FOOTBALL

In the NFL, a major trade went down yesterday.  Alex Smith was selected #1 overall 6 years ago to be the 49ers franchise quarterback.  He played well last season, and even had the Niners off to a hot start this past season.  But, when he went down with an injury, in came Colin Kaepernick, and the rest was history.  That made Smith expendable.  Wednesday, the 49ers and the Chiefs agreed to a trade that would send Smith to Kansas City in exchange for a second round draft pick.  Smith will now be the man in Kansas City, as the Chiefs are expected to drop quarterback Matt Cassell.  With new coach Andy Reid in town, there is a chance that they can turn this ship around.  Reid has a way with creating winning quarterbacks, and Smith will be his next project.

And in NFL Draft news, USC quarterback Matt Barkley will become a pro this year.  Had he come out last year, it’s likely he would have been a first round pick, but he decided to stay in college primarily because he thought he could go high first round (as those spots were taken in 2012 by Andrew Luck, RG3, and Ryan Tannehill).   Plus, this past college season, USC was finally eligible for a BCS birth after a 2-year suspension.  So it seemed like the perfect recipe.  However, USC had a very disappointing season, and Barkley become somewhat of an after thought in the quarterback conversation.  Now, USC head coach Lane Kiffin came to Barkley’s defense, saying that USC’s poor defense was responsible for making Barkley look bad, and hurting his draft stock.  This may actually be true, as a quarterback’s game is greatly affected when he has to come from behind.  Hopefully, pro scouts will look at his entire body of work, and that Barkley will land on a team that needs him.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Knicks and the Warriors headlined the night.  The Warriors were coming off a game in which they not only lost, but lost their center David Lee to a suspension due to a brawl.  This was also the homecoming game for Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, who grew up in New York, went to St. Johns, and played for the Knicks.  He wanted the win, and wanted it bad.  It turned out this was the career game for Warriors point guard Stephan Curry.  He put up an astonishing 54 points, but it still wouldn’t be enough to beat the Knicks. The Warriors will likely still make the playoffs, and will be a very tough first round opponent for one of the West’s top teams.  NY Knicks 109, Golden State 105.