THE GREAT MAMBINO

Moving over to www.thegreatmambino.com!

2013-02-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

Hey kids,

After several years on blogger, we've moved on to bigger and better things.

Starting today, February 11th, 2013, we'll no longer be posting new material at this web address. All of our previous posts have been uploaded to our big boy website, www.thegreatmambino.com

Reset your bookmarks and head on over! We promise you'll enjoy.

-MAMBINO

State of the Bronx: What To Do With A-Rod

2013-02-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

(Once the story broke regarding yet another story regarding Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and PEDs, I sent out the MAMBINO-signal to our two resident New York Yankees fans, El Miz and Bockerknocker. To my surprise, Mizzy sent me in the direction of his friend Vin and a thousand word rant on A-Rod, his contract and ensuing worthlessness. Too good to be left off of MAMBINO, this is Vin's maiden post. Let's make him feel welcome.)

KOBEsh: Vin--let's establish some baseline qualifications before you go on a fullblown rant. Having watched most games of A-Rod's Yankees career, especially the last two seasons-worth, how much do you feel he has left in the thank? A large portion of this answer has to predicated on a pretty invasive hip surgery, but regardless, what do you see as the best case scenario?

Vin: Regarding issue #1 i.e. how much does A-Rod have left in the tank, I think the answer is not much.

The number one problem for him, and this has been the case since 2008, the first year of his 10 year extension, is that he is consistently tripped up by injury. Some of these injuries have been of the nagging variety and probably have become more prevalent simply because he is getting older (2008 and 2011 are good examples). Some are much more serious and could very well be related to what now appears to be years of PED use (the hip surgeries before 2009 and 2013). Some are of the freak variety (getting hit in the hand by a King Felix fastball in 2012). But no matter how you slice it, since signing the worst contract in sports history at 10 years and $275 million, A-Rod has averaged 124 games played a season, and only 108 as a third baseman. Seemingly every spring training begins with Rodriguez talking about how he is in the best shape he's been in in years and how this offseason was the first time in years he was able to dedicated himself fully to training for some unique reason. He was even saying that at the end of this grisly October that "this is the first time in years I will be able to train without worrying about rehabbing". Coming into 2011 in particular, the buzz in the media was all about how he looked better than he had in years, how the spark in his bat was there again, and he did start out the season very strong... and ended up playing 99 games.

My point: I accepted several seasons ago that Alex Rodriguez is a 120 game a season player... or by definition not a full time player. It's hard to have a very high ceiling when that is the reality.

As for his actual production while playing, even last year he was an above average starting third baseman (.783 OPS, 18 homers in 122 games). But a quick look at his stats indicates that he is already well on the gradual decline any major leaguer eventually gravitates towards. The last season that his performance was truly elite was 2007, the last time it was great was 2009.

So, best case scenario going forward, even before these new revelations? Well, he's out at least half of this season best case, so you would pencil him in for maybe 65 games after he came back at the All-Star Break. I'd then give him 2 more seasons where you're hoping he can give you 120 games played/100 at third. But to pretend he would somehow begin to improve his performance, rather than continue to decline, after another major injury and more aging would be stupid. Add in the factor that he apparently will be off the "juice," a term I'll use to cover all the different PEDs he's apparently been helped by. I'd say the best case scenario is he is a part time third baseman/DH who provides slightly above average numbers when actually on the field for another 2-3 years before his body completely breaks down and/or he declines into a truly subpar player. But that is truly relying on the descriptor "best case."

So to summarize, we're looking at a 120-game a year player (maximum) whose production is likely to be either slightly above major league-level or merely average major league-level when playing. That's not good enough for any MLB club, let alone a perennial contender like the Yankees, and that's not even factoring in the money. A-Rod has stated that he has zero intention to retire willingly, while the team is making behind the scenes preparations to attempt a premature severing of ties with him.

KOBEsh: That all being said, how do you see this playing out with the Yankees, versus how SHOULD it play out? Are those different outcomes?

Vin: With regard to issue # 1 (how will the future play out and how should it play out), two things should be made clear first.

From ARod's perspective, the most important thing is that he is owed $114 million over the next five years. You would have to think that even ARod, who is by all accounts someone without a high level of self-awareness, understands that at this point his legacy is finished. America, as is often said, loves giving second chances. But you only get one. He will forever be known as a cheater and a liar first, a great baseball player second. And that's before getting into all the other complications that always accompanied his career outside of the PEDs. He has zero chance at making the Hall of Fame, even if voters eventually turned around on guys like Bonds and Clemens under the totally reasonable "we have no idea who was doing what then and there wasn't even testing back then" theory.

SO...ARod's primary motivation, unlike the last time he was outed for PED use, is to get as much of that money as possible. He has no reason to admit to anything and help MLB in any potential effort to suspend him for 50 games and the Yankees in any effort to void his contract. There is no downside to lawyering up and lying through his teeth--his legacy is in shreds forever and he will never be able to rebuild it. With his denials, he isn't even an Emperor with No Clothes like Lance Armstrong was for so long--he's a naked Emperor who understands he's naked and knows that trying to put his clothes back on won't lessen his embarrassment but just risk him a lot of money.

From the Yankees' perspective, they really have no reason to not to try and void his contract, even though the chances of them successfully doing so are infinitesimal. Last time A-Rod was outed, they were on the hook for another 9 years and he still presumably had a lot left in the tank. They couldn't burn the bridge.

Now? By all accounts the organization is fed up with him after he chose extra innings of an ALCS game in which he was benched during a postseason when he was completely failing to throw a ball to cute girls in the stands to get their number. There are five years left on the deal and he's already out for at least half of one of them. He does not have much left in the tank at all if his declining numbers, recent injury history, and postseason performance are indicators. They owe the guy $114 million- even a 1% chance of voiding the deal is worth publicly attempting to, considering the potential benefit (save $114 million) and the potential damage (burn a bridge with a player whose bridge is holding on by a string anyway and who has no other options than to return to your team if he does ever return).

With all that in mind- what will happen? Hard to say because there are so many variables:

1) Does A-Rod heal fully from this latest surgery?

2) If so, when does he come back?

3) Do these revelations eventually lead to a suspension and if so, when (by all accounts MLB is going to need a smokier smoking gun to suspend these guys, and that could take quite a while to procure).

In my perfect world, A-Rod has played his last game as a Yankee. The "best case" scenario for him is the possibility of a suspension is off the table due to lack of evidence and he is healthy and ready to play by after the All-Star break. In my mind, even in that scenario the Yankees should go to him and try to negotiate a buy out for some high percentage of his remaining money and, if he refuses, just pay him his $114 million to leave. I know that clubhouse chemistry is often overemphasized by fans that have never even been in a clubhouse and I have no idea how distracting a force he would actually be if he returned. BUT I just find it hard to believe the production that A-Rod would bring over the next however many years before he is bad enough and the money owed is low enough that they buy him out is worth the drama his return brings. At the very least, I know that as a fan I would be willing to take the hit to payroll and flexibility in team construction that paying him his money to go away would cause. That is how tired I am of all the A-Rod drama. I would rather be worse without him than better with him (and, as I've said, I don't think we would be that much better with him considering the netting out of what he has left and the BS that comes with his return).

Important things to keep in mind:

1) Say he returns to the team but the Yankees know he is likely to be suspended soon? They have an incentive to let him return, as they will save 50 games worth of his salary upon a suspension (not a small amount of $$) and can then cut him after his suspension is up

2) He is 14 home runs away from passing Willie Mays on the all time list and achieving his first $6 million home run milestone bonus. Would Yanks really bring him back for whatever BS production he's going to give, just to have to pay him another $6 million on top of everything?

KOBEsh: You brought it up a bit, but let's delve into it full bore. What do you think it is about A-Rod that would make him want to come back to Yankee Stadium? Is it competitiveness, or merely ego? Do you think the NY faithful will lustily boo him, or stick by their guy knowing that he's not going anywhere?

Vin: The only thing people universally admire about Alex Rodriguez is that he is obsessed with baseball and has a work ethic to go along with that obsession. One of the many things that people universally loathe about A-Rod is his apparent need to be the focus of attention at all times. So, I think it's pretty easy to analyze ARod on this one without personally knowing him. I guess the only downside to coming back is that he will have to do a big press conference/media gauntlet where he has to discuss the Biogenesis records and will have to deal with the fans', hometown and national, negative reactions to him. But for a guy who lives on baseball and notoriety, I think those possibilities are far less scary than his career and place in the spotlight ending 5 years earlier than he was expecting.

As to how will the Yankees fans react to him? I really, really hope negatively in the short term and long term. I have no doubt fans will react negatively to him initially; why wouldn't they? The last time he was seen on a baseball field he was a prominent component of the worst offensive showing in recent Yankees postseason history and reconfirming the perception, fair or not, that he sucks when it matters most. He was playing ass games with girls in the stands during a tense, extra inning playoff game after being benched for sheer incompetence despite being the highest paid player in baseball. And now he's been implicated once again as a cheater and has been proven to be an inveterate liar. I think a player being outed as a cheater and a liar for the SECOND time would test fans' loyalty to any player, even a fan favorite, and fans would feel responsible for letting said player know it, even if it meant booing him initially just to express that sense of betrayal and disapproval. And A-Rod, clearly, has never been a fan favorite in New York.

What I hope is that this negativity continues even if he succeeds on the field (spoiler alert: I don't think that success is going to be much of a problem). To me, it's pretty clear that sports fans' number one loyalty is to winning and they are willing to rationalize a lot if a player is helping the team win. And that's fine, you watch sports because you want to have fun rooting for your team, not to make moral stands. I've rooted for tons of players I didn't like because they were wearing my team's jersey--A-Rod and Clemens being the prime examples. But Rodriguez has really dragged down the Yankees franchise since joining it and has made being a Yankee fan much less fun with all his drama, both that of his own creation and that which isn't really his fault. Finding a way to root against him but for the team is going to be hard, but I'm going to try to find that balance and hope others do as well. I've rationalized the guy and his BS too many times.

KOBEsh: Keeping all your hatred of this clown in mind, how do you rationalize this with the title in 2009 he had a really strong hand in winning?

This is the only reason I was disappointed when I heard this news. I couldn't care less about A-Rod's legacy. I couldn't care less if this ends his career and if anything I will be happy about it even if it hurts the team's chances. But how do I reconcile the fact that this ruins A-Rod's legacy with the fact that the key part of his on the field legacy is the 2009 postseason, the postseason when he finally solved his "clutch" woes and carried us to a championship (and any Yankee fan that claims he wasn't the 1 or 1A reason we won those series with Sabathia being the other is either lying to himself or doesn't know baseball)? How do I watch highlights of that postseason, which brought me so much joy and satisfaction at the time, and fully enjoy them knowing what I know now when ARod is the center of every other highlight?

It sucks looking back on the 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 championships and knowing there were key guys on those teams that were cheating, but it's pretty easy to not let it ruin your perceptions of the results because that truly was a Wild West time in baseball when we have no idea who was doing what and there wasn't even testing or a formal rule against PEDs. But 2009 was a different story. There was testing, there was a rule. And while we will never know who was doing what when fully, it can't not bother me that our postseason MVP was definitely cheating.

Can I rationalize this and be 100% OK with those memories? No. Can I try my damndest and find a way to be OK enough with them that I'll enjoy the 2009 championship? Absolutely. As these Biogenesis records show, guys are still using and we'll never know exactly who, exactly when, and exactly how it has affected the competitions. I'm a sports fan. At the end of the day, I'd much rather have a victory to rationalize than no victory at all.

One additional thought:

In addition to A-Rod having played his last game as a Yankee, this fan's best case scenario also includes him becoming a pariah after retirement, whenever that does happen. The history speaks for itself- guys that fess up to steroid use are forgiven, accepted back into the game and society, and even celebrated, guys that continue to lie in spite of all evidence are shunned and not welcome. Andy Pettitte, who completely regained and even expanded his Yankee legacy after being outed for HGH use, is the best example here. But even Jason Giambi, who didn't even admit doing steroids but rather offered a lame apology for unspecified crimes, has long ago been forgiven and forgotten. In 2008, his last year in NY, Giambi was embraced by the fans more strongly than ever before, racking up 32 homers and growing a goofy mustache. The guy almost just became the manager of the Rockies for Christ's sake.

Bonds and Clemens, however, are generally regarded as cheaters and liars, national disgraces or national punchlines depending how seriously you view PED use. Many mainstream media people have said "Well, A-Rod can just lie and lie--it worked for Clemens and it will work for him." But it didn't work for Clemens! Clemens' goal was to convince the general public that he didn't use PEDs and he has convinced no one. Along the way, he was charged with serious crimes and, yes, he got off on the charges but his goal in denying it all certainly wasn't to be charged with a crime, rack up zillions in lawyer fees, and then get off free. It was to clear his name. If anything, his name is only more sullied than when he started.

Clemens and Bonds have probably put themselves in a position where they can't even backtrack and tell the truth because of legal issues, at least until some statute of limitations expires, and even if they did it would likely be received how Lance's admission and apology was: too little, too late. A-Rod is setting himself up for the same treatment; but with so much money at stake, with even a 50 game suspension potentially costing him millions, he needs to lie. And that behavior will finish his name off forever. If he ever does come clean in the future, it will be too little, too late. To be fair, I don't even think an admission and an apology now will help him much (as I said previously, you only get one second chance). He will be lucky to get a Yankees press conference whenever he does retire. He can forget about any retired numbers, any Alex Rodriguez Day, any Old Timers' Games. Looking at Bonds, at least he still has sanctuary in San Francisco. A-Rod will be more comparable to Clemens' situation, but perhaps even worse. He will be one of the greatest players of all time, without a home team to call his own in retirement, loathed by every fan base he played in front of.

Seeing is believing, as the Lakers take an unreal victory in Brooklyn

2013-02-06T12:31:00.000-05:00

(A MAMBINO live report from Brooklyn for the Nets-Lakers game last night)

"Unreal. Just...unreal."

I slumped back in my seat time after time, stunned at the game that was taking place in front of me. Quarter after quarter, the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers continued to shake convention in a contest that couldn't be any less believable. Still, I whispered in amazement for 48 minutes, sometimes with a smile on my face and others with a bewildered scowl, hands atop my head.

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Brooklyn Nets in their first visit to the Barclays Center last night, 92-83, in a game the Lakers had to have, Brooklyn couldn't have tried harder to give away and ultimately, Pau Gasol would love to have back.

The Barclays Center is merely a 30-minute train ride away from my apartment. This gigantic iron behemoth is brilliantly located in the middle of New York's second most heralded borough, crossing almost a dozen subway lines and the Long Island Railroad. It stands out from the surrounding environ of a typical urban center, as if Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum lost the war on July 4th and a spaceship landed in the middle of the BK. The Barclays Center is convenient, marvelous, and most importantly, thanks to its NBA tenants, cheap.

Despite a move out of the swamp in New Jersey to a brilliant, shining, $1 billion dollar arena, the now Brooklyn Nets are struggling to find their place in NYC. Attendance is up to 16th this season, a solid upward trend from finishing no better than 25th in crowd support since 2009. However, like with any expansion or relocation franchise, it's been difficult to find a fervent, dedicated fan base when a team has little tradition, few marketable stars, and generations of followers tied to another organization. New Yorkers are still very dedicated to their beloved Knicks, and the ticket price to see the now contending Bockers is sky high. For the playoff-bound Nets? There's a far smaller mortgage to be paid for attending a game in Brooklyn. Knowing all of this before showing up to Barclays tonight, I shouldn't have been so surprised by the swath of Lakers fans in front of me.

Still, even high fives from strangers clad in Lakers hats and headbands couldn't distract me from the task at hand--defeating the then 28-19 Brooklyn Nets. LA came into the game short-staffed, with Dwight Howard missing his second consecutive game due to a re-aggravated shoulder injury and Metta World Peace due to a bogus suspension for "punching" Brandon Knight during Sunday's Pistons game. Chief amongst my concerns were how anyone would be able to check the 6'7" Joe Johnson, if Reggie Evans would now gobble up 25 boards instead of 16 now that Dwight was ruled out and if Steves Nash and Blake would just spot Deron Williams the 20 he would eventually score.

Amazingly--unreal-ly--this never came to pass.

(Read the rest at Silver Screen and Roll after the jump)

Make or Break Month: What Are the Lakers Up Against in February?

2013-02-01T15:26:00.001-05:00

(My newest from Silver Screen & Roll)

Thirty-six games is all that stands between the Los Angeles Lakers and either a merely disappointing season or one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

As our own Drew Garrison wrote yesterday, this Lakers team simply can't be trusted with your emotions; like a mercurial adolescent, there's little indication of which squad will show its face night to night, quarter to quarter, minute to minute. It's been a season of teases for the Lakers and their fans, vacillating wildly between the gutty, persistent crew that defeated the best team in the West, the one that, just days later, lost to the worst team in the West in a ridiculous 540 second meltdown.

Regardless of which way you sway with this Lakers team--having written them off or blindly hoping for a miracle stretch run--there's little doubt that by the middle of February we should all know there this team is headed in April.

The next 28 days are pivotal for not just the Lakers, but of course for their main competitors for the bottom two spots on the Western Conference playoffs bracket. The Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks remain in a five-team scrum for the "honor" of facing destruction via superhuman Oklahoma City ~~Avengers~~ Thunder squad or a methodical, Batman-esque deconstruction by the San Antonio Spurs.

