As a sports’ lover, you come to realize that with certain sports, when it all boils down to it, the talent is really cattle… High paid as they may be, cattle all the same.

So, this mega NBA trade of Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks, along with this crazy 25-team shake up (Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.), got me to thinking about the team comradery side of things.

How would I feel if my star/franchise teammate suddenly leaves mid season for potentially greener pastures, leaving my team to drown at best… Or in team terms, “rebuild”? Given the nature of the beast, I’m pretty sure there’s a generic understanding of how things go and that its about business. But you know the behind-the-scene conversations are full of questions, doubt, and wonder. I’m thinking it’s never fun to lose a family member and I’m guessing from a team perspective, this is the same mind set.

I hope Carmelo has the combination of the team and the paycheck he wanted.

Sometimes, there is no need… no need at all to try and punctuate on an already beautiful ending.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=6128100

No, I didn’t forget to talk about one of the biggest sporting events of the year… But you know me, and it has to be more than just the latest and greatest. In fact, while watching the all-day coverage leading up to the 2011 NFL Super Bowl, I was struck by one of the stories covered.

It was nostalgic to see William “Refrigerator” Perry getting some TV time. I’d wondered what happened to him and often times, now with the prevalent Internet, to find out something all you have to do is type a person’s name to find out if he or she is still dead or alive… Well, the Refrigerator was, indeed, still alive.

During the 1980’s, Perry was a household name as he invaded your television commercials and dominated the field for the Chicago Bears with his mammoth size. But this recent story didn’t necessarily leave me with the greatest of tastes in my mouth. In front of me (on the TV, of course) was a shell of a man. He was as cheerful and loveable as ever, but the years weren’t too kind to him.

We discovered that the now close to 400-pound Refrigerator suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder triggered when a person’s immune system attacks their peripheral nervous system. Ouch, right? Imagine seeing this bigger-than-life weapon reduced to this robotic, stiff, and struggling man. The details are many, but a college-acquired habit of drinking alcohol is one of the chief opponents for this disease, and obviously for him now, too. And while Perry kicked the habit, after falling to a scary weight of 190 pounds and time in physical rehab, he says he only drinks one or two now… In his words, “no big deal”. I couldn’t help but walk away from the story thinking of how big a deal it really was.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/william-perry-the-refrigerator-2011-2#ixzz1DSbi5Qvo

In 1992, the New York Jets defensive end, Dennis Byrd, in a tragic second, hit head-first into his 275-pound teammate, shattering a vertebra, one of the 33 bones that make up the spine. In that moment, he was left on the field partially paralyzed… 19 years later, Byrd returns the #90 jersey, that was cut from his back on that 1992 day, to Coach Rex Ryan and the Jets organization.

Now while I don’t really understand the jersey returned sentiment (Can anyone help me with that?), I’m well aware of the emotional impact his presence made on the current Jets team. As the honorary captain for this playoff Jets team against the formidable Pittsburgh Steelers, Byrd re-energized the already awakened Jets with a speech for the ages. The profound and passionately significant point of Byrd’s speech resonated with me as a “must share” with readers.:

A man has a body, a mind and a spirit. There are times in a man’s life when his body will tell him it can’t continue on. There are times in a man’s life when his mind will tell him that the task set for him is too hard to accomplish. Those two don’t matter. It’s a man’s will and his spirit, and in those moments and in those times that will tell him ‘You can do it,’ and it will make the mind and body follow along.

While this is a powerful in-between-the-lines message, it is also such an impactful one to take into the most calm and tumultuous parts of  every day life. This man told his personal story to this Jets team, a group of men in a completely different generation, where the men can typically be bigger and the hits can potentially be harder. But, they got the message. From all the lessons taught, speeches delivered, or plays drawn out, I believe the one common thread and driving force among them is simply the hope that they get it…

Okay, I was relaxing after a long day… Hanging out, watching Sports Center. The news came on that Lawrence Taylor pleaded guilty to misdemeanors surrounded around rape charges, but avoided jail time.

This Pro football Hall of Famer admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old runaway prostitute. He said that she told him she was 19 (Really? Okay, we’re not going to take that any further; Neither are we going to discuss his wife, Lynette.). So, no jail time, but along with serving 6 years of probation he has to register as a sex offender.

This former New York Giant isn’t new to trouble, but as his lawyer spoke to the media I had that dog-turn-my-head-to-the-side look… He reiterated the facts and then concluded that this was an unfortunate situation and that his client was not a sexual predator (Are you serious, Dude?). I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing, literally. Does he deserve to be on the list?

I know, I know… It’s been a minute. Haven’t you heard its about quality and not quantity (LOL… I am performing a Jedi mind trick on you… You’re getting sleepy… Okay, that’s enough.)? I honestly have to be inspired to write, and one such story has done just that.

The Baltimore Ravens veteran safety, Ed Reed, is impromptu to say the least. As someone who has been given carte blanche by the coaching staff to play off his intuition versus the standard route running expectation, Reed has proven to be mature in his judgement. Currently in the playoffs, I’m sure the Ravens weren’t expecting Reed to play as total turmoil was very much present within the Reed family.

