freelance dogs

I’ve been getting more and more into football.  And by football I mean the global definition, not our regional one.  American sports have a lot of exciting moments.  There’s the World Series, the Final Four, the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup Playoffs etc.  However, other than championship games or playoff runs, some of the best excitement is during David vs. Goliath encounters like Boise St. over ZeroU a few years back.

We are lacking one other thing that could add the David and Goliath factor and make sports much more exciting in this country – a relegation/promotion system.  I love that about the football leagues.  MANкомпютри I wish we could have that.  No more tanking seasons for draft picks (and the lotteries this causes).  No more MLB payrolls less than what superstars make by themselves.

I realize we don’t have such an amazing minor league structure right now to emulate it 100%.  So maybe we could do this – if your team finishes last place, you’re on “warning”.  Finish last place the next year or maybe the next two?  You’re relegated.  Bye!  Don’t let the door hit you.  And don’t worry, you’ll get a chance for promotion back up, if you care to start putting in some effort.

How nice would it be to get rid of some of the suck-ass teams in professional leagues and replace them with lesser-known squads with owners that actually give a damn and want to win?!  How nice would it be to see the Fort Worth Cats (first team that came to mind) get a shot at the major leagues?  Insert your local minor league team name here.  At the very least, it would generate a lot more interest…

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1. Jon Daniels has been vehemently (and correctly) criticized for some of the trades he has made as GM. But take a look at the last four major deals he has made and tell me if they don’t make you giggle:

Deal 1: Kenny Lofton to Cleveland for minor-league C/DH Max Ramirez (currently feasting on AA pitching at Frisco.

Deal 2: Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay to Atlanta for C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus (next year’s shortstop, possibly), LHP Matt Harrison (just threw a no-hitter at Frisco), LHP Beau Jones and RHP Neftali Feliz (flamethrower currently playing for Clinton).

Deal 3: Eric Gagne to Boston for LHP Kason Gabbard, OF David Murphy and minor-league OF Engel Beltre (an 18-yr old freak – testimony here).

Deal 4: Edinson Volquez to Cincinnati for OF Josh Hamilton.

The man deserves to keep his job. I don’t care what anyone says.

2. A stab at what the Ranger lineup will look like circa 2010. This doesn’t even take into account what the Rangers might be able to get for Blalock or Laird, both of whom I’m assuming will be flipped, or some of the younger prospects, such as Beltre. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Daniels uses Milton Bradley as a trade asset this year to commit another Gagne-like heist.

C: Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, Max Ramirez
1B: Chris Davis
2B: Kinsler
SS: Andrus
3B: Young
LF: Murphy
CF: Julio Borbon (2007 1st rd draft pick)
RF: Hamilton
DH: Max Ramirez

I’m no good at projecting pitching. Someone else can take a stab at that.

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Plan A (Offseason): in no particular order

Part I:

(Assume salary cap filler in all proposed trades)

Choice 1) Agree to a deal that sends Josh Howard to Charlotte (back to his home state) and Jason Richardson to Dallas

Choice 2) Agree to a deal that sends Josh Howard to Los Angeles and Corey Maggette to Dallas

Choice 3) Find some way to bring both Richardson and Maggette here.

Part II:

Choice 1) Re-sign DeSagana Diop as backup center (per db.com, he’s interested)

Choice 2) D-Lord from db.com’s suggestion: Sign Kurt Thomas as the backup 4/5

Plan B: The Trading Deadline

Suppose that the Mavs gear up for a final run. Now, further suppose that it doesn’t go well, and the team is lingering around the lower playoff spots in the West at the trading deadline, or just out of the money. If it comes to that, it’s time to sell high. And the first guy to go would have to be Dirk, as much for his own good as for the good of the franchise. The way I see it, there should be two priorities in a Nowitzki trade: 1) Trade Dirk to a team that has a legitimate shot to win a title in the following three years (before he passes his prime). He has been a great player and citizen here, and he deserves it. 2) Get a good-to-great young player to build around (preferably a 4) plus expiring contracts and draft picks in return.

Perhaps my bias gives me tunnel vision, but I believe the balance of power will continue to lie in the West, so I didn’t even give much thought to Eastern Conference teams. As I scanned the West, one team popped out at me. Here’s my proposal:

Dallas trades Nowitzki to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge (good, young 4 to build around), Raef LaFrentz (large expiring, and Mavs pay the final year as punishment for signing him to the deal in the first place), other necessary filler, and first-round picks in 2009 and 2010.

I don’t know how the salary cap-ology of this would work out, but given the contracts of those involved, it should be close.

Dallas gets a young player in Aldridge (also a Dallas native and former UT player), cap relief and draft picks. Portland gets to put this on the floor every night:

1: Jarrett Jack
2: Brandon Roy
3: I won’t pretend to know who starts at 3 for them, and I’m too lazy to look.
4: Dirk Nowitzki
5: Greg Oden

Counter-proposals welcome in comments.

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From an Eddie Sefko article, a list of possible offseason acquisitions for the Mavs. A sampling below, with my comments:

Jason Richardson – yes, please
Gerald Wallace – didn’t he just sign a long-term deal?
Corey Maggette – meh…
Ron Artest – please no
C.J. Miles – a diamond in the rough?
Eduardo Najera – so Corby can resurrect the song

Flotsam and jetsam fill out the list: Matt Barnes, Pietrus, Earl Barron, various other bargains, eggs, beans, and five.

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Oh ye masses of the unwashed, lend me now your ears, your hearts and your minds.  I am here to tell of the great and glorious journey that will be legend in due tyme.

Ye know not, most of ye, that of which I speak.  I will now tell you the tale of the mighty giant-killers, the Dallas Stars.

Seriously though, count me among those who stayed up deliriously until well past one in the morning on a Sunday night/Monday morning for the result of the Stars-Sharks series finale.  If you have not been watching this playoff ride, you really need to.  Let me be brutally honest – playoff basketball is fun, don’t get me wrong.  When the Mavs were in it, I had a ball watching the entirety of games.  However, you just plain can’t live and die with every shot.  You know there are going to be runs, going to be peaks and valleys, and that the game will usually be decided in the last two minutes.

Someone told me that once, during the Mavs heyday, that they don’t care for the NBA playoffs, due to the whole “all you need to watch is the last 2:00″ thing.  I laughed, thought it folly, and dismissed them with some offence taken.

Then I watched a real playoff game.  Mind you, the Mavs playoff games were huge.  But looking back, they were all at their height during… the final two minutes.  Have you ever wondered why the euros are so into football (soccer to you and I)?  I think I know now.  At any moment in a game like that, there can be one mistake, one lucky bounce, one spectacular play that can swing the game and drive daggers into the hearts of men.  That’s how I’ve been feeling watching the Stars.  And in a game like Sunday night, it can go from enthralling edge-of-your-seat action during regulation, to sheer heart attack-inducing, take-your-breath-away human emotional madness.  They have a great goaltender.  They have cool beards (sometimes).  They have a badass theme song recorded by local legends.  And to top things off, they’re actually WINNING!

So watch the Western Conference Finals.  Watch Stars-Red Wings.  Get the nitroglycerin out for your chest pains, the inhaler for your asthma.  Do it big with some burgers grilling and some Canadian beer.  Watch it on HD if you like to complain about not seeing the puck.  Get ready for some real action.  And if you thought the last two minutes of a Mavs game was exciting, you may be in for the same during, oh perhaps, the last 69 minutes of any given quadruple-overtime thriller, living and dying with every shot.

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