The Morning Wood - 12/19/2006

Stud: Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning...blah blah blah, no personality and 4 touchdowns...better than his always-moping brother, Eli...threw for 282 yards. Sells his soul for endorsments, blah blah blah, 3 of his touchdowns went to Marvin Harrisons. End of story.

Dud: Knicks/Nuggets Suspensions
No, not because I thought they were too harsh or not harsh enough, but because it's clear that both teams are better without those that were suspended. It's clear from one game that these suspensions won't have any impact. Is it any surprise the Nuggets beat the Wiz without Carmelo Anthony? Of course not. Similarly, look at how the Knicks rallied with key contributor Mardy Collins unavailable. These developments are akin to the Ewing theory - you know, that the Knicks would be (and were) better without Ewing on the court. Way to not shake things up, David Stern. One thing I'm amazed by coming out of this was that ESPN actually did an article on the Fantasy Basketball impact of these suspensions. (If you don't have Insider, I'm sorry). A couple notes about this fight: For all you people calling Carmelo a punk, you've all failed to realized that he hit/slapped/caressed/massaged Mardy Collins with so much force that his whole body pretty much recoiled from the impact - he wasn't running away. Nate Robinson's "put your dukes up" stance is as comical as it gets/I'm feeling his post-game Baby Gap attire. The Mardy Collins "you hit like a bitch" face is magnanimous. I wonder if Jared Jeffries beats up on Mardy Collins in his free time. My assumption is that people were holding Jeffries back, not because of the threat he posed to anybody else on the court/in the arena, but to save him from getting the shit beaten out of him.

Talk Around The Cooler:
All things considered, Terrell Owens is a pretty unique athlete. He's unquestionably one of the best receivers in the league, yet he also leads the NFL in drops. He's writes childrens books about sharing, but all he shares is his disdain for other receivers having passes thrown their way. He's an NFL player, yet he drives this orange beetle. Also, he admits to spitting on DeAngelo "Brown Sugar" Hall but then reneges on that admission once he finds out there's no actual evidence and he's been fined $35K. He's not a confused individual.

So...yeah, that Iverson trade to Denver, or Miami, or Minny. What's going on with that? Of course Billy King/the 76ers are saying they're taking their time. Translation: Billy King has fucked up the franchise so much the only card they can play is to trade the team's best player and hope that Billy King doesn't make another bad deal. And yeah, the 76ers (King) are asking for unreasonable shit that no competent GM would ever agree to. Oh yeah, the main reason Iverson can't be traded - it's because he's black.

Quick Hits:
He needs money. Ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you Mike Tyson's next opponent. So AI is second in Eastern Conference All-Star voting? What happens if he's traded to a Western Conference team?