Chris Paul Traded to Lakers...Or Not

So last night reports came out of a three team deal between the Lakers, Rockets, and Hornets in which the Lakers would acquire PG Chris Paul, the Rockets would acquire F Pau Gasol, and the Hornets would acquire Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, and others. Then, later on, Commissioner David Stern killed the deal, apparently caving in to pressure from the owners that the deal, on the heels of the lockout, would look pretty bad.

What it looks like to me is that this was a player orchestrated trade. By that, I mean it seems like this is Chris Paul  trying to get his way. If that's true and the deal hadn't been axed, that would just prove that the owners and the league are the same old pussies they have been for years and the players still had all the power. I don't care what the hell the reasoning was behind it, whether it was the teams not wanting larger markets poaching the stars of smaller markets or David Stern not liking Paul controlling exactly where he went like Carmelo did last year (all of those were reasons named by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports in his article on the deal that fell through). It's good to see that the owners have finally grown a pair and decided to step in and push Stern to veto this kind of deal. It's also nice because it means that Celtics have another chance to try and land Paul (Wojnarowski also says the Celtics have been relentless in attempting to acquire Paul)

The owners are right though, that trade went against every reason the owners pushed for a lockout and that kind of deal would've made it look like the players had neutered them yet again. The league seems to be heading in the right direction, but there's still a lot to be seen as to who has the power.

Chris Paul has just one thing to say on Twitter when the deal was axed. "WoW." (Link to the Tweet, couldn't find the actual Twitter link though.). No one cares what you have to say there Chris. Either play for New Orleans or let yourself get traded to wherever the hell New Orleans wants to send you and see how that works. If it doesn't work, hit free agency and take the offer that you want to take. That simple. It shouldn't be such a big deal. Jesus, these basketball players and their egos. They're probably the most annoying athletes on the planet.

Weekend Roundup

It's that time again! Weekend roundup! I know you guys just love these posts (no joke, I can see these get the most hits) so I'm gonna keep 'em coming. Well, last week was one hell of a week and a pretty solid weekend on top of that. Let's see, I'll start with the biggest news in sports, the end of the NBA Lockout.

• This really sucks actually. The league really is brutal, and when I say that I'm talking about the business aspect of it. The players have far too much power (see: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh all setting it up so they all sign in Miami) and the owners and league office don't have enough sack to do anything about it. They seriously need a full year off so the league and the owners scan take the power back.
• The league will have a 66 game season that will open up on Christmas Day, when the Celtics play um, I think the Knicks? You Twitter followers needa help me out here. Tweet me and tell me if I'm right or wrong. Anyways, of course the NBA wouldn't let the lockout go past Christmas. That is THE biggest money making day of the season. I can't count how many people I know that open their presents on Christmas and then sit on their asses and watch game after game after game after game (pretty ridiculous if you ask me) If they let it get past Christmas Day everyone knew they were screwed.

How about them Bruins?

• 12-0-1 since the beginning of November. It's almost getting to the point where I can't count that high (that's a joke obviously, I can count far past 12)
• KHL seems to have hit their stride. Krejci is tearing it up right now after that extension and Horton and Lucic seem to be following his lead.
• When did Chris Kelly become a goal scorer? The dude has 10 goals already and is only 5 short of his career high. The man is red hot right now.
• Seguin is still the single most exciting young player in the game right now. Do you see how people just sit on the edge of their seats whenever he gets the puck? The kid's special. All you Twitter people, don't forget to keep writing him into the All Star Game in Ottawa on the NHL website and get #SeguinforAllStarGame trending!
• Poo Poo Pouliot seems to have turned a corner. The guy brings a ton of energy every shift and is starting to make some really nice plays, as well as score some important goals (ALWAYS use Pouliot in a shootout. He'll score every time) If he keeps this up I would have no problem with the Bruins giving him a new contract.
• Joe Corvo is officially a Big Bad Bruin! He got into his first career NHL fight with Joey Crabb towards the end of the Leafs game on Saturday night. It was a pretty crappy fight, and it eneded in a draw anyways, but the fact that he's now willing to drop the gloves has made him an official Bruin in my book.

The Red Sox had quite a week last week, so let's check up on them!

