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With a new collective bargaining agreement looming on the horizon, both team owners and players are going to be locked in a struggle of power. Many teams have been losing revenue because of the economy, so the NBA and the National Basketball Players’ Association (NBPA) will be locking horns to determine the details of the new CBA. Undoubtedly, this summer was a very lucrative one for certain players.

But that could all change as the balance of power shifts to the owners amidst a failing economy.

The Current Situation

As it stands, the NBA salary cap is a soft cap that teams regularly go over. Since the cap and the luxury tax threshold are highly dependent on league revenue from the previous season, they are usually a good barometer of how well the league is doing.

But the failing U.S. economy has resulted in lower revenues and still relatively high costs. During the past two years, many teams have dumped players and salaries, and accepted loans to stave off the negative effects of a depressed economy.

Although the players themselves probably have not experienced the brunt of the impact from a failing economy, the NBA’s salary cap has fallen victim to it. Based on early projections, the 2010-11 Salary cap will probably be set approximately at $56.1 million, down from $57.7 million in 2009-10 and further down from $58.68 million in 2008-09.

But the luxury tax level, much more important to owners than to players, is another matter entirely. The luxury tax threshold for the 2010-11 is projected to go down to $68 million, from $69.92 million in 2009-10 and $71.15 million in 2008-09. What that means for teams is that for every dollar they go over the threshold, team owners have to pay the same amount in fines to a league ‘pot’, which will then be distributed to all the teams under the luxury tax line. .

A quick look at team salaries will show that there are at least eight and maybe more teams over the current projected luxury tax line. So the Lakers, who have $94.75 million under their books, will have to pay $24.83 million extra to this pot.

For teams losing money quickly, and in desperate need of reprieve, the CBA negotiations cannot come soon enough. The changes will be drastic. They offer a more equitable share for owners and could possibly even level the playing field.

Possible Changes

The upcomiong CBA negotiations are in the unique position of occurring during widespread economic downturn. Ultimately, what that means is that both players and owners will come to the negotiating table with firm knowledge that they need to sacrifice to survive.

Of primary concern is players’ salaries. With ticket sales and general merchandising revenue much lower from years past, teams are now being burdened by ballooning salaries and shrinking revenue. So in the league’s first proposal to the NBPA, the league asked to reduce the percentage of basketball related income (BRI) that goes into players’ salary from 50% to 40%.

Furthermore, the proposal seeks to significantly decrease the yearly salary and contract length for both veterans and rookies. The proposal also asks that only half of a player’s contract be guaranteed.

But possibly one of the biggest changes that could occur is changing the salary cap from a soft cap to a hard cap, meaning that no team can overspend, and must limit their player salaries to fit the cap.

What It Could Mean?

It appears as though the astronomical contracts that were thrown at players this summer could possibly have just been smokescreens to momentarily appease the players. With the initial suggestions that the league is proposing to the NBPA, there is almost no way that those huge contracts will stand. Unless the players take a hard stance, they will be losing a lot of money. But the league will not stand down easily.

So although I do not foresee the NBPA laying down and accepting all of the league’s demands, they will have to accept many of them. The NBA’s survival is dependent on teams being able to generate revenue and profit. Changes are imminent.

But no matter what happens, the changes will probably be groundbreaking. The institution of a hard cap, for example, would eliminate Larry Bird Rights and enforce harsher restrictions on signing players. Making contracts only partially guaranteed (much like the NFL) will allow teams to waive players with fewer restrictions and penalties. Overall, it appears that the league will force player salaries down.

In the long run, it could be near impossible to see a situation like LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade landing on the same team. But even their situation is tenuous as is.

What will happen to all the lucrative contracts signed this summer and prior? How will players react to demands to slash their salaries to mere fractions of what they were?

Even though it is still a year or so away, the CBA and its possible effects will inevitably be on the minds of many players this year. The CBA could undercut the players, ushering in a new era of sound financial decisions, and more reasonable player salaries. Or it could be more of the same.

One thing is certain: as long as the economy stays down, the owners will have leverage in negotiations, and possibly set precedent for a long time.

Source: Parlow, Matthew J. THE NBA AND THE GREAT RECESSION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UPCOMING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT RENEGOTIATION. Marquette University Law School, June 2010.

