NBA Finals, Finally!

After an 82-game season and 3 rounds of playoff series, the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks will square off in what is sure to be a fantastic NBA Finals.  The Finals will feature a team that is "as Hollywood as Hell" (Miami Heat...according to Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls) and a team that will be trying to avenge an NBA Finals loss to the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals (Dallas Mavericks).  Although the Miami Heat created all the buzz leading into the 2010-11 NBA season with the acquisitions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, along with the re-signing of Dwayne Wade, many had hoped for the South Beach Experiment to fail and prevent the Heat from fulfilling LeBron's promise of multiple NBA championships.  I can't remember a team going through so much scrutiny throughout a regular season, yet here they are - four wins from the first of what might be many NBA championships.  The Mavericks have been one of the most consistent teams during the past 10+ years, stringing together 50-win season after 50-win season, but have experienced multiple playoff disappointments and only made the NBA Finals once (2006).  But before the Finals tip off on Tuesday night, here are a few things to think about and watch for during what should be an exciting series of basketball.

Dirk Nowitzki has carried the Mavericks over the past
10+ years, but has yet to lead them to a championship.

Who will guard the German?   How does a man who listens to David Hasselhoff to get himself pumped up for games become the MVP of the playoffs so far?  Germany native Dirk Nowitzki is quickly and impressively earning the title of the greatest European player ever.  The 7'1" sweet-shooting power forward is playing his best basketball of his career, highlighted by one of the best performances in NBA playoffs history when in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Dirk scored 48 points on 12-15 shooting from the field and an NBA record 24-24 from the free throw line.  To this point in the playoffs, nobody has been able to match up defensively with the shooting guard trapped in a big man's body.  Dirk can be difficult to guard because a lot of big men are simply not accustomed to going out to guard an offensive player outside of 10 feet.  And what makes Dirk so good is that he can also drive the ball to the basket if the defender comes out too hard or tries to block his shot too aggressively.  Four Heat players will primarily take turns guarding Dirk throughout the series (Chris Bosh, LeBron James, Udonis Haslem, and Joel Anthony), with power forward Chris Bosh and small forward LeBron James likely trying to stop him in key situations.  One thing is certain:  if the Heat can't find a way to stop Dirk, then the 'Hoff may be on every NBA player's playlist before every game.

First-time Champion...Dirk/Kidd or LeBron/Bosh?  The Finals will feature superstars on both teams that have yet to win a championship.  Chris Bosh is the only player mentioned in the heading that has NOT been to the NBA Finals previously.  Dirk and Jason Kidd have the shorter window as both players as well as the team seem to be getting along in years while LeBron and Bosh are under contract together (with Dwayne Wade) for the next 6 seasons.  Additionally, the Mavericks have had an unexpected playoff run as they were more challenged by the Blazers in the first round than they were by the Lakers and the Thunder in the second and third rounds -- combined!  (2 losses to the Blazers with only 1 combined loss to the Lakers/Thunder).  That sense of urgency should drive Kidd and Dirk to make 2011 the year that the Mavericks finally pull through and bring a title to the city of Dallas, which within the last year saw the SF Giants beat the Rangers in the World Series and watched the Packers win the Super Bowl in Cowboys Stadium while their Cowboys were sitting at home - waiting for the ol' Mavericks to make one more championship run.

Jason Terry hopes to be able to keep his tattoo long after the NBA Finals.

Will the tattoo be removed?  Dallas Maverick guard, Jason Terry, got a tattoo of the NBA Finals (Larry O'Brien) trophy back on October 19, 2010.  Terry got the tattoo in order to send a message and to inspire his teammates.  Terry has already come out and said that the tattoo (which is located inside of his right biceps) will be removed if the Mavericks are defeated by the Heat in the NBA Finals because he admits that he is a superstitious person and if the Mavericks lose, then the tattoo clearly wouldn't have worked.  "It just symbolized the fact that we had a realistic shot of getting here," Terry said.  "If I didn't think we had a chance, I wouldn't have put it there."  Well, Jason, it seems to have worked so far...why stop now?  How about a tattoo of David Hasselhoff on the left biceps?


