New Position

I apologize for the length in betweeen posts, but I am merely informing you that I have been named Senior Columnist at the daily colonial and will be writing weekly columns for them. You can read my first one at the site:

dailycolonial.com

Thanks alot for reading and if you care to continue check the site every Tuesday or Wednesday for my new piece.

-gomp

My NBA DRAFT LIVE BLOG FOR THE DAILY COLONIAL

6:55- Good Evening ladies and gentleman, and welcome to a monumental moment for The Daily Colonial.

Once again, we’re at the NBA Draft.

Actually, my credential only got me into the WaMu Theater with no media seat, so for the next few hours please refer to me as Julian Gompertz, staff writer for the Corriere Della Serra.

6:57- I’d like to point out that we will be introducing the best and worst dressed 2007 NBA prospects of this year’s draft, and not to give anything away but Joakim Noah is the runaway leader at the start.

7:02- I am situated dead center in the room on the floor and have great access to the stage, the players, and Stuart Scott’s lazy eye. I also feel the need to tell you that walking into the media entrance I could hear Stephen A. Smith inside yelling about his beloved New York Yankees.

7:05- We are not even five minutes into the ESPN coverage when Atlanta is said to have decided on Al Horford with their number three draft pick. In a related story, this conversation was overheard in the hallway outside the dining area:

Atlanta GM Billy Knight: So, guys thought I’d let you know we are going with Shelden Williams this year.

His staff: Billy, we told you already, he is not on the board this year.

Knight: Oh, ok well what about that guy who is identical to him, can we take him this year? Yeah, that Horford guy, let’s go with him.

7:11- Reason number 256 you know the NBA Draft is in serious trouble, we removed Dick Vitale from his oxygen tank to give us his take on this year’s prospects…I can take Vitale for a month, but he is meant for March, not June.

7:18- Stuart Scott gets the wonderful honor of interviewing each prospect. He is asking Durant about what this process is like. I dare Stu to challenge him in the bench-press.

7:20- Annoying subplot No. 1 of this draft - Mike Conley and Greg Oden have played basketball together since the sixth grade.

Annoying subplot No. 2 of this draft - Joakim Noah will not shut up about his father, and claims Yannick taught him about hustle and grit.

Annoying subplot No. 3 of this draft - We need to confiscate David Stern’s iPod and put some Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Ludacris on there, because I feel like I am at a gay discotheque in Paris.

7:25- I can see the Blazers correspondent here on the floor which can only mean the draft itself is about to get under way.

7:28- Funniest thing yet, Mike Conley’s mother is wiping her son’s face clean to make sure he looks good for the camera. These are the things they do not show you on ESPN.

7:30- Finally, “The Second Coming” a song that gets me just remotely excited for the draft is playing. The lights have gone black and it is show time.

7:32- The amount of make-up used on Mark Jackson’s bald head is remarkable and it is hurting my eyes as I am within five feet of him and Mike Tirico, who is still dishing out corny clichés to make this draft seem more exciting.

7:34- Here we go - the clock is at 00:00 and David Stern has received a mixed reaction of cheers and boos from the fans. He tries to appease the New York Fans by reminding them that the Knicks and Liberty play here. Scratch that, the Knicks and who? play here.

7:35- Portland is on the clock. My money is on Carl Elliott (he just had a workout with them).

7:37- AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU GUYS GOTTA KNOW THAT WHEN YOU GOT TO MAKE A DECISION, THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT, QUITE FRANKLY, IT IS GREG ODEN.
-Stephen A. Smith

7:38- The Portland Trail Blazers have selected...Greg Oden...hmmm what a surprise, walking up he hugged about ten guys in his posse, his family, and of course Mike Conley and Thad Matta. Also of note, David Stern is really short.

7:42- Greg Oden uses hand sanitizer - that will go over well in the Portland Locker Room and on the court with the veterans.

7:46- Wow, huge deal just went down involving Ray Allen and the Celtics which leads to…

7:47- And with the second pick in the 2007 NBA draft, the Seattle Supersonics select an NBA coach to run their team next year. Oh wait, they do not have one of those yet, but they are able to run a team because a 14-year-old who is just hitting puberty is making these decisions for the Las Veg….I mean Seattle Supersonics.

7:50- Actually they took some Durant guy, who might just be the next Jordan.

7:53- Haha, funny subplot here, the clock actually ran out on Atlanta’s pick which is just not surprising. Still, they drafted Al Horford, so if your keeping score at home that is three straight years Billy Knight has drafted a Power Forward (M. Williams, S. Williams, Horford). And yet, for those of you basketball fans wondering, you can only play one of those at a time.

7:55- So far none of the athletes have really wowed me with their wardrobe, but something tells me another Gator is ready to shock the American Public.

7:57- Mike Conley went number four meaning my mock draft is already down the drain, as I had the Grizzlies on the Corey Brewer bandwagon late. A little tidbit about Memphis: their GM, Chris Wallace, is the same guy who has drafted the likes of Joe Forte and almost single-handedly ruined the Celtics before turning it over to Danny Ainge to screw up some more.

8:02- So the Seattle-Boston deal is in the books, which put Jeff Green’s mom into tears because she just realized her son is going to be playing for a franchise in Las Veg….I mean Seattle.

8:04- Jeff Green looks very uncomfortable wearing a Celtics hat. Why do they do this to him? Just give him a Sonics hat and a cup of Starbucks and let’s see how Milwaukee justifies taking Yi Jianlian and putting him in a market that has three Asian people in it.

8:09- David Stern looks queasy before announcing this selection and YES Yiiii has been selected by Milwaukee. David Stern is sobbing in the backroom as he could not find a way to rig this and put Yi in a big market, Yi’s facial reaction was priceless as he looked like I did back in third grade when someone picked me to be on their kick-ball team… shocked. I have never seen such a quiet reception for such a big moment in the NBA.

8:14- You know you are a small market when Andy Katz has to remind us that your team has decided they will keep this international pick. By the way, high comedy as Stuart Scott can add “English Teacher” to his resume, trying to fight through this Yi interview.

8:16- “Yi is 50 Cent and Jay-Z” - actual quote from Fran Fraschilla who claims that Yi is new-age.

8:20- Corey Brewer has a smile the as wide as a Paul Bunyon foot print. (Read: Wolves picked him up.)

8:23- By the way, Boston, next season, will sport Pierce, Allen and Jefferson which automatically makes them a contender to win the East…I LOVE THIS GAME!!!

8:28- It is about time to mention ESPN’s David Aldridge is sitting two rows in front of me with a giant box of popcorn, and he gets paid for this stuff. (He actually asked some really great questions yesterday, which will come in a following column called, “lets see how uncomfortable I can make 19 year-olds feel about their chances of succeeding in the NBA”).

8:31- I know Michael Jordan has Dean Smith and the Tar Heels to thank for the beginning of what was an unbelievable career, but we got the point last year when he drafted both Raymond Felton and Sean May, the Brandan Wright pick was a bit unnecessary. If you did not know he was a freshman and is undersized for the NBA, Brandon reminded all of us by flashing his bling on ESPN, and no not his chains but his braces which were the laugh of media row.

8:34- First time all night the Knicks fans have been audible booing their unbelievably inept GM Isiah Thomas who gave up two first round picks, including this number nine, to get Eddy Curry’s heart problem and the 23 pick this year.

8:38- We are still waiting for the best dressed player here to be selected, and while speaking of wardrobes, I regret to inform you David Stern has fined me an undisclosed amount for not adhering to the NBA dress code as I took off my jacket in this 138 degree room.

8:40- YESSSS, THE BEST DRESSED OBVIOUSLY GOES TO JOAKIM NOAH IN A LAND-SLIDE. Walking by him earlier, I saw he forgot to take his tag off of his Thrift Store five-dollar suit with his .35 cent bow-tie. And just to clear the air, television really makes Joakim Noah that much uglier, as he only made me want to puke for about 30 minutes being here live and all.

8:42- Wait hold that though - Spencer Hawes’ mom, who had received no media attention now gets on live-television wearing a purple button-down shirt that shines in the light here in the theatre, putting Noah’s victory in jeopardy.

8:44- Forgot to mention they showed Spike Lee here before which was the loudest cheer in the theatre tonight and he is now coaxing David Lee five feet away from me telling him, that he better stay in New York or Spike’s next documentary will be about the unsolved murder mystery of the once rising NBA star from Florida.

8:48- More on that rigging bit, David Stern has been talking to the “big-time” media guys like the NYTimes and ESPN.COM in a silenced muffled voice just 15 feet away. If only I could move around and figure more out about this, but I must remind you that we are over an hour into the draft and no one has noticed that I am not a writer for the Corriere Della Serra.

8:50- I would love to start smoking the same drugs as Acie Law III who I swear was begging for money in Grand Central just two hours ago before they showed him with his son being drafted by the Atlanta Hawks.

(I asked Acie yesterday at the media session if he would be playing with a chip on his shoulder after the crushing loss in the NCAA tournament against Memphis. He said he has always played with a chip on his shoulder and that his father taught him about proving people wrong. My only question, which I did not ask, is who was his father proving wrong? Was it the homeless guy sleeping next to track 23 in Penn Station? Someone get Lisa Salters on this please.)

8:57- Time for me to officially tell you that my favorite player in this year’s draft is about to get drafted. Look at Al Thornton’s numbers from last season and tell me he is not the sleeper to win the ROY award...and...

8:58- WHAT!!! Thaddeus Young at the No. 12 pick, I would have been surprised by this pick but then I remember that the GM of this team is the same guy who dealt Allen Iverson for a heap of garbage, gave Samuel Dalembert and Kyle Korver max contracts and has drafted Rodney Carney and John Salmons in the first round.

9:02- Oh Joy, Billy Knight trying to coherently speak about why he is not dumb. Except he just compared Acie Law IV to Mark Jackson who is in the top five all-time in assists for a point-guard in NBA History. Billy, Acie Law is a shoot first point-guard, and a good one at that, but he is not going to set any NBA all-time assists record any time soon

9:05- Julian Wright is my favorite player in this draft for two reasons: One, he has the coolest first name of any draft pick, and two, just like some other cool guy named Julian he loves to bowl which makes him even cooler. I now forgive the Hornets for not taking Nick Young who would have given them the shooting guard which they need.

9:07- The rumor flying around here is that the Knicks may get Zach Randolph for Steve “65 million dollar” Francis and Channing “I can’t even bench 145 let alone 185” Frye.

9:10- David Stern’s voice cracks are becoming the new laugh of media row here as the LA Clippers just vaulted themselves back into the playoffs by drafting Al Thornton.

9:12- Being on the media row with all the foreign papers, people keep emptying out because they want to go interview that Chinese guy and I keep getting asked when I am going to go back, so we could be in some trouble here. VIVE LA CORRIERE DELLA SERRA

9:14- By the looks of Al Thornton and Greg Oden, they are taking this age-limit rule in the NBA really seriously. Guys, you can come out after freshman year, you do not need to wait to start getting social security before declaring.

9:17- Question? Why do the Pistons take Rodney Stuckey who is only fourth on the Eastern Washington all-time scoring list? This means there were three guys who attended Eastern Washington and scored more points than a guy who just got drafted 15th overall.

9:23- The Wizards got a steal in Nick Young, but the Pac-10 player also is the runaway winner with worst-dressed NBA prospect, going with dark slacks and a white jacket.

9:25- AND THE THEATER HAS ERUPTED, ZACH RANDOLPH IS A KNICK. It has officially occurred, and to be frank, this is the best move the Knicks organization has made via trade in the past ten seasons.

