Dimes For Dollars

Ok. Still processing this one, but The Buffalo Bills have somehow convinced the Philadelphia Eagles to trade their star RB LeSean McCoy for LB Kiko Alonso.

Look, it’s not completely set in stone or anything. The trade cannot be confirmed until the new season officially starts next week. And by the sounds of it, McCoy ain’t chuffed. He’s a Pennsylvanian, born and bred, and has consistently been one of the leading rushers since he was drafted.

Alonso’s a very good player, a second round pick in 2013 who made 159 tackles in his rookie campaign (which ranked third in the league), but he just came off an ACL tear that ruled him out of the entire 2014 season. He’s not even 100% yet, though he does have one thing in his favour. He’s a former Oregon player under a certain Chip Kelly.

Kelly obviously has his system in place and apparently sees McCoy as dispensable. For one thing, this saves big cap room for a team that just cut Trent Cole and Cary Williams – and between them nearly $20m against the salary cap. The other thing being that running backs do not tend to have long shelf lives, outside of the very best ever. Maybe Chip's seen something we haven't yet? The Eagles are gonna be an interesting team next season, that’s for sure.

But so are the Bills. This is a team that were at times very, very capable in 2014. They had a defence to compete with most but offensively they didn’t get too much from the likes of E.J. Manuel and Kyle Orton at QB. Well, Orton’s now retired, so don’t be shocked if they look to draft a quarterback. In the very least, though, they now have a go-to offensive player in McCoy. Expect them to be a run first team under new head coach Rex Ryan.

McCowning Around

Oh, Cleveland. What in the muddy banks of the Ohio River were you thinking? The Browns have wasted no time in adding another plastic horse to their quarterback merry-go-round, adding Tampa Bay’s 2014 underwhelmer Josh McCown for 2015. And they gave him a three year deal.

Quite what that means remains to be seen. Will he start? For one thing, it looks like Brian Hoyer is done in Cleveland. He’d actually been alright for them, but is an unrestricted free agent and will probably have a new team within a week or two. And it’s clear that they don’t especially like what they have in Johnny Manziel yet. Only in Cleveland.

P.S. The Wildcard wanted to see Jay Cutler end up in Cleveland for laughs and entertainment. We’ll have to settle for his old backup instead.

More NFL Stuff

Yeah, it’s that time. Long before teams actually hit the field, their seasons are already taking shape with the madness that comes with the off-season. The deadline for franchise tags passed this week. Next week sees the beginning of free agency and at the end of April, we have the 2015 NFL draft.

Franchise Tags. A weird little thing. Each team can use one per season to lock down a guy otherwise set to leave in free agency. Maybe you didn’t quite come to terms on that big extension, no biggie. Tag the bugger. It’s good for a fully guaranteed 2015 salary equal to the average of the top five players of their position league-wide.

Them That Got Tagged:

• Justin Houston, LB (Kansas City Chiefs)
• Demaryius Thomas, WR (Denver Broncos)
• Dez Bryant, WR (Dallas Cowboys)
• Jason Pierre-Paul, DE (New York Giants)
• Stephen Gostkowski, K (New England Patriots)
• Charles Clay, TE (Miami Dolphins)

Notables That Didn’t Get Tagged:

• Ndamukong Suh, DT (Detroit Lions)
• Julius Thomas, TE (Denver Broncos)
• DeMarco Murray, RB (Dallas Cowboys)
• Jeremy Maclin, WR (Philadelphia Eagles)
• Devin McCourty, S (New England Patriots)
• Randall Cobb, WR (Green Bay Packers)
• Jerry Hughes, DE (Buffalo Bills)
• Jordan Cameron, TE (Cleveland Browns)

Some mighty interesting players there now headed to free agency. For Dallas and Denver it came down to a choice, one or the other. Dallas went Dez over DeMarco, Denver went Demaryius over Julius. Both fair enough, though it means that the offensive player of the year for 2014, DeMarco Murray, will be on the table. The Patriots had a choice too, though it always seemed likely that Devin McCourty would be off (he’s the more important player, but the team’s already over the cap so it didn’t make sense). Randall Cobb will be a highly courted receiver, as will Jeremy Maclin. The latter guy’s a curious one, Maclin took a one year deal instead of a multi-year last time out, gambling on himself to have a breakthrough season effectively. He did. He’ll get well paid. The biggest name of all is Ndamukong Suh. A player of immense quality, putting up figures that may even see him into the Hall of Fame some day and he’ll be a free agent in his prime. Detroit still has a week to sort something out, if not he’ll be the most coveted free agent on the board.

Who’s The Real King James?

We got an electrifying match this week between a couple of MVP calibre stars, one a four-time winner, the other the lead contender this season. LeBron James vs James Harden. Let’s let the video tell the tale…

Yeah, so Harden kicked LeBron in the bollocks. This was after Patrick Beverley tried to fight LeBron. Very heated game, one in which L. James scored 37, but the game ended with LBJ missing two free throws with his team down a point. Next day the Houston papers are ready to crown their own King James. Harden had 33 of his own, though was suspended a game for his little podiatric indiscretion – his first missed game of the season.

