Manny, Ortiz Reportedly Had Positive Tests in 2003

Baseball is just stupid. Not the sport, the community. When Alex Rodriguez's name came out of the supposedly confidential list of players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, baseball should have seen that as a sign that the list will never be held under confidence.

I was on the bandwagon of just going out and releasing all the names on the report so we can digest it all at once and somewhat quickly move on. Instead, baseball decides to keep trying to keep this under wraps and risking the fact that every two months or so another name gets reported.

It happened with Sammy Sosa earlier this year. It has now happened with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Both Ortiz and Ramirez are reportedly on that 2003 list. The New York Times is reporting that the two then-Red Sox tested positive for PEDs when the league had preliminary testing.

This isn't surprising. Manny just served a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a female fertility drug. There have been whispers about Ortiz that grew into roars as he struggled mightily at the beginning of this season. Not to mention that Ortiz basically wasn't very good in Minnesota ... who dumped him in 2002. Magically, Ortiz signed with the Red Sox and started putting up elite numbers. Plus, no one in their right mind cannot at least fathom that every slugger over the past 10-15 years has been juiced at some point. Even if they weren't, the perception is that they all were.

Also, Ortiz and Ramirez are both from the Dominican Republic. Just like reported PED user Miguel Tejada. Alex Rodriguez is of Dominican decent. The only country that has produced more positive users since 2005 has been the United States.

This is yet another huge blow to baseball ... if you pay attention. Barry Bonds single season home run record? He was juiced. Mark McGwire breaking Roger Maris' home run record before Bonds? He was rumored to be juiced. Bonds all-time home run record? He was juiced. A-Rod, McGwire, Raphael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa ... among the greatest HR hitters of all time ... all have been rumored or proven to have juiced. Go back and look at all the MVPs over the past 15 years and pick out all the ones who have been linked to PEDs.

Now that magical Red Sox run in 2004 looks like it was performance enchanced. The Red Sox amazing comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS and their winning their first World Series since 1918 has a little bit of taint on it.

So, we now wait another couple of months to see who's name comes off the list next.

Favre, Buehrle, Minaya, Plax, Trade Talks and the Passing of a Defensive Guru

What a weird sports day, huh?

The biggest news is the fact that Brett Favre isn't coming to the Minnesota Vikings. I know that this seems like some closure, but I'm not completely sold. I still think if someone desperately needs a QB during the season (and they have a chance to go deep in the postseason), Favre may look at it again. But for now, we can chill with the Favre Watch.

And how about that Mark Buehrle? Dude took ANOTHER perfect game into the sixth inning before a walk broke it up. He faced and retired a record 47 straight batters. I'm waaaay more impressed with what Buehrle did than Bobby Jenks ... who held the previous record. Jenks is a reliever who didn't have to deal with the same things Buehrle had to. Ya know, facing guys multiple times in a game. Rest.

The shame is that it all unraveled after that walk and the White Sox were beaten.

The story this morning was about that little tirade Omar Minaya went on. The end is near in New York. Minaya's team is failing, the front office butchered the Willie Randolph firing last year and to have your GM going off on a reporter and blaming him for you having to can your assistant because he was caught acting like an ass. Whew. Goodbye, Mr. Minaya.

Speaking of the Big Apple, isn't there a saying about a "New York minute"? Well, how long is it going to freakin' take before this Plaxico Burress/Antonio Pierce situation gets handled????

Also, can we chill with all these reports about what trades may or may not happen? I don't need a minute by minute update about the guesses people are making. Red Sox offered a deal to Toronto (I think this one may happen) for Halliday. The Phillies are talking about acquiring Cliff Lee. Yay! I can't wait for this to bleed and bleed and bleed and bleed!!!

There was one trade that went down. In the NBA, the Hornets sent Tyson Chandler to the Bobcats for Emeka Okafor. I get this from both sides. Okafor is much more reliable than Chandler. He's a better rebounder and is just one solid cat. Chandler is a better defensive player, bigger and gives Charlotte a guy that could bring more offensive flow to a team that badly needs it. Also, it is a cheap deal for the Bobcats, who don't mind shedding some payroll so they look attractive to potential buyers.

Lastly, the passing of Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Johnson's defenses in Philly were just wicked. He always had you guessing; he always had you confused and he usually had you broken by the end of the game. He was a wizard who had a certain flair about him. Johnson passed away after a long fight with cancer. May he rest in peace.

