EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Happy Monday. I have had my mind on what to write about since Friday but didn’t find time until late night Sunday. I won’t bore you any more with how I arrived at my topics. With that, here is today’s slate: NFL Combine, NY Knicks Win Streak and NHL Trading Deadline.
NFL Combine
The NFL Combine was this past week. I am not one of those who nerds that pays it loads of attention. I went into the local community center to say hello to my friend, the director of it and he had it on in the background. I was shocked to see Joey Porter and LaDainian Tomlinson’s kids in it. I have never felt so old. We were discussing how the Combine doesn’t mean much to loads of players or positions. No matter how fast an offensive or defensive lineman runs his 40 yard dash, the main thing is his first 10 yds, his bench press and game film. The combine really serves as chance for guys who will be rookie free agents or late round picks. This is where you find your Brock Purdy or Terrell Davis.
NY Knicks Win Streak
I need to be given credit for this NY Knicks win streak. As my wife reminded me, ever since I bought a Knicks jacket, hat and scarf combo at an estate sale, they have won. The Knickerbockers have benefited from adding Josh Hart and the return of Mitchell Robinson. Coach Thibs has basically gone with a nine-man rotation, and stars Julius Randle and Jaylen Brunson are in the form of their careers. Hart and Immanuel Quickly are holding down the second unit. This team seems to believe in each other and trust their stars to deliver. Witness the game-winning basket by Randle to win the Heat game. What has been really impressive in this winning streak has been the lights-out shooting from deep by everyone on the team. This has opened up the middle of layups and drives to kick out for easy shoots.
NHL Trading Deadline
This was the busiest and craziest NHL Trading Deadline in a long time. It was basically an arms race. The 4 teams that were in the conference semifinals in both conferences decided that the time was now to make a move to win the Cup…
In the East the Bruins – who are sitting in the #1 seed – decided not to stand pat. They added a big-time player in Tyler Bertuzzi… but the Rangers added Kane and Tarasenko… the Maple Leafs also made additions to their squad… The defending champion Lightning did the least… Out West Vegas, LA, Edmonton made the big-name moves to try and set themselves up.
Regardless of who wins Lord Stanley’s Cup, the off-season will be seriously wacky, as teams that didn’t win now have to decide what to do with the big names they brought in.
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below. Check out Ben Whitney, who will share his thoughts on things other than the combine and/or seeing father-son combos play in hockey.