Who will win the 4th Quarter?  Both the Heat and the Mavericks showed an innate ability to come back and dominate the 4th Quarter during the Conference Finals.  The experience of the veteran superstars for both teams became evident as they played suffocating defense and made clutch shots against the younger Chicago Bulls and OK City Thunder.  The Mavericks came back from 15 with less than 5 minutes left in Game 4 against the Thunder to tie the game and run past the Thunder in overtime to take a commanding 3-1 series lead, making Game 5 a mere formality.  The Heat showed their ability to impose their will on their opponents in the 4th Quarter by coming back from a 12-point deficit, outscoring the Bulls 18-3 to close out the Bulls in Game 5 on the Bulls home court in front of dazed and confused Bulls fans who remember what it was like to have such an experienced and dominant championship team when Michael Jordan was leading the way in the late-90's.  Both teams have the talent and the experience to win an NBA championship, and the title will most assuredly be decided in the 4th Quarter.  Don't plan on going to sleep early during the next couple of weeks, it will be worth staying up for.

American Airlines will be right along side the Dallas
Mavericks and Miami Heat in this year's NBA Finals.

The Winner?  The sure winner will be American Airlines, who is the named sponsor of the arena for both the Heat and the Mavericks.  The NBA Championship will, in fact, be won at American Airlines Arena.  That's a safe bet.  Having watched both the Western and Eastern Conference Finals, the series will go at least 6 games.  Each team will win at least one road game and I will be extremely surprised if each and every game does not come down to defense and offensive execution in the 4th Quarter, with key stars from each team making big shots in the closing seconds - just as they have done all playoffs and all year.  But I just can not see any team beating the Miami Heat in a 7-game series.  They are too talented, too experienced, and too determined to prove all the haters wrong.  Miami will close it out at home in Game 6 and bring another championship to South Beach over the Dallas Mavericks.  Call Jason Terry's tattoo artist - time to schedule a removal.

Donations, Collisions, and Champions

Barry Bonds - fresh off his recent conviction of one count of obstruction of justice in his perjury trial - has offered to pay for the college education of the children of a San Francisco Giants fan who was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles back on March 31.  The single-father Giants fan has been in critical condition since the beating, and the support from the Giant fan base has spanned from monetary donations to hospital visits.

Barry Bonds is known for being a home run king and an alleged steroid user, 
but two children of a Giants fan will know him as a generous donor.

But not many people would have expected Barry Bonds to be a part of that support system.  Some may view Bonds' offer cynically by suggesting that he is trying to recoup some sort of positive public image by taking advantage of the situation, but I don't care who he is, what he may have done (or not done), or what you may think of him, you have to tip your hat to the all-time home run king* for what he has done for the fan's children.

Speaking of the Giants, their 2011 season was derailed this week as their star catcher, Buster Posey, could potentially miss the rest of the year with a broken leg after he was barreled over by Florida Marlin, Scott Cousins, in a physical play at the plate that can be seen here.  Since then, many baseball experts have debated whether Major League Baseball should change any rules that restrict such significant contact at the plate (what Cousins did was within the current rules) in order to protect rising stars such as Posey from injuries that can have long-term effects.  However, nothing will happen and no rules will be changed.  Why?  Because this isn't the first catcher to ever get hurt in a collision at the plate...and he unfortunately won't be the last.  A play at the plate is one of the most exciting plays in baseball, and if any rule changes are made then the game will suffer.  Should the NFL eliminate the sack (of a quarterback)?  Should the NHL eliminate hitting?  Should the NBA eliminate traveling?  Wait, ignore that last one.  If the catcher doesn't want to get hit, then he shouldn't block the plate.  Simple as that.  Sorry, Buster.  Get better soon!  Baseball needs you just as much as it needs plays at the plate.

