Friday, July 13, 2012

07/13 (Friday) Quickie

The Paterno-Penn State-Freeh story is so sad/aggravating that I just point you to Quickish's excellent collection of the top takes and analysis.

To the extent that the "Should they take the Paterno statue down?" thing has become the only way most people can internalize the horror of the story, I'm ambivalent -- I see both sides. It seems insane to keep the statue up as tribute; if people look at it and consider the extent of the abdication of JoePa's leadership, then it is valuable. The bottom line is that if the school doesn't change the way it works -- football as king, etc. -- then it doesn't matter what sort of symbolism is out there and how it's handled.

More:

*Dwight Howard Watch: Good for the Rockets to do whatever it takes to pry Howard from Orlando. I'd rather be in a position of trying to retain him over the next year (including financial advantage) than trying to woo him over about 48 hours -- against every other competitor, including rival Dallas -- next summer. I'd like to see Daryl Morey's creativity and obsession rewarded.

*Blake Griffin knee injury: Yikes. The downside of playing any basketball outside of your club team -- but, then again, injuries can happen anytime, so why not participate?

*USA Basketball rolls: Durant with that international 3-point-line is so amazing to watch. This team is going to be on a mission to win by 40 and make those comparisons to the 1992 team a little bit more interesting.

*Baseball is back: Let's go Nats. I'm 100% on board with pitching Strasburg past his innings limit if the team is in contention -- flags fly forever. The smarter play would be for the team to acquire a 6th starter and stretch Strasburg out a little bit.

*Just asking: Why isn't every team going after Justin Upton? I'm clearly missing something.

*Do the Phillies need to pay big to keep Hamels? Have you seen their record? (Of course, paying big for Hamels won't do anything about the aging and massively expensive lineup.)

Fun weekend of baseball and USA hoops and more ahead. Maybe we'll even get a Dwight Howard trade. After yesterday's Freeh Report release, I think we all want/need the psychological break.

-- D.S.

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