Bleacher Report Article

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I know that this topic has been discussed to death, but it seems that no matter what he does, Arsene Wenger can’t win. Even though he is working with limited funding, creating his team largely through the youth academy, and even bringing along new players for the English league, he is still being criticized.

Most of the Arsenal fanbase can be simply, clumsily and often incorrectly categorized into ‘Wengerites’ and ‘Anti-Wengerites’. Wengerites believe that “Arsene knows” and blindly follow him no matter what he does. Anti-Wengerites find every excuse to blame him for Arsenal’s problems. The issue is much more complex, and requires a more nuanced perspective.

Most Arsenal supporters want the team to win trophies, not plaudits about their play or prizes for being financially sound. So no matter how beautiful the football the team plays, or how well-run the clulb, fans will not be appeased until the team wins a trophy. Trophies seem to be the be-all and end-all. And as true sports fans, that’s really all anyone should care about. Why should all non-Arsenal-employees care about the club’s finances anyway?

Now there is definitely a valid reason for Arsenal fans’ discontent. After enduring 5 trophyless seasons, the departure of many club legends and top players, and the seemingly irrational unwillingness to spend, these die-hard supporters have had enough. Winning laurels and praise for pretty play can only take them so far. After all, Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

But what fans seem to forget is that he is still the most successful manager in Arsenal’s history, one of the most successful managers in premier league history, and arguably a top 5 or top 10 manager today. He has won the Premier League three times, with two league and FA cup doubles, and the FA Cup and Community Shield four times each. He also led a team to 49 unbeaten league games, and an unbeaten season, an unprecedented feat in modern football.

So what are his deficiencies?

One issue that the English media often criticize him for is the fact that he does not have many English players on his team, if at all. During his early years with the club, in addition to Ian Wright and Ray Parlour, he inherited the old English rearguard of Seaman, Adams, Bould/Keown, Dixon and Winterburn, and later added Sol Campbell.

But the presence of English players in his teams of recent years has been scant at best. He bought speedster Theo Walcott as a 16-year old from Southampton but even his games have been few and far between.

Tactically, his teams are probably inferior to well-drilled Manchester United and Chelsea teams of recent years. He allows his team free reign, which often results in dazzling displays of football, but also leaves the team prone to quick counter-attacks. The only other team with a similar offensive approach and mindset is Barcelona, and unfortunately, Arsenal are either too inexperienced, unfamiliar, or just lack the personnel to mirror the Catalans’ defensive approach. For whatever reason, the team seems entirely incapable of applying pressure high up the pitch to win the ball.

His contemporaries, Alex Ferguson, Carlos Ancelotti, and Jose Mourinho before him, all emphasize the importance of a watertight defense, and perfect execution. But he prefers to push creativity and forward thinking, much to his defense’s dismay. Like Johan Cruyff and other similarly-minded individuals, Wenger believes in ‘Total Football’ and a truly beautiful game. Unfortunately, this often results in his teams lacking defensive soundness and solidity.

But the topic that draws the most ire among fans is his lack of spending. Arsenal has been operating on a net gain from its transfer activities in recent years despite glaring holes in the team, and available and affordable targets readily available. Both Wenger and the Board have declared that he has money to spend. So to the average fan, his frugality is both baffling and unfounded.

With both Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski suffering lack of form and horribly inexcusable gaffes, he is still taking his time to buy a new number one. Both Schwarzer and Given are available, yet he continues to draw the issue out. Even worse, there is a severe lack of depth in the Centre Back and Defensive Midfielder positions, and he has not addressed the issue.

Gooners the world over are questioning him. After all, why wouldn’t he spend if he has the money?

Then why is he still the best manager to run the club?

Although his teams have often been derided for being anti-English, there are many quality English players arriving from Arsenal’s youth setup. Ashley Cole, David Bentley, Steve Sidwell, and Fabrice Muamba were all products of the youth academy. But future England stars Jack Wilshere and Kieren Gibbs are beginning to light up the international scene, with Jay-Emmanuel Thomas, Henri Lansbury, Emmanuel Frimpong (if he chooses to play for England), and further down the line Chuks Aneke, Benik Afobe, and Thomas Cruise all chomping at the bit for their turn.