9:29- Back to Stuckey - I have discovered Ron Cox is the all time EWU scoring leader and never even played in the NBA...I LOVE THIS GAME!!!

9:32- Golden State loves those foreigners and they come in with the second legitimate shock of the draft taking Marco Belinelli. Fran Fraschilla never disappoints and he said it best: “This guy reminds me of a Vinnie Del Negro and Brent Barry type.” Yep, that sounds worth taking at 18.

9:33- KOBE BRYANT DOES NOT WANT TO BE A LAKER, QUITE FRANKLY DOES IT MATTER WHETHER OR NOT PHIL JACKSON IS A LAKER BECAUSE THE FACT OF THE MATTER JUST HAPPENS TO BE THAT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT ME YELLING LOUDER MAKES ME SEEM MORE IMPORTANT AS AN ESPN NBA ANALYST IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF BASKETBALL FANS WHO WANT TO PUNCH ME IN THE FACE.
-Stephen A. Smith

9:33- As the draft continues, we, the media, are receiving transcripts of back-stage interviews and here are a few highlights:

Al Horford about his dad’s antics with the Dominican Flag:
“We’re proud of where we are from and he just got a little carried away with the flag. It’s all good.”

Mike Conley on wishing he had a Lebron James situation with Greg Oden:
“We were just preparing to go on and be without each other and I’m just happy for him and give him all the credit.” (I am in the process of being named the best man, though Daequan Cook is a notch ahead of me)

Yi Jianlian on if he knew about Milwaukee:
“I don’t know much about the team because in China, their games — I didn’t see a lot of games of Milwaukee in China.”

Yi Jianlian when asked about his conversation on stage before the draft with Greg Oden:
“Oden is a good guy, a funny guy.”

Corey Brewer when asked if he was prepared for the Minnesota Cold:
“It didn’t cross my mind but since you mentioned it, it’s going to be real cold. Guess I’m going to have to get a big jacket.”

Spencer Hawes on playing with AHHNOOLD as the governor:
“Oh I was watching Pumping Iron with a couple of my friends, some of those old school tapes, it’s going to be fun.”

Joakim Noah on being complemented on his outfit:
“Thanks a lot. You know, I’m going to be me. I’m going to be me. I think that the bow tie was definitely a great look tonight. I think the suit was really, really funky. I said it was going to be funky. I’ve got a lot of love so far from the suit. I’m just happy, man.”

Joakim Noah on being a Knicks fan growing up:
“Thank you Mr. Paxson, I used to really not like you when you were a player because you used to make me cry but thank you so much.”

9:45- Back to this thing they call an NBA draft. While I was away the Lakers drafted Jarvaris Crittenton which is who I thought they would take, but the more I realize the more I remind myself he could not control the game against UNLV in the first round of the NCAA tournament, so how does Mitch Kupchak expect him to run an offense with Kobe Bryant producing videos behind his back asking them to ship his a** out of LA.

9:48- One of the more meaningless ten minutes of the draft, Miami selects Jason Smith, Philly takes Daequan Cook then they swap them with some cash on the side. A typical Billy King decision.

9:52- The Bobcats take Jared Dudley who was really moving up draft boards in the past few weeks for coolest dreadlocks in round one.

9:53- Now the fun begins, Knick fans have awoken for their selection.

9:55- Spike Lee just said “Isiah Thomas knows what he is doing.” What a filthy liar, ask him how much Isiah paid him to say that on ESPN. In four years the Knicks have found a way to trade 25 players and get back only 20 while going 89-157 overall.

9:57- And it is Wilson Chandler, who was a very solid player at Depaul…AT DEPAUL. I also am disappointed in the Knick fans here who felt guilty booing him because he decided to attend the draft.

10:02- Getting into the third hour of coverage and I was just informed if you have enough money you can buy draft picks which begs to ask why doesn’t every Knick fan spend 15 dollars towards a top draft pick instead of coming to the draft.

10:03- Portland has been the most active team tonight and according to Mike Tirico, the Blazers are just looking to have fun. As a New Yorker I distinctly remember the New York Mets season two years ago when we began 0-5 and a reporter asked Willie Randolph what his first week as a manager was like and he claimed “We are having fun.” Well, the media does not like it when you take your job that lightly so it will be interested what the reaction is from the 12 Blazers fans on Paul Allen’s having fun line. My guess is they will yell a lot, until they realize they are a potential playoff team and than go back to honking once for Greg Oden.

More comments from NBA players selected:

Nick Young on if he can teach Gilbert anything:
“I’m going to let him show me a lot. I could teach him my fadeaway.”

Marco Belinelli’s hero:
“Kobe Bryant” (insert joke here)

Rodney Stuckey on why he chose Eastern Washington over Washington State or Gonzaga:
“I didn’t qualify, I was a couple of credits short.” (If that is not a major red-flag in terms of scouting an NBA player than I do not know what is, but all the power to you guys Detroit.)

10:11- Phoenix (or Portland) has received Rudy Fernandez, which was met with “Rudy, Rudy” chants from this comic crowd at the WaMu theater, but it’s too bad Rudy will not be playing NBA ball anytime soon.

10:15- I know ESPN is the worldwide leader in sports, but when you announce Sunday is for Bowling, Monday is for Arena Football, Thursday is for the MLS and Tuesday is for Women’s Basketball, shouldn’t the guys at Bristol stop taking this worldwide leader of sports thing so seriously?

10:18- Morris Almond was selected, and you can group him into obscure guards that get way to much publicity because Jay Bilas has seen 13 seconds of exciting footage of him.

10:22- Just walked to the bathroom and made two very interesting realizations. I bumped into Yi on my way there as he was on the way to be interviewed by ESPN, and he is no force to be reckoned with, by any stretch of the imagination. He is scrawny, and now it makes sense why he was “scared” to workout with other potential draft players. They would have eaten him alive and you might as well ride this whole “Next Yao Ming” title as long as you can until everyone realizes you are a lot closer to Ha Seung Jin than Yao Ming. The second is that Stuart Scott is short on friends as when he is not asking awful questions to the draft picks, he is squinting trying not to let the weird lighting in the theater disrupt his only good eye left while trying to text message Stephen A. to ask if he wants to sleepover tonight.

10:23- Aaron Brooks wins the award for most annoying guard to ruin my NCAA bracket as I desperately needed UNLV to beat Oregon which did not happen because Brooks and Tajuan Porter decided not to miss a 3-point shot all game. He also was drafted in the first round which is surprise number three in this draft.

10:25- You think Joe Dumars sees the writing on the wall, two guards with his two first round picks. Say Goodbye to Chauncey for sure as Arron Afflalo will take his So-Cal game to Motown.

10:29- San Antonio made news earlier today when they bought the Austin Toros in the NBDL, but after drafting Tiago Splitter at 27, the Spurs should re-consider naming themselves the Austin United Nations as for the fifth time in six years they draft international. As much as it kills me to say this, the NBA’s dynasty seem to know what they are doing and have reached Patriots draft status when it comes to questioning their selection. If they took Splitter, it is because he is the best player available for their team, no questions asked or Bruce Bowen will knee you in the groin.

10:32- ESPN gaffe of the year, they cut to Dickie V, who can only make an appearance once every 20 minutes because he is on life support, who began giving his take on Alondo Tucker before his name came up as Omar Lopez...Swear to God.

10:37- If only this was in real-time I could tell you in advance Petteri Koponen is going to be the Sixers pick as he is in the stands being flocked by Finnish flags and he has a banging girlfriend...and just to add, his handshake with the commish was clocked at 28 seconds...lets kick it down on the floor to mo: MO! (Mike O’Malley is my hero).

10:40- More unintentional comedy, David Stern exits after the first round and the podium is raised by about seven inches because Adam Silver is not a hobbit.

----

That is a wrap for round one, but I will be keeping an eye out for our fellow Colonial Monty Singh Harika, who may be still looking to increase his “publicity”, and of course I will also be keeping an eye out for any words about the actual Colonial, Carl Elliott.

Editor’s Note: Carl would go undrafted, and now prepares for a summer of free agency looking for work either in the NBDL or European leagues.

Littler Bro on the act

Zach Gompertz Mock Draft

1. Greg Oden – Portland Traiblazers

2. Kevin Durant – Seattle Supersonics

3. Al Horford – Atlanta Hawks

4. Mike Conley Jr. – Memphis Grizzlies

5. Yi Jianlian – Boston Celtics

6. Brandon Wright – Milwaukee Bucks

7. Joakim Noah – Minnesota Timberwolves

8. Corey Brewer – Charlotte Bobcats

9. Spencer Hawes – Chicago Bulls

10. Jeff Green – Sacramento Kings

11. Acie Law IV – Atlanta Hawks

12. Al Thornton – Philadelphia 76ers

13. Nick Young – New Orleans Hornets

14. Javaris Crittenton – L.A. Clippers

15. Rodney Stuckey – Detroit Pistons

16. Julian Wright – Washington Wizards

17. Sean Williams – N.J. Nets

18. Thaddeus Young – G.S. Warriors

19. Rudy Fernandez L.A. Lakers

20. Jason Smith – Miami Heat

21. Josh McRoberts – Philadelphia 76ers

22. Tiago Splitter – Charlotte Bobcats

23. Wilson Chandler – New York Knicks

24. Marco Belinelli – Phoenix Suns

25. Morris Almond – Utah Jazz

26. Nick Fazekas – Houston Rockets

27. Derrick Byers – Detroit Pistons

28. Jared Dudley – S.A. Spurs

29. Petteri Koponen – Phoenix Suns

30. Glen Davis – Philadelphia 76ers

Other possible 1st round players/early 2nd round players:

Daequan Cook

Gabe Pruitt

Marcus Williams

Aaron Gray

Marc Gasol

Taurean Green



A Job Well done by the little man, and as I mentioned earlier: The New palce to look for me is at armchairgm.com where I am under the name jaygomp33. I will post my articles there here as well

DURANT OVER ODEN

I cannot recall a time when scouts, general managers and coaches used the results of a particular players work, in-season, to determine how good, or bad, a player could be when he made the leap from being a college athlete to being a professional one? I always seem to remember hearing about the combine and team workouts, and speed drills, and vertical leap’s, but never about a player’s clutch play down the stretch of the season or his big games against conference foes.

I could spend the whole column writing about the success stories of many of the NFL and NBA's greatest players and how it was easy to predict their success in the Pro's because they succeeded in college, yet all that would follow is a litany of comments from "bashers" who will name all the successful athletes today in sports who did not have a stellar college career. Instead, I am going to ask you a simple question. If you were the GM for the Blazers (Kevin Pritchard), what do you care more about the fact that Kevin Durant was the first freshman college basketball player to receive the game's MVP award or that he could not lift 185 pounds? Digest that for a second and take about ten seconds to realize no freshman has done what Durant did this year. 37-23, 37-12, 30-16, 37-10 are not just the lottery winners for this week, those are the point and rebound totals Durant had in four of his biggest conference games this season @ Texas Tech, @ Ok. St, Texas A&M, @ Kansas. I am not even mentioning a 37-16 performance against Colorado in his Big-12 debut, but I digress.

Greg Oden meanwhile, is "the consensus" number one pick because he is a seven-foot center with freakish athleticism and the ability to control the interior on both ends of the floor. www.nbadraft.net claims Oden is "one of those dominant centers that surfaces in the high school ranks every 10 or so years." Yet, when we look back at his freshman year at Ohio State the numbers are not staggering. Oden had only three 20-10 games compared to Durant's 19, yes you read that correctly, and Oden's best game came on the biggest stage where he had 25 points and 12 rebounds against Florida in a national championship loss. Durant had 12 games this season where had had over 25-12 and had seven 30-10 games.