Just to be clear about what exactly the Lakers are facing this month, let's break down team-by-team the four weeks of February:

Peep the rest after the jump!

Instant Trade Analysis: Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors

2013-01-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

Toronto Raptors get: F Rudy Gay, C Hamed Hadaddi

Detroit Pistons get: PG Jose Calderon

Memphis Grizzlies get: PF Ed Davis, SF Tayshaun Prince, F Austin Daye, Toronto's 2nd Round pick

The Grizz finally jettisoned Rudy Gay out their hallway this afternoon, shunting off the extremely talented but often disappointing forward off to Toronto in a three-way deal that also involved the Detroit Pistons.

Today's trade was the culmination of years of speculation. Gay had been on the block for years, ever since he was notoriously absent for the Grizzlies' greatest run of success in their Western Conference semifinals loss two seasons ago with a shoulder injury. The summer before, Gay had signed a near-max contract extension with Memphis, paying him $82 million. Usually, money like that isn't an issue with a team--after all, do you think Houston is blinking at the $80 million dollar price tag attached to James Harden's beard?

The biggest problem with Gay's contract wasn't how well the team played without him, but that Gay simply hasn't improved and shown himself worthy of his massive payday. Since his second season, Gay has remained nearly the same player--an athletic specimen who could use his size, strength and speed to get anywhere he wanted on the court, but simply lacked the outside shooting touch or post game to dominate on all angles. His statistics are extremely telling--season after season, he essentially looks like the same guy. Defensively, he remains an above average player, but offensively there hasn't been much progress to his game. Just watching against other small forwards like Andre Iguodala and Luol Deng, it's clear that Gay has more physical gifts than either--and yet, both have the All-Star credits to there name that Gay does not. There's something to be said about fulfilling potential in this league, even if that player is still providing better than average production. Deng and Iguodala play extremely hard every night, and seem to hit whatever ceiling is in front of them. Gay as still left us wanting year after year.

Shipping out Gay seemed to be an easy decision for the Grizzlies. Yes, his 16 points and 6 rebounds will be missed, but there's nothing else he did that Memphis' other personnel can't replicate. Gay wasn't a floor spacer in the least, helping contribute to the Grizzlies' basement level production in three-point shooting. He does have a decent mid-range game, but Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph can easily take those shots in his stead. Mike Conley will have to penetrate much more in Gay's stead--his best skill--which won't be as much of a problem seeing as how he'll have another shooter to help him on the perimeter.

In return, the Grizzlies got three players perhaps more suited for Memphis' needs. Ed Davis has emerged this year after a disappointing two seasons in the league, averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds over the season, but upticked to 14 and 8 in January in 33 minutes a game with injuries to Andrea Bargnani and Jonas Valanciunas. Teamed Darrell Arthur, Z-Bo and Gasol, Davis will complete one of the most fearsome and tough frontcourts at the top of any playoff bracket. Tayshaun Prince is much better shooter than any forward on the Memphis roster, though he's mostly taken it out of his game for the past four seasons, except in last resort circumstances. However, when he does shoot from long, he does so at a solid 37% clip, which would tie Mike Conley for team-best honors. He'll start for the Grizzlies and be asked to spot up on the three point line at all times, either as a rifleman, a pick and roll slasher or a pick and pop shooter. Knowing coach Lionel Hollins' focus on defense, I doubt Austin Daye will get much burn in his rotation. With a bench including Jerryd Bayless, Tony Wroten, Tony Allen and a returning Quincy Pondexter, it doesn't look like there's much room for him.

As far as Toronto and Detroit, at first glance it would seem that Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo and Detroit GM Joe Dumars are competing for the "World's Worst NBA Front Office Official" trophy.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Detroit has "long-coveted" Calderon, but for reasons I can't quite divine. True, the Pistons are just 4 1/2 games out of the playoffs, following the both hobbled Celtics and Sixers. True, the Pistons have second year point guard Brandon Knight who is sorely in need of some first-hand tutoring from a pass-first distributor. True, the team signed a 32 year-old Tayshaun Prince to a four year deal that they needed to unload.

But why would the Pistons keep on trying to take themselves out of the lottery this year when they seemingly only have three players that fit into their long-term plans, including Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and potentially Knight? Why would they be trying to bring in a heady veteran who could help get the team into the playoffs when Charlotte Bobcats owns their first round pick that will only be conveyed if it's OUT OF THE LOTTERY? Why would they sign Tayshaun Prince to a massive deal 13 months ago when they knew they weren't going to compete anytime soon AND he was only worth a deal half the size and length?

However, two caveats to Detroit's side of the trade; Calderon's $10 million dollar expiring contract can be pedaled again before the trade deadline, so perhaps Joe D has another move up his sleeve. Also, Detroit will now be almost $25 million under the cap this summer, which could be a potential boon for the Pistons. However, the last time that happened, Joe D signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to five year deals, which murdered Detroit's salary cap situation and hopes of Motor City hoop fans nationwide. This is a perplexing move; it's a rebuilding tool in that the franchise will have significant cap room going forward, but at the same time, could lose a draft pick in the mid-teens by bringing in a player that could help them to the playoffs.

For Toronto, this is a bit of a head scratcher as well. First and foremost, this ties up DeMar DeRozan, Landry Fields, Rudy Gay, Amir Johnson and Andrea Bargnani into an excess of $48 million a season over this and the next two years. Like Joe D, Colangelo could have another trade up his sleeve, but I doubt it. This is the team that the Raps could be working with for 2 1/2 years, and even with a near-All Star in Kyle Lowry, this is a borderline low-seeded playoff team, possibly a 5-seed if everything went swimmingly. However, that hardly seems like a good reason to give yourself zero financial flexibility for over two years.

On the court, I'm not sure the pieces fit either. DeRozan, Fields and Gay all can't hit a shot outside of 15 feet, and with Amir Johnson, Alan Anderson, Terence Ross, Bargnani, Lowry and Valanciunas, there might be one or two too many players here. It seems to me that Toronto's three small forwards are all extremely redundant towards one another, and there might not be a way out--if coach Dwane Casey plays Gay at the power forward spot next to Bargnani to get another shooter, there's not enough rebounders. On the flipside, pairing Gay with Valanciunas gives the team no shooting. It's going to be very hard for Casey to juggle the minutes for this line-up, especially with how inflexible a lot of his players are. They'll miss Davis' toughness and rebounding a lot, especially when waiting for Valanciunas to develop and playing Johnson such heavy minutes.

However, in Gay the Raptors are getting another with high upside--like Lowry--but little fulfilled promise. Perhaps if both underachievers can become an All-Stars, this trade will have been worth it. But history isn't on their side.

Overall, I like this deal for Memphis quite a bit, but Mike Conley, Z-Bo and Gasol are going to have to step in and replicate most of the things that Gay was providing. For Detroit and Toronto, these trades have some upside, but with how dismal each of these club's GMs have been the past four years, there's really no reason to suspect that they'll be able to use these advantages to the benefit of their teams.

The Post-Rondo Celtics - Where Do They Go From Here?

2013-01-30T16:56:00.000-05:00

(Along with our man Thunderstolt, we sent out an APB for The King after it was announced Sunday that Rajon Rondo was done for the season with a torn ACL. To dispute some rumblings in the New England, our man sent us a couple bullet points regarding his beloved Celtics)

The Celtics are not a better team without Rondo

The King: Incredibly, some Celtics fans have suggested that the Celtics may be better off without Rondo, citing statistics such as his +/- this year. There are a million ways to prove such thinking is ludicrous, but I’ll do it simply by providing one link:

KOBEsh: I have nothing further to add. People are stupid.

The Celtics can still make the playoffs and be a force

The King: This year’s Celtics have more individual talent than last year’s squad which made it to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The issue for the Celtics this year has been chemistry, particularly on the defensive end. Their defense has already improved significantly since Avery Bradley has returned and Courtney Lee replacing a large share of Rondo’s minutes will further improve this (Rondo is an average defender despite his reputation). If the Celtics can improve their team D, something that is not far-fetched when you take into account all of the new rotation players this year, they have the ability to turn into a top-notch defense. They weren’t an elite offensive team even with Rondo, so they certainly aren’t going to be one now. With that said, Pierce can handle the playmaking duties for the Celtics and better minutes from the underperforming Jeff Green, Jason Terry and to a lesser extent, Avery Bradley, could help mitigate some of the defensive drop off.

KOBEsh: I think you're underrating how awful the Celtics are going to be offensively--out of the 1,613 field goals the Celtics have scored this season, Rajon Rondo is responsible for either scoring or assisting on 39% of them. Just for contrast, Chris Paul has scored or assisted on just 34% of his team's field goals. Of course neither metric accounts for each individual's foul shooting nor if their passes were turned into trips to the line. However, my crude metric shows just how integral Rondo is to the Celtics' scoring "prowess", if you even want to call it that. They currently rank 28th in offensive efficiency, and it's hard to see that getting any better with their starting point guard off the floor. Yes, Avery Bradley, Leandro Barbosa, Jason Terry and Courtney Lee can pick up some of the slack, but neither man is the creative playmaker or passer that Rondo is.

The Celtics should not break up the band

(Note: Paul Pierce has two years, $32 million left on his deal, while Kevin Garnett has three years, $36 million)

The King: When you take into account performance and contracts, the Celtics have only two tradeable veterans on the team: Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. However, KG has a no-trade clause and, if the Celtics decide to trade him, he will control the process. Consequently, the return in any package for him is likely to be limited.

Regarding Paul Pierce, there's two options:

Option A - Trade Pierce for young players to build for future and give up on the next two years.

Option B - Keep Pierce, a fan favorite who will keep up interest in the team, and compete for the next two years. Use cap space to sign young players in two years (who probably won't be as good as any of the young players they could trade for, but they shouldn't be significantly worse).

I prefer option B over option A. My opinion might change if we could get a very good young player in return (e.g. Derrick Favors), but I just don't see that happening. The only very good young player they might be able to get in return is Eric Bledsoe, but then they would have to flip him or Rondo in the future. More specifically, all of the trade rumors I've seen involving Rudy Gay (who is really just a rich man's Jeff Green, both in skills and in terms of being overpaid) make absolutely no sense.

KOBEsh: Rajon Rondo is obviously the future of the Celtics, regardless of whether you like the man or you don't. When he comes back from this injury, Pierce, KG, JET, et al will be another year older into their late-thirties.

Those two facts being what they are, I don't see any reason why the Celtics should keep this core in tact. It's become glaringly clear over the past several seasons that Rondo is a difficult player not just to play with, but to simply be around. If he's one of or the franchise cornerstone, Boston must build around him with players that are going to best complement his personality (not an easy task) and skill set--i.e. willing spot up shooters and bigs who can box out and stay close to the rack for easy flushes. Pierce and Garnett have proven to fit those criteria, but both are going to be out of the league in three to four years. This injury is the perfect excuse for Danny Ainge to start the rebuilding effort right now. The Celtics are poor enough where a top-10 seed could still be in play, not to mention next year as well, seeing as Rondo could miss the first two months of 2013-2014. True, the return on Pierce and especially Garnett isn't going to be great (a couple picks, a middling young player and a big expiring deal?), but Boston was going to have to rebuild two seasons from now anyway. With Rondo this was a borderline playoff team who, as Bill Simmons noted in his podcast on Monday, was playing their asses off.

Finding complementary teammates for Rondo and the way he wants to play has been an extremely difficult task. Best to start now, if indeed those pieces are available.

What To Do About "Bad" Russ Westbrook? Questioning an OKC Fan

2013-01-29T11:05:00.003-05:00

(The Oklahoma City Thunder fell in LA last Sunday 105-96 to a resurgent Lakers squad. The loss was in part because Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol took control of the game late, but also was pinned on the Thunder's two young stars. Russ Westbrook and Kevin Durant shot 16 for 48, just one part of a relatively lifeless Thunder team tired from the last bout of a 6-game road trip. The loss immediately spurred several questions at MAMBINO HQ to our resident OKC fan, Thunderstolt)

KOBEsh: On Sunday we watched Russ shoot 6-22, igniting anew any controversy regarding Westbrook's actual effectiveness in games and questioning how he's best used. After talking to Bockerknocker following the slugfest against the Lakers, I have several questions, but let's start with the first:

Do you feel like Russ has reached an "Eli Manning"-esque place in performance? As in, you know you're always going to get a few clunkers along with 40-plus point Finals games? Do you just accept him for what he is at this point, or do you feel like his game is going to change?

Thunderstolt: That is a perfect cross-sport analogy for Russ: he is the Eli Manning of the NBA.

There is Good Russ and Bad Russ. As long as Good Russ shows up at an increasing percentage to Bad Russ I have no problem with it because I feel like for the most part he is learning and evolving. You accept him for who he is, but with the understanding that who he is as a player is improving on a yearly basis. Sure, his shooting percentage is down (41% this year down from 45%) but his 8.3 assists/game and 5.4 rebounds/game are the highest of his career. Morever, there are little things that are starting to stick out about how his game is evolving as well. He is seeing the court better than ever this year making pin-point passes through traffic from everywhere on the floor. He is also starting to understand spacing and pick and roll coverage better as well. Something that Tony Parker does that Russ has picked up on is he will now use screens multiple times with the same big man on the same possession (Usually Ibaka) until he gets the coverage he likes or can expoit for an easy bucket. He didn't do that two years ago, or even for the first half of last year but it's subtle improvements we are looking for, not a big change overnight.

Taking another page out of the Tony Parker playbook, I think the next evolution of Westbrook game needs to come in the form of a floater that Parker has perfected. Right now he knows he can get to the lane any time he wants because of his speed but has been missing more at the rim and looking for a foul call more than ever. If he develops a floater it would not only result in an uncontested 5-8 foot shot in the lane but also help preserve his body from taking so many hits and falls that will start to add up in his late 20s. Just ask Dwyane Wade how that feels.

KOBEsh: Even with Good Russ showing up more often than Bad Russ as you said, it's obvious that the latter helped cost the Thunder the game last night. Do you that the next step in getting Westbrook to be that same efficient player is for the Thunder to move him to the off-guard spot? There were so many times yesterday where I felt like he was disrupting the offensive flow of the game by constantly throwing up clunkers and committing nearly half of his team's 9 turnovers. Thoughts, gentlemen?

Bockerknocker: This of course depends on who you bring in to play point. If you bring in a Jeff Teague-type or any kind of scoring point guard, then it's a useless move. At that point, you might as well keep Russ at the 1 and see how much more he can develop. His assist rate has been splendid to watch this season, and it's tough to expect EVERY part of his game to improve at once.

But if you bring in a Ridnour/Calderon/Andre Miller-type who can efficiently run an offense, get the ball to the right guy at the right time, it might benefit the Thunder as a whole. Will obviously stunt RW's development as a true point, but he wasn't really ever that to begin with.

Thunderstolt: This is where I actually have an issue with Scott Brooks because sometimes Russ needs saving from himself. I believe they already have a guy on their roster they can bring in to move Russ off the ball in Reggie Jackson.

In the past, Brooks deployed a Maynor/Westbrook backcourt, but now that primary back-up role belongs to Jackson. However, as much as the team needs a Jackson/Westbrook backcourt on the floor at the same time, the coach isn't using it and it is maddening. I don't believe the answer is to bring in a facilitator in a Ridnour/Calderon/Andre Miller-type, but to go to a Jackson/Westbrook backcourt when it appears Russ is not on his game at PG. In fact, I wish they would deploy it in spells even when Russ is playing well because he is so athletic. If you have him running off pindowns and cross screens on the baseline, I feel that could add an entirely new dimension to the Thunder offense. Can you imagine KD and Russ sprinting all over the court off screens then getting the ball on the move below the free throw line extended or curling into the paint? Scary.

The Thunder organization made a decision that Russ is their point guard for KD and he will be until Russ doesn't sign a contract offer with the Thunder years in the future. They are in this for the long-haul and know if they stick with Russ at PG with KD it will produce a championship.

I think they are right.

KOBEsh: Reggie Jackson! Pride of the the Heights! If he has more than 10 notable NBA games, he'll probably enter the top-15 of greatest Boston College athletes ever. Such a sad state of affairs in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Regarding Eric Maynor, he's completely out of the rotation, stricken with the tragic virus known as "DNP-CD" What do you feel he was doing (or not doing) to deserve the benching, as he was once regarded as incredibly important to the Thunder's future plans (as well as playing a small part in Harden's trade)?

Thunderstolt: Maynor just isn't ready physically. Everything has healed in his knee after battling back from a torn ACL, but when he was out there the Thunder it felt like they were just down a man. He initiated the offense but didn't have his quickness and speed back and couldn't hit shots when he was open. Scott Brooks gave him a long leash too as he didn't make the move to Jackson until 25 games into the season. However, when you can't move quickly enough to defend and shooting 29% from the field, he had to make a move to Reggie. In his time at backup PG Jackson has shown some explosiveness and ability to defend well and rebound as well. I predict there will be a Reggie Jackson game where people start to take notice of him as a top tier backup PG.

KOBEsh: Seeing as you're feeling pretty secure with the point guard situation, let's go further down the bench--what are your thoughts on Jeremy Lamb thus far?

