(Sorry for the horrible pun, I just couldn't resist)

The Rockets are losing their premiere big man to a stress fracture in his left foot that will require surgery and put Yao Ming on the shelf for the rest of the year. With the Rockets soaring through this part of the schedule and climbing the ranks in the stacked West, this will definatly make things harder for them. Are they out of it? I don't think so, not yet anyway.

With the dearth of wings and playmaking guards on this team, I think they just need to find a body for the middle that can eat up space, fouls, and boards. If T-Mac can stay healthy for the stretch run, which is a MONSTER if, the outside shooting and pretty solid permiter defense (I don't care what anyone says, Shane Battier is as good, if not better at times, the Bruce Bowen), I honestly can say that they will be able to absorb the loss. Would I be surprised if McGrady and Houston folded it up for the year? No, but this is not like before.

Tracy and Yao have never been the most durible players on the hard wood. In the past, that has been the bain of the Rockets, not having enough depth behind their two stars. But now, with T-Mac playing the way he almost always seems to, Luis Scolia coming along fantastic, and the rest of the team's role players clicking around him, I think they'll be fine. Will it be enough for a playoff spot? Yes, but only just. No higher then 7th. Will they win a series? No, but they'll make it tough for whoever they've got. For the short term, this only helps the young talent that Houston has accrued to gain experiance and confidence for series in the future.

This shouldn't be the end of the Rockets run, as is. This is the just the start.

As is evident in the little blurb of to the right, I am a Sonics fan. And as such, I've been through my share of ups and downs. But normally there is an up to look forward to at some point. Realistically, there isn't one.

When Clay Bennett and he's group of lowly subhumans purchased my beloved NBA team, it was blatant what they were up to. They bought the Seattle SuperSonics to move them to Oklahoma City. Clay pretended to go through the motions of getting a new arena, but he was never serious. The Muckleshoot Indians offered to build him an arena, on thier own land no less, no money from him, and coldly refused. This man is trying, and doing a damn fine job of, tearing the heart out of one of the most loyal fan bases in America.

But, I always held hope. I had that glimmer that David Stern and the NBA would step in and tell Clay, "Fuck off with this OKC crap!" if only for the sheer economic ramafactions. But no. Stern is proving to be just what people have been branding him for years. Pompous and spineless. Look at how dreadfully the Memphis Grizzlies are doing, how poor attendance for the New Orleans Hornets is, and they're #1 in the West for God's sake! Imagine throwing another team into that wasteland. There is such a abundace of quality college atheletics in the area, who the hell cares about a bunch of whiney, overpaid primadonnas when you watch players throw their bodies on the line for the love of the game. Yes, they all have dreams of going pro, but not all of them will and they know it. Yet, there they are, busting their nuts because they love the game.

The Sonics will not thrive in Oklahoma. Period. They may be a laughing stock here, but they're OUR laughing stock. They are still the SEATTLE SuperSonics. The history of the franchise will still be tied to the Pacific Northwest. Oklahoma never won an NBA title, Seattle did. Lenny Wilkins, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Dennis Johnson? Seattle. None of those guys would give OKC a second look. When Kevin Durant's contract is up, he's gone. He'll fly to the first major market team as soon as he has the chance, even if that means the Knicks or the Clippers. In Seattle, he'd be able to get his face out anywhere in the U.S., and given the M's success in Japan, maybe even join Yi, Yao, and the rest of the Rockets in popularity in Asia.

I hate to say it, but I'm savoring every single Sonics game as if it's the last, because they more or less are. And that fucking disgusts me.

As you know, today was the NBAs trading deadline, and as a fan of the Sonics, the Kurt Thomas trade interested me. The Sonics traded Thomas to the San Antonio Spurs for Brent Barry, Fransico Elson, and a 1st rounder. Good trade for all. The Sonics got a size with Elson, another pick to add to the pile (Sam Presti now has 12 picks over the next 3 years, 6 of which are in the 1st. Not to shabby for a guy who thought he was too young for the job), and the sharpshooting abilitiy of Barry to go along with his expiring contract. The Spurs got a guy that can really help Timmy down low when times get rough, which they will. But then today, they took part in a trade that falls into the same spectrum has a lot of the moves that have gone down recently. These are the moves that make me go "The hell?"

