It's been so long since I've last blogged that I feel like I don't even know where I should start. So much has been happening that it almost feels overwhelming at times. For starters, my last year of college is already upon me. To top it all off, the month of September (which will have officially started by the time this post is finished and published) is one of the coolest months in the world of sports.

I'm really looking forward to getting back to school next week to be reunited with awesome friends and also to be finally living in the Village. I have never even been in the Village at all except the Commons building. The website's virtual tour is the only glimpse I have gotten so far into what it's like inside those apartments (or condos or whatever they're called). I'm not looking foward to schoolwork, but I am looking forward to having 3 classes on Wednesday and 1 joke class on Thursday night. If that isn't the sweetest schedule, I don't know what is.

As far as sports goes, who doesn't love September? Baseball playoffs are approaching, NASCAR's Chase for the Cup gets underway, the NFL regular season begins, and NBA rosters are being finalized for the opening of training camp in the first week of October. I'm sure you are wondering why you have come to my blog and have read all this stuff already and no mention of basketball until now. Well, I'm glad you feel that way because here comes my two cents on the current state of my beloved New Jersey Nets.

The Nets didn't make nearly as many big moves this off-season as they have in previous years, yet a lot has changed regardless. The only trade they made this off-season was trading a future 2nd round draft pick to the Seattle Sonics in exchange for Mikki Moore, a 7ft center who is a solid 12th man kinda guy for the bench. Free Agency was equally low-key this off season as the only move they made was signing another bench player in Eddie House. Perhaps the biggest thing to happen to the Nets this off season was a rediculously amazing draft. They got lucky when they were able to get Marcus Williams, who was projected to be picked in the top 13 lottery, at #22. They then were able to get Marcus's teammate at UConn, Josh Boone at #23. As if they're luck couldn't get any better, they somehow got one of college basketball most exciting young talents in Hassan Adams of Arizona at #54. In a draft that only has 60 picks, it's unheard for a guy of this caliber to slip so low.

There are definitely a lot of positives going into this 2006-2007 NBA season for the Nets. Most importantly, they still have their big four intact, with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, and Nenad Krstic all coming back. Kidd is getting older now, but he no doubt still has a huge desire to get that ring. RJ improves every single year and this year, hopefully, he will finally be recognized as an NBA All-Star. Unfortunately, that may never actually happen so long as Carter is still his teammate. The other big positive, although a bit risky, is the abundance of young talent we have this year. Once Mile Ilic is signed in the next couple weeks after he comes over from Serbia (the Nets drafted him last year but kept him overseas to further develop his skills), the Nets will have 5 players on their roster at the age of 22 or younger. Then you have Nenad Krstic, who is only 23 and is rapidly becoming one of the league's best centers. He has already been recognized this summer, after only his second year in the league, as the NBA's 7th best center according to Sports Illustrated.

The only negatives really going into this year are that the youth movement is quite risky, and could backfire as well as the uncertainty of Vince Carter's future with this franchise. The 07-08 season is a player option on his contract, so following this season he may elect to either stay with the Nets one more year for $16.8 million or become a free agent and sign with whomever he wants. Many believe he wants to stay with the Nets, but I really am not so sure. He could have signed an extension this summer for another 4, 5, or 6 years like Lebron, Melo, and DWade all did, but those talks never happened. He also recently got divorced and there is talk that if his wife gets custody of their one-year-old daughter and moves back home to either Carolina or Florida, he will sign with the Bobcats or Magic to be closer to his daughter. Honestly, I like the guy but I've never felt he really cares much about winning. Sure he says he does, but I really think he is genuinely just having fun playing basketball for a living and really does not care which team he plays with so I would not be surprised at all to see him go from a competitive Nets team to a lottery team like Charlotte or Orlando.

Well I think that will do it for this blog tonight. It's definitely good to be back and I'll blog again soon. Consider this blog updated.