Can Greg Oden be a dominant center in the NBA? Probably, but do not think for a second that he has more upside than Durant because no one has dominated the college game individually like Durant did this year. Furthermore, if the NCAA Tournament showed any major flaw about either player, my biggest concern about Oden would be his defense because he is prone to getting into foul trouble which plagued him all throughout the season and in every single tournament game up until the championship. Durant, meanwhile single-handedly carried a Texas basketball program back to the tournament after the team lost LaMarcus Aldridge and Daniel "boobie" Gibson the year before. He did it with no experienced players around him and a coach who did not run specific plays for him.

Adding insult to injury was Durant's workout for the Trail Blazers. Having gotten the opportunity to see the footage, I can firmly say he was nothing short of spectacular, and that does him no justice. He made every shot he took, or so it seemed, and looked like a mix of Tracy McGrady and Kevin Garnett.

My final thought to add is when you think of the Portland Trail Blazers, ask yourself do they really need a Center or do they really need a small forward? They spent their number four pick of last year's draft on another Texas big-man (Aldridge) and he seems ready to step into the starting line-up on that frontcourt with power-forward Zach Randolph, but who is playing small-forward for that basketball team? Last year it was former NBDL stud Ime Udoka starting at the 3 with former first round bust Travis Outlaw getting minutes as well. It is evident they need Durant more then they need Oden, because why should they be forced to trade Randolph and create room for Oden when his upside is nowhere near that of the small-forward who would slide right into the Blazers starting rotation and make their starting five look like this: Jack, Roy, Durant, Randolph, Aldridge.

That Ladies and Gentleman is a 2007-08 NBA Western Conference Playoff team.

(You can also start reading me on armchairgm.com as I was invited to begin writing for their sports blog website as well. My name wil be jaygomp33 and look out for upcoming articles their as well)

NBA MOCK DRAFT THE FIRST VERSION 1.0

So I am doing a mock draft today and one wednesday, and than wll be blogging during the draft on Thursday as I will be there live with a media credential. I would like to thank Alex Byers and Josh Meredith at the Daily Colonial for that. Without further adieu here it is:

1. Portland- Greg Oden (though by version 2.0 I may talk myself into making this Durant)

2. Seattle- Kevin Durant

3. Atlanta- Al Horford

4. Memphis- Mike Conley

5. Boston- Jeff Green

6. Milwaukee- Joakim Noah

7. Minnesota- Brandon Wright

8. Charlotte- Corey Brewer

9- Chicago- Yi Jianlian

10- Sacramento - Spencer Hawes

11- Atlanta- Acie Law IV

12- Philadelphia- Al Thornton

13- Charlotte- Nick Young

14- Los Angeles Clippers- Jarvaris Crittenton

15- Detroit- Rodney Stuckey

16- Washington- Julian Wright

17- New Jersey- Jason Smith

18- Golden State - Thaddeus Young

19- Los Angeles Lakers- Gabe Pruitt

20- Miami - Glen Davis

21- Philadelphia- Josh McRoberts

22- Charlotte- Sean Williams

23- NY Knicks- Wilson Chandler

24- Phoenix- Rudy Fernandez

25- Utah- Derrick Byars

26- Houston- Nick Fazekas

27- Detroit- Petteri Koponen

28- San Antonio- Tiago Splitter

29- Phoenix- Morris Almond

30- Philadelphia- Marco Belinelli

Re-visiting the past

This was my take on Tom Glavine just a few days ago, when almost all baseball fans wrote off the 296 game winner:

Those of you writing off Tom Glavine, let me be the first to say: Not so fast. He has been rocked in his last two outings giving up 9 ER in 4 and 1/3 innings in Detroit before giving up 7 ER in 4+ innings yesterday, but the Tigers and Yankees are two of the top five hitting teams in baseball statistically. Glavine's next two starts are against Oakland and St. Louis, two teams who do not have the firepower of the Tigers and the Bombers. Consider this, before these past two games Glavine, Glavine had gone 0-3 in the 3 prior games giving up just 7 ER in 20 IP and was not supported by either his bullpen or his lineup. Does he look hittable? Yes. Is he throwing fewer strikes? Yes. But Tom Glavine is four wins away from completing a feat that will not be replicated for the next 10 years, after Randy Johnson does it early next season. In fact winning 300 games might not be done for quite some time. When Glavine wins number 300, and yes he will do it this year, it will be a bit more special because looking ahead the next closest pitchers to him and RJ are Mike Mussina at 242, David Wells at 233 and Jamie Moyer at 222. Pedro and Kenny Rogers are at 206 and 207 respectively and John Smoltz is at 201. No other active pitcher has 200 wins or more and Andy Pettite is at 190, but none of the aforementioned pitchers have the longevity to win 300 in their career.

This is me nodding my head saying I told you so. One start does not necessarily mean he is "back," but by the looks of it, it is pretty evident he can still pitch when he is not facing a top tier offense. Oakland, is not, in the aforementioned group.

NHL talk- I realize no one cares about this league but between the Rangers draft steal at the 17th pick (Alexei Cherepanov) and the litany of trades thath ave taken place, it is worth mentioning. I am discusgted at the Nashville Predators for pulling a "Florida Marlins" circa 2003, and running a fire-sale through the entire organization. First they deal one of their captains, defenseman Kimmo Timmonen for draft picks and then they deal the most notable player on their roster goaltender Tomas Vokoun for more draft picks. Chris Mason is a nice reserve goalie who stepped up when Vokoun went down this season but this is embarassing and because hockey is not America's pasttime, the Predators would usually be getting killed by the media for this decisions, but if you needed anymore proof this league is in that much trouble, the average person walking down the street could not even tell you who Tomas Vokoun is let alone why or how he got dealt.


Baseball history- Sosa hits 600 and gets cheers in Texas, Thomas hits 498, sets HR record for Designated hitters and will hit 5oo any day now, Griffey back in Seattle for the first time since he leftand the most exciting which is seeing the two eventual two most prolific home run hitters in the same ball-park for a three-game series down by the bay.

Glad to be back after a great couple of days on the beach in LBI, more to come in the next few days.

The State of the Mets

Ok, lets take a second to breathe, goose-frah-bah, goose-frah-bah. Now that we are in our happy place, let me reel off a few notes about the Mets right now:

-The Mets are in 1st place by 1 and a 1/2 games to the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies
-Playing the Yankees and Tigers, was playing the top two offenses in the league. They are 1-2 in runs, hits, SLG% and OPS and boast top hitters like Rodriguez, Jeter,Ordonez and Sheffield.
-The Mets pitching staff is one of the top 5 in the league boasting the 4th lowest ERA in the National League as well as giving up the fewest hits of any staff in the MLB
-The Mets lead the NL in batting average with a .271 team BA
-The Mets have grounded into the second fewest double plays in the Major leagues
-The Mets are on pace to lead the league in Stolen Bases for another season and are 21 SB ahead of the LAA who are #2 in baseball
-The Mets have the third lowest fielding percentage in the league and have committed the second fewest errors in all of baseball

With all of that considered, being worried about this team in its current state is just being worriesome. Have the mets been in this position before with Willie as the skipper? No. Have the Mets shown any signs of life in the past two weeks? No. Do the Mets have more talent than any other team in the National League? Yes. You can talk to me about the Padres pitching with Young, Peavy and Maddux and the kid Germano, but their bats are anemic other then A-Gon, the Dodgers have a great talent pool of young players but they have no hitter in that lineup who will hit 25 homeruns and no hitter is above a .288 BA. The Brewers are keeping the pace, but they are young and inexperienced and I am not sold on that starting rotation after Ben Sheets. With their hot prospect Yovani Gollardo going tonight we may have to reassess that tomorrow.

The fact remains the Mets are still the class of the National league and they were the class of it last year. They have last year's excruciating playoff loss in the back of their minds and I am fine with Glavine, Hernandez, Perez and Maine in my playoff rotation. I am even more ok with the fact that Pedro could replace John Maine in the post-season staff.

Carlos Beltran is the one player who is just plain frustrating me. I truly believe he is playing a game with the media and fans. he does not come out and blame his awful June on his "quad injury" but he makes it seem like he wants us to pity him because he cannot do anything about it. Fact is his quad looked just fine when he ran down not one but two fly balls yesterday in center that any center fielder (not named Hunter, Matthews or Crisp would have dropped or not been able to snag. He looks fine in the field and at the plate, his quad has nothing to do with reading a pitch or getting bat on the ball. Fine if its sore do not steal bases but come on this is ridiculous

The one thing that does not worry me, but disappoints me, is the lackluster play of Carlos Delgado. He is lost at the plate, and will not come out of this. I am not expecting more then 25 homeruns 80 rbi's and a .250 BA for him. Anything more is a major plus which is sad considering he would have been the NLCS MVP last October.

Tom Glavine is going to be ok, look at my post yesterday to see why, but when you face DET and NYY you cannot expect the most amazing results. Those teams can hit no other way around it.

I am also not that worried about the bullpen. Smith and Feliciano look fine and Heilman will come around. Schoenweis has struggled mightily, but lefty hitters are only batting .220 against him making him our designated lefty specialist and Mota and Sele will eat innings.

Relax Met fans we will turn this around.

US OPEN, SOSA, SUBWAY SERIES, MLB, NBA ETC.

So not all is bad in Gomp prediction land. Rory Sabbatini has crumbled but Steve Stricker is at +6, and yes I did say he would be there in yesterday's post. Furyk is also in his pairing and both have a shot to make a move, but, not wanting to be a homer I avoided picking Tiger to win and it looks like he is on the verge of Major number 13. Final Standings:

Woods- +2
Baddeley- +4
Furyk- +5
Stricker- +6
Ames- +6
Singh- +6
Rose- +7
Cabrera- +7
Casey- +7
Watson- +8
Toms- +8

That seems about right, now let us see what goes down.

Sammy Sosa is one home run away from doing something that only Aaron, Bonds, Ruth and Mays have done. He is an alleged steroid user, and he remarkably went from needing an interpreter in court to being able to speak just fine in public. Yet, the nation does not vehemently boo him like they do Barry Bonds and it is one of the more fascinating aspects of sports today. It really adds credence to the argument that more people alienate themselves from Bonds because of the way he acts towards the media, fans and anyone who tries to get near him while we love Sammy because he is just that loveable. Feel free to leave thoughts but the difference between the two is unbelievable.

Those of you writing off Tom Glavine, let me be the first to say: Not so fast. He has been rocked in his last two outings giving up 9 ER in 4 and 1/3 innings in Detroit before giving up 7 ER in 4+ innings yesterday, but the Tigers and Yankees are two of the top five hitting teams in baseball statistically. Glavine's next two starts are against Oakland and St. Louis, two teams who do not have the firepower of the Tigers and the Bombers. Consider this, before these past two games Glavine, Glavine had gone 0-3 in the 3 prior games giving up just 7 ER in 20 IP and was not supported by either his bullpen or his lineup. Does he look hittable? Yes. Is he throwing fewer strikes? Yes. But Tom Glavine is four wins away from completing a feat that will not be replicated for the next 10 years, after Randy Johnson does it early next season. In fact winning 300 games might not be done for quite some time. When Glavine wins number 300, and yes he will do it this year, it will be a bit more special because looking ahead the next closest pitchers to him and RJ are Mike Mussina at 242, David Wells at 233 and Jamie Moyer at 222. Pedro and Kenny Rogers are at 206 and 207 respectively and John Smoltz is at 201. No other active pitcher has 200 wins or more and Andy Pettite is at 190, but none of the aforementioned pitchers have the longevity to win 300 in their career.


