5'11' (Barely). 165lbs (Barely). Quickest guy on the court. Durable. Never tires. Scores at will. Love him or hate him, is there a better pure athlete of our time? If you think so, watch this video.

ESPN has reported that Kobe Bryant will be given his first MVP award today. I don't think anyone doubts Kobe's talents. In my mind, he's one of the greatest players of all-time. The trickier question is whether his transformation over the last few years is real. Has Kobe really changed and does he finally understand what it means to be a team leader and a superstar athlete? Or is he still the same unlikeable guy who's just gotten some good PR advice?

Whether I'm right or wrong on this won't be determined for at least a few years, but I wanted to memorialize my viewpoint. John David Booty will be the best QB to come out of the 2008 Draft Class. He's poised, accurate, knows how to win, and doesn't make many mistakes. He has everything it takes to make it in the NFL. And with the QB situation in Minnesota, he may have a chance to prove it sooner rather than later.

Larry Brown resigned today as a VP in the Sixers front office. This is neither upsetting nor a surprise, as it was always expected that he was going to pursue at least one more coaching job in his career. Question, though. Any chance he goes back to the Knicks??? That would be quite interesting.

I get the reality of today's NCAA, but as a Trojan alumni, I have a hard time feeling like OJ Mayo was ever a Trojan at all. One (year, Tourney game) and done. When someone's career or tenure with a single team is that short, are we really supposed to remember them as a member of our team? I'm glad he's off to mediocrity in the NBA. Now the Trojans Men's Basketball team can get back to the business of building a winning program, like their Football brethren across campus.

Chad Johnson demanded a trade yesterday, claiming he doesn't "intend on reporting to anything."

I don't think it's a coincidence that Johnson's demand came a day after widely reported news about what the Eagles are planning on doing with Lito Sheppard.

A friend of mine claimed that there's no way the Bengals would make this trade, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Let us not forget that last offseason, one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history was traded for a 4th round draft pick, and then went on to have one of the best seasons a wideout has ever had. (For the uninformed among us, I'm talking about Randy Moss.)

A recent trade that best mirrors trading one Pro Bowler for another is when the Broncos shipped Clinton Portis to Washington for Champ Bailey. Lito is no Champ Bailey, but he's close, especially when he's healthy.

Depending on how real Johnson's demand is, this is a trade I'd seriously consider if I were them. They can trade Chad out of the division, and bring on an elite cornerback to sure up their porous defense. Same goes for the Eagles, as the results from 2004 indicate. McNabb and TO were almost unstoppable, and the Eagles went on to their first Super Bowl since they faced the Raiders in 1981. And while Johnson is probably just a tad beneath the caliber of TO on the field, he doesn't come with the deep psychological issues that have plagued TO his entire career.

I'm not an NFL insider, and I haven't studied the numbers or analyzed any additional scenarios for trading these guys, but this one seems like a win-win for both teams. And you heard it here first: if this trade happens (and McNabb and Westbrook stay healthy), the Eagles will go to the NFC Championship Game.

As the media expresses its surprise that Roger Clemens was not on President Bush's latest pardon list, the denigration of Barry Bonds continues, with the Giants essentially removing all record of the fact that Bonds indeed played for the team. On the Clemens front, I thought you actually had to be convicted of a crime to be pardoned, but maybe the Bush administration changed that law too. That's another story though.

Anyway, I think what the Giants are doing is a disgrace. For 15 years, Bonds was a loyal servant who filled the seats, thrilled the fans, and made the Club hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. And now, because he is implicated in what is widely considered an era-wide problem, the Giants are pretending like he never existed.

Bonds is no saint, but it's just sad that the world we live in is no different than the "game" portrayed by cops, junkies (and others) in HBO's critically acclaimed series The Wire. The only difference is that those of us who don't live on the streets aren't so violent with the moves we make in the game. It's all the same though.

Sports fans deserve more credit than this, and Giants ownership should be ashamed of themselves. Perhaps they'll realize this after their Gross Receipts for 2008 roll in and they're considerably less than they were during the last 15 years with Bonds at the helm. That's when they'll call Bonds next year, and bring him back for a Fan Appreciation Day where they can retire his number. And like every loyal servant, Bonds will probably abide. Or maybe he won't...