Needless to say, this talented generation of English Arsenal youngsters will usher in an era of change into the England national team. They are all technically gifted and robust players who can give England the proper boost of technical quality the national team needs.

But this perfectly demonstrates why Arsene Wenger was the right manager to guide the club through its early stages of transitioning into a new stadium, and is still the perfect man today.

As the club continues to repay its huge stadium debt, the resources to buy established names and stars will be limited at best. Especially in a world where Manchester City spends £120m+ and Real Madrid can spend £215m in one summer, most teams can’t compete. Some clubs operate seemingly without needing to balance their budget, instead running on an unsustainable deficit.

As someone who graduated from two quantitative disciplines – an Electrical Engineering Degree and a Master’s Degree in Economics – Wenger believes in sound financial and economic principles. One of the things I love about Arsenal is the fact that the club won’t spend beyond its means, buy overpriced players, and offer astronomical wages. These actions belie sound economic principles, and in any other business anywhere in the world, would be considered madness. Wenger, on the other hand, acts rationally.

So no, he will not overspend on players. He takes a very logical and quantitative approach to transfers, preferring to sign playersfor their true market value and largely relying on the youth academy to produce world beaters, or at least generate transfer income to buy those world beaters. With the club still largely in (albeit shrinking) debt, he really cannot afford to overspend.

But that is exactly why the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis, who are privy to the club’s finances, trust him to run the club. He is financially astute and arguably the best talent evaluator in the world. He has done an amazing job running the club amidst an expensive move to the new Ashburton Grove/Emirates Stadium, and with an ever-maturing team with potential stars biding their time, the future looks bright.

Conclusion

So do I think that Arsenal will win the league this year? Probably not. The team is a few players short, especially in the back, and some youngsters need a few more years to mature.

But I do believe that the team will finish Top four again this year and many subsequent years thereafter. And in the ultra-competitive English Premier League, that’s quite an achievement.

Success should not be judged on the short-term, because it is not necessarily winning and winning now that is important. Get rich quick schemes, and massive investments don’t always mean success, both in the present or the future. Rather, it is establishing a strong base and creating a system that can lead to victories and trophies for many years far into the future that should be the measure of his, especially after ‘Le Prof’ Arsene Wenger retires.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/439878-arsene-wenger-deluded-fool-or-perfect-manager

But now that football is back, let’s look at some questions and analyze the state of affairs. It’s a continuing process, and especially in football, things change all the time, so what can we say for now?

Chelsea are going to be strong this year, and have a very high chance of winning the league again

2010-2011 EPL Champions?

After Saturday’s striking display of power against an albeit newly-promoted and severely outmatched West Bromwich Albion side, Chelsea have once again laid firm claim to their stake as front runners for the title. The Community Shield was perhaps a little too early for them as many of their stars were injured or not yet match fit, but this week they were absolutely stunning and ruthless. They were always going to be good despite having a mediocre pre-season. Although Arsenal’s early thrashing of Everton last season can serve as a warning for judging too early, this week’s 6-0 thrashing of WBA is just a small reminder of how good Chelsea can be. Who can stand up to them this season?

Despite losing important first-teamers Deco, Mickael Ballack, Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti and Ricardo Carvalho, Chelsea seem to have not skipped a beat at all following their EPL triumph last season. The additions of Yossi Benayoun, who was probably slightly underutilized in Liverpool’s line-up, and Ramires add a new dimension to the team’s dominating attacking force. But more importantly, the core of the team – made up by Drogba, Malouda, Lampard, Terry, Ashley Cole, and Cech – are an experienced group of players that have won the league many times before, and know how to do it again. Unless one or more of those stars (most of whom are on the wrong side of 30 or approaching that age) age suddenly and unexpectedly this season, the league title is theirs for the taking.

Arsenal still have a few defensive problems to fix
With the departures of CBs William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre, Sol Campbell and Philippe Senderos, and the seemingly neverending comical ‘keeping by Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski, the Arsenal backline is looking pretty thin these days. By and large, Arsenal’s defensive record has been relatively poor since the back 5 of Seaman, Adams, Keown/Bould, Dixon and Winterburn all retired, and Campbell and Lehmann left. As yesterday’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool seems to demonstrate, those problems still exist. The question is, how will Arsene Wenger fix these defensive deficiencies?

