Owners vs. Players- We’ve officially passed the one-month mark in the lockout with no real positive news and as of now I don’t think I’m going to get a chance to avenge this past years fantasy football failure. This past week was another uneventful week in negotiations, which took place in Minnesota. Big victory for the players here as they get to negotiate in Minnesota opposed to the owners choice of Washington D.C. Upon further review I’m not sure if Minnesota in the spring is much of win but that’s besides the point, both sides are scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday. Just to show how exciting the NFL is right now, I went to ESPN.com NFL section Saturday morning and all of the headline news at the time had something to due with current or former players getting into trouble.
Now to the part that you’ve all been waiting for, Madden Cover tournament breakdown! The white running back continued its shocking run to the final four with Peyton Hillis securing a match-up against Aaron Rodgers in one final four match-up with Michael Vick and Adrian Peterson being the match-up on the other side. I’m probably only the only person to notice this but can’t all of these players be compared to the NCAA final four this year? Mike Vick’s already been on the cover so he’s UCONN (previous national championships), Adrian Peterson as Kentucky because there both fan favorites and are really good. Aaron Rodgers as Butler because nobody really knew of them a year and a half ago and now everybody knows them because of their recent success and lastly Peyton Hillis as VCU because nobody knows anything about either of them. If there were odds for this, which strangely enough I’m sure there actually are, Michael Vick would be the overwhelming favorite with Aaron Rodgers and Adrian Peterson being underdogs and million of people asking “who the f*** is Hillis?” Bottom line look for Vick to roll all the way to the championship. I would try compare this to the brick throwing competition (NCAA championship) between Butler and UCONN but I’m not sure how to compare basketball and online voting for a video game. Your right it’s a once in a lifetime chance so here I go, the finals will end with Vick winning due to Rodgers ineptitude in submitting online ballots. For the Vick match-up team Rodgers was only 18 percent successful in correctly submitting their online ballots leading to an easy but unwatchable Vick victory.
NBA- The playoffs are upon us but the real news is that the Minnesota Timberwolves were able to complete the unthinkable; ending the season with a worse record than the Cleveland Cavaliers. The main key to their magical run to the cellar of the NBA standings was ending the season on a 15 game losing streak, good news for Cavaliers fans is that they can still take solace in possessing the longest losing streak of the season (24 games). Shocking news both of these teams failed to make the playoffs.
Unfortunately I was unable to catch most of the first batch of playoff games because my professors decided to assign three midterms on Monday or Tuesday morning this week so instead of watching the first games of the playoffs I was reviewing anti derivatives. Side note how can you call a test a midterm if were not even halfway done with the term? For instance I have “three midterms” this week but this is only week 3 out of 10, the math doesn’t make sense right? My choosing studying over NBA playoffs was about a bad a trade off as picking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan but I will give my thoughts on what little basketball that I did see. Derrick Rose in game one against the Pacers made me look like an idiot for not picking him as MVP. The definition of an MVP performance was what Derrick Rose had during Saturdays game one as he kept the Bulls close all game and then exploded in the fourth to guide the Bulls to a game one victory. The Pacers looked pretty good but I give them a zero chance of winning the series because there’s simply no way there coming back from the heartbreak of losing game one even though they had a ten point lead with less than three minutes left.
As good as Derrick Rose was running the point for the Bulls in game one Chris Paul in Sundays Lakers versus Hornets game one was even better in guiding the Hornets to a shocking opening victory in Los Angeles. The Lakers lost because they looked like they would rather be doing a million different things than playing basketball but it was still impressive to see Chris Paul tally 33 points and 14 assists. The Hornets being upset about Aaron Gray’s ankle injury sums up their chances of winning the series, its not going to happen. Moving on the Blazers choked game one away to the Mavericks in no small part due to the Mavericks shooting 19 fourth quarter free throws compared to the Blazers 2 fourth quarter free throws. I’m not saying this as an excuse for the Blazers losing but there’s no way that the Mavericks should have shot 17 more fourth quarter free throws than Dallas. For the game the Blazers at least stat wise were the more aggressive team as evidenced by there 46 points in the paint compared to Dallas’s 18 points in the paint. Regardless of the free throw statistics the Blazers were up six at around the four minute mark in the game and pulled their patented were going to stop scoring and hope we can pull off the win. As always this move led to a loss which is something that the Blazers should have learned throughout the regular season when they pulled this move at least 10 times with little success. The Hawks pulled the upset in Orlando even though Dwight Howard put up a monster stat line of 43 points and 19 rebounds, I didn’t watch any of this game but what the hell were Howard’s teammates doing? I still think that Orlando will win this series but it’s usually not a good idea to lose game one by double digits in your home building. I wasn’t able to catch either of the Sunday late afternoon/night games so I don’t have any thoughts on the Knicks vs. Celtics or Thunder vs. Nuggets. Sorry about that I know you guys are devastated.