Allen Iverson returns to Philadelphia tonight for the first time since last year's trade. In my geographically removed humble opinion, there is no question about his legacy as a Sixer. He should receive a hero's welcome back to the arena where he filled seats and thrilled fans for 10 years.

There has never been a better little man in NBA history. Iverson is barely 5'11''. He's won an MVP as a Sixer. He led his team to many playoff appearances and victories, including a trip to the NBA Finals. He played with heart and courage. He put his body on the line every night and did whatever it took to win. Nearing age 33, he still leads the league in minutes. He was the first player in NBA history to finish in the Top 5 in points, steals and assists in one season. I could go on and on, but it's not necessary. Iverson's accomplishments on a court filled with men much taller and stronger than he speak for themselves.

The knock on AI is that he was a thug, or a punk. He didn't like to practice, and he didn't set a good example for his teammates. He hung out with the wrong crowd. I think Allen has matured to the point where he's able to take responsibility for some of the things he did earlier in his career, but we should view AI's career in Philly with some perspective. He was a kid when he joined the team as the #1 pick in the draft. I don't know about you, but when I was his age, I wasn't a role model for anyone. I could barely handle my own life, let alone set an example for others. And that would be the same if I could play basketball the way he did. Some much of the popular view on Allen is about how our society views athletes, and the expectations we place on them, but it's counterintuitive to the expectations we place on ourselves and our children.

So while Iverson was/is by no means perfect, we should celebrate what he's done on the court, and how he's grown off it. He's one of the most exciting and talented players in basketball history, and he does everything we expect our pro athletes to do on the court. He doesn't have many years left, so we should enjoy and cherish every last minute of his career.

The Yao-less Houston Rockets matched the 3rd longest winning streak in NBA history last night. The other team with 19 straight wins was the 1999-2000 LA Lakers, who went on to win the Championship. The 1970-1971 Bucks won 20 in a row, and they too went on to win the NBA Championship. Sitting atop the mountain is the 1971-1972 LA Lakers, with 33 straight wins. They were also NBA champs.

In the modern NBA, winning 19 straight games--heck, winning 10 straight games--is impressive. And the Rockets are doing it without Yao. For some strange reason, no one seems to care. It could be that Houston plays in Texas alongside the flamboyant Mavericks and the dynastic Spurs. It could also be that people generally don't care about the NBA anymore until the Playoffs. I'm not sure what it is, but I for one, am impressed. Rick Adelman is showing his genius, and Tracy McGrady is finally doing what people have expected of him for years now.

This doesn't make me want to watch the NBA just yet, but I'm interested in the story and am excited to see how it plays out (without, of course, watching it on TV).

I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying this, but I feel OK about the Eagles going into next year with the same (but healthy) offense we had this year.

I said at the beginning of last year that the Eagles would live or die based on how Donovan played coming off his injury. No, I'm not a genius, or even unique, for saying that, but I was right. In the early part of the season, one week McNabb's throws were in the dirt, and the next everything was overthrown. Yes, there are no Hall of Fame, or even Pro Bowl, wideouts on our roster. But it's impossible to establish rhythm between QB and WR when the ball is coming somewhere different every time. You could argue that McNabb should've taken half the season to continue healing, but the pressure of being the franchise QB in a championship starved town wouldn't allow that.

The Eagles won 5 of their last 8 games. Their 3 losses--all to playoff teams--were by a combined 10 pts. NFL football is truly a game of inches, and a few inches in a different direction would've made the Eagles a hot team coming into the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn't overcome the inches we lost earlier in the season.

Andy Reid does not have a good track record of drafting wideouts. Anyone remember the last WR we drafted in the 1st round? Last I heard, he was a teacher in Kansas City or something. After trading our 1st round pick last year, I certainly don't want to see us blow our wad by reaching to take a WR higher than he would otherwise go.