Cole clatters into Koscielny

New signing Laurent Koscielny has impressed so far in the Liverpool and pre-season games, showing that he has a knack for intercepting passes and is strong in the tackle, although he might get caught out a little too often. However, Joe Cole’s reckless lunge and subsequent red card highlighted one of the fears of Arsenal supporters everywhere: There is no backup to Koscielny. With perpetually injured Johan Djorou and young Havard Nordveit the only backups available, the thought of losing one of the starting CBs was nightmarish at best. Arsene Wenger knows he needs another one, but the question is, who will he sign and how well will he fit in?

The other issue that drives Gooners the world over into a frenzy is the goalkeeping situation. Since Seaman and Lehmann left the team, and Manuel Almunia took over, there has been a strong movement to kick him to the curb and replace him with a World-Class ‘Keeper. Between Almunia and Fabianski, the team has had to endure a comedy of errors and a perfect demonstration of what a goalkeeper should NOT be doing. But with young 20 year old Wojciech Szczęsny biding his time and waiting in the wings to be Arsenal’s next great goalkeeper, Wenger is reluctant to sign an established name that could keep the former out of the first time for a prolonged period of time. Shay Given and Mark Schwarzer have been bandied around as possible replacements, but with Wenger’s usual drawn out transfers and his at times blind faith in his men, the possibilities are slim. But with mounting criticism, and an absolutely terrible non-save from Almunia yesterday, the chances of a replacement coming are higher.

Manchester City still need a lot of work to win the league

Despite spending upwards of £100 on some brilliant and inspired albeit overpriced signings, City still struggled against one of their competitors for a top 4 place. In fact, if not from some truly inspired ‘keeping by new England number 1 Joe Hart, City would have probably lost that game. So where are they and how far do they need to go?

Between David Silva, Yaya Toure, Mario Balotelli and Jerome Boateng, Manchester city have collected an impressive group of strong, fast, and skilled players that would certainly be the envy of the rest of the league. But with a wage bill that is certainly not sustainable and will probably end once financial fair play comes into effect, there is a big issue with team size, cohesion and chemistry that still needs to be fixed. Roberto Mancini is a very good manager and he can certainly discipline and mold his team into a powerhouse, but with so many first team members and large egos clashing, it is going to be a hard task. If each team was allowed to field two teams a week, Manchester City has arguably the best chance of winning, but with such an embarrassment of riches, it might lower morale, cause infighting and general locker room unrest, and cause huge problems for the team.

I have no doubt in my mind that this team will come good in the future, possibly even the near future. They have a very strong chance of competing for a Champions League place this year and could soon be competing for the title in a few years time. But as of now, they are like raw ingredients, they need proper preparation, mixing, and fixing to properly shine.

More Questions for the future
There are still a lot of questions to be answered, especially since Manchester United has yet to play. Will Sir Alex Ferguson do an amazing job and get his team to overachieve this year and win? Will Aston Villa recover from losing Martin O’Neill? Will David Moyes’ Everton play well this year? Will Tottenham do well in their first year in the UEFA Champions League in a long time? How will Blackpool (who did really well this week), WBA and Newcastle adjust to the rigors of Premier League football?

As the season moves forward, these questions will inevitably answer themselves. Until then, analyze away!

"Never underestimate the heart of a champion." - Rudy Tomjanovich

Before the fight, most MMA fans and pundits would have been mocked for picking Sonnen over arguably the number one pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts. Silva was on an 11 fight winning streak. He is the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion. He has black belts in Tae Kwon Do, Judo and Brazilian Jujitsu, as well as mastery of Capoeira, Boxing, and Muay Thai. With a superior ground game and fire power that could knock out many formidable fighters in all his limbs, Why would anyone bet against him?

