12/01 (Thursday) Quickie

A few things on the agenda today:

CBB: Is UNC "back?" Regardless of whether they play in Chapel Hill or on the road, I think Wisconsin is as Tourney-tough of a match-up as UNC will see this year, including Duke (next year) or Kentucky (Saturday). An interesting win for the Heels.

NBA: The Magic can try to trade Dwight Howard to whoever they want, but I'm with the folks who think that if D12 wants to be in LA with the Lakers, he'll be in LA with the Lakers. For me, the most intriguing idea is that the Clippers could offer up a hell of a good package to the Magic, and Dwight could get to LA and carve out his own legacy, long after Kobe has retired.

LeBron vs. Durant Flag Football game: I wonder how an athlete who thrives on his authenticity -- like Durant -- felt about being part of something as contrived as a LeBron spectacle, which included no fans allowed, closing out the media, full pads and other overly precious LeBron-ish things.

MLB Hot Stove: As a new DC transplant -- and adopted (perhaps prodigal) Nats fan -- I can't help thinking that if the team didn't put all that money into Jayson Werth last December, they would have their pick between Fielder and Pujols right now. Plus Cespedes. Plus Oswalt or Buehrle. I actually find myself liking this team a lot.

Correction/Corrected: Eagle-eyed reader Tom emailed me to point out that not a week ago, I was saying "UNC and Duke are clearly the Top 2 teams in the country," then after Duke got throttled at Ohio State, I said Duke was clearly not a Final Four team. Yikes. Instant history strikes again! What I should have said was something closer to: "Setting aside the travel and the site, this was much closer to the profile of a team that typically gives Duke fits in the Tournament, which should give folks backing the Blue Devils -- like me just a week ago -- pause before taking Duke too far in March." As always, I am happier to be proven wrong than I am to be right.

Media navel-gazing: Congrats to SB Nation on two more fantastic hires -- Bomani Jones and Matt Ufford, two great talents (and folks I have been friends with for years). Expect them both to contribute heavily to SB Nation's new (and extremely promising) video network, in partnership with YouTube.

-- D.S.