BASKETBALL

The NBA is at rest right now waiting for what will be the most exciting playoffs in years.  But, that doesn’t start till Saturday.  The lead story going into the playoffs is that the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili will most likely miss Game 1 against the Memphis Grizzlies due to an elbow sprain.  This is a big deal for two reasons:  (1) Manu is playing great basketball  right now and is arguably the best player on the Spurs.  And (2) The Grizzlies are one of the hottest teams in the NBA and are capable of beating absolutely anybody.  If somehow the Spurs drop Game 1 against Memphis, the Grizzlies gain a slight home court advantage over them and every single game matters in the playoffs.  The Spurs better hope they get him back in Game 2.

BASEBALL

So, without basketball, we have baseball to discuss.  Yesterday, the New York Yankees were looking to regain the first place lead against the Orioles.  But towards the end of the game, they found themselves down 5-0.  Fortunately, the Yankees got some clutch hitting from Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to get within one run.  They would have one more chance in the bottom of the 9th, and Jorge Posada hit a solo shot to tie the game and send it into extra innings.  Then, in the bottom of the 10th, Nick Swisher’s sacrifice fly brought in Mark Teixeira to score, and the Yankees win and regain the lead in the AL East.  Now, can the Red Sox catch them?  They have about 150 games to try.  NY Yankees 6, Baltimore 5.

And in Philadelphia, the Phillies acquired pitching ace for hire Cliff Lee this off season to solidify the best pitching staff in the majors.  In his first outing, Cliff Lee wasn’t exactly impressive, but he sure came back and showed the world that he is a force of nature last night against the Washington Nationals.  Lee pitched a complete game and struck out 12 batters.  Wow!  Now, this pitching staff is starting to look ‘as promised’ if you will.  If this staff (Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt) can get in a groove, they might even be able to break some kind of win record.  The Phillies are scary this season!  Philadelphia 4, Washington 0.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, some final seedings were on the line in the Western Conference as Dallas took on New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Sacramento Kings.  If either team lost and the other won, the winning team would be awarded the #2 seed in the West.  Dallas got a fantastic night from Dirk Nowitzki with 32 points in a 32-point blowout against the Hornets, but it would be nil if the Lakers won too.  Well, you wouldn’t think they would struggle with the Kings under such important circumstances, but you can’t underestimate the Kings Marcus Thornton.  He had 33 points, and took the Lakers to overtime.  But, the Lakeshow were too much in OT, and they also got a win.  Kobe finished with 36 points, and that gives them the #2 seed in the West, and Dallas gets the #3.  Also, this may have been the final game played in Sacramento, as the team will most likely move to Anaheim.  Dallas 121, New Orleans 89.  LA Lakers 116, Sacramento 108.

And speaking of Kobe Bryant, he’s in a serious amount of hot water right now for his egregious slur on Tuesday night.  In the heat of the moment, when Kobe was furious about a bad call, he called the referee a fa***t.  Clearly he was angry, and didn’t mean it literally, but when you’re as famous as Kobe is, that has serious repercussions.  Kobe is a role model not only in Los Angeles, but around the world.  Kobe apologized to the Gay and Lesbian community profusely, saying he didn’t mean it literally, and it was because he was upset.  He said that even though it was misunderstood, it was nonetheless wrong.  The NBA is fining him $100,000, and commissioner David Stern said it is a much deserved fine.  This event will most likely pass, but when you’re Kobe Bryant, you have to watch what you say.

BASEBALL

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox got off to a very slow start this season.  But now, after a couple of good outings, the Yankees are now tied for first with the Baltimore Orioles.  In a much anticipated match-up between the new-look O’s and the Yanks, the Yankees quickly got 6 runs off Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman and never looked back.  Both Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada homered, and the Yanks look like they’re back in typical form.  Friday, these teams will play again for sole ownership of first place in the ultra-competitive AL East Division.  NY Yankees 7, Baltimore 4.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are trying to lock up that #2 spot.  Last night, they took on the #1 seed San Antonio Spurs.  But, this wasn’t exactly the Spurs team we saw all year.  They rested Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.  They basically played with their second unit.  And this second unit went toe-to-toe with the defending champs.  The Lakers won the game in the end, but not convincingly.  But, more importantly, their big power forward/center, Andrew Bynum, hyper-extended his knee and had to come out of the game.  Now it’s unclear if he will be able to play in the post-season.  Without Bynum, the Lakers are pretty much toast, so they’re praying his MRI reveals only good news.  LA Lakers 102, San Antonio 93.