• The team officially introduced Bobby Valentine as the new manager on Thursday. Well, he is the perfect guy for a culture change. But, here's the deal with Bobby V. Either things go tremendously right and the team does better than anyone could ever have expected, or this whole thing blows up in The team's face and becomes a HUGE mess for them to clean up. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
• A day after being introduced as manager, Valentine flew down to the Dominican Republic to visit with David Ortiz and attempt to bring him back to the Red Sox. I seriously don't want him and his whining back in Boston. He can take it to New York for all I care. Just not here.
• Jim Bowden of MLB Network says that the Red Sox are maintaining dialogue with Scott Boras about free agent closer Ryan Madson (Twitter link) WEEI's Rob Bradford says that the Red Sox also had discussions with closer Heath Bell before he signed with Miami.
• Jim Bowden also says that the Red Sox priorities, in order, are: David Ortiz, a closer, a starting pitcher, and a right handed hitting outfielder (Twitter link) Seriously, why Ortiz?
• The Red Sox are set to meet with Bob Garber, the agent who represents both C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, according to Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) Hopefully with Wilson their just doing their due diligence and talking to him. His playoff numbers are scary, and personally, I believe if the Red Sox signed him we'd be looking at a left handed John Lackey. I do like the idea of adding Roy Oswalt though.
• According to WEEI's Rob Bradford, the Red Sox are interested in free agent starter Hiroki Kuroda. Their ability to sign him though depends on gaining financial flexibility via other moves.
• Tim Wakefield told Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald that he would like to pitch one more year with the Red Sox. Please, for the love of God don't bring him back.
• Larry Lucchino told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he won't be attending the Winter Meetings in Dallas. Maybe this is a sign he's finally going to back the hell off and let Cherington do his job?
• According to SI's Jon Heyman, few teams want bullpen help more than the Padres, Brewers, and the Red Sox (Twitter link) Good sign if you ask me.

That's all I have today. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted on Twitter as well as Facebook until my next post. Not sure when that will be though...

Latest News From the Past Week

I know, I know, I've been on somewhat of a hiatus for something like a week now. I don't really remember why, I just never got around to writing. But, if you follow me on Twitter (@DirtyWaterBuzz) you would see some news that I've put out in 140 characters or less (can't stand that part of Twitter). Anyways, here's what's been going on in the past week:

The Red Sox:

• It appears the manager search is down to two candidates. Bobby Valentine and Gene Lamont. Both are just horrid, horrid choices. Why didn't they call Dave Martinez again?
• Apparently the Sox asked the Jays about talking to John Farrell. Anthopolous' response? "Give us Buchholz and you can talk to him" What a pissy piece of shit. It's not like your team is any good anyways.
• Gio Gonzalez is a name that has been widely discussed internally by the team. Gonzalez is a lefty starter for Oakland who has also drawn interest from the Yankess and the Marlins. The A's have yet to engage in serious discussions with anyone about Gio yet though.
• The Sox are still pursuing free agent lefty C.J. Wilson, according to John Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. I personally would like to see the Sox stay away from him. his regular season numbers are impressive no doubt, but he sucked in the playoffs and that makes me wary of signing him to a long term deal. Morosi also says that the Sox have checked in on Luis Ayala, who pitched 56 innings for the Yankees last year and had a 2.09 ERA.

The Bruins:

• The Bruins were red freakin' hot this week. They took a 10 game winning streak into yesterday's game against Detroit. They did lose in a shootout to the Red Wings, but they got a point out of it and that makes it an 11 game point streak coming into tonight's game against Winnipeg.
• Tyler Seguin has been on fire all year and has already topped both his goal total and his point toal from last season. The kid belongs in the All Star Game. So, go on Twitter, follow me (@DirtyWaterBuzz), get #SeguinforAllStarGame trending, and be sure to follow @writeinSeguin to get the link to write the kid in.

Also, some breaking news. It appears that the NBA and the NBAPA have reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout. It still needs to be ratified by the players and owners though, but it would make for a 66 game season that would start on Christmas Day.

Damn it. That league needs an entire season off. The players have far too much power and the owners are subject to a league office full of pussies that won't do a damn thing about it. Absolutely pathetic.

