AFC Wild Card Round:
All of the above average teams in the NFC reside in one division. The four teams in the NFC East are far and away the best teams in the conference. Every team in this group could win 10 games with Dallas being the cream of the crop. The Brett Favre-less Packers will take a serious step backward after a year that saw them overachieve by about four games. The NFC West should not be allowed to be represented in the playoffs, it is the NFL equivalent of MLB's NL West. The odd coincidence with this analogy is that Arizona will win in both sports. Now for more bad picks:
The AFC is the deeper of the two conferences with heavyweights New England, San Diego, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh. But the storyline in the AFC all season will be super annoying Brett Favre. The Patriots and Chargers will each win a ton of games in terrible divisions and the AFC South will rival the NFC East for the best division in football. Darren McFadden will be sensational as a rookie, much like Adrian Peterson last season and the Dreadful Dolphins will win more than one game. Without further adieu, NFL picks that are sure to be wrong, AFC Edition:
There is nothing better than a good home cooked meal. Spaghetti made by Mom tastes so much better than that prepared by lesser acquaintances. She knows that good spaghetti involves the inclusion of Italian sausage in the sauce and avoids serving sauce that is laden with nasty hunks of tomato. Others don't know this, so it is just not as enjoyable to eat their sausage-less chunky tomato paste at their house. But, sometimes you just have to do it. This is my advice to all the teams still playing in the NBA playoffs, especially the Mighty C's of Boston. The only home team to lose in the second round at home is the team that is no longer playing, the Orlando Magic. The Hornets kept the exemplary home play going last night by easily dismissing the champs and sending them into the ropes. This has been the most boring 3-2 series I have ever watched. Despite the much hyped anticipation here, every game of this series has not been intriguing after halftime. I will reluctantly stay with my prediction of Spurs in seven. The play of the Celtics on the road has been baffling. This team lost 10 road games during the regular season and have already lost five in five tries during the playoffs. While the defense has been very good, the offense has been awful. I am still waiting for LeBron to go off for 40, which he is due for. The good news is that they have home court advantage throughout the playoffs, but I do not want to assume they will just win every time they play in the state of Massachusetts. They will win tonight and hopefully get that first road win on Friday. The Lakers night be in trouble. If Kobe Bryant cannot shoot from outside the paint they will be extremely vulnerable to the very good team from the Mormon State.
The only thing better than a Game 7 is a Game 7 where your team wins. The only thing better than a Game 7 where your team wins is when your team blows out its opponent by 34. I actually felt sorry for the cagey Hawks in the second half as the Mighty C's poured it on the overachievers from Atlanta en route to a second round date with the Cleveland LeBron James'. Throughout the series, the Hawks seemed out of their element when not playing at home and today's game was no exception. Now the second round can actually begin (unless you play in San Antonio, New Orleans, Detroit, and Orlando, where it started yesterday). All match-ups are intriguing. Hopefully the second round has a bit more excitment than round one (except for the heart attack the Hawks nearly caused yors truly). All first round picks made here were correct (teams that advanced, not the number of games it took), so now for the second round:
If I were Avery Johnson, I would not feel to secure in my position as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Last night's loss at the hands of Hornets meant that his teams have failed to make it out of the first round in consecutive seasons. No one really expected them to win this year, but is this an excuse for a team that won 67 games a year ago? I say no. This team should be better. Most picked them to contend in the super-loaded Western Conference and this team barely made the playoffs. Chris Paul continued to display why he is a top 3 player in the league (and deserving MVP for this season) with a triple double in last night's win (24/11/15). In his first 5 career playoff games, Paul is averaging 25 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists, and 2 steals. The other disappointing team in the Western Conference would have to be the Phoenix Suns, who were a chic pick to win the conference this year and were eliminated in the first round by the Spurs last night. Like Dallas, this team should be better and should not have been in a position where they were playing the Spurs in the first round. This team should spend the entire offseason working on defending the pick and roll, as the combination of Duncan and Parker made these guys look like clowns defensively. Also, free throw shooting was a problem. The Suns did their best Memphis Tigers impersonation, missing 17 free throws. The biggest problem for this team as they move forward is age. Shaq looks and plays much slower. While he can still be effective in small doses, he is nowhere near the force he once was. Grant Hill missed this series, which was costly. Steve Nash looked old and played terribly in this series. He had four 4th quarter turnovers and had only 11 points and 4 assists in the team's most important game of the season. Were the critics right in their assessment of the O'Neil and Kidd acquisitions? Maybe. In other action, Tracy McGrady kept the Rockets' heads above water in blowout fashion and the Pistons finally asserted themselves on the Sixers. Three of four picks correct in yesterday's picks that are sure to wrong playoff close-out edition, as for tonight, the Mighty C's find their way back to the light at home in dominant fashion over the cagey Hawks and the Cavaliers close-out the Wizards.
The scrappy Atlanta Hawks will not go away. Last night, behind 35 by Joe Johnson and 28 by Josh Smith, the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference drew even with the Mighty C's. It is hard to imagine this continues into Wedensday's Game 5, but we all thought there was no way the Warriors could dismantle the 67-win Dallas Mavericks a year ago at this time. In other action, the heartless Denver Nuggets were swept by the Lakers, which could not have surprised anyone who watched five minutes of that series. Why this franchise is bringing back George Karl as head coach is inexplicable. This team has two of the top four scorers in the league and arguably the league's best defensive player and this is the best they can do? Also, in the NBA TV Invitational, the Magic finished off the Raptors in a series watched by seven people. It is not clear why the NBA thinks that people would not want to see these games (only one game was not on NBA TV). Dwight Howard had his third 20-20 game of the series, making him the first player to do that since Wilt Chamberlain. Yes, Wilt Chamberlain. Tonight will be close out night in New Orleans, San Antonio, and Utah with the Pistons finally taking a series lead in Detroit over the surprising Sixers. Hopefully the second round will be a bit more intriguing than the first.
