Sports shake-ups

I was pleased to see that the Knicks acquired Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets on Monday. I was convinced that the maelstrom of trade rumors would fizzle out and the question of Anthony's long-term plans would be resolved in the off-season via free agency. Pleasantly, I was mistaken. In a massive trade--one of the largest in NBA history--Anthony and veteran point guard Chauncey Billups were sent to the Knicks in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler and Raymond Felton, not to mention a large handful of supporting players on all sides.

Initially, I had been concerned about the long-term cost of parting with so many of the Knicks' "core," their young, improving players. But a series of articles on the New York Times sports page pointed out that while supporting players come and go, stars are much harder to replace. Better to acquire a second legitimate star to complement Amar'e Stoudemire and then replenish the role players than to try to win a championship based on the power of Stoudemire and the role players alone. I think he might be on to something there--LeBron James's stint in Cleveland proved that no one superstar can win a championship by himself--and I hope the Knicks achieve everything they'd hoped with this trade.

Staying on the hardwood, the Cal Tech men's basketball team defeated Occidental 46-45 last night. This victory is significant because it snaps Cal Tech's 310-game conference losing streak. According to The New York Times, the last time they defeated a fellow Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe was during the 1984-1985 season ... which means the losing streak is older than any of the current players. Congratulations to Cal Tech, and I hope their baseball team will be the next to find redemption (412 consecutive losses in conference games).

And in baseball, spring training is underway and games start up this weekend. Opening Day is March 31!