But the fight was anything but predictable, and ended up being one of the most unexpected and exciting fights in recent history. Initially, Sonnen picked the perfect gameplan against the champion. To neutralize Silva’s vaunted firepower, Sonnen took him to the ground over and over again, and took the dominant position for much of the match, and proceeded to pound his opponent for the rest of the match. Lying on his back for more than 20 minutes, Silva was resigned to defending himself for much of the fight while waiting for the perfect opportunity to try to submit his opponent. As Silva defended with butterfly-, full-, and half-guard positions from the bottom, he also tried to initiate a few submission techniques, with failed armbars and triangle chokes as well as a near-perfect Kimura lock the highlights of his fight until the end.

But as with the first Lesnar-Mir fight, you can never count anyone out until the end of the fight. Just like some heavy-hitting fighters (Boxing or MMA) have a puncher’s chance no matter how badly they’re losing, great Brazilian jujitsu and submissions experts have the ability to change the course of a match in the blink of an eye with a perfectly timed and perfectly placed choke or bar.

Although the bottom position offers many opportunities for chokes and other various submission techniques, it is very tiring and frustrating to be in a non-dominant position for that long, and waiting for the perfect chance is an impossibly difficult game of patience and sound judgment. Focus too much on offense, and defense is inevitably ignored. Attempt a choke too early, and you could get pounded to oblivion. Try to get into a triangle choke, and you could release your opponent from a full-guard and cede control of his body. But before getting a chance to slap on a guillotine, ude garami (Kimura lock), or juji gatame (arm bar), your opponent could have knocked you out with an effective ground and pound.

The Gracies built the UFC to showcase the superiority of their martial art against other types of combat arts. So even though it has evolved through the years, it still favors the technically skilled grappler types. Although most MMA fights ban techniques that cause permanent structural damage, like scratching, biting, eye-gouging, bone breaks, joint locks, and nerve touches, there is significant merit in the techniques made popular by the renowned Gracie family. Chokes and submission techniques Like Mir against Lesnar in their first fight, or Silva’s triumph over Sonnen yesterday demonstrate that a perfectly timed and executed technique is absolutely devastating and can win still win you a match.

So take heart even if you are not 6’4″ and 265 lbs. of pure muscle. Practice, patience and sublime technique can take you a long way in combat sports. Just ask Royce Gracie.

The UFC: The house that Royce Gracie Built

A few weeks ago, Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum declared the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. dead in the water. There were supposedly discussions between the two sides mediated by HBO president Ross Greenburg, but none of Mayweather’s representatives are willing to concede that these ‘negotiations’ even took place. But it doesn’t even matter whether they did or did not happen. For the sake of boxing and the fans, the fight needs to happen.

When the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts came to prominence a few years ago, everyone claimed that boxing was dead. MMA is revolutionizing combat sports so much that boxing has become an impractical and useless relic of the past. But even with the rise of popularity of MMA, and the seemingly inevitable decline of boxing, the last few years have seen a sudden spike in interest in the latter. And a big reason for this spike is the emergence of Manny Pacquiao, especially in the United States.

But the growth of boxing in recent years is being stunted by the absence of a mega-fight the likes of Tito Trinidad vs. Oscar De La Hoya, and ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, threatening to render it irrelevant and obscure for most viewers. The heavyweight division is being dominated by the amazing Klitschko brothers, who have battered all before them. The Super Six World Boxing Classic, featuring the best Super Middleweight fighters was a great idea, but it has been largely underwhelming, and has already bore witness to a casualty, Jermain Taylor. Nobody in larger, more lucrative markets really care about the lower divisions (even though there are a few exciting Asian and South American boxers gaining reputations in their respective countries). So what do we have left?

Although supporters want their boxer to win, none of the neutrals want to watch a one-sided bore fest. What the boxing world needs is a hero, or a villain, to cheer and jeer, and a foil to that character. Like any sport, without larger than life characters that people love, or love to hate, no one is going to tune in, to be emotionally and monetarily invested. Within the past 20 years, the Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield saga encapsulated the masses. In the past, we had Ali-Frazier and Ali-Foreman to cheer on or against. There were the ‘Sugar’ Ray leonards, the Roberto Durans, the ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Haglers, the Rocky Marcianos, the Jack Johnsons and Jack Dempseys of the world. These names evoke images of great warriors battling against equally great warriors. That’s exactly what boxing needs now – warriors willing to fight each other and bring the audience instant classics.

