NBA TRADE DEADLINE

- Prior t0 the playoffs the dominant powers out west made big moves to advance their chances of reaching the finals. Currently their are 9 teams with a winning percentage over .600, which is very good. Only 8 teams make it to the playoffs, so every team had one last chance to improve their team. Some great players were moved to the western conference elite.

• LA Lakers- acquired Pau Gasol- 2 time NBA All Star
• Phoenix Suns- acquired center Shaquille O Neal- future hall of famer and huge presences in middle

• Dallas Mavericks- Acquires future hall of famer Jason Kidd to run offense

• Golden State Warriors- Signed All star Chris Weber

• San Antonio Spyrs-Signed Role Players Damon Stoudamire and Kurt Thomas to improve championship roster

- There were also some key moves in the east before the deadline by some contenders

• Cleveleand Cavaliers- Acquired all star Ben Wallace, Wally Sczerbiak, Joe Smith and Galante West to provide new supporting cast for Lebron James.

• Bulls- acquired veterans Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes to make one last playoff push.

• Atlanta Hawks- Acquired All star Mike Bibby to try to secure a playoff Spot.

ALL STAR WEEKEND

This weekend we experienced the NBA all-star weekend which I believe is one of the most exciting weekends in all of sports. It started on Friday Night with the rookie challenge. The NBA truly looks like it has a good set of younger players. The sophomores once again beat the rookies. Saturaday night was even more exciting. Jason Kapono won the three point shooting contest. He tied a NBA record with 25 points in the final round. The Slam Dunk contest was the most exciting ever. Gerald Green had a great dunk which he blew out a candle while slamming it down. However, It was Dwight Howard's night. He had 4 great dunks. The best was the Great Superman Dunk. The Weekend was ended on sunday night with the all- star game. Once again the game was an exciting up and down game. We saw the best players in the NBA make great plays. The eastern conference all stars won the game. Lebron James won the MVP award, which is second in his career. Not to mention the game was held in New Orleans, which shows the city is on its way back.

Big day In Capital Hill

On Wednesday two big stories arose in Washington D.C. The first was the congressional hearing of Roger Clemens and and Brian McNamee. Roger Clemens has said under oath that he has never taked HGH, which is a prohibited steroid. On the other hand Brian MCnamee has stated that he injected the future hall of famer Clemens with HGH. They were both under oath and one of these men is clearly lieing, and may face perjury charges. Back in November the Mitchell report stated that Clemens was pointed out for taking HGH, and Clemens has denied from day one. However, during yesterdays trial it was pointed out that Roger's close friend Andy Pettitte had stated thet Clemens talked about HGH to him.In my opinion it does not look very good for Clemens. Its starting to look more and more like Clemens cheated, and is lieing under oath to the U.S governemnt. He could be facing jail time.

The second big story was Senator Arlen Spector meeting with comissioner Roger Goddell about the destroying of the Patriots spying videos. The Senator want to know why the tapes were not used for further evidence. The Senator will be investigating how far the patriots cheating has gone. He wanted to know if the video tapes could have served him any good. Roger kept his position that burning the tapes was the best option for the league. I believe the patriots need to pay if they cheated, and won 3 superbowls.

NFC Wins Pro Bowl, ....so?

On sunday the most pointless game of the NFL season was played. The NFC defeated the AFC team 42 to 30. Adrian Peterson was the games MVP with 129 rushing yards, and Terrell Owens had a nice game with two touchdown receptions. But, really who actually cares? The game is played a week after the superbowl, and means absoulutely nothing. Most of the stars like Tom Brady, Tomlinson, and Rany Moss did not even participate in the game. I personally found the game boring and hard to watch. Unlike the NBA of MLB there are also no skill competitions to get the fans into it. MLB has the exciting Home Run derby, and the NBA has the slam dunk and three point contest. Also in MLB the winner of the all star game has home field advvantage in the World Series, which proves to be crucial. What does the pro bowl have? Its played in Honolulu which has no connection to the NFL all year. The coach of the game is the loser of the conference game, which makes no sense to me whatsoever. Also the rules that are in playfor the game make it a lot less enjoyable to watch. In my opinion the NFL has much work to do in order to promote their all star game and get their best players to participate in.

Shaq heads back West

This week the Miami Heat traded Future Hall of famer Shaq to the Phoenix Suns for all-star forward Shaun Marion and Guard Marcus Banks. The suns made this big deal, despite already having the best record in the very deep western conference. They traded one of their best players. However, they acquired a guy who was the most dominant player in the NBA during his prime. Many people believe that Shaq is too old and cannot play The Phoenix Suns styke of basetball. However, the suns feel that the piece that they were missing with their group of star player is a big guy to anchor the middle. They will depend on shaq to cover guys like Yao Ming, Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, and Carlos Boozer in the playoffs. They also feel that the acquisition of Grant Hill provides them a s a very good player to take over Marion's position. Only the playoffs will tell how good this deal was.

The Miami Heat also feel that they had a very good deal. They are not going anywhere this year, with a last place record in the east. They acquire a younger star in Marion who they can build a team in along with Dwayne Wade. Also Marcus Banks is panning out to be a really solid role player. This trade will probably be the blockbuster of this NBA season.

Giants Prevent "19-0"

Giants fans have absolutely everything to be proud about. The New York Giants are superbowl champions.They defeated the 18-0 New England Patriots, in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Instead of the perfect patriots going down in history, the amazing turn around of the Giants will be a story talked about for decades. The Gants began the season 0-2, and had their fans doubting that they would even make the playoffs. Their great running back Tiki Barber retired and their coach seemed to loose control of the team. Later in the season their talented tight end Jeremy Shockey broke his leg. The Giants barely made the playoffs as a wild card team. Everyone including most Giant fans felt that Eli Manning would not be able to lead them past the first round. However, this was when Eli Manning and the Giants developed as a great team that played with great pride. They won 3 straight road games against division winners Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay going into the superbowl. They then outplayed and dominated the game against the undefeated Patriots. This was one of the greatest superbowls ever played. Eli Manning played the game of his life and won Superbowl MVP. This superbowl will be remembered for a while, and so is the story of the 2007 NY Giants. I am a Jets fan, however, I must say congrats to the NY Giants for a superbowl well earned.

Mets Sign Ace

On Friday the Mets made it official by signing ace Johan Santana to a $137.5 million, six-year contract extension, a record for a pitcher and the last major step needed to complete the team's blockbuster trade with Minnesota. Last year the one weakness the mets had, which led to their collapse, was that they did not have a true ace starter which they can depend on. WIth the acquisition of Santana, the mets not only acquire an ace, but in my opinion the best pitcher in the league. Santana clearly makes the mets the team to beat in the National league. Santana and Pedro provide a great one/two as starting pitchers, to go along with a very good ofense, and an all star closer. Another reason I feel this trade was great for the mets was that they kept their two top young prospects. This trade was brilliant for the mets organization. Santana is worth all the money he will make. The mets needed to make a big splash after their collapse, and they did by finding a way to sign the best pitcher in baseball. Santana is still young, and will be a big part of the mets when they open their new stadium next year. Santana will join Reyes, Wright, and Beltran that are stars that the mets will have for a long time. As a mets fan this trade gets me very excited. The mets were a good team that got even better today. I feel that they are clearly favorites to make the world series, and should have a great chance to win it.

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