A little hockey update

So we are over one third the way through with the season and teams are settling into place. We've seen several coaches fired (Chicago, Tampa Bay, Carolina) and a few surprises. The Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks seem to be running away with their respective conferences, already each have accumulated over 50 points with at least 50 more to play. The Tampa Bay Lightning are terrible as usual, and no amount of coaching changes are gonna help them, guess its another growing year.

The Hurricanes rehired Maurice after his banishment to Toronto, and they hope this will be the key to making the playoffs three years after they last did (and won the cup). The only problem is that they can't find consistent goal tending and they have a major problem on the bench in the form of no Special Teams management. Once again they're in the bottom third on the PK and PP, and when your also 23rd in the league in Goals per Game, that just won't do.

A pleasant surprise has been the eruption of offense from the New Jersey Devils. After HOF Goalie Martin Brodeur went out on Nov. 1, everyone was counting them out. Almost two months later, they're 9th in Goals per Game and 7th and G/A per Game, sitin pretty at 5th in the Eastern Confrence with at least two games in hand on the rest of the confrence. Could this finally be the deathnells of the trap in Jersey, only Brent Sutter knows...

Thats all fro now, have a Happy Holidays and great New Year everyone!

Winter Meetings

So I know I havn't posted in a while, but oh well, life got in the way you know.

Going on right now is the winter meetings in baseball, where in dark smoke filled rooms, GM's wheel and deal for trades and free agents. So far lets look at some of the teams that need work and what they've done.

New York Yankees: In need of an ace pitcher to reestablish their rotation, so far they've signed C.C. Sabathia to a 161 million dollar deal and further pursuing another $80 million on A.J. Burnett. Reports also say that they may be trading Mmelky Cabrera for Mike Cameron of the Brewers. I think the Stienbrenner brothers are just a little pissed about missing the playoff's last year.

New York Mets: Have traded for Putz and have signed Frankie Rodriguez, effectivly anchoring the eighth and ninth innings, in which they had tons of trouble the last two years. Further reports have stated that the Mets may be pursuing Derek Lowe or Street as well to fill out the rotation.

Dodgers: willing to wait out Manny Ramerize

Braves: pursuing A.J. Burnett as well, though they need more help than just a solid pitcher.

More to come later, those are just the big stories for now, more later.

Before I sign off, I just want to give a big shout out to my favorite pitcher of all time, Greg Maddux. 355 wins. Thats all I have to say, and hope he enjoys retirment as much as I enjoyed watching him, thank you fore everything Mr. Maddux, the game will miss you sorly.

A Game For the Ages

(A great article written by my good friend William Carrigan that I thought deserved some face time and hockey has been a little lacking lately. Enjoy)

It is a clear Tuesday night in mid-November. Two titans come together for a much-anticipated rematch of an epic playoff meeting not too many moons ago. The one team: a well-oiled machine of veteran players and measured rising stars – the undisputed heavy weight champion of the world and large favorite in this prize-fight having stolen one of their challenger’s best players only months before. The other: the youthful challenger still hearing the ring from the final bell of the two’s last meeting fresh in their heads, the sting of that night all too real in their minds. They seek revenge, and they seek it on enemy ground. The stage is set. It is time for war.

The young challengers jump first with a beautiful pass finished with a dazzling display of athleticism to take the lead. The crowd is silent. This is not how they thought it would turn out. It is not long before they are given something to cheer about. Their home warriors show their grit and produce not one, not two, but three unanswered scores. The youthful opponents are visibly shaken. Halfway through the night, the veteran home team has a comfortable two score lead on the seemingly inept squad that had the nerve to challenge their supremacy and they aren’t losing any steam. It looks to be a long trip home for the visitors tonight. They aren’t done. The machine churns out one more. Three scores and time is running short. A minute goes by. The challengers cut into the lead by one. Two minutes. Another cut. Only one score separates the two teams with time to spare. A glimmer of hope! It fades. The machine will not be undone. They score again. Nice try. See you next time. The challengers for some reason keep trying. They make a solid attempt, but the machine’s defenses show no cracks. Well, one. The challengers score with five minutes remaining. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. The defense will not give an inch. Forty-five seconds. Thirty-seconds. It’s not over. With only twenty-three seconds to spare, the challengers make a hail mary attempt that somehow works. The game is tied. The faces on the crowd say simply: You have got to be kidding me.
Overtime. Five minutes on the clock. No one is sitting down. For a few minutes neither team gives way. Just over two minutes remaining. One of the young warrior intercepts one of the machine’s powerful members. Everyone holds their breath. A pass. Only one defender to beat. A prayer. It’s over. The challengers have brought the champions to their knees in spectacular fashion. They have proven that they will not be tossed aside. This year will be different. They are coming for the title they came so close to last year. God save anyone who stands in their way.