The modern day equivalents of Muhammad Ali are WBA Heavyweight Champion David Haye, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Cocky, loud-mouthed fighters who actually back their trash-talking with their skills. They claim to be the best in their respective divisions, but continue to deny their adoring public what they want: big fights against the best fighters.

After moving to Heavyweight from Cruiserweight, David Haye vowed to conquer the division. He started off well, acquiring the WBA belt from 7 feet giant Nikolai Valuev. But what people really want to see is him against either Vladimir or Vitali Klitschko. He’s called them out and they’ve reciprocated, but that fight is taking an eternity to make, although the likelihood of it happening is high. At least when that fight happens, there is potential for a great fight between two great boxers.

However, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is another matter entirely. Negotiations between the two sides stalled early in the year over the blood test issue; Mayweather wanted random drug testing while Pacquiao wanted a 14 day cutoff. Then, with the possibility of a November bout between the two, Mayweather claims he is retiring, and both sides are arguing over whether negotiations even occurred. Arum has well-documented tension with Mayweather and his whole camp, and Mayweather’s family and promoters continue to accuse Pacquiao of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Both boxers are already in their 30s, and although they keep themselves in amazing shape, their boxing careers are winding down, and each has less than a handful of fights left in their tank. The longer it takes to get this fight done, the lower the chances of it happening.

Fight of the Century?

Mayweather claims to be the best, and his record is certainly impressive. But history will judge him against his peers and the greatest of all time. If this mega-fight never happens, they will remember him as the man who ducked Pacquiao, and never fought Cotto, Margarito or Paul Williams, and fought a much older De La Hoya and Mosley, and a much smaller Marquez. There is no doubt in my mind that he believes he is the best, but until he steps up and takes the challenge, and brings great fights against great fighters, he will only be good. He is undefeated, but among those considered the greatest of all time, each have fought and lost great battles that will be remembered forever. Mayweather has a good legacy, but he will never even be considered among the greatest until he steps into the ring with Pacquiao.

Remember Me?

But then came Mr. Moneybags himself, Roman Abramovich:

I buy all titles for you. Except Champions League.

Although I admit that Chelsea was definitely on its way up, he really sent them over the edge, bringing Jose Mourinho a new era to Chelsea, one where they won championship after championship.

But what that also brought was not-so-bright ideas to really rich people.

Anti-Glazer

The Glazer family started and succeeded in their takeover of arguably the biggest club in the world, Manchester United. The fact that a rich person buys a soccer football club isn’t bad in and of itself. It’s the fact that these guys did it using Leveraged Buy-Out (LBO) which in layman’s terms means they secured loans by leveraging the club’s assets. What’s worse is their purchase of the club is leaving it in huge debt – around $1.17 Billion worth of it. Hell, some mysterious wealthy supporters calling themselves the “Red Knights” even tried to buy the club from them to save it from financial ruin. So that failed.

Liverpool, their age old rival (except that they haven’t won the league in a LONG time) was bought out by messrs Gillett and Hicks, who now hate each other, have no money, and have left the club around $700 M in debt. Thanks to that, they’ve sold some of their best assets recently and might be looking to lose a certain injury-prone star striker of theirs. I’m calling that a fail.

Bye bye, Torres? I guess You Will Walk Alone after all...

English Millionaire entrepreneur Mike Ashley bought once-great Newcastle United, and much to the dismay of the Toon Army, brought them down to the Championship before coming back this year. Portsmouth FC has gone through several owners and went into administration last year, and unsurprisingly were relegated. Millionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed bought Fulham years ago and can say he has had moderate success with them.

One seemingly bright spot might be in Manchester. Manchester United’s step-sister neighbor, Manchester City, went through a few ups and downs, first when former Thai prime minister-cum-political prisoner Thaksin Shinawatra bought them, but then now with the ‘trillionaire’ Abu Dhabi group, things are looking up. Though they seem on their way up right now, they went through a lot of down, going through managers Sven-Goran Eriksson and Mark Hughes before recently settling on Roberto Mancini. Of course, having already secured Yaya Touré and David Silva, they seem to be close to securing the services of “Super” Mario Balotelli.  It must be nice to have a lot of money.  Then again, money doesn’t necessarily buy you wins.  Or Champions League trophies.  Just ask Abramovich.

