December 23rd update

"Unlucky" win for Colts?

• For most of the season, it has been assumed that the Indianapolis Colts would finish with the worst record in the NFL and gain the top pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, which would almost be certainly used on star QB Andrew Luck of Stanford either as trade bait or as a replacement for Peyton Manning. As the Colts were losing games left and right, the prevailing thought is that they would be fortunate just to win a game much less win enough to put that #1 pick in jeopardy. But after Thursday night's win over the fading Houston Texans (who are 0-10 all-time in Indy now) the Colts have as many wins as the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings and the question is obvious: "What is the tiebreaker?"
• The answer will be a relief to Colts fans as it will be very hard for the Colts not to gain the first pick as long as they don't win their final game in Jacksonville. The first tiebreaker involves strength of schedule, so if team x plays 16 games and each opponent won 12 games, their tiebreaker figure would be .75.
• If the Colts had lost to the Texans, the best their strength of schedule could be at the end of the season would have been .5469 and if the Vikings lose their final two games, the worst their strength of schedule could be also is .5469. However since the Texans now have one less win (and it's calculated twice since Indy played Houston twice) the Vikings have an outside chance of sneaking by on the tiebreaker. Basically the Vikings need the teams they've played this year to lose a lot. The Rams' strength of schedule could be at worst .5586, so they cannot land the No. 1 pick if the Colts lose a 14th game because Indy's best strength of schedule would be lower than the worst possible for St. Louis.
• In addition to Luck still likely going to Indy, other teams in need of a QB dealt with the bad news of seeing Matt Barkley of USC announce that he will return to USC for his senior season (who says kids these days don't value education?!?). Barkley was the next best QB in the draft and would probably be the #1 pick any other year (possibly the reason he decided to wait until 2013 to enter the NFL draft).

NBA Preview: Western Conference

• Now that we've covered the barrage of Big 3's in the East, it's time to move over to the Western Conference, which undoubtedly houses a more competitive group of teams from top to bottom. It all starts with the defending champion Dallas Mavericks and all-around superstar Dirk Nowitzki who will look to hold off a bevy of contenders including two teams from L.A.
  
• The Lakers are actually looking pretty weak and here at Sportico we would highly discourage any big bets being made on Kobe Bryant and the Lake Show capturing their 4th Western conference championship in 5 years. Let's count the reasons:
  

1. Kobe Bryant is already injured, plus he's dealing with emotional baggage as his wife just filed for divorce.
2. Lamar Odom, a highly productive and underrated player was given away to the Mavs after the botched Chris Paul deal hurt his feelings (for lack of a better phrase).
3. Phil Jackson will be watching from home or a mud hut in Argentina or wherever he decides to go in his retirement as opposed to the Lakers bench.
4. There are just too many good teams in the West.

• The Clippers have made the biggest strides this offseason, adding Chris Paul, Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups to their core group of players led by Blake Griffin and while they may not be ready to win titles just yet, they should be a fixture in the playoffs for years to come. Another young team a year or two ahead of the Clippers pace is the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by one of the games best players (Kevin Durant), one of the game's best young coaches (Scotty Brooks) and not to be discounted, the best classic rock entry song in the NBA by far.
• The Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns look to make some noise as well but time will only tell which team can put itself in a position to make a run to the NBA Finals this year in a shorter, but condensed 66 game season.
  

December 14th Update

Wednesday Spotlight: Ben Roethlisberger

• Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ("Big Ben") is known as one of the toughest players in the NFL and we saw another reason why this past week. On Thursday night, late in the second quarter Roethlisberger got hit and had his leg twisted below him. He was helped off the field and diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, an injury that generally takes 2-6 weeks to heal. But after halftime, Big Ben limped out of the locker room onto the field and led his team to a decisive win over division rival (The word rival is used very loosely here) Cleveland Browns.
• Coming out of Miami University of Ohio, Ben was part of the highly touted class of 2004 (including Phillip Rivers and Eli Manning). He was the lowest drafted of the three, at 11th overall, has won more Super Bowl titles (2) than the others (1 combined). In 2005 and in 2008, losing the Super Bowl in 2010 to the Green Bay Packers. Roethlisberger never makes it look pretty, but always seems to find a way to get the ball to the right players and win games, he has never had a losing season.
• Roethlisberger has had some off the field issues, including crashing his motorcycle while not wearing a helmet and an allegation that he took advantage of an intoxicated female in a bathroom of a club. He has avoided negative headlines now for a while and has gotten married. Ben is already one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and is working his way up to the point where he may be voted into the Hall of Fame someday.

Paul Going to Other L.A. Team?

• Last week we reported that Chris Paul was traded to the Lakers only to have the deal vetoed because the Hornets are technically owned by the NBA and some owners complained. Now it looks like he could be going to the Lakers' cross-town rival (Again, the word rival is used very loosely here) the Clippers.
• The Hornets are asking for a kings ransom from the Clippers including up and coming star guard Eric Gordon, youngsters Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe, former All-Star center Chris Kaman and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round draft pick. The Clippers however, have picked up former all-star guard Chauncey Billups this offseason which makes them less desperate to pick up a player like Paul. Even without acquiring him, a core of Billups, Gordon, Blake Griffin and Kaman should be good enough to put them in the playoffs which in recent years has been a rarity in the LA "rivalry".
• On another NBA related note, the Denver Nuggets resigned their Free Agent center Nene. The Brazilian player (who goes by his first name) was widely considered the best free agent left on the market. The Nuggets are in a tough spot with two of their players stuck playing in China until March because they signed there during the lockout and have no way out of their contract until the Chinese season is over.