With the start of the NBA playoffs, my earliest NBA memory comes to mind, the Celtics eliminating the Rockets in the 1986 NBA finals. It was the 16th title for that storied franchise. A franchise that has failed to live up to a high standard ever since. There is sharp contrast between East and West. While the latter is loaded with many intriguing match-ups, the former has only one. There are many questions. Are the Hornets too young? Are the Spurs too old? Are the Mighty C's too good? Are the Jazz able to win on the road? Are the Lakers as good as advertised? Are the Pistons underrated? I have no idea, but it will be great fun to find out. Here are some picks sure to be wrong, NBA Playoff Edition:
UNC and losing in the Final Four go together like Lucky Charms and 2% milk. For the 13th time in 17 chances, UNC has gone to the Final Four and not come away with a national championship. As a fan, this loss was particularly difficult to stomach coming on the heels (no pun intended) of last years' devastating collapse against G'town. Also this particular team, much like the one that preeded it and won it all, is very likable with the likes of the nation's best player, Danny Green Marcus Ginyard, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington. These guys are fun to watch. One can hold out hope that the big three will decide to stay, but this seems unlikely. It is hard to imagine Hansbrough, Lawson, or Ellington amounting to anything more than bench players in the NBA, but this does not usually weigh into the thinking when guys go pro. As for the game, Kansas played 15 of the most perfect basketball a team has ever played in jumping out to 40-12 advantage. Personally, I have never seen such a combination of exceptional shooting and suffocating defense played, even if for a short period of time. UNC roared back but ran out of energy late. Another Final Four, another loss. In the other semifinal, Memphis pulled a mild upset in defeating the UCLA, thus three consecutive trips to the Final Four and no championship for the Bruins. Tonight's game should be fantastic, but the semifinal games were supposed to be fantastic and we see how they ended up. With that, I make my final projection and if it's like my others, it will probably be wrong.
The 2008 baseball season started early this morning with a whimper. Will professional sports stop playing regular season games overseas, especially the opening games of the baseball season. In case you weren't aware, the two games in Japan will in fact count as Oakland home games, not Boston. When talking about the National League, it is important to remember how vastly inferior this league is to the American League. I say this as a long time NL guy. It is difficult to envision a scenario where any NL team is competitive with any AL team in the World Series, but let us not forget how absolutely wonderful the 2006 season was when many thought the same thing (see here, in case you forgot). What is going to be particularly troubling about this year in the NL is how my beloved Cardinals are not going to be too competitive, even in the worst division in the history of professional sports. A lack of decent starting pitching (at least until June), guys who can hit more than five home runs, and no speed to speak of is not a recipe for success. The biggest story in the offseason in the NL was the New York Mets acquisition of Johan Santana. This team already had solid starting pitching and Santana replacing Glavine seems like a pretty good upgrade for the Mets. With that being said, here is the latest installment of picks that are sure to be wrong:
After seemingly ignoring day one, Cinderella reared her ugly head on Friday, launching an all-out war against brackets everywhere. Western Kentucky beat the overrated Drake Bulldogs in overtime in the game of the year. In the second round, WKU will not meet Connecticut, but the San Diego Toreros (if your not smart like me, you need someone to explain to you that a torero is a bullfighter), who also won in overtime. If that was not enough for you, Sienna took out a Vanderbilt team that is not that good. Vandy seemed to peak when they beat Tennessee in UT's debut as the #1 team in the country. As predicted here, Villanova beat Clemson. This upset is not quite as sexy as the others. Regarding my other upset predictions, St. Mary's proved they should not have been in the Top 25 for most of the season and Stephen Curry proved he is the most exciting player in the tournament with 40 in an "upset" win over Gonzaga. So, 2 for 3 on the day and 3 for 6 in the opening round, that kind of winning percentage would get me the seventh seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference. UNC answered UCLA's challenge by taking it to poor Mount St. Mary's. Everyone on UNC's roster scored in the blowout.
The first day of the tournament has come and gone with a wimper. It was a very good day for anyone in the chalk business. The only exciting part of the day was the annoying Blue Devils' near lose to Belmont. It was not a difficult decision when it came to choosing between pulling for Duke to lose or pulling for my bracket (I inexplicably have Duke in the Elite Eight), not pulling for Duke to lose is not allowed in my house. It is not clear why Belmont decided to stop playing defense while Gerald Henderson drove right down the middle of the court to hit the game winning lay-up. I guess sometimes evil does triumph over good. As for my three "upset" picks, I was 1 for 3 (a rare good day if you are hitting lead-off for the L.A. Dodgers). Michael Beasley won the day with 23 and 11 to O.J. Mayo's 20 and 5 assists. This was probably the last we will see of Mayo at the college level, despite recent reports to the contrary. West Virginia continues to be the most annoying team not named Duke. I thought their stock might fall in this category without Mike Gansey's oversized t-shirts and Kevin Pittsnogle, but I was wrong. Bayless was nowhere to be found in his game, thus why they lost. It is inexplicable why this team is not better. I would like to take this opportunity to remind the Baylor Bears that it is common courtesy to call if you are not going to show up for work. I have a strict policy when it comes to no-call/no-shows, basically I won't pick you. 
