Random Thoughts: Super Bowl, 'Melo, Yankees' Signings, and Cano

I had my first experience taking transportation other than a car to or from Boston this weekend and I can tell you it's not so much fun. But while I flew there, I'm taking Megabus on my way back and being blessed with spotty WiFi, I felt it a good time to blog. I know I've been absent from the blog for a while but I've been transitioning to a new [day] job and haven't had the time I would like to pump out great blog posts for the NYaT audience. So here's a bunch of random sports thoughts as I figure out how to get this guy's job as a ticket broker (H/T Zack):

I'm rooting with the rest of the Cheeseheads for Aaron Rodgers (NYP)

My Super Bowl Team

I don't think I'm alone rooting for the Packers tonight in the Super Bowl. I think while most of the time people root for a team, this battle is a battle of quarterback personalities. While Big Ben has become a hard-to-root-for quarterback with his off-the-field issues, Aaron Rodgers is about as easy to root for as a QB can be. He sat on the bench and didn't complain while Brett Favre did his annual retirement dance and the year that Favre had his personal downfall as a person and player, Rodgers is about to assert himself among the best QBs in the NFL. And if you look at the past 5 Super Bowls, the better story always won, though none will top the Drew Brees taking the post-Katrina Saints all the way last year. I think the Packers are going to win but I'm truly just rooting for an entertaining game.

Carmelo Anthony

I've been pretty adamantly against the Knicks double paying for 'Melo (in prospects and then in money) knowing that he's probably going to sign with the Knicks no matter what in the off-season. But after the Cliff Lee saga, I know that something like that is never certain and if the latest rumored offer (Knicks only giving up Wilson Chandler, Anthony Randolph, and Eddy Curry's obese corpse) is really true, I say go for it. They could go small and have a starting 5 of Amare, Raymond Felton, Landry Fields, Gallo, and 'Melo or move Fields to a super 6th man and start Ronny Turiaf or The Mozgov Cocktail in his place. Carmelo may not make the Knicks that much better (he plays even less defense), but for three players who won't be here next year, I think it's a steal. 'Melo has used his leverage and now the Knickerbockers need to take advantage of it.

Yankees' Latest Signings

The last time that Andy Pettitte decided not to resign with the Yankees was after the 2003 season, and it looks like some of the Yankees signings have been straight out of '03-'04. Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Mark Prior, Andruw Jones and the latest signings of Eric Chavez and Ronnie Belliard are all a blast from the past. Besides Jones, none are coming to the Yankees on a guaranteed deal, yet besides Prior, you could see a scenario where any of the others make the team. The least likely is probably Chavez but it's amazing how far a 6-time Gold Glove winner and one-time Silver Slugger has fallen that he has to take a minor-league deal with a team which has a pretty low chance of actually promoting him to the Bigs. Though as a lefty-hitting corner infielder with some pop, he's nice insurance in case A-Rod's hip acts up or Mark Teixeira's injuries don't heal as quickly as thought--that's if he can stay healthy himself.

Robinson Cano and Scott Boras

For the Yankees, the news that Robinson Cano hired Scott Boras should set off a lot of alarm bells. It's not that Cano wasn't going to get paid before, but the chance of the Yankees working out a team-friendly deal for Cano before he its free agency is about as likely as Roger Clemens making a comeback with the Yankees. Mostly everyone who responded to my "Cano-for-King Felix" trade proposal didn't like it from the Yankees side, but I think this would be a wonderful time to reconsider...

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