Apparently, his brother Brian Reed, after he was spotted in a stolen vehicle is believed to have jumped into the Mississippi River as he ran from police in Louisiana. This was a few days ago and subsequently, even after finding Brian’s shoes and jacket, authorities have called off the search for the missing Reed.

How could Ed Reed’s mind have been in the game, let alone him playing as dominantly as he did? And with his ridiculous hit on Dexter McCluster, he was very much present in the Ravens’ 30-7 AFC wild card win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Before Reed boarded a private jet to be with his family, he was given the game ball as one of many gestures the team exemplified showing their support. Now while everyone would have understood his absence, Reed showed young players and his other team mates alike the importance of being committed to your craft and to live up to the maturity badge he’s obviously earned.

There is something happening in the universe and I have yet to put my finger on it. I looked up at the open sky and the sun and moon were rotating, as they should. I am still convinced that there’s a phenomenon taking place. I know I cannot be the only one witnessing the downward spiral of the Indianapolis Colts and more specifically, their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning.

If there is someone I have to explain this significance to, okay, here it is: Manning is considered to be among the top 2 (maybe 4 if you’re considering Vick and Rivers) quarterbacks in the League and he has held this reign for some time now. Unlike many teams and quarterbacks, for that matter, a deficit to Manning was nothing as he scored viciously in 4^th-quarter come backs and flawlessly executed 2-minute drills. Along with donning NFL’s highest jewel (the ring), he also comes from thorough pedigree stock… So, you have the cliff notes of his pro career… Which adds the bigger question mark to the end of what is going on?

It makes me sit back and wonder if he was always this tremendous pocket passer or if it was all the doing of his supporting cast. Manning was part of an outstanding dynasty of names and grandeur that reclaiming that roster (the talent at least) would be near to impossible. Well, that’s where he seems to live these days… impossible that they’ve loss another game; impossible that the receiver just isn’t Jerry Rice; impossible that all his weapons (I mean all) live outside the lines now with injuries. Manning blames himself for the Colts’ losses and that’s an honorable move as it acknowledges his athletic mortality and the awareness that without his supporting cast, his top rankings are bottoms up.

Stuff only gets better…

Okay, so Miami Heat’s LeBron James is a finalist for TIME magazine’s Person of the Year (Yes, you’ve guessed it, I’m drained already.). This honor has previously been given to Dr. Martin Luther King and Ghandi… so, choosing LeBron for consideration would only be natural, right?

I’m with the analyst who say’s win a championship first and then maybe the consideration would be warranted. It’s just a funny representation of where these United States of America (like the way I said that, huh?) spend their time.

Now, in all fairness, this “honor” is based on who made the most news within the particular year and with that in mind, LeBron is definitely a contender (Was I the only one to think of Marlon Brando here?). He’s in good company with President Barack Obama, Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan… LeBron fits right in, right?

A part of me is happy that he’s living his life like it’s golden, but the other side just wishes he would earn the level of celebrity that he has garnered.

Any time a professional player says some variation of “I’ll do what I want”… I think you can expect trouble.

I’m definitely an afar-off-admirer of Minnesota Vikings’ wide receiver Randy Moss (His locale could be changing any time while reading this post.), but his behavior is suspect. I guess more specifically, he is just a primadonna with tremendous skill and I’m not sure why it’s still tolerated within the National Football League, or professional sports for that matter.

What does it say to aspiring athletes or young people as a whole?… As long as I have skill I can act however I choose?? It is a poor example of sportsmanship and it shows a great lack of character. I have watched Moss back when he was with the Raiders and his antics were the same… I don’t get my way, I don’t play. I often get into friendly disputes over the Randy versus T.O. battle and my message is the same. Yes, both are talented and some say Randy is the better player, but T.O., within the lines, is the professional you’ve paid him to be. Forget age, or that balls have been dropped, or even his off-the-field frolicking… On the field, he takes the hard hits, he’s not afraid of the middle, and he doesn’t give up on plays. Now for Moss, it’s just the opposite. Let him not like the quarterback or feel that his number isn’t being called enough, or of late, that he was fined and now he’s not taking questions from the press… He won’t play. He sits on the sidelines with the quality-quilted towel gently tossed over his head and looks out into nothingness.

I hope Moss finds a place where he can spend his last years … A place where he can, hopefully, display sportsmanlike conduct and maturity. Otherwise, his legacy as a Hall of Famer will always resound, “When he wanted to play he was one of the best at his position…”

I must say, I was actually shocked to hear about Minnesota Vikings’ veteran quarterback, Brett Favre, being in the media fire for inappropriate behavior.

A realist in nature, I believe everyone falls from grace or has the propensity to, but I guess the question in my mind is to what level. Favre has allegedly (only in America do you always have to add this word) sent inappropriate messages and pictures to a former Jets hostess (I believe that’s her title. It’s so vague.). And since this initial accusation, two other women (who remain anonymous) have come out to say similar things happened to them.

For me, those Levi commercials and his speckled beard just don’t ring out another-professional-athlete-superstar-misusing-his-power (ding ding) to me. A saint, no, but this?… And that’s my point… I mean, okay, have a bar fight or even drag racing, but sending racy pictures a.k.a “sexting” is disgusting. Favre isn’t exactly L.L. Cool J. I guess I need to up the barometer for realist-ism.