Weekend Roundup

It's that time again people, my weekly weekend roundups. I actually enjoy writing these 'cause I get to bitch about everything and anything. So, in any case, if you were living underneath a rock all weekend, here's what you missed:

The Bruins:

• Seriously, these guys are on fire right now. They've won 5 straight now and they're looking like the team that won the Stanley Cup last year.
• Is it just me or is it friggin' awesome to watch these guys score in rapid succession? I mean hell, I even turned Jack Edwards' new catch phrase into a Twitter hashtag, #BABOOM, 'cause if you watch the games, you'd know that every time the Bruins score twice in a short span of time Jack just feels the need to yell that out.
• That pre-game ceremony where the team brought in the soldier to surprise his family was absolutely amazing. I loved watching that, it was so great to see one of our soldiers return in such a great fashion. If that didn't warm your heart, you have absolutely no soul whatsoever.
• Tyler Seguin is on fire. Seriously, the kid's matched his goal total from last year and is only a couple points away from matching his point total from last year too. I don't get why he isn't on the All Star Ballot, so all you people who follow me on Twitter spread around my new hashtag, #SeguinforAllStarGame, so we can get a write in campaign going.

The Red Sox:

• Over the weekend, GM Ben Cherington interviewed both Tony Lovullo and Gene Lamont, which officially concluded the first round of interviews for manager. The team will conduct two follow up interviews at the Winter Meetings in Milwaukee, one with Dale Sveum and one with a mystery candidate. It appears that Dale Sveum is the frontrunner for the job.
• The Sox lost Closer Jonathan Papelbon to the Phillies when he signed a 4 year, $50M deal that will be official after Pap takes his physical. He better hope they don't make him take any sort of academic exam as well, otherwise the deal will be called off 'cause Pap is as dumb as a stump.
• The Sox now appear to be in on closers Ryan Madson and Heath Bell and are also considering internal candidates for the role as well (meaning they're considering putting Bard at closer).
• All signs point to the Sox re-signing DH David Ortiz. God damn it, I really didn't want to see them bring back this friggin' pri madonna. All he's done the past couple years is bitch and moan and I was really hoping they'd let him go and try to change the clubhouse, but now that the Yankees are saying they don't need him and the Jays are saying they don't need him, the market for him looks like this: Red Sox, Red Sox, Red Sox, and Red Sox. Yeah, it seems we're kinda stuck with the guy.
• Cherington also said that if the Sox do indeed re-sign Ortiz, they won't be signing or trading for a big bat in the outfield such as Carlos Beltran or Grady Sizemore and will go for more of a solid veteran type to compete with Reddick and Kalish for the right field job.
• Also, Cherington and Theo Epstein states that the two of them plan to meet at the Winter Meeting and work out the compensation for the Sox losing Theo. Wow, I completely forgot this was going on. I can't believe they haven't been able to solve this issue in a month. I mean shit, World War II was resolved in two weeks and the entire Central Powers collapsed and surrendered in one month after World War I, which wasn't much time considering how many countries were involved in that war. It's a bit ridiculous that they haven't figured it out, especially since the Sox are just going to get a couple good prospects from the Cubs' farm system, not like Matt Garza or Starlin Castro or giving them John Lackey or anything.

On two seperate notes, the Patriots spanked the Jets last night. And when I say spanked, I mean Sanchez and Co. basically bent over and allowed it to happen. Sanchez absolutely blows. Why exactly does he always keep his eyes on the rush and not downfield where he can find a receiver? And how the hell were Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress shut down by Andre Carter and Devon McCourty (who by the way is out indefinitely with a seperated right shoulder)? I still think it's time for the Patriots to find a new GM and have Bill step down to just be head coach so this team can get a pass rusher (the lack of one has been killing them on third down) and some coordinators to help bring these rookies along instead of just stunting their development.

Also, there's really no news on the NBA lockout front other than the fact that they're still at a stalemate and as of right now the season won't begin until New Year's Eve. So basically you can assume an entire season of basketball will be lost. Makes no difference to me, I can't stand basketball, but hey, I gotta keep everyone here happy and updated.