Terrell Owens' Comments on Vick Is Kinda Right ... But Kinda Stupid

Terrell Owens said this about Michael Vick's pending suspension/reinstatement:

"The Michael Vick situation, I think, is unfortunate," Owens said. "I think the way the commissioner is handling it is unfair to Michael Vick. I think he's done the time for what he's done. I don't think it's really fair for him to be suspended four more games. It's almost like kicking a dead horse in the ground.

"A lot of the guys around the league need to speak up. I think the players' union needs to step in because the guy's already suffered so much, and to add a four-game suspension onto a two-year prison sentence, I mean, that's ridiculous."

Okay. I agree with what Owens is trying to say. Vick has had everything taken from him and to pile on just doesn't seem fair. Still, I can get with the probationary reinstatement that Roger Goodell gave Vick.

But ... as Jim Rome said today ... you can't go with a "kicking a dead horse" blast when defending Vick. Do you really want to bring up dead animals when discussing a man who just did a 23 month bid for bankrolling a dog-fighting ring?

This, to me, is T.O. in a nutshell. While what he says at time really isn't as bad as it seems, the manner in which is says them tends to be.

Selig Considering Lifting Ban on Pete Rose

Yesterday was the Hall of Fame ceremonies in Cooperstown, NY. Again, some of the talk was about one man who wasn't there: Peter Edward Rose.

It gained some interesting steam today when it has been reported that commish Bud Selig is seriously considering lifting Rose's lifetime ban which could open the doors to the Hall of Fame.

I've been on this blog for years saying that I think Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. Keep the ban on him to be a player (I know, that's meaningless now), coach, manager or even a front office guy. But let the man be able to get into the Hall of Fame and let him be able to go to baseball events (i.e. jersey retirements, anniversary remembrances).

I'm hoping for this since next September is the 25th anniversary of Rose's 4,192nd hit that passed Ty Cobb on the all-time list. This city deserves to have some sort of celebration of it.

I also agree that Rose should've come clean a long, long time ago. If he did, he'd already be in the Hall. Now seems to be a much different time in baseball. Will people decide that if steroid players are being blackballed from the Hall that Rose should be too? Or will people decide that Rose's transgression was after he put up all his numbers and he should get into the Hall? Valid questions, for sure.

I'm not a fan of astericks. But I do understand the need for putting some of the bad with the good. Put on Rose's plaque that he was banned for 20 years for betting on baseball as a manager.

I hope Selig really is looking into this. I hope Rose has done enough to replace some of the trust he burned over the years.

So What If Lance Didn't Win the Tour de France?

It seems as if Lance Armstrong needed to prove something. The man won a record seven straight Tours (even if he did use PEDs or something, I'm convinced that damn near everyone else was too ... including the rumors that have followed this year's winner), fought off cancer and started one of the dynamic fund-raising campaigns we've seen.

He last raced in the Tour back in 2005. He missed three years. He went from age 34 to age 37. Could you really expect the man to just walk right in a win again?

Yes.

I'm not gonna lie. I wasn't so much expecting a win as much as I was hoping for one. Armstrong left at the top of the sport and we really didn't get to see any kind of decline. That's usually the lasting image of someone who retired. We tended to forget that Armstrong couldn't possibly be able to pick right back up where he left off.

I think he did. Armstrong finished third in this year's Tour which is quite impressive. I know that it breaks his streak of titles in years he competed, but this one has to be viewed positively. Most people just can't take that kind of gap off during their competitive years and do that well upon their return.

To him, it was just like riding a bike.

The Hall Of Fame and Rickey Henderson Go Perfectly Together

Tomorrow will be Rickey Henderson's induction into baseball's Hall of Fame. It has the potential to be one of the greatest induction speeches in history.

I hope so since Rickey deserves that. In my lifetime (I'll turn 34 tomorrow), Henderson may be the second best player in baseball (Bonds first). He was a freak on the base-paths as the stud of the stolen base era of baseball. He also hit for power as all those lead-off home runs will attest. He wasn't the greatest fielder but he covered so much ground and did win one Gold Glove in his career. Of course, some of baseball's best clubhouse stories (true or not, eh John Olerud?) have been about Rickey.

