The past week in the world of sports has not been short on news. Each day there is something interesting when you turn on the television.

 Of course, Super Bowl XLII made big headlines as the underdog New York Giants beat the undefeated New England Patriots. Only Giants fans and perhaps the bettors daring enough to bet on them saw that victory coming.

 The General, Bobby Knight resigned from Texas Tech leaving Pat Summitt as the only active coach with 900-plus victories.

 Roger Clemens is making noise as he tries to prove to Congress that he didn’t use any performance-enhancing drugs in his career although his former trainer, Brian McNamee is contradicting Clemens’ statements.

 The biggest news for me happened in the NBA. The trade of Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers from the Memphis Grizzlies kicked off what would become a whirlwind week. On Wednesday, Shaquille O’Neal was moved across the country from the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns.

 After listening to so-called experts break down both trades, I formulated my own opinion.

 My editor, Cliff, first told me about the Gasol trade last Friday. We were having a casual conversation online when he broke the news. Most people who know me know that I am a devout Grizzlies fan. Since I was one of many fans who wanted Gasol to be traded, I was happy, until he told me for whom.

 I thought it was a joke at first. Cliff told me Kwame Brown was involved in the trade and I was angry on the spot. I didn’t even care to know who else was involved because if Brown headlines a trade, there is something wrong. Brown has been one of the biggest busts in the new millennium.

 He was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards. Brown became the first player to be drafted first overall out of high school, and he has disappointed ever since. I don’t even want to write the guy’s stats. Believe me, it's not worth it.

 I decided to wait until today to write because I figured I would write with a clearer head after having nearly a week to calm down and vent to all my friends.

 The point of a trade is to better both teams. Well, the Lakers definitely got better while the Grizzlies get worse.

L.A. stole Gasol from Memphis.

It baffled me that a former All-Star player who has yet to reach 30 could only garner Kwame Brown and draft picks in a trade. There were so many rumors going around with Gasol’s name involved and this is the deal Grizz fans have to deal with.

 General manager Chris Wallace said it was the best deal out there. Well of course he will say that because he has to show confidence in the moves he made. Judge for yourself and look at these rumored deals that were out there for Gasol.

 Pau has turned the Lakers from one of the best teams in the Western Conference into one of the top three teams in the entire league .

A frontline of Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom is enough to make a good coach like Greg Popovich nervous. Add Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher to the mix and you have a championship caliber starting lineup.

 Gasol can now play his natural power forward position when Bynum returns. He was a center in Memphis and was forced to play with his back to the basket. He has a "soft" reputation, so playing on the block is really not his forte’. He also does not have to carry the Lakers like he did Memphis.

 It looks like Memphis will rebuild again. It doesn’t make sense to me how you can rebuild when you never finished building in the first place.

Gasol never won a playoff game in three trips to the postseason, but he never had enough help to win anyway. His playoff stats were always higher than his season stats but since he was the superstar of the team all the blame would be placed on him.

 I only wanted Pau to be traded because he didn’t fit new coach Marc Iavaroni’s style of up-tempo offense. Iavaroni was an assistant of Mike D’Antoni, the Phoenix Suns head coach.

 Personally, I feel Memphis is turning into a farm team. They had a team of good complements to Gasol but they broke it up. Bonzi Wells, Jason Williams and James Posey were guys you want to surround a post presence like Gasol with.

Williams and Posey won a championship with the Miami Heat after being traded away and Wells is happily playing alongside Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady in Houston.

 To all the Grizzlies fans: we wanted Gasol gone and now he is. Once again we are complaining. Maybe we should be careful of what we wish for.

Shaq positions Suns for title run

 Speaking of the Heat and Suns, they made a blockbuster move themselves this week. Shaq was moved for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I actually like this trade. It makes both teams better.

 The Suns are definitely known for their offense but their defense is what’s preventing them from winning a championship. The Heat are trying to surround Dwayne Wade with good players, so he doesn’t opt out of his contract in two seasons.

 If Shaq can stay healthy the Suns will give San Antonio and the Lakers trouble with their new beef up front. Shaq will allow Amare Stoudemire to play his natural power forward position.

 There are a lot of questions regarding Shaq fitting into the Suns’ run-and-gun offense. O’Neal said himself that since he has been in Miami playing under Pat Riley, you didn’t get to see him run.

 They will still run like crazy. Shaq eats up space and not many people will attack their interior now that he is down there. He will get rebounds and they will benefit from his size.

 I watched the press conference the Suns had earlier today. O’Neal said he didn’t need to have 30-40 touches a game anymore. His sole purpose is to bring a championship to Phoenix and to help Stoudemire blossom into the top power forward in the game. 

 The Suns' shooters will greatly benefit from this move. Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa and Raja Bell will reap the rewards of having two big men down low who can do so much with the ball. Although Shaq’s numbers are down, he will still command respect especially if he can find a way to return to form.

 At this point in his career, O’Neal lives for the playoffs which is why I think too many people are over hyping his career-low 14 points per game. I have no doubt about what he'll do in the playoffs.

The question is whether or not the rest of the league and all the critics who have written him off are ready.

It’s sure going to be exciting to watch the Western Conference go at it these next two months.