1. It's that time of year again where everybody is calling for the cancellation of the NFL preseason or at least the reducing of some games. And of course the final conclusion is always 'no' or 'we'll think about it' from the owners. This is a ad-nauseam discussion that should be put to rest and never brought up again. I know there are key players from most teams each year that are loss for the year from pre-season but this is a violent game and injuries are going to occur, period. If it happens during game 1 of the preseason or game 1 of the regular season doesn't make much of a difference. Most teams would rather an injury happen during preseason than the regualar season because they can then have more time to address the situation with replacement playerz. We might see the preseason reduced by 1 game but thats about it, owners make too much money during those games not to mention the most important part of preseason--'player evaluation'. Coaches get to make critical decisions on young players that will be key components to the team during the regular season. Plus I'd rather see sloppy mistake ridden play during 3 preseason games than see it spil over into the first two weeks of regular season as players get re-acclimated to the new season

2. Olympic phenom swimmer Michael Phelps might not be the best athlete of all time (although one can put a good argument for him) but he is the best Olympian of all time and he will shut the door on that debate with authority during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where he is predicted to compete in 5 disciplines which would give him a possible total of 19 Gold Medals, the most ever by any athlete

3. The NFL's Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith was suspended for the first 2 games of the year by the team for his physical attack on defensive teammate Ken Lucas during training camp. Smith gave Lucas facial damage and 2 weeks on the injured reserve list. I have a huge problem with a guy like Steve who's been a great receiver on the field, when healthy, but at the same time been an arrogant self-hyped player that has a history of fighting and injuring teammates dating back to his first couple of years in the league. Instead of suspending Steve for 2 regular season games (expect the Panthers to go 0-2 in those games) they should of maintained his playing status but in turn his punishment would of been a 'self-contained cage match fight' with several key defensive players where Smith would have had to fight 3 or 4 teammates in a row without intermission. Of course he would of taken a major ####-beaten and only then do I think he would of learned his lesson, the hard old-skool fashion way, and started to control his anger mgt and respect his fellow teammates

4. The L.A. Dodgers newest addition Manny Ramirez has played well since his trade to the team in late July but lets be honest Manny is looking for another mega-contract (his agent is nemesis and universally-hated Scott Boras) at the end of year when he'll be a unrestricted free-agent. Here's hoping the Dodger brass plays this situation smart and doesn't fall for the 'Okey-Doke' and re-sign him for the $15-$20 mil per year he's expected to ask for. Let another big market team not named the Boston Red Sox's over-pay for Manny. I can't think of a more over-rated so-called star player in the history of MLB. He's a great hitter--some say the best right handed hitter of all-time--and because he consistently puts up great numbers at the plate analyst predict he will be a sure fire hall of famer but in mind those accolades are a bit short-sided for warranting Hall of Famer induction. Ramirez is a serious liability as an outfielder and has been for most of his prime years, he's disruptive force with coaches, mgt and ownership and he doesn't play hard night in and night out; doesn't run out ground balls and is easily distracted by off the field influences when he's playing defense. Being a 1-dimensional player shouldn't grant a player access to the H.O.F.. For that reason alone I recommend to the Dodgers they let Manny Ramirez walk at the end of the year and use that money to sign younger more all-around skilled set players that are in there farm system or on the free- agent market. Because Manny will continue to be Manny no matter what and that only benefits one person...Manny

5. Brett Favre in New York, playing for the Jets, I've never seemed Brett look more uncomfortable and out of place. To me it should of been the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Retirement...only in Tampa did he have a chance to contend for a Super Bowl appearance. In N.Y. he'll be contending for a 8-8, 9-7 record and early exit to his off-season Mississippi home. Next off-season Favre should be able to make a more definitive retirement decision because returning to New York to play for the Jets in '09 will be a NO-NO. The John Madden game cover jinx lives on

6-4-08

1. As much as I want to believe this 2008 version of Lakers vs. Celtics NBA Finals is another chapter in the long history of great Championship matches it's just not the same. Neither one of these teams today would win one game vs their own predecessors and most importantly there's not enough tenureship on either one of these teams to make it seem that much important. Outside of Kobe Bryant and Derrick Fisher (and he left via free agency for several seasons and is now in his 2nd stint with the team) for the L.A. Lakers and Paul Pierce for the Boston Celtics the remainder of the respective roster players have either just arrived recently or was acquired this season

2. The NHL Stanley Playoff Run and Cup Finals is proving once again to be the Best when it comes to playoff excitement and unpredictability amongst any of the professional sports organizations here in the good ole U.S.A.. To bad most sports fans in this country are to narrow-minded to give this sport a chance, we all know Gary Betteman has to do a better job at marketing his sport and players but  in the mean time while he's gearing up to improve in those categories the best athletes in all of sports (outside of football) are giving us 'Must See TV'

3. The best all-around basketball athlete in professional sports, outside of Kobe Bryant , is not in the NBA, she currently resides in the WNBA with the Los Angeles Sparks. Her Name is Candace Parker and she is arguably the best player in her league and she's only played 6 games into her rookie season. Parker is better than half the players currently on the entire NBA rosters; and she's only getting better. Basketball fans may diss her and the league she plays in but none of those guys would have the balls to play her one-on-one. The WNBA is taking a slow climb to respectability in this country but it's gonna happen, sooner rather than later, and players like Candace Parker will be at the fore-front

