First, I better say right off the bat that this is not a Kobe-hating slam blog.  For anyone who remembers when I defended Steve Nash when he won it, I couldn't even begin to argue that Bryant didn't put up numbers that made him worthy of being MVP (I tried, believe me, but his stats were more than good enough to win the award both years).

What this is about, is the absolutely freakish season Chris Paul (commonly referred to as CP3) had, how it compares to the stats Nash put up both years he won it, and how both these player's stats compare to those of Bryant.

When Nash won the award, his offensive numbers were obviously all that the voters looked at in terms of his stats.  They made the claim that he made his teammates better on the offensive end, which he did.  But they failed to take into account how incredibly bad he was (and still is) as a man-to-man defender.

Bryant was, and still is, way better defensively, as an individual, than Nash ever was, is, or will be.

What I don't understand is this:  Paul put up better numbers overall (I won't even bother trying to post the stats, because it would just look like a pile of manure if I tried) than Nash did in either of his MVP seasons.  Not just offensively, but defensively as well.

Add to that the fact that Bryant's numbers are down this year compared to those 2 seasons (dramatically down in PPG, where I believe he averaged 35 per in 1 of those seasons, and managed "only" 28 or so this year).

So, my question to the voters is, how do you vote Bryant the MVP this year when CP3 had as good of a year overall, if not better, than Nash did in his back-to-back award-winning seasons when Bryant himself had marginal improvement in FG and 3PT %'s, rebounds and assists, but scored 7 fewer PPG than his "best" season when he averaged 35.4?

If anything, this only strengthens the arguement for Kobe and Laker fans that he should have won it at least 1 of the 2 years Nash did (possibly even last year when Dirk won the award).  I would have to agree with them on that.

Since we can't go back in time and give him the award for any of those 3 seasons, will you admit you're giving him the award this year based on either lifetime achievement or simply being sick of hearing all the "you're just a bunch of Kobe-haters" comments?

In conclusion, YES I now admit Kobe should have won the award any 1 season out of the last 3...which one is irrelevent in my book.  NO I don't think he should have won it this year, based on the stats he had compared to those seasons, plus the stats CP3 put up in comparison to Nash in his MVP seasons.

And once again, this is not to rip Bryant.  If anything, it's to rip the voters for doing a 180 in my opinion in how they determine who wins the award.

Is Bryant worthy of it this year?  You bet.  But in my opinion, Paul should have won it based on all the above information.

questions

what if the nba, nfl and mlb all awarded points to teams based on number of minutes led, or how many times they led after a quarter ended (sort of like racing does w/laps led, and hockey does with...w/e the heck they do)?

where is the next great duke product, j.j. redick?

or how about the latest next great duke product, josh mcroberts?

are they hiding with waldo?

why does it seem like every nfl team traded 1 of their best defensive linemen (DT especially) this offseason?

does it surprise ANYONE that the raiders traded for deangelo hall, and then gave him the keys to the franchise with a mega-contract?

does it surprise anyone that they also signed javon walker to a 6 year, $55 million deal, after coming off 2 MORE knee surgeries and missing 8 games last season?

what are the odds, after losing randal gya and asante samuel, that troy brown will be starting at CB for the pats next year?

the mlb season is about to begin....which team is going to be their version of the patriots, whom all their "fans" believe is destined to win the world series, only to a) bomb in the regular season, b) tank in the 1st round of the playoffs, or c) steam roll their way to the WS, only to get beat by a sub-par (or shall we just say NL...?) team?

does your bracket look as bad as mine?

where are the florida fans?  wait, i'm guessing they're rebuilding, along with the program.

hey, did jeff green, former g-town standout, go pro?  i swear he did, but i cant say i've heard a word about him.

does anyone think michael beasly, k-state freshman phenom, will return for his sophomore season?

predictions

next season, there will be a new nba team, consisting of patrick ewing, dikembe motumbo, alonzo mourning, roy hibbert....and earl boykins.

to solve their QB dillema, the bears will coax jim mcmahon out of retirement.

milwaukee bucks owner herb kohl will convince his new GM (larry harris couldnt wait to get out, as kohl wouldnt let him do....his JOB) to draft some lithuanian project, because he sees a boat load of money from merchandise sales.

heather mills will be forced to ride in the luggage compartment, as the $48.6 mil she got from paul mccartney just isnt enough to live on.

the ncaa tournament will expand from 64...err, i mean 65....to 96, giving the top 32 teams a 1st round bye, and the 97th team will whine incessently about how they should have gotten in.

the nba will scrap its current playoff format, and allow every team into the postseason, in an effort to extend the season as long as the nhl does.  1st round series will last 3 games, and teams will be re-seeded after each round.

tiger woods will begin playing tournaments blindfolded, and still win.  honestly, i'm questioning whether this guy is really that good, or if everyone else just believes if they're ahead after 3 rounds, they win.

barry bonds will sign a minor league contract w/the pirates, and even though both knees are shot, will be allowed to bat sitting in a wheel chair, still manage to hit the ball out of the park, and run over at least 1 opposing infielder and an umpire on his way around the bases.

john kruk, even with the pirates 23 games back on may 15th, will predict they take over 1st place by the 1st of june.

duke will lose early in the ncaa tourney  (oops...they already did).

the cubs will win the world series (ok, seriously, i have to stop this now).

