Wolves Could Make A Run With Kidd

Jason Kidd wants to play with Kevin Garnett, and who can blame him. The Timberwolves want Jason Kidd, and who can blame them?

If a trade can be pulled off before the trade deadline, now less than a week away, Minnesota would have a chance to make a run at the playoffs. And with guys like K.G., Szczerbiak, Cassell and Spree along with a healthy Jason Kidd, the Wolves wouldn't be a pushover for anyone in the post season.

Maybe this is the spark the Wolves need. They need a winner. Someone who has been on successful teams that have advanced farther than the Wolves ever have. Someone who has led those teams. Maybe this is the action that should have been taken all along, rather than firing Flip Saunders.

A trade could also backfire. Kidd had knee surgery in July and didn't practice until December. He's not 23 anymore, he'll be 32 next month. His legs aren't what they used to be, but his game is. His vision, motivated play and experience could be just what the Wolves need in order to sneak into the playoffs. From there, who knows? The door is wide open.

Let's just hope it all goes down before the deadline. The clock is ticking.

Bettman Doesn't Deserve All The Blame

As far as the NHL is concerned, the buck stops at Gary Bettman. When it comes down to it, he is the one man who could have conceded some things and allowed at least some of an NHL hockey season to be played. He locked out the players. He made the final decision to cancel the season. But he doesn't deserve all the blame, or even most of it.

That burden belongs to the players and their decision not to accept the $42.5 million salary cap for each team.

It's not hard to see why they turned down the league's final offer. They see teams in the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball in which two or three players make up $42.5 million each season. They are the fourth "major" sport. They think they deserve the same treatment. But they're wrong.

The numbers just don't add up. The "big three" have a wider fan base and, most importantly, far superior television contracts. They have more money to give. Their teams actually make money, while far too many NHL teams lose money. I hate the fact that rich businessmen run today's sports leagues as much as anyone else, but you can't expect to make a ridiculous amount of money from your employer if the league is losing money.

The gap between the numbers the players' association quotes and the numbers the league quotes resembles the Grand Canyon. But one thing is certain: the NHL isn't in position to pay it's players anywhere near the kind of money being earned in basketball, baseball and football.

I'm sure the players' association understands this. They are privy to a lot more information than I am. But pride is getting in the way. Why do I say that? Because of their final rejection.

At the last moment, the two sides both conceded some things and the gap--which was too big to even define during the entire conflict--was suddenly the very tangible number of $6.5 million. The league pitched a "take it or leave it" offer of a $42.5 million salary cap. Instead of accepting the offer like they should have, the players' association countered with $49 million. Evidently, they didn't understand the phrase "take it or leave it."

Do I like Gary Bettman right now? No. Do I condone the way he ignored the players' final counter-offer? No. But he isn't the only one to blame here.

Winter in Minnesota is a lot colder without the Wild playing on their frozen pond. But it's time to forget about it. The season is dead. Spring is almost here.

Another Hockey Deadline Approaches

As I write this, it is approaching 11:00 central standard time. The newest deadline for the NHL season is noon. A press conference is scheduled in which the league will either announce the deal they have struck with the players association or, more likely, announce that the NHL will become the first major sport to lose an entire season to a lock-out.

The poker game that has taken place over the past seven years has been infuriating for hockey fans to watch. The league has been getting ready for this lock-out since 1998. I was shocked a few years back when I heard that the NHL was in danger of losing a season...three years down the road. With three years to work out a deal how could a season be in jeopardy?

The poker game continued for a couple years. Finally, after last year's Stanley Cup Finals, everyone knew they wouldn't be seeing a hockey game for quite some time.

Recently, the player's association accepted the idea of a salary cap for the first time. Why did it take until Tuesday for this to happen? If it had happened months ago, or even years ago, we wouldn't have missed 834 games and counting. But each side decided their cause was more important than playing hockey. So this is what we get.

The most recent numbers aren't that far away. The league is offering a salary cap of $42.5 million while the players refuse to go below $49 million. Given more time, the two sides would surely come to an agreement. But the seven years are over, and Tuesday was too late to start negotiating.

