Sports Agenda For Wednesday (2/15/12)
Big Story:
Well, I think it's pretty safe to say the Miami Heat sent a big message to the rest of the league last night; Peyton Manning is still wanted in Indianapolis, kinda; the Panthers hit the ice again tonight; and why I hate the New York media.
The daddy mack will make you….jump, jump…about sports!
Heat: (off until Friday)
Game, set, match.
The Heat decided to put on a display for the rest of the league as to why they are the best team in the NBA.
So they swept a back-to-back-to-back series.
They didn't just sweep the series; they put their opponents into a vortex of suck.
Last night, the final in the three games in three night series, the Heat were basically unstoppable.
I flipped over to the Heat game in the second quarter and as I told my wife….dadgum, they're beating the snot out of them.
The final score was closer than the game actually was.
It was the second straight night I saw Eddy Curry on the floor, so you know the Heat beat the tar out of the Pacers.
LeBron had 23, Wade, had 16, Bosh had 13, and my man Norris Cole tied a career best with 20.
The bench again gave the Heat 42 points last night and only LeBron played more than 30 minutes last night.
Heck Wade barely played half the game and the Heat still dominated the Pacers.
The last three games have been a complete dismantling of the Pacers, Bucks, and the Hawks.
Add in a complete thumping of Washington last week and the Heat are rolling through February with just two losses.
Plus, the games are getting really ugly, really fast.
But, unlike earlier in the season, the Heat are keeping their foot on the gas until deep in the fourth quarter when the game is out of reach.
I don't think the team as a whole can play any better than they are right now.
They've got four games left over the next 13 days.
They play @Cleveland on Friday then return home to play Orlando on Sunday, Sacramento next Tuesday and New York next Thursday.
That's a pretty good schedule to end February with.
I think four wins are not out of the question there, course New York's game will depend on the Linsanity…which we'll talk about later.
Panthers: (vs. Ottawa Senators, 7:30 p.m.)
Well, the Panthers return to the ice tonight in need of another win as the stretch run to the Stanley Cup playoffs is about to begin.
The Cats are currently four points up on second place Washington and a winning streak would really help the team's playoff chances.
Florida plays Ottawa tonight, Washington Friday, and the Ducks on Sunday.
Ottawa is one point ahead of Florida in the playoff seeding race and a victory over them will serve as a boon to the Cats overall playoff work.
The team is 6-3-1 in the last 10 games and 14-5-7 at home this season.
Given they have five of the next seven at home, and the raod games are against the worst team in the NHL and a bad Maple Leafs team…things could finally start to look up for the Panthers after a rough January.
With a little more than a month to go in the season, the margin for error is decreasing by the day.
Peyton Manning:
I'm keeping track of this because there's a certain contingent of Dolphins fans who want Manning here, for some reason beyond my understanding.
Monday, Jim Irsay, Colts owner, said the Colts would like to have Manning back…to an incentive laden deal.
In other words, come back to us on our terms or don't come back at all.
Playing this out in the media is only going to make things worse between the two sides.
I honestly think Manning is going to force the Colts' hand one way or another.
Why?
Because based on his contract…if the Colts keep him….
He'll receive a $28 million roster bonus to start the season plus a $7.5 million salary for this season.
In other words, he'll cost the team $35.7 million for this season alone.
Combine that with the roughly $26 million he got last season and in just two years he'll have been paid more than $50 million.
Add in the cost of Andrew Luck (roughly $23-26 million guaranteed), the number one pick the Colts hold, and just for the quarterback position the Colts will have to spend more than $50 million of the $120-125 million salary cap on the quarterback position.
In other words, Peyton has all the control right now.
The Colts have to sit there and take it because that's the contract they negotiated.
Gotta hand it to Peyton's agent, it's a heckuva deal.
On the other hand, if the Colts keep Peyton and trade the Luck pick, they could really build a heckuva team with the bounty of picks for Luck.
But that's assuming Peyton still has the ability to throw the football with any velocity.
Which is still a HUGE question right now.
Linsanity/New York Media:
First, let me get this out of the way….
I think the Lin kid for the Knicks is a joy to watch and it's making Knicks basketball exciting…which hasn't been done since Patrick Ewing was playing for the Knicks.
What makes me sick is the way the New York media has blown it out of proportion, led by ESPN.
The mothership has made this guy bigger than Tim Tebow.
I hate to say it, but if he played for Milwaukee, no one would care.
But because it's the New York team, and New York is THE END ALL BE ALL, then it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Look, the kid's playing in an offense that any point guard who has a half of a brain could flourish in.
He's playing lights out and I think it's awesome.
But it's not as big as all of the hype has made it out to be.
Once New York starts winning divisions, conferences, and NBA titles, then they can be relevant again.
Considering the Knicks haven't won a playoff game in about, I think it's upwards of a decade now, they are not worth the effort covering.
Give the time to teams like Miami, Oklahoma City, Los Angeles Clippers, and many others.
Instead, we're going to be force fed this crap until Carmelo Anthony returns full-time.
Then the ball will stop with him and he'll jack up shot after shot because he'll be insanely jealous of Lin.
It's coming, trust me, it's coming.