With that said, the Texas Rangers are off to a VERY hot start.  They were 9-1 heading into Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.  But, in the first inning, the Rangers got some VERY bad news.  Their best player, and one of the best players in the league, Josh Hamilton broke his arm when he tried to score are run in the first inning.  After the game, Hamilton called the play “stupid”, and he was probably right.  It was only the first inning, and it was Hamilton running to the plate trying to beat a throw.  His 3rd base coach gave the instruction, but it’s not something they needed to do in the 1st inning.  Doesn’t make sense. Now, Hamilton will miss between 6 and 8 weeks.  Maybe more.  Detroit 5, Texas 4.

Finally, in college basketball, Kemba Walker, the Superman who coasted through the Big East Conference Tournament, and the NCAA Tourney, ultimately winning UCONN their 3rd title in 15 years — has officially declared for the NBA.  Some thought he might return for his 4th year of eligibility, but yesterday he put those dreams to rest.  Unlike other superstar college athletes, Walker actually earned his degree in 3 years — a promise he made to his grandmother.  Experts have him projected in the Top 5 for the draft, and he will certainly be a welcome addition to any team.

GOLF

In the Masters, it was an amazing weekend full of leader board changes.  The biggest story of the weekend:  Could Tiger Woods win it all and regain the throne?  Or is his career on the downswing?  On the first day, 21-year old Rory McIlroy held the lead.  He would soon disappear in a tough field.  Basically, it came down to Adam Scott, Charl Scwartzal, Jason Day, Geoff Ogilvy, and the man… Tiger Woods.  These guys could not have played better, hitting amazing pitches from bunkers, spectacular long putts to keep things close, tense drives as not to fall behind a stroke.  It was just an amazing pressure cooker, but in the end, one man pulled away:  South African Charl Schwartzl, a man nobody suspected would be even close to the top on Sunday afternoon.  But he played marvelously, and finished at -14 under par (2 strokes above Jason Day and Adam Scott — tied for second place).  The win gave Schwartzl a $1,440,000 cash prize.

So the major question is, will Tiger Woods ever win another major?  Many people assumed he would pass Jack Nicholas for the most majors championships, but Woods still doesn’t appear to be in top form.  Plus, the circuit is full of a lot of younger guys in their 20s and early 30s who are only going to get better and challenge Woods.  We’ll see if Tiger can rebound at the next one.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers are on a 4-game losing skid.  Phil Jackson is quite angry that he can’t get his veteran team to play hard.  This is typical LA fashion, however.  They kind of take it easy before the playoffs, then come out hard once they begin.  Then again, this year’s playoff crop is no joke.  And just yesterday, the Lakers found that out as they took on the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The Thunder are on a mission right now, and thoroughly believe they can win this whole thing.  Kobe Bryant put up a great effort, finishing with 31 points, but Kevin Durant was a madman and put up 31 points of his own as the Thunder marched into LA for the win.  OKC 120, LA Lakers 106.

BASEBALL

The Angels Jered Weaver is on fire right now.  The Angels have had a decent season, but Jered Weaver is making them think that great things are ahead.   On Saturday, the Angels needed, count em, 14 innings to take down the Toronto Blue Jays.   And Sunday afternoon, Weaver was dominant against the Jays.  He had 15 strikeouts, as a very good Blue Jay offense just couldn’t get it going.  It’s still way to early to make any predictions in baseball just yet, but the Angels might regain their form in their 50th Anniversary Season.

