Ramblings 1/26/09

As super bowl week kicks in, I want to touch on some other topics first.

1) Australian Open - Is anyone a tennis fan anymore? What are their ratings now? Here is one of their 4 major tournaments of the year and you hear less about them than you do MMA ........ We're in week 2 of this tournament and I've heard barely anything about it. Say all you want about some recent retired tennis players but if I mentioned their first names, you'd know who I meant. Can you say that about the current group? Venus and Serena, yes but unless you're a huge tennis fan, you'd probably have no idea who I'd mean if I said Roger, Raphi, Jelena or Amelie...... Ok, now how about Anna or Andre? I'll bet you know who I mean. Steffi, Mac, Martina, Chrissi..... The game lacks a charasmatic star. Are there good players? Yes. But right now they're missing someone (or someones) to carry the torch.

2) Baseball Free Agent Signings - I heard lot's of people in the media say sports wouldn't be affected by the downturn in the economy. The top free agents got monster deals, but what about the rest? Still out there are big names Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, Adam Dunn, Andrew Jones, Ben Sheets, Pudge Rodriguez, Oliver Perez, Andy Pettite and we're what? 16 days from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. Some bigger name players have already signed for less money than they got last year (Pat Burrel, Milton Bradley), and no doubt the guys that are left will sign smaller deals also. It's a reality that teams (minus the Yankees) are feeling the money pinch. It'll be interesting to follow how teams do with attendance this year. I got a note when my Angels season seats came, that there are a lot of empty seats this year as compared to the past......

3) NBA - Having had a chance to watch the top 4 teams this past week, I still think it's going to come down to the Lakers and Celtics again. Cleveland and Orlando still have missing pieces. Orlando is too playoff young and I don't think Cleveland can beat Boston in a 7 game series. I look for the Lakers to cruise through the west, as no one out there can compete with them. And as much as this hurts me to say, I see them beating Boston in 6. Injuries could change things but if they stay the way they are, put the crown on the Purple and Gold.