The Sports Rotation

Forgive me Miami Heatfans.  It brings me no pleasure or delight to liken the explosiveness of Dwyane Wade's ability to get to the rim (which earned him the nickname "Flash") to the speed at which he will be leaving the Miami Heat organization.

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It's amazing the firestorm of reaction the Lakers signing of Ron Artest has created. Sports writers in LA are already talking about Artest being a chemistry killer and the supposed friction that exist between him and Kobe (which could be further from the truth, considering they are both good friends).

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It was just 3 days ago that Greg Oden scored "career highs" ( a statement that means little in his first year of play) with 24 points and 15 rebounds in Portland's win over Milwaukee.  I'm sure stats mongers joined Portland fans declaring this to be Oden's coming out party.  But stats don't always tell the full story, especially considering that while Oden controlled and dominated the paint, he did it against the likes of Dan Gadzuric...hardly an intimidating foe.  So one should be little surprised that Oden had such a monster game. In fact if you go back and look at Oden and the teams he has fared well against (the Warriors, Bulls, Clippers, and just recently the Bucks) you'll see that they were games against teams that feature small lineups, or were missing their low post man, as was the case in Milwaukee who was without Andrew Bogut.

Now Andrew Bynum is the "Center of Attention" because by all accounts he had the game of his life...well, actually of most NBA players lives.  While 42 points is nothing to point your nose up in the air about, the Clippers were without Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph, and arguably their best defensive player in Marcus Camby.  And as impressive as Bynum was in taking the scoring load off Kobe Bryant, who is battling a dislocated finger on his shooting hand, Bynum has been somewhat disappointing (his points and rebounds are down from last year) in what many expected to be his break out year.  And that is especially telling with the amount of injuries that the Lakers have suffered and the fact that Bynum was considered the inside low post threat that they were lacking vs the Celtics.

But that's what NBA fans get when looking for the next great big man.  It's not like looking at guards or wing players and projecting their potential greatness.  Their have been a glut of special players who play those positions.  You knew when Dwayne Wade started hitting game winners, and when Lebron James got better with his outside shot that they were going to be stars. But there have been maybe, at best, 6 great centers, all of them dominating early in their careers, and more importantly all of them healthy.  And just when you think Oden might be catching fire, he puts up 10 poimts against Ben Wallace and fouls out.  Looking for Bynum to go on a tear?  He'll cool as soon as Kobe's finger heals.  And until these big men stay healthy we won't ever really know.

Tuesday morning allows us sports enthusiasts to reflect on everything going on in the sports world with an opening mind (particularly during the NFL season because a new week has started).  So as the rest of the season goes, I will be taking this opportunity every Tuesday to expose certain Sports Truths so here goes:

1.  Yes Tony Romo continues to befuddle his coaching staff, teammates, and fans with his late season slump (particularly in force feeding Terrell Owens the ball despite double coverage).  And yes the players and their coaching staff have struggled to put it all together this year. But the Truth is that the Cowboy's malaise is a cultural problem that emanates from the owners box.  Since 1997 the Cowboys are 18-32 in December/January games.  Coaches have changed, players have come and go...but the only constant has been an angst driven meddling Jerry Jones whose latest decision was to question the manhood of arguably his toughest player in Marion Barber.

2.  We were told by everyone in football that Plaxico Burress's trobles with the law (shooting himself in a drunken state...just in case you lost track) would not distract the Giants because they are so deep at every position, including wide receiver.  Well the Truth is that they are deep at the reciever position but they don't have anyone that can duplicate the athleticism of Plaxico.  Even Eli Manning commented on Plax's wing span and how he could place the ball anywhere and Plaxico would make the catch.  That means that  Eli has to be perfect wigth his passes and the only Manning capable of that right now is still Peyton.  And if you didn't think that Plaxico's situation didn't distract the team, including Antonio Pierce, you missed their play vs the Eagles.

3.  The buzz in the NBA has Lebron as the cream of the crop in 2010 among every teams wish list of free agents.  But the last time I checked , Dwyane Wade was leading the league in scoring on a team that is being led by a rookie point guard in Mario Chalmers and relying on a rookie power forward (if you want to call that his position) in Michael Beasley.  And as impressive as the Cavs look this season with Lebron, D Wade still has the ring and the proven ability to take over games in the playoffs when it matters.  I think D Wade is the Truth. 

4.  Yes New York Yankees have the money and cache to throw at a lot of free agents this year.  Yes they still have Derek Jeter leading at the helms and the power hitting of Alex Rodriguez.  But the Truth is that this year's winter meetings have exposed them as a desperate team that has poor timing.  CC isn't going to be a Yankee (And if he is asking around about media scrutiny in the NYC chances are he isn't well equipped to be a Yankee anyway).

5.  Lastly, turning our attention back to the NFL, when Tom Brady went down with a knee injury, Peyton Manning not coming close to resembling his usual MVP form, and the mediocre play of the San Diego Chargers, many thought this NFL season would leave little to be desired.  But the Truth of the matter is that this has been one of the most entertaining unpredictable season in years (And to my surprise it has nothing to do with the Cowboys).  Two starting rookie quarterbacks in Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan have a chance of making the playoffs along with three rookie head coaches.  The Dolphins, who won 1 game last year, have a chance of winning the AFC East.  Chad Pennington could be considered for league MVP.  And Drew Brees has a chance to break Dan Marino's single season passing yardage mark.  Still thought this year would be a bust.  The Truth speaks for itself