Big Sunday in Sports

With NHL and NBA Playoffs continuing to advance we had a very big day in Sports yesterday. Starting with the NBA, it was a game seven that nobody expected in Boston versus Atlanta. Boston won 99-65 on it's home court and proved that they are ready for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers next. The well rested Lakers beat the Jazz at home in a very good game and showed that they are ready to play. In the NHL we had two very important games in which two teams can win the series and move on to their respective conference finals. First was the New York Rangers versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins were leading the entire game 2-0 until the Rangers scored two quick goals in the 3rd period. The game went into overtime and the Penguins won the game and series in overtime. The Dallas Stars ended the San Jose Sharks dream in 4 Overtimes and moved on to their conference final versus the Detroit Red Wings. The Pittsburgh Penguins will take on the Philadelphia Flyers in their conference final.

NBA Playoffs

The NBA are in the midst of their respective playoffs. Many teams have advanced to the next rounds and many teams have been sent home early. Starting with the NBA playoffs, we see the #1 seed in the Western Conference Los Angeles Lakers who moved on by sweeping the struggling Denver Nuggets. The #2 seed New Orleans Hornets beat up the Dallas Mavericks and won the series four games to one. The Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets are still playing their series with the Jazz up three games to two. The San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns four games to one and moved on. The potential match-ups are the Lakers versus the winner of the Houston Rockets/Utah Jazz series. The other match-up in the west is the Hornets versus the Spurs. In the Eastern Conference, there have been a couple of surprises. The #1 seed Boston Celtics have allowed the Atlanta Hawks (with a regular season losing record) to win two games. The Celtics currently are up 3-2 and should close out the series. In the #2-#7 match-up, The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76'ers four games to two. The 76'ers really gave the Pistons a run for their money and made it a very interesting series to watch. The Cleveland Cavaliers are up 3-2 over the Washington Wizards. This series has been full of hard fouls and trash talking and should be a great ending. The Orlando Magic made quick work of the Toronto Raptors winning the series four games to one. The match-ups for next round are the winner of the Celtics/Hawks series play the winner of the Cleveland/Washington series. The Orlando Magic will play the Detroit Pistons in the next round.

2008 NFL "Mock" Draft

Here is my mock draft for the first 10 picks of the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft which is coming up on this Saturday and Sunday.

1-Miami Dolphins - Jake Long (OT, Michigan) Great pick here starting Tackle for years to come, can never have enough blocking in the NFL.
2-St. Louis Rams - Chris Long (DE, Virginia) Good value pick, is considered the safest pick of the entire draft.
3-Atlanta Falcons - Glenn Dorsey (DT, LSU) Will be a star in the NFL, Falcons may consider trading down, as they have way too many needs.
4-Oakland Raiders - Darren McFadden (RB, Arkansas) Everyone knows Raiders owner Al Davis is insane, and clearly taking a RB with this pick would be insane. Thus don't expect Al Davis to pass on McFadden.
5-Kansas City Chiefs- Brandon Albert (OT/G, Virginia) The Chiefs will get the most value out of this pick by trading down since any offensive lineman will be a reach, however most teams will not trade up here anyway.
6- New York Jets- Vernon Gholston (DE/LB, Ohio State) Personally I would trade down with the Ravens here and pick up the picks and let them get Matt Ryan. Even though that means sacrificing Gholston, he looks like he could be a workout warrior and disappeared in too many games in college.
7-New England Patriots- Keith Rivers (LB, USC) Personally they probably will trade down maybe with the Saints, but if they stay put, Rivers should be the pick. The Pats LB's are very old and need to get younger and fast.
8-Baltimore Ravens- Matt Ryan (QB, Boston College) Any time you can have your starting quarterback retire less than a week before the draft and still be able to draft the best quarterback in the draft at pick #8 there is no other option.
9-Cincinnati Bengals- Sedrick Ellis (DT, USC) They will get really lucky if Ellis falls to them because the Saints are dying to get either Ellis or Dorsey.
10-New Orleans Saints- Leodis McKelvin (CB, Troy) This will be the Saints consolation prize if all else fails. Getting the best CB isn't that bad of a deal after all.

