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Home | Bandit Ramblings 14: Cardinals to the Super Bowl, No Seriously, And My Midseason NBA MVP Breakdown |
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| Written by onearmedbandit | |
| Sunday, 18 January 2009 | |
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For the last few weeks I've harped on how the NFL holds little interest for me anymore. The talent is too evenly spread because of the salary cap, leaving fans without a real team to hate and with few compelling, back and forth rivalries. And now, I sit here with smug satisfaction because the Arizona freakin' Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl.
The Arizona Cardinals have been underdogs in every game this postseason despite playing two of their three games at home. People said they were from a weak division and that they didn't have a chance against the Falcons, Panthers, or Eagles. Yet here we sit, watching Larry Fitzgerald ascend to superstardom and Kurt Warner hit for sure Hall of Fame status with the help of a defense nobody knows, a cast off running back who everybody thought was over the hill, and the gutsiest player in football, Anquan Boldin (featuring his broken face). One of the all time have-nots in the NFL has earned respect and may have forever changed their label as a snake-bitten, incompetent franchise. What I am most delighted with is the fact that two 9-7 teams faced off in the NFC Championship and that the one with only a few household names and a history of failure is advancing to represent an entire conference. Could this be the official start of the Era of No Great Teams? We thought we had an all-time great last year, but the Patriots sleepwalked through three quarters of the Super Bowl and became the all time "what if" team to ever play American professional sports. Now the Arizona Cardinals, who finished just above .500 in the regular season in a weak conference and even weaker division, are headed to Tampa Bay because nobody was able to figure out that Larry Fitzgerald is the one guy you need to stop to beat them. No matter who wins the Super Bowl, no team from the 2008-09 NFL season will be remembered as great. At a time in football history when players have never been, bigger, faster, or more well-prepared, not one of the 32 teams in the NFL is even close to being considered truly great. Because of this, the Super Bowl means less than it ever has. Unless you are from Arizona or Pittsburgh, why watch or have any emotional investment in a game that means nothing in the history of the sport? Nobody is going to tell their kids and grandkids about when they saw Edgerrin James finally get to the Super Bowl with a 9-7 team. There will be no conversations about the greatness of Bertrand Berry and the Cardinals defense. Nobody is going to remember the Steelers as a team for the ages because they can't block anybody and they have no great offensive players. So what does it matter who raises the trophy at the end of this season? The team that wins the Super Bowl wll be like the kind of cute girl who goes out with mediocre looking friends. Of course she looks damn good by comparison, but inthe grand scheme of things, you could do better. Is it too early to start wishing for the return of college football? NBA Midseason MVP We've reached the approximate halfway point in the NBA season, and a trio of familiar faces are on the minds of all of the voters when it comes to the MVP (although one of them doesn't make my list). Of course, the second half of the season means a lot more than the first in determining this award, but here's my ballot as of right now. 1. LeBron James, CLE (27.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 6.7 APG, 2.0 SPG) Everybody is already anointing LeBron the MVP, but it's way too early to call this race. The King is surrounded by the best collection of talent he's had in the NBA, and it shows. He continues to amaze on a nightly basis with his scoring prowess and fancy passing, but he has also become a great defender, locking down the opponents' top player every night. And he has added a most entertaining skill to his repertoire, chasing down sure layups for the opposition and swatting them five rows deep about once a game. He has career highs in steals and blocks, and while his scoring average is down slightly, he is still second in the league in points per game behind Dwyane Wade. He is starting to blossom into the all-time great he seems destined to become. Who knows where his ceiling is, but if he is able to hit jumpers more consistently, he'll run off a string of MVPs and we may all be treated to the second coming of His Airness after many false claims to the crown. 2. Chris Paul, NO (20.8 PPG, 11.1 APG, 5.4 RPG, 2.8 SPG) New Orleans was a sexy pick to make the NBA Finals before the season, but they got off to a slow start and looked disinterested. They got it together after going through the motions but still sit in fourth in the Western Conference. Still, Paul has continued to be a dominant force, leading the league in assists and steals for the second straight season. He got robbed of the MVP last season, and it looks as if it's going to be tough for him to overcome LeBron and Kobe this season as their teams have far superior records. However, the Hornets would be in a world of hurt without Paul. As in, they likely wouldn't make the playoffs without him. Paul is the best point guard in the world and at 23, he has almost LeBron-like potential to dominate the league for the next decade. Where would Tyson Chandler, and more importantly the Hornets, be without this guy? 3. Dwight Howard (20.2 PPG, 14.1 RPG, 3.2 BPG) Don't look now, but the Orlando Magic have the best record in the NBA. The emergence of Jameer Nelson has played a big role in that, but Howard is the guy that makes that team go. The value of a great big man in the NBA cannot be overstated, and Howard is staking his claim as the best with his monster performance the first half of this season. Howard is averaging over 20 points per game while leading the league in blocks and rebounds. Oh, and did I mention his team has the best record in the league? The young talent on this list is scary because all three of these guys have the ability to be among the top two or three to ever play their positions. Howard is an imposing force in the middle of the offense and defense for the Magic, and he has the ability to simply out-muscle almost anybody down low. Add in his freakish athletic ability and you've got a 23-year-old who should be on the short list for MVP for a very long time. Honorable Mentions: Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 19 January 2009 ) |
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