GOLF

Thursday, the annual tradition that everybody looks forward to AFTER March Madness got underway.  Yes, it was the beginning of the 2011 Masters Golf Tournament, known to be the most prestigious of all the major golf championships.  Tiger Woods used to be the ‘master’ of The Masters.  He either won or sat atop the leader board.  But, since his ‘incident’, he has pretty much fallen off those charts.  It certainly affected his play.  Tiger now sits 6 strokes behind the leader.  Not bad, but not his usual form.  At the same time, the guy sitting atop the charts — 21 year old Rory McIlroy, a golf prodigy in the making.  Perhaps he’s even the next Tiger Woods.  Woods said of McIlroy, “He’s got a great swing, and it’s just a matter of time before he starts winning a bunch of tournaments”.  We’ll see how this Masters progresses.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Chicago Bulls are trying to lock-up the #1 spot in the Eastern Conference.  And that’s quite an accomplishment considering they would be above the defending Eastern Conference Champs Boston Celtics, a tough Magic team, and, of course, the Big Trio in Miami that everybody thought would run away with it all.  Last night, the Bulls took on the Celtics to try and inch even closer to doing what they hadn’t done since the Jordan era.  Derrick Rose played absolutely out of his mind.  He was hitting some of the most impossible shots.  He dropped 36 points on the Celtics, who looked like anything but a team that intends to challenge the Bulls in the post-season.  The win puts the Bulls up by 4 games in the East.  Unless they collapse, they’re going to get that #1 seed.  Chicago 97, Boston 81.

Finally, in some very weird news, LeBron James mother is making headlines again.  Last year, she hit the media circuit as there were rumors that she and LeBron’s teammate, Delonte West, were sleeping together.  Many even think that this is what caused the ripple behind the scenes to send LeBron to Miami.  Now LeBron James mother, Gloria James, was arrested at a hotel for assaulting a valet worker.  Why?  Because, apparently, it was taking too long to get her car delivered.  The police came and got her, and there were reports that they could smell heavy alcohol on her breath.  When LeBron retires, you can bet there will be a very interesting book written on the tribulations of his off-the-court NBA career.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs were hoping to secure home court advantage throughout the playoffs.  The Lakers have been on their tail with a mean winning streak, but after the Lakers lost to the Nuggets last night, it opened the door for the Spurs to finally shatter the dreams of the Lakeshow. They took on the Sacramento Kings, and you do not want to mess with a very strong Spurs team when they’re in pursuit of a championship ring.  They absolutely trounced Sacramento — they didn’t even know what hit them.  Manu Ginobili had 25 points in the outing as the Spurs looked like a new team.  Meanwhile, the Lakers dropped a very winnable game in Golden State, which sealed their fate.  The Spurs now have home court advantage throughout the playoffs.  And it’s tough to beat the Spurs IN San Antonio.  Spurs 124, Kings 92.

Elsewhere in college basketball, some semi-shocking news out of Duke.  Everyone is now familiar with the unofficial ‘One-And-Done’ rule that’s going on in college hoops right now.  Top recruits are forced to head to a college for at least a year before entering the NBA.  We expect at least 5-10 of these phenoms to declare for the draft after just one year.  But, one school, Duke, has done a better job of holding onto their talent.  Many agreed that Kyrie Irving was the best player in the nation at the beginning of the season.  He was dominating everybody.  But, after just 8 games, he got hurt and was thought to miss the rest of the season.  Then he made a surprising comeback during the tournament.  Everybody thought that Duke had this thing locked up.  But no, they got crushed by Arizona.  Well, now, after just one QUARTER OF A SEASON, Irving is declaring for the NBA Draft, and there’s a good chance he could be the #1 pick.  He was probably concerned that he couldn’t risk getting hurt again and lowering his draft stock.

SOCCER

Finally, in some sports business news, LeBron James has another title under his name:  Soccer Team Owner.  LeBron has partnered with Fenway Sports Management (the organization that owns most of the Boston Red Sox) for marketing opportunities overseas.  This partnership also gives him partial ownership of one of the best soccer teams in the English Premiership:  Liverpool FC.  Soccer certainly isn’t LeBron’s sports, but it will be interesting when they have to consult him on operations every now and then.  Sure, he probably won’t care much, but one thing is almost certain:  Kobe Bryant is jealous. For those of you who didn’t know, he’s an avid soccer fan.  Maybe he’ll invest in Manchester United after he retires.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers are gunning for that #1 spot for the playoffs.  But, down almost 3 games to the Spurs, they pretty much have to play perfectly down the stretch.  They assumed that they would beat a hapless Utah Jazz team on their home court at Staples Center.  But, you can never count out a team who has the best player that used to play on a college team that just lost their second straight National Championship.  That man is former Butler star Gordon Hayward.  Andrew Bynum had a pretty nice game for the Lakers, finishing with a tremendous 23 rebounds, but Howard had an impressive night with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and the game winning drive that got him fouled and sent him to the line to put the Jazz up 1.  The Lakers had one last chance, gave it to Kobe, but he lost control of the ball and the Lakers lost!!!  Wow, a big slip up by Kobe, which could have serious implications for their future.  Utah 86, LA Lakers 85.

