Greatest Sports Weekend Ever?
The last 3 days have probably been the best weekend, sports-wise, that I've ever had. It started on Friday when the Minnesota Twins traded Johann Santana to the Mets. Why does this matter to me? Santana's the game's best pitcher, and it was rumored he would be traded to either the Yankees or the Red Sox. If he'd gone to the Sox it would have been good just cause it would have kept him away from the MFYs, but the Red Sox would have had to give up a lot and commit a lot of money to him, so it would have been risky. The best option was just that he would go to a team in the National League instead, and that's what happened. This means the Red Sox can go this year with the team that just won the World Series and it means the Yankees are still screwed with shitty pitching. So it's looking good for the Red Sox again.
The next great piece of news was that the Lakers traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittendon and some draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol. This is a trade that is already legendary in its one-sidedness. The Lakers traded their backup center (who's renown for being disappointing and frequently injured) and their 3rd string point guard (who is a rookie and who hardly ever played) for a guy who is not only an All Star caliber player (who's only 27), but who also fills a huge hole for the Lakers at power forward and center. The Lakers were already one of the top 5 teams in the league this year, and now they added an All Star basically for nothing. Once the Lakers are fully healthy they should have one of the best teams of all time out there, and all their key players are young, so they should be contenders for years.
The final great thing that happened in sports this weekend was that the NY Giants just pulled off possibly the greatest Super Bowl upset in NFL history by beating the previously undefeated New England Patriots. Now I'm admittedly not much of a football fan, but my Dad is as big a Giants fan as he is a Red Sox fan, and he raised me watching Giants games. As I got older I kinda lost interest in football, and now mainly only watch when I go over to his place during the season to visit with him and eat dinner on Sundays. So I'm not gonna claim I'm like a superfan or anything, but on the occasions when I do watch football, I do root for the Giants. I don't have any other team I have any interest in. I have watched and rooted for the Giants in all four of their Super Bowl appearances, and remember them quite clearly. Watching tonight was special, because just like back in October, I was there with my Dad when the team he lives and dies with won a world championship.
The fact that the Red Sox, Giants and (possibly) Lakers could all win championships in the same year is incredible to me as a sports fan :)