Finally, an across-the-pond shout out to FC Barcelona who won the "Super Bowl" of soccer on Saturday by defeating Manchester United 3-1 in the Champions League Final.  Led by a fantastic performance by the greatest soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi (left), Barcelona staked their claim as one of the best teams ever with a dominant performance over the English champions.  I do not profess to be a soccer expert, but even I could tell by watching this match that FC Barcelona was by far the better squad with pinpoint passing and excellent execution of actual soccer "plays".  It was the 3rd Champions League Final win for Barcelona in 6 years.  Viva Espana!

LaLa Land

What can Brown do for you?  Los Angeles Laker fans are asking themselves that question today as the Lakers have reportedly offered Mike Brown the head coaching job to replace legendary coach Phil Jackson, who retired after the Lakers were eliminated by the Mavericks in the second round of this year's NBA playoffs.  Mike Brown is the winningest coach in Cleveland Cavalier history.  He guided the Cavs to the 2007 NBA Finals and two trips to the Eastern Conference finals in five seasons with an incredible record of 272-138.  Oh yeah, that LeBron guy might have had something to do with that, too...which is exactly why I for one would not be too excited about this hire if I'm a Laker fan.

Mike Brown will be under constant pressure to produce championships in LA,
something he has yet to do in his young yet successful career.

Mike Brown is widely-known as a coach that stresses defense, so it will be interesting to see how fans that are used to "Showtime" will like watching their team be more "Slowtime". But anyway, back to that LeBron guy...is it just me or did it always seem like Mike Brown coached 4 of the guys on the court and LeBron kind of did his own thing?  Now, what will Kobe do and how will he react when the Lakers did not hire Laker assistant coach, Brian Shaw, who Kobe had publicly endorsed for the job.  Mike Brown seems like a nice guy and a hard worker and I wish him luck in LaLa land, but I wonder if Jack Nicholson and the other Hollywood starlets want a nice guy as a coach or someone who will be able to continue to do what Phil Jackson has done so often during the past 10 years - win NBA championships.

Meanwhile, just 3 miles south of Staples Center, USC learned today that the NCAA infractions appeals committee upheld all penalties and findings against the USC athletic department for the improper benefits received by Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and star basketball player OJ Mayo.  The penalties, which were issued last year, include the loss of a significant amount of scholarships over the next three years and prohibits the football team from playing in any postseason games after the upcoming 2011 season.  Also upheld was the provision that any USC senior football play can transfer this summer to any other Division-I school and play his final season at a school of his choosing without the standard one-year penalty.

Reggie Bush was exciting to watch as a USC running back
in the 2000's but USC fans and players are still paying the price.

It's hard for me to understand why the NCAA continues to penalize players and administrators that have to clean up the mess of those that were directly involved in the infractions.  Bush is now in the NFL and has won a Super Bowl ring, OJ Mayo is in the NBA and a contributor to Memphis' run in the playoffs this year, former USC coach Pete Carroll split for the NFL prior to the penalties being handed out last year, etc., etc.  The current USC players were in junior high school when the infractions were committed, but they will have to pay the price for Bush's and Mayo's sins.  If the NCAA really wants to teach players, coaches, and administrators a lesson with appropriate penalties for serious infractions, why doesn't a program like Ohio State receive similar penalties while the players and the coaches that have committed the infractions are still at the university where they can at least feel a little bit of the same pain USC is experiencing for their actions?

How Was Your Weekend?

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah was fined $50,000 on Monday for directing an anti-gay slur at a fan during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in Miami, which just so happened to be witnessed by a national TV audience.  Noah's Bulls lost back-to-back games for the first time since February and fell behind 2 games to 1 to the Miami Heat in the best-of-seven series. Noah publicly apologized and said he would "learn from my mistakes" and acknowledged that being frustrated over picking up his second foul did not excuse his words.  "I'll remember," Noah said. "I'll remember it for a long time." Noah's memory will be assisted by the $50,000 fine, which is 1.6% of Noah's $3,000,000 annual salary...slightly more expensive than Noah having his Mom wash his mouth out with soap.

Joakim Noah had a bad weekend: Game 3 loss in the Eastern Conference Finals?
Check. One point in Game 3?  Check.  Using an anti-gay slur on national TV?
$50,000 check made out to the National Basketball Association.

