Weekly Quick Hits-- Super Bowl edition

‡ Bill Belichick is a genius, you can hate him but you also must admit that. I firmly believe he had Tom Brady wear the boot so that it would capture the media spotlight and take the focus off of the Patriots quest of perfection. Brady handles the media better than any athlete since Michael Jordan and had no problem playing the game. Meanwhile, the rest of the team avoided constant hounding about going 19-0. To quote the scientists in the Guinness Beer commercial, “Brilliant!”

Official Super Bowl prediction: Patriots win 35-20, Wes Welker wins MVP.

With that being said, Matt Walsh, a former Patriots video assistant has suggested to ESPN that he has information that could have exposed the Patriots prior to the Jets' allegations which ended up with the record fines. He says this information could be “embarrassing for the NFL and the Patriots.”

If Walsh chooses to speak, get ready for a wild ride akin to the steroids issue in baseball. Remember the Ty Law pick-6 in Super Bowl XXXVI? Let’s just say you’d be seeing plenty of replays of that for a while.

‡ Finally, an NL team decides they want to join the elite contenders club with the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, Tigers, Angels and Seattle Mariners (after the Erik Bedard trade becomes official. Congratulations to Omar Minaya and the New York Mets for becoming the only team in the inferior league with a slight chance of winning the World Series in 2008.

On a personal note, I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I am that the White Sox won’t have to see Johan Santana anymore. He consistently goes 5-1 or 4-1 with a no decision against the Sox each season. By my count, this should equal at least 3 more wins since I don’t see the Sox doing worse than .500 in the games he’d normally start against them. Somewhere, Paul Konerko is throwing a party for the Twins front office.

‡ Memphis is the only undefeated team left in the country and will hold the No. 1 spot in the polls until they lose in the NCAA Tournament. With the exception of beating Georgetown at home, which win is supposed to impress me? Victories over unranked USC, Arizona, Oklahoma or Gonzaga? Not quite making me jump out of my seat. At the end of the season, the win over UCONN will look nice, but the Huskies were still figuring themselves out when they played on a neutral site back in mid-November. My bad, wins over conference opponents such as East Carolina, Marshall, Tulsa and Houston really do get my heart racing.

Sure, Memphis is talented. At least three of their players will be on an NBA roster next season. The problem is three members of the starting five for their conference opposition will be sitting at a desk or working in the fast food industry next season.

While other elite teams like Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA face tough games nearly every night within their conference; Memphis cakewalks to a 1-seed. But, are they really battle tested? After blowing everyone out, who exactly is going to have the mental strength and intestinal fortitude to hit a clutch shot in the tournament? I know I’ll have them bowing out before the Final Four in my pool.

‡ I got a treat at work the other night when I was assigned the Golden State Warriors v. New Orleans Hornets highlights. These teams are fun to watch. Chris Paul is the best true point guard in the NBA while the Warriors--led by one of my favorite players, Baron Davis—score points like they’re trying to see if the scoreboard really goes that high. Davis can get into the lane at will and hit shots from anywhere on the floor, literally. He went 5-for-7 from behind the arc, including one fading away in the corner and another right in front of Byron Scott—who was standing a few feet behind the time line.

While the Hornets’ nine-game winning streak was snapped, I do think they are a legit contender as any team would be with Paul. David West is a legit scoring big man, while Tyson Chandler rebounds and blocks shot like Ben Wallace used to in Detroit. Meanwhile, Peja Stojakovic (remember him?) and Morris Peterson stretch defenses with their lethal shooting. Bobby Jackson and Jannero Pargo provide a spark off the bench.

Meanwhile, Don Nelson must be having a mid-life crisis. How does he expect Chris Webber to help the run-and-gun, can’t shoot enough 3-pointers Warriors? Forget the fact Webber is one of the most non-clutch players ever—remember when Peja and Mike Bibby were always called upon to take the last shot in Sacramento instead of their perennial “All-Star?”

Last seen with the Pistons, Webber could barely run and just camped out around the free throw line. Maybe he can be a mentor for rookie Brandan Wright, but that would require he teach boxing out and I don’t recall ever seeing Webber do that, either.

‡ Finally, I also got to make the highlights for the NHL Skills Competition this past week. I was thrilled seeing as how I have watched this event every year since I was 6 that there wasn’t a lockout. This year was pretty boring, I must admit.

The new speed-skating competition was a miserable failure as players that crossed the line first somehow had worse times than their opponent. The breakaway challenge was fun and could gain the same popularity as the dunk contest. However, after trying difficult moves, the players still need to put the puck past an All-Star goaltender and they had trouble doing that. Thus, it was void of real electricity. At least on bad dunks, the ball goes through the net most of the time.

The Young Stars game was a 3-on-3 goal-scoring frenzy. The two sides combined for 13 goals in 12 minutes… with a running clock! There was some talk that commissioner Gary Bettman is thinking about going to a 3-on-3 overtime if a shootout ends in a tie. While I am all for change and increased goal scoring, this is a bit excessive. Imagine if Bud Selig decided that if a game goes into the 15th inning each team could only use one outfielder.

**** I promise I’ll try to update more frequently. Please leave feedback and story ideas in the comments section. If this weekly update is enjoyed, I will continue to do them.***