Quick Thoughts

Manny Pacquaio dominated 9 of the 12 rounds in last Saturday's WBO Welterweight title fight against Miguel Cotto. Despite the Puerto Rican champion looking bigger, Cotto was unable to break through the furious pace Pacquaio set. The fight was over for all intensive purposes after Cotto was knocked down in both the third and fourth rounds, with the punch in the 4th being particularly impressive. When it was all said and done, Cotto was puffy, cut up and displaying two nearly shut eyes. Pacquaio smiled throughout the fight and spoke afterwards of the inevitable bout between himself and Floyd Mayweather.

Allen Iverson, after only three games with the Memphis Grizzles, has parted ways with the young team and was waived Tuesday night (he is eligible to join another teams 48 hours after). With the poor start and lack of a true leader, the New York Knicks have emerged as a likely suitor for The Answer. In the past, teams have made arrangements with Iverson that allowed him to miss practices to keep himself energized for game day. Iverson has never been one to not give his all in games, but if he is to join the Knicks, a team that needs all sorts of practice, he is going to have to anticipate being present. Chris Duhon hasn't been the floor general he was last season and Iverson may be a spark for the struggling team. Who knows how he will get along with Mike D'Antoni, a players coach, whose biggest struggle has been his players hogging the ball and forcing low percentage jumpers (ie: Al Harrington). Iverson, has always wanted to ball in his hands and probably would only add to the "me first" mentality the team already suffers from. But, he'd sell tickets. He would be a "star" player for the team to work around (as a potential preparation for the arrival of a 2010 free agent). The fact is, the presence of Iverson really can't make things any worse. It would give fans a reason to come out, because lately, there haven't been many.

Zack Greinke was awarded the AL Cy Young yesterday. Greinke played for a last place team and won only 16 games. However, he was absolutely filthy in the first 5 months of the season. He finished second in the American League in strikeouts with 242 and was tops in the league in ERA with a minuscule 2.16 (the lowest since Pedro Martinez's insane 2000 season). He is young, confident and stuck on a crappy team. Kansas City finished with the lowest winning percentage (.401) of any team ever to have a Cy Young Winner.

Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson and Tyreke Evans continue to emerge from the 2009 rookie class as the top three to watch for the ROY. Blake Griffin is still out and will likely change the conversation upon his return, but for now watching these three young, fast guards play big roles on their respective teams has been a joy for any NBA fan. Damn, the Knicks should have drafted Jennings and not Jordan "The Project" Hill. He dropped 55 last week and looked like the truth.

The NFL's most valuable player watch is becoming a three horse race between Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre. I was aware of Manning and Brees's numbers and the quality of their teams so far this season. However, I wasn't giving the old man enough attention. He has only thrown THREE INTERCEPTIONS! This is Brett Favre were talking about. He also has the highest passer rating of any QB in the league and is an obvious reason Minnesota is 8-1. Favre would become the oldest player to win the league MVP, bumping 37-year old Rich Gannon (winner in 2002 with Raiders).