Joakim Noah's teammates supported him despite his unfortunate and inopportune choice of words; meanwhile, Lance Armstrong's teammates keep turning against him.  World-class cyclist, Tyler Hamilton, who was one of  Armstrong's former teammates on the USPS cycling team, said on "60 Minutes" over the weekend that Armstrong provided illegal drugs to teammates, showed them how to use them, used secret cellphones and code words like Edgar Allen Poe for EPO, a blood-boosting drug, and paid his way out of a positive test.  Armstrong continues to deny that he has ever used performance-enhancing drugs by reiterating that he has never tested positive for a drug test.

Given Hamilton's strong accusations against Armstrong on Sunday, Lance may have been wishing that the world was actually going to be ending on Saturday so the interview wouldn't air.  I wonder if Armstrong also has a code word for "judgment day"?  Which brings us to another person who had a bad weekend.  89-year old Harold Camping, whose doomsday predictions went unfulfilled over the weekend, emerged from his house on Monday morning and made his first public comments since his failed prophesy: "It has been a really tough weekend...But now I have nothing left to say."

At least Joakim Noah and Lance Armstrong understand how he might feel.

That's How The Ping Pong Ball Bounces

The NFL Draft, which I wrote about here, is a fantastic media and entertainment spectacle that seems to become a bigger event every year.  Although the NBA Draft is not nearly as large an event because it only consists of two rounds compared with the NFL's seven, it can still create some significant drama.  One of the reasons why the NBA Draft is so intriguing is due to the NBA Draft Lottery.  The first 14 picks in the NBA Draft belong to the teams that miss the playoffs each season.  The Lottery determines the order of these first 14 picks by selecting which teams will obtain the first 3 picks of the Draft, then the remaining 11 picks are assigned in reverse order of win-loss record.

NBA Lottery teams are at the mercy of the ping pong ball during
the NBA Draft Lottery every year.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had the best chance (25%) of obtaining the #1 pick (and could pick no lower than 4th) as a result of having the worst record in the NBA this year.  The Houston Rockets was the least likely team to score the highest pick with only a 0.5% probability of coming out on top.  The Utah Jazz and the Cleveland Cavaliers each have 2 Lottery picks this year - one pick being their own by not making the playoffs and the second pick that was obtained through another team via previous trades.  The Jazz had a combined probability of 8.2% to come out on top while the Cavaliers held a Timberwolf-like 22.8% chance of having their ping pong ball come out of the pot first.

The Houston Rockets were the only team discussed above that was not surprised by the way their ping pong balls bounced - they will pick 14 this year.  The Minnesota Timberwolves became the 16th team in the 18 years of the NBA Draft Lottery with the highest probability of obtaining the #1 pick to NOT win the lottery.  The Timberwolves also had a 21.5% chance of coming out second - and it did. The Cleveland Cavaliers surprisingly won the lottery with their pick from the Los Angeles Clippers, which came along with Baron Davis earlier this year, and only had a 2.8% chance of coming out first.  Apparently the Basketball Gods have compassion on Cavalier fans after all since LeBron James left them in 2010 for the Miami Heat.  The Jazz, meanwhile, cashed in their New Jersey Net pick that they received in the Deron Williams trade by finishing third, which they had a 9.4% chance of winning.

David Kahn and fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves are
not fans of ping pong or the NBA Draft Lottery today.