Guys like that make the Hall of Fame zing. I'm hoping his bust will have some gold chains on it. Future generations can go to Cooperstown and hear about all that Rickey did and the style of baseball that was played during this time. A man who played during the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. A man with a seemingly insurmountable 1,406 stolen bases -- including a record 130 in 1982. He played for World Champions in Oakland and Toronto. When he retired, he held the record for walks, runs scored and lead-off home runs. He was the 1990 AL MVP.

Again, I will continue to say that he is one of the truly greatest players in baseball history. It is rare to find someone with all those qualities packed into one man. This is how insane he was: his career stolen base record is nearly 50% above Lou Brock, the man sitting in second place. He also led off 81 games with a home run.

The knocks against him was mainly his ego and the fact that he switched teams 12 times in his career (including four separate stints with Oakland). His loved to refer to himself in the third person and loved the showmanship of being one of the greats. And dude gets to hang his jerseys with the A's, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets on his wall. His "but today, I'm the greatest of all time" speech is one of the most memorable.

Congrats to Rickey. I'm sure he'll be saying that a few times tomorrow.

Who Are You More Tired Of: Favre or Vick?

This has been an unbearable week for NFL fans. Because the season starts so late this year, it is nearing the end of July and we still aren't seeing teams in camps. In it's stead, however, is constant speculation of Brett Favre and Michael Vick.

Right now, neither Favre or Vick is a member of any NFL roster. Yet they've completely owned all the sports talk all week long (thank you Mark Buehrle for breaking that up for a few moments). Will Favre come back? Will Vick be reinstated?

I hate to say this, but the Favre story actually means more to me than Vick's. Yes, I'm completely tired of Favre and all this crap he has put us through over the past five years. Yes, my perception of him has gone down over the past 15 months. But his "will he" or "won't he" story is more meaningful to me.

Favre's a Hall of Fame quarterback who could join a Minnesota Vikings team that already has Super Bowl aspirations. His addition to that team could vault them into a NFC Championship.

Vick is a guy that hasn't played in two years and he really wasn't a solid QB before then. He'll be a public relations nightmare for any team that dares sign him. There is no way he'll start for any NFL team right now. If he does sign with a team, he'll be a 2nd or 3rd string QB. He probably won't have much of an impact this season.

Vick's story is fresher. He's been a forgotten man for the past year or so and it will be very interesting to see (a) how Roger Goodell handles this, (b) how any teams that are interested in him, (c) how those teams handle the P.R. nightmare and (d) what does he have left? Favre is a tired story or a man who just can't ride off into the sunset.

Yet while I'm sick of hearing about Favre, what happens to him is more important than what happens to Vick.

At least this season.

Nike to Give Back LeBron Tapes

This whole LeBron dunk thing has been handled as poorly as anything could be. I'm not one to say that people should lose their jobs ... especially in this economic climate ... but the people who decided that it would be a good thing to snuff out these tapes should be reassigned to Siberia or something.

After all the bad press that the "LeBron Tapes" were getting ... magically two videos show up on the internet on Wednesday. Magically two tapes were leaked. And today, magically, Nike says they are going to return the tapes to the rightful owners.

I give Nike some credit. The magical leaking of the video right now will cause this whole fiasco to die down a bit. Now we know that it wasn't that big of a deal and the actual play will be a non-issue after a while. However, Nike can't take back their part of the damage to LeBron's crafted image.

LeBron + Nike = Mountainous Molehills

The video of Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James has finally come out. As you watch it, you really aren't impressed.

Yeah, Crawford dunked on LeBron. Yeah, LeBron did jump late ... but he still got dunked on. And yeah, if Nike and LeBron didn't try to confiscate the video of this happening ... no one would care. It isn't like it was anything that impressive. He had a wide open lane, took off, LeBron came late and got in the poster. Yeah, LeBron got dunked on. But it isn't as big a deal that needed the tapes destroyed.

2009: The Year of the Bad Calls

This isn't the first year we've seen bad calls. This probably isn't the year with the worst calls. Really, there isn't any one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb as being a horrific mind blowing call (I'll take that back in a second).

But 2009 may go down as the year of the bad call in sports. I have no stats to back that up -- I just know that even my normal "sometimes they get it wrong" outlook is growing smaller and smaller by the day.

Last night, the Twins Michael Cuddyer was thrown out at the plate for what would have been a game-tying run. In a game that saw huge momentum swings and a 14-13 ending, most people will remember that the game ended on a blown call. Cuddyer was safe by a mile.