When the dust has settled the final score stands:
Pittsburgh Penguins – 7
Detroit Red Wings – 6

The drama and excitement of this game will be hard to top in ANY sport this season, let alone in hockey. And yes, mark my words the Penguins are out for blood. This hockey fan would love nothing more than a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final to grace television this spring. The board is set. The pieces are moving. Who will come out on top? We’ll see.

For now, I could not be more proud of my Penguins.

In case you missed it:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2008020216

Another Video

I just felt like adding another one of the videos I worked on in my spare time. Enjoy!

Beef with the BCS

Rich DeVita

So I have been thinking about the current BCS system. I have never liked it and after hearing Chris Berman interview Obama at the halftime of Monday Night Football last week, it seems that everyone has an opinion on this. It is a great water cooler discussion but it seems like a playoff is light years away. Here is something to think about. 

Should Penn State be jumped by a Texas Tech team after Tech beat #1 Texas? At first I thought to myself "of course they should! They just bet the #1 team in the country and have not lost this year. " But then I thought more about it. Penn State has won every game so far this season by 2 touchdowns or more. Should they be punished because they had an off week? This has been discussed all week on ESPN and other media outlets. I was wondering what everyone out there thinks. Is it just me or was anyone else surprised when they saw the current rankings this past week?

 

Another topic of discussion that has come up is the National Championship. Should a one loss team from conferences such as the SEC or the Big 12 get the nod instead of an undefeated Big 10 school? You can only play who is on your schedule. Has Ohio State's past failures hurt chances for other teams in their conference?

The computers also get on my nerves sometimes. I believe that voters should have the final say in the polls. If a good portion of sports writers vote a team #2 yet the computers have them at #4 because of strength of schedule and average win margin then the team can end up number 3 and possibly miss out on accomplishing the ultimate goal of winning a championship.

For once in my life I agree with President-elect Barack Obama. We need an 8 team playoff system in college football. Forget this voting nonsense. Have the top 8 teams at the end of the year put into a bracket and have the national champion be decided on the gridiron, just like it should be. We would probably have some of the most intriguing games in recent history. 

Reactions? Comments and opinions? Let me know.

Luck number 13

This will be short. So I was in the bar last night and caught the 2nd and 3rd Periods of the Vancouver and Anaheim game, and I must say that it ranks as maybe the best game I've seen this year as far as offense. Going into the second, the Ducks had a 2-1 lead. I go get another beer, look back and its 3-2 Canucks, in about 2 minutes, they scored twice. Next two minutes, its 2-2, and then Vancouver goes on a Blitz, scoring three times in a little over 2 minutes. Games over right? NO, Anaheim comes back and scores three times in the next 5 minutes to tie it up at 5 all. Third Period, and the Canucks go up by one with about 9 minutes left. Anaheim keeps pushing and with 52 seconds ties it up again. OT and nothing so we go to the shoot out. 13 rounds it goes, 13 ROUNDS! Vancuver finally scores the last shot in the 13th round, what could be better than to win a game on Halloween in the 13th round?

A New Season Begins

The NBA started up again this week. I am excited as are many others. Its at this point that everyone feels that their team has a chance at that sacred gold trophy. New coaches, players and GMs litter the league and anything can happen. You got to love week one.

