No Mo? No Delonte? No Boobie? No problem. The Cavaliers just keep on rollin’. Last night, already without their starting backcourt from last season, they also found themselves without third string point guard Boobie Gibson for the first half, who was tending to his pregnant fiancé (R&B singer Keyshia Cole). It didn’t matter. Despite not really playing anyone shorter than 6’6 in the first half, the Cavs plodded to a four point halftime lead, then just systematically beat Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat into submission in the second half, cruising to a 102-86 win, their tenth straight.
You watch this Cavs team play … they toy with teams they know they can beat. Like a boxer ahead on the cards, they pace themselves throughout stretches of the fight, then just take things to another level as the bout enters the championship rounds. Being at this one last night, I could just see the transformation take place. Cavs stretched the four point halftime lead out to about 12. Miami fought back to get it back down to four. LeBron gave a little head nod and a wink to the fellas. Fifteen minutes later … Wade and the Heat were slumped on their stool in the corner, their cutman furiously trying to stop the bleeding. Five minutes after that their corner threw the towel in. Ball game.
I haven’t had this much fun watching a regular season Cleveland sports team since the 1994 and 1995 Indians. It’s a special group. All very likable guys. That genuinely like one another. If this team gets broken up, it will be devastating to me.
This has gotta be the year. Right? Let me kick the ball Lucy!
I might be overthinking this, but I’m predicting the Saints to win the Super Bowl on Sunday. 31-30 … on a Drew Brees TD pass to Marques Colston with about 30 seconds left. How can I pick against Peyton Manning? How can I go against a team that won every single game they tried in this year? I just think people are focusing too heavily on the last games that these teams played … where Manning and the Colts looked amazing in barnstorming back to beat the Jets, and the Saints were outplayed at home by the Vikings. Just because Manning blistered the Jets two weeks ago doesn’t mean you can’t slow him down. Baltimore did a very good job against him in the Colts first playoff game. Also, the Saints are a big play team. If they can get one big scoring play defensively or on special teams, and can get touchdowns instead of field goals in the red zone, I feel they can and will win this game. Lastly, they have an all-world quarterback of their own. And the better coach. Sean Payton is an offensive genius. And with two weeks prep time, I feel this benefits Payton and the Saints more than it does Jim Caldwell and the Colts.
I just feel like it’s the Saints time. And I think they think it’s their time.
Either way, I am going to enjoy it. You gotta love Super Bowl Sunday.
Quote of the day …
“We’re going to win on Sunday. I guarantee it.” – New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath’s famous guarantee before Super Bowl III
Market …
We got the big employment report this morning. And it was a total mixed bag.
In a big surprise, the national unemployment rate fell from 10.0% to 9.7%. Expectations were that it would stay the same or tick up slightly to 10.1%. However, a sharp increase in the number of people giving up looking for work helped to depress the jobless rate. The number of ‘discouraged job seekers’ rose to 1.1 million in January from 734,000 a year ago.
As far as the economy adding or losing jobs in Jan, the economy actually shed another 20,000 jobs. Expectations were that between 10,000 and 50,000 jobs were added to the economy in Jan. Also, The Labor Dept revised the job #’s from the past two months, saying the economy shed 150,000 jobs in Dec, compared to 85,000 previously reported, but Nov was revised to a gain of 64,000, up from the 4,000 that was reported. Annual benchmark revisions to payrolls data showed the economy has purged 8.4 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007. That’s a sobering #.
The markets aren’t sure how to react. Stock futures were down before the release and are rallying. Treasury and mortgage bonds have been all over the board, and are now down slightly. One interesting note is that the Fed Funds future markets are pricing in a much stronger likelihood of the Fed raising rates at their March and April meetings as a result of the drop in the unemployment rate.
News …
~ National Unemployment Rate Falls to 9.7%, Lowest Level Since August
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jan-jobless-rate-falls-to-97-lowest-since-aug-2010-02-05
~ Obama Plans to Expand Some Small Business Loans
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35253467
~ Dow falls below 10,000 for First Time Since Nov 6
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/dow_falls_below_10000_for_firs.html
~ World Stocks Hit by Fear of Debt Crisis Contagion
~ Futures Pare Losses After Unemployment Rate Declines
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