4. OJ Mayo continues a tradition of over-rated star athletes who will be marginally good at the Pro level and at the same time leave a tarnished legacy at their alma mater. USC deserves to take a hard fall for continuing to let players like OJ, Bush and Leinart (to only name a few) enter their sports program and run wild with arrogance, rules-breaking and brute showmanship. I know USC has a storied tradition of putting out great talent at the next level and there's no arguing their impact, especially at the NFL, but that tradition has changed within the last 5 years due to many allegations of star athletes getting paid and preferential treatment from outside sources. USC is no longer a shining example of professionalism

5. There are moments when watching Kobe Bryant that you are reminded of Michael Jordan (brief moments but a few none-the-less) but what if there was an athlete that reminded you of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson combined. Well there is and his name is Lebron James. He hasn't reached that plateau yet, starting next season ('09-'10) we'll all be witness to it, but he's on his way and is very scary to think about. Barring injury Lebron will be able to put on a nightly show of inside and outside dominance that will be unmatched for the for-seeable future. He can pass and lead a team like Magic and he can slash to the hoop and humble his opponent like Jordan. And he'll be able to do it from all 5 positions on the court. He's still a work in progress but soon enough the rest of the league will helpless to his wide array of skills and talent

6. There are so many examples of athletes gone bad who were once at the 'top of the mountain' in the NBA you would think David Stern would make examples out of them at the annual Rookie Symposium--hopefully he's doing it already. The Steve Francis's and Shawn Kemp's of the NBA world are spokesman for what you'll become when start believing the hype and stop working out-literally and figuratively

7. Danica Patrick did herself and women fighting to be respected in a male dominated industry (sports) a favor by finally winning her first race earlier this year. She can now continue to blaze the path of respectablility in Open Wheel-Racing and in racing overall. She will win again and her 'fire' and 'determination' will have to be dealt with as long as she keeps getting behind that wheel

8. The NFL is in a public relations funk right now and I'm sure they can't wait until Training Camp opens in late July. But commissioner Goodell is a good man and is learning on the job and he should be able to weather the storm up until the first kick-off of the season on Sept. 4th when everything we're talking about now will be forgotten and the best sport in the world will be revving to go

9. Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps is on pace to do something this Summer in China that no athlete has ever done in the history of sporting competition and most of the world has never heard of him. He's the best althlete in the world, by definition of the word, and he's being severly over-looked by the mainstream sporting medias. He's on pace to break Mark Spitz's 7 gold medals in one Olympic competition and break it by a long shot and we all should be standing up and ready to witness such a feat with Dog-ged anticipation. He realistically could win 8, 9 or 10 gold medals this summer. Lets hope the casual fan outside of the swimming genre tunes in to watch history being made

10. Stephon Marbury of the NBA's New York Knicks is scheduled to make 22 million dollars in salary next season; is there anybody less deserving of that money than this mal-content (of course its hard to justify anybody in professional sports or life for that matter getting that much for 1 calendar year). I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that, he's a horrible teammate and a coaches nightmare. He's hardly worth the direct deposit bank fee the Knicks will have to pay for sending his checks

11. The New England Patriots escaped this spygate situation somewhat unscathed but there reputation and their dynasty will be forever in question because of the cheating that was being done for who knows how long. If taping the opposing coaches signals wasn't suppose to give the Pats an advantage (from which I keep hearing the Pats front office, Pat fans and the NFL front office continually saying) then why were they doing it in the first place?

12. The Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys have spent a ton money this offseason in acquiring players thru trades and free agency; more than they should have considering most of those players were huge distractions on the team they left.  Lets hope they get their monies worth because considering the amount of cash they spent, the only satisfying end of season result for both should be a birth in the Super Bowl

13. When it's all said and done and Shaquille O'neal's career is over and we've all had time to analyze his career, he should go down as the most Over-rated NBA star of all time! He and Mike Tyson should be mentioned in the same sentence as athletes who had glimpses of superiority but overrall career stats and impact is under-whelming to say the least. Here's one Shaq stat that u might not know...Shaq hasn't completed a full healthy season of play since 2000-'01

14. Two NBA veterans who came into the league around the same time with huge promise will leave with little less than a mur-mur. Chris Webber (who retired early this NBA season) and Grant Hill, who should be retiring this offseason if he's smart, are guyz who will get lukewarm NBA first ballot Hall of Fame consideration but ultimately might not ever get in till late in life. Despite Grant's spectacular first couple years in the league, he quite never lived up to the hype coming out of Duke, he was non-chalant and never aggressive enough on the court to be a true leader and legend of the game; and once his foot ailments took over he was never nothing but a complimentary role player for the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns. Chris Webber on the other hand didn't have any major physical problems until late in his career and came out of Michigan with a ton of momentum; he even garnered the Rookie of the Year Trophy. But the duration of his career would ultimately label him as being 'mentally fragile and unproductive in big games'. He put up decent NBA career numbers but I always felt if he would of stayed one more year at the University of Michigan (instead of leaving after his sophomore season he would played thru his junior year) he could of matured more as a person and player but leaving school after that disastrous 'timeout mishap' in the NCAA championship game against North Carolina jinxed him forever on the professional level; he was never the same...'clutch' he was not