Top Seed on Verge of Elimination

The San Antonio Spurs who have been the best team in the NBA for most of the season are now just one loss away from being eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs.  Many experts thought that Memphis would push the Spurs, but not many people could have seen this coming.  The Grizzlies have just flat out outplayed the Spurs thus far in this series, blowing them out in Game 3.  After the Grizzlies won Game 1 many thought that the Spurs would regroup and handle their business, which they did.  Then after going 0-2 on their trip to Memphis, the Spurs look more like the eight seed.  The age of Tim Duncan and lack of production from outside of their big three has finally caught up to this aging team.

NFL Player Stabbed

Early this morning Brandon Marshall was stabbed and has gone through surgery to repair his wounds.  He was allegedly stabbed by his wife after they had gotten in an altercation.  This is not the first time that there has been a domestic dispute between the two, or the first time Marshall has put himself into a bad situation.  Two years ago Marshall was the one being arrested after the couple got into a dispute.  Hopefully this time Marshall will learn from this situation and keep himself out of these types of situations.

NBA Playoffs

The NBA playoffs begun this weekend with many top teams eyeing a trip to the NBA Finals.  The Chicago Bulls have come from no where to take the top spot in the East this year, and are the favorite pick of many to come out of the East.  They are followed closely by the Miami Heat with there star studded trio, and will likely face the mighty Boston Celtics in the second round.  The Celtics and Magic will be a tough out for these top two teams in the Eastern Conference.  Out west the Lakers are once again the favorite to represent the conference in the Finals.  They are just to big for most teams with Bynum and Gasol, and have one of the best playoff performers of all time.  The Spurs will likely be too old and too slow to keep up with the Lakers, and the Mavs always fail when it comes to the playoffs.  Who do you think will represent both conferences in the NBA Finals?

Bad Start?

The Boston Red Sox who many picked to win the World Series have gotten off to a historically bad start.  They are off to a 0-6 start after being swept in Cleveland this week.  All of their overpriced free agent acquistions have not paid off thus far.  The pitching staff has been well below average.  A few Red Sox starters have already given up more home runs than they did all of last year, looks money cannot buy you a winner.  They will most likely get hot and win five or six in a row, but this is definatley not the start they envisioned.

Leaving Early?

As the college basketball season has come to a close many of the nations top college players are leaving early for the NBA draft.  Some of these include Kyrie Irving, Marcus and Markieff Morris, and Isiah Thomas.  Even with the possible NBA lockout players are still deciding to leave for the draft filled with uncertainty.  Josh Selby of Kansas, who has not declared for the draft was in Las Vegas working out instead of attending classes this week.  Coach Bill Self said that Selby was fine and could afford to miss a little class time, even though the team had been in the tournament and he had already missed substantial time.  Players who leave after one year technically do not have to attend class the second semester, and basically are a rental for basketball season.  Do you think the rule needs to be changed to allow high school athletes go straight to the NBA, or have a minimum of three years they must stay once they go to college like the NFL has.  Something needs to be done though, these one and done players are nothing close to being a "student" athlete.

Preview of the AL Central

When it comes to the AL Central the favorite every year seems to be the Minnesota Twins.  The Twins are consistently overlooked as a small market team but every year they are in the hunt for the division crown, and this year should be no different.  The Twins with hopefully a healthy Justin Morneau and a great pitching staff will be back in the postseason this year behind MVP candidate Joe Mauer and Hall of Fame manager Rod Gardinhire.  The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox should  be in the hunt for the wild card as well.  Both teams making huge additions this off season should be back in the hunt for the division title.  If the pieces come together for Chicago they could be on their way to 95 to 100 wins, and considered by many to be a World Series favorite.  As for the bottom two teams in this division the Royals and Indians, this season will be yet another of rebuilding mode and trying to develop young talent for the future.

Projected Standings:
1. Minnesota
2. Chicago
3. Detroit
4. Kansas City
5. Cleveland

Preview of the AL East

The Yankees and Red Sox have been the giants in this division for the last 15 years or so with both making the playoffs each year except for one in that time span.  This year should be no different.  The Red Sox add Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to their already powerful offense, and also add former closer Bobby Jenks to their hard throwing bullpen.  There starting rotation needs to improve from last year but the talent is there, and their offense alone will make them the strong favorite to win the division and also the American League pennant. Boston's biggest challenger of course will be their hated rival the New York Yankees.  Although the Yankees missed out on big free agent pitcher Cliff Lee they still have one of the more potent offenses in baseball, the clubs only question will be the back end of the rotation.  Tampa Bay will be the team most likely to challenge these two legendary teams.  The past two years have been great for the once dreadful franchise.  The Rays have lost many key players to free agency this winter but have a group of young players still eager to prove they belong with the big guns.  Coming off a surprising season the Toronto Blue Jays will look to build off last years success.  With MVP candidate Jose Bautista resigned Toronto will look to see if he can reproduce last year, and look for their young pitchers to continue to develop.  Finally the Baltimore Orioles will more than likely bring up the rear in this division.  Look for the O's to be much improved with key offensive additions, as well as another year of experience for its young pitching staff.

Projected Standings:
1. Boston
2. New York
3. Tampa Bay
4. Toronto
5. Baltimore