What's the Fuss?

When Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James entered the NBA together in 2003, many were calling them the next Bird and Magic. As Michael Jordan declared a third and final end to his career, these two captivating young future stars were expected to return the NBA to its 1980's glory days.

But despite the ESPN hyped rivalry between Melo and LeDouche, nothing has really come of it. They never met in the Finals, and have thus been relegated to the mandatory two games per season, plus All-Star Games.

And aside from arguably being two of the least intelligent showcased "stars", their careers bear little resemblance to each other.

LeDouche has become the singularly most despised figure in sports. He is also a force on the basketball court, combining dominant physical gifts with uncanny instincts. LeDouche bulldozed the Cavs to the 2007 Finals, and has captured the last two league MVP's.

In contrast, Melo has shown himself to be little more than a highly efficient scorer. He has never taken the Nuggets to the Finals. And he has never finished higher than sixth in MVP voting.

As Melo stands in the middle of the NBA's worst kept trade rumor, there is something important worth noting - Melo isn't that good.

Call him the "Slumdog Millionaire" of the NBA. Ever since he lead Syracuse to a National Championship, Melo has been thought of as a marquee player who will one day lead a team to the Finals.

This has yet to happen, and with the New Jersey Nets seemingly willing to cripple their already crippled franchise for years to come by trading a great prospect in Derrick Favors, along with Devin Harris, future draft picks, and some moving parts for Melo and his equally moronic wife, LaLa.

By all accounts, Melo's career is eerily similar to a former Nugget who could light up the scoreboard - Alex English. Neither Melo, nor English showed a knack for doing much else aside from putting the ball in the basket. The biggest difference between the two is that English did this much more efficiently, albeit to much less fanfare.

Offhand, I can name no less than 15 players who I would rather have on my team than Melo. So placing him on a Nets team that boasts a weaker supporting cast than the one Melo currently has in Denver, will result in little more than some early round playoff exits.

All along, Melo's desired landing spot has been rumored to be the Knicks. As evidenced by Amar'e Stoudemire's ascension to a god-like figure in The Garden, Melo would not only become a giant celebrilete on the Knicks, he would also position himself to be on a team that could legitimately contend for a title.

The caveat here is that unless the Knicks can work out a trade for Melo before the trade deadline (stupid for the Knicks considering the players they'd lose in Wilson Chandler, and Landry Fields or Danilo Galinari would hurt the team more than Melo would help), Melo would be best served by playing out his expiring contract with the Nuggets.

The other option is to accept a trade to New Jersey without signing a contract extension (very possible given how desperate the Nets have been to acquire Melo), then turning around and signing with the Knicks over the summer.

The Nets seem to be in the mindset that once in Jersey, Melo will fall in love with the place and decide to sign the extension. But even with their impending move to Brooklyn, and their billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov, Melo would be setting himself up for failure in...New Jersey (former New York Gov. David Patterson voice)!!!

New York is the best landing spot for Melo because he will get to showcase his offensive prowess in coach Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo offense, while deferring half the pressure to Amar'e. Melo will also be able to continue hiding the fact that he's not nearly as great as most people have made him out to be. It's a win-win.

And maybe we'll finally see the Melo/LeDouche rivalry materialize.

Hall of Shame?

Every year, the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America cast their votes for players they deem acceptable for entry into baseball's sacred haven - the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thanks to the recent boom in statistical analysis, coupled with the ever-increasing number of player's either suspected, or proven to have used steroids, the Hall of Fame debate has lead to endless debates.

The biggest criticism of the BBWAA's voting process is that many of the members will withhold votes against deserving players as some form of punishment for a) being a douche b to the media during their playing career, b) involvement in a unbecoming incident either on-field or off-field, or c) not having good enough numbers to be a first-ballot selection. (This might be the most absurd reasoning. If you're a Hall of Famer, you're a Hall of Famer. While time may give a better perspective on a playing career, it does not magically turn a player with a good, but not great career into a Hall-worthy candidate. Sorry, Bob Hamelin).

The 2010 election saw voters take a pass on Roberto Alomar because he spat at an umpire in 1996. In October of last year, there was an even more disturbing story claiming Alomar had unprotected sex with his wife, despite knowing he is HIV-positive.

We'll find out Wednesday if the latest drama surrounding Alomar will keep him away from the Hall for another year.

But until then, this certain non-voting member will cast his imaginary ballot into cyberspace. Enjoy!

Yes on:

Roberto Alomar - All controversies aside, Alomar was a spectacular second baseman offensively and defensively. Many sabermetrics statheads have claimed that Alomar's glove wasn't anywhere near as great as his reputation has lead people to believe. But as someone who witnessed Alomar rob countless seeing-eye-singles, I'll politely ignore the MIT geeks for now. Offensively, Alomar was a threat from both sides (that's what she said), and starred for two World Series teams in Toronto, along with some very good Baltimore and Cleveland teams in the late 90's and early 2000's.

