Week in Review 4-26

With all four major sports making for one of the busiest weekends in our little world, there was an overabundance of topics to address. To be honest it was strangely underwhelming and uninspiring as everything was getting nauseating amounts of ink, often disproportionate to the importance or excitement of the goings-on in question. I mean, I was pondering devoting an entire column to the draft, until the second day of coverage literally put me to sleep. But we’ll get to that in due time. Here’s your Week in Review:

First, hockey. I’ll tell you what, NHL, there is no better way to capitalize on any momentum you might have carried into the playoffs from Vancouver than to show only half (if that) of the first round games. I am missing out on Game 6 of the Boston – Buffalo series tonight after missing out on Game 5 as well. How are you supposed to win back any fans if you are not even putting the playoffs on TV? Somehow the NBA managed to put every game on. What the hell? GIVE AWAY the rights if you have to, but get those games on TV. I know most fans live in the local viewing areas but that doesn’t expand the audience. These series are too good to screw people out of them.

I have to admit, the NBA is offering some good storylines in its first round. The fact that there are rumblings that Kobe might choke it away got my attention, though it won’t happen. The pundits will be talking about LA dominance again after they obliterate the youthful Thunder in the Staples Center (mostly thanks to skewed officiating). I can’t wait to see the Spurs finish off the Mavs. They are the Pete Sampras of the late era of the League and I have a lot of grudging respect for Duncan (who grew up under Naval Academy grad David Robinson so, go Navy) and anyone who keeps the Lakers out of the Finals. I’m not as excited to see Carmelo on the verge of elimination, though Utah’s a good story too, getting past some untimely injuries. Speaking of which, go Brandon Roy. There’s nothing but awesome in that story. Mostly I am just feeling good about basketball because the Celtics are more or less handling their business against the Heat. I am glad they gave Miami a game though. If D Wade is going to be a free agent, I don’t want any hard feelings.

Baseball is just pointless to try to get a read on before May, so I am not going to try. Check back next month for some MLB analysis. Right now it’s just too early; I mean, the Sox are under .500. That has got to be an aberration.

Oh wait! One baseball note; A-Rod is fucking with karma again! I can’t wait to see how that plays out, but seriously, what a douchebag. Please, Alex, please try to walk across the mound with Daniel Bard pitching. Please.

So then there was the draft. I anticipated a great feeling of relief when it was over, but parts were kind of fun. I enjoyed the first round and the three-day format and even the campy ESPN coverage. I didn’t look into the NFL Network coverage but I assume it was as sterile and dull as every other studio show they do. Every team had hits and misses and everyone has an opinion on everyone’s “grade,” but this is another thing where the over-analysis that has become so prevalent that it takes the jam out of my doughnut. There is certainly no reason for you to come here for pick-by-pick rehashing and punditry. And I won’t give you any. I will throw you some of my off-the-cuff impressions though:

Welp, FSU got its ass kicked in first-rounders by UF, Georgia Tech, and Rutgers. Ouch. We did get one though and Miami didn’t get any. So there.

The following is exactly what I wrote when Denver started to wheel and deal in the first round:

everyone shits on josh mcdaniels but I think he got all the best part of his jedi master. Jay Cutler is trash, if you don’t have the locker room to police marshall and can’t expect 100% out of him you have to see what you can get, and I love the Belichick-like first round trades. If he takes Claussen he is the man.

Then he took Tebow. Wow. ESPN is queer for him, half the country is queer for him, and now Josh McDaniels is queer for him. The irony being that Tebow condemns the sin of homosexuality. I would like to pose this as an actual question: better pick – Myron or Tebow? Go.

Maybe I was letting Kiper pour honey in my ear, but I think Claussen will make everyone pay. The Bills letting him slip was particularly surprising, but CJ is apparently an unnatural athlete and hard to pass up. My response would be, of course, so was Reggie Bush.

Honestly, there’s no amount of prognosticating that can really predict which picks are good or not, so I’m not going to get any deeper into it. Hell, the best part of the entire thing was that I got to see the new World Cup ad for the first time. “It’s not about religion…” That is a kick ass commercial. Facebook will have the poll question on the fan page.