There were some impressive wins in this first week I noticed. Atlanta trounced the Magic in Orlando by 14. This was especially surprising to me because of the great preseason Orlando had. The versatile Joe Johnson scored 25 for the Hawks while Orlando only managed 13 first quarter points. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder made history with the first game ever for the NBA's newest franchise. The Thunder lost to Milwaukee  98-87 in what was an entertaining game and a great showing for Richard Jefferson and his Bucks. Kevin Durant scored 12 for OKC.

The Knicks started their season off with a 120 to 115 win over the Miami Heat. New Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni had his team off and running early while Rookie of the Year candidate Michael Beasley was held to only 9 points on a 4 of 14 shooting night for the rebuilding Heat. Jamal Crawford had 29 for New York.

The Suns, D'Antoni's old team, starting things off with a win over the Spurs in San Antonio 103 to 98. Shaq scored 15 while Leandro Barbosa added 18 off the bench for new Sun's coach Terry Porter. The Spurs had won 11 straight season openers, and Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan both lost openers for the first time in their careers.

Lets hope this is a great season for the league and it's fans alike. 

Welcome back and some videos

I just wanted to thank Frank DeVita for helping me with the DeVita Sports Report. I think its going to be great and we are going to have good thoughtful insight into the world of sports. There will now be more coverage of all major sports including NFL, MLB, NBA, and the NHL as well as college athletics. We are excited to get things up and running again and thanks for checking in to the Devita Sports Report.

I also wanted to post a Carolina Panthers video that I have recently worked on in my spare time for fun. Let me know what you think!

Lets talk Hockey

Hey everyone, to start off my names Frank DeVita (no relation) and I'm currently at UNC Charlotte. I'm gonna be covering a lot of Hockey and MLB, perhaps even some college stuff. Now with that out of the way, lets talk about the ice.

We're currently at the end of the first month of the NHL and lets talk about some flops and surprises. Currently the top three in points are:

West: Detroit (15), San Jose (14), and Minnesota (13)
East: New York Rangers (19), Buffalo (14), and Pittsburgh (12), however Carolina has the third seeded spot due to there lead in the Southeast division.

Right now it looks as if the Rangers may be the favorites, however they have any where from 3-5 games in hand over the rest of there conference due to their early start in Europe, and not to take anything away from a good club, two of their wins are over Tampa Bay. The Lightning may be the worst team in the NHL and the largest bust up to this point in the season. After drafting Steven Stamkos number 1 in last years draft, the 18 year old Center has yet to register a point with the club, and they have 11 goals in 7 games. With their fewest goals per games average in the league, its easy to see their 1-3-3 record. To continue in the east, the Buffalo Sabres are looking surprisingly good sitting atop the Northeast. After losing Briere, Drury, and Cambell over the last two years, the team looks to have rebounded on the backs of the likes of Vanek (finnaly earning his 7+ million dollar contract), Stanford, and Rivet. This may be the most interesting division to keep an eye on with the favored Montreal Canadians looking to take the Northeast in their centennial celebration.

In the west, there a few surprises as well. The cup handover does not look a factor to the Red Wings, however there may be trouble brewing in the Central. The young run-and-gun Chicago Blackhawks are picking it up after 0 and 3 start saw the firing of head coach Dennis Savard, going 3-0-3 in there last six. The biggest surprise though may be the St. Louis Blues. Siting at 5-3 with 10 points, the Blues came out of the gate with a ton of O-ffence. If they can only get some D, Detroit will have an even bigger problem in their division than they did last year.

Just a question, what the hell is going on in the Pacific division? So we knew that San Jose was gonna be good. But with this new wide open style, they have cast away their defence and looking solely on Joe Thorton and Cheechoo the choo-choo train to power their way. And come on Anaheim and Dallas. When these two met in the playoffs last year, it looked like the Stars had replace the Ducks as the kings of the Pacific. Now the Ducks Stanley Cup win two years ago looks even more distant and the defencive Stars with top 5 goaltender Marty Turco have given up 38 goals in 9 games. 38! That's the most in the league and 7 worse than the next team in the Western conference.