Also, seeing as the Thunder--thanks to Jedi Master Sam Presti--have the Raptors' inevitable lottery pick, how do you feel OKC will use it? Will they even have the pick come June, or will that be used in a trade for reinforcements, if needed?

Thunderstolt: I am very optimistic as to what Lamb can bring next year. I don't see him making an impact in 2013 unless some injuries happen and they need to go to him out of necessity.

Lamb has been spending a lot of time in the D-League affiliate in Tulsa, OK which is about 75 minutes from the arena. Unlike a lot of other NBA squads, the Thunder uses its D-League team like its Triple A baseball franchise. When guys aren't getting minutes, the team isn't afraid to will send guys like Lamb and Perry Jones III to Tulsa to get their minutes and to improve their skills . So far in 14 games with the Tulsa 66ers Lamb is averaging 21 pts, 5.5 rebs, and 3.3 asts per game. With Kevin Martin on an expiring deal and Thabo Sefolosha the next year, the Thunder will have a hole at the SG position. Martin has gone on record saying he wants to stay in OKC but that will happen only if he takes a substantial pay cut from his $10 million dollar deal.

I believe Thabo is gone after next season as a team will overpay for his skills as a lock down wing-defender, as well as a developing Lamb waiting in the wings. It is no secret that Sefolosha is limited offensively and the Thunder has been looked at as playing 3 on 5 offensively with their normal starters in the game along with Kendrick Perkins. With a full training camp and summer to improve with KD and the gang I believe Lamb will become a mainstay in the OKC rotation next season and could make serious impact.

I have gone back and forth on if the Thunder will still have the Raptors pick Jedi Presti secured in the James Harden trade come June. However, I think they roll the dice and see where it lands. I don't see many suitors out there on the trade market who will give up someone worthy of that pick before the trading deadline The Thunder could use another playmaker off the bench or a true backup to KD at small forward, but I don't see the Thunder active at the trade deadline. As it stands now that pick is somewhere in the 6-8 range but if the Raptors end up trading Kyle Lowry or Jose Calderon they could end up tanking to try and keep their pick which is top 3 protected. If the Thunder have the 4th pick in the draft I can see them taking Shabazz Muhammad or Nerleans Neal, depending on who is available.

Although I could be completely wrong and Presti pulls off some ridiculous four-team trade to help shore up the OKC bench for another Finals run

MAMBINO'S Western Conference NBA All-Stars

2013-01-28T12:40:00.001-05:00

Saturday, we laid out our picks for the Eastern Conference All-Stars stamped with the iron-clad MAMBINO seal of approval. Once you've peeped that, feast your eyes on our Western Conference selections:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Starting Guards: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (Unanimous) & Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

Westbrook is one of four (!) unanimous selections from this glorious forum, and really, is there any doubt? After a somewhat reckless start, Russ has gone back to his world destroying ways, shooting just 41% (very close to his career mark), but getting to the line nearly 8 times a game, a number identically matched to the number of dimes he doles out every night. Statistically, Westbrook's 2012-2013 isn't as impressive as last year, but all expectations have to be deviated when taking into account the massive team-wide upheaval in the wake of the James Harden deal. Chris Paul surprisingly wasn't a unanimous selection, as one of our panel gave the starting nod to James Harden...somehow. CP3 is in the midst of a MVP-caliber year, in which he should finish no worse than third in the voting by the time April rolls around. His availability for the actual All-Star game is in doubt with a bone bruise in his knee, a horrifying proposition for any Clips fan. Wherever you are.

Starting Bigs: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers (Unanimous); Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder (Unanimous) & Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs (Unanimous)

Well, if Lakers fans have to deal with D'Antoni line-ups night after night, there's no reason why Kobe shouldn't be listed as a small forward for the All-Star game. Along with Durant and Duncan, all three were unanimous MAMBINO All-Star selections, and for good reason. KD is in line for one of the greatest shooting seasons of all-time, as examined by Zach Lowe at Grantland. If not for LeBron harnessing his inner Jordan, Durant would be the unquestioned MVP at this point.

Duncan and Bryant, in their 16th and 17th seasons, respectively, are doing what most thought to be damn near impossible: performing as the best players at their positions. At the age of 36, Duncan continues to churn out unreal numbers (17/10/3 on 50% shooting in just 30 minutes), while playing his usual spectacular post defense. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant remains one of the league's top five players...playing on arguably a bottom five team. I'm sad now.

Reserve Guards: James Harden, Houston Rockets; Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (Unanimous); Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs (Unanimous)

On the guard side, there really weren't any deliberations needed; the only reason why all three weren't unanimous is because of the aforementioned starter vote for James Harden. Otherwise, each player is the best on his respective team. James Harden has emerged into a legitimate franchise cornerstone in Houston, scoring 26 points a night in 38 minutes. His shooting percentages aren't out of this world (.436/.328/.859), which would put him behind the sublime Chris Paul and the more versatile scoring threat in Westbrook, despite the Beard's massive nightly point totals.

Curry has overcome a career beset by injury to establish career-highs in almost every conceivable way: 21 ppg, and 6.5 apg in 38 minutes a night. He's also emerged as perhaps the most lethal threat from long in the entire league, taking 7 threes a game on 45% shooting. He's by far the best player on a Warriors team currently poised as the five seed in the West.

Parker is simply doing what he's been known for the previous four seasons: 20 points, 7.5 assists on 52% shooting, while destroying opposing defenses with his deft penetration plays.

Reserve Bigs: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers (Unanimous); LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trailblazers (Unanimous); David Lee, Golden State Warriors; Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies

The two unanimous selections for the MAMBINO Western Conference bigs were pretty easy; All-Star game starter Blake Griffin certainly isn't playing better than Westbrook, Paul, Kobe, Duncan or Durant, but he's not far off. The Clips forward hasn't improved in the ways that most thought he would, in that his defense, jump shot and free throw shooting aren't even league average. However, he's still one of, if not the most athletic player in the league and every single opposing coach has to focus much of his game plan on preventing Griffin from getting too far into the paint. Aldridge's selection was a no-brainer as well--he's the best player on an extremely thin Portland team that's right on the fringe of playoff contention.

Lee and Gasol were right on the bubble along with Z-Bo, Howard and Jefferson. However, Golden State's record, Lee's off the charts numbers (19.7 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 3.5 apg on 52% shooting) and Memphis' record kept representatives from LA and Utah off the team. When faced with either picking Marc or Z-Bo, the deciding factor was Gasol's defense, which has landed him on several early DPOY ballots.

Snubs: Zach Randolph, Memphis Grizzlies; Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers; Al Jefferson, Utah Jazz; Nicolas Batum, Portland Trailblazers; Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers; Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz

Leaving Dwight off the team was perhaps more a condition of the Lakers' record and relative expectations than anything else. If LA's record was 24-18, a center averaging 16 points, a league leading 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and shooting 57% would make any team. However, I can't begrudge the rest of the MAMBINO board for keeping him off our All-Star squad. Millsap and Jefferson are having All-Star caliber seasons, but with their numbers being comparable to LaMarcus, Marc Gasol, Z-Bo and Blake, team records and defensive capabilities put them on the chopping block. Nic Batum is under a similar situation, but for a middling team like the Blazers, it was either him or Aldridge--and thus, a simple choice.

Jamal Crawford has had a lot of supporters for All-Star consideration, but his nomination for the team is a side effect of not just the Clips' record, but also his emergence despite a universal thrashing of his offseason free agent contract. True, he's playing a crucial role on a title contending team and his floor spacing and propensity for buckets of quick points. However, Crawford is scoring 16 points off the bench for the Red, White & Blue, but on 13.5 shots a game and the league's 92nd PER. Any All-Star push he's getting truly isn't deserved.

MAMBINO's Eastern Conference 2013 NBA All-Star Selections

2013-01-26T12:47:00.000-05:00

Every year, the NBA grants voting power to the people and allows the fan base to vote for the starters in it's annual All-Star game. It seems that this year, like all other years, we here at MAMBINO have looked at the selections and determined that the people don't know shit.

The NBA All-Star game amounts to a gigantic popularity contest, in which fans vote for both conference's starters, which in turn affects the seven reserves selected by the 30 head coaches. After a quick poll between some of MAMBINO's finest, we've combed our collective roundball consciousness and determined which players were most deserving of this prestigious honor. Unlike the bogus MLB All-Star game, the NBA holds no premises like mandatory representatives from every team or a 34-man roster which is 9 players larger than the standard 25-man. It's extremely difficult to be selected to an All-Star team in basketball, as great players on poor teams are routinely--and perhaps righty--penalized for playing on a terrible squad. Until Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors haven't had an All-Star since 1997, when Latrell Sprewell laughed at $21 million dollar contracts and played at a high level. The reason? The Warriors have made the postseason just once in that span.

We've put together our rosters according to NBA standards, which means two guards and three "bigs" (there is no "Center" position on the ballot this year, a telling sign of the direction the league is going. The Lakers are even getting beaten down subliminally on nomination sheets), as well as seven reserve players. We tried our best to reward players who are not just playing great, but doing the most to elevate their teams into playoff, or close to playoff contention. Here are the MAMBINO Eastern Conference All-Stars, with select commentary. Western Conference coming tomorrow!

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Starting Guards: Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia 76ers (Unanimous) & Paul George, Indiana Pacers

In a tough year for the Eastern Conference guards, Holiday and George surprisingly pick up the nods here. The Sixers' starting point guard has been the bright spot of an otherwise extremely disappointing season in Philly. Holiday has been the biggest reason why a Andrew Bynum-less team is even staying on the fringes of a under-competitive Eastern Conference playoff race, ranking 8th in scoring, 4th in assists and 12th in rebounds per game for guards. The biggest knock on him has to be his league-leading 4 turnovers a game, but it's his willingness to take the lead dog spot for a Philly team that's had it's trajectory radically changed that's most impressive.

Most casual NBA fans won't know the name "Paul George", and if they did, they're either from Indianapolis or think that he's a Revolutionary War general. Like Holiday, George's ability to step into a leading role for the injured Danny Granger has been inspiring. The former Fresno State Bulldog is registering career-highs in almost every category, including a massive 7.8 boards per game as well as throwing in 17 points and nearly 4 assists a contest. More importantly, his defense has been fantastic and thus providing more overall value than the max contract man in Granger.

Snubbing Dwyane Wade here for the starting spot was extremely difficult, but this year's regression as well as piss poor attitude kept him off two MAMBINO starting ballots.

Starting Bigs: Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks (Unanimous); LeBron James, Miami Heat (Unanimous) & Tyson Chandler, New York Knicks

For Melo and Bron, it wasn't much of a conversation. You might be looking at the leading and third-place players for the MVP trophy. Case closed.

Chandler was a slightly more controversial selection. We had Joakim Noah and Paul Pierce on two other starting ballots, but Chandler got the majority nod. Statistically, the Dominguez Hills product may be having his best season ever at the age of 30. He's been a monster on the glass at almost 11 boards a game (which oddly doesn't count his numerous tap outs as offensive rebounds), but it's his defense and unbelievable offensive efficiency that's been so marvelous. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year hasn't slipped a bit, organizing a set of subpar defenders into the 15th most defensively efficient team. Scoring-wise, he's vital to the Knicks attack, with oppositions having to account for him rolling to the rim for oops and put backs. Chandler never, ever takes a bad shot (lending to a 67% FG), and though he can't create for himself at all, teams must collapse defenses on him, which opens up New York's litany of shooters. He impacts the game in every conceivable way on one of the league's best teams. I'd call that an All-Star.

Reserve Guards: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers; Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat; Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee Bucks

The reserve guards were relatively easy selections. Wade is having the aforementioned superb season once again as the second-best player on the L's best team. Kyrie Irving conversely plays on one of the NBA's worst teams, but his individual brilliance is so stark that it's hard to keep him off of any All-Star squad. In just his second year, is there any doubt that he's one of the game's best 15 players? He's got so little help around him Cleveland that it's hard to imagine the 12-32 Cavs even getting to 6 wins without him. Despite a low 40% shooting clip, Brandon Jennings had to make this illustrious crew. He's the best player on a seemingly playoff-bound Bucks team, doling out 6 dimes a game at a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. Jennings will never be an elite defensive stopper at his size and strength, but he works his skinny ass off, fighting through screens, keeping his fouls down (1.8 per game) and coming in fourth in steals amongst guards.

Reserve Bigs: Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks; Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics (Unanimous); Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls (Unanimous); Brook Lopez, Brooklyn Nets

Noah and Pierce were unanimous on our ballots, and for good reason; Joakim is having a career year on a surprisingly great sans-Rose Bulls team, with 12 ppg, 11 rpg, 4 apg and 2 bpg, all while anchoring one of the league's best defenses. Pierce is once again the best player on a disappointing Celtics team--which we'll get to in a bit.

Smith and Lopez were both difficult selections, but probably for reasons more superficial than basketball-related. J-Smoove is having a slightly down year, at 16/8/4, down from a nearly 19/10/4 year in 2012. However, his perimeter defense and shot blocking have kept Atlanta 9th in defensive efficiency and right in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. He didn't make the NBA's All-Star team because, well, he's kind of an asshole, but like Brandon Jennings, as the best player on a playoff team, he had to be rewarded.

The same logic could be applied to Brook Lopez here, but it's actually more than that. He's top-5 in PER overall, as well as top 5 in scoring and blocks amongst centers. Lopez is still a lumbering slowpoke who seems allergic to rebounds, but at a legitimate 7 feet, 265 lbs, he's still an extremely potent offensively as well as defensively. Brooklyn has popped right back up into the top-4 of the East recently, and Brook is (literally) a gigantic reason why.

Snubs: Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics; Luol Deng, Boston Celtics; Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks; Deron Williams, Brooklyn Nets; Monta Ellis, Milwaukee Bucks; Kemba Walker, Charlotte Bobcats; Chris Bosh, Miami Heat

Many of these snubs were easy choices; Kemba is having a great season, but plays on an awful Bobcats team. Deng, Horford, Ellis and Bosh were all victims of the numbers game--essentially, Noah, Smith, Jennings and Lopez took their spots because they are all having slightly better seasons, and some of them on the same teams. Deron Williams didn't make it despite a recent surge from his Nets, but seeing as he's not even the best player (or maybe even second-best player) on his own team, he had to be left off. MAMBINO didn't even consider Kevin Garnett a snub here because neither his individual numbers nor his team success warranted it. His All-Star berth this year is probably the biggest "travesty" amongst the popular vote.

The biggest snub here is obviously Rajon Rondo, who was voted in by the fans as a starter. Looking at his numbers, he's been fantastic, ranking first in rebounds and assists per game amongst guards, and 9th in field goal percentage. But the biggest reason why he was snubbed on the MAMBINO ballot was his unwillingness to become the player that Boston needs him to be. Rondo still only scores 13.7 points a night, which isn't what the team 27th in offensive efficiency needs. The Celtics are hurting for scoring, and their star guard's inability to get his team points beyond just assisting on baskets is what's helping to put this team two games below .500. As if that weren't enough, Rondo is hurting the team off the court. He's been suspended twice this year, once for a fight with Kris Humphries and once for bumping a referee, his fourth such suspension in a year. Being that stupid is worth being thrown off the MAMBINO All-Stars.

Check back tomorrow for our Western Conference selections!

WWE Royal Rumble 2013 MAMBINO Preview

2013-01-25T09:55:00.006-05:00

We have officially entered Wrestlemania season, the best time to be a wrestling fan. From late January to early April, Vince McMahon develops a new found sense of urgency. Booking on the fly, feces jokes and blatant misogyny towards woman (otherwise known as a John Cena promo) are thrown out in favor of coherent story lines with a clearly identified goal.

This Sunday, the first step to Mania, the Royal Rumble, emanates live from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The Rumble is unique in the sense that it builds in allotted space for nostalgia. You never know who is going to come through the curtain after the clock counts down--think Mr. Perfect and Goldust in 2002. The Rumble has been used as a platform for superstars returning from injury like John Cena in 2008 and Edge in 2010, but more recently has been used as a catapult for new stars to make their mark, as Alberto del Rio and Sheamus won the last two matches. However, I still hold out hope for a Royal Rumble return from the one and only Peter Edward Rose. Without further delay, let's break this down MAMBINO style.

Youtube Pre-show - United States Championship

Antonio Cesaro (C) vs The Miz

The Raw Librarian: This match has me absolutely terrified. I can handle CM Punk losing the title to the Rock. I can handle John Cena winning the Royal Rumble. However, I do not want to see Antonio Cesaro drop his title to the Miz. In the past few months, Antonio Cesaro has managed to do the impossible: he has returned the United States championship to a state of relevancy. This is the first time since Rob Van Dam held the Hardcore title that a WWE "minor" championship belt has had any meaning, though I will allow arguments for Cody Rhodes' Intercontinental reign. The point is thus; the belt has meaning again because it is routinely defended on Monday Night RAW and PPVs. Gone are the days of the US title being passed around like a passed out girl at a Steubenville football party. The United States championship has regained credibility (although I may have just lost all of mine). I don't want to see the Miz become the new champion because he's being pushed as a new face and needs something to do. I'm not going to dissolve this into a conversation about whether the Miz is a good face (he isn't) or whether he knows how to properly apply the greatest submission maneuver of all-time (he doesn't). My opinion about this match would be the same, no matter the opponent. Cesaro has groomed the title to it's current stature and he deserves the opportunity to continue his current run. And because of this; I'm predicting a Miz victory.