I'm sure Minnesota fans will agree with me today, but I don't feel like the NBA Draft Lottery is the best way to help those teams that need help the most.  David Kahn, the Minnesota Timberwolves' Director of Basketball Operations even insinuated that the NBA Draft is rigged in order to create storylines and headlines for the NBA.  Maybe I'm not a conspiracy theorist like Kahn who watched his #1 pick become a #2 pick right before his eyes, but the system is broken.  Sure, Minnesota had the best chance to win the #1 pick, but they still had a 75% chance to NOT have the #1 pick (Remember, 16 out of 18 teams have fallen to the same fate).  Sure, Minnesota would have picked no worse than #4 under the Lottery rules, but Minnesota will still be at the mercy of Cleveland this year in taking the player that may be best to improve their team.  One of the principal reasons for using the Lottery-style placement of the top 3 picks is to try to ensure that teams don't "tank" at the end of each season and try to "win" the worst record so they can obtain the #1 pick like what is alleged to happen from time to time in the NFL.  But let's be honest, Minnesota couldn't really help it last year.  They were bad and lost the most games because they need better players, but thanks to the Lottery, they will have to watch the player that may have helped them the most go to the Cavaliers.

Many will debate over the course of the next month who will be the #1 pick, who will draft the first international player, and of course, who will draft The Jimmer, but for now the ping pong balls have spoken...and the fans in at least Cleveland and Utah like what they have to say....just don't ask the Timberwolves how they feel about it.

NBA Playoff Predictions and Dunks

The NBA playoffs are down to the NBA version of the Final Four.  The Western Conference Finals kick off on Tuesday night with the Oklahoma City Thunder heading to Dallas to take on the Mavericks.  Remember the Mavericks?  They are the team that disarmed and disrobed the world champion Lakers while dismissing legendary coach Phil Jackson 8 whole days ago!  The Mavericks have not had 8 days off since October, so it will be interesting to see how they respond once they take the floor against the Thunder, who just finished a long and exciting 7-game series against the Memphis Grizzlies that included a triple-overtime thriller in Game 4.  Despite the layoff and my personal dislike for Dirk Nowitzki, I'll take the Mavericks in 5 games.

Russell Westbrook will try to lead his Oklahoma City Thunder
teammates over the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Finals.

The playoff seeds held serve in the Eastern Conference as the #1-seeded Chicago Bulls advanced to face the #2-seeded Miami Heat.  The Bulls got off to an impressive start last night who ran past the favored Heat, 103-82.  The Bulls outplayed and outhustled the Heat while outscoring the superstar-laden team by 21 in the second half (55-34).  (Is it just me or does seeing the Bulls as a championship contender make every Jazz fan a little queasy as we all remember the last time they were a contender...MJ ring a bell?)  The latest dominant performance by Chicago was evidenced by the Taj Gibson's highlight reel dunk early in the second quarter when he threw down a ridiculous two-hand dunk over Dwayne Wade, who to make matters worse committed a foul on the play.  Even Wade clapped when he saw the replay.  "That was a good one," Wade said.  "That's a great ratio for me.  First time I got dunked on all year.  I'll take my 90 (really, Dwayne?) to 1 on my blocks to dunked-on ratio.  I really got punked.  It was good."  However, I don't expect the Bulls to be a high-flying act throughout the series.  The Heat will make adjustments, play better defense against the Bulls role players than they did in Game 1 (Deng, Korver, etc.), and LeBron James and Dwayne Wade will match Chris Bosh's 30-point performance in Game 1 and play up to their guarantee of bringing an NBA championship to South Beach. The Heat will win it in 6.

The bleacherreport.com posted the Taj Gibson dunk for our viewing pleasure (unless you're a Dwayne Wade fan) as well as the "10 Greatest Playoff Dunks".  It's a list so stacked with great dunks that they needed to add a few dunks as honorable mention.  I personally would have voted for the Shawn Kemp dunks because he had TWO of them within mere moments of each other...enjoy!

Mother's Day Magic and Misery

Every year on the second Sunday of May, husbands and children everywhere buy flowers, cards, and chocolates for dear Mom to show her how much she means to them and to thank her for everything she does for them.  Baseball players break out the pink bats in order to raise awareness for breast cancer, baseball teams have honorary "bat girls" in the dugouts, and SportsCenter anchors start their broadcast with a classic "Hi Mom!".  Mother's Day can be a really good day for you and the special Woman in your life...or not so much.  You can either be a winner or a loser.  Here are some of the winners of Mother's Day 2011 followed by the losers (hopefully you were not one of them, too):

Winner - Derek Jeter:  The 36-year old Captain snapped out of his early season funk and silenced the doubters by doing his Mom proud with a four-hit, two home run day against the Rangers in a 12-5 Yankee win on Sunday.  Jeter's two home runs were no-doubters, landing deep into the right-center field bullpen - both shots estimated at over 400 feet.  Said Jeter, "Everybody needs a day like this."  Yes, Derek...including Mom.