Billy Crystal

Yawn.  As I stated on Dudski's post, let me know when Jerry Seinfeld tries out at RB for the Patriots, and their entire LB corps gang tackles him in a walk through without pads, and I might care.

Doubtful though.

Brett Favre and Politics

No, it's not what you're thinking.

I just read in the newspaper the other day that the Wisconsin legislature passed some bill honoring the now retired (which, as I've learned from Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Roger Clemens and others, could change next week) QB.

Wonderful.  We were the last state in the Union to pass a budget last year (some 9 months into the fiscal year as I recall), but it took them all of about 10 days to write this legislation and pass it.

That's not even the worst of it.  Why are we taking time out of working on important things like the budget, immigration laws, unemployment fixes, and the dreades oil/gas price explosion to work on something so incredibly stupid?

Do we really need an official Brett Favre holiday?  People around here already think he's God.  They don't go to church on Sunday, they sit and watch replays of his biggest games (which basically means playoff games....prior to 2000).

On a Related Topic....

Work is underway to make St. Patricks Day an official, federal holiday.

Why?  Here's another situation where we really don't need to make this a federally recognized holiday in order to get drunk, and eat something that's going to give us really really bad gas (corned beef and cabbage).

Hey, before you get all bent out of shape thinking I'm bashing Irish people....I'M PART IRISH.

But what's going to happen here?  We've got St. Patty's day, Good Friday, Easter and all that mess jumbled up into 1 week's time this year.  All we'd be doing is giving Congress and the rest of the politicians another reason to take another 2 weeks off work (paid for by us of course) in the spring, and extend the amount of time we have to work before we've cleared the amount of income taxes they're going to molest us of.

Bobby Knight on ESPN....

As much as I dislike the guy, I can almost tolerate him now.  Well, based on the 1 time I heard him talking about the conference tourneys anyway.

But, he rambles a bit too much.

Come on, did you really expect me to LIKE a sports "analyst"?

Brett Favre

Ok, so he finally retired!  I really thought I'd be happy this day has finally come, but deep down I guess I knew it would only lead to 7 years of fans and media falling all over themselves worshiping him.

I really didn't think he would retire after coming so close to the super bowl last year, but it's starting to look like he basically told management "get me Randy Moss or I don't want to play anymore."

This rumor has Packer fans wanting to kill Ted Thompson, calling him selfish and claiming he's been trying to force Favre into retirement since he got the GM job.

I don't get it.  Why is it ok for Favre to be selfish and make demands on who the TEAM should sign for HIS benefit, but it's not ok for the GENERAL MANAGER to decide who or what is best for the team?

Nobody appreciates what Favre did in his time here more than I do.  The difference between myself and so many others, is that I also recognize and admit his mistakes.

I don't defend him for ill-advised passes into double coverage by saying he "feels like he needs to win on his own because he doesn't have enough talent around him."

I don't defend him for throwing a lob pass on a 15 yard out route when it gets intercepted and eventually leads to the game-winning score for the opponent.

And I certainly will NOT defend him for being selfish and telling management who they need to sign to make him want to return for his 8th annual pre-retirement tour.

Clemens, Bonds, etc.

So, politicians are now trying to talk the FBI out of investigating Clemens because they have more important things to worry about.

I couldn't agree more.  But, before you go accusing me of being racist (since I wrote several bits about what a pig Bonds was/is), here's my solution:

Throw them both out of baseball for good, make them both ineligible for the Hall Of Fame, and then and only then drop any investigations currently underway, or planned for the future (regarding the steroids, etc.  obviously, if one of them goes postal and whacks somebody, they're fair game).

You're darn tootin' the FBI has more important things to worry about.  Like, how about they work on the illegal immigration, the drug trafficking, or gang activity?

I don't believe for a second they don't have the manpower or time to get something done on these issues.  I just believe there's too much red tape.

Oh, and as far as Clemens, Bonds, or anyone else lying under oath....We know they did, as have a million other criminals (and some who weren't...until, of course, they lied under oath).  Instead of investigating anything beyond the lying under oath, why not just set a minimum fine of say....30% of their previous year's income (for anyone who lies under oath, not just rich baseball players).  Maybe that would deter people from fibbing in court.

Back to Favre....

There are some happy people in the world of football these days.  Vikings, Bears and Lions fans are all celebrating like crazy.  Somehow, the Viking and Bear fans believe their respective team is now in the driver's seat to win the NFC North this coming season just because Favre has decided to call it a career.