Other NBA Stuff

Russell Westbrook broke his face.

Like, seriously. There was a friggin’ HOLE in his FACE!

But then he also bagged three consecutive triple-doubles, something only a handful of players have ever done. He missed an easy win against the Lakers after facial surgery, but will play the next one. With a mask, too.

Phil Jackson got fined for talking up DeAndre Russell, one of the year’s top draft prospects.

Also LeBron James passed Ray Allen for 21st all time on the scoring list.

Jimmy Butler has joined Derrick Rose on the Bull’s physio table, though both are confident of a regular season return.

Tony Allen has been suspended a game by Memphis for some undisclosed breach of team protocol. Apparently an isolated incident, apparently nothing major. Hmm, sneaky.

Also Brian Shaw got sacked. More on that in a bit.

The Good

The Bad

& The Whatever This Is

Lookalikes #1

Lookalikes #2

D’Oh

Spring training is baseball can be either the stage at which a guy fights for and earns a valuable Major League spot or an extended mess around for the more experienced, guaranteed guys.

It’s also the first opportunity for players to check in with the medical staff and get told how much weight they need to lose or how unfit they are. With medical status now a factor again, it was an embarrassing time for a couple of Major Leaguers who turned up hurt.

White Sox ace Chris Sale is out for three weeks with a fractured foot that he played down as a ‘freak accident’. That’s about all the 2014 Cy Young contender had to say about it, but his GM was slightly more forthcoming. Apparently Sale landed awkwardly while unloading stuff from the back of his truck.

And if you think that sounds bad, spare a thought for Ronald Belisario, a 32 year old Rays reliever expected to challenge for a bullpen slot. He’s gonna miss the start of the season after an undiagnosed shoulder fracture was discovered – an injury sustained while getting out of a swimming pool a few weeks back.

Atlanta Braves slugger Melvin Upton (formerly known as B.J. Upton) will miss the entire Spiring Training himself, but not because of a hilarious injury. He just has a run of the mill foot inflammation.

KD Doesn’t Care

Can You Smell What The Rock is Executive Producing?

If you were wondering what this pic currently doing the tours of sports sites all over the internet is all about, you now have an answer. The image is from a new show being produced for HBO caller ‘Ballers’. It stars Dwayne Johnson as an ex-NFL player as one of a number of main characters all somehow involved in the pro sports scene. There’s also an “affable former pro athlete who is searching for his next career”, a “highly competitive and highly spiritual pro athlete”, a “financial advisor who tries really hard to fit in”, a “top tier sports agent”, a “deeply family-oriented pro athlete”, a “wife of a pro athlete”, a “widow” and an “ESPN sideline reporter” who happens to be dating The Rock’s character. Definitely sounds intriguing. Mark Wahlberg’s name’s on it as producer and is based on an original idea from Wahlberg’s buddy Steve Levinson (who had fingerprints on Entourage and Boardwalk Empire). Best case scenario, it’s like Entourage for the NFL. Worst? Something close to the last thing Marky Mark got involved with: his remake of The Gambler. God, that was an awful movie.

NBA Power Rankings:

1. Golden State Warriors (46-12)
2. Atlanta Hawks (48-12)
3. Memphis Grizzlies (42-17)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (38-24)
5. Oklahoma City Thunder (40-22)
6. Houston Rockets (41-19)
7. LA Clippers (40-21)
8. Dallas Mavericks (40-22)
9. Portland Trailblazers (39-19)
10. Chicago Bulls (38-23)

Quote of the Week:

"I mean, those fans are fickle, very fickle and bandwagoners. It really doesn't mean anything to me."

Rockets forward Josh Smith ain’t holding back on his old Atlanta Hawks fans. For the record, he was booed incessantly throughout Atlanta’s 104-96 win over Houston. (James Harden was suspended)

Good Week:

LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) – The missed FTs in the Houston game cost his side a win. In fact his free throw shooting was abysmal in that game – he shot better from 3pt! But let’s look from further out at the best player in the NBA and his re-ascension following a rough start to his second stint in Cleveland. Over his past four games he’s averaging 31.3p/7.3r/6.3a/1.5b/3s. Dominating on all fronts. That includes 42 in a blockbuster win over Golden State. The king is back.

Buffalo Bills – Jeezus, I still can’t believe they got LeSean McCoy! And so cheaply too.

Jim Harbaugh (Michigan Wolverines) – What a bloke. The former San Francisco 49ers, along with one of his coaching staffers, helped out a couple of women after a car accident. A 53 year old driver and 73 year old passenger were in the car that police say flipped “multiple times” after rolling over the median and into a snow bank. No other car was involved. Harbaugh and colleague stopped on their way to the airport to provide aid and support to the two women as they waited for law and medical folk to arrive.

Bad Week:

Brian Shaw (Unemployed) – When the players of the Denver Nuggets started counting down to the end of the season with six weeks still to go, you sorta got the feeling that head coach Shaw wasn’t long for his job. The Nuggets are 20-39.

Eagles Fans – Kiko Alonso and Chip Kelly have a lot to prove now.

Player of the Week:

Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) – Again. But for good reason. How about this for an absolute tear!