Got to love the Freeway series so far, two well pitched games between Lowe-Santana and Schmidt-Weaver. Both teams are playoff bound.

NBA Draft mock draft is on its way, enjoy the final 18 at Oakmont

US OPEN, MLB, NBA DRAFT more...

So two days after my U.S. Open predictions, some were better than others. Currently Rory Sabbatini is +2 on his third day of work, after hugging the cut line at +10 through the first two days.

Steve Stricker has not fared a lot better but with his putting skill, I expect him to make a move to maybe +6 or so today from his current eight over par.

Jim Furyk was an easy call to have some success on a course that calls for accuracy and determination. Adam Scott on the other hand was a total misstep, and even Scott was shocked he played so poorly. Just a few weeks removed from his 63 at the Memorial, he struggled mightily with Mickelson and Furyk in his group.

It was quite easy to call Sergio Garcia struggling as his putter usually betrays him when he needs it most. For the record he may be one of the most overrated golfers out there along with Stewart Cink who has never finished higher then third in a major championship which was back in 2001 at the U.S. Open at Southern Hills.

Interleague- Mets-Yanks was great, but I will say it again, the Yankees have a lot of difficulty with left-handed pitchers. Here a bunch of lefties that have done well against the Yankees.

Oliver Perez (2)
Jarrod Washburn
Horacio Ramirez
Erik Bedard
Adam Loewen
Scott Kazmir

With Damon, Abreu, Matsui, Cano all being lefties and Posada and Melky being historically better left-handed hitters, it is fair to say a Right-Handed Bat would be optimum. Josh Phelps has been a disaster in the field at first and with just 2 homeruns and 12 runs batted in this season, I, personally, am shocked Mark Teixeira is not in pinstripes yet.

A switch hitter who would add stability to the position and is only 27, I realize he is on the DL right now, but that might make him easier to get if you give up a pitching prospect or two. Matt Desalvo and Humberto Sanchez/Russ Ohlendorf might be enough and if Tyler Clippard continues to pitch well packaging him and one of the aformentioned pitchers might just intrigue Texas enough to deal their prized first-baseman.

The better interleague matchup last night though was on the west-coast where Derek Lowe outdueled Ervin Santana in a 2-1 ball-game at Chavez Ravine. Seeing the Dodger bullpen first-hand, let me be the first to say they make every game 6-7 innings with Billingsley, Broxton and Saito rarely going to blow a ball-game for LA. They have lost just once this season after leading games into the 7th inning.

US OPEN PREDICS

I do believe that Tiger Woods will be in contention but I am not going to pick him to win. My gut is telling me to pick Rory Sabbatini and that is my man. My big sleeper pick is Steve Stricker who i believe is going to have a great tournament, and Sergio Garcia is not going to make the cut. Other than that, let the predictions go as they will. Any man bold enough to call out Tiger Woods is going to be in contention to win a US Open on a course this hard, but in the back of my mind Steve Stricker is one of the best putters in the PGA and that bodes well for the course with the hardest greens in the country. Look for Furyk and Adam Scott to make some noise as well.

The mets look awful. It is sad these days being a mets fan but people have been asking me if I am down on this team. Memo to all baseball fans (mostly yankee fans) it is June 14th!!!!! Their is over three months of baseball to be played, and the fact that both the hitting and pitching is struggling hand-in-hand is a good thing in the long run. It means that both will eventually pan out around the same time, while if one were still performing the other were not, they could potentially flip flop. Reyes and Beltran will come around, Delgado might not but that still means 25 home runs 95 rbi's and a .275 average which I will take when you consider Wright will hit 30 home runs with 100 rbi's and close to a .300 average.

Willie needs to get loduca back in that two spot as quickly as possible because:
a) putting him 6 is hurting his value
b) putting him 6 is hurting reyes' value

It worked last year, why mess with a good thing. Put Green 6 now, and then keep Valentin at the 7 spot with either Gomez, Ledee or Milledge in left when he returns. Or go back to an earlier post where I reccomend dealing a pitching prospect either Delios Guerra or Kevin Mulvey for Jorge Cantu. Mulvey has looked great though so we might need more the Cantu, but either way Valentin is 37.

The yankees look hot, but something tells me that a subway series is just the cure to wake a met team that looks like they are just going through the motions right now. Clippard Glavine saturday, you have to give the Mets the advantage and el duque against his former club sunday night and going against Wang, that will be a great ESPN Sunday night baseball game.

Enjoy the weekend, here is to not at all caring about the NBA Finals, and yes I was wrong with my Cavaliers pick, but then again I saved myself because I claimed Cleveland needed to win for Lebron to be THE NEXT MJ and he is not there yet, on his way, maybe, but not there yet

Randy for Randy

(This could potentially used on MSG.com)
Randy Moss WAS a superstar.

He was the next Jerry Rice with 4.4 speed, and set the NFL rookie record for touchdowns in a season with 17. He is the only receiver in NFL history to average a touchdown and 100 yards per game for an entire season and along with Rice, is the only receiver in NFL history to catch 17 or more touchdowns in multiple seasons.

Yet all it took to acquire him, nine years later, was a fourth round draft pick that the New England Patriots did not own when the 2007 NFL Draft began. Consider this: Wes Welker, a glorified special teams player and “Belichick styled” slot receiver was acquired for a 2nd and 7th round pick earlier in the off-season.

The question that all NFL fans want to know is can Randy Moss become, well, Randy Moss?

The answer is that it does not matter.

Moss was slated to make 9.75 million dollars this year as a Raider, but will only make three million as a Patriot, while Welker will earn three times that this season.

Signing Moss to a one-year contract ensures that if he decides to moon the Gillette Stadium faithful, or re-create a New England styled “Randy Ratio,” he need only ask Doug Gabriel, his good friend, what will happen to him.

The worst-case scenario is that Moss cannot co-exist with Bill Belichick and Brady and walks away with his three million dollars (1/3 of what he would have made in Oakland). Best-case scenario? He falls in rank with the other Patriots and emerges as his old-self leading “Brady’s Bunch” to the post-season.

To call that a win-win for Robert Kraft and the Patriots organization would be quite an understatement.

My apology

I would like to take this time to remind everyone that my predictions mean nothing and are almost always wrong. Hence when I predicted Detroit to win both games 5 and then game 6, if you were smart you would have realized I am an idiot and said, this guy knows nothing, Cleveland is going to the finals, but just so you all understand what my thinking was; Detroit had been in seven 3-2 deficits in the NBA playoffs since the 2003 season and had been 6-1 in those series with the one loss coming last year against the Heat. Last season they had been down 3-2 to an identical Lebron team and came back and won game 6 in the Quicken Loans arena before taking game 7 at the palace, but there was one problem. The Cavaliers this year were NOT identical to last year's team. A small point guard who had been one of my favorite college players the year before for Rick Barnes decided to show up for work and took all the offensive pressure off the King. Yes, Daniel Gibson, the Texas Longhorn point guard was truly sensational for the Cavs, and every time you expected him to cool off, he came back for more and hit every single big shot a second round rookie is supposed to miss, let alone get, in game 6 of the conference finals. It was not simply that he was making big three after big three but that he kept getting the oppurtunities and stepped up and made every one. He had one thing going for him, and that was that while the Cavaliers were busy getting taken by the Pistons in last year's playoffs, Gibson was busy trying to prove himself to NBA scouts who knocked him for his size and inability to be a true NBA Point Guard. Not having been around for last year's demise allowed him to come into this game with a free spirit and he came through in as impressive of a performance, to me, as Lebron's game five 48 point showcase.

NBA FINALS PREVIEW:(note this might be on the MSG.Com website)

Destiny or Dynasty?

Julian Gompertz was a witness. I saw Lebron’s game five and Daniel Gibson’s game six and one question remains: Destiny or Dynasty? I want to believe that Lebron can will Cleveland past San Antonio but it is difficult to pick the Cavaliers this year. The Spurs will counter Lebron James with Bruce Bowen who will get under his skin with his dirty play. The Cavaliers have no answer, on the other-hand, for Tim Duncan who is going to terrorize Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao in the paint. Tony Parker is going to drive on Eric Snow, or Gibson, and Manu Ginobili and Michael Finley will get open looks outside when Mike Brown double-teams Duncan. The Spurs have handled Carmelo, AI, Nash, Amare, Boozer, and Deron. Now comes their greatest task yet. Stopping the future of the NBA. Cleveland is playing with house money while San Antonio is exactly where we presumed they would be, once Dallas was dispatched in round one, yet after all of that, I am still going to pick the Cleveland Cavaliers to win this series in six games because if Lebron James is going to be the next Michael Jordan, this is where it truly begins.

Now on to other sport topics:

Donovan “Dons” true Colors

Kudos to the Orlando Magic for being smart enough, and kind enough, to rid themselves of Billy Donovan. Is it a PR nightmare? Yes. Is it false hope for a fan base that has been mired with mediocrity since the days of Shaquille O'Neal and Anfrnee Hardaway? Yes. But why hire a coach who will constantly be asked if he really wants to be in the NBA as coach of the Magic? An NBA coach must be a motivator and earn the respect of his players, and admitting you are not committed to the NBA is not the way to get players to want to play for you. Instead, Orlando will get a nice financial sum and then will sign Stan Van Gundy who will jumpstart all the offensive talent the Magic have. Donovan meanwhile will please the fans, the boosters, the incoming recruits and the current Gators. Yet with all five starters departing, the chances of a three-peat seem slim regardless of the talent in his recruiting class. The biggest loser in this scenario is Virginia Commonwealth Coach Anthony Grant who I believe would have led this talented roster to the tournament.


-A-Rod's homerun last night has "the potential" to be the defining moment of the season. Once again, during the worst of times for the Yankees they have managed to take 4-of-6 from Boston in the last two weeks winning the rubber game in the Bronx and in Fenway. They are seven back of the wildcard and there are grumblings an Abreu for Dye swap could be put in place during this four game seires starting tonight. Let me be the first to say this would be a brilliant move for the Bombers as the one thing they need is a Right-Handed bat in the middle of the line-up. Damon, Abreu, Matsui and Cano are all lefties and Posada and Cabrera are much better left-handed hitters then right handed hitters. The Yankees are the worst hitting team in baseball when they face a left handed pitcher and getting Dye, who looks better this season, could be just what they need to revive the suddenly cold bats.

-Meanwhile, The Red Sox are sitting pretty and are the best team in baseball. They have everything going on all cylinders and come playoff time it is going to be tough to beat Schilling and Beckett on the Road and Dice-k (In Fenway) and Wakefield. Schilling and Beckett both have World Series MVP awards, if you were wondering, and I would take those four over most four man rotations in baseball.

On the Rise- The Oakland Athletics who have won two straight. They have survived and stuck at .500 with more injuries then the Yankees. Street, Swisher, Chavez, Harden, Bradley, Duchscherer are either hurt or are just returning and they have been surviving on the arms of Danny Haren, Joe Blanton and Chad Gaudin. As always, Billy Beane squeezes the most out of this lackluster bunch and they will unfortunately miss the playoffs simply because Detroit, Cleveland and New York are that much better then the A's.