KOBEsh: I'm not nearly as big of a Cesaro fan as my cohort here. He's a specimen of a human, built with muscle upon muscle. The Switzerman has a decent enough move set, though he doesn't always use his immense strength to his advantage. Cesaro is such a menacing looking human...but why is it that he doesn't even inspire any faux-fear out of me? Because the guy has the charisma of a walnut. He's played his pro-America but anti-American gimmick very well, but that's more a function of what he's saying than how he's delivering it. Another wrestler with more conviction, better acting and an ounce of sentiment would be a legitimate world title contender working with what Cesaro's got. However, he's a project to work on, and with the lack of heels on Smackdown, I wouldn't be surprised to see him hotshotted into a mini-feud with Alberto del Rio soon. And thus...a Miz victory.

Wrestlemania repercussions:

TRL: The winner of this match will not significantly alter the Wrestlemania card. It's possible neither guys will find themselves in a match come April. Miz's push will definitely continue after this match up. You don't just appoint someone the "next Nature Boy" and then abandon that after two weeks. I see both of these guys as contenders to headline the "Once in a Lifetime: Youtube Wrestlemania Preshow!"

WWE Tag Team Championship

Team Friendship (C) vs The Rhodes Scholars

TRL: I think the fact that Daniel Bryan and Kane have each declared themselves as Royal Rumble participants is very telling. A Rhodes Scholars victory here accomplishes a few things. It frees up Daniel Bryan for singles competition and creates a new top draw. A move to Smackdown and entering him into the World title fracas would do wonders for his career. The victory would also establish Rhodes and Sandow as a legitimate tag team who could continue to defend their titles against the Usos or the Primos (or any other number of worthless tag-teams). As for Kane, this might be his last Rumble; after all, the guy is in his mid-40's. He currently ranks second all time in career eliminations, so I'd look for him to dump four wrestlers and officially pass Shawn Michaels to become the all-time leader in Rumble eliminations.

KOBEsh: As we previewed in our Wrestlemania Match predictions post several weeks ago, I feel like a Team Friendship/Rhodes Scholars/Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio match is coming down the pipeline for the big PPV. If for no other reason than to stay consistent, I predict a Rhodes Scholars win, but just so that the heels can go into Mani as the champs and lose it to a face team.

Wrestlemania repercussions:
TRL: A Team Friendship victory would imply that this tag team is staying together until Wrestlemania. Consider me a fan of this team: I love their chemistry, I love their work ethic, I love the comedy skits. But selfishly, I want more for Daniel Bryan. If D-Bry and Kane retain their titles, look for them to stay together until April. Although it is possible they could retain and then turn on each other during the Royal Rumble match.

A Rhodes Scholars' victory might be the beginning of the end for Kane and Bryan. However, a win for Rhodes Scholars in my opinion means that they are walking into Wrestlemania as the tag team champions. Future opponents have yet to be determined.

World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing

Alberto Del Rio (C) vs Big Show

TRL: I have viewed Alberto Del Rio with pure nonchalance ever since he debuted in the WWE. His character and style were just uninspiring and uninteresting in my opinion. Plus, come on--he obviously rents those cars. But crowd favorite Del Rio has been something of a different nature. For some reason I seem to care about his matches. It's like all of a sudden he started wrestling with a purpose. Also, it doesn't hurt to give Ricardo Rodriguez a Mexican bow tie.

Regardless of who comes out victorious, I don't think either man will put the belt around their waist. I think Del Rio is just a place holder until Dolph Ziggler cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase, possibly this Sunday. Del Rio retains here. He's still way fresh into his title run, the WWE seems to be embracing his Latino heritage and Del Rio figures to be way over with the Arizona crowd. Also, if Ziggler is going to cash in, logic dictates that he'll do it against a face champion.

KOBEsh: It's extremely hard to predict where the World Title is going to end up on the Mania match card, and thus, hard to foresee the outcome here. Del Rio has been an absolute surprise smash hit with his rapid heel turn. The crowd eats him up for reasons I can't quite divine, as the great majority of the WWE audience generally doesn't like a) foreigners or b) people with money. Alberto Del Rio is a foreigner with money. It's almost as inexplicable as Heath Slater existing on my television. Looking at the lack of heel opponents for Del Rio to face, I think he loses it at some point before Mania...but not at the Rumble. Alberto wins this one.

Wrestlemania repercussions:
TRL: Fact: there is going to be a World Title match at Wrestlemania. It may last 18 seconds and almost cause me to put a shoe through my television set like last year, but there will be a match. But just because there will be a match, does not mean that either the Big Show or Alberto Del Rio will be involved. If Del Rio wins and Ziggler doesn't cash in, I see him keeping the title for a while. He's a fresh commodity in an organization that sorely needs it. If for some reason Big Show regains the World championship, I don't see him making it out of the next PPV, Elimination Chamber, with the belt.

KOBEsh: I don't see a lot of WM repercussions here, because I think that no matter who the winner is, there's going to be an Elimination Chamber match next month that will ultimately determine who's going to walk to Jerzey with the strap. However, if Big Show does reclaim, which I find unlikely, it may foreshadow a Ryback title match in early April.

WWE Championship

CM Punk (C) vs Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

TRL: Everyone is expecting Rocky to go over here right? Here's what I would do; give Punk the victory. Can you imagine the television that would create? CM Punk would be unbearable to watch on Monday Night RAW after defeating "The Great One." Personally, I would love the smugness oozing from Heyman and Punk, but the intended audience would LOATHE him. Before you label me a clueless smark or whatever, relax. I want the Rock to win the belt at Elimination Chamber next month. John Cena vs the Rock is the best possible option for World Wrestling Entertainment at Wrestlemania. No, I don't want to see it again and no, a lot of you probably don't want to either. But if the booking were left up to me, Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk would main event WM, HHH and Cena would be completely left off the card.....and a lot of potential money would be lost. Vince McMahon reads my column. It's the only logical explanation I can come up with for the WWE ignoring my resume.

KOBEsh: Wow...that response was pretty saturated with hatred.

Wrestlemania repercussions:

TRL: This match has HUGE Wrestlemania ramifications. The winner will more than likely be in the main event of the big show. The only question is if the WWE is going to take the safe route; have the Rock defeat CM Punk clean in the middle of the ring and give Cena vs Rock II two months to put some asses in the seats. OR will they go with the MAMBINO plan? Delay the gratification just *a little bit more. Give CM Punk another 30 days on his title reign, but have the Rock enter his FIRST Elimination Chamber match and come out victorious. The WWE will still have a solid month of Rock concerts and John Cena battle raps to sell their PPV. We'll see what direction they go, but if I were a gambling man....and I am (DAMN you Tom Brady) I would bet the house on the Rock being victorious at the Royal Rumble this Sunday.

KOBEsh: I have to disagree with my extremely well-respected, slovenly colleague. The world thinks Rocky is coming out on top--what's that? MY GAWD THAT'S VINCE MCMAHON'S MUSIC!!! If we've learned anything from Vinny Mac over our poorly spent youths paying attention to this human circus, it's that he doesn't like it when the audience knows how we're going to arrive at our destination. For that reason, and that reason alone, I think Punk comes out with a huge (and very shady) W this Sunday. The Rock has ample opportunity to win the title over the next two months, and more to the point, I think that nearly two and a half months of build-up might be just a bit too much for a part-time wrestler who doesn't satisfy the MILLIONS by wrestling on free TV.

30 Man Royal Rumble match - winner goes to Wrestlemania 29 and challenges either the World Heavyweight Champion or the WWE Champion.

So far these wrestlers have officially announced their intentions of entering this year's Royal Rumble:

John Cena
Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio
3MB (Jindar Mahal, Heath Slater, Drew Mcintyre)
Ryback
Primetime Players (Titus O'Neil, Darren Young)
Team Friendship (Kane, Daniel Bryan)
Randy Orton
Sheamus
Antonio Cesaro

TRL: Let's ignore the jobbers and focus on the wrestlers with an actual shot of winning the Royal Rumble. The abbreviated list looks like this: John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Ryback and with a very outside shot, Dolph Ziggler. One of these five men will almost certainly win the Rumble and be wrestling for the heavyweight championship of his choosing. John Cena is the clear favorite. If we are to believe the dirtsheets, John Cena will win the Royal Rumble and challenge the Rock at Wrestlemania. Of course there are other ways for that match to inevitably take place. If Cena doesn't win, I think Randy Orton takes down his second Royal Rumble victory. I see Ryback being a major factor and I think he will enter around 17 and have the most eliminations in the Rumble, but I don't see him winning it. His chances of making it to the final four are significant though. Sheamus won the Rumble last year and we haven't had a back-to-back winner since Stone Cold in 1997 and 1998. In fact, the last 11 Rumble winners have been first time winners. Look for that streak to end this Sunday by either John Cena (2008), Randy Orton (2009) or Sheamus (2012).

KOBEsh: Presuming that we're eventually headed towards Rock-Cena II for the WWE title, ths comes down to a Cena vs. the Field battle. I agree that Orton, Sheamus and Ryback are great options, but let's throw a monkey wrench herE: could the Rock lose against CM Punk earlier in the night and then later enter the Rumble...to win it? Even as tasty as that storyline could be, Cena takes it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it came down between him and Ryback and the newcomer won.

RUMBLE RUMBLINGS

What role will the Shield play during the PPV? Will they interfere in the Punk/Rock match or will they be involved in the Rumble itself?
Will Dolph Ziggler cash in his Money in the Bank contract and how long will he last in the Rumble as the number 1 or 2 entrant?
Will we be seeing the return of any WWE legends entering the Royal Rumble?
Who will be this year's Rumble "comedy relief"?
Can the Miz learn how to properly apply the figure four leg lock?
Will we have to suffer through 3 announcers entering the Royal Rumble again?
Will Kane become the all-time leader in eliminations? Will that even get mentioned?
Will Michael Cole explain to us the Latin translation of Sandow's elbow? I'll just answer that one now, yes, yes he will.
And most importantly, will this be the year we see the return of Pete Rose in the Royal Rumble? It might be Kane's last Rumble, please make this happen.

SURPRISE ENTRANT ODDS

Road Dogg 1:1

Billy Gunn 1:1

Mick Foley 3:1

Jack Swagger 4:1

Ric Flair 5:1

Tommy Dreamer 5:1

Brock Lesnar 10:1

Hacksaw Jim Duggan 10:1

Diamond Dallas Page 10:1

Ricky Steamboat 15:1

Undertaker 20:1

John Morrison 30:1

Batista 50:1

Pete Rose 200:1

Thanks for taking the time to read the MAMBINO breakdown of the Royal Rumble. You can follow us on Twitter @TheRawLibrarian and @TheGreatMambino .

Instant Trade Analysis: Justin Upton to the Braves

2013-01-24T17:19:00.000-05:00

Atlanta Braves get: OF Justin Upton, 3B Chris Johnson

Arizona Diamondbacks get: 3B/OF Martin Prado, SP Randall Delgado and minor leaguers SS Nick Ahmed, 1B Brandon Drury and SP Zeke Spruill

Since Ted Turner sold the Braves several seasons ago, Atlanta management has subtly turned a team with a nine figure payroll into shrewd, budget conscious operation with an eye always towards the future. Instead of spending multi-millions to sign or retain high-salaried veterans, the Braves have kept a healthy mix of older players with young, emerging prospects, which seem to sprout from their minor league system as steadily as Milton Bradley felony charges.

Although we had a couple initial thoughts here at MAMBINO HQ regarding this trade, we turned to resident Braves fan and writer The King for his thoughts. Let's get to it:

The Braves have the best bullpen in the game, one of the best rotations and stellar defense. The lineup was the weak part of this team not because of depth, but because of a lack of superstars (a problem that has worsened with Chipper Jones' retirement). Justin Upton gives them a hitter that has the potential to be a superstar.

The King is right in his assessment; the Braves have one of the best young starting rotations and bullpens in the game, a raft of twenty-something pitchers with tremendous upside. More to the point, they're all on controllable rookie contracts, increasing their value tenfold--look at what 22 year-old pitcher Randall Delgado fetched, after all. The Braves absolutely need more stability in their line-up with a departing Chipper Jones (a legitimate All-Star in his age 40 season) as well as the departing free agent Michael Bourn. Grabbing a five-tool 25 year-old outfielder with a top-5 MVP finish to his credit should do the trick, right?

While Justin Upton has tremendous potential to be not just an All-Star, but a perennial MVP candidate, there are the same concerns for the younger Upton that there is for the older Upton, as we went through months ago when BJ signed with the team. Justin has a prodigious power stroke, but hasn't been able to harness anything resembling steady production. Over the past five seasons, Upton has slugged .463, .532, .442, .529 and .430. Overall, those are some fantastic statistics, but it's a yearly ebb and flow of nearly .100 points that's been maddening to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

More to the point, I'm not completely sold that Upton is the finishing piece to Atlanta's line-up. Upton has some of the same problems as a lot of his contemporaries in his new dugout; fantastic power, but a poor batting eye. Justin joins a roster with four players that struck out 129 times or more. The good news is that one of them, Michael Bourn and his 155 strikeouts, won't be with the team next year. The bad news is that the brothers Upton are joining the Braves, adding nearly 290 strikeouts (!!!) between the two of them. If we're talking about the bright side of potential, let's talk about the downside to it as well: this team could easily turn into the 2012 Posteseason Yankees--big power, but no ability to get on base when faced with smart pitcher who can locate.
This team is as deep as they come. I would argue that 3B is the only position (including pitchers) where the Braves are below average.
Upton does add to an already stacked team--his acquisition was really just a punctuation on an already successful Braves offseason. Without Justin, there's little doubt that the Braves would have been in the mix for a wild card berth, at the least. Even as I discussed all the potential drawbacks to such a free-swinging line-up, both Uptons, First Baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Andrelton Simmons and outfielder Jason Heyward are still malleable young players who can become better, more patient hitters. If a strong Braves coaching staff can get these guys to settle down, they'll become one of the most fearsome line-ups in the NL East.

However, third base is now a liability. Martin Prado is a fantastic, versatile player who manned five positions last season, but was earmarked for the hot corner with Chipper Jones retiring. Chris Johnson and Juan Francisco are going to platoon, neither of which inspires any particular confidence. Johnson has shown a little pop (15 homers and 28 doubles last season), but is a poor fielder, while Francisco is the polar opposite. Prado has been a very steady, sure-handed player for nearly his entire Brave tenure, and to give him up in return for a risky player with upside and a third base platoon with visible flaws should make anyone uneasy.
Justin Upton is signed through 2015 as opposed to Prado who was signed through 2013. With this trade, the Braves have locked in a great group of young players for the next 3 years (though contracts for some key veterans are expiring, including Brian McCann).
This is the caveat to everything. The Braves flipped one year of Prado, Delgado (who we'll get to in a second) and a handful of redundant prospects for three years of Upton, which is a gamble worth taking considering Upton's upside. In that sense, it was a matter of reallocating resources for the Braves--Prado is great and Delgado could be a future rotation fixture, but if you've ever watched Justin Upton swing a bat, you'd know why Atlanta couldn't resist this deal.
Delgado is the only elite prospect the Braves gave up. More importantly, he's part of the Braves' enviable pitching surplus. Even after Atlanta cut Jair Jurrjens and shipped out Tommy Hanson, the team still has starters to spare. Delgado wouldn't be in this year's rotation, and there are still farm hands still in the system ready to roll if any injury should become any of the opening day roster, including Julio Teheran (who they like better than Delgado). Atlanta has shown an ability to restock the farm system with elite pitching propsects time and time again. It's a no-brainer for the Braves.
And here's the second rub. Delgado has the upside of a number 2 pitcher, but for the time being, he's not in the Braves' plans. Kris Medlen, Mike Minor, Teheran and a soon to be returning Brandon Beachy look like rotation locks for the next five seasons. Delgado would have been a nice addition to that group, but at this point, the Braves needed another bat more than another arm
You can't forget about the business aspect here too. The Justin Upton and Jason Heyward mix is sexy. I know I plan to watch more games this year. Plus, how awesome are those Nationals and Braves games going to be?
An incredibly important part of this package. The Braves will have two things no other team in the league can possibly compete with: an outfield with three African Americans, two of which are brothers. The latter aspect will play everywhere--after all, the nation is losing it's collective pants about two brothers coaching against each other in one (really important, but still, just one) game. Can you imagine the constant stream of publicity and marketing opportunities for the Uptons standing side by side in the outfield, or knocking each other in at the plate? In this sense, Atlanta has hit a gold mine.

But in another sense, have three black players line up together all as potential All-Stars in a sport where the black athlete is disappearing is just as, if not more important. I imagine that this will go over well in Atlanta, a city with a rich African-American history. But if these three studs start mashing and unearthing webgems every night? It's a national story. The Braves will be printing money.

In summary, the Braves have set themselves up to be World Series contenders for the next three years at a minimum while getting the superstar hitter they desperately needed. I couldn't be more thrilled with the trade.

I'm looking at this trade with guarded optimism for Atlanta. This all hinges on whether or not the Upton brothers--not just Justin or BJ--will grow up and harness their potential. Perhaps playing together (the two are notoriously close) will bring the best out of them, or maybe it will make as little difference as Joe Maddon, the best manager in baseball, did in terms of BJ's plate patience.

