Way Outta Left Field

First off, welcome to my hub. I'm hoping it will serve as a space where people can discuss and debate sports and have fun with one another while doing it. This hub is basically designed to give you a taste of my sports blog which can be reached at http://www.wayouttaleftfield.blogspot.com/. So if you enjoy some of the posts on here you should check out the blog, because there will be more on there. Also, I want to do a guest blog once a week in which you can send me one to three paragraphs about any sports person, issue, or topic and I will post my favorite submission for comment. These guest posts are open to anyone and can cover almost anything about any sport, whether it be a great game you witnessed in person with your friends, or why you think Americans should like soccer more (just examples). You can email me them at gkatzman42684@gmail.com. Thanks for your interest.

- Glenn

BASEBALL! I'm proud to say I did not watch a moment of that 5 hour all star game. What a boring sport. I sorta think baseball is one of those sports you need to like as a kid in order to be able to fully appreciate it. I like that there's a lot of history to it, but this sport pales in comparison to football and basketball. David Halberstam had an interesting theory on baseball and football and their relevance in current American society. Basically he said that with the evolution of television, football with it's graphic action and detail, along with basketball, with its fast pace and constant action, is much more TV friendly. Whereas baseball, with its slow pace, was better suited for the age of radio in which the announcer could paint the picture and the describe the action for you with words. While we still refer to baseball as our national pastime, if you go to any airport or most bars in America on Sundays, you will see people hovered around the TV watching regular season NFL games over even postseason baseball games.

The Hornets signed James Posey to a 4 year 25 million dollar contract. They shouldn't have given him more than 3 years, he's already 31. They're going to be paying him like 7 million dollars when he's 35. Good signing for the short term though, I'd rather have him then Peja. They should now trade Peja for an athletic 2 who can run with Chris Paul. Also, Boston will really miss Posey. He hit a bunch of clutch 3's for them throughout the playoffs and played tough defense. There aren't many swing men who can shoot consistently from long range and guard the opposition's best scorer.

The Clippers traded for Marcus Camby. Or should I say, the Nuggets gave him to the Clippers in order to cut salary and avoid paying the luxury tax. I don't really blame them, they're most likely not going to make the playoffs and they don't have any chance for a championship so why pay the tax? I can really see Carmelo Anthony's stock going downhill. [Cue Stephen A. Smith voice] If yaw Caw-melo An-tho-ny, is there anything to really motivate you to play well this season!?!? Did anyone else notice Stephen A. Smith's disgust during the draft when he was interviewing Danilo Gallinari? He's a bigger xenophobe than Lou Dobbs. I can't believe I've mentioned Lou Dobbs in two different blog posts, I don't even watch his show. The Nuggets should just hope to get lucky in the lottery. Good move for the Clippers though, Camby is a great shot blocker and rebounder. The Clips have two good centers now, most teams don't even have one. It should give them some options on the trade market. Apparently they offered a 2nd round pick to the Knicks for Zach Randolph and the Knicks rejected it. As usual, dumb move by the Knicks. The Clippers will be better off with Camby than Randolph anyhow.

Alright I'll admit it... I'm sick of hearing about Brett Favre, but I'll devote some thoughts to him anyway. I really want to know what this Bus Cook character looks like. He's Favre's agent by the way, for those of you who haven't heard his name mentioned constantly on ESPN. This guy must be absolutely huge to have the nickname Bus. All I know is that I cringe every time I hear his name. I hate how the media constantly dwells on the business side of sports now. Don't people tune into sports to get away from the regular day stuff? Seriously though, how much of a control freak is Ted Thompson? It's really not too difficult to transition back to Favre at quarterback, after all training camp hasn't even begun yet. Although now it seems like there is no going back, because huge egos are at stake. If Aaron Rodgers stinks then Ted Thompson will rue the day he told Brett Favre he couldn't return. I'm already rooting for it to happen.

There are a bunch of NBA trade rumors going around, and the sexiest ones involve the Pistons. The team obviously needs a shakeup, but trading for Tracy McGrady would be a big mistake. He has a serious back problem that will only get worse with age. Besides, he's never even advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Apparently the Kings have offered Ron Artest and Kenny Thomas to the Heat for Shawn Marion, which the Heat rejected. An Artest and Brad Miller for Marion deal might work. The Kings will be able to get rid of Artest, who will be an absolute train wreck this season because he doesn't want to play for them. Although, he is in a contract year, so he should be able to behave himself a little better. I doubt it though, he's insane. Also, they can move Spencer Hawes to the starting lineup and see what he has, but I'm going to go out on a limb here (or not) and predict very, very little. But the Kings think he's good, so from their point of view the trade would make sense. Also, Marion would give them some athleticism and defense, something the Kings could really use. Miami would get a legit center in Miller and a nice role model for Michael Beasley in Ron Artest. Ok, maybe this deal doesn't make too much sense after all.

Also, while I'm on the Kings, I realized I forgot to blast them for signing Beno Udrich to a 5 year 32 million dollar contract. You think they would have learned from having both Kenny Smith and Shareef Abdur-Rahim on their roster, but perhaps they take pride in paying those two a combined 14 million a season for sitting on the bench. I'm tired of hearing how Geoff Petrie is a good GM. That team has been bad for around three or four years now. Back to Udrih, what exactly does he do well? It's not like he led the Kings to a great amount of success this season. He's the next Marko Jaric. Also, I think i'll trust Greg Popovich and R.C. Buford (they thought so much of Udrih that they waived him) over the geniuses in Sacramento. The Kings are so retarded. I would be a much better NBA GM than Geoff Petrie. He doesn't even spell his name the right way.