One thing that you should keep in mind regarding kayak maintenance is that like most things, a little bit of prevention can go a long way. As a result, you should make sure that you do a little bit of regular maintenance on your kayak. This way, you'll be able to keep your kayak nice, and you won't have to worry about doing a lot of maintenance all at once when something breaks.

In college basketball, word “Atlantic” conjures up images of ACC powerhouses such as Duke, Wake Forest, UNC, and University of Maryland, all perennial Final Four and Top 25 powerhouses. The eastern seaboard along Interstate 95 has come to be associated with pure dominance.

The pros are a different story. Since NBA realignment two years ago, Atlantic has become a laughingstock, occasionally referred to as “The Wacklantic” or other invented names. There’s good reason --- current Atlantic Division leaders, Boston Celtics, are a very average 29-28, good for a .509 winning percentage. Among other five division leaders, lowest winning percentage is .648, presently held by surging Pistons.

What’s worse is this --- whoever emerges as Atlantic “champion” draws three seed in East, yet might lose home court advantage to eventual six-seed (probably Bulls, Wizards, or Cavs). David Stern has gone on record as saying six-seed will be investigated for possibly going in tank down stretch to draw a more favorable first-round match-up.

The Atlantic is a poor complement to torrid play in other divisions this season, but there may be cause for hope. At trading deadline last Thursday, several division “powerhouses” beefed up their weak lineups, causing us to reconsider entire balance of power within Northeast. Hoops Avenue now presents new “power” rankings for Atlantic Division:

1) Philadelphia 76ers: AI’s crew nabbed perennial All-Star, 20 and 10 man Chris Webber at deadline, sending tremors throughout entire East. Webber does play on a bum knee, but Iverson has never had a sidekick of this magnitude before. Consider this: Iverson, who is most prolific scorer in league but regularly suffers from being banged up since he’s only true option in Philly much of time, reached Finals once --- in 2001, with Dikembe Mutombo as his running mate. Not to dismiss Deke, but Webber is an excellent four-man who can drain it from elbow or ram it inside. The Sixers did fall in Webber’s debut to Kings (ironic), but team hadn’t had a chance to jell yet --- and when they do (Iverson is actually awaiting practice), watch out. Philly plays majority of its remaining games at home, and C-Webb will get it on with inexperienced Mike Sweetney (Knicks) and overhyped Raef LaFrentz (Celtics) as division ball heats up. The Sixers should easily capture Atlantic behind AI/C-Webb dynamic alongside a blossoming Samuel Dalembert, and might even serve as a tough draw for eventual sixth team in East.