Spring is in the air... - 4/25/09

We're gonna go with the news & notes format for this post. Back to the normal one-subject rant followed by a few news & notes next time.

- The postseason is in full swing in both the NBA & the NHL. Shockingly, I'm going to start with the NBA Playoffs here. (Don't worry. I'll get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the greatest postseason tournament, a little later here.) The combination of seeding and some new blood has really infused some life into this year's NBA Playoffs for me. It's great to see the young Portland Trail Blazers finally put it all together and make their first postseason appearance since 2003. Brandon Roy & LaMarcus Aldridge are the core of a very exciting team. They are also a far cry from the "Jail Blazer" days of Stoudamire, Randolph, and Rider, to name a few. On the other side of that, it's nice to not have to watch another Phoenix Suns playoff failure as Steve Nash & company failed to qualify for the postseason.

The West is so competitive that the Utah Jazz (at 48-34) are the 8th seed and giving the Los Angeles Lakers everything they've got, clawing back into the series with a scintillating 88-86 Game 3 win. The Mavericks and Jason Kidd (still mad at him for forcing his way out of Jersey) are pushing to go up 3-1 on the third-seeded Spurs. Over in the East, the Bulls are fighting the Celtics, who are just not the same club without Kevin Garnett in the lineup. And how about that #4/#5 matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat? Good stuff there.

But for me the story of the postseason is the slumping Detroit Pistons. Here's a club that was once the class of the Eastern Conference, winning an NBA Title in 2004 and making seemingly-annual appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals. This year, though, the tables have finally turned. Detroit backed into the playoffs at 39-43 and is on the verge of elimination as LeBron & the Cavaliers have a 3-0 advantage in the series. These Pistons look nothing like their predecessors. Michael Curry, just 39 years old, looks lost as a head coach in his first NBA postseason. Allen Iverson has been a drain on the club all season and has been inactive the entire series. Rip Hamilton & Tayshaun Prince are good players but don't have anything close to the leadership chops possessed by Chauncey Billups. Why they sent him to Denver, I'll never know. But I'm sure the Nuggets (and Carmelo Anthony in particular) are still thanking their lucky stars that they were not only able to get Billups and push to the #2 seed in the West, but to also shed themselves of the albatross that is Iverson. I've always had a tremendous respect for Pistons executive Joe Dumars but the 2008-2009 season should easily go down as his worst.

- Don't know about anyone else but I am taking great joy in watching CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, and Joba Chamberlain all struggle this April for the Yankees. I'm not going to harp on Sabathia too much as he has historically been a slow starter. If he's still struggling in June, then I'll give him some grief. Wang has been a shocking disappointment thus far. His velocity is down and that patented sinker is not biting at all. Wang currently has a 34.50 ERA and has gone just six innings in his three starts. His batting average against is a preposterous .622. Mechanics may be a problem but I have a hard time believing he's fully recovered from the Lisfranc injury that ended his 2008 season. Let's remember how long it took Michael Strahan to recover from the same injury and he was never the same player after that. The Yanks have put Wang on the 15-day DL, skipped his last scheduled start, and sent him to Tampa for an extended spring training start. Chamberlain's numbers may appear fine on the surface but underneath that, trouble is brewing. The power pitcher whose game relies on strikeouts has just 11 K's in three starts and has seen his velocity fall from 97 down to the low 90s, topping out at 93. His control is still not there, walking 10 in just 16 innings, and you have to wonder how much his stuff really translates over six or seven innings as opposed to that eighth-inning burst. Phil Hughes is coming up to take over for Wang. It's a little early to be patching up the rotation in the Bronx but here they are once again struggling in April. If this persists and the Bronx Bombers fail to go to the postseason again, I believe Joe Girardi will be hanging out where countless other Americans have over the last year...the unemployment line.

- The Mountain West Conference submitted a new playoff proposal at this week's BCS Meetings. I've discussed the MWC's legitimacy before so I'm not going to revisit that. This league, at the very least, deserves an automatic BCS spot. That could happen if the ACC, Big Ten, and Big East continue to struggle. But don't hold your breath for a 1-A playoff because it's just not gonna happen.

- For many 1-A schools last week was the annual rite of passage known as the Spring Game. I love spring football. You get 15 practices to go back to fundamentals, slowly install your "bread & butter" schemes, evaluate talent new & old, and cultivate some genuine competition on your football team. I watched the Alabama spring game on ESPN last Saturday and other than the countless cuts to suit-and-tie clad-coach Nick Saban, it was fantastic. 84,050 Crimson Tide fans packed Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch the Crimson team defeat the White team, 14-7. Those that are not college football fans are probably wondering why 80,000 people would come to watch a controlled, glorified intrasquad scrimmage but that's the beauty of college football and what ultimately makes it better than the NFL. The passion that runs through the college game is unequaled & unrivaled. And just to show the insanity of the SEC, a Tennessee fan (fully dressed in orange) showed up at the A-Day Game to taunt the 'Bama fans. I guess he needed some practice for that annual grudge match on the third Saturday in October.