McNabb will be hungry and healthy next year. Brown and Curtis are solid, and perhaps Jason Avant can emerge as more of a go-to guy. LJ will be healthy, and Brent Celek made some big catches down the stretch. The much bigger needs, in my opinion, are to sure up our aging offensive line (remember the 12 sack game?), and find another RB, and find someone who can make some yards in the return game. That's an unappreciated area of the game where the Eagles didn't pick up any "inches" last year.

Let the flaming begin.

Greg Oden's endorsement of Barack Obama on his Yardbarker blog made national news. It'd be very easy to dismiss Oden's endorsement, as he's just a 20 year old kid who has never voted before and left college after one year. But the issue is far deeper than that. Pro Athletes make millions of dollars a year, and for the most part, don't live in the same world the rest of us do. They are isolated, handled, and privileged, yet still admired by many of our nation's children (and adults). Despite this role model status, athletes have historically stayed away from important topics and issues. Has Michael Jordan ever talked publicly about anything other than sports or the products he's endorsing? I don't think so, but that's not necessarily a knock on MJ--that's just the way today's athletes are trained to act. Stay clean, and don't be controversial. So while it's by no means controversial to endorse the Obama movement, Greg Oden should be applauded for making an important issue part of the dialog around sports.

All signs point to the greatest two baseball players of this generation-- Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens--having used performance enhancing drugs. It should be a black mark on baseball, and the media and Congress certainly wish it was, but I for one couldn't care less.

If the allegations are true, you cannot argue that the use of steroids by Bonds and Clemens not only extended their careers far past the point of the average player, but also helped them reach levels of success on the field that were never before achieved in the history of baseball. Bonds is a 7 time MVP, the Home Run King, and put up numbers that only Babe Ruth can compare to. Clemens has won 7 Cy Young Awards, and MVP, and put up a sub 2.00 ERA well into his 40s.

But let's be clear about a few things. Steroids or no steroids, both Clemens and Bonds worked harder and had more talent than most of the other players of their era. They also played at a time when everyone else was using too. If you don't believe that, you're a fool. And if you don't want to implicate others because they've never tested positive, the same can be said for Bonds and Clemens.

This is not like the Olympics where anti-doping measures have been generally successful and it's possible that if the winner of a contest was using, they may have been the only one. Some significant % of baseball players have used steroids--the Mitchell Report, Canseco's book, and a variety of evidence all indicate that fact. The same lack of testing affected everyone, and the drugs were easily accessible in every clubhouse or gym where the players conduct their offseason workouts. Bonds and Clemens are just that much bigger (no pun intended) and better than everyone else.

While not every athlete has cheated, since the beginning of time, people in competitions have looked for an edge. Today's pro athletes are no different, especially at a time when it's widely acknowledged that today's sports, aside from being just games, are business and entertainment. Just like movies, just like video games, just like music. Businesses look for competitive edges, celebrities get plastic surgery to increase their exposure and paydays. Why should athletes be treated any differently?

While no one cares about the NHL, the NFL is bordering on untouchable, and people expect drug use of NBA players, I would be willing to bet that the use of performance enhancing drugs in all of those sports is no different than in baseball. The athletes in those sports want the same edge that baseball players do. They're less scrutinized perhaps because of baseball's place in American Folklore, but that's about it.

I think the only reason to care about any of this is that steroids are illegal in our country. Because of that, the sports leagues should make an honest attempt to rid them from the games. But let's be honest here. As sports fans, we go crazy for the 100mph fastball, the 500 foot homerun, the ankle breaking crossover, and the bone shattering hit--all things that really aren't in the natural order. It is our hunger for these "achievements", as much as the athletes desires for an edge, that have created the environment where steroid use has become widespread.

So, long story short, I personally don't care one bit whether Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, or anyone else has used steroids. I am a sports fan because I love the competition, the drama, the achievements, and all the superhuman things today's athletes do all the time. For a variety of reasons, I would prefer that all of today's pro and amateur sports be clean from these drugs, but that's not the world we live in, nor consistent with our expectations as fans. So I'm willing to live with it. Everyone else should too. It's time to move on from this discussion and start talking about MLB Spring Training, the NBA Playoffs, and whether the Eagles will ever win the Super Bowl.