On the Decline- The Chicago White Sox who have dropped two straight and have an awful bullpen and starting rotation. Ozzie Guillen's idea of throwing six guys in the pen with live arms and 98 MPH fastballs was a disaster and two of those arms David Aardsma and Mike Mcdougal are in AAA as of this afternoon. The bats have gone cold and relying on an aging Jim Thome is not the solution. Jermaine Dye has not been the same, Konerko, Crede and Iguchi are all struggling and the rotation has no ace as their frontline guys in Buerhle and Contreras sport ERA's of 3.66 and 4.29 respectively. Javier Vasquez and John Garland have 3.9 ERA's and John Danks, while having potential, is 3-5 with a 4.34 ERA. This team is aging and has no sign of reviving themselves in the near future, and yes this will signal the end of Ozzie Guillen's tenure in Chi-city just two years removed from a World Series victory.

Hope to get my MSG blog started so for all those fans of the Colonial Wiz Kid, be prepared for a more proffessional and up to date blog on MSG.Com

Great day of sports

What a slate today. Stanley Cup Game 3, NBA Finals Game 6, Yanks-Sawx, Mets-D'Backs, Zambrano-Barrett, French Open, Memorial Golf and Nas...ok not Nascar

I would first like to place a link on the site:

Which reminds me, I am legally changing my way to Adam Scott.

Some quick hits: (but not towards Zambrano or Barrett)

- If you do not think what went down in Fenway last night was unintentional, you just do not know the sport. Scott Proctor is the only Yankee pitcher who is willing to take matters into his own hands, and while I do not believe he meant to hit Youklis up high, he wanted to hit him in retaliation for Javier Lopez' blatant hit on Robinson Cano. The Red Sox have hit over 20 more Yankee batters over the past five years that the Yankees have Red Sox, and Proctor has already proven this year (see his four game suspension against Seattle last month) he is going to protect his players and his team.

- As a fan of the Mets, I have never realized just how lucky I am to have a clubhouse of guys who love each other. The Mets shaved their heads last month in a sign of solidarity and coming togehter as a team and something like what transpired at Wrigley yesterday would never be seen in Queens. Unlike the other New York baseball team where their manager, rightfully, throws his star player under the bus, The Metropolitans have not had any "in-house" issues and a lot of it is a reflection of last year's manager of the year Will.....oh wait he did not win it last year? Oh my bad easy to forget at times.

-A team I wrote off before the year, the Minnesota Twins are back on track having won five straight and taking control of third place in the division. The superb play of Justin Morneau and Torri Hunter are making up for the fact that no one else in that line-up is a very good baseball player. Cuddyer and Castillo have been ok and Boof Bonser is becoming a very good major league pitcher, but this team is not one I thought would be hanging around and as usual Ron Gardenhire is doing a lot with very little, especially with his best pure hitter on the disabled list in Joe Mauer. Here is hoping they flop so my predictions have .093736% of credibility.

- Do not look now but the St. Louis Cardinals, my wild-card team, are in second place in the putrid NL Central. Yes it is the central where you could win the divison being five games under .500, but for all that team has gone through they are back and they are winning. How you ask? Albert Pujols. On a down year for the stud first-baseman he leads his team in hits, runs, BA, HR, RBI and Doubles. Gives you an idea of how badly that team needs another bat in the lineup. They are getting by with BRADEN LOOPER as the team ace this year as well. Kudos to Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan who have righted this ship in a major way.

I was wrong, and I do not admit it often, but I was not buying into the Diamondbacks this season, and while I believe they are at least a year away from seriously competing, they have the pieces in place to make a playoff run in a year or two. Chris Young, Carlos Quentin, Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds are all potential starters under 25 years old and with Eric Byrnes and Orlando Hudson this team has a great nucleus of talent to build upon. Combine that with 2006 NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb, a revitalized Randy Johnson, innings-eater Doug Davis and rookie Micah Owings. Watch out for Bob Melvin's club because they are not going away anytime soon.

That is all for today enjoy the sports weekend and back tomorrow or Monday

LEBRON

Listen closely my fellow sports fans, Lebron was simply dazzling last night. He had his way with the same team that dismantled the Magic and made the Bulls seem like an after thought, and he did it on the road, in a hostile environment, with no competent teammate and the killer instinct that has only been seen in players named Jordan and Magic. Yes, ladies and gentlemen Lebron was simply that good, but I have something else to relay to you. I did predict Detroit would win game five and they did not, but MAKE NO MISTAKE, Detroit WILL win game six. You can throw all the Lebron comments you want at me, his amazing performance, his will to not let the Cavs lose and I will simply say that, while Flip Saunders and Mike Brown are auditioning for most incompetent NBA coach in the league, Mike Brown is the champion. Eric Snow playing in crunch time? No set plays for Lebron? and my favorite, not having Lebron bring the ball up the court? Everyone and their mothers knew that in both overtime's Lebron would have the ball, so why not get it into his hands as soon as possible. And let us not forget, these Pistons have underachived and I am not going to count out Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed and Tayshaun in a must-win game. One of the things that went almost unnoticed was the ease in which Chauncey Billups hit those two Free Throws in overtime to tie the game at 100 with under five seconds left to send it to Double Overtime. In the end, the fact remains that this Detroit team is better than any at overcoming adversity and of course the silver lining is that this same team minus Ben Wallace and plus Chris Webber and Jason Maxiell was in the EXACT SAME POSITION and guess what transpired? The Pistons took game six in Cleveland and then came back to the palace to finish off the job. Is Lebron older and more mature? Yes. Did he learn from last year? Yes. But is his surrounding cast as incompetent as it was last year? Yes. Lebron can score 50 in game 6, but the fact remains that Detroit knows it is going to take another Herculean effort by Lebron to win game six at home, and I do not predict that happening.

Lot to cover

Before I start ranting on A-rod I want to bring your attention to something no one will because it seems to have gone by the wayside, but I was recetnley reminded of the worst baseball trade that has occurred in the last 5-10 years in the MLB. No it is not Kazmir for Zambrano as Scotty has not been all that wonderful in Tampa instead it was this deal that took place in 2005. The Rangers dealt Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez and Termel Sledge to the San Diego Padres for Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka and Billy Killian. The Rangers made the deal claiming they needed good pitching at the time but if they had taken the time to put the numbers next to each other, they would have seen Young, at the time, was already a better pitcher and then to add in their best hitting prospect Gonzalez simply because they had Teixeira in front of him in the depth chart makes this trade even more absurd. Young is a future Cy Young award winner, and Gonzalez is crushing balls out of Petco that would make it seem like its easy to hit homers out of the Pads new stadium, and all Texas got was a pitcher who would get injured for the entire next season and is currently meddling in Philadelphia and a reliever, who would have made this trade a little less horrific if he did not just get replaced by Eric "lights out" Gagne who has been nothing like the pitcher he was just a few years back. With Young and Gonzalez, I woud have considered the Rangers a sleeper playoff team, but this deal set them back a good four years, and reminded everyone Kevin Towers is that good at being a GM, or maybe that Jon Daniels is that bad.


Now I am starting this blog by reminding everyone what a prick Alex Rodriguez is. It is bad enough that he swats balls out of pitchers hands, or that he slides directly into second base-man sticking his arms out to make contact with the fielder, and it is bad that he thinks it is a smart baseball play by pretending to be John MacDonald by calling for the ball while running the base-paths, yet there are those fans who will say "well it is good to see he is doing whatever it takes to win the game for his team," and I am not going to deny that. It could be taken as Rodriguez wants to win that badly, and while I do not question his desire, what I do question is the way he conducts these horribly unsportsmanlike plays. Nothing made me angrier last night then when the YES camera crew got that shot of A-rod smirking as the whole stadium showered him with boo's and A-rod sucks chants. He relished in it all, and did not respond to yelling by both the Blue Jays shortstop Macdonald and manager John Gibbons. Rodriguez stood on third base and smikred in a way that made it so evident that he loved angerging the fans and the opposing team. Was it a smart baseball play, probably, but was it a dick move from an even bigger dick, absolutely. Way to go prick, and I will wait with much anticipation for July 16th, when the Blue Jays come to New York and plunk Rodriguez, because they will not forget about this.

As for his scandalous off-field activities, there have been so many websites and paparazzi-driven magazines claiming they have inside sources that Rodriguez is the king of strip clubs. Basically they are intervieiwing strippers who have seen him in their club or presumably seen him and it is all even worse for the New York Post because, while I am sure their photographer got a huge raise, their paper looks worse then those Us and Star magazines they sell while I am paying for my groceries. Just bad journalism, and if a player brings his A-game on the field, I do not care what he does off it, as long as it is legal.

And as I have said many times before, another thing getting no media attention is he took her to a different hotel then where the team is staying meaning either Rodriguez felt the need to be separated from his team for safety or he chose to stay at a different place then the rest of his team and I am just wondering with Clemens leaving for four of every fifth day and rodriguez staying in different hotels, who enjoys actually being around guys like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon among others. What did these guys do that makes Clemens and Rodriguez not want to be a part of the team. All I can say is that is one really intricate clubhouse.

As for my team, the Mets took Wednesday off, but they should be reporting for work Thursday against an up and coming superstar in Matt Cain.

NBA Playoffs are about to get extremely boring when Detorit wins game five in the Palace and closes the door on Lebron in game six. I will take Chauncey and Hamilton over Gibson and Hughes when the game is on the line.

NHL Playoffs- It is so sad Versus ruins these Stanley Cups now because no one saw what was another superb hockey game. The excitement of these NHL playoffs are second to none, and yet no one cares and its sad because as an avid hockey fan I miss the days when hockey games meant something. I am glad NBC has picked up games 3-7 meaning the Stanley Cup will be raised by the Ducks on national TV, but this league has a long way to go before being considered a top tier sport with baseball, basketball and football.

Tennis- Clay Courts 1- U.S. Men 0, pathetic, but it is not our surface and would you be legitmately shocked if Federer and Nadal did not reach the finals because I would.

Oter MLB news- I was never on the Brewers bandwagon and would like to take this time to remind people that with one legitmate power hitter and a J.J. Hardy who is hitting out of this world, I do not see this team holding up, especially because Chris Capuano looks hittable, Sheets looks only sub-par and it is Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush. I will take Zambrano, Hill, Lilly and Marquis every day of the week thank you and pair that with Lee, Ramirez, Barrett, Soriano and you have a team, now if only Ryan Dempster could close.

- I think it is pathetic Torre has zero cahones and is protecting Clemens by not throwing him against the Sawx this weekend in Fenway. What it says is what we are all starting to realize and that is Torre views Clemens as his fourth best pitcher right now because he is unwilling to move either Pettite, Wang or Mussina (the three scheduled pitchers for the series) back a day or two. Furthermore Clemens knows this too because he has notoriously avoided Fenway since his 15-1 loss their in the 99 plaoffs as well as avoiding Shea in his career. If he wanted the ball and told Torre, "hey Joe I need the ball this weekend," he would have the ball, which says to me Clemens is not confident he could beat Boston. Ladies and Gentleman your 2007 New York Yankees.

