NBA Playoffs Preview: Eastern Style

As the regular season finally closed and players who did not make it to the post season are cleaning out their lockers, here comes two months of natural fulfillment and enjoy. There will be vast amounts of bandwagon fans cheering for teams who did not care about during the season. Sixteen teams will play for the Larry O'Brien Trophy, but only five teams have a realistic chance of winning it all. As for me, I favor the NHL playoffs over the NBA version, but the NBA will have higher television ratings long as it is the Heat and Lakers finals. Let the games began, and let the team X all day statuses on Facebook and Twitter flow like water.

Chicago v. Indiana: This series could be the quickest series in the first round. Good news for us is that Derrick Rose's MVP ceremony would not be as awkward as the 2006-2007 MVP winner but it is sad that Stan Van Gundy declared the MVP race over weeks ago. This series should be a sweep for Chicago, me and most people who watch the NBA will be shocked if the series go past five games.

Miami v. Philadelphia: Contrary to popular belief, seeking the path of least resistance is harder than finding a path of success. As for Miami who wanted to win multiple championship, will their first playoff test in the first round. Philly is a tough team who are built the same way as the Heat, some believed that they are happy to be there and will bow out to the Heat. I am doubt that will be the case, although the talent levels are vastly different; it will be a fun series and the Sixers have a good chance to win two of their home games. That mean the Heat should win this series in six games.

Boston v. New York:  This will be a great series. A team that built over time verses a team that built overnight. Today like the day after the trade, and I still disagree with whole deal. The Knicks will not win a championship this year, in fact, after they made the Carmelo Anthony trade, the Knicks only move up one playoff spot. The only redeeming feature of this trade and the dumb Boston trade is that the Knicks will push this series to a seventh game. The Celtics will win in seven games.

Orlando v. Atlanta: One of these days’ people will finally tuned out Stan Van Gundy and realized he and this Orlando Magic team are overrated. Like the creators of Disney movies, they make sure the good guy get some type of lucky break, and for this Magic team their break in the first round is the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta is an athletic team who can run up and down the court and will give the Magic problems, but it should not be a problem in the short term the long term is another story. Magic will win this series in seven games. 

Remembering Manny

Yesterday, Tampa Bay Rays outfield and designated hitter Manny Ramirez retired from Major League Baseball. He decided to retired because he received word that he fail a drug test for performance enhancing drugs for a second time. According MLB drug rules a second offensive is an automatic 100 game suspension, in which Ramirez decided it was not worth missing most of the season for and retire. If he wanted to return to MLB, he had to serve the suspension first and at his age of 38, I highly doubt it he will serve it and a team wants to sign him for 62 games. Yes, today is the day of baseball mourning, as baseball may not return to the level fun loving enjoyment we all viewed when he was playing.

To me is a Hall of Famer not by numbers alone, which they are impressive by any means, but how he made two teams enjoyable to watch again. After spending eight years in Cleveland, he went to Boston to play for the Red Sox; a team where its fan base were annoying and its teams was okay but like any other team. At his time in Boston his antics along with David Ortiz, Jonny Damon, and Pedro Martinez had made the Red Sox’ games enjoyable to watch for those who are outside of Red Sox nation. Sadly, Ramirez’s antics had him forcibly put out of Boston for Los Angeles. He made the Dodgers franchise relevant again, and people wanted to watch the Dodgers again. At his time there, fans made a section just for him called “Mannywood” it was fun until he broke MLB’s drug policy. That slowly was the start of the end of Ramirez career, but the whole drug thing should be look at for a spot at the Hall of Fame, not the deciding factor.

With the numbers in hand, Ramirez made the baseball fun again in Boston and Los Angeles. Besides how many Red Sox players who are in the Hall of Fame won a World Series with the Red Sox; how about none.  With 556 home runs, over 2500 hits, and a World Series ring with a team whom many thought will never win a World Series in their lifetime, to me that is a Hall of Famer; regardless of what any snobbish Hall of Fame voter may think. Unlike the other great home run hitters that appear in our lifetime, Ramirez did not make us feel sad or disgusted in cheering for them, he made us enjoy the game of baseball again. There will never be another Manny Ramirez in baseball in our lifetime or even in our children lifetime, and that is sad to think about it. 

Fantasy Basketball

This basketball season I choose to take part in a fantasy league and I love it. Why you asked, well outside of the greatest act of divine intervention I am going to win the league. In fact I am starting to love fantasy basketball over football; and all of this is because I am having better luck with basketball than football. Unlike basketball, football is a control game, with coaches controlling who will play and when. This is a problem with fantasy players since the football season is much shorter than basketball. Also there is the high risk of serve injury and scrambling for useful players. Fantasy football is one the highest stress fantasy games similar to joining a NCAA Tournament pool, where knowledge can be a handicap. As for basketball, it seen much easier and less stressful; a top of that the five best players will be on the court at the same. Mostly importantly you must have knowledge to in order to be successful in fantasy basketball. I will do this again next year.  

Random Thoughts

This weekend has been fun and boring at the same time in the world of sports and twitter. In fact, this post cannot be focus on one subject, but on three separate subjects.

