Lazy Friday

It's looking like a Links Day, here at Sweaty Men Endeavors. Despite my best efforts to stay healthy, it's beginning to feel like I caught the cold I was trying so hard to avoid. But I'm still fighting. Tea, orange juice, vitamin C, zinc, and all that good stuff is being utilized. Anyone have a good cold remedy (or even better, a preventer)? I love hearing old family formulas. ("Oh yeah, take ginger root, grind it up with mayonnaise, a fifth of whiskey, some lemon juice, and some Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk, and you'll feel great the next day.")

Plus, I have a project I need to work on. So following the pointing finger around these internets...

▪▪ Of the relatively minor trades made yesterday at the NBA trade deadline, only one raised my antenna a little bit. The Miami Heat acquired Derek Anderson from Houston. Should this concern Pistons fans? Well, no. Anderson's a good player (or was, especially five or six years ago, before injuries caught up to him), but he's not a difference maker. Is he?

▪▪ So the Knicks really are going to play the rest of this season with Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury, and Jamal Crawford (along with Jalen Rose, Nate Robinson, and Quentin Richardson) on its roster. Were the other GMs in the NBA too busy laughing to pick up the phone when the secretary said, "Isiah Thomas on line two"?

▪▪ Isiah says Larry Brown pushed for the Steve Francis trade. Really? Hey, Larry - Isiah's doing a terrible job on his own. He doesn't need your help.

▪▪ What were the Pistons offered at the deadline? Here's a great quote from Flip Saunders: "We're not into waste management." Awwww, snap!

▪▪ Okay, no more worrying. The Pistons didn't get another point guard to replace Carlos Arroyo. Outside of a waiver wire pick-up, the roster looks set (unless you'd like to engage in the Grant Hill speculation we flirted with yesterday). Are you okay with that? Were those of us anxious over depth behind Chauncey Billups making too big a deal out of the situation?

▪▪ Oops, check that: A. Sherrod Blakely says the Pistons are looking at Tony Delk if the Hawks cut him.

▪▪ Our friend Kevin Antcliff is back online, "live" from the Rocky Mountains. Hopefully, he'll be able to maintain his DEE-troit fandom while surrounded by Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies, and Avalanche. And he's finally ready to make his promised big announcement.

▪▪ Greg Eno has one of those touching stories that makes us feel good about sports at Out of Bounds. It's a scoring binge we can all get behind.

▪▪ Pub of Knowledge live-blogged last night's Olympic figure skating program. Check it out. Reading about it won't risk your Man Card. By the way, one of our good friends gave away the results beforehand at my other blog. But it's okay. I see what was going on. This was a test of the Man Card committee to see how I'd react. And maybe a buddy was just making sure I'd keep my Man Card. Either way, it worked out.

▪▪ Not to be outdone with the live-blogging, House of 21 Thieves covered Aerial Skiing. Or whatever it's called. (How drunk would you have to be to try that? The skiing, I mean. Not the live-blogging.)