Derek Jeter is all smiles after his performance on Mother's Day.  Derek, Yankee
Fans, and of course, his Mom, hope that it is a sign of things to come in 2011.

Winner - Dallas Maverick Bench Players:  In completing their four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, the Dallas Maverick bench stole the show in the 122-86 demolition of the world champions.  Jason Terry went 11-14 from the field, including 9-10 from three-point range.  Peja Stojakovic turned back the clock to go 6-6 from three-point range, and even little JJ Barea went 9-14 as the Dallas Maverick bench outscored the entire Laker team against, ironically enough, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Lamar Odom.  Although maybe Lamar is still kind of a winner since his reality show hasn't been canceled...yet.

Winner - The #5:  Even useless stats and numbers are winners on Mother's day as all American League games finished with either the winner or the loser of the game scoring the same number of runs - you guessed it, 5!  According to STATS LLC, it was the first time in 18 years that such an odd and coincidental occurrence had taken place when all 7 National League games had a team with exactly 2 runs.

Fives were wild on Sunday in the American League when every game involved
a team that scored five runs.

Loser - Andrew Bynum / Los Angeles Lakers:  Andrew Bynum's mid-air shove of JJ Barea in the series-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks was one of the biggest cheap shots I have ever seen in a professional basketball game.  Bynum, clearly frustrated by his worst performance of the playoffs (6 points, 6 rebounds), unfortunately ruined legendary coach Phil Jackson's potential final game of his career.  The Lakers were the seventh defending NBA champion to be swept in a playoff series and their 36-point loss was the largest margin of defeat to end any of those sweeps.  Each of the Lakers should offer a sincere apology to their coach for their pitiful and classless performance on Sunday - not to mention their mothers, too.

Andrew Bynum will have to answer to his Mom after his performance and
classless flagrant foul against JJ Barea.

Loser - Disruptive Airplane Passengers:  A man who has been working as a New York City cab driver was taking a flight on Sunday to California when he decided to grab the cockpit door and start banging on it approximately 30 minutes before landing.  Another passenger on a plane en route to Chicago tried to open a cabin door in midair.  A fellow passenger choked the man into unconsciousness and later told authorities that the disruptive passenger told him that "he had a rough Mother's Day".  Reports have confirmed that the apparently suicidal man was not a member of or a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Welcome to Big-Time College Football, Boise

Boise State, Utah, TCU, and BYU are the pre-eminent college football programs that have been trying for 10+ years to try and break through The BCS (which in my mind stands for The Big "Cartel" Schools) and play consistently in BCS bowl games and be a contender for the BCS National Championship.  In 2011, Utah heads west to help form the Pac-12, BYU has declared its football independence, and TCU will be awaiting its entrance into the BCS fraternity next year in 2012 - all done with the intention of leaving the dark abyss that is playing in a mid-major conference as long as the Cartel is in charge.  So where does that leave the Boise State Broncos?  The Broncos are making the lateral move to another mid-major conference (Mountain West Conference) where it will battle with TCU for one year until the Broncos will assuredly dominate another mid-major conference and yet again hold out hope every year that the Big Cartel Schools (as well as the voters that support them) will allow them to play on the biggest stage of college football.  If the MWC still doesn't work out for you, Boise State (which it won't), you can always try the Conference USA, the MAC, or the Sun Belt Conferences.  Plenty of good seats still available.

Come on down, Boise State, you're the next contestant on
the NCAA recruiting violation ruling schedule this Summer.

