So now that the shroud of mystery has been lifted and we know what Matt Walsh has on those tapes, I’m reminded of nothing more than what Gertrude Stein famously wrote of Oakland, and by that I don’t mean the Raiders: “There’s no there there.”

Just as I’ve presumed for a while now, the world’s most notorious ex-New England Patriots video assistant never had in his possession the one thing that would have taken the Spygate story to a new level — a tape of the Rams’ Super Bowl walkthrough from February 2002. That leaves us with the question of why we had to wait three months to find out what we already knew?

The Patriots cheated by taping their opponents’ coaching signals dating back to 2000. That’s old news. Then Bill Belichick’s team used that illegally gained material to crack its enemies’ secret codes, and thereby better prepare to face them the next time. Check. We knew that too.

It’s certainly not excusable, and by no means inconsequential that signals were stolen on both offense and defense. But it’s also not a revelation. In reality, the NFL pre-empted the significance of what Walsh had long ago, when it acknowledged that Belichick admitted his nefarious taping practices extended back to the very start of his tenure in New England. From that point forward, Walsh not only didn’t have a smoking gun in his possession, he didn’t have a gun. His materials only re-confirmed what Belichick copped to when the NFL’s I-team shined the big bright light in his eyes and put him through the third degree last September.

“This is consistent with what the Patriots admitted they had been doing, consistent with what we already knew,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said via e-mail to various media outlets Wednesday night.

That’s pretty much the whole ball game right there, isn’t it? Walsh will have his long-awaited meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell next Tuesday in New York, and maybe he’ll flesh out some more details of the Patriots’ espionage. But we now know that there’s no big hammer headline to come. No suspension to be handed down. For all we know, Walsh might even contend that a Super Bowl walkthrough tape was shot, but he won’t be able to produce one, and that’s all that matters in this story.

I now fully expect next Tuesday to have a there’s-nothing-to-see-here-folks kind of feel to it, with Walsh getting a rather dismissive “Thanks for coming, and drive home safely.” To call it anticlimactic will register as understatement. And I can’t say that I’d be able to blame the NFL or the Patriots if they’re more than a bit chafed over the whole Walsh affair.

For just shy of 100 days now, Walsh and his legal team have certainly allowed the perception to linger that such a tape of the Rams’ Super Bowl walkthrough practice existed. It was the unspoken threat, and it was the clear presumption behind the league’s prolonged efforts to negotiate terms to satisfy Walsh’s request for protection against potential legal action by the NFL or the team.

But only now we hear otherwise from Walsh’s attorney,Michael Levy, who told the New York Times on Wednesday night: “Mr. Walsh has never claimed to have a tape of the walkthrough. Mr. Walsh has never been the source of any of the media speculation about such a tape. Mr. Walsh was not the source for the Feb. 2 Boston Heraldarticle.”

Oh really now? What exactly took so long to make that clear? If Walsh never even intimated to anyone that he had a tape of the most famous walkthrough practice in NFL history, what have we all been waiting for since Super Bowl weekend? Walsh might not have been purely bluffing when it came to the contents of his video collection, but he didn’t have a strong enough hand to fundamentally change the dynamics of this game.

The truth is, that has been the belief within the NFL office for some time now, that Walsh didn’t have the goods. At least anything it didn’t already know about. But Goodell also knew his league would never truly put the Spygate story to rest until Walsh was induced to come forward for his hotly anticipated show-and-tell session. After Goodell unwisely opted to destroy the six tapes the league confiscated from the Patriots last September, the specter of a cover-up — not to mention Sen. Arlen Specter– would linger over the story until Walsh was heard from.

So now we know. Walsh has further documentation that the Patriots’ practice of cheating dated to early in the 2000 season. But he doesn’t have anything that proves they were guilty of the smarmy charge that they taped their opponent’s practice the day before New England’s first Super Bowl win in 2002.

Any way you cut it, that accusation was at the heart of the Matt Walsh saga. And it didn’t stick. It didn’t stand up. It remains nothing more than an unsubstantiated report. A rumor.

Not surprisingly, we’re all left to look back and wonder what all the fuss was about? In the end, there was no there there when it comes to the Patriots and their opponent’s 2002 Super Bowl walkthrough. With that, Spygate finally seems to have at long last run its course. For Walsh, it will soon be time to head back to Hawaii and the golf course. His 15 minutes of fame lasted a lot closer to 15 weeks, but it’s almost over.

As early as two weeks ago the MVP race was seen as a two man competition between Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Now, with Lebron suffering losses left and right he is no longer seen as a realistic candidate. Lebron has the numbers, but will not have enough wins to secure enough votes to be MVP.

As Lebron has fallen, Chris Paul in New Orleans has risen. Chris Paul is a truly spectacular talent leading his New Orleans Hornets to a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the top seed in the Western Conference. 

While his team success has been the primary reason he has risen, his individual numbers are simply mind boggling. His player efficiency rating is a 28.88. That’s good for the best PER for a point guard….EVER. Yes, better than Stockton’s highest PER. Yes, better than Nash’s higher PER. And Yes, even better than Magic Johnson’s highest PER. His defense is fantastic and at the time of this writing, Paul was leading the league in steals. 