- A few NFL Draft notes as the first round continues: I'm glad the Detroit Lions didn't use their whole ten minutes of clock time to hand their pick to Commissioner Roger Goodell. They reached a deal with Matthew Stafford and announced it prior to the draft. There was no suspense to be had so thanks for not wasting ten minutes of my time and allowing the next pick to step up. Big play by the Jets to move all the way up from #17 to #5 to take USC QB Mark Sanchez. Kellen Clemens is definitely not the answer there so kudos to new head coach Rex Ryan for recognizing that and taking a chance. Josh McDaniels continues to prove what an arrogant idiot he is in Denver. They don't move from #12 and end up taking yet another running back, Georgia's Knowshon Moreno. Say what you want about the whole Jay Cutler ordeal but the bottom line is that he is a Top 10 NFL quarterback and those are hard to come by these days. He got nothing of value back for him and then used a pick on a running back who may be gifted but has loads of durability questions. McDaniels came into Denver blazing, cutting half of the starting defense, angering veterans at every turn, and then creating a rift with his Pro Bowl QB. People say that McDaniels is a miracle worker with Matt Cassel. I hate to break your heart but Cassel always had talent. It's not his fault he sat behind this guy at USC. What was his name? Oh yeah...Carson Palmer. Cassel had plenty of ability, just like Tom Brady did at Michigan. McDaniels may have rounded him out and helped him take that final step into NFL stardom but he certainly did not make Matt Cassel. Here's hoping Denver just falls out of contention in the AFC West and that Jay Cutler takes Chicago to new heights. Oh, and Al Davis, have fun with another useless speed receiver in Darius Heyward-Bey. Great job with that #7 overall pick.

- The Stanley Cup Playoffs have been hotly contested thus far. The Boston Bruins took the arch-rival Montreal Canadiens behind the woodshed and swept them right out of the first round, outscoring them 17-6 in the process. What a pathetic end to what was supposed to be a glorious Centennial Season for Montreal. The 8th-seeded Anaheim Ducks have the San Jose Sharks on the ropes with a 3-1 series advantage. The Sharks had the league's best regular-season record but are one loss away from adding another year to their monumental list of playoff failures. Even though the Columbus Blue Jackets & St. Louis Blues were both swept out of the first round I have to give them credit for getting back to the playoffs, and in Columbus' case, making their first-ever Stanley Cup Playoff appearance. Both teams are very young and it showed against Detroit and Vancouver, respectively. But they've got loads of talent, great fan bases, and bright futures ahead of them. The Philadelphia Flyers & Pittsburgh Penguins had a six-game dogfight in the Battle of the Keystone State. The Flyers lost Game 6, and the series, after blowing a 3-0 lead as the Pens scored five unanswered goals.

The East & the West also have one series each that has just been off the charts. The Chicago Blackhawks (making their first playoff appearance since 2002) & the Calgary Flames series has been every bit the battle a #4/#5 series is supposed to be. Chicago won two exciting one-goal games on home ice to start the series. Calgary then battled back to win the next two at home, withstanding furious Chicago rallies in both contests. But the series of the first round has to be the Devils/Hurricanes matchup in the East. I am a die-hard Devils fan and season-ticket holder but that's not the only reason I say this. Just look at the series: Four one-goal games, two overtime games, one game decided with a goal with just 00.2 seconds left in regulation after a 3-goal comeback practically assured overtime, heavy hitting, and incredible goaltending. Martin Brodeur picked up his record-tying 23rd playoff shutout in Game 5, stopping 44 Carolina shots. Carolina goalie Cam Ward has also been playing well as he picked up 41 saves of his own in Game 5. Game 6 is scheduled for Sunday night in Carolina. The way this series has been going back and forth, don't be surprised if the two teams are forced to face off again...in a deciding Game 7 Tuesday night in Newark.

- Finally, I was sad to see my favorite wrestler, 13-time (and current) WWE Champion Triple H go back to RAW in the annual WWE Draft. I felt Triple H's time on Smackdown was great for both him and the company. He brought new respectability to the "Blue Brand" and cultivated some up-and-coming stars in the process. Unfortunately, his move back to Monday nights most likely paves the way for Batista to turn on him at Backlash, costing "The Game" the WWE Championship in the process. On the plus side of the draft, Chris Jericho moves from RAW to Smackdown. This move should put Jericho back in the main event spotlight, a long-overdue move for one of the greatest entertainers and technical wrestlers of our time.

That's all for now. Until next time.

-Meech