Why?  Well, isn't it obvious?  Green Bay now has an unproven QB stepping in, while the Bears have.....Rex Grossman, and the Vikings have....Tarvaris Jackson.

How fans of either of these teams can brag up those 2 guys is beyond me.  The Bears reached the super bowl last year in spite of Grossman, and the only reason Jackson has "led" the Vikings to any victories last year was some dude they call "All Day".

Best of luck Bears and Vikings and Lions.  We may have an unproven QB, but the Bears and Vikings have QB's who have only proven they can't get the job done.  While in Detroit, the only thing that has been proven is that Matt Millen is a complete ####.

I think I'll take my chances with the unproven Aaron Rodgers, and a GM who is not afraid to keep his checkbook in his pocket during the free agent frenzy, and instead build a team through the draft (I think it's worked out pretty well so far, don't you?).

Wisconsin Badgers:  Big Ten Champs!

The men's basketball team clinched at least a share of the regular season crown last night.  Not too shabby for a team almost everyone thought would finish in the middle of the pack this year after losing Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor (approx. 33 PPG off last year's squad).

No superstars.  No prime time players.  No diaper dandies.  Just a solid bunch of kids who know how to play hard, play smart, and play together.  And it doesn't hurt to have a coach who knows how to get the most out of his team.

Kelvin Sampson

How sad is it that you can't even fire someone for breaking the rules, not just of his direct employer, but also of the governing body that polices said employer?

I'm far from feeling sorry for Indiana University.  They should have seen this coming.  Sampson didn't make 1 or 2 bad judgement calls (pun intended) while at Oklahoma.  He made over 500 if I remember correctly.

What on Earth made the PTB's at Indiana think he'd straighten out is beyond me.

However, they couldn't just fire him, they had to buy him out so he would agree not to file a lawsuit for wrongful termination.  $750,000 AFTER breaking NCAA recruiting violations not for the 2nd time, but after being given a 2nd chance at a well-respected University (which is saying something considering who coached their BB team for so many years before he and Mike Davis got there).

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I can do at my place of employment where I can get a sweet termination/severence package like that.  Considering I make about $35-40K a year, I'd even settle for $7,500.

The Big NBA Trades (kinda, sorta...re-visited)

Shaq has played 2 games (that I know of) as a member of the Phoenix Suns.  He has looked somewhat respectable, but nothing like the Shaq we all used to know.

Jason Kidd has played 2 games with the Dallas Mavericks.  He looked awful in his first game going up against Chris Paul, then put up 15 assists (and 2 points) against....Memphis.

One writer here on Foxsports.com believes it's too early to conclude much about Shaq, while another one is handing out praise to Kidd like he invented the wheel, sliced bread, AND came up with the theory of relativity.

Let me make this perfectly clear.  It's too early to make a solid determination on either of them.

What I find hilarious though, is the fact that Chris Paul put up 30+ and 14 dimes in Kidd's first game w/Dallas, but that doesn't even seem to matter.  Yet, when Kidd dishes out 15 assists against the mighty Grizzlies, we are to believe this trade is already paying major dividends?

Sorry, but I'm not buying it.  Not yet.

NFL Draft

Matt Ryan is a stud.

Wait, maybe he's not.

Glenn Dorsey is the no-brainer top overall pick.

Wait, maybe he's not.

The Dolphins are definitely going to trade out of the #1 pick.

Wait, maybe they're not.

I like glancing at the mock drafts as much as anyone, but in a lot of ways it's quite useless at least until some of the free agents have landed with new teams.

The only guarantee with the draft is that half the teams will take someone other than who all the experts expect them to pick, at which point said experts will give you 37 reasons why a) those teams picked the wrong guy, and b) they really knew all along that was going to happen, all because 1 team in the top 12 picks messed up beyond belief and "reached" for a mid-2nd round talent.

Roger Clemens "Misremembered"

I admit, I'm not really following the story real close.  I just don't have it in me to care anymore.

For starters, he's retired (if not by choice, then because of the scandal).  Second, I know enough already to draw my own opinion on the subject.

Here's what I think about this party he supposedly went to at Jose (I never played with anyone who didn't juice) Canseco's house (or wherever it was).

He said he wasn't there.  Now, there's video evidence that he was?  (Not that I find it creepy or anything, but how do they always come up with video evidence to dis-prove stuff like this?)

Anyway, my point is.....this alleged party appearance was....(counting back in time) approximately 9 years ago.

I'm not saying he's lying or anything, but if you attended a party 9 years ago, would you automatically remember it?  I guess what I'm saying is, if there was ever a situation where you could forget (or, misremember) something, this might be it.  Of course, I'm assuming that Mr. Clemens attended more than a few parties back in the day.  If this was the only party he attended since 1988, then he probably should have recalled being there.

_______________

That's my 2 cents worth.