What I Missed...

As many of you know by now, my last week was spent in Jersey away from the family. Apparently that time away did something to my brain as I tried to take The Incident to soccer practice this morning with no shoes on. I drove all the way to Edmonds, got out of the car to get her, noticed she had none on and then got back in the car. Apparently I forgot how to be a dad in only 6 days. Crazy.

Anyways, it seems that a lot of stuff has gone on in the past week. I have been fairly present on the blog over the past week, but definitely missed out on a lot. This is my opportunity to quickly address some of them

-I always like to lead off with Sounders' news (even in December) as we have found Keller's replacement. Oh wait, Sigi refuses to call him that. Instead, Michael Gspurning is the Sounders' new goalie. I will be honest - I had never heard of the guy (he's an Austrian playing in Greece) and have gotten all my info on him from SounderAtHeart. With that being said, I am pleasantly optimistic as it sounds like Gspurning might be able to present the team with something Keller didn't - confident play out of the back. I can't remember how many times I winced watching Kasey kick a ball played to his feet - it just wasn't a strong point of his game. If the G-Man (we learned that the G is not silent) can help start the build-up and be merely solid in the pipes, then this should be a good thing.

-Wait, so both Manchester United and Manchester City failed to make it out of the Champions League group stage, but Arsenal did? I knew City was in trouble, but I somehow missed that United was struggling. Wow, what a crazy result.

-Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson spurned the Marlins to sign with the Angels. I know I am not the only one who was shocked by this. After Pujols failed to meet the Marlins' deadline, it was assumed he would be taking the Cardinals 10 year, $220 million contract. Yet it was the Angels who swooped in to sign him for $255 million over 10 years. It is simply an amazing turn of events considering the Angels had never even been rumored as in the mix. I know Pujols has been the best player over the past 10 years, but assuming he will keep it up for the next 7 years (let alone 10 years) is a gamble (just ask A-Rod how his lat 30's are treating him). I know he is the best player in the game, but a contract like this could end up killing them, especially since their is a no-trade clause. Personally, I would have been upset had the Mets signed him for that much. As for Wilson, I think it is a perfect place for him. I don't believe he is a true #1 starter and he won't have to be in Anaheim, where Jered Weaver and Dan Haren are firmly the top two. Wilson should get 18-20 wins again as pitching third in the rotation will cover up some of his blemishes.

-UW lost a heart breaker to #11 Marquette and then by 6 to #5 Duke over the past week. Bottom line is that Huskies sit at 4-4 on the season, but I honestly think the recent results are something to be optimistic about. Marquette and Duke are quality teams and while they weren't true road games, UW did step out of it's home comfort zone and played fairly well. I think this is a young team with too much talent to miss the NCAA Tournament - it just might take a while to gel.

-David Stern stepped in to veto the three-team trade that would have sent Chris Paul to LA, Pau Gasol to Houston and Lamar Odom, Luis Scola and others to New Orleans. Apparently, many small market owners were upset that another big market team strong-armed a small market team into trading their star. I get it. It sucks, but the fact is that all three teams agreed to the trade. New Orleans can't afford to re-sign Paul at the end of the year, so they are trying to move on before the year starts. It is their prerogative to make the trade. The problem I have will the whole thing is that New Orleans is owned and run by the NBA. They have no owner. I understand that some moves need to be made in order to keep the team somewhat competitive, but this trade is one that will drastically change the league. This is Chris Paul we are talking about, not Darren Collison. I think the BA has a major conflict of interest here, but I'm not sure where to go since they do legally own the team.

-The rumor in Nets-land is that Dwight Howard is asking the Magic to trade him to the Nets after having spent some time talking to D-Will in the off-season (and after allegedly meeting against the rules with the Nets last week) about teaming up. The trade would be Howard and Hedo Turkoglu's contract for Brook Lopez and two1st round draft picks. This will be the only time I will comment until it becomes official (if at all). Obviously this would be amazing for the Nets, but they would still be a few open roster spots that they would need to fill. Howard, D-Will, Turkoglu and Morrow would be 4 of the starters, but I don't know who plays PF and who comes off the bench besides the horrible Travis Outlaw. I like Brook a lot and think it might be a good thing for him too - I have this feeling he wasn't a huge fan of Avery Johnson and think he can still be that 22/11 guy we thought he could be at one time.

-Brandon Roy retired at the age of 27. He was one of my favorite players in the league because his game was really like none other. He could have been a top-10 player if not for those terrible knees. Every time I thought about him running around with bone-on-bone friction, I cringed and prayed he would get out before he injured himself beyond repair. While he will be missed, it is the right move.

-Ryan Braun, the 2011 NL MVP, has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Apparently he did so a month before winning the award, and since being informed of the results, has has been disputing his case. According to Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn "a source close to Braun said that when he was told about the positive test, he immediately requested to be tested again. That second test, using a different sample that was tested by Braun's camp, the source said, was not positive. Those close to Braun believe that the difference between the two tests will show that the first test was invalid. Although Braun's representatives acknowledge that a non-positive test would not negate a positive one, they believe the second test shows certain anomalies that will suggest problems with the first. They declined to specify." Man, this is a bit of a shocker, although it seems like there might be something sketchy here. I am going to hold back judgment until I find more info on what the anomalies are.

-Congrats to Brad Guzan for earning his first EPL start on Saturday, a 2-1 win over Bolton. Guzan has long been the second string keeper for the US team, but has recently fallen out of favor. He has consistently failed to get any playing time in the EPL, leading many to wonder if his opportunity has passed him by. I still think he is the best option if Howard was to go down tomorrow. Maybe not in 4 years, but certainly now. I imagine he will go back to the bench once starter Shay Given returns in a month, but who knows - maybe he will force the coaches hand.