Boise State has elected, instead, to prove the new and soon-to-be-popular adage of the Blue Turf Broncos: "If you can't join 'em, act like 'em."  That's right, Ohio State, you have yourselves some serious competition because the Broncos have proven they belong with the Cartel by committing a series of violations that have drawn the ire of the NCAA.  And just as the Cartel does in situations like this, Boise State has released a statement to address the violations and self-impose various sanctions, which is BCS-talk for "Let us slap our own wrists and hopefully the NCAA won't do anything else to us."  Self-imposing sanctions is the off-the-field version of the Hail Mary, or in Boise State's case, the Hook-and-Ladder or the Statue of Liberty play.  The sanctions include at least three fewer preseason football practices before this year's and next year's opening games.  The school will also have three fewer scholarships to give in the next two years.  The violations range from coaches organizing low-cost summer housing and transportation for potential football players, to tennis and track and field athletes getting meals and housing in violation of NCAA rules.

Boise State football coach, Chris Petersen, is glad that he coaches Bronco
football as opposed to the women's tennis team as the NCAA makes its
way through the Bronco athletic program investigating potential violations.

In fact, when the University learned about the alleged violation in the women's tennis program the school immediately fired the head and assistant coach.  The tennis coach was accused of giving a potential player benefits before the player was enrolled, then lying to investigators about it (See, the Broncos know which sports are the revenue-generating sports...just like the Big Boys).  The NCAA can either accept the self-imposed sanctions by the school, or they can raise the consequences and hand out even larger penalties for the Broncos.  The Boise State president is hopeful that the NCAA will be lenient in its ruling given the self-imposed sanctions and the school's firing of the two tennis coaches:

"I'm hopeful the (NCAA) infractions committee will understand.  It's not as though we tolerated an individual who would commit a major violation".

So, Boise, even after all this effort to try and fit in with the Big Cartel Schools, I guess you still don't belong in the BCS as long as schools such as Ohio State continue to employ their coaches that do commit major violations (See Jim Tressel).

I'm Glad I Didn't Sleep Through April

The NBA playoffs are usually void of drama and upsets because of the best-of-7 series from the first round through the NBA Finals.  Like I wrote about here and here, I have historically counted out teams like the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies from advancing in the playoffs because the best-of-7 series favors the more talented, deeper team which after an 82-game regular season tends to be the higher-seeded home team during the first couple of rounds of the playoffs.

Well, my inability and ineptitude in predicting basketball games marches on in 2011.  The Memphis Grizzlies outplayed, outhustled, and flat-out beat up the more experienced / older San Antonio Spurs.  Led by outstanding play by Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol who were not intimidated by the likes of NBA-old-men Tim Duncan and Antonio McDyess.  The Grizzlies dominated the play down low and are set up to do it again against Oklahoma City.  Memphis continued their winning ways in round 2 by stealing game 1 from the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City on Sunday.  The NBA playoffs have already been one of the more exciting playoffs in recent memory and the next three rounds are sure to be more of the same.  I am glad I decided to watch it and not sleep through it like I promised to do here.

The Grizzlies-Thunder second-round series started the same way for
the Grizzlies against a higher-seeded home team - with a win.  Marc
Gasol (33) has been a key factor to the Grizzlies' playoff run.

Apparently I wasn't the only one that decided to tune in for the exciting first round.  The first round games on ABC, ESPN and TNT were watched by an average of 4.15 million people, up from roughly 3.2 million people last year (Is it just me or does that still seem incredibly low?).  In fact, ESPN's first round ratings were the highest since it began televising the NBA playoffs in 2003.  The exciting second-round matchups are as follows:

Eastern Conference - Chicago vs. Atlanta, Miami vs. Boston
Western Conference - Oklahoma City vs. Memphis, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas

Of course, the exciting playoff series and the high TV ratings can only mean that the NBA is due for a lockout just as it is at the height of its popularity - just like the NFL.  Let's hope the NBA players and owners can resolve their differences and avoid a work stoppage later this Summer.  Unfortunately, I see the NBA work stoppage being a bigger threat to the 2011-12 season than the NFL's.  But, as the Memphis Grizzlies know, 2011 is not exactly my year for predicting basketball - which could actually be a good thing in this case.