FOOTBALL

The NFL Draft has come to a close.  We let you know about some of the first round highlights, but in the second — even more.  It looks like the Cincinnati Bengals are moving on from the Carson Palmer era, as they selected Andy Dalton — the quarterback star from TCU.  The Bengals said they consider Palmer retired, and that it was time to move on.  And the Bengals didn’t even have to trade up to get him.  Then, the 49ers added a great quarterback to their roster in Colin Kaepernick, the guy who led Nevada to a great season and an upset win over Boise State.  The sheep of the draft was Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett.  He just kept falling and falling, but Bill Belichick took a chance on him and drafted him to the Patriots in the 3rd round.  He will now have the opportunity to learn from two masters:  Belichick and Brady for the next few seasons.  People had concerns about Mallett, but he was a great at Arkansas and should be a solid NFL QB.

BASKETBALL

And in the NBA, the second round was underway.  The Memphis Grizzlies pulled off a shocking upset knocking off the San Antonio Spurs Friday night.  And, in what seemed like an unfair amount of time, they had to travel to Oklahoma City for their early afternoon date with the Thunder.  People thought they might be on a high from their victory, but the Grizzlies came to play.  These guys are jelling on all cylinders right now.  It’s team ball at its best.   Zach Randolph is playing the best basketball of his career right now.  He finished with 34 points and 10 rebounds as the Grizz routed the Thunder.  Who is going to knock this team out?  Memphis 114, OKC 101.

Finally, it was the much anticipated match-up between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.  This is the series that people had been talking about as soon as LeBron made his historic “Decision” live on air, with everyone asking, “Can they beat the Celtics?”  Plus, most thought that this would be the Eastern Conference Championship, not a round 2 match-up.  Either way, the battle was underway Sunday afternoon.  The Heat came out on fire and NEVER cooled off.  They were up and down the court and seriously exposed the Celtics age.  And you could see that Boston was missing the presence of Kendrick Perkins (whom they sent to Oklahoma City before the trade deadline).  Dwayne Wade finished with a whopping 38 points in the punishing of Boston.  Now, don’t be fooled, Boston will still turn this into a series, but the Heat look like a very tough team to beat now.  Miami 99, Boston 90.