Weekend Roundup

After a long weekend and really not much news other than the Pats and Bruins games, I went around and dug up some news worthy things and a couple not-so news worthy things that I could shit on. First, the Bruins:

• The game against Tampa was awesome. It was exactly how you want to see them play. They were aggressive, they created opportunities, they were physical, Timmy was once again stellar between the pipes, and Seguin had some dirty tape to tape passes. But, today's game against Colorado was painstaking to watch. Very little effort from anyone not named Bergeron, Marchand, Peverley, Seguin, and hell I'd even throw Pouliot in there.
• Tyler Seguin looks like a completely different player from the kid who was consistently benched and relegated to fourth line duties last year. His vision has gotten 10 times better, which is really just a result of being more comfortable in the league this year, because his vision while playing for Plymouth in the OHL was God-like. The 150 footer he made to Peverley this afternoon was something very few guys in the league can do. The kid gets the puck and instead of looking east to west like pretty much every other guy in the league, he looks south to north and that's exactly why he was able to spot Peverley streaking up the ice. But seriously, how in hell does Peverley miss the net on an opportunity like that?
• Tuukka was his usual self in net. Which is a good thing, because when he's his usual self, the other team is gonna have some problems scoring. Nothing was getting past him, and the team should be bowing down to him in the locker room right now because he's the only reason it wasn't a frigging blowout. The only reason Hejduk scored was because someone else got a piece of it, because once Tuukka is locked into that butterfly position you aren't gonna beat him unless you get a stupid bounce like that.
• Pouliot looked pretty good against Colorado. For those of you expecting him to come in and start scoring goals, you're an idiot. He was brought in here for a second chance and right now he's just trying to play a complete game and help the team in any way he can, which he's definitely doing. Whenever he's out there he's all over the puck. He hits, he fights in the corners, and brings energy with him every time he steps on the ice, which is something this team needs. Someone who can go out and bring energy is going to help the Bruins immensely, since Marchand can't do it all himself.

The Patriots:

• The Jets really are not a very good team. They are so overrated right now it isn't even funny. Unless Revis and Sanchez have perfect games, they're screwed. So don't let this Pats win fool you too much.
• On the same note, don't let the fact that the Jets really suck take away from the win. The team played an awesome game. Brady was sharp all day, and that one interception to Hernandez is one that he really should've caught.
• The defense finally had a good game and showed that they have the ability to play at an elite level. No, I didn't just say they're elite. I said they showed they CAN BE elite. I mean hell, it's the first game where they've actually come up with stops at the end of the game instead of shitting the bed and forcing Brady and the offense to do all the dirty work.
• Ochocinco caught two passes! Yay! Oh wait, he should be doing better? That's right, I forgot, he should be doing better. Come on Ocho, get with the program already would you?

Not much news on the baseball front. Here's what I managed to dig up:

• Some dude out in Illinois is "99.9% sure" he saw Theo Epstein getting a coffee or something at a Lincoln Park Starbucks, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. What do I think? Whoopdee freaking doo. I'm pretty sure I saw that Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish getting something to eat in Boston. Holy crap, that must mean the Sox are going to sign him!!! Come on, seriously? The idiot editor who actually thought that was newsworthy should be fired, because even if it was Theo that the guy saw, it really doesn't mean anything. It could just mean he was in the area for a getaway from the managerial search while Cherington took charge for a bit.
• Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal thinks the Sox might be using prospect Lars Anderson as trade bait this winter. If you're wondering who the hell that is, click on the link. And if you're wondering what he'll get you in a trade? Well let's put it this way. Billy Beane out in Oakland wouldn't do Anderson for Rich Harden straight up, he needed to have a PTBNL (Player to be Named Later) included, which gave the Sox an excuse to back out and get Erik Bedard. So, in terms that most of you would understand, he won't get very much unless he's the throw in of a major package for some big name player, which really isn't going to happen since the farm is basically wiped out from the Adrian Gonzalez trade.

One last note, the NBA and the NBA Players' Union met for a few hours today. The deal was if they couldn't get the framework for a new CBA in place at the meeting, the first two weeks of the season will be cancelled. So it's pretty safe to assume the first two weeks of the season are going to be cancelled, 'cause these two sides are just that far apart and that pissed at each other right now.