This comes during a year of whining about fouls, bad penalties, missed goals and the infamous Ed Hochuli incident. Aside from Hochuli, there really isn't anything going on that hasn't happened before.

The problem is more noticeable now because of technology. We've had instant replay on TV for a long time now, but now with have X-MO and a ton of different angles covering the entire field of play. We have HDTVs where everything comes in crystal clear at home. How can we expect three basketball refs to see everything when we need 20 cameras doing the same.

Now instant replay is in every major sport in one way or another. Before, bad calls were blown off because there wasn't any way in the rules to correct it besides huddling up and asking "what did you see?" Now it's everywhere so the athletes and fans can all see when a call is bad and wants it rectified.

This has always been the slippery slope that anti-replay people point to. Baseball finally allowed replay to review home run calls ... and we were all fine with that. However, when something like last night happened, we all want the umpires to check out the replay and get it right.

Referees have to realize this. Before, they could anticipate calls. If a guard was driving to the basket and a big man comes over the defend, the ref is usually going to blow the whistle no matter what. If the ball beats the man to the base (which in Cuddyer's case, it did), the umpire just calls him out. If a wide receiver and a defensive back get tangled, the ref usually tosses the flag.

That was all just accepted. But not anymore. I can sit at home and see the network's replays. I can use my DVR to rewind and slo-motion it myself to see if the call was good or bad. With HDTV, even the toughest angles look good.

So the question is how do you fix it? Hard to say. Believe it or not, these officials are the best in their business and most don't have a pre-existing agenda. They are given all sorts of tools to get better at their craft. However, there must be a way where replay can be used where it doesn't completely slow the game up or become the ultimate crutch. It must be there to right the wrongs.

Especially the really, really, really, really wrongs.

Does Anyone Want Quentin Richardson?

Well, of course not. But what do Darko Milicic, Zack Randolph, Sebastian Telfair, Mark Madsen and Craig Smith have in common? All were traded for Q Richardson at some point over the last month.

The Knicks dealt Q to the Grizzlies for Milicic on June 25th. Almost right after that deal, the Grizzlies dealt Q to the Clippers for Randolph (the trade wasn't finalized until last Friday). Now the Clippers are sending him to the Timberwolves for Telfair, Madsen and Smith.

Richardson is the classic "contract year player". After averaging around 10 ppg during his first three years with the Clippers, Q erupted for 17.1 ppg. He would use that momentum to sign a huge six year deal for $46M with the Phoenix Suns. Just one year into that deal, Phoenix shipped him out to New York for Kurt Thomas. And, well, ya know that nothing good has come out of the Knicks since then.

He's so popular now because of his contract. That big deal he signed in 2004 ends after the upcoming season. So that's another $9M in cap space a team could get from him. The Knicks dealt that opportunity away for another expiring contract. Milicic's salary will be off the books after the season, too, and he plays a need position for New York. No one knows what Memphis was thinking by dealing Q away for Zack Randolph's bad contract ($33M over the next two years) ... though it could pay off down the road.

This new deal (which isn't official yet) would mean Q goes to a Wolves team that could actually use him. None of the other teams needed him. Also, it gives the Clippers a few backup pieces with Madsen and Smith's contracts expiring this year and Telfair with a player option next year.

I Guess I'm Just an Old Blogger

When I worked at FanHouse, we all started comparing our ages in the NFL department. It really threw me for a loop that I was one of the oldest cats there. That's a first for me.

I turn 34 on Sunday and in some aspects I do feel a bit old. I'm older than my wife and her siblings. I'm older than my sister. But I've always kinda held that perspective during my life.

To feel old on the internets is some other beast. I've been blogging for about six years now. I started with SportzAssassin.com in 2004. I then contributed to PigskinBloggers.com, Sports Bloggers Live and AOL FanHouse. Now I'm back with a new and improved SportzAssassin.com site and working with Yardbarker. All this is great!

But I get lost in the shuffle a bit. Unlike most sports bloggers (or any bloggers), I'm not filled with snark. I also don't really care about the salacious items in the sports world. Yeah, some of it ungulfs me ... but I don't need to see Erin Andrews undressing through a peep hole. I don't need to put some chick in lingerie on my site everyday so I feel like a real man. I don't like using blog buzzwords like "fail" (even though I did in my last post to make a point) nor am I big on Twitter. Also, I don't care about having my face on this blog or television. I don't need to have videos of myself acting like a tool just so people look at me.

