by Bill DiFilippo

One of my absolute favorite things about sports is that it allows us to formulate any opinion we want without much controversy. For example, if I were to say that a senator is a fat, ignorant slob who did nothing to help the United States, people would generally look down on me. However, if I call Rasheed Wallace a fat, ignorant slob who did nothing to help the Boston Celtics, every Celtics fan would love me.

Because of this, I have a ton of opinions on a ton of different things. Sadly, I don’t have the time or the attention span to do research on everything, along with write 1,000+ word columns. Because of this, I’ve decided to have every opinion culminate into one column. So without further ado, here’s a column I’ll call “I Think/I Know.”

• I think I was wrong about Phil Hughes. Coming into the season, I questioned his competence as a start, along with his durability. As it turns out, he’s been the Yankees best pitcher this year.
• I think I was right about Javier Vazquez. Coming into this season, my buddy Jamie kept talking about how great he was going to be. I reminded him that the last time he was in New York, he was awful. And judging by his 9.78 ERA, I’m pretty sure I was right.
• I know the Yankees need to trade for Adam Dunn. Nick Johnson has been
  

  Bill has literally prayed for Adam Dunn to become a Yankee

  terrible as our DH. Dunn would hit 55 homers in Yankee Stadium. Why not offer Johnson and a few minor leaguers for Dunn? Dunn won’t even have to play defense, just hit. Find me one hole in this plan.

• I think people who say fans should not get tased are idiots. It’s not a violation of civil rights if some idiot runs onto a baseball field trying to act cool. It’s protecting the players the teams have investments in. The last thing we need is another Monica Seles incident where a fan attacks an athlete. So people who are defending these idiots, shut up.
• I think Tim Tebow will be a competent starting quarterback in the NFL. Just because his style of football might not transition well to the pros doesn’t mean anything. He has made a living on proving his doubters wrong, and I do not think that will change. Especially when the guy who orchestrated the Patriots 2007-08 offensive explosion is his head coach.
• I know Jacksonville will regret drafting Tyson Alualu over Tebow. When you can draft the most popular athlete in your city’s history, and you take someone I never heard of, you screwed up. Alualu will sell as many tickets as I will. Tebow would sell out the place. I personally feel it’s like in the movie Major League and the front office just wants to get the team relocated.
• I think “The Most Interesting Man in the World” commercials are the best commercials on TV right now. Only the “Old Spice” commercials with the dad from Everybody Hates Chris are even close. You can’t convince me otherwise.
• I know Oklahoma City will make at least 1 Western Conference Finals if they add a legitimate big man. They have the best young guy in hoops (Kevin Durant), a potential All-Star point guard (Russell Westbrook), my first favorite baller from Senegal (Serge Ibaka), and ton of high character, team oriented guys. If they get a solid big in free agency (Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby come to mind) or in the draft (Ekpe Udoh or Daniel Orton can fall to them), look our for the Thunder.
• I know Gus Johnson needs to call NBA games. My buddy J-Wolk and I decided a while back that more people would watch The Association if we got to hear Gus go insane while LeBron swishes a 3 from half court. If the man can get his own soundboard (www.gusjohnsongetsbuckets.com), he deserves a shot at the NBA.
• I think the window is closing quickly on the Spurs. Manu Ginobili is 32. Tim Duncan is 34. Tony Parker has been having one of the worst statistical seasons of his career, partly because of injury. Richard Jefferson has been beyond awful. Outside of George Hill, I don’t see much to keep me believing the Spurs can be a contender past next season.
• I know this huge Manny Pacquiao–Floyd Mayweather fight needs to happen. Boxing has been losing popularity to UFC and WWE lately, mostly because the last “super fight” between Mayweather and Oscar de la Hoya was awful. While Mayweather would stand no chance against a freak of nature like Pac-Man, boxing needs this fight like Justin Beiber needs to avoid puberty.
• I think CJ Spiller was a bad pick for Buffalo. As I said in a text to my buddy Coop after the Spiller pick, “We have no quarterback, offensive line, or pass rush. Let’s draft a running back that won’t help us!” His response? “Yep.”
• I think Shaq might weigh more than CC Sabathia. CC is large, but Shaq looks like Aretha Franklin. I will struggle with this for the rest of my high school career.
• I know the Boston Red Sox need to get rid of David Ortiz. Seriously, I know he won you a World Series, but it’s about time to put the old boy down. Take him
  

  David Ortiz is done, and Yankee fans are happy.

  behind the shed and put him out of his misery.

• I think LeBron should finally be named the best player in basketball. Here are the facts: his numbers are better than Kobe’s, he’s won back-to-back MVPs, and opposing teams plan on ways to stop him (unlike Kobe, because teams also need to worry about Kobe’s teammates). In fact…
• I think Kevin Durant should be the second best player in basketball. Durant’s younger, had much better numbers on a worse team, and teams also planned defenses around stopping him. And finally on this subject…
• I think Dwight Howard is more valuable to his team than Kobe. Take Kobe off LA and replace him with an average player at his position (think: Jason Richardson), LA still wins at least 53 games. Take D-Ho off Orlando and replace him with someone like Nenad Kristic, and my Magic maybe win 42 games. When you have a defender in the Hakeem/Mutombo mold who plays solid offense, I’ll take that over an aging Kobe any day.
• I think Ubaldo Jimenez may be as good as Roy Halladay. Both guys somehow find ways to shut teams down, even though they play in hitters parks. Both guys throw stuff nobody in the NL can hit (mostly because the NL sucks). Both guys are a ton of fun to watch pitch. The only difference between them is Jimenez throws 99 miles an hour. Mark my words, Jimenez will win multiple Cy Young’s by the time his career is over.
• After listening to everything I have by them in my iTunes library multiple times while writing this, I know I must see the band Muse live. I will give 3 years off the tail end of my life to see this.
• I think Deron Williams is the best point guard in basketball right now. In some order, it’s him, Chris Paul, and Derrick Rose. However, Paul has been hurt all year, leaving only Rose and Williams. While both guys played out of their minds this postseason, Williams absolutely ABUSED Chauncey Billups in the first round. Williams is also the reason Utah is even competitive against a superior Laker team. I gotta give the slight edge to Williams, for now.
• Finally, I think I like the “Los Suns” idea. Quick back-story: the Phoenix Suns dislike Arizona’s controversial immigration law. To show their support of immigrants, they wore their “Los Suns” jerseys that they wore on Latino Heritage Night earlier this season. Listen, we all have our stances on the most controversial piece of civil rights legislation since the Patriot Act, and I really like the way the Suns showed their disapproval. It was a peaceful protest that caught the attention of both NBA and Non-NBA fans. And really, that’s all that matters.