The Miami sports scene has been rather hit or miss in recent years. The Heat are on top of the world right now, looking to repeat as NBA champions. Meanwhile, the Marlins tried to match that type of success, but instead they have flamed out and are now in rebuilding mode. The Dolphins are somewhere in between right now, but the bigger long term question is, will they even be in the South Beach area?

Right now, the Dolphins can’t find a way with Florida Legislature when it comes to funding improvement for Sun Life Stadium. According to Dolphins CEO Mike Dee, this mess could force the team to relocate. Without getting into a ton of political details, the simple threat of possible relocation effectively catches the attention of NFL fans.

For the last few years, several teams have been linked to Los Angeles as a possible solution to the major city not having a NFL team and such a huge audience having no link to the game except for fantasy football leagues. The Dolphins appear to be the latest team on that wish list, and there are several factors that could make the story more than just wishful thinking.

Without even considering this latest battle, the Dolphins are one of the few NFL teams without a long-term lease with their community. Their attendance is the worst in the league, at least by attendance percentage numbers. Although owner Stephen Ross has denied any relocation rumors, the 73-year old might be nearing the end as far as his current position goes. A new owner could step in and be much more open to relocating.

Things like this do not happen overnight, and the city of Los Angeles does not have a NFL stadium to move into. The plans for Farmer’s Field are just that, plans, so until a team is legitimately considering the area, they will be on hold. Almost every relocation story is shot down as well by people involved with the Dolphins. Whether they will suffer the same fate as the Baltimore Colts and the Cleveland Browns remains to be seen.

Earlier today the NBA announced that J.R. Smith won the Sixth Man of the Year award. Jamal Crawford finished in 2nd place and Jarrett Jack third.

Smith somewhat surprisingly won the award easily but that wasn't the most interesting takeaway. What did catch my eye was that some bozo actually gave Luke Babbitt a 3rd place vote. Yes, the same Babbitt who averaged 11.8 minutes a game, 3.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg and shot 37% from the floor. 

Based on his numbers this year and the prior two seasons, Babbitt is one of the 50 worst players in the NBA. This assertion is not even up for debate. The man is that bad. The guy who voted for Babbitt should be identified and flogged in Times Square. Nothing more and nothing less.

In other NBA news today, it was reported that the Cavaliers have reached out to Phil Jackson to gauge his interest in coaching the team next season. The Zenmaster in Cleveland? Please. The odds of this happening are only slightly better than LaToya Jackson heading to Cleveland to coach the team. 

Finally, this has absolutely nothing to do with basketball but right now the funniest show on television is Veep.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus has never been better and the supporting cast (led by the always amusing Matt Walsh and Tony Hale) is tremendous. I can't recommend it enough so check it out.

Back in July last year I proudly pronounced that Damian Lillard would win Rookie of the Year. Well, that very announcement is only a few weeks away. Damian is a mortal lock for the award.

A month later in August I also made some predictions about which teams would make the playoffs. Your fearless prognosticator nailed 14 out of 16...only missing on the injury plagued Timberwolves and perpetually disappointing Raptors.

In my defense, the Rockets hadn't made the blockbuster James Harden deal at the time of the August blog post so I'd like to think Houston would have gotten the nod over Minny. However, thinking Toronto was ready for prime time was a colossal blunder.

The only thing that is more of a lock than Lillard winning ROY is LeBron James being named MVP. Bet the house, farm and children on this one. Here is the Top 10 on my make believe MVP ballot:

1. LeBron
2. KD
3. Chris Paul
4. Melo
5. Kobe
6. Tim Duncan
7. Tony Parker
8. Stephen Curry
9. James Harden
10. Russell Westbrook

Other Awards:

Most Improved Player:  Larry Sanders
Honorable Mention: Jrue Holiday 

Sixth Man of the Year:  J.R. Smith
Honorable Mention: Jarrett Jack & Jamal Crawford

Defensive Player of the Year: Joakim Noah
Honorable Mention: Sanders, Marc Gasol & Tony Allen

Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau
Honorable Mention: Erik Spoelstra

Most Irritating Coach: Eric Spoelstra (stay off the damn court Erik with a K!)
Honorable Mention: Keith Smart & Lawrence Frank (both completely clueless)

Most Menacing Player: Nikola Pekovic
Honorable Mention: Kurt Thomas

Most Disappointing Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Honorable Mention: Nobody...it was a landslide

Biggest Knucklehead: Andrew Bynum
Honorable Mention: JaVale McGee

Eric Weddle is either delusional or has had one too many concussions.

The Chargers are not anywhere close to being the best team in the NFL. However, Weddle apparently thinks they are #1:

"Now, shoot, I feel like we're the best team in the league," Weddle told the paper. "And a lot of that is because of Coach McCoy and the way he presents himself -- the way he portrays what he wants. A lot of what you are as a team is attitude, and you can control that."

Perhaps Weddle hasn't seen what his team has done (or not done as the case may be) this off-season. Just read this list of transactions ... it's underwhelming bordering on pitiful.

An 8-8 season would be optimistic at this point for the Chargers. Eric, you may want to stop talking for a while. Just a thought.



 

Just a few of the things on my mind today...


There you go again, Mitt.

Barack Obama certainly would be very vulnerable right now if there was actually a legitimate Republican or third party candidate. Unfortunately, that just isn't the case.

As if things weren't bad enough all ready for Romney, a video emerged earlier today that makes Mitt look even more out of touch...if that's even possible. Good thing Matt Drudge came to Mitt's rescue and posted a video of Barack Obama from 14 years ago. No, not 14 weeks or months ago. Years. Yeesh.

Kohl's is hiring but since forty-seven percent of the country is lazy, entitled and simply looking for a government handout the department store might have trouble filling the open positions. Isn't that right Mitt?



In other news, the San Diego Chargers are currently 2-0. Yippee!!  Too bad those two wins came against the Raiders and Titans...likely to be league doormats all year.

The Bolts haven't been tested yet and next week's game against the Falcons will be very revealing. If Norv Turner and the Chargers truly are for real they will take care of business at home with a convincing victory. If not, it's probably going to be another up and down 8-8 or 9-7 year. We shall see.   



Last but not least, what the hell is wrong with people in this country? Until two weeks ago I had never heard of Honey Boo Boo. Now she and her morbidly obese momma are everywhere. Evidently, 3 million brain dead Americans watch these two on their abomination of a show every week. Mind boggling...simply mind boggling.