The announcement will come in exactly one hour. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. But I would hope that, when dealing with numbers of this magnitude, $6.5 million won't spell the end of the hockey season. Of course, knowing the NHL, they could always impose another deadline.

McCombs Hits The Jackpot

After three years of trying, it appears Red McCombs will finally get rid of the Vikings. His frustration at the unwillingness of Minnesota to build him a stadium pushed him off the edge and McCombes decided he wanted nothing to do with the purple. He would sneak by, paying his players and coaches as little as possible, until someone stepped up and offered his asking price for the organization. Now someone has, and McCombs will be free of it. He'll also be a lot wealthier.

Reggie Fowler, an Arizona businessman who spent a short time playing for the Cincinnati Bengals, will be the new Vikings owner. Fowler will become the first black owner in NFL history, increasing the Vikings tendency toward diversity. In the past seven years, we have had a black coach, two black starting quarterbacks and now the first black owner. But the transaction won't come cheap for Fowler.

The price tag on the Vikings is listed around $625 million. Last fall the franchise was estimated to be worth $604 million. Evidently Red McCombs didn't become rich by accident. He just made $375 million in seven years. And that's just in appreciation.

In the end, everyone gets what they want. Red gets a ton of money. The Vikings get rid of an absentee owner who wouldn't put his profits back into the organization. Fowler gets a shot at owning a successful NFL franchise. Everyone walks away with a smile. No one more so than a certain Texas businessman, who we'll likely never hear from again.

Flipped To The Curb

Flip Saunders continually improved as head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. His teams with average talent did an average job: they made it to the first round of the playoffs before being eliminated by superior teams. As much as Minnesota fans griped about never making it past the first round, we have to admit, matching up with world champions every year makes it pretty tough to sneak into the second round of post season play.

When the Wolves finally went out and got some real talent to go along with K.G, Flip led them to the first Western Conference Championship in franchise history. What more can you expect from a coach in the NBA?

This year, Saunders and the Wolves have struggled. They are below .500 and have lost 21 out of their last 33 games. But in a league like the NBA, how much of that can be blamed on the coach? When Latrell Sprewell complains because his latest multi-million dollar contract isn't enough to feed his family, Troy Hudson spouts off because he isn't starting and Michael Olowokandi is busy getting arrested, how is a coach supposed to turn things around?

Kevin McHale said the Wolves were "just not playing at a level that's acceptable, energy-wise." I don't think he was referring to Flip's energy level on the bench. He was talking about the players. Can we really expect a coach to give a Vince Lombardi-style pep talk before each of the 82 regular season games? Can't athletes get themselves ready to play so the coaches can focus on coaching?

This firing wasn't about Flip Saunders and the job he was doing. It was about the players. By not putting forth the effort for which they are being paid, they got their coach fired. This was simply a "mix-up." Any time a professional team goes through a slump like this, management feels the need to mix things up, to try to stir up some emotion that might result in energy on the court.

It's pathetic that it has come to this, but it's certainly not new. Flip is the latest in a long line of coaches who didn't necessarily fail, but fell victim to a managerial need to "mix things up."

What's A Guy To Do Without Football?

First there was training camp, where we met Udeze, Winfield and Broc. Then a 17-week season followed by the playoffs, which were pretty entertaining since we were lucky enough to have a home team playing for a couple weeks. It culminated with last week's Super Bowl which, after a boring first quarter, turned into an entertaining contest.

But what now?

Football is over, not to be seen from again until August (the Pro Bowl isn't a real game, it's a glorified scrimmage). The NHL has officially cancelled a season that never started. The NBA players don't start trying for another couple months and we all know that NASCAR isn't a sport.

So what now? I think we turn our attention to the "lower level" sports, which are often more entertaining anyway. College basketball and even hockey are getting warmed up. High school sports are in full swing and could provide some drama in the coming months. In fact, it might be good to have a break from professional sports for a while, especially with the way the Timberwolves are playing.

So kick back and do some research on NCAA hoops. If this down time is well spent, you could be the pride of your office come March Madness.