- Want to hand out my all under-rated awards for this year:

C- Russell Martin (4 HR 36 RBI .303 AVG 32R 53H 8SB)
He is right up there with Posada and Victor but because he has 3-4 less home-runs he is flying under the radar to everyone east of Las Vegas. A great hitter, with good speed and the power will come

honorable mention (Kenji Jojhima)

1b- Justin Morneau (16HR 44 RBI .294 AVG 39R 58H 0SB)
Having an MVP like season after not deserving it last year, second in home runs to Fielder and should be right there with Guerrero and Rodriguez for midway MVP candidate

honorable mention (Carlos Pena)

2b- B.J. Upton (8HR 29 RBI .325 AVG 30R 55H 10SB)
He has done it all for the Rays who have so much young talent but between Dukes, Young and Upton, BJ has the most potential in my mind

honorable mention (Aaron Hill)

3b- Mike Lowell (10HR 41 RBI .330 AVG 28R 61H 2SB)
He has reinvented himself in Fenway and while last year he was a doubles machine he has extended his power to leaving the ballpark. While power was supposed to be a glaring weaknees for this Red Sox team at 1st and 3rd, both Lowell and Youk have combined for 18 dingers and 71 runs batted in.

honorable mention (Mark Reynolds in limited action)

SS- Johnny Peralta (10HR 33RBI .287 AVG 30R 52H 2SB)
You hear so much about the 5 or 6 grea NL SS and Jeter in the american league, but after an off year last seaosn, many people wrote off Peralta as a one-hit wonder, but check again and you will see the making of a top flight middle infielder with some pop in his bat

honorable mention (Carlos Guillen)

OF's- Alexis Rios, Eric Byrnes and Jeff Francouer
All three of these guys make the list for different reasons. Rios had a great seaosn last year and is having an even btter one this year mashing 12 homers out of the leadoff spot for the Blue Jays. Just like Rios, Byrnes has been asked to lead off quite a bit for the Diamond backs and he has performed well with 8 long balls and a + .300 avg as well. Francouer has been labeled a free swinger, and while he has not shedded that title, he has been free swinging to the beat of 7 homers 38 rbi's a .292 avg and the most 2 out-rbi's in the league, meaning he can hit in the clutch because he swings so well.

honorable mention (Mike Cuddyer, Aaron Rowand and Curits Granderson)

SP- Tom Gorzelanny (6-3 2.39 ERA 1.26 WHIP 43K)
the hard throwing south paw has established himself as the best young pitcher in the Pirates staff and has made his mark early for a team that has been rebuilding for years. He is the type of pitcher to build around.

honorable mention (John Lackey)

RP- Jeremy Accardo (5 SV 1.16 ERA .90 WHIP 24K 6BB)
I saw this guy throw two years ago as a member of the Giants and fellin love with his stuff. Then last year he was the man traded to Toronto for Shea Hillenbrand who had irked the Blue Jays organization, but I followed his career all the way until BJ Ryan got hurt and I assumed he would be the one to pick up the pieces, but he is a closer who should make J.P. Riccardi wilt at the fact he made Ryan the highest paid closer in baseball

honorable mention ("the Norfolk Express" Heath Bell, now of the San Diego Padres)

It has been awhile since I last wrote but I choose to avoid the NBA suspensions simply because I was to angered by the whole situation even rant about the NBA. So many things wrong with it so many things ti believe yet Bill Simmons in his column and the Dan Patrick podcast from his show yesterday with David Stern said it all. If you did not listen, Patrick had Stern on the ropes from the outset, and while the commish quarreled with Patrick for the first 12 minutes of the interview he finally admits the rule is bad it shouldbe changed bu he must enforce it and then is left speechless when Patrick explains that what he finds unfair is that the dirty team is getting benefited and why should that be when he is the commissioner of the DAMN LEAGUE!!!!

The hayday of the NBA was the mid-80's to the late 90's, the face of the league was MJ, and it has been a shock to me that the NBA is going downhill when they have talents like Lebron, Kobe and Shaq who give the league a new identity, and then a situation like the Horry hip-check on Nash (IN GARBAGE TIME) and then I remember that the reason the league is on a sharp decline is because no one plays defense. This, in my mind, stems from the fact that players are instructed by these NBA rules to not be allowed to play with chips on their shoulder and have removed a lot of the competitive edge by enforcing and restricting many aspects of the game that made the NBA more competitive. By eliminating fights, you take away the one real oppurutnity to see who cares and with the new technical foul ruling, players have to shut up and walk away, when all they want to do is argue the call and show passion for the game they play. It is a disgrace and Stern is trying to be a Roger Goodell only the NBA commish will not have 41 of its players on the cover of USA today being arrested anytime soon so why make these changes. Makes no sense to me.

Finally, another subject. It is Kyle Farnswort. Just as I, and many other predicted, when you play on a baseball team with 25 guys in the clubhouse, there are going to be differing "opinions" about certain aspects of the way each organization handles its players and the Yankees enabling Roger Clemens to go fishing for four days and show up every fifth day does not seem to be a problem for the most important Yankees who were asked by Torre what their stance was before the deal, but the fact that someone does have an issue with it, enter Farnsworth, will only create more tension in the clubhouse no matter how you paint it. Farnsworth made the judgement call to air his "true opinion" on a Chicago sports radio station before admitting he would be irked with Clemens' special treatment before the Yankees loss today. Kyle, word to the wise, seeing as your a below average reliever who does not know what to do with a 98 MPH Fastball (hint: THROW IT MORE OFTEN) I would reccomend not airing your true feelings, but since he did, he opened the door for the inevitable "well even with Roger the yankees are losing and the clubhouse chemistry is certainly a key reason for it. My prediction is you hear something along those lines from the mouth of Steve Phillips in July on a baseball tonight segment.

Patterson to UK- good for gillespie, for anyone thinking Duke needed him, just remember they got three top 20 recruits. UF though could have used him to continue in its quest for a three-peat which has about a 1.8% Chance of occuring

Mets comeback win- As a Met fan I cannot believe I missed the end of the game live, but the ending was sensational. If the Mets can win a Major League game starting Endy Chavez, Ruben Gotay, Julio Franco, David Newhan and Ramon Castro, I am sold on this team's chances in the post-season. As Howie and Tom would say it on the FAN, "put it in the books."

NBA predictions- My dallas over chicago pick failed me, my new pick is SA over DET, yes I know real original, back for more over the weekend as my new MSG gig has me working long hours but is great fun

CLEMENS!!

Ok, so now that the final exams are over and summer has officially began, I can give you my take (Which means zilch) on the Clemens contract.

Mike and Mike and Mike and Mike made a great point that the only people who should have any say regarding the Nolan Ryan esque "leave of absence" between starts are Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Those two guys are the Yankees, and if they have no issue with Clemens coming and going as he did last season, then it should not matter what the other 23 guys in the clubhouse think. That being said, and since it is my blog, let me be the first to tell you that regardless of whether or not David Wells was drunk or taking a shit when he made his Clemens comment, he was totaly on the ball, for once. If you are part of a TEAM, what kind of message are you sending when you tell your "family" during the season that I miss my family and I need to leave you guys for them. Do I understand Clemens' predicament of wanting to both pitch and"retire", absolutely, but if you want to pitch and and want to be with your family then head back to the Houston Astros, take the hometown deal and you can be right near your family's home and your son coming up in the minor leagues. As a fan of the baseball team who has one of the best clubhouses in baseball, (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/sports/baseball/09mets.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=login)
having 25 guys who are friendly with each other makes a hell of a differece, especially when you take a team like the Yankees who had all that locker room trouble last year with A-Rod and players being thrown under the bus. Do I think this will be an issue in the near future. No, but if the Yankees begin to struggle, you better believe the New York media will begin asking players if they think the fact that Clemens is not around is the catalyst for the current struggle. What is not being talked about though is the excess stress Clemens will put on the already overused bullpen, as Clemens will rarely go more then six innings a start. Forget the Yankee mantra that they will not succumb to agents like Boars, the Hendricks Brothers just wiped Brian Cashman,GW alum Randy Levene and George clean and proved that, yes, despearate times call for despearate measures and if your client needs to be a Yankee, demand much more money than originally thought. Picture this, The Hendricks brothers have admitted that last year when they contacted the Yankees, they mentioned his vacation clause and the Yankees balked because they were currently 18-11 and in 1st place of the AL East. The Brothers Hendrick said, fine then he will not become a Yankee and moved along, but what a shock. Now they were 12-15 before their weekend series against Texas and in last place of the AL East, and realized things were looking awful because the Red Sox pitching staff is the elite 1-5 in baseball and that lineup, with Ramirez back on track, is in a groove. The Yankees should never succumb to a player's needs and furthermore for almost 26 million dollars, when considering the pro rated money and 40% luxury tax, shouldn't Clemens be around to help the development of young pitchers like Phillip Hughes, ("TOUTED AS THE NEXT CLEMENS") Matt Desalvo, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner. If I am one of those guys and Roger Clemens is sitting in the dugout, I would bee-line straight towards him to do anything I can to learn from one of the five greatest pitchers of all time. Clemens should stay with the team, progress the youth and help fix a clubhouse that's public image has been awful in the past months.


NBA- My Bulls pick to the finals looks downright awful right now. We all underestimated the impact of a reinvigorated Chris Webber, and with a team as veteraned as they are, I think most people just overlooked them, called them old, and did not think Flip Saunders had the coaching ability to put them in position run through the Eastern COnference the way they are. Kudos to that whole team, and Joe Dumars, for steamrolling the pathetic Eastern Conference. Chicago, meanwhile, is not an interior team and when you rely on your 3 big guns Hinrich, Gordon and Deng to make shots, they cannot go a combined 8-29 from the field, which is what happened in game two. The Pistons took the second game by 21, and Rasheed Wallace played 18 minutes before fouling out. That gives you an idea of how much better the Pistons are playign than the Bulls. In the other series, Lebron is quietly becoming a playoff star as he is two games away from a conference final showdown against the Pistons and if he finds a way to beat them team who currently has not lost a playoff game, you better believe the MJ comparisons will begin. The Warriors WILL WIN TONIGHT, THAT IS A JULIAN STEFAN GOMPERTZ GURANTEE!!! and the Suns will win this series. I find it funny that multiple writers have lauded the effort of MIke D'Antoni for placing Kurt Thomas on Tim Duncan, and while I did not watch the game it would seem to me that he did nothing that Boris Diaw did not do, as Duncan ran off 29 points and 11 rebounds in a losing efffort. My new gameplan for D'antoni....DO NOT PULL AN AVERY JOHNSON AND MESS WITH A GOOD THING. Go with what won you the series against the Lakers meaning throw out Nash, Bell, Marion, Diaw and Stoudemire and do not think twice about it. Let Duncan put up his 30 and 10, but make sure Parker, Finley and Ginoboli all score under 15 points a game and the series is over. Easier said and done but that is the only way to beat a defensive minded, veteraned Spurs team, and while on the subject...I have never personaly admitted this, but Tim Duncan is extremely underrated. They beat an exposive Nuggets team in round one, and besides Duncan, this team has no legitimate number two scorer. Parker is a solid point guard who is efficient in the lane, but he is far from a good shooter and Ginoboli and Finley have been inconsistent as well. Duncan continualy carries this team to the playoffs year after year and quietly was one of five players to average 20 and 10.

NHL- Anaheim and Buffalo lost in the Conference Finals last season and expect both of them to get to the Stanley Cup this year, with Anaheim as my pick to win it all. As for the Rangers things look good right off the bat as it appears Brandan Shannahan will return for one more season.

NFL- After hearing about Brady Quinn's lame ducks in his first mini-camp as a Brown, you have to wonder if Quinn really was closer ranking wise on most teams' boards to the second round QBS (Stanton, Edwards, Kolb, Beck) than to Jamarcus Russell. The argument he is a winner would work except he really did not beat a stellar opponent other than Penn State when they were a top 20 team, but even the Nittany Lions fell off taking away some of the lsuter from that thrashing in South Bend.

more on the way in the coming days...

