LeBron is your mid-season MVP

It took a while, but the MVP field has finally opened for LeBron James to win it. Steve Nash is having a great year, but his team is the weakest its been in years. Nowitzki can't win it unless the Mavericks magically win more games the Celtics. Kobe could win it if the Lakers finish with the best record in the West, but with Bynum gone for two months that isn't going to happen.

James' main two competitors are Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett, who are both having fantastic seasons. But Garnett has two All-Stars around him, and Howard has $100 million-free agent Rashard Lewis beside him. LeBron is playing out of his mind and has next to nothing around him. His last two games are a win in San Antonio and a win in Memphis, where he scored 51 points. There is no one-two punch on Cleveland. Ilgauskas is their second-best player, but when Donyell Marshall was healthy, Mike Brown consistently chose to keep Big Z on the bench.

James is having his best season as well. His 29.7 PPG leads the NBA, his 7.8 RPG are a career-high, his 7.5 APG are a caree-high, and his 48.3 FG% is a career best as well. Garnett has already won an MVP, and Howard's team is struggling just to win their division against the Arenas-less Wizards. LeBron is long overdue for the MVP; 2008 should be the year he breaks through.

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Crazy season we're having

Has there ever been a more open, deep conference than the Western Conference is right now? Almost halfway through the season, the #6 Hornets are just a game back from the #1 Lakers, who without Bynum are sure to take a plunge. The Lakers are only five games above dropping out of the playoff picture entirely. With the Lakers' and Spurs' injuries and iffy losses from Dallas, Denver and Phoenix, is it at all possible that either the Hornets, Blazers, or Warriors could wind up winning their division? Maybe not, but the playoffs are going to be something else.

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Where's Pam Oliver when you need her?

Sunday's thriller between the Colts and the Chargers had plenty of suspense and intrigue by itself. Yet CBS decided to increase up my anxiety by not disclosing why things were happening, and by things I mean injuries.

Marvin Harrision, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Philip Rivers all had to leave the game with injuries that were never divulged to the viewing public. Of all the superfluous information they gave out in the telecast, including that San Diego hadn't won a divisional road game since 1982, they neglected to tell me why the hell LT and Rivers aren't in the game. I see Rivers running out of the tunnel, Tomlinson standing on the sideline--what the hell's wrong with them? The one time I would've actually cared what a sideline reporter was saying.

Still, hell of a game. No one had San Diego winning this game, and with Billy Volek and Michael Turner replacing LT and Rivers, who could disagree? But that's why we watch sports, screw predictability. All I know is that Norv Turner is completely vindicated as the head coach. A win next week will make the "Hire Marty" chants a thing of the past.

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