One of things that bothers me was while at FanHouse, I had to turn into someone who cared about those things. Forget posting about what actually happens on the field of play! Blog about the guy who punched out a cabbie outside a restaurant! Don't write about what this athlete does in a game! Write about the hot chick he's screwing!

I don't like that, which is why I'm glad I'm back doing my site the way I want. And thanks to Yardbarker for actually seeing the stuff I write and putting in on the front page from time-to-time.

What makes me also feel old is the fact that I've seen this whole thing build up. I remember when AOL recruited me to write a "journal" for them in 2004. I never heard of the world "blog" before. I never went to one. For any sports news, you had to go to the MSM or their offshoot rumor sites.

I was there as sports blogs took off. I was there when podcasting started to get popular. I was there when YouTube launched and gave all of us a huge tool to make our blogs zing. I was there when AOL stepped up to the front and became the first mega-corporation to support a blogger-based blog. I was also there when AOL and other mega-corporations started their own blogs ... then just moved their columnists over to write editorials there. I've been through the MSM-Blog Wars. It's amazing how this has exploded over the past six years.

In 2004, I just started blogging because I had a lot to say and typing it up made it look cool. I never in my wildest dreams thought that anyone would read it or that it would take me anywhere. I'm thankful to all the people that helped me along the way. My blogging isn't seen as much as it once was, but maybe that's a good thing.

Age is nothing but a number, but it does bring perspective. If you turn 34 in the sports world, you are considered a senior citizen. I was born the same day as the NBA's Joe Smith. How do you view him? Guys I remember getting drafted are now retiring. I'm usually about 10-15 years older than guys getting drafted now. These cats were born in years I remember!!!!

I don't think that older means smarter, better or wiser. It usually does mean more experienced and usually holds a better view of the landscape. I'm not saying I don't blog about Erin Andrews nekked because I'm against it! I'm saying that I don't care about it so I'm not going to blog about it. There are plenty of 20-somethings that will.

I'm not a traditionalist by any means. If you've read my blog over the years, you'd know that I'm all for all kinds of radical changes. I want to have the NBA in two 15-team conferences (no divisions). I'm open to the idea that baseball should have full blown interleague play. I'm the one who said basketball should abolish free throws and just have the player take an uncontested shot from where he was fouled ... or from the FT lane if it is easier.

However, I still long for the majesty that sports used to bring. Remember being a kid and thinking these athletes were bulletproof? That they were role models that we should emulate? We didn't really think about salary caps, contract disputes, sign-and-trades, recruiting violations, salary dumps, steroids, luxury seats or corporate ownership groups. It was there, I just didn't care. Heck, when I was a kid, athletes in all the sports were snorting the nose candy and I didn't really notice. Cocaine nearly destroyed the NBA and is one of the lasting images on one of my most memorable sports moments in my young life (the 1986 Mets winning the World Series).

Now I see all of that. I see NBA players fighting over contracts, NFL veterans getting cut due to salary cap issues, MLB stars getting caught with steroids or PEDs, teams holding cities hostage for new venues, etc.

That's the sad part of getting old and cranky. Perspective is a double edged sword.

Tom Watson Exposed Non-Tiger Tour

The 2009 British Open will be remembered for two things: two fails. One was the fact that Tiger Woods, the favorite to win the event, missed the cut for just the fifth time in his pro career. The other was the fact that 59-year old Tom Watson ... who led virtually the entire tournament ... hiccuped down the stretch and lost to Stewart Cink in the playoff.

There was actually a third fail (I'm not big on that "fail" word as the rest of the internets). The fact that these young bucks let a 59-year old man nearly win a major championship is insulting.

We used to always consider this era of golf as the Tiger Era. He's dominated the tour and he has placed himself on the Mount Rushmore of golfers. We all know that these guys are so skilled, so strong and so gifted right now. There may not be as much talent on a golf course than there is right now.

But how does a man who hasn't done much of anything in 20 years nearly win one of the sport's signature events?

Put this Watson stuff aside for a bit. This year has been the perfect opportunity for somebody ... anybody ... to break away from the pack and become a star. Tiger Woods is coming off major knee surgery and isn't playing as well as he used to. Phil Mickelson has been going through a horrible time with the illnesses of his wife and mother. The two biggest names (and best players) in golf are not at their best so it would figure that there would be a pack of names ready to move in to the opening.