I mean the Kidd deal, the Shaq trade, the Pau trade from Memphis' end. Now, my boys have taken part in a 3 way deal with the Cleveland LeBrons and the Chiago Bulls. The Cavs are getting Ben Wallace (really?), Joe Smith (REALLY?),  Wally Sczcerbiak (kinda glad to see him go), Delonte West (damn you Presti!), and a future 2nd rounder from Chicago. The Bulls are getting Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmions, and Shannon Brown. Wow...that sucks. And the Supes? They get Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall, and Adrian Griffin. Wait...so they give up an idiot who thinks he's Kobe and very solid combo guard to get Donyell Marshall and dead weight? Really? Wow...

But, again, this is the nature of the deadline this year. It all started when the Grizzlies gave up Pau Gasol for Javaris Crittenton and a box of Oreo's. That made everyone else in the West panic. The Suns got Shaq, who's been in the twilight of his career since his last ring with the Lakers, the Mavs gave up WAY to much for a guy who QUIT ON HIS TEAM earlier this year, and the Hornets, who are leading the West mind you, trade for 2 total nutjobs in Bonzi Wells and Mike James. All these trades will end badly for the teams I mentioned, save the Grizzlies because they just wanted Pau off the books.

The Suns are still gonna lose in the Conference Finals, like they do EVERY year it seems like, until they can get a young, defensively minded center to put next to STAT.

The Mavericks aren't gonna go anywhere until they too get a legit big man.

Sooner or later, Mt. Bonzi is gonna explode and Mike James(WHAT?)MIKE JAMES is gonna start bitching because he's not the starting PG.

And because of these reasons, I'm going to be watching the last leg of this season and the playoffs with a lot closer eye. It'll be fun to see these teams implode because of the need of the GMs to out do each other, to make the bigger splash, to get the longer time slot on SportsCenter. Stay tuned, and feel free to bash me if I'm wrong. I really doubt I will be though.

Ok, I used to really look up to Bill Belicheck. He was a superb football mind that did what he did, and didn't feel the need to put attention on himself or any of his "star players". There were no such things as stars on Belicheck led teams. The Patriots were a team chuck full of guys who played above and beyond all expectations, Tom Brady being a prime example. Guy couldn't even beat out Drew Henson for starting job at Michigan. There's a reason for that. He's average, end of story. Bill gets a hold of him, he's the second coming of Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Joe Namath, Bart Starr, all rolled into one.

That is the power of Bill Belicheck. He makes you see things that aren't there. That's why his defenses were so tough to play against. It was almost like they knew what you were gonna do before you did. Then, Spygate.

Now we know why the Pats were so good. Now we know how they could make everyone that they went against look like complete idiots. Now we know how they could derail even the most complex of offenses, how the could decode every defense They were cheating douchebags.

Take any one on that offense and put them on any other team in the NFL and they wouldn't make that much of an impact. Linemen aside, there's only one person on that entire team that I would take if I were doing a draft to fill a new roster. That one? Wes Welker. That's a whole different blog all together.

Hearing Bill come out over the last few months and just be his normal self just continues to demonstrate to me that he has got so much smoke blown up his ass by Robert Kraft and the NFL themselves, that he honestly believes that what he was doing was his right. It wasn't cheating, it was strategy. He never watched the tapes, but his assistance did. He never told Matt Walsh to spy on the other teams, it was in the job description.

Bill Belicheck, the Patriots organization, the Pats fans, and all the NFL brass protecting this "cornerstone" franchise just need to shut up, admit to what they did, and go to Hell. I'm sick a tired of hearing about these douches.