Fantasy Baseball (Group Blog)

For this blog two of my classmates and I decided to do a group blog. Me, Frank Proscia, and Luca Giacona We are all in a fantasy baseball league together. Fantasy baseball is a fun thing and we had a live draft a couple of weeks ago with more than ten people present. Each of us think that our team is the best and will win at the end of the MLB regular season. Here is my analysis of my team:
Catcher- B. Molina (Great Value Pick and is very consistent)
First Base-R. Howard (Top 3 First Basemen, Capable of 50 HR's and 150 RBI's)
Second Base-B.J. Upton (Ready for a Breakout Year)
Shortstop-J.Rollins (Top 3 SS, Last year's N.L. MVP)
Third Base- G.Atkins (Great Year Last Year very underrated)
OF-M.Holliday-(Top Rated OF in all of MLB)
OF-C.Young (Nearly had 30 HR's and 30 SB's Last year as a rookie)
OF-B.Hawpe (Great Year Last Year can always put up numbers in Colorado)
DH-T.Hafner (1 Year removed from near 50 HR season)
B.Butler- Ready For Great Year in KC
SP-C.Sabathia (Contract Year, Top 5 SP)
SP B. Sheets (When on field is unhittable and ace of good team)
SP-F.Carmona (18 wins last year)
SP-B.Bannister (Near ROY last year ready for big year.)
RP-T.Saito (Top 5 closer in game)
RP-T.Hoffman (Well over 40, all time saves leader)
RP G.Sherill (Up and coming Orioles closer)

Kansas Wins the NCAA Tournament??

I have seen many college basketball games in my life. I can honestly say I have never seen a better college basketball game in my life. Everybody in America thought that Memphis would win easily versus a good Kansas team. Memphis was the better team in my opinion and had many more opportunities to win. However, they let these opportunities slip away and in such a crucial time. Memphis was up by eight points with less than two minutes left. Kansas realized that something had to be done. They started fouling Memphis because typically during the season Memphis had failed to make free throws at the end of the game. Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose, two potential top fifteen NBA Draft picks made a combined one free throw in the final two minutes of the NCAA Championship game. Kansas came back and with a game tying three pointer as time expired from Mario Chalmers they went into overtime. Kansas clearly had the momentum and won the game in overtime.

And Then There Were Two

What a weekend in sports. The first weekend of the new baseball season kicked off, the NHL and the NBA are wrapping up their regular seasons and are about to head into their respective playoffs. But nine out of ten people don't care about any of the above sports. Sorry but the NCAA tournament was down to its final four teams and only two would be left after Saturday night. The first game pitted the PAC-10 Champion UCLA Bruins versus the one loss C-USA Champion Memphis Tigers. Each time has their respected All-American Freshman in Center Kevin Love of UCLA and Point Guard and future top five NBA Draft pick Derrick Rose. The matchup was well hyped and Memphis prevailed with excellent play of Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts. Even though Memphis won by a big margin of fifteen points and this turned out to be the close game of the two. North Carolina and Kansas was supposed to be a very tough and physical game with North Carolina taking the win. It was the complete opposite. Kansas played the best basketball I have ever seen in my life in the first half turning a mere 15-10 lead to a 40-12 lead close to halftime. North Carolina got it close in the second half but Kansas went on another great run to finish the game and won by nearly twenty points. Memphis versus Kansas in the championship game will be a fabulous game but I am confident Memphis will win despite their constant free throw troubles.

The MLB Season Is Underway

The 2008 season of baseball has started. There have already been many injuries and many surprising starts. Already Pedro Martinez of the New York Mets, Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox, J.J. Putz of the Seattle Mariners, and John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves have already hit the disabled list with injuries. All of these pitchers have once been on an all-star team in their careers and their respective teams will miss them. Even though most teams have only played five to six games there has been many surprising starts. A lot of people picked the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series. Many experts believe they have the most feared lineup in all of baseball. However the Detroit Tigers are off to an 0-5 start. The New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox all have losing records. The Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles, two teams that are normally at the bottom of the pack are off to fabulous starts.