METS 2B HOLE

Being a Met fan, and having a blog, I will take the time now to speak about an issue that has come up in the wake of the recent batch of injuries that the New York Mets have encountered. With a Rangers 5-4 loss at the Garden today I can officially say it is truly baseball season, The transition period is tough but when both MSG team are done I am ready to go full speed ahead into the month of May in baseball. Now my take on the Jose Valentin injury and who I want to replace him:

Here is why I would like Jorge Cantu to be the new second baseman for the New York Metropolitans. Not only is he in the mold of a typical Omar player who has the potential to be a star but since the Devil Rays have a lot of money invested in Akinori Iwamura (or as he is referred to by my brother "letters from iwamura) at third, B.J. Upton is going to be their second baseman. They love Ben Zobrist at short and with Elijah Dukes, Rocco Baldelli, Delmon Young and Carl Crawford as their OFs and DH, and the former met Ty Wiggington at first base, there is no room for cantu. It has been made clear, when he did not make the 25 man roster on opening day,that the rays do not believe cantu has a future in Tampa Bay and if the mets were to give up a mid AA prospect or low level AAA prospect, perhaps Willie Collazo or Jon Adkins I think they could pry Cantu. The Rays need all the pitching help they can get and I would even be willing to part with a guy like Jason Vargas, Kevin Mulvey or Deolis Guerra to get a guy with the "potential" of Cantu who is just 25. Remember while Cantu looked lost at the plate last year he had 14 homers with 62 rbi's compared to the 37 yr old valentin who had a great year hitting 18 homers and 62 rbi's. Cantu hit 28 homers and 117 rbi's the season before last and batted .286 as well ans you do not just hit 30 and 100 in a baseball season and fall off the map. The guy has talent and putting him in a lineup with reyes, Loduca, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Alou and Green would make the Mets the best hitting team in the league. Not to mention he only had 13 errors last year meaning he would not be a defensive liability.

If not Cantu then I think Mark Derosa might not be a bad attempt, although the Cubs did invest 13 million in him this summer. Derosa would fit because the club has Ryan Theriot who can play 2B or SS and also has Cezar Isturis who is a better fielder than Derosa as well. I would also consider Brandon Phillips since they need to find a place for Josh Hamilton everyday and would move Ryan Freel to second base keeping encarnacion at third and making Ken Griffey Jr. happy by moving him back to center field flanked by Adam Dunn and hamilton, but it might take a bit more to get Phillips. Expect the Mets to make a move because even if valentin was not hurt it is a position that the Mets have no good talent at in the minors and have aging hitters like Easley and Valentin on the team.

NBA- Spurs better not make the NBA Finals for the NBA's sake as they are that boring to watch, great execution and a big boost stealing one on the road at US Airways, Lebron was not superb but good enough against the Nets. I think Lebron is mature enough to win this series, but if J. Kidd is anything like he was in the first round, this is going at least six and potentially a game seven at the Quicken Loans. (By the way still the best stat line in the NBA playoffs this year, and yes better than Nash's 23 assists or Stoudemire's 27 points and 21 rebounds was Jason Kidd in game three of the first round at Continential: 16 points, 16 rebounds 19 assists) And imagine how much better the Lakers would have been in the next 4 years if they had dealt Bynum for Kidd. Bulls will rebound, but it might not matter as Detroit is hitting on all cylinders at the right time, kudos to flip for having them ready this year. GS will beat Utah in 5 games or less, not even a remote question in my mind and picture this: Golden State vs. San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals: We have already seen GS against another "run and gun" team in the Mavs so the Warriors vs. the Suns will be more of the same except Baron Davis will expose Steve Nash's defense but will not be able to handle him defensivley either potentially setting up the first time a PG gets 35 assists in a game. Warriors vs. Spurs would be opposites attracting, and it would answer the defining question of the NBA is it better to play a slow half court offense (see Spurs, Pistons, Bulls) or is it better to run and gun your way to victory: (Suns, Mavs, Warriors)

more coming this week, but nothign until thursday FINALS TIME!! enjoy the blog

Kobe Bryant is the 2007 MVP far and away, and I have said it on air multiple times, I am now saying it in writing:

It is not nash, even though he had his best season in three years because his backup PG won 6th man and is extremely competent at running that offense.

It is not Nowitzki because he has talent everywhere around him in howard, terry, stackhouse, harris and has the NBA coach of the year from last season.
Not to meniton dirk is a subpar defender who gave up 33 pts to Stephen "the ticking timebomb" Jackson tonight

It is Kobe Bryant because he is flat-out the most talented player in the league. Without him the Lakers starting line-up would be:
PG- Smush "AWOL" Parker
SG- Sasha Vujajic/Jordan Farmar/ Aaron Mckie/Maurice Evans
SF- Luke Walton
PF- Lamar Odom
C- Kwame Brown

That team with Bynum, Cook and Radmanovic coming off the bench might win 25 games if Phil Jackson figured out how the Triangle Offense worked again. With Bryant in the line-up they won 42 games, gained the seven seed and had #24 single-handedly carry them to victory in game 3 with Bryant scoring 15 of his game high 45 points in the fourth quarter to seal a victory and give his team a chance to even the series. Unfortunately the playoffs do not count in MVP balloting so we can move to the regular season where 18 times Bryant tallied 40 or more points with eight of those games having 24 eclipse 50 points. Bryant single-handedly put his team in a dominant position to win all 18 games he scored 40+ and also had two regular season outings with 39 points. Thats means in Kobe=20 automatic victories which would be the difference between what the 7 seed lakers were this year and what they would have been without him. That to me is a player who is MOST VALUABLE TO HIS TEAM. He avaergaed 31.6 PPG and the next closest teammate to that number was the URI standout Lamar Odom averaging a whopping 15.9 PPG. Find me any other team where the differential between the top scorer and the number two man is larger? Still looking, because I can save you time by telling you that margin is not even in competition with any other team in the league.

Steve Nash had his best statistical season of the past three years scoring jus .3PPG elss but making up for it by setting or tieing career highs in APG with 11.6 FG% with a 53.2% mark and 3PT FG% at a 45.5% rate.

Dirk Nowitzki? His PPG total went down this season from 26.6 PPG last year to 24.4 PPG and his RPB were down as well, with his turnover per game ratio going up.

Neither is an MVP this season though, or neither is more deserving then Kobe Bryant

Not much to report:

NFL- Draft buzz is wearing off, but fantasy football buzz is getting ready to begin, UDFA's are getting signed, most notably Jared Zabransky and Darius Walker, and I am personally surprised that Dan Mozes the OL from West Virginia was undrafted. Multiple "draft experts" claimed he would be a late round steal, which goes to show that experts do not get access into war rooms and do not know all that teams are thinking during the draft.

MLB- The whole Torre getting fired thing is getting old. Here are the facts. Is he the same manager he was during the golden years, (96-01) not at all. I personally believe since the Yankees blew the 3-0 series tot eh Sawx, Torre has never been the same. He seems like he is out to prove to people he can still do his job when no one ever questioned him. It was why the media made such a big deal of the Boston massacre last year, but in honesty Torre has lost a step. Just this april, Torre made 97 pitching changes, the second most in the history of April. He does have an injury-depleted roster, but he still has a lot more talent than a 9-14 team. He needs to show more faith in players and not yank them early in the season and devestate their confidence. In any event when they get healthyt hey will challeng the Sawx, but it is going to be hard to top Boston this year because they have the best top three in the rotation of anyone in baseball.

NBA- Dirk Nowitzki had a great regular season but he has looked gawd awful during the post-season and has played like anything but an MVP. I personally believe the MVP award should take into account what you do into the post-season. It is irrelevant to me who does the best to get into the playoffs. Isn't the mantra "anybody can win in the regular season, it is who can get it done in the playoffs." If that were the case Steve Nash would have his third straight MVP awards to stand among the likes of Russell and Bird. Interesting to note that Jordan, Magic, Wilt, Kareem have never won more than two in a row.

NHL- Devils are on their way down, when Emery shutsout Brodeur, we know their time is over. Sharks Rangers was my pre-season Stanley Cup predictions with the Sharks winning, and after last night I realize how likely that could be. With Cheech an Thornton they are going to be a tough out.

lack of posts

Big weekend in sports:

My condolences firstly to the Hancock family and the Cardinals family, to experience one death on a team in five years is one to many, but two, I do not know how a team can come back and play baseball on Tuesday.

2007 NFL DRAFT- I hate doing draft grades for each team, and to do winners/losers because no one has played yet. That being said a couple teams that had drafts I liked were cleveland, carolina, buffalo and cincinati. Quinn and Thomas is solid, but they also will get a terrible grade next year with no number one. Carolina got the guy they wanted and got an extra second round pick. Beason, Jarrett, Kalil and Johnson is getting four guys who could start for them next year. Buffalo made up for their awful draft last year, by getting a running back in lynch who can start this season and also got Posluzny who will be a solid starting OLB before putting some pressure on J.P. with the Edwards pick. Cincinati's draft was good because they got a guy who to them at 18 with Hall and also did not draft anyone who is "expected" to be arrested. Good work guys.

Moss to patriots- Wow, I want to see the NFL analyst who does not predict them to win the super bowl come this season's predictions. They might have made the best offensive and defensive acquisitions of the offseason with Adalius Thomas and Randy Moss.

D-Jax to 49ers- all it takes to get a top notch wide receiver is a 4th rd pick. It must suck to be the Seahawks who should feel pretty stupid now for giving up their first round pick for Deion Branch who is not as good as either moss or jackson

Baseball- The Bo Sox and Mets, my teams to go to the world series, are the best teams in their respective leagues. They also make the "a good pitching staff is more important than a good group of hitters" mantra come to life. The Bo Sox have three potential 20 game winners in Dice-K, Beckett and Schilling and have Wakefield pitching solid with Lester coming back in a month. The Mets, as I said in my earlier posts, have a better pitchign staff than people will realize and they lead the league in Team ERA. Maine is a flat-out stud and Glavine is always solid. The shock has been the success of El-Duque who had an awful Spring. Then again so did Moises Alou and Shawn Green but both are hitting over .350 at the moment. Perez has been solid minus his walk-a-thon in Atlanta, and both these teams, I believe, will be replaying the Buckner 1986 World Series in October.

Hockey- I watched the entire Rangers-Sabres game and it was one of the best hockey games I have ever seen. It was like a boxing match going back and forth with oppurtunities but in the end the Rangers seemed to control both OT's and got a great shot from a solid defenseman in Roszivald and now have the oppurutuniy to hold serve and send it back to Buffalo.

Basketball- G.S., enough said. I love this story and I would sacrifice my pre-season prediction of Dallas over Chicago to see them win. They are the true underdog story and no one can tell me they dislike the Warriors. Not Possible. The Bulls look great and match up well with the Pistons. Deng is going to be a load for Tayshaun, Hinrich vs. Chauncey will be a great match-up and Hamilton vs. Gordon will be just as good as both are UCONN products. Down low it will be Ben vs. his former team, which will ignite both interior defenses. Skils vs. Saunders, this has the making of a seven game series. Suns look very solid, so do the Cavs, and so do the Nets. Houston-Utah and San Antonio-Denver is still tough to call. I expect Denver to win game four.

Big post hope to keep them coming and try and subscribe to this blog and comment, I would like to hear your thoughts, and not just give mine.