For Arizona, the team had the opposite problem as the Braves; too many bats and not enough arms. Now Gerardo Parra, Cody Ross, Jason Kubel and prospect Adam Eaton can slug it out for ABs, lessening a still existing logjam in the outfield. The Snakes are lining up Ian Kennedy, Trevor Cahill, Wade Miley, Brandon McCarthy and Tyler Skaggs, but for those five, there are still a lot of questions. Kennedy and Cahill are steady top of the rotation guys, but Miley could be headed for a sophmore slump after a tremendous rookie year, McCarthy is coming off a skull operation (from an errant line drive to the head) and Skaggs is a rookie. Daniel Hudson will be coming back this year from Tommy John surgery, but Arizona knows better than to count on him for a return to form. Delgado, like Skaggs and Miley, has the same risks as a young pitcher, but better for the Diamondbacks to have too many options than none at all. In the NL West, every team seemingly has to have six pitchers to contend for the division, and the Arizona is completely cognizant of that. Prado is of course a great addition to the team, and if the D-Backs are being lapped by the Dodgers and Giants in June, they'll have a great rental player to flip for prospects.

Looking Up In the Standings: How the Lakers Can Make the Postseason

2013-01-23T16:35:00.001-05:00

My latest from Silver Screen and Roll. Dig it? Dig it.

Will the Lakers win the championship? Will the Lakers win the Western Conference? Will the Lakers have home court advantage in the postseason? Will the Lakers be able to win four series in a row on the road?

Will the Lakers make the playoffs?

There's been a sad, slow degenerating line of questions toppling from August of last year to late January. The once title-tilted Lakers now find themselves in a nightly quest to beat anyone, let alone the class of the NBA.

LA finds itself in an unfamiliar spot: looking up in the standings and finding 11 teams ahead of them. The Western Conference has thus far shaken itself into several different categories: at the top is the foursome of the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers. Each of these teams have established themselves as mid-season title contenders, some with more weaknesses than others. In the second tier lies the Golden State Warriors experiencing a rare surge of on-court success, as well as the Denver Nuggets rebounding after a slow start.

After those six? It's a six-team scrum for the last two spots. There's little doubt that barring a cataclysmic injury (or set of injuries), five of the top six teams will make the playoffs (the only pause comes in the form of the Warriors, who are playing--and more specifically, defending--way beyond expectations, and have seen only a healthy Stephen Curry thus far). This leaves the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets (both currently in the top 8), Portland Trailblazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks all separated by just 5 games in the standings.

Last season, prorated for a full, 82 game schedule, the eighth seeded Jazz won 45 games at a .545 winning percentage. To get to that shockingly lofty plateau, the Lakers would have to go 28-13 in their last 41 contests, a .683 winning percentage. Putting that in perspective, the Lakers be on track for a 56-26 if they were winning at that clip. At this point, that record is nearly mathematically impossible.

LA has 19 home games compared to just 23 road games left, including 23 against teams .500 or better. It's not a particularly favorable schedule from here on out, but they've also played the league's 10th toughest schedule thus far according to ESPN.com. Moreover, out of all the teams they're fighting for the bottom two seeds with, they have the worst home to road game ratio.

In a sentence? This won't be easy. In another? They'll need some help. Let's take a look at what the other Western Conference third-class citizens are facing going forward into the second half of the season, and what, if anything, behooves our guys in the purple & gold:

Check the rest out after the jump at SS&R

We're Back!

2013-01-23T10:22:00.001-05:00

MAMBINITES,

Profound apologies for being out of commission the past week or so. There was a bug in Google that marked MAMBINO as spam, and thus took us down automatically. Though we don't mind being associated with such a delicious processed meat, our loyal readers (and those of you who just googled "Steve Blake's Wife" and found us) were cheated out of some sweet, MAMBINO-approved content. Well, we're back with a vengeance. Stay tuned for some pretty big changes to the blog very shortly, it's going to be exciting.

Thanks for reading.

-MAMBINO

We're back everyone! A hastily-written 2012-13 NHL season preview

2013-01-18T13:13:00.002-05:00

So, not so surprisingly, I've been somewhat quiet around these parts and though I'd rather not go into it, there was a really good reason why. That said, on Saturday at long last the puck will be dropping on the 2012-13 NHL season and there is just a ton of stuff to get excited about, to say nothing of the premier matchups (Chicago-Los Angeles, Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, New York-Boston) that we get on opening day alone.

However, given the consequences of the NHL's work stoppage, rather than the full 82-course serving of a standard NHL season, we'll be seeing a slap-dash truncated 48-game menu this time around. What's even more wild is that the 48 games each team plays will be played entirely within a span of 99 days, which means less of a developed and cohesive performance all around and more of a frenetic breakneck scramble to make the postseason, which will be played out in full.

If anyone remembers last season's 66-game NBA slate in which it seemed like the Knicks were playing about five times per week, this will be something like that. No one is entirely sure how different teams will respond to it, and as a result of the condensed schedule certain teams one might have expected to be title contenders (the Rangers, Detroit) might fall victim to exhaustion due to age or an aggressive style of play while teams not quite ready to make the jump (Edmonton, Florida) could take advantage because of their relative youth in the shortened schedule.

The important thing to understand, however, is that with only one other example of this situation to fall back on, no one is really sure how this will shake out, though if it ends the same way, I won't really be complaining. Either way, it's going to be kind of hard to predict who to bet on in the horse race, but because we need to fill these column inches, here is who might be Secretariat, and who might be Zippy Chippy.

The Thoroughbreds

Boston Bruins - Winning a Stanley Cup requires skill, experience, the ability to roll four lines and strength on both the front and back ends. Boston has each of those in spades and with 2010 No. 2 overall pick Tyler Seguin coming into his own last season, the Bruins also have an electric scorer, which was the only thing they lacked during their 2011 title run. Tim Thomas won't be in the crease this year due to a self-imposed sabbatical, but Tuukka Rask ain't too shabby either, and you don't want to get him mad.

Chicago Blackhawks - People seem to forget that Chicago, just three seasons removed from a championship, had an impressive 101-point season a year ago and lost a first-round series to Phoenix that was a virtual tossup with the first five games all going into overtime. Corey Crawford doesn't inspire the most confidence between the pipes, but nearly all the key pieces of 2010's title run are still in Chicago and still young.

Los Angeles Kings - Some people might assume Los Angeles' Stanley Cup run a season ago was flukish considering the Kings were the eighth seed, but the real fluke might be that they had a poor enough regular season to fall that far. L.A. was a sexy preseason Cup pick a year ago, obviously for good reason, and the Kings return literally every player that saw ice time in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

New York Rangers - After adding high-on-scoring-low-on-winning winger Rick Nash from Columbus the Rangers are a popular Stanley Cup pick. After all, they did get the top seed in the East a year ago and appear to have gotten better, but the Rangers could be a sucker's bet. New York lost the Eastern Conference Final last season to New Jersey not because it wasn't as good but because its grinding sacrifice-the-body-to-make-hits-and-block-shots style wears you down. The Rangers win, but they win by inches not feet, and after a while, that wears you down. If they were spent after two seven-game series in the first two rounds last season, how will they fare playing virtually every other day for three months?

Pittsburgh Penguins - For a team to succeed in the condensed schedule of the 2012-13 season it will need electric skill, a game that is less physical and more based on tactical strategy and yet still solid defensively, experienced goaltending and enough youth that legs will still be fresh after a condensed schedule and two months of the postseason. And having Sidney Crosby completely healthy for the first time in two years doesn't hurt either. We may have just described Pittsburgh in a nutshell.

St. Louis Blues - Looking for the least sexy Cup contender you can find? They're in an appropriately unsexy city like St. Louis. The Blues surprised with an unexpected title in what might have been the deepest division in the League last season, doing it with taut defense, bizarrely effective tandem goaltending, just enough scoring and completely buying into coach Ken Hitchcock's system. There's no reason to think the Blues, who bring all of their key players back and add highly-touted Russian prospect Vladimir Tarasenko to the mix can't do the same thing this time around.

Washington Capitals - The Caps make this list simply by virtue of being the same talented lot they have been for the past five seasons. Alex Ovechkin continues to be the headliner, but with new coach Adam Oates behind the bench there is some mystery in Washington. Of course, if you combine that with a fully healthy Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, both of whom missed significant time last season, mystery could be a good thing.

Vancouver Canucks - Vancouver is essentially Washington west, a team deeply talented with skill and speed to burn that has consistently come up just short of the ultimate goal. Last season the Canucks became the first Presidents' Trophy winner to get swept out of the first round, one of many events that has led to Roberto Luongo losing his starting job in net to Cory Schneider and becoming trade bait. Luongo's will-they-or-won't-they trade drama could be a distracting sideshow all season, but if the Canucks weather that they should coast to another Northwest title, and might be able to take advantage of a week division to grab the No. 1 seed once again.

Show horses

Some of these teams are near the end of their competitive windows (Detroit, Philadelphia, San Jose), some look like they're just starting to open them (Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota) and some are just total mysteries (New Jersey, Phoenix), but when you get past the top tier of championship contenders, there is a confusing mess of who will be scrambling to fill out the postseason field. At least one of these teams will cause some damage in the playoffs, one or two of them could very easily make an unexpectedly deep one, and each other them is talented enough that, given a break here or there, they could be this year's New Jersey Devils, and they just might be playing for the Cup in June.

Carolina Hurricanes
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks

Beasts of Burden

Want to see a group of teams that could make a run at the postseason but probably won't? Look here. Many of these teams are knee-deep in rebuilding, with Colorado, Dallas and the Islanders as prime examples of teams making the right moves to change their fortunes for the future. Those moves probably won't be enough this year to reach the playoffs -- but they might be next year.

Anaheim Ducks
Buffalo Sabres
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
New York Islanders
Tampa Bay Lightning
Winnipeg Jets

They better not break a leg

I think the title here is self-explanatory. These four teams are likely to bring up the bottom of the field (at least in my estimation). They are each messes with no cleanup in sight, a demarcation Toronto could have avoided until they stunningly fired GM Brian Burke last week, though we do thank them for enabling the greatest press conference hockey has seen in years.

Calgary Flames
Columbus Blue Jackets
Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs

Well, there you have it. These are the teams worth looking out for and the teams likely to make waves in the shortened NHL season. If it seems overwhelming and as if there's a lot of information to process in a short period of time, that's because there is, but on if you're worried about not really knowing how this is all going to shake out, reassure yourself that no one really knows how it's going to shake out.

Of course, you probably all want predictions anyway, so here they are. I reserve the right to disown these as soon as two weeks into the season.

Eastern Conference Western Conference
1. Boston 1. Vancouver
2. Pittsburgh 2. Chicago
3. Washington 3. Los Angeles
4. NY Rangers 4. St. Louis
5. Philadelphia 5. Nashville
6. Florida 6. Detroit
7. New Jersey 7. Phoenix
8. Ottawa 8. San Jose

9. Carolina 9. Minnesota
10. Tampa Bay 10. Edmonton
11. NY Islanders 11. Dallas
12. Buffalo 12. Colorado
13. Winnipeg 13. Anaheim
14. Montreal 14. Calgary
15. Toronto 15. Columbus

Conference Finals
(2) Pittsburgh over (1) Boston
(2) Chicago over (3) Los Angeles

2013 Stanley Cup Final
(2) Pittsburgh over (2) Chicago

As I said earlier, this is all almost certain to be incorrect come June, but at the very least, you might have some idea of where I'm coming from and perhaps some idea of why I'm wrong. But you shouldn't put too much stock in this because it's merely a prediction and predictions are silly.

Games are not. And finally the games will start tomorrow.

The puck drops in 26 hours.

Live Report from London...YOUR New York Knicks!

2013-01-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

(A live report from MAMBINO correspondent Sip Rogers, an expatriate New York Knicks fan who lives and works in London. He attended the Knicks-Pistons game on Thursday night at the O2 arena on the Eastside of town. Here's his firsthand recap)

Just got back from the NBA's first regular season game in London and to sum it up, it was amazing.

First a little actual basketball talk. The Knicks played well in a 102-87 win, outclassing the Pistons most of the game, including a 15 point lead at halftime. As they game wore on, they were able to stifle any runs the Pistons had in them, mostly from Will Bynum (and man, can that guy can drive).

Iman Shumpert finally is back for the Knicks, giant flat top in tow. He started the game, which was surprising for his return. He ended up scoring 8 points in 15 minutes. Amar'e had 17 in 20 minutes, but the quietest 17 I've seen in awhile. There wasn't too much to the actual game itself; it was a blowout against the Pistons, whose best player is Greg Monroe and the most explosive guard is Will Bynum.

As for the event in London, the NBA, Knicks and Pistons did a great great job. As hard as it is to believe, it actually felt like a real NBA game. They fixed the courtside seats problem from the Olympics, as in, now there were floor seats (whereas during the summer, spectators were so far away from the court that the camera angle made it appear as if no one was watching live). The O2 arena was sold out and rocking. The crowd remained into the game the whole time and was, to my delight, very pro-Knicks. There were a decent chunk of expats (but less than I expected) and plenty of Euros in attendance. However, what surprised me most was a really good amount of Brits were wearing Knicks gear, cheering the Knicks and talking basketball. Stunning, really. This is a city as big as New York, so I'm not surprised that there are NBA fans hiding but...I don't know where they have been as long as I've lived here. After all, there are a ton of English Premiere League fans in the Mecca, but I'm not sure where they hide out. People aren't talking about Robin Van Persie on the corner of 51st and Lexington, right?

Certainly a great sign for the NBA that so many Brits were actual fans. The NFL classically has the issue with their game in London, no matter who is playing. They have a hard time hocking 80,000 seats even with 80,000 expats living in Europe. The NBA seems to have dodged that already.

A couple of nice touches: the Knicks brought along their organ player from MSG, which made the O2 sound even more like a game at the Garden. The Pistons brought along their announcer, because after all, it was a Detroit home game. Was nice to hear the sounds of "Deeeeetttrrooooooiiiitttt Baaaaassssskeeeetttbaaaallll" echoing through the arena. Spike Lee made the trip across the pond, sitting courtside next to Baron Davis. Plenty of Premier League soccer players in the crowd; Ashley Cole, Thierry Henry, Joe Cole and our favorite American Clint Dempsey...who of course sat next to the Knicks bench with a dime piece.

The whole event was really well done and a way more authentic experience than I originally thought it would be. Kudos to the NBA.

BTW, no sign of Dolan, I scoured the crowd for him. I guess JD and the Straight Shot doesn't travel across international waters.

Is Chip Kelly a Good Fit For the Philadelphia Eagles?

2013-01-17T17:35:00.001-05:00

(In a shocker, Oregon Ducks football coach Chip Kelly became ex-Oregon Ducks football coach this afternoon, as he signed a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Kelly had been courted by several NFL teams, but seemed to be going back to Eugene after some sources reported he had signed with the Cleveland Browns just two weeks ago. Our man and foolish Eagles faithful El Mariachi had no choice but to comment on his potentially history-making day)

It is common knowledge that the Philadelphia fan base is a notoriously tough crowd when it comes to sports. But when you look past all the bad press that they get you can see deep down in the cavities of their chests that there is a tiny, Kelly-green Grinch- heart three sizes too small. They are arguably the most passionate fan base in all of sports and they are usually the most critical. Which made the 2012 season all the more painful.

To say the least, it was a sad year. Beginning with the tragic death of Andy Reid’s son, the culmination of a 4-12 season, and the inevitable firing of Reid, ending a twelve year long witch hunt. Add everything up, and this made the Eagles one of the unprecedented seven teams that needed a head coach entering the 2012 postseason.

After a grueling process of interviewing over 11 candidates, it was reported today that Oregon head coach Chip Kelly will be the new boss of the Philadelphia Eagles. Ask any fan and they’ll tell you that any change is for the better...but is it really?

Chip Kelly is best known for his high octane offensive style. His no huddle offense is reminiscent of the Patriots, Redskins, and the Colts during the Manning era. Almost always starting in shotgun, Kelly uses the spread offense with 3, 4 or even 5 receiver sets. In theory this spreads the defense dangerously thin which opens up not only the run game, but the read-option for the quarterbacks. This is best run by someone mobile like Cam Newton, RGIII, Colin Kaepernick, or interestingly, a young Michael Vick. The Eagles might have Nick Foles running the show next year, which is a problem in itself. It's not that Foles isn't capable--it's that he's unproven with such a small sample size of games. Regardless of who's throwing the ball, this offensive is devastating when implemented correctly with the right personnel and it led Chip Kelly to an astounding 46-7 record in only a four year span at Oregon.

The problem with this style offense is that it’s not much different from Andy Reid’s pass first, chew bubble gum and take names second, West Coast offense. And with the current wide receiver core consisting of an over paid and underweight DeSean Jackson, solid but not great Jeremy Maclin, Jason “I-like-to-take-chunks-of-the-season-off” Avant, and cascadingly-haired Riley Cooper, the Eagles don’t have the big pass catching threat that would draw double coverage to help spread the defense. With the way this group plays, there is no reason to not run the bump and run defense with opposing team’s corners. And on top of that, they don’t have a competent quarterback in Michael Vick who finished 24^th in quarterbacks with a dismal 78.1 passer rating. A young Michael Vick would work well in this offense, but that time has clearly come and gone.

