock and win. What an asshole.

6 - Arizona Cardinals (6-3)
When I studied in London, a lot of British people and other Europeans used to argue that rugby was the real man's game, not football, because their athletes "didn't play with pads." Well Anquan Boldin got his face shattered, had eight plates put in his face and came back to play three weeks later (without taking pain medicine). He's one of the best receivers in the league right now. When one of your fat rugby players play with ONE plate in their face, I'll listen to your argument. Until then, shut the hell up.

Boldin would crush a rugby player

5 - Washington Redskins (6-3)
After a hot start, they may be on the verge of fading. Clinton Portis is a beast, but now with the news that he may not play this week, the Skins may be heading for some trouble.

4 - Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3)
Why hasn't the Steelers' strength and conditioning coach been fired yet? I mean, when you're punter and long snapper are getting hurt, it's not just bad luck anymore. Haven't these guys ever heard of steroids and cortisone shots?

3 - Carolina Panthers (7-2)
It pains me to rank them this high. That performance against the Raiders last week was one of the worst I've ever seen. Four interceptions? Steve Smith needs to punch Jake Delhomme in the face.

2 - New York Giants (8-1)
The most balanced team in the league. They do everything well and, in my opinion, are still the favorite to win the Super Bowl. Their remaining schedule is absolutely brutal though, with their opponents record a combined 39-23, so we'll see just how good they really are.

1 - Tennessee Titans (9-0)
Oh how far you've come Kerry Collins. It seems like just yesterday when you were calling your teammates racial slurs. Now, people are using your name in the same breath with the letters M-V-P.

Only in the "National Football League."

All pictures courtesy of Google Images.