Fred McGriff - This is one I really can't figure out. In his first year of eligibility last year, McGriff garnered just 21.5 percent of the vote. I even reached out to Mariners beat writer Larry Stone to ask why the Crime Dog wasn't getting any love. Stone chalked it up to McGriff playing in the steroids era and never hitting more than 37 home runs. But Stone also said he'd most like vote for him. And true to his word, he did. McGriff's career numbers are comparable to HOF members Willie McCovey and Willie Stargell, yet he got less votes than Mark McGwire. McGriff was one of the top power hitting first basemen for 15 years. He fell just seven home runs shy of 500. And by all appearances, McGriff played steroid free. My silent struggle to get McGriff into the Hall most likely will fail miserably again this year. But hopefully in time he will get his due in Cooperstown. He absolutely deserves it.

Bert Blyleven - I'm curious to know what Blyleven did on the 13 days when he found out he wouldn't be headed into the Hall. Did he sit by his phone like crazy Mel Gibson in "Ransom", ready to tell Jimmy Shaker to go kill himself? Well after falling just five overweight, overfed BBWAA member votes shy of election this year, it seems like a near certainty that Blyleven will finally get his due. Blyleven's career is an interesting one. He had some phenomenal seasons, sprinkled in with a couple mediocre one's, and a few full blown suck fests. He finished in the top ten in wins six times, losses nine times, and strikeouts a remarkable 15 times. Blyleven began his HOF quest some 13 years ago with a paltry 17.5 percent of the vote. He's just too close to be denied. Right?

Jeff Bagwell - In his first year on the ballot, Bags has gotten a decent amount of attention. There are a great deal of voters who believe he absolutely belongs. From 94-04, he was pretty much a lock for 30 plus home runs, 100 plus RBI and an OPS at or above .900. Bagwell also had a stellar glove at first. The knock on him is that although never implicated, he fits the profile of a roider (that profile being a burly white guy who hit a ridiculous amount of bombs throughout the 90's and into the 2000's). To exclude Bagwell because he "may" have been a roider, with no evidence pointing to him actually roiding is not only ignorant, but irresponsible.

Edgar Martinez - This is year 2 in Gar's journey to reach Cooperstown despite spending most of his career at DH. He had a solid first showing, getting 36.2 percent of the vote. But that's not even halfway to election. Those supporting Edgar point to the fact that he is one of 11 retired players to play 2,000 games and have a batting average over .300, an on-base percentage over .400, and a slugging percentage over .500. The 10 others are in the Hall of Fame. Those who don't, say his career numbers, mainly his 2,247 hits (157th all-time), along with the DH thing just aren't HOF worth enough. The DH thing is bothersome in part because a designated hitter is no more specialized than a closer. And unlike a closer, a DH has a far greater impact on a team throughout the course of a season. If Bruce Sutter can get in, so can Edgar. It will just take some time.

Missing the cut:

Mark McGwire/Rafael Palmeiro - It wasn't that long ago that this dynamic duo were considered locks for Cooperstown. It will be interesting to see if McGwire's roid confession will do anything to alter his candidacy. He's hovered in the low 20's every year percentage wise for voting. Palmeiro still insists he never took steroids. He came away from the 2005 Congressional hearings as the finger-waving winner of that melodrama. But then proceeded to test positive for roids and try to through fellow roider Miguel Tejada under the bus for it. And very much like McGwire before him, Raffy up and disappeared. McGwire at least has been welcomed back to the game. McGwire also has the nostalgic factor from the 98 home run chase. Palmeiro has nothing like that. Yes, he put up extraordinary numbers. But those now seem to be partially on account of Jose Canseco shooting roids into Raffy's butt. And if being a mustachioed liar wasn't bad enough. Those old Viagra commercials will surely close Palmeiro's HOF coffin.

Barry Larkin - Excellent career as one of the best shortstops and all-around players during his time. But Larkin wasn't Cal Ripken. He wasn't Ernie Banks either. He had some truly great seasons, especially 95-96. But he was also frequently injured. I really think Larkin's reputation as one of baseball's "good guys" has really skewed many voters opinions. Larkin's greatness can't be denied. His induction into Cooperstown should be.

Tim "Rock" Raines - In recent years, Raines has become the darling of the Sabermetric crowd. He possessed the rare quality of being a leadoff man who could hit for average, get on base, steal bases, score runs and was great defensively. Throughout the 1980's, he was like the Diet Coke to Rickey Henderson's Cherry Coke. (It's ironic that I bring up coke, because there was a time in the 80's when I'm pretty sure Raines tried to snort the first base line). But much like Barry Larkin, Raines, albeit very good, just isn't good enough for the Hall.

Unlike football and basketball, the baseball Hall of Fame has developed some pretty clear criteria that warrants induction. As the steroid era and further emphasis on sabermetrics blurs that criteria, nerds like me will continue to ponder HOF candidates validity.