So far there have been few success stories amid a myriad of decent results to outright failures. Abramovich’s Chelsea and arguably Manchester City have proven very successful, but otherwise, these so-called sugar daddies and their deep pockets have wreaked financial havoc on the whole footballing world. Transfer prices are inflated beyond belief (although La Liga sides Barcelona and Real Madrid have a lot to do with that), wages have spiraled out of control, and once prominent clubs have been left shells of their former selves.

But here comes UEFA to save the day (I never thought I’d say that)! With the introduction of financial fair play, within the next few years, UEFA will gradually force teams that want to play in the champions league to balance their books and have their wages break even with their revenues.

How refreshing! You mean, they have to pay their players only the money they earn? They have to run on a profit?

That’s right! Though club transfer policies seem to be able to bypass that, UEFA will slowly reign in wages and create a world where clubs can’t just buy their way into championships. Sugar daddies like Roman Abramovich will be less of a factor, and maybe then Arsenal, who might I add have been fiscally responsible and very shrewd for years, will win the Champions League.

The New Miami Big 3

Talk about re-aligning the NBA. With LeBron James (and his hour-long ESPN special announcement show – real classy, LBJ…), and Chris Bosh joining Dwayne Wade with the Miami Heat, the league just got its new super power. Sure, they have a lot of work to do. After all, you can’t really win the league playing 3-on-5 all year long. But with Mike Miller, Zydrunas ‘Big Z’ Ilgauskas, and Juwan Howard (He’s still playing? He was part of the Michigan Fab Five…How old is he?) joining them, and every veteran wanting to get a ring clamoring to join them, I think it’s safe to say that they just leapfrogged everyone else in the East to challenge the Lakers for the ‘chip.

I guess King James just got tired of watching the Lakers Kobe win all those rings and wanted to one-up him before it was too late. But he could’ve waited just a little longer. Kobe’s already in his 30s (Not to mention the fact that his finger was irreparably damaged), and LeBron’s only 25. But I guess winning really is everything for this guy. But it definitely seems like a bit of a cop out, especially since he never brought that elusive championship to Cleveland, and made them endure that godawful hour-long special. Hell, even the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) his Airness Michael Jordan thinks it’s pretty lame. The days where the best played against the best are disappearing. Now the best players want to play WITH the best. Somehow it just diminishes their achievements that much more.

But for all his missteps recently, I admire LeBron James in many ways. He’s definitely more Magic than Jordan. He can take the last shot, but unlike Kobe Bryant, he’s also willing to pass the ball and give his teammates the the last shot if they’re in better position. So I’m not at all surprised that he’s sharing the limelight with D-Wade and C-Bosh. But let’s see if this threesome manage what the King failed to do himself: Win a championship. Only time will tell. For now, there will be a buzz around the NBA as we all wait to see what the Heat have to offer.

Does that make me a boring person?  I hope not, but I could always be wrong.

Numerous times I’ve been told that I’m a little shy and quiet, but my mouth doesn’t stop when I talk about something I’m really passionate about.

And if there’s one thing I’m really passionate about, it’s sports.  I will admit my biases up front before anything, and hope that those biases don’t cloud my judgment, but I’m almost sure they will.  I confess to being one of the biggest Houston Rockets fan outside of Texas, and one of the biggest Arsenal Gooners outside of England.  Well, that last bit might not be true…There are loads of passionate gooners out in the Netherlands, France, and Africa, but I’m probably one of their top North American supporters. But I guess those two teams have such a global following, with Yao on the Rockets, and…well, Arsenal is just a global brand.  Also, being a Stanford graduate, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for any Stanford-affiliated sports team.

That brings us to the question of “So What?” Well, I love watching, reading, and learning about the teams I support, and the leagues they’re in. So I’m going to use this blog as an discussion forum for me with other people to go into deeper analysis and understanding. And don’t worry, I’ll try to keep the Rockets/Arsenal posts to a minimum.

So I will post about basketball, soccer, and football. As an added bonus (or not), I will also discuss combat sports like MMA and boxing from time to time, with the odd post on traditional martial arts here and there.

But remember, this blog is supposed to be fun and engaging! So talk to me and each other!