He is a pure point guard. You can go ahead an pencil Paul in for 21 points and 11 assists per game. He’s better than Steve Nash during both of his MVP seasons and he’s doing it with less help than Nash ever had.

Yes, Tyson Chandler is the best rebounder in the league, Peja can shoot lights out and David West is a stud, but they are not Amare Stoudamire, Raja Bell, Joe Johnson or Shawn Marion.

Beyond Paul’s individual numbers, he’s giving the city of New Orleans a breath of fresh air. A city rebuilding has a championship caliber team to be proud of and a MVP worthy franchise player. Certainly, Paul’s play has been good for the city, the region and the country.

MVP?

Not quite.

Kobe’s still the MVP and it really isn’t close. 

First, Kobe is simply a better player. On offense and defense, Kobe is a superior player to Chris Paul, period. Kobe’s not a PG, so he doesn’t get the double double, but you can pencil Bryant in for 28/6/5/2. Outstanding numbers in their own right. Kobe’s all around game is much better than Paul’s. To put into perspective, Bryant is considered by many the best player on the planet. Paul is not.

Second, Kobe has been playing a much tougher schedule than the Hornets with equal results. This tilts the bar heavily in favor of Bryant. Paul’s hornets have played the 4th EASIEST schedule in the league so far while Kobe’s Lakers have played the 4th toughest. Obviously, Kobe’s led his team to the same record as Paul, but has done it playing against much tougher schedule. Let’s see how Paul does when the schedule gets a bit tougher. The Lakers have only a few road games remaining while the Hornets have 10 of their last 15 on the road.

Third, Paul has been playing with a superior supporting cast all season. Yes, Bryant has Odom, Bynum and Gasol, but don’t forget how many games they’ve played together.

Zero. Zip. Nada.

Kobe Bryant has led his team to the best record in the conference despite his top guys all missing time. Gasol has been out the last two games. Bynum and athletic swingman Trevor Ariza have been out the last two months. Luke Walton, Vladimir Radmanovic, and energetic bench man, Sasha Vujacic, have all missed significant time. It is really amazing the results Kobe has been able to produce with the constant lineup fluctuations he has been dealing with all season.

Fourth, Kobe has been playing with injuries all season. You have to give credit to a guy who plays through a torn ligament in his finger, a strained groin, a bum shoulder, the flu and a dislocated him in order to produce Ws for his squad. Bryant wants to win and he has that rare killer instinct. As the General of the Lakers, he has been willing to sacrifice his body to help lead his soldiers to victory. If I’m going into battle, Kobe’s the first person I want on my team.

Fifth, cluth play. According to 82games.com, Kobe is arguably the best clutch player in the league. Paul is very good in the clutch, but he’s simply not as deadly or as effective as Bryant in the closing minutes of the game and it isn’t even close. What makes Bryant’s clutch play so impressive is that he’s led his team to a significant number of blow outs in which he didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. 

Sixth, Kobe’s +/- stats are simply better than Chris Paul’s.  Yes, Paul Gasol has a high +/-, but Paul Gasol has played 80% of his minutes with the Grizzlies this season. He’s played about as much time on the Lakers as Ryan Bowen has played for the Hornets. No other Laker, except Kobe Bryant, have a +5 while playing 40% of the team’s minutes. The Hornets have 3 players other than Paul doing it.

Seventh and finally, Kobe’s defense has been on another level entirely. Yes, Paul is leading the league in steals, but Kobe has been the best perimeter defender in the league. The Lakers are an elite defensive team with Kobe on the floor and a extremely poor defensive team with him off the floor. It isn’t even clear that Paul is the best player on his team, much less being a better defender than Bryant. Chandler and David West have been outstanding this season defensively and are a primary reason for the Hornets’ success. 

Chris Paul is an exceptional player and certainly the best point guard in the league. There’s absolutely no question about it. Indeed, Chris Paul is having a comparable, if not better, statistical season than Kobe Bryant. Nonetheless, if you look at the facts, it is almost impossible to make a case for Paul over Bryant. Bryant is a better player on both ends, plays better in the clutch,  and has a more significant impact for his team than Chris Paul. In short, he is everything that you want in a MVP.

Kobe Bryant is the 2008 MVP with Paul, Garnett, Lebron and Dwight Howard close behind.

  First off let me start by saying in no way shape or form do I have any like for the team up north. But what is the new head coach doing? Not only does a senior starting offensive lineman leave and go to the rival ( The Ohio State Buckeyes). Now a tradition that has been in place since the 70’s is being tossed right out the window.   The number 1 is given to the stand out wide receiver. They have even started a scholarship for this alone. So I ask again what is Michigan doing?  Rich Rodriguez is the new head coach of the team up north. And what happens in his first months as coach? He has a starting offensive lineman leave to the Buckeyes and he throws tradition out the window and gives the number 1 jersey to a freshman DB.  Way to go Rich keep it up. Everyone in Ohio is rooting for a complete and total collapse and thats why you will not beat the sweater vest.  GO BUCKS!!!!!!   

 LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE LIST. 1 ELISHA CUTHBERT     2  kate Beckinsale  3JESSICA ALBA   4TRISH STRATUS   5   AND LAST THE CRACK QUEEN LINDSEY LOHAN