I absolutely love the Brandon Marshall deal – a true win-win for both teams. Denver obviously had to get rid of him, and getting two second round picks for him is impressive value all things considered. You’d like to get equivalent value, but that just doesn’t happen in the NFL. For Miami it’s a masterstroke. Ted Ginn Jr. was never going to be a number one receiver, so they needed to get someone. Marshall is an elite receiver – one of the top five – or fewer – in the whole league. It’s rare that you get access to a player like that, and especially rare that you get him at a price like this  – one that is certainly fair. There is some risk that Marshall is going to be an attitude issue, but he should be happy to see new surroundings, Bill Parcells doesn’t take a lot of crap, and he does have the ability to play nice if he wants to. There is some downside risk, but it’s worth it to get a player of this caliber – a true game changer who can change an offense with his presence. As a diehard Michigan fan I’m obviously a big Chad Henne fan, and Henne – already a pretty solid NFL quarterback – has the opportunity to take his game to the next level. Henne looked pretty brilliant as a freshman throwing to Braylon Edwards, and Marshall is an even better deep threat than Edwards, so this pairing could be sweet music for years to come.

What a crazy way to start the NHL playoffs. All four betting underdogs won their games, and three of them were road teams. That means that in three of the series the hard earned home ice advantage is already gone. I watched parts of the two Western Conference games, and they were the tale of two extremes. The Phoenix win over Detroit couldn’t have been more exciting. Both goalies were good, the pace of play was ridiculous, and the strategy was surprising and complex. Phoenix has a major skill deficit, so they attacked that much like a college basketball team in a similar situation would – they instituted deep pressure – like a full court pressure – constantly to keep Detroit off guard. It’s not a strategy that the Coyotes can likely contain all through the playoffs, but it sure worked here. It helped that their goaltender way beyond brilliant. On the other hand you have Colorado’s win over San Jose. It was far more surprising than the Phoenix win, but it was as boring and unwatchable as hockey can be. The Sharks played like they felt entitled to the win because they are the top seed, and Colorado did all they could do – played a trapping, puck control kind of game that slowed down the pace of play and set a brutal tone for the game. Terrible, but unfortunately effective. It will be very interesting to see if today’s set of three games is similarly kind to the rad teams. I like Boston’s chances of the win, but the other two teams – Montreal and L.A. – face much bigger tasks.