Random question

If the Hawks end up #1 in the East, does Danny Ferry win Executive of the Year if he's been on leave the entire season?  How many teams would benefit from having their GM disappear for a year?

Available Players

These players have been waived/released since Jan. 1:

Toure' Murry (played 50 games for the Knicks last year but never could hang with the Jazz youth movement; we'll see him in Summer League I guess)

Samuel Dalembert (played a lot of games in this league, cashed a lot of checks, I suspect he retires before he signs another contract)

Patrick Christopher (bounced around a bit, made his debut with the Jazz this year, numbers are not noteworthy; he's a bit older, guessing he's done in the NBA)

Brandon Davies (was actually contributing to the Sixers when he was traded to the Nets, didn't play, eventually got cut; does he go back to the Sixers next year?  Should definitely see him in Summer League)

Andre Dawkins (currently on a 10 day with the Celtics (or the Maine Red Claws to be more accurate))

Jared Cunningham (1st round pick in 2012, bounced around since then, never really gotten enough minutes to shine out; Summer League candidate)

Lou Amundson (did a 10 day with the Knicks, probably the last we'll see of Amundson)

Glen Rice (never did break into the Wizard rotation, he'll be at Summer League in a coupla months)

AJ Price (he's been back and forth btw the Pacers and Cavs all year, either one seems a reasonable fit for him)

Lance Thomas (bounced around for a coupla years now, his best numbers are this year, seems like a perfect Knick (too old for the Sixers))

Alex Kirk (looking over his stats...uh....he's tall, gotta be worth something)

Jeff Adrien (his D League stats are pretty tasty, NBA stats not so good, probably a AAA kinda player)

Nate Wolters (did a 10 day with the Pelicans, currently looking for work; couldn't hook on with the Heat and their PG needs are glaring, not a good sign for Wolters)

Tony Mitchell (didn't log a single minutes with the Suns after getting dropped by Stan Van in Detroit, young enough to show up on a Summer League team)

Nate Robinson (Mavs, Clippers, Bulls, Hawks...he'll end up somewhere by playoff time)

Jordan Farmar (played at least 1000 minutes in each of his 1st 5 seasons, only around 2200 minutes in the last 4 years; deserves better than this year's sloppy Clippers team; could see him giving a few good minutes to the Cavs or Hawks)

Austin Daye (1st round pick in 2009, even at his peak he was not noteworthy on either side of the ball; probably done in the NBA)

Chris Douglas-Roberts (over his career he yields mediocre numbers for 20mpg, don't really see a team out there that needs him)

Miroslav Raduljica (balled out at the World Cup last summer, not sure why he can't get minutes in the NBA; Dallas appears to have their sights set on Amare but they could've used a savvy man with long legs like Raduljica; done in the NBA or now may be the time to pick him up cheap)

Jannero Pargo (played almost 500 games in this league, impressive if undistinguished)

Elliot Williams (1st round pick 2010, looks like a guy that's just not gonna catch on)

Nate Robinson will absolutely be on a team soon enough.  Does anyone have faith in Radulijica, Douglas-Roberts or Farmar?  If you got some minutes to fill and low expectations, Lance Thomas is your guy.

Super Bowl

(Player introductions have just begun, time to get out the Super Bowl pick)

As a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan, it is awkward for me to acknowledge that I've always really admired the Brady-Belichik Patriots.  I appreciate how hard they work to figure out how to win, in a world where the Philadelphia 76ers have built a long term strategy on sucking, how can you not like the Patriot attention to winning?  Belichik's legacy is as a master of roster construction as much a coach on the field; Sun Tzu would admire that he wins in the trenches because he has already won before getting to the trenches.  And while Brady doesn't eclipse any of my favorite QBs in terms of creativity, he does have massive numbers, tons of wins, and he's Belichik's QB of choice.  Obviously he is one of the great QBs of his generation (only Peyton Manning even has an argument of being better).

The Pats started this season slow.  Frankly, their OL play was so bad I thought maybe the curtain was beginning to fall.  But they righted the ship (and the Dolphins, Bengals and Texans all failed to gain ground), and since getting a beatdown in Kansas City early on, they've pretty much been untouchable.  The offense is back to being its usual machine-like self: predictable, efficient, effective.  The Pats D is the Achilles' Heel in the weak years but this season the secondary really turned out one of the best pass defenses in the league and they're solid at LB and stopping the run.

The Seahawks are the defending champs, I suspect they're the better team, they've played a harder schedule and braved a tougher playoff path than the Pats.  The D is one of the best in the league (though I'd say not as dominant as last year's version) and the offense features an efficient running game and an exciting passing game.  They've endured hardships this year (bad slump culminating in the exile of Percy Harvin) and just won perhaps the luckiest game of football I've ever seen (seriously, man, compared to the Seahawks comeback on the Packers, that Stanford lateral game looks like high school tomfoolery).  Everything is going the Seahawk way right now--they're even familiar with the stadium!  Yet somehow they roll in as the dog.

Pats (-1) at Seahawks (47.5).  These two are evenly matched but I supposed many thought that of last year's game that was over faster than a Tyson fight.

I think the Seahawks score first and get up 14-10 at the half.  Then the Pats offense starts piling up points and keep the lead through the 4th quarter.  I like the Pats to win 27-20.  Pats and the under.