MLB- I’m already regretting picking the White Sox as the World Series champions because it has become painfully apparent that they don’t have a closer. Another team that’s looking like a poor fit for the playoffs would be the Boston Red Sox as they are struggling out of the gates to the tune of a 4-win and 10-loss record. Red Sox fans have already begun panicking which always brings up the question when is it appropriate to begin panicking? Shouldn’t people give the team like 40 games before they begin panicking? The Red Sox are less than fifteen games into the season, which is less than ten percent of the season. Do people realize that this is the equivalent of saying that a baseball game is over when a team scores three runs in the top of the first inning? It’s not a great sign for the Red Sox but I would still bet that they make the playoffs; they are way too talented to not right the ship. Just to clarify its reasonable for me to say that the Mariners are done because they have an offensive lineup that most college pitchers would love to face.
The Week Moving Forward
Owners vs. Players- I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we will still be in a lockout at this time next week. I know real shocking, in other news the final match-up for the Madden Cover will be announced.
NBA- The playoffs are obviously the big NBA news for the week so I humbly present you my playoff predictions. For the record I typed this part up before the playoffs started, you can tell this by me picking the Lakers to sweep among other things.
First Round Eastern Conference
Chicago Bulls over Indiana Pacers in 5 games
The Bulls should win this one fairly easily but I think that the Pacers will be able to snag a W at some point in the series. For the record I would pick against the Pacers no matter who they are playing due to the amount of white players on their roster. When Blazer legend Luke Babbit, legendary only for his paleness (politically correct way of saying whiteness), played against the Pacers it was the only time he actually looked like he belonged on the basketball court.
Miami Heat over Philadelphia 76ers in 4 games
The 76ers had a great season surpassing nearly everyone’s expectations but simply put there is no way that they are winning this series. Getting one victory would be an accomplishment by itself but I don’t think that Dwayne Wade and LeBron James are going to let this happen just so they don’t have to deal with the media after a loss. If Miami somehow lost game 1 Obama (for those that are counting that’s the second presidential mention) would probably be called into Miami to survey the damage and issue a state of emergency. A missing persons notice for Mike Miller would also be issued.
Boston Celtics over New York Knicks in 5 games
Easily the best Eastern first round series the Celtics vs. Knicks series features plenty of star power evidenced by a combined 7 Knicks and Celtics players grabbing top 15 spots in the most popular jersey sales of 2010/2011 season. The Celtics having five out of the top 15 most popular jerseys tells you all that you need to know, they have a team compared to the Knicks with Melo, Amare, Chauncey Billups, and twelve no names. I originally had the Knicks winning two games but I just don’t know how there going to be able to do it. Even with a late season swoon the Celtics will advance.
Orlando Magic over Atlanta Hawks in 5 games
The Hawks being eliminated by the Magic has basically become an annual postseason tradition and I don’t see this as year’s series ending any differently. For those that don’t remember, or choose not to, the Magic annihilated the Hawks in last years playoffs in a four game sweep where the average margin of victory was a touch over 25 points per game. Some have this series going six or seven games but I don’t really see it, Dwight Howard and the Magic will bully their way to the next round after five boring games.
First Round Western Conference
San Antonio Spurs over Memphis Grizzlies in 6 games
I was really feeling picking the Grizzlies to upset the Spurs but ultimately couldn’t pull the trigger because I didn’t want to be the one person in the world that picked against the Spurs. My thinking on a Grizzlies upset was two fold, Manu Ginobili getting injured and the Grizzlies believing that the Spurs are the best match up. The Ginobili injury was the main reason I thought about picking the Grizzlies because Ginobili is the most important player on the Spurs but all signs point to him being back later in the series. The other thing that got me thinking Grizzlies was the fact that the Grizzlies for some odd reason tanked their last two games (odd because they still had a chance to get as high as the sixth seed and a match-up against the Dallas Mavericks) to get this match-up which is either them being incredibly stupid or the fact that they believe this match-up gives them the best shot to advance. You have to think they lost intentionally to get the Spurs which has led me to the point where I think about deleting the above paragraph and picking the Grizzlies but sadly I don’t think I can do it (I guess you can call me a conformist).