MOCK DRAFT FINAL

1. Oakland Raiders- Jamarcus Russell (QB, LSU)

2. Detroit Lions Calvin Johnson (WR, G. Tech)

3. Cleveland Browns- Joe Thomas (OT, Wisconsin)

4. Tampa Bay Buccanneers- Gaines Adams (DE, Clemson)

5. Arizona Cardinals- Levi Brown (OT, PSU)

6. Washington Redskins- Laron Landry (S, LSU)

7. Minnesota Vikings- Leon Hall (CB, Michigan)

8. Atlanta Falcons - Amobi Okoye (DT, Louisville)

9. Miami Dolphins- Brady Quinn (QB, ND)

10. Houston Texans- Adrian Peterson (RB, OK)

11. San Francisco 49ers- Patrick Willis (LB, Ole Miss)

12. Buffalo Bills- Paul Posluzny (LB, PSU)

13. St. Louis Rams- Jamaal Anderson (DE, ARK)

14. Carolina Panthers- Reggie Nelson (S, Fla)

15. Pittsburgh Steelers- Darrelle Revis (CB, Pitt)

16. Green Bay Packers- Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)

17. Jacksonville Jaguars- Adam Carriker (DE/LB, Nebraska)

18. Cinncinati Bengals- Aaron Ross (CB, Texas)

19. Tennessee Titans- Ted Ginn Jr. (WR, OSU)

20. New York Giants- Lawrence Timmons (LB, FSU)

21. Denver Broncos- Alan Branch (DT, Mich)

22. Dallas Cowboys- Anthony Spencer (DE, Purdue)

23. Kansas City Chiefs- Joe Staley (OT, Cent. Mich)

24. New England Patriots- Michael Griffin (S, Texas)

25. New York Jets- Greg Olsen (TE, Miami, FL)

26. Philadelphia Eagles- Brandon Merriweather (S, Fla)

27. New Orleans Saints- Justin Harrell (DT, Tenn)

28. New England Patriots- David Harris (LB, Mich)

29. Baltimore Ravens- Ben Grubbs (OG, Auburn)

30. San Diego Chargers- Dwayne Bowe (WR, LSU)

31. Chicago Bears- Jon Beason (LB, Fla)

32. Indianapolis Colts- Robert Meachem (WR, Tenn)

MOCK DRAFT 2.0 (WITH TRADES)

Trying to predict trades is like trying to differentiate which Red Sox home-run off Chase Wright Sunday went farther, its a moot point. That being said I will do my best to indulge one or two of the hundreds of trade rumors that have been swirling. For the record, if I tell you this is the last Mock Draft, assume I am lying:


1. Oakland Raiders- Jamarcus Russell (QB, LSU)

2. Detroit Lions Calvin Johnson (WR, G. Tech)

3. Cleveland Browns- Brady Quinn (QB, ND)

4. Tampa Bay Buccanneers- Gaines Adams (DE, Clemson)

5. Arizona Cardinals- Joe Thomas (OT, Wisconsin)

6. Washington Redskins- Amobi Okoye (DT, Louisville)

7. Minnesota Vikings- Leon Hall (CB, Michigan)

8. Atlanta Falcons - Laron Landry (S, LSU)

9. Miami Dolphins- Levi Brown (OT, PSU)

10. Houston Texans- Adrian Peterson (RB, OK)

11. San Francisco 49ers- Adam Carriker (DE/LB, Nebraska)

12. Buffalo Bills- Patrick Willis (LB, Ole Miss)

13. St. Louis Rams- Jamaal Anderson (DE, ARK)

14. Carolina Panthers- Reggie Nelson (S, Fla)

15. Pittsburgh Steelers- Lawrence Timmons (LB, FSU)

16. Green Bay Packers- Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)

17. Jacksonville Jaguars- Darrelle Revis (CB, Pitt)

18. Cinncinati Bengals- Justin Harrell (DT, Tenn)

19. Tennessee Titans- Ted Ginn Jr. (WR, OSU)

20. New York Giants- Joe Staley (OT, Cent. Mich)

21. Denver Broncos- Alan Branch (DT, Mich)

22. Dallas Cowboys- Anthony Spencer (DE, Purdue)

23. Kansas City Chiefs- Robert Meachem (WR, Tenn)

24. New England Patriots- Michael Griffin (S, Texas)

25. New York Jets- Greg Olsen (TE, Miami, FL)

26. Philadelphia Eagles- Brandon Merriweather (S, Fla)

27. New Orleans Saints- Paul Posluzny (LB, PSU)

28. New England Patriots- David Harris (LB, Mich)

29. Baltimore Ravens- Ben Grubbs (OG, Auburn)

30. San Diego Chargers- Dwayne Bowe (WR, LSU)

31. Chicago Bears- Dwayne Jarrett (WR, USC)

32. Indianapolis Colts- Aaron Ross (CB, Texas)


Potential trade scenario 1:

1. Oakland Raiders- Jamarcus Russell (QB, LSU)

2. Atlanta Falcons (Via Detroit Lions)- Calvin Johnson (WR, G. Tech)

3. Cleveland Browns- Brady Quinn (QB, ND)

4. Tampa Bay Buccanneers- Gaines Adams (DE, Clemson)

5. Arizona Cardinals- Joe Thomas (OT, Wisconsin)

6. Washington Redskins- Amobi Okoye (DT, Louisville)

7. Minnesota Vikings- Leon Hall (CB, Michigan)

8. Detroit Lions (via Atlanta Falcons) - Patrick Willis (LB, Ole Miss)

9. Miami Dolphins- Laron Landry (S, LSU)

10. Houston Texans- Adrian Peterson (RB, OK)

11. San Francisco 49ers- Adam Carriker (DE/LB, Nebraska)

12. Buffalo Bills- Levi Brown (OT, PSU)

13. St. Louis Rams- Jamaal Anderson (DE, ARK)

14. Carolina Panthers- Reggie Nelson (S, Fla)

15. Pittsburgh Steelers- Lawrence Timmons (LB, FSU)

16. Green Bay Packers- Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)

17. Jacksonville Jaguars- Darrelle Revis (CB, Pitt)

18. Cinncinati Bengals- Justin Harrell (DT, Tenn)

19. Tennessee Titans- Ted Ginn Jr. (WR, OSU)

20. New York Giants- Joe Staley (OT, Cent. Mich)

21. Denver Broncos- Alan Branch (DT, Mich)

22. Dallas Cowboys- Anthony Spencer (DE, Purdue)

23. Kansas City Chiefs- Robert Meachem (WR, Tenn)

24. New England Patriots- Michael Griffin (S, Texas)

25. New York Jets- Greg Olsen (TE, Miami, FL)

26. Philadelphia Eagles- Brandon Merriweather (S, Fla)

27. New Orleans Saints- Paul Posluzny (LB, PSU)

28. New England Patriots- David Harris (LB, Mich)

29. Baltimore Ravens- Ben Grubbs (OG, Auburn)

30. San Diego Chargers- Dwayne Bowe (WR, LSU)

31. Chicago Bears- Dwayne Jarrett (WR, USC)

32. Indianapolis Colts- Aaron Ross (CB, Texas)


Potential Trade scenario 2:


1. Oakland Raiders- Jamarcus Russell (QB, LSU)

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (via Detroit Lions)- Calvin Johnson (WR, G. Tech)

3. Cleveland Browns- Brady Quinn (QB, ND)

4. Detroit Lions (via Tampa Bay Buccanneers)- Gaines Adams (DE, Clemson)

5. Arizona Cardinals- Joe Thomas (OT, Wisconsin)

6. Washington Redskins- Amobi Okoye (DT, Louisville)

7. Minnesota Vikings- Leon Hall (CB, Michigan)

8. Atlanta Falcons - Laron Landry (S, LSU)

9. Miami Dolphins- Levi Brown (OT, PSU)

10. Houston Texans- Adrian Peterson (RB, OK)

11. San Francisco 49ers- Adam Carriker (DE/LB, Nebraska)

12. Buffalo Bills- Patrick Willis (LB, Ole Miss)

13. St. Louis Rams- Jamaal Anderson (DE, ARK)

14. Carolina Panthers- Reggie Nelson (S, Fla)

15. Pittsburgh Steelers- Lawrence Timmons (LB, FSU)

16. Green Bay Packers- Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)

17. Jacksonville Jaguars- Darrelle Revis (CB, Pitt)

18. Cinncinati Bengals- Justin Harrell (DT, Tenn)

19. Tennessee Titans- Ted Ginn Jr. (WR, OSU)

20. New York Giants- Joe Staley (OT, Cent. Mich)

21. Denver Broncos- Alan Branch (DT, Mich)

22. Dallas Cowboys- Anthony Spencer (DE, Purdue)

23. Kansas City Chiefs- Robert Meachem (WR, Tenn)

24. New England Patriots- Michael Griffin (S, Texas)

25. New York Jets- Greg Olsen (TE, Miami, FL)

26. Philadelphia Eagles- Brandon Merriweather (S, Fla)

27. New Orleans Saints- Paul Posluzny (LB, PSU)

28. New England Patriots- David Harris (LB, Mich)

29. Baltimore Ravens- Ben Grubbs (OG, Auburn)

30. San Diego Chargers- Dwayne Bowe (WR, LSU)

31. Chicago Bears- Dwayne Jarrett (WR, USC)

32. Indianapolis Colts- Aaron Ross (CB, Texas)


Potential Trade scenario 3:


1. Oakland Raiders- Jamarcus Russell (QB, LSU)

2. Detroit Lions Calvin Johnson (WR, G. Tech)

3. Cleveland Browns- Joe Thomas (OT, Wisconsin)

4. Tampa Bay Buccanneers- Gaines Adams (DE, Clemson)

5. Arizona Cardinals- Levi Brown (OT, PSU)

6. Miami Dolphins (via Washington Redskins)- Brady Quinn (QB, ND)

7. Minnesota Vikings- Leon Hall (CB, Michigan)

8. Atlanta Falcons - Laron Landry (S, LSU)

9. Washington Redskins (via Miami Dolphins)- Amobi Okoye (DT, Louisville)

10. Houston Texans- Adrian Peterson (RB, OK)

11. San Francisco 49ers- Adam Carriker (DE/LB, Nebraska)

12. Buffalo Bills- Patrick Willis (LB, Ole Miss)

13. St. Louis Rams- Jamaal Anderson (DE, ARK)

14. Carolina Panthers- Reggie Nelson (S, Fla)

15. Pittsburgh Steelers- Lawrence Timmons (LB, FSU)

16. Green Bay Packers- Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)

17. Jacksonville Jaguars- Darrelle Revis (CB, Pitt)

18. Cinncinati Bengals- Justin Harrell (DT, Tenn)

19. Tennessee Titans- Ted Ginn Jr. (WR, OSU)

20. New York Giants- Joe Staley (OT, Cent. Mich)

21. Denver Broncos- Alan Branch (DT, Mich)

22. Dallas Cowboys- Anthony Spencer (DE, Purdue)

23. Kansas City Chiefs- Robert Meachem (WR, Tenn)

24. New England Patriots- Michael Griffin (S, Texas)

25. New York Jets- Greg Olsen (TE, Miami, FL)

26. Philadelphia Eagles- Brandon Merriweather (S, Fla)

27. New Orleans Saints- Paul Posluzny (LB, PSU)

28. New England Patriots- David Harris (LB, Mich)

29. Baltimore Ravens- Ben Grubbs (OG, Auburn)

30. San Diego Chargers- Dwayne Bowe (WR, LSU)

31. Chicago Bears- Dwayne Jarrett (WR, USC)

32. Indianapolis Colts- Aaron Ross (CB, Texas)




Early 2nd rounders:

Jarvis Moss (DE, Fla)
Chris Houston (CB, Ark)
Jon Beason (LB, Miami)
Eric Wright (CB, UNLV)
Antonio Pittman (RB, OSU)
Sidney Rice (WR, SC)
Zach Miller (TE, Neb)
Aaron Sears (OG, Tenn)
Justin Blalock (OG, Texas)
Ryan Kalil (C, USC)
Lamar Woodley (DE, Mich)
Tank Tyler (NC ST)
Buster Davis (LB, FSU)
Tony Ugoh (OT, Ark)
Eric Weddle (CB/S, Utah)