Happy Thursday! And it's not just any Thursday, either ... it's NBA trade deadline day. There could be plenty of wheeling and dealing, so make sure you've got yourself caffeinated enough to pump out those takes as the deals roll in today.Of course, if you happen to mi s anything, we'll have you covered with recaps and analysis later today/tomorrow. However, I will not be the person bringing you those updates because, as of this morning, I am officially on vacation. I'll be taking some time off, but Shanna McCarriston will be filling in and you can always trust her to not mi s a beat.In the meantime, I'm ready to spend the morning with you before I jet, and we've got some good stuff to go over. We'll talk about the awkwardne s of Urban Meyer's transition to the NFL so far, plus a big update on the NHL officiating controversy I mentioned at the top of yesterday's newsletter and more.Ready to go? Good. Let's party. What you need to know 1. Urban Meyer is off to an awkward start as coach of the Jared Goff Jersey Jags There was plenty of excitement surrounding the Jaguars when they landed Urban Meyer to lead them out of the pit of despair earlier this offseason, but Meyer's first stint as an NFL head coach hasn't come without its bumps in the early going. Transitioning from the college ranks to the NFL comes with some challenges, and it seems that Meyer hasn't particularly enjoyed his first go-round with the NFL free agency proce s. Last week, Meyer said that the NFL's legal tampering period ahead of free agency was "awful." It sounded like his complaint(s) mainly stemmed from an inability to "wine and dine" players before making formal offers. Instead, he e sentially said it was just a race to hand out cash.Well, our in a column this week, questioning whether Meyer has the stomach for a free market free agency:JLC: I suppose it's not entirely shocking that Meyer would experience some growing pains with free agency considering he's used to holding all the cards and being able to make extended pitches to players. But in the NFL, players have a lot more power than Meyer is used to, and they have the right to seek a big payday and decide where they want to play without owing anyone an explanation. The most ironic part of all this, though? The Jags had more money to spend in free agency than any other team in the league, and they succe sfully managed to land a bunch of guys. Oh, and Meyer is making $12 million annually as a first-time NFL head coach.He probably shouldn't be whining about anyone chasing the bag. 2. The NHL removing referee Tim Peel should have long-term implications As I mentioned in the intro to yesterday's newsletter, the John Sullivan Jersey NHL had an embarra sing incident on Tuesday night in which referee Tim Peel was simply because he "wanted to get" a penalty against the .Despite it being a terrible look for the NHL, I wasn't expecting a whole lot to come from it. The league tends to protect its officials whenever po sible, but apparently they couldn't justify keeping Peel around after what happened on Tuesday. The NHL announced Peel would "no longer be working NHL games now or in the future" Peel wasn't expre sly "fired" and was already planning to retire at season's end next monthThe 53-year-old has been an NHL on-ice official since 1999 and has been recognized as one of the league's more maligned officials over the yearsColin Campbell,NHL SVP of Hockey Operations: The league's response to the incident seems fair, but my question is this: Will this change anything on a wider level? "Game management" calls and make-up calls have become a recognized (and often expected) part of the game, but why do we just accept this as common practice?I mentioned it yesterday, but I feel like there can certainly be more accountability and transparency when it comes to NHL officiating.It's easy enough to look past behavior Samson Ebukam Jersey like Peel's and say it's just part of the way the game is policed, but the NHL does have an opportunity to use this latest incident as a catalyst for meaningful change. I , and I think it starts with the league consistently acknowledging when its officials get things right or wrong. 3. MLB players who could be traded this year We are now officially one week away from Opening Day, which is almost as exciting as it is hard to believe. I feel like there might still be some snow melting in my backyard. In any case, it's a great time to look ahead to baseball season. But while all these other places are buzzing about Opening Day lineups and pitching matchups and things of that nature, we like to stay steps ahead of the competition. With that in mind, what do you say we look all the way ahead to the midseason trade market?There are this year, so let's look at a few:Trevor Story, Rockies: has already triggered the rebuild by dealing away , and it makes sense that Story will soon be shipped out of town as well. He's on the final year of his contract and holds a lot of value as one of the game's best all-around players. Even as a rental, the Rockies should get a nice package in return for the shortstopKris Bryant, Cubs: It's pretty surprising that Bryant is still in Chicago to begin this season, as he's been the subject of trade rumors for a while and the Cubs continue to cut payroll. He'll become a free agent after this season and an extension isn't promising. If Chicago isn't committing to winning this year, then they should probably deal himJosh Hader, Brewers: Hader is getting expensive andhis salary could top $10 million as soon as 2022. Paying that kind of Joseph Noteboom Jersey money for a reliever probably isn't going to fly for a smaller market team like the Brewers, and Milwaukee has a ready-made closer replacement in Devin Williams. Hader could be dangled at the deadline, even if the Brewers are competitiveOur Mike Axisa highlights many more names to keep an eye on, so you can check out the rest right . Stay tuned next week when we highlight the 2021 MLB playoff picture before anyone else. 4. Re-seeding the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 teams Listen, I don't think it's out of line to say that the March Madne s selection committee may have fudged up some seedings this year. You look at all the upsets that went down through the first couple of rounds and it's easy to make the case that the evaluation proce s led to a number of teams being underrated while several other were vastly overrated.But what if we had the opportunity to ? Our Chip Patterson did just that, and here's his top 10: GonzagaBaylorMichiganAlabamaHoustonArkansasFlorida StateLoyola ChicagoUSCOregonI, for one, am glad that re-seeding isn't actually a thing in the NCAA Tournament, because there's potential for so much more chaos when you have to play it as it lies. There's been plenty of chaos to John Kelly Jersey this point, so we'll have to wait and see if the upset train rolls on through the Sweet 16 and beyond. Odds Ends Your ahead of today's NBA trade deadlineAn inside look at why (and how) A Ma sachusetts high school football coach has been fired and an upcoming game canceled after What to watch today 7:30 p.m.| MIA -4 | TV: TNT , 7 p.m. | BOS -125 | TV: NHL Network , 10 p.m. | LAL +4.5| TV: TNT The best thing I saw yesterday After what might be his final game for the Raptors, .