MARCH MADNESS

If you had seen people crying today, that is because everyone NCAA Tournament brackets done. With Kansas losing to Virginia Commonwealth University and according to ESPN's Bracket Challenge out of over 5 million brackets filled, now only two brackets have all four teams correct. Butler, VCU, UCONN and Kentucky all final four teams and most people did not likely picked each of these teams into the final four. Now the question is will this year Final Four will be watchable, since it is fill with mostly underdogs. As for me, I will take a moral victory, since I am only one win away from beating President Obama.

TWITTER BLOCK

Lately, some of my followers decided to make their twitter post locked. I understand why they are doing, some people re-tweet things that are need to be re-tweet. I do not care if people "re-tweet" any post I made, since I do not get pay for any of this. This is great lesson on plagiarism and how bad it is and people should not do it all.

MIGHTY DUCKS AND ESPN

Yesterday, ESPN Classic showed Disney's Mighty Ducks and D2: The Mighty Ducks, which it made me tweet about ESPN and hockey. Did you know a kid born after 2004 had never seen a live NHL game on any of the Disney networks (ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2)? Ever since ESPN stop showing games, the coverage of the National Hockey League have been an embarrassing for the league. Hopefully, this could be a start of something better for the NHL and ESPN relationship; and show some classic games and hopefully do some live NHL games soon after the contract with Versus and NBC is over. Overall, it was a good weekend, and this week will be awesome with the start of baseball season and the Final Four.

Day One of the NCAA Tournament

I got some bad news for CBS, Turner, and the NCAA, the Tuesday and Wednesday games you called first round games was a failure. Anyone with some college basketball knowledge knows; they were nothing more than play-in games. No matter how much you force the first round idea or First Four as you called it down our throats. With that said, lets get to the meat of the problem I have this brand new marriage between television and the NCAA.

For the first time ever, CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV are showing every tournament game in its entirety. This move had pissed people off, as it gives no sense of direction to which game to follow, but it was reasons for it. For starters CBS before did some bad cut-ins involving close games and it hold the viewer hostage, to the decision makers at CBS. In addition, there were games people did not want to watch, and unable to see the game they want for whatever reason. This option to watch every game in its entirety on TV is not only good, but also it is the "It's about time" great idea. Unfortunately, like all great ideas there are some drawbacks.

For starters, it was too much channel changing and searching. I do not watch Trutv often, and I bet there some people who do not even have the channel; so they had missed out on of the games. Secondly, there a bad mix with Greg Gumble and Charles Barkley. I bet Gumble had never work with someone like Barkley; while it was fun, but distracting to what really matters: THE GAMES! Finally, there were no significant breaks between the afternoon and evening games. Every game came on in rapid succession, with no time true time to reflect on the afternoon failures or brag on how well people are doing in their brackets.

Like they say, Today is a new day and it will be better.

Making It Better

Yesterday, the participants of the Division I NCAA Men’s Tournament were name. This year field has 68 teams three more than last year field. To some people and me it is excessively many teams, but it is highly unlikely that the NCAA is going back to the 64-team tournament. With that said, now we must come up with solutions to make the tournament better.

Some Conferences should not have tournaments to determine the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament.

If there is one problem with some the lower tier conferences is that, a lower seeded team in the conference tournament could win the tournament and get the automatic bid. Especially if they played poorly during the season and then get hot, winning three or four games in a row. Look at the classic Harvard-Princeton playoff game, the two best teams in the Ivy League all season played an extra game to determine the sole winner of the automatic bid. If the some of these conferences lose, the tournaments the regular season will have more significance, and besides do the SWAC, MEAC, Summit, and the Big Sky Conference make money in these tournaments anyway? If they do great, if not it is time to lose them.

Time to CAPPED conference bids they received.

One thing the BCS somewhat got right in determining who has earned the privilege in there big time bowl games, by capping the number of teams in big time conferences. The BCS rules states the maximum the Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big 10, PAC and the Big East can send to these games is 2 each. I love that, and the Men's basketball tournament should do. Just because a conference is tough, does not mean they should have more than 50 percent of its team. With the capped, it will make the regular season better to watch, as teams fight for the few precious spots available.

Automatic Bids should be automatic bids!

This year the selection committee got the dream half-right. The four play-in games; half of them have "bubble" teams playing in these games, and there should be more. It is not fair for teams like Alabama State and Arkansas-Little Rock who earned their conference's automatic bids being force to play in extra game to be in the tournament. In addition, it is not fun to watch, now what is fun to watch are UAB-Clemson, USC-VCU,  Marquette-Missouri, and Georgia-Michigan State in the play-in games. That is action, the rating will be high on a Tuesday and Wednesday and it will be talk about much more what some team who "earned" the privilege to get beat by 20 to a number one seed.       

National Champion pick will be on twitter and facebook very soon, and the best of luck to those are taking part in the madness. 

March Madness

It is that time of year again, when people spend more time watching college basketball over working, mostly because money and school pride is involved. While it is fun to watch, but it is extremely madding for college basketball fans who pay attention to the all regular season games, and have to deal with the non-fans out there just randomly picking winners based on mascots or colors. My greatest pain of March Madness is the Michigan State Spartans; assuming they will get in the NCAA Tournament they are going to be underdogs and seeking another Final Four run. So far, the past three years I had completely underestimated the Spartans big time eating crow in the process. For the first time in my life I will be hoping Michigan State does not get into the NCAA Tournament, just to my life a bit easier for the next couple of weeks. Well it is only hoping, and if they do make it in; just to be on the safe side I am seeing the Spartans making to the sweet sixteen.