The Eagles are a young and talented group, but they lack the super star wide out such as Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Dez Bryant, or Andre Johnson that could implement Kelly’s offense correctly. This is the NFL we are talking about, consisting of the best players in the world at every position. A team would need one of these star wide outs to demand attention and drastically change defensive play calling unlike how it is in college footbal. But what the Eagles do have is a super star running back in LeSean McCoy, who is the best player on the team and arguably one of the top running backs in the league the past several years. However, is he still an elite player? In 2012, he averaged only 23 touches per game, when backs like Arian Foster, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch averaged around 25-30 touches. In 2011, McCoy scored a mind blowing 20 touchdowns but this year he only scored 5--needless to say, something is clearly amiss here. Kelly’s system could work if he could modify it to exploit his stellar pass catching backs in the throwing game. Both McCoy and Bryce Brown, if used correctly, could be a devastating weapon for Kelly.

Instead, theories are that Chip Kelly would essentially be running the same offense as Andy Reid, which doesn’t fix the problem and instead puts a fresh band-aid on it. The only way it could work for Kelly would be to upgrade at wide out and get that big target that would open the run game. Then he could use the inside outside scheming that worked so well in Oregon to keep defenses on their heels, not sure whether to defend the pass or the rush. The Eagles run into another problem there too, since they are in desperate need of a solid offensive and defensive line which will undoubtedly be built through the draft which leaves upgrading at wide receiver depending on trades or free agency.

Chip Kelly has a tough road ahead of him. In college football, his offense is run by young players who don’t play against the best players in the world for 16 weeks straight. NFL players may not physically be able to handle the hurry up offense that he demands week in and week out. The Patriots and Redskins use it sparingly and when they do it is for drives, not entire games. Kelly will undoubtedly have issues with the personnel for his schemes; a mind-blowing sentiment because the Eagles are one of the most young and athletic teams in the league. Unless the Eagles front office can work out some sort of personnel change, especially at quarterback, by the close of the 2013 season they could be finding themselves in the same hole that they were in this year.

But like I said, the Eagles are a young and very talented team. For all we know, the speedy but small receiving core could be used to devastating effect with Kelly’s style. This in turn could blow the run game wide open and see Shady McCoy return to NFL dominance. Who knows, Michael Vick could even shows signs of his former self in terms of explosive play making and maneuverability. We can only speculate as to what will happen. The problem is that the Eagles fans are more than anything, impatient.

Hire Rating: B-

Instant Trade Analysis: Rafael Soriano to the Washington Nationals

2013-01-15T20:30:00.000-05:00

Washington Nationals get: RP Rafael Soriano

Rafael Soriano gets: 2 years, $28 million (with a third year vesting option for $14 million)

What difference a month can make--just a month ago, the hot stove was chugging hot enough to warm even the coldest Steinbrenner brother heart. The week of December 13th, Josh Hamilton, Zack Greinke, Kevin Youkilis, Anibal Sanchez and Ryan Dempster were signed, and R.A. Dickey, Shin Soo Choo and James Shields were traded.

Fast forward to the week of January 13th--the transaction front couldn't be more stagnant. Still, three prominent free agents were orbiting the periphery: starting pitcher Kyle Lohse, center fielder Michael Bourn and reliever Rafael Soriano. Today, the Washington Nationals made sure that Lohse and Bourn would be the lone two at the top.

Soriano signed a massive two year pact, with a third year option that will vest with 120 games pitched over the first two seasons (he's averaged 67 over his career and 63 over his last five seasons), bringing together a potential three year, $42 million dollar deal. Any way you cut it, this is a solid contract for any pitcher, let alone a reliever.

As for the Nationals, you might very well be staring straight at the best bullpen in the National League. The World Champion Giants (Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt and Jose Mijares) and Arizona Diamondbacks (J.J. Putz, David Hernandez, Heath Bell and Brad Ziegler) certainly have their cases, but in terms of pure power, no bullpen besides the division rivals Atlanta Braves (Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters, Jordan Walden and Eric O'Flaherty) comes close. The Nats will trot out flamethrowers Tyler Clippard (3.72 ERA, 84 K's in 72.2 innings, 32 saves), Drew Storen (2.37 ERA, 24 K's in 30 innings) and Henry Rodriguez (career 9.8 K/9) in front of their new closer, who dominated in the AL East last season for the Yankees. Soriano blew out 69 batters in 67 innings, with 42 saves and a 2.29 ERA, all while stepping seamlessly into the shoes of Mariano Rivera, who tore his ACL in April during a pre-game batting practice session. The over-reactive New York media market howled at the notion of losing their Hall of Fame closer, asking non-rhetorical questions like "Is the Season Bombed?!?" with more rhetoric than wonderment. By July, every question was squelched as Soriano finished game after game without any cause for hesistation. The District's new closer brings a comforting calmness to what could be an otherwise mentally, though not physically, over-matched Nats' bullpen.

The Yankees here are the real losers, watching a National League team steal away yet another key piece to a 95 win team. Rivera has signed up for what should be his final season in pinstripes, but headlines a New York bullpen with a ton of question marks. Behind Mo is the solid David Robertson, but not much else. Joba Chamberlain could be the seventh inning guy, if he can stop mini-trampolines from devouring his lower extremities or prevent every opposing hitter from becoming Josh Hamilton. David Aardsma was fantastic two years ago in Seattle, but after a hip and elbow surgery that's limited him to one major league game over that time span, there's no telling how much he'll be able to give the team next year. David Phelps is the long man, and a good one at that, but could be shifted to the rotation should Ivan Nova or Phil Hughes implode like a million year-old star system or Andy Pettitte gets injured again (and at age 40, it wouldn't be unexpected). Clay Rapada and Boone Logan round out the pen as situational lefties, which is a deceiving job description, seeing as they're merely both lefties that suck in any situation.

The problem with the Yankees 'pen is that beyond Rivera and Robertson, there's no real power there. Chamberlain's injuries have turned him into a location pitcher without any dynamic bite. The very same could happen to Aardsma, a former power pitcher, who's undergone a similar swath of injury. Finesse is nice, but come the postseason, every team needs a couple relievers that can just blow the opposition away. All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if by October, Rivera and Robertson remain as the only relievers on the roster from opening day.

The Yankees have several problems going into opening day, most prominently an offense that forgot how take a pitch, but without Soriano, add a big check mark right next to "bullpen". They seem to have worked their way towards being the inverse of Washington: a young, dynamic rotation including Stephen Strasburg, Ross Detwiler, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann (along with new import Dan Haren), and a powerful, solid relief corps.

THE GREAT PODBINO, Episode #5

2013-01-14T10:49:00.001-05:00

The latest PODBINO, courtesy of El Miz, Bockerknockers and myself talking....Lakers. Get ready for a full 45 minutes of defeatist talk and heavy drinking.

THE GREAT PODBINO, Episode #4: Checking in on the Knicks

2013-01-11T11:06:00.001-05:00

We're back! With the first episode of 2013, THE GREAT PODBINO checks in with KOBEsh, El Miz and BockerKnocker on the New York Knicks. Check it out!

Wrestlemania XXIX Prospective Main Events - Who Will It Be? Part 2

2013-01-10T20:17:00.000-05:00

(Yesterday, The Raw Librarian and I covered several different prospective main events that could headline Wrestlemania XXIX, emanating live from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on April 7th, 2013. We're both so fired up that new pants are entirely in order. Check out Part 1 right here)

THE ROCK

Most Likely Match and Best Match For Business

KOBEsh: We covered this largely in our John Cena section yesterday, but it's clear that Rock-Cena II is going to be in the cards. The only factor that's somewhat murky is what the stipulations are going to be for the match itself. Will it be for the title? Will it be fought under the pretenses of No Holds Barred? Will there be a Special Guest Referee? Does any of that matter?

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE. This match is going to blow the figurative roof off of MetLife Stadium.

Dream Match

TRL: The Rock vs HBK Shawn Michaels
These two had real life animosity going back to the Kliq days. HBK was aware of how over the Rock was getting and knew it meant bad things for his real life best friend HHH. He gave a shoot promo or two where he talked about "the Rock always trying to steal the spotlight from Hunter." IF this match were to happen, it'd have a solid backstory beyond two of the greatest ever going toe-to-toe.

But.

This match will never happen. Neither men are interested (especially the retired HBK) and the WWE wouldn't want to blow all this money getting the Rock to wrestle again knowing that there are bigger bouts out there (i.e. Cena-Rock).

RYBACK

Most Likely Match

TRL: Ryback vs. The Shield

Whether it's in tag team format or Ryback vs Dean Ambrose with Roman Reigns as enforcer, everything points to Ryback being involved with the Shield at 'Mania. I don't see any other obvious matches right now. I like Ryback, but I like the Shield a heck of a lot more. I need to praise WWE creative for some rare long-term booking and development here. They have yet to screw up any of these young performers. Look for these men to be involved in a match together in some capacity.

KOBEsh: Ryback vs. Big Show

Until I went and saw for myself in person, I couldn't discern on television whether or not Ryback's ascent to the main event picture was more manufactured than it was actual fan sentiment. It seemed to me that the volume was turned up all around the former Ryan Reeves in nearly every segment he was featured in. His music blared so loud that it obscured how much fans actually were applauding for him. When he threw smaller men around the ring, they landed with such force that the actual buckling of the squared circle elicited a reaction from the crowd, but more in the vein of awe than affection. As he chanted "Feed Me More", the audience of course chanted along with him, but as CM Punk echoed this past Monday on Raw, the WWE fan base are like trained dogs--they'll chant just about anything as long as it's delivered to them with the same measured vocal pacing. Did people actually like Ryback? Or was the audio emanating from and around him manufacturing his hype as much as the WWE could muster?

After watching the man fight The Shield in a TLC match in Brooklyn, I can attest that Ryback is more than hype. He's the real deal Holyfield. The crowd eats him up, as if "Feed Me More" becomes more than just an infectious catchphrase. He's physically imposing, brutal and pure charisma. He made a believer out of this jaded fan.

That all being said, Ryback's strengths are best shown not as actual feats of physical will, but rather when he faces a scenario that becomes demanding even to a behemoth like himself. We saw this first in his Hell in a Cell match against CM Punk months ago, and again last month in a TLC war in the BK. Big Show, who is currently without an opponent, fits the bill. Show's greatest matches, in my humble opinion, were his series against Brock Lesnar nearly ten years ago. Pitted against another man whose size and strength nearly rival his own isn't just a visual spectacle--it's the best way to give Show a match that he looks like he could lose.

Best Match For Business

TRL: Ryback vs. The Undertaker

This would be better if Ryback still had his undefeated streak going. Logically though, this doesn't make sense. I don't see anyone beating Taker at Wrestlemania and a loss for Ryback does nothing for him. A win on the other hand would cement Ryback as a wrestler that is here to stay; that the WWE is going all in on the Ryback character. But there is no way he should get the win over Taker when HBK, HHH, Flair, Edge, and the Big Boss Man couldn't get it done.

KOBEsh: Ryback vs. Triple H

I agree with my colleague in that a match resulting in a loss against Taker does nothing for Ryback. And rest assured friends, he would lose that match.

The next best situation for Ryback clearly pits him against Triple H. At this point, Hunter is best used sparingly to put guys over. It'd be interesting to see if Ryback could use this match, win or lose, as a springboard for future success in the way that Sheamus used his match--a loss--against Hunter two years ago to move onto bigger and better things.

Dream Match

TRL and KOBEsh: Ryback vs Goldberg

TRL: While I think it's possible that Goldberg will lace up his boots for one more big money payoff, I don't think it will be against Ryback. Back in January of last year Jim Ross tweeted that:

"Goldberg vs Lesnar at WM29 would be miraculous i.e. HIGHLY UNLIKELY"

Goldberg responded by saying "I'd do it."

Well, it's good to know that Bill hasn't closed the door to returning to professional wrestling, but my gut tells me that Ryback isn't a big enough match for him.

BROCK LESNAR

Most Likely Match

TRL and KOBEsh: Brock Lesnar vs Triple H II

TRL: I'm sure there are some fans out there that want to see this match; just don't include me as one of them. Cena vs Lesnar was great. HHH vs Lesnar was awful. I don't want to see HHH get his precious win back when there are better potential matches. I just don't see the point of bringing Lesnar in and paying him big money only to lose to John Cena and wrestle HHH twice. I hope that common sense will prevail and any idea of this rematch will be scratched.

Best Match For Business

TRL and KOBEsh: Lesnar vs The Undertaker

TRL: This has potential to be special. For reference, go back and watch their 2002 No Mercy Hell in a Cell match. It was an exhibition in visceral brutality.

Plus, think these two don't have real life heat? Get back to me after watching this video.

This is the match I want to see and it is a legitimate threat to steal the show. The proper way to build this feud is to continue having Lesnar booked like a monster. Put over the fact that he destroyed John Cena. Even though Lesnar "lost" that match, Cena was definitely worse off afterwards. Put over Lesnar taking out COO Triple H. Have him coordinate "Shield-like" attacks on top stars and build it like no one in the WWE can stop him.

Dream Match

TRL: Lesnar vs Stone Cold

We would finally get to see the match we were robbed of when Steve Austin walked out of the WWE in 2002 instead of facing Lesnar with no build up. Gotta say I agree with Austin on this one. It was incredibly short sighted by the WWE creative team (this would happen more than once) to hot shot a match with no build up between Lesnar and Stone Cold. Done correctly, this bout had and still has the potential to draw serious money.

TRIPLE H

Most Likely Match

TRL and KOBEsh: HHH vs Lesnar II

KOBEsh: It's becoming brutally obvious to the both of us that this is the match that's coming down the pipeline. While I'm not as bullish on how poor the match will be as my man TRL, the prospect of Hunter lacing them up again for a rematch of a fight that I wasn't excited for in the first place doesn't light the world on fire.

Still, looking at the rest of the roster, it's hard to see who else either guy could fight. In Brock's case, a match against the Rock, Undertaker or Ryback would be highly anticipated, but it seems the Rock will be otherwise occupied and Ryback doesn't seem like a big enough opponent to satiate a real-life egomanic like Lesnar. The Undertaker, as we just discussed would be the best match for business and would draw huge. However, a Taker/Brock match would leave Hunter without very many options for opponents (Punk? Sheamus again? Del Rio? The Miz? No thanks to any of those) and the WWE isn't foolish enough to leave a big name performer like Hunter on the sidelines.

Best Match For Business

TRL: HHH sitting at home watching Wrestlemania

I would love nothing more than to get a live check in of HHH during Wrestlemania and when the camera pulls back, it's HHH watching RVD vs Jerry Lynn from Hardcore Heaven or Living Dangerously.

KOBEsh: Triple H vs. Ryback

I went over this earlier, but Ryback is one of the only big names on the roster that Hunter hasn't faced. To me, this is the only match Triple H could participate in to generate any sort of fresh excitement.

Dream Match

TRL: HHH vs HBK

This won't happen for a number of reasons. Most egregiousness is the fact that there is not enough time to attain proper build up, although the avenue to create a feud certainly exists. Shawn Michaels could come out and say that he is furious at his best friend for allowing him to become a casualty in the HHH/Lesnar feud. But it certainly appears that Michaels is completely content with remaining retired. However, if there was one person HBK would come out of retirement for, I would imagine it would be HHH.

THE UNDERTAKER

Most Likely Match

TRL and KOBEsh: Undertaker vs. CM Punk

KOBEsh: It almost seems inevitable at this point. I personally don't love this match for the Undertaker, but looking at the rest of the roster, there's only a few more opponents that would feel fresh and are "Wrestlemania-caliber" foes for the Dead Man. Could Sheamus work in this spot? Or Ryback? Or del Rio? Of course they could all work--Taker has carried Mark Henry and King Kong Bundy to serviceable 'Mania matches. However, of the guys that the Phenom hasn't faced yet, CM Punk is second to only one man.

Best Match for Business

KOBEsh: Undertaker vs. John Cena

Fighting CM Punk will make money. Undertaker fighting Brock Lesnar would no doubt generate headlines and drive the MMA crowd towards PPV buys. But Taker vs. Cena? This is a match of historic proportion. It's the logical bout in a storied Wrestlemania lineage in which two mega-popular wrestlers from two generations clash: Hulk Hogan vs. the Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock and The Rock vs. Cena. It's the last big money fight the Undertaker can wage. This wouldn't just be a great match--it'd be history.

BONUS: The RAW Librarian's Ultimate Wrestlemania dream match

1997-98 "Kliq" Shawn Michaels vs 1999-2000 "Whole F'n Show" Rob Van Dam...
The Show Stopper vs The Whole F'n Show...
Mr. Wrestlemania vs Mr. PPV...
HBK vs RVD

For obvious reasons this match will never happen. HBK is retired and seems content. The only way he'll ever come out of retirement is for a Wrestlemania match against Triple H, Taker or Stone Cold Steve Austin. RVD is wrestling for TNA and appears to just be going through the motions to collect a paycheck these days. Moreover, they are both well past their primes, as Michaels is 47, Van Dam 42. Plus if you think the ability for time travel exists, you must be kinda stupid.