Los Angeles Lakers over New Orleans Hornets in 4 games
Nothing to put here, if the Lakers don’t sweep I will be shocked. On second thought I will mention out of all the words Kobe could have said to the referee (for those living under a rock he made a derogatory homosexual comment) on last Tuesday night why did he say what he did? Off the top of my head I can only think of a couple of words, for obvious reasons I can’t say these, which would have been worse than what Kobe said. The other thing from this is how did Kobe not get ejected for what he said? Currently I have Kevin Garnett (cancer comments) as a slight leader in stupid trash talk over Kobe on the season, this isn’t final yet though lots of playoff time left.
Portland Trail Blazers over Dallas Mavericks in 6 games
This was basically a toss up for me, I only chose the Blazers because I didn’t want my friends telling me I’m not a Blazers fan because I picked against them. Off topic but still I will continue, you can still be fan of your team and pick against them. Nobody agrees with me but its called being realistic instead of a homer. I also picked the Blazers because along with all non-Dallas NBA fans I enjoy seeing Mark Cuban after Dallas loses, its almost always good TV. Ultimately I think that Dallas will lose one game on their home floor and the Blazers will protect the Rose Garden leading to a Blazer victory.
Oklahoma City Thunder over Denver Nuggets in 5
A very competitive series that will have at least one game where the final score is something like 125 to 119, in other words look for fireworks in this series. The Nuggets have been great since the Melo trade but I don’t think they have what it takes to get past Kevin Durant and the Thunder especially with point guard Ty Lawson not being one hundred percent. If Lawson was completely healthy I could see this series going to 7 but since Lawson is hobbled I have the Thunder advancing in 5.
Eastern Conference Semifinals
Magic over Bulls in 7 games
Not really sure why but I think the Magic have what it takes to beat the Bulls. There are many reasons why this is a stupid pick, the Magic not having anyone capable of guarding Derrick Rose as the primary one but I think that Dwight Howard will have a monster series and guide the Magic to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the third straight year. The fact that this pick is completely reliant on Dwight Howard staying out of foul trouble doesn’t inspire confidence but I’m still going to stick with the Magic. Looking back upon editing I’m quite sure that I only made this pick to prove that I’m not a conformist.
Celtics over Heat in 6 games
This is hopefully where the Celtics turn the “switch” back on and look like they did for the first half of the season instead of how they’ve looked at the end of the season. The big key to this series will be if Rondo is offensively because he is the one Celtic that has a favorable match-up with the Heat. The other four positions are basically washes but the other reason that I like the Celtics is their bench advantage over the Heat. Once the Heat lose a new DEFCON rating, DEFCON HEAT, will be made.
Western Conference Semifinals
Thunder over Spurs in 6 games
Once again I continue with looking past the Spurs regular season dominance in picking the Thunder but I just can’t see the aging Spurs being able to keep up to the upstart Thunder. This series and presumably the next against the Lakers (more on that a paragraph down) will show how valuable the Kendrick Perkins pickup was in terms of the Thunder being able to control the paint as opposed to last years playoffs. It’s a little strange to pick against a one seed this early but I just can’t see the Spurs scoring enough points to hang with the Thunder.
Lakers over the Blazers in 5
The only way the Blazers can win this series is if; A, Ron Artest goes crazy and murders Kobe Bryant, or B, if Portland fans murder Kobe Bryant. These really are the only two ways that Portland will advance, seeing as these probably won’t happen (you can’t rule out Ron Artest though) the Lakers will easily roll to their third straight conference finals.
Conference Finals (This occurs something like four months from now but its never too early to make bad predictions is what I like to say)
Celtics over Magic in 7
I’m probably riding the Celtic bandwagon a year too late but screw it Jesus Shuttlesworth will lead the Celtics to the Finals. Off topic but when is He Got Game 2 coming out? No one on the Magic can guard Pierce, Garnett, Allen, or Rondo, which outweighs no one on the Celtics being able to guard Dwight Howard. Simple math really 4 > 1 (Upland Eagles in the House).
Lakers over Thunder in 7
I had the Thunder advancing but then I realized I had used all my crazy upset predictions on the Eastern Conference. Plus the Lakers still have Kobe Bryant so I don’t see them losing.
NBA Finals
Lakers over Celtics in 7
This really shows you how original I am in picking a finals rematch from last year but after looking flipping coins for every match-up this is how it ended up working out. Ok so maybe that’s not how I determined it so far but I’m 90% sure that the Lakers will be the Western conference representative and I’m not buying the Heat or Bulls stock so it was the Celtics coming out of the East. In other words I predict five months from now (?) the Lakers will get their third straight title.
MLB- This will be the week that the Mariners will be no hit. You are completely correct in your assessment that this really isn’t too daring of a prediction.
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