In the final coaches poll of the men’s college basketball season, a bit of an oddity.  Typically, because there is a tournament to actually decide a winner, the coaches vote unanimously for the team that won.  In this case UConn.  But ONE coach out of 31 didn’t select UConn as the best team overall.  He picked Ohio State, and stated, “I voted for the team with the overall best body of work”.  Ohio State did have a very impressive season, winning big in a tough Big 10 conference and even going undefeated for most of the season.  But, bottom line is, they didn’t win it all.  In fact they didn’t even advance to the Elite 8.  UConn certainly didn’t lose any sleep or feel slighted by that lone vote, but it’s still a pretty odd thing to vote for.  In college football, with an occasional controversial winner in place, you could argue ‘maybe’, but in a tourney that actually crowns a winner?  Little strange .

Finally, in the Women’s College Basketball Championship, it was Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame — two teams that pulled remarkable upsets on Sunday over the favored #1 seeds.  Notre Dame is known for their high-powered offense, and A&M is known for their staunch defense.  Both teams came through on their reputations.  A&M’s center, Danielle Adams finished the night with a whopping 30 points, but with just under a minute to play, A&M turned the ball over only up by 3.  Notre Dame had a chance to tie the game, but the Aggies had another defensive stance and STOLE THE BALL!  That would give them possession, and send them to the line to finalize the game.  A&M was simply on a roll this tournament, and last night, they put the cap on the bottle.  Congratulations to Texas A&M.  Texas A&M 76, Notre Dame 70.

In college basketball, the night we’ve all been waiting for:  The End of The Madness.  Yep, it was finally time for the National Championship Game between the #3 UConn Huskies and the #8 Butler Bulldogs.  The question was basically, which team was hotter.  Well, in the first half, the teams were neck and neck, but Butler looked to have the edge.  At the end of the first half, Shelvin Mack hit a gorgeous 3 to put the Bulldogs up by 3 at the half.  But, in the second half, it was all UConn, as Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb took over.  To add to that, Butler completely fell apart.  They couldn’t hit a shot to save their life and finished the game shooting only 18% from the field.  They couldn’t even buy a bucket inside the paint — that was purely dominated by UConn.  The clock kept ticking, and that was all she wrote.  And UConn, a team that wasn’t even ranked at the beginning of the season, is your National Champion!  Wow! UConn 53, Butler 41.

This is the 3rd National championship for UConn in the past 12 years, and many believe that next to Coach K at Duke, that Jim Calhoun is the second best coach in college basketball.  This team wasn’t even touted, they just worked hard, and Calhoun had them ready to play championship level ball since the Big East tournament.  Butler, on the other hand, has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with.  It will be rare to see them slotted as a low seed again, and you can expect them to be a #5 seed or higher if they have a good season henceforth.

And in other college basketball news, Shaka Smart, the man who led #11 VCU from a play-in game all the way to the Final Four will have a few options after this season.  Typically, coaches like him depart to coach a major conference school for more money.  In fact, NC State offered him the head coaching gig.  But, Smart is pulling a Brad Stevens (Butler coach) and has inked an 8-year deal to remain at VCU.  But, don’t think he would be doing it for the same amount of money.  Smart’s base pay went from $325K per year, to $1.2 Million per year.  Now that’s a pretty good pay raise.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Lakers have been soaring lately and look in championship form.  That’s why a game hosting another red-hot team, the Denver Nuggets, was such an important match-up at this point in the season for the Lakeshow.  Plus, the Lakers were at full strength, so this was a key test from them.  And, the Lakers are still trying to nab that #1 spot in the West, and every game counts at this point.  The Lakers got off to a good start, and Kobe had a nice game with 28 points, but the Nuggets held their own with no problem.  In the end, with the Nuggets up 3, their Center, Nene, missed a crucial free throw, but Timofey Mozgov got the shot back to put the Nuggets up 5 and seal the deal.  Denver 95, LA Lakers 90.