These two have only squared up one time and it occurred on the November 25th 2002 episode of Monday Night RAW. Regrettably, this was soon after Shawn Michaels returned to the RAW roster as an active wrestler. He had been retired in 1998 shortly after herniating two discs in his back, including crushing one completely in a casket match against the Undertaker. It was clear Michaels was still wary of how his back would handle the bumps that go along with a wrestling match. Despite the reservations, these two still had a phenomenal fight only to be ruined by an interfering Hunter Hearst Helmsley. It's only fitting that HHH is responsible for ruining what could have been my favorite wrestling match of all time.

Now for the stipulations. Make the match No Disqualification. This allows tables or chairs to become involved in the match. Allow Bill Alphonso (and his whistle) to accompany RVD to the ring. Appoint Earl Hebner to be the esteemed official. Jim Ross and Joey Styles are a must on commentary. Finally, sit back and let the magic happen. You have no idea how often I wished I had Mark Cuban money to set new levels of upper class over-spending. I think about it an unhealthy amount. After I win the lottery I plan on booking the Hammerstein Ballroom.

This has been fun. Feedback is always welcome.

Hit us up on @TheRAWLibrarian and @TheGreatMambino with comments, complaints or obsequious flattery. Stay tuned for The RAW Librarian's future Royal Rumble preview column as well as a review.

The NBA Finally Admits It Was Wrong, Wrongs Another City

2013-01-09T17:53:00.002-05:00

Back in February of last year I wrote that the NBA NEEDS Seattle and today, almost a year later, David Stern has approved a deal that brings professional ball back to the Emerald City. The deal allows the Sacramento Kings to finish up the season in "cow-town" before moving to Key Arena in Seattle for the 2013-14 season.

Before I go into the specifics and the celebration that has already commenced across the Twitter/sports universe in Washington state, I want to point out first and foremost that this is not exactly how Seattle sports fans wanted to get a team back. Having gone through the evil leadership of the Clay ownership group, Sonics fans have an acute awareness of how shitty it feels to have your hometown team stripped out from underneath you. So a deep apology out to those in Sacramento who are hearing this news and are heartbroken to lose their only pro franchise. At least in Seattle there were the Seahawks, Mariners, and eventually the Sounders left in the wake of the ex-Thunder's departure. This case is certainly a different story of a town leaving town.

Two big reasons why:

1. The Maloof Brothers suck - at most things

The Maloof brothers were an incompetent ownership group in every sense unless you are judging them on their ability to milk their franchise for any/every possible ounce of profit. They have taunted the local government in California into striking phenomenal deals that favor them (most recently this). They have bankrupted their team and though they had a strong stretch losing to Shaq and Kobe's Lakers every year, they have zero NBA titles to show for their efforts (Editor's note: Tim Donaghy, we'll be sending you that yearly fruit basket shortly).

Their family had one serious cash cow--booze. The Maloofs have exclusive distribution rights over Corona, Coors, Guinness, Heineken, and other brews. They sold those rights in 2010 for a boatload of cash. In the middle of a recession. Come on.

The other ventures started by the brothers (a music company, a skateboarding contest series, a film production company) haven''t turn too much of a profit.

Clay Bennett was very good at a whole bunch of financial ventures. He is the Chairman of the Dorchest Capital Corporation, a hedge fund giant, and has brought in plenty of jobs and money to Oklahoma City. He made his own empire (though his in-laws are wealthy and used to have a stake in the Texas Rangers).

2. The Maloofs purchased the team with no intention to move

When Clay Bennett and his ownership group bought the Sonics they said all the right things about wanting to stay in Seattle. At the time they had a recently renovated Key Arena and a fan base supporting a poor on the court product. Then came talk that the team would not be profitable unless it had a brand new arena, one that needed to be financed by Seattle tax payers. The original overtures of wanting to keep the Sonics in Seattle shifted quickly, and less than five years later those hideous blue jerseys were seen for the first time in OKC.

The Maloofs intended to build a champion off the bat. They purchased top notch players, drafted decently, hired solid coaches, and were legitimate contenders in the West. Their stadium (then ARCO Arena) was reviled by opposing players for its noise and intensity. They certainly were screwed on their timeline as they had to get by Shaq, Kobe, Timmy (and later, the Mavs) to get anywhere in the playoffs. Once the Maloofs got bored with their toy basketball team, it became time to start stripping it for parts and angling for profits from the city of Sacramento and the NBA. They simply didn't have the juice to sustain a long-term vision for their franchise. It's important to note this did not start happening until almost a decade after assuming ownership. Again, not saying its any less hard to stomach, but the Maloofs did not buy the team on a lie, stealing them right out from underneath Sacramento and sending them into the bowels of Oklahoma.

So that brings us to today. The Maloofs get what they want, almost $500 million and a small stake in the new ownership group. In exchange the Balmer/Hansen ownership group gets the opportunity to officially file for relocation in March. The NBA, happy to makeup for the mistake they made in leaving Seattle without a franchise, will certainly make sure the relocation petition is granted.

Under the agreement, the team will play the first two seasons in Seattle at the Key Arena before moving into this pretty new multi-use arena.

The Sonics will once again be a franchise in the upper left-hand corner of the map but this time things should look a little different. Seattle, all too aware of the dangers out of towners can pose to a franchise, have turned to some of their own. Chris Hansen has spearheaded the efforts to bring back the Sonics. Hansen, originally from the Town, made a fortune as a hedge-fund manager and has decided to come back home after a stint in San Fransisco. He envisions both the NBA and the NHL joining the NFL and MLB down in SODO.

Hansen is joined by a familiar face in Steve Balmer. Microsoft's CEO, Balmer has a boatload of money and has helped Hansen with the notoriously difficult Seattle City Council to get approval for their new stadium site. Microsoft is the second largest employer in the city with roughly 40,000 employees. Balmer has happily shown Hansen how to move past the political pressure points that can come from a council that is now very protective over local tax dollars heading to stadium project.

I think the best way to think of this deal is like stealing a bottle of whiskey from your friend and paying him back with a 6-pack of Miller Lite you stole from the grocery store. Nobody wins - but your friend at least gets a buzz.

Will Seattle be a great place for a NBA franchise? Yes, it's always been.

Do Sonics fans feel upset they had to get a team this way? Yes, they understand how it feels to be a Kings fan right now.

Would those same Sonics fans have rejected this deal if they had to ability to? Hell no, the NBA is back baby!

Go Sonics!

Wrestlemania XXIX Prospective Main Events - Who Will It Be? Part 1

2013-01-09T13:32:00.004-05:00

I love the NBA Finals. No matter who's playing or how lopsided the matchup, I watch with full attention as a new titlist etches their name into an exclusive fraternity. It's the sport I pay most attention to and the title history most meaningful to me as a lifelong fan of YOUR...16-time champion Los Angeles Lakers.

I love the Stanley Cup Finals. As a novice to hockey, I'm consistently amazed at how enveloping the NHL playoffs can be for any sports fan, regardless of whether they understand off-sides or that "power play" isn't just a business term. Arguably, it's the most exciting postseason in all of the major professional sports.

I love the NFL playoffs. One loss and you're out? In a professional league? My God. Not growing up with a local football franchise, I've come to appreciate the fanaticism tied into these four weeks in January after living in New York for two years. I've completely bought in, watching every game, even though I have no rooting interest, except the ever-present burning desire I have for Tom Brady to fatally collide with a well-placed flying cleat to the throat.

I love the World Series. I grew up playing baseball, understanding the incredible difficulties of the sport even as men who could be my father still dominate the game. I find the unpredictability of the playoffs completely fascinating, with matchups and momentum being more integral to baseball than to any other postseason.

But today....we're talking about the Road to Wrestlemania. This my friends--not the NFL Playoffs, not the Stanley Cup round, not the Fall Classic--represents the best time of the year. The three month build to professional wrestling's crown jewel event is some of the best drama anyone could possibly manufacture.

The question, as it is every time in early January, is who will own the right to main event Wrestlemania? Unlike the other sports, the matchups in sports entertainment are predetermined by World Wrestling Entertainment grandmaster Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Simply owning a headlining spot, regardless if the wrestler is slated to win or lose that night, is tantamount to winning the Superbowl or hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy.

As of today, we've got several revolving pieces hurtling towards Wrestlemania 29. The Rock. John Cena. CM Punk. Brock Lesnar. The Undertaker. Triple H. Ryback. Sheamus. Even, perhaps...Stone Cold Steve Austin

With all these names tumbling around in Vince McMahon's menagerie of gladiators, there's a million possibilities heading into Metlife Stadium on April 7th. The Raw Librarian and I have been tossing around e-mails for weeks, trying to speculate who will make it through the rocky Road to Wrestlemania and emerge as the top dogs. As MAMBINO often does, we're going to break down the possibilities piece by piece, one wrestler at a time. Here....we....go!

DANIEL BRYAN

Most Likely Matchup

The RAW Librarian: Team ~~Hell No~~ Friendship vs Rhodes Scholars

You have to give credit where credit is due; HHH has to some extent revitalized the tag team division. However, it's still no where near the Hardyz/Dudleys/Edge and Christian era of the early 2000's. After all, that was tag team wrestling at its apex. I also have to give Kane major credit for improving every facet of his game in 2012. He dramatically revamped his character and added a great deal of credibility to tag team wrestling. His backstage segments with Daniel Bryan (and Harold) were often the highlight of the show, not to mention he became self aware in what has to be the promo of the year during this Anger Management sketch.

Rhodes Scholars became my favorite tag team of all-time the moment they called out the Brooklyn crowd for being hipsters (I believe my esteemed colleague was at the arena that night). This match makes sense because if you are going to place an emphasis on tag team wrestling, you want to showcase the two best tag teams at the "Granddaddy of 'Em All."

KOBEsh: Team ~~Hell No~~ Friendship vs Rhodes Scholars vs. Sin Cara/Rey Mysterio

As TRL noted, yes I was in attendance at the TLC PPV in Brooklyn, and I booed the Rhodes Scholars vociferously. Not because I disagreed with them, but just because I felt like getting rowdy. I loathe hipsters.

Looking at the marketable guys available, the WWE has to cram as many marquee names as humanly possible onto one four-hour long show. That might not seem like a difficult task, but with a roster of dozens, there's always going to be someone left out. Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio are huge selling points for the young kids in the audience, so unless the two masked Mexicans embark into their long-expected feud and split immediately (before winning the tag-titles), I see a three-way tag match as most probable.

Best Match for Business

TRL: Team Friendship vs Rhodes Scholars vs Sin Cara/Rey Mysterio vs World's Greatest Tag Team Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas

Screw it. If HHH wants to make tag team wrestling a thing again, then don't just stick one foot in the water; go all in. I'm talking about bringing back the former Team Angle. "The World's Greatest Tag Team" Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas are about as cohesive a unit as they come. You won't have to worry about Charlie Haas getting no reaction with wrestlers like Bryan and Cody's mustache involved. If the WWE holds off on their plan of feuding Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara, they should be inserted into this match as well. I know how tempting it must be for them to set the Guinness Book of World Records for "most masks worn" or whatever they were contemplating doing. Make this a fatal four way tag team elimination match.

KOBEsh: Team Friendship vs. Sin Cara/Rey Mysterio

I highly doubt that the WWE would leave out Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow, considering how hard they've worked this year for the company. However, the best match for business has to be the simply told story of the two most popular tag teams facing off against each other.

Dream Match

TRL: Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk 30 minute Iron Man match

Wrestling purists will probably have to wait a little longer for this one to happen. Daniel Bryan is a tag team wrestler at the moment and neither guy appears on the others' radar. I'm confident this match will eventually take place, but it'll be during one of their slow months on a PPV that normally does a low buy rate. This way the "small" wrestlers can get scapegoated for not selling enough PPV purchases.

KOBEsh: I'm with my man TRL here. I'd love to see these two go for 30 minutes, pulling out everything from their Ring of Honor playbook. I'm in agreement that we'll eventually see this bout whenever Team Friendship has run it's course, but that could be a long time to come. I'm a little concerned that, as Punk said on this week's RAW, that perhaps Bryan is painting himself too much into a corner with his crowd-pandering catchphrases, rather than relying on his superior wrestling ability. In creating this caricature-like character, I don't know if DB will get himself into the main event picture again anytime soon.

JOHN CENA

Most Likely Matchup

TRL and KOBEsh: John Cena vs The Rock II

We'll know for sure after Royal Rumble but it looks like this match is shaping up to be our Wrestlemania headliner. John Cena vs the Rock.....once in a lifetime....again! They delivered big last WM, and I fully anticipate them doing so again. The only caveat is that it should be fairly obvious what the result of this match will be. It is looking like the Rock will go in as champion after defeating CM Punk at the Rumble and John Cena will get his win back from last Wrestlemania.

Best Match for Business

TRL and KOBEsh: John Cena vs The Rock II

This match is the biggest possible draw. It pits the WWE's current biggest superstar (sorry Punk) against the WWE's most successful Hollywood breakout superstar (sorry Suburban Commando). They can only wish the Rock would sink low enough to star in one of their shitty direct to DVD Marine sequels. Expect the promotion of this match to close many RAWs in the foreseeable future and hopefully Rock comes a little better prepared this time. Writing notes on his hand won't cut it.

TRL: As a small aside, I'll be at Mania this year and I'm just going to enjoy this match for what it is. Going in expecting a Cena victory should help dull the pain.

Dream Match

TRL: John Cena vs Dolph Ziggler

Let's just say that no match involving John Cena constitutes a dream match for me, but I really like the way these two wrestlers work together. They have fantastic chemistry in the ring, being that Ziggler's a bumping machine and Cena knows how to dish it out. This match isn't likely because I'm assuming the feud between these two will be ended by Mania. Zigs needs to concentrate on the World Title picture and obviously Cena will be occupied with Rocky soon. Regardless, I would personally like to see this feud revisited at some point.

KOBEsh: John Cena vs. The Undertaker

At this point, the Undertaker is just not going to lose at Wrestlemania. The 20-0 streak is too good of a gimmick and too reliable of a selling point for the WWE to give away. Perhaps most importantly, the man himself is simply too respected to have over two decades of hard work and sacrifice be thrown away to put another man over. After all, is there a wrestler alive with a great enough future in the business who would be important enough to defeat one of, if not the greatest WWE superstar of all-time in his yearly apex?

John Cena is that man. He hits all the marks for the type of guy that Taker would want to put over, if he decided that he'd be willing to tear up his undefeated streak: a younger wrestler with an enormous standing in the industry, a long-term future as the face of the company and of course, carries the Dead Man's respect. If there is a wrestler in WWE who could possibly live up to the impossible expectations of carrying the title of "man who broke the streak", it would be John Cena. He doesn't necessarily need "the rub" from beating the Undertaker, but because of how massive a star he is and his age, he's the only wrestler in the company that it'd feel right for the veteran to lay down for.

However, the goal, as always, isn't to have the Dead Man lose. Ultimately, the Undertaker isn't going to lose, no matter if he fights John Cena, Brock Lesnar or a time-traveling Bruno Sammartino. And everyone knows this. But what the WWE should strive for is to provide, if not for any stretch of time longer than a few minutes, a small, gnawing question in your head: "Could he actually lose this match right now?" John Cena would give you that pause.

In that regard, this is a dream match for me. The Dead Man has beaten everyone. Everyone except for John Cena.

CM PUNK

Most Likely Matchup

TRL: CM Punk vs The Miz

I know it's premature, but I just want to take a moment and applaud Vince McMahon for sticking with CM Punk as his champion for over a calender year. There have been more than a few occasions were I thought they would snatch his title away, specifically struggling ratings or smacking a fan in the face would exert a swift reprisal from WWE's top brass. Punk recovered nicely after having the legs cut out from him last year and realistically he never should have dropped the belt after winning it at Money in the Bank in Chicago. For some asinine reason it was decided to give the belt to Del Rio and have the WWE's hottest commodity feud with aging/retired wrestlers in HHH and Kevin Nash. That was just stupid, STUPID!

It looks like this Miz face turn is actually going to be a thing. I like the Miz and I'm rooting for him to succeed, but Miz TV is one of the worst things to happen to the WWE. The only reason it seemed semi-tolerable was because of how bad the John Cena/AJ Lee/Vicki Guerrero segments were at the time. Right now, CM Punk has no obvious opponent. Miz is a blossoming baby face. CM Punk isn't turning anytime soon. This match would be logical. I just wouldn't expect these two to tear the house down. And it would be a step down from the fantastic Jericho/Punk match at last year's Wrestlemania.

KOBEsh: CM Punk vs Undertaker

What to do about CM Punk? Right now, it's looking like Rock vs. Cena II is the landing spot for the two, leaving the 400+ day reigning WWE Champion out in the cold. As much as it seems like a disrespectful ending to a man who's entire character is based on respect to drop the title to a part-time wrestler-slash-actor, it looks like the Rumble may be the end of Punk's time on top.

Without a rematch against Rocky or Cena at the big show (no, the actual big show), Punk deserves a match befitting how successful the last year and a half of his career has been. I can think of no better opponent than the Undertaker. Breaking the streak fits in with Punk's current "Best in the World" mantra, while giving the man a reward for gracefully stepping aside while Rock and Cena do their two-step once more. We'll discuss the Undertaker's potential opponents more tomorrow in our part 2 post, but a wrestler of Punk's newfound stature might be enough to keep the Dead Man from retirement for at least another year.