It hasn't happened.

This isn't just a post British Open thought. I view the British Open in golf as I do the French Open in tennis. It is much different than the rest of the tour and guys who you aren't as familiar with tend to do well there. I get that. But that doesn't excuse the rest of the year.

When I look back on the 2009 season, I'll remember Tiger not winning a major (he won't win the PGA Championship), Watson nearly winning the British, Phil Mickelson's heroic climb at the U.S. Open and John Daly selling stuff outside Augusta National. None of those thoughts is about anyone else doing anything about actually winning.

That's the golf world that Tiger Woods has put us in. He's the huge elephant in the room and you know he's there. We all expect at any moment for him to put it together and start dominating again.

It would be nice if someone would step up while he's working on it.

What to Look For in Baseball's Second Half

Okay, the second half of the baseball season is upon us so we all have to give our two cents about what may or probably won't happen.

My love affair with baseball isn't what it was when I was a kid. I don't care as much as I used to. So here is my attempt to pull a wild hair outta my butt as I predict the winners:

NL EAST: Philadelphia Phillies. The Phills tend to get rolling late in the year and I don't see any other team in that division that can stop them. Yeah, the Mets could do it ... but who can believe in them?

NL CENTRAL: Chicago Cubs. This is more of me sticking-to-my-guns than anything. The Cardinals look like the team playing the best, but the Cubs just look like a better team. I know they are a mess, but despite all of that they are still just 3.5 games out of first.

NL WEST: Los Angeles Dodgers. They have some holes and the division is better than people think. Still, this team has all the tools needed to win the West.

NL WILDCARD: San Francisco Giants. It will probably be the Mets or even the Cardinals. But I love the Giants pitching and hope they can bring in another bat from somewhere before the deadline.

AL EAST: Boston Red Sox. I think the Red Sox are the best team in the American League and will fight off both the Yankees and Rays.

AL CENTRAL: Minnesota Twins. They stay consistent and are tough to beat at home. They need to pull up their road record if they are going to win the division over Chicago or Detroit.

AL WEST: Los Angeles Angels. The Angels have had horrible luck thus far ... yet are sitting atop the division. If they can get healthy, they should win the division. Also, I think the fact that Texas and Seattle are pushing them could pay off for LA when the playoffs come around.

AL WILDCARD: New York Yankees. This was tough. I want the Tampa Bay Rays to get this spot and I wouldn't be surprised if the White Sox, Tigers or Rangers took it, either. But the Yankees haven't really put it all together at any point during the season, yet still have one of the best records in baseball. I think that gazillion dollars worth of talent gets it done.

MY REDS: I think the Reds are due for a tough going the rest of the way. Jay Bruce is gone for probably two months and they've already had trouble hitting. I don't think they believe that they are in the hunt well enough to make some sort of deadline deal. If they do, it will be something like Cincinnati trading away somebody (Bronson Arroyo?) for prospects.

Please Don't Let Lamar Odom Leave!

I'm not liking the way these Lamar Odom talks have gone for the Lakers. After reaching an agreement on the yearly salary for Odom, talks fell apart over the length. LA wants to give three years; Odom wants five. Now comes word that owner Dr. Jerry Buss has pulled the offer from the table.

Now, I've been cool with the negotiations thus far. Both sides to feel they have leverage. Odom has said that he wants to stay in L.A., he just one a title there, he's one of the team's most popular players and he actually has the perfect role for his comfort level. L.A. knows they really need Odom back because he's part of their deadly trio of big men that bring pain to everyone else. He also could be a terrific buffer in case Ron Artest has any dust-ups.

As a fan, I say that the Lakers should give in to Odom and at least offer him a fourth year. I think Odom has deserved that. Of course, it isn't my money we are spending so I understand the reluctance to do it. This may be essentially the same team as last year, but mostly everyone's salary went up. Andrew Bynum's huge extention kicks in, Shannon Brown signed a nice raise. Ron Artest may make as much as Trevor Ariza does now, but it is twice as much as what Ariza made last year.

I hope it works out. However, the rest of the league ... who all stayed away because they didn't really think he'd leave the Lakers ... now smells blood and are searching for ways to bring in the talented Odom.