And in the women’s final four, #1 seed Stanford was hoping to roll over Texas A&M to advance to the championship game.  But, Texas A&M came out completely unafraid.  It was a back and forth game, but in the end, Sydney Colson found Tyra White for a layup with just 3 seconds to go.  That’s all they needed to nab the game.  For Stanford, unfortunately, that’s four straight Final Four appearances without a championship.  You have to imagine their students are quite fatigued at this point.

So, surely, the heavily favored UConn Women’s team would advance against Notre Dame.  After all, they have the best player in the country in Maya Moore.  But, just like Texas A&M in Game 1, Notre Dame came out fierce.  They weren’t threatened in the slightest by UConn, and found themselves up 9 points with just 30 seconds left.  The Huskies simply couldn’t do anything about it, and seemed to have a blurred vision out there, completely stifled by the competitive play of the Fighting Irish. So that gives us a Final between two determined underdogs:  Texas A&M and Notre Dame.

Finally, Monday night  is the game we’ve all been waiting for, the NCAA Basketball Championship Game.  Now, many people, prior to the tourney, definitely didn’t have #3 seed UConn vs. #8 seed Butler in the final game, but, looking back, that now seems to be the only match-up that makes sense.  Butler is well coached, big, and has an NBA caliber player up top (Shelvin Mack).  UConn has, arguably, the best player in the country in Kemba Walker, as well as a supporting cast that has come on strong this past month.  It will be two teams on a tear squaring up in Houston.  And either way, it will be an underdog victory.  In remarkable fashion, Butler made it back to the championship game after just one year.  That is extremely rare, especially for a team in a mid-major conference.  This shows that last year was no fluke, but to make it back again for another shot… that puts a whole new meaning to “We’ll get ’em next year”.  If UConn wins, sure they’re the Big East champs, but they weren’t even ranked at the beginning of the season.  Kemba Walker is a star now, but he wasn’t on anyone’s radar 5 months ago.  Both of these teams have won against the odds, and, unfortunately, one of them has to lose this game.

BASEBALL

Thursday was opening day in baseball.  First up, it was the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees.  It was C.C. Sabathia vs.  Jason Verlander on the mound in what many thought would be a pitcher’s duel.  But, they were wrong, as it turned out to be an offensive showdown.  The Yankees Mark Teixeira typically starts off the season slow.  But, yesterday, he was red-hot, even hitting a 3-run homer to put the Yanks up 3-1.  And later, former Tiger, Curtis Granderson smacked his own homer off a lefty (Phil Coke) to put the Yankees up a run, and there was no looking back.  The Yanks open the season with a win.  NY Yankees 6, Detroit 3.

And in a prime-time match-up, we got a look at the defending champion San Francisco Giants.  But, they had to play in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, and this is probably the biggest hush-hush rivalry in sports.  These teams (and their fan bases) HATE each other.  The games are wild and even, at times, violent.  You don’t want to be wearing Giant orange in the bleachers at Dodger Stadium.  Clayton Kershaw had a phenomenal pitching night for the Dodgers to best Giants ace Tim Lincecum, and James Loney helped knock in the winning run to win the game for LA.  Watch out for the Dodgers this season.  LA Dodgers 2, San Francisco 1.

BASKETBALL

Finally, in the NBA, a heated match-up between the LA Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.  This is a big deal because of seed numbers.  They’re fighting over the #2 seed, which would be very valuable for home court advantage in the second round.  The Lakers played great, and even Andrew Bynum had 18 points, but this game was most notable for its ejections.  First, Jason Terry shoved Lakers point-guard Steve Blake to the ground.  He was ejected, and will most likely see a fine.  Then, Matt Barnes got into the action, even shrugging off a Mavericks assistant coach trying to restrain him.  And HE was rejected.  Then, in an odd moment, a fan came storming down the stairs headed straight for the Mavericks bench.  He was ejected from the arena by a host of Staples Center security guards.  What a weird night.  But, the Lakers took the game, and that’s all that mattered.  LA Lakers 110, Dallas 82.