Best Match for Business

TRL: CM Punk vs the Undertaker *If Brock Lesnar doesn't return

Is there anyone in the WWE that has a realistic shot of ending the Undertaker's undefeated streak? The answer is no. The only way I see this match being booked is if for some reason Punk was able to hold onto the title through Rumble. Then there could be some serious streak ramifications on the line. Streak vs streak plus the title on the line. However, it is unlikely and not very plausible. Taker doesn't have it in him to wrestle full time anymore and without the title, Punk doesn't appear like a viable threat in order to end the Dead Man's streak. Still this has the potential to be an absolute classic.

KOBEsh: CM Punk vs. *World Champion X

CM Punk is the best heel in the business right now. Even as a seasoned wrestling fan, there's still a visceral part of me that wants to punch him in the face when he delivers a devastating "bad guy" promo like he did on Monday night. As such, don't you want your top heel in the main event title match?

The truth is that Rock vs. Cena II doesn't need the title to be epic. However, they've set it up in a way that the match needs another ingredient to be different than last year's and I can't imagine them changing course now. Whatever the situation, CM Punk deserves to be defending or fighting for the title. He's been the biggest breakout star since Cena's ascent almost ten years ago, and deserves to be a featured player at the top of the card. Realistically, it doesn't matter who the World Champion is come early April, whether it be Big Show, Randy Orton, the Miz, Ziggler, Ryback, Sheamus, et al. That mean just needs to be fighting the Best in the World.

Dream Match

TRL and KOBEsh: CM Punk vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

Let's just resign ourselves to the fact that this match is not going to happen....for now. You heard it first here at THE GREAT MAMBINO, The RAW Librarian is predicting Stone Cold vs CM Punk will headline Wrestlemania XXX. Watch this sit down interview conducted by Jim Ross with Punk and Austin. Tell me those two aren't dying to get in the ring with one another. Austin supposedly had a recent knee surgery that's precluded him from action, and more to the point, feels that he doesn't really have anything left to prove in the ring. He's right. He doesn't.

But this match would be the perfect bout between Stone Cold and a guy who's doing the same act, with a different flair and better skills on the microphone. Let's dream for a year folks.

Check out Part 2!

Sportscenter featuring Baldwin the Boston College Eagle

2013-01-08T21:01:00.001-05:00

I was legitimately afraid for Baldwin the Eagle's safety here.

Hilarious new Sportscenter commercial, featuring Boston College's favorite son.

Dwight and Pau Out "Indefinitely": What Do the Lakers Do Now?

2013-01-08T09:42:00.002-05:00

(My latest from Silver Screen & Roll. Check it!)

In a season that's becoming progressively bleaker by the day, could today be the death blow to a prospective championship season on life support?

All within the last 24 hours, three Lakers big men toppled towards the hardwood, as if they were gigantic dominoes being flicked by the oversized pincer of the injury bug. Following yesterday's game against the Denver Nuggets, reserve forward-center Jordan Hill added to his already thick medical folder with a torn hip muscle that will cause him to miss at least a week of action.

That wasn't all: more apparent in Sunday's contest was the bloody injury to Pau Gasol. At the time, announcers Bill McDonald and Stu Lantz postulated he had suffered a broken nose from a flailing JaVale McGee elbow (is there any other kind?). Today, news came down that Gasol's nose was merely lacerated, but the real damage came from within--the Spaniard had been concussed, and would miss at least the next two games.

Surprisingly, the most devastating news of the day was yet to come. Dwight Howard, who sprained his shoulder on Friday in a loss against the Clippers, had re-aggravated the injury against the Nuggs and was noticeably wincing during the game. An examination afterwards revealed that Howard was playing with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, which led the team to list the center out "indefinitely". Later in the day, Dwight was adamant that he wouldn't need surgery to correct the injury, but rather just rehabilitation. Either way, the Lakers' starting center would be out at least one week, if not more if surgery is deemed necessary. It seems impossible, but Howard's cartoonishly gigantic shoulders weren't even exempt from a storm of health problems for the Lakers' frontline.

It's not that all of these injuries are that devastating in the short-term--all of them call for the Lakers' bigs to miss no more than two to five games. However, it's the nature of the injuries that could prolong the players' absences for a serious stretch of time. Hill's latest boo-boo is the nineteenth of the season, seemingly. So far, the former Wildcat has been sidelined with a herniated disc and a sprained ankle. Though a hip injury is another short-term problem, it's obvious at this point that Hill is just an injury-prone player. Gasol's concussion calls for just a two-game leave, but concussions can range from temporary setbacks to lifelong disabilities. It's improbable that Pau could be done for the season or anything close to that, but there's no telling how he'll respond in the coming days. Howard's shoulder is another wild card--though he's insisted that surgery isn't an option, labrum tears can be assuaged by anything ranging from rehabilitation to invasive surgery, depending on how large the tear. For now, he's saying that this is just a rest and strengthening process, but again, the pervasive cloud of uncertainty rolls over the Lakers.

(Read on after the jump)

Criticizing the 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers is Easy...But Maybe Not Right

2013-01-03T15:08:00.002-05:00

"Pitching and defense. Defense and pitching. Either way, with both going this well simultaneously, 3-0 is exactly where the Giants are supposed to be."--Mike Bauman, MLB.com

"And, especially, one win from popularizing a way to win baseball games that most people thought had gone out of style in, like, 1992: Throw the ball. … Catch the ball. Pitching. … And defense."--Jayson Stark, ESPN.com

"The best defense in all of baseball made all of these very good, very young pitchers look even better...Given everything they just accomplished, and the path they took to get there, we should rank the 2012 Giants right there among the four greatest playoff stories of the past 40 years."--Jonah Keri, Grantland.com

The pundits couldn't be any more correct. This past October, the San Francisco Giants won their second title in three years with the best pitching staff top to bottom in the Majors and a spectacular fielding defense. In a time when the Dodgers, Yankees, Angels and Red Sox spend $100 million on a hitting lineup alone, the Gigantes surrounded their all-world hitter and 2012 NL MVP in Buster Posey with understated trade bait and shrewd scrap-heap pick-ups. GM Brian Sabean built a team similar to the Dodgers squads dominated the 70s and 80s, with each of their athletic solar systems built around the gravitational pull of a titanic pitching staff and defense.

In October, the Dodgers watched helplessly as the Giants won their fourth pennant and second title in a span of time where neither of those accolades were accomplished in Chavez Ravine. To add insult to injury, San Francisco did all of this by playing Dodgers baseball
Is the Giants' 2012 run the new paradigm of the greatest game? Build an unbelievable, indomitable staff and bullpen with an air-tight defense behind it? Then employ just one elite hitter and let the rest of the offense sort itself out down the line? The Tampa Bay Rays, Evan Longoria and the best defense in baseball certainly would support that notion. So would the World Champion 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, who had a near-retirement Lance Berkman as a cheap, understated signing, 28 year-old would-be star in David Freese turned NLCS and WS MVP and youngsters Jon Jay and Daniel Descalso playing over 300 games combined.

This new era of team-building is in many ways a throwback to the "purity of baseball": a more placid offense with an enhanced focus on throwing and catching. There's perhaps the perception that because the Giants focus so much on pitching and defense rather than the flash of a crushing offense, that their payroll reflects such a modest set of demands. It's as if the focus on such basic, spartan tenants of the game absolves San Francisco of spending exorbitant amounts of money like any other major market team.

Quite the opposite: the Giants were seventh in payroll last year, with three players making over $16 million dollars. However, they all were pitchers (Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain) and eight of their ten highest-compensated players were hurlers. The Giants payroll weight shifted towards the very manner in which they won two titles, but it certainly wasn't cheap. The core of these two teams were built around homegrown prospects, including Posey, Lincecum, Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval and Sergio Romo, further romanticizing a team without extravagantly expensive hitters. How is it that San Francisco didn't have a chorus of skeptics denouncing their high-spending ways, like when the Miami Marlins did when they spewed out hundreds of millions last winter? Or the Toronto Blue Jays with a top-10 payroll on the books for 2013?

It's because the Giants' method of team-building throws back a sentiment to the days of yore. A loveable notion that a franchise isn't out "buying players" and "purchasing titles". Yet Matt Cain is the second highest paid right-hander in the game. Tim Lincecum is making $20 million next year. The Giants pay to retain the players they develop, a luxury that the Rays, A's, Indians and Padres haven't been able to do. SF isn't as far from LA or NY as you might think.

But the results were. The Dodgers spent October fending off tears while the Giants shielded their eyes from champagne. The focus of this offseason for LA wasn't just to establish themselves as financial heavyweights in Major League Baseball. The main goal was to simply get better than the San Francisco Giants.

Did they do that? It remains to be seen. In the past eight months, the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed or acquired players for the down-home price of half a billion dollars. Hanley Ramirez, Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford (via trade), Zack Greinke, Brandon League, Hyun-Jin Ryu, minor leaguer Yasel Puig, as well as new contracts for Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have been a part of the public spending spree for new owners the Guggeinheim Group. The Dodgers have been taking what they want, daring other teams to match their massive new pocketbook, all the while moving rapidly from the McOuthouse to the penthouse in overwhelming fashion.

On paper, the 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers seem too good to be true. The criticisms of the Boys in Blue have come far and wide, with pundits naming recent history as the best example for why spending doesn't always equal success. Just a year ago, the Marlins and Angels went on free agent binges, gobbling up Albert Pujols, CJ Wilson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle and Heath Bell like they were delicious McRibs. Moving on into the season, the Dodgers late-August salvo acquisitions of Gonzalez and Beckett weren't enough to crack the seal on the Smirnoff Ice-like gamble that is the Wild Card play-in game. The result? Zero postseason berths, while the teams sat at home and watched the spendthrift Oakland A's and Cincinnati Reds play for the chip.

But it's not just the fact the money's been spent. It's the manner in which it's been doled out. Jonah Keri wrote a superb piece last month, detailing that while the Dodgers have unquestionably gotten better, they might be tying themselves up in premium money for less than premium players. For example, by extending Andre Ethier, they retained a very good, perennial borderline All-Star. However, in doing so, they put themselves out of contention to sign an actual premium player in Josh Hamilton, who went down the 405 to Anaheim. He calls this the curse of plenty, and in some ways, it's hard to argue with him. Even if you buy into Keri's theory or you just don't like the fact that a team can just spend it's way to a full roster, there's no doubt that the Dodgers have become one of the most reviled teams in the league.

When spring rolls around, most baseball writers are going to give the San Francisco Giants their due. They will be roundly, and rightly, be considered the favorites for the NL West title and to represent the Senior Circuit in October. On paper, San Francisco certainly doesn't look like the strongest team. GM Brian Sabean retained his 2012 title roster, but at the cost over nearly $70 million for a 37 year-old utility man who played out of his mind for three months and a 31 year-old center fielder who just had a career-best season. As for the holdovers? Hunter Pence played below replacement-level after coming over from the hitter's haven known as Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Brandons--Crawford and Belt--have less juice in their bats than Brandon Roy does in his knees. Gregor Blanco, Joaquin Arias, Andres Torres and Brett Pill aren't good enough offensively to justify being platoon players, but all will enter into the 2013season as...platoon players.

However, it's hard to argue with results. The Giants have won two titles in 24 months. Kneel before the kings.

As hard as it is to believe, it's become all-too easy to dismiss the Los Angeles Dodgers as title threats. Aside from the general viscosity aimed towards them for throwing high-priced solutions at a problem that, as the Rays and A's have shown, low-cost remedies can fix, LA simply doesn't have the type of pitching or defense that the Giants do.

But that might actually not be the case.

Offensively, there's no doubt that Los Angeles has the edge. The Dodgers line-up has 15 All-Star berths between them, and for good reason. Even as Jonah Keri pointed out, yes, GM Ned Colletti could be inhibiting himself from signing better players. But as is, the Dodgers are still an above-average offense club. Fresh from November surgery, Matt Kemp should be back to hitting at the NL MVP-level pace he was at before he got into a fight with a wall in Coors Field...and got his ass kicked. Adrian Gonzalez might not be in the upper echelon of first basemen--still a premature statement considering his sample size in LA was limited to just 36 games--but he's still very capable of pushing out a .800 OPS or better. The rest of the line-up, including Ramirez and Ethier, should benefit from LA's most underrated offseason acquisition: new hitting coach Mark McGwire.

The embattled slugger was a part of Tony LaRussa and then Mike Matheny's staff for three seasons, in which the Cardinals were first in batting average and on-base percentage, as well as second in runs scored. Under McGwire's watch, anonymous fringe rotation players like Allen Craig, Jon Jay and Matt Carpenter were saved from a sentence to a life of minor leaguery, while Yadier Molina and David Freese became MVP candidates and champions. There's no doubt that one of the sweetest swings in the history of baseball--juiced or not--helped them become better hitters.

And the Dodgers are badly in need of becoming better hitters. In September, the Dodgers struggled at the plate, mustering only a .704 OPS and 28 home runs--worse than the Seattle Mariners. It wasn't just September though. The team finished in the dregs of the Majors in offensive potency, finishing with less runs scored than the Padres, Rays and Indians. The Dodgers line-up is riddled with the type of potential that McGwire regularly transformed into product in St. Louis.

On the other side of the ball, the Giants edge out the Dodgers, without question--or do they?

Pitching-wise, there's no need to get deep into the numbers: San Francisco is just flat-out better. Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner have emerged as Cy Young candidates, while Ryan Vogelsong has proven to be more than just a one-year reclamation project. Tim Lincecum looked reborn in the playoffs after a deplorable 2012 and could be in line for a massive rebound year as he approaches free agency. The bullpen of Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla and Jose Mijares were bulletproof in October. But none of this is to say that the Dodgers can't be just as good--a rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Greinke, Beckett, Chad Billingley and Ryu could be just as proficient as the Giants', and a 'pen with League, Kenley Jansen and Ronnie Belasario can simply dominate. If San Francisco won with defense, pitching and timely hitting, the Dodgers have the tools for at least two of those components.

Defensively, the Dodgers will have premium fielders spotted all over the field. According to fangraphs, second baseman Mark Ellis, third baseman Luis Cruz and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez are all above-average fielders, with Ellis being elite-level. Catcher AJ Ellis, according to mlb.com, was towards the top of qualified players in regards to range factor, fielding percentage and stolen base percentage allowed. Carl Crawford, before his time in Green Monster purgatory, was one of the game's great outfielders. As his speed leaves him into his early thirties, he'll definitely gravitate towards being an average defender, but for now, his excellent defensive instincts should benefit him in the expansive Dodger Stadium outfield. His mirror image counterpart, Andre Ethier, has a reputation far exceeding his actual capabilities on the grass. 'Dre won a Gold Glove just one season ago, but that was largely based on his explosive throwing arm and a career-best season in field. It's not that Ethier offends the position with poor play--it's that he rarely will make the spectacular catch or amaze with his athleticism. Fangraphs actually rates his UZR as costing the team runs, though other metrics from the fielding bible peg him as merely adequate. Just on the eye test, Ethier hits the midway mark between the two reviews--a decent fielder with good instincts and an assassin's arm, but average to below average athleticism and range. Overall, he won't hurt the Dodgers.

That's where the excellence ends. And it should come to the surprise of no one that Hanley Ramirez is one of the team's weak links, as his reputation as a sub-par defender is well-earned. Fangraphs has his fielding costing his teams almost 48 runs in his career, though he played his best defense at short than he has since 2009 after his trade to SoCal. He's not a complete butcher in the Mark Reynolds mold, but no one's going to confuse him as Ozzie Smith over there. A lot of anecdotal evidence I saw was that the guy simply doesn't hustle on a lot of plays. He just looks...kind of lazy. Whether that means he's just not working hard or knows he can't get to the ball is irrelevant. The point is that he's not making the play. The other defensive black mark on the Dodgers? Surprisingly, Matt Kemp.

Any honest Dodger fan will be able to tell you that Matt Kemp's defensive acumen has been vastly overstated. On one hand, he's a fantastic athletic specimen who lives up to his billing as having the full five tools at his disposal. Kemp has tremendous range because of his speed and ability to burst out of the box, not to mention an arm only rivaled by his teammate Ethier's.

However, Oklahoma's finest has some of the poorest defensive instincts in the league. UZR has him as costing the Dodgers double-digit runs over the past four seasons in center field, which is corroborated by simply seeing Kemp make the wrong first step and misjudge flies inning after inning. He often tries to make up for his poor decisions with diving grabs--which, thanks to his supreme athleticism, he sometimes makes--which only compounds his mistakes in the field. Kemp is a prime example of how many times, players establish the reputation as great defenders because of their ability to run and jump.

Overall, the Dodgers defense ranks as solid, but not spectacular. The Ellis boys, Cruz, Gonzalez and potentially Crawford all rank as excellent fielders, with Ethier playing well enough on the right side of the field not to stick out. However, the two most defensive positions up the middle--Ramirez and Kemp--really hurt LA's scheme. It's hard to say if their defense will improve with more stability on the roster and better defenders surrounding them. Looking back on the past few World Series champions, it's very difficult to win with poor defense up the middle: in the past ten years, only the 2004 Red Sox had deficient players at more than one position (Mark Bellhorn and Johnny Damon). That's not to say it can't be done, or more importantly, Ramirez and Kemp can't improve. It will just be extremely difficult, not to mention uncommon.

It's a mistake to overlook the Dodgers' defense and pitching on the whole, and immediately give the Giants the edge. LA's pitching potential and fielding unit is far better than given credit for, mostly because most critics are quick to judge any team that throws money at hitters.