So just a quick confession at the end, I am a New Jersey Devils fan, through and through. I will try to be non-bias, put I will allow myself a Brodeur tracker

Wins to pass Patrick Roy: 9

Have a great night folks and here's the top ten in ESPN's power rankings:

1. Sabres
2. Canadians
3. Red Wings
4. Sharks
5. Rangers
6. Wild
7. Penguins
8. Devils
9. Oilers
10. Blues

Kimbo Slice

First off I wanted to apologize for taking so much time off since the last time I posted an article. Golf, poker, and the pool have really made my life tough. I hope everyone can understand what I am going through. 

Now on that note I wanted to talk about this Kimbo Slice and his fight against James Thompson and his Cauliflower ear. I know the fight was May 31 and I am late getting to this but what an event this was.The man is now a household name and all he did was load street fights on Youtube. What a world we live in. I mean, the man looks like a homeless version of old Carolina Panthers lineman Brentson Buckner. He was well spoken though, I will give him that. But could he fight? Yes and no.

I found the Elite XC: Primetime fight cheesy. Maybe it is just me but I was frustrated for a few reasons. One because there was about 2 minutes of fighting 2 hours into the broadcast. The fight seemed second to the showmanship and the bragging. Reminded me more of wrestling than anything. 

Two because although everyone was watching for Kimbo, I feel he should not have won. No question he is a tough dude and I would not want to meet him in an alley anytime soon but is he cut out for MMA? There was a few time when Slice was down and against the cage getting beat into a pulp and the ref let it go. I thought "okay, the refs are really letting them fight this out." But then in the opening seconds of the third round Slice hit Thompson in the ear rupturing his Cauliflower. Thompson hit the ref in frustration wanting to fight on. The ref stopped the fight and even though Thompson won the first 2 rounds according to the judges, Kimbo was the winner. 

I believe MMA is real and can become very popular in America. But I do not believe that Slice should be the face of Mixed Martial Arts. People who know the league and love it were probably sick watching this on May 31 while the rest of us regular Joes that don't know any better saw a mix between UFC and wrestling. Hopefully another WWA fight can get the attention that Elite XC: Primetime did and show the country what the league is really about. 

(But Kimbo Slice Youtube videos are always cool)

In My Opinion...

As I sit here and watch the Spurs lead the Hornets by 10 in game 7 of the second round of the playoffs I am frustrated. The game is not over but I am just going by what is happening now. I am sick of the same NBA teams being good every year. I give them all the props in the world for being consistent and everything but it becomes boring TV. 

The Pistons are in the Eastern Conference Finals for the 6th straight year and the Spurs have won a handful of championships this decade.  Why can't a team like New Orleans, Washington, or Orlando win one? Does anybody really want to watch the Spurs play the Pistons again other than people from Detroit and San Antonio? Of course not. We have seen it. 

I would love to see the Lakers play the Celtics or the Hornets play the Cavaliers. New players can emerge and be the hero for their teams. New fans can enjoy the bliss of their team winning for a change. 

Now saying that, it is bound to happen soon. Players get old. It is already happening to the Suns and Mavericks. Both have recently had coaching changes and are in the mist of big personnel decisions to be made as well. How much longer are Tim Duncan, Rip Hamilton, Manu Ginobli or Chauncey Billips going to be in the league? Not much longer compared to Lebron James, Dwight Howard, and the amazing Chris Paul. 

Lets hope, for the viewers sake, that the Hornets pull this game out. 

Funny Sports

There is so much drama going on in sports these days with Barry Bonds being indicted, Spygate, steroids, yet another O.J. in trouble, etc...

I decided to liven things up a bit with some of the funniest pictures I could find of athletes and sports bloopers as well as some funny quotes from sports. You may have seen or heard some of these already but these are just a few of my favorites. It should be a needed break from all of the things going on  in the world of sports these days.

"Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field." 
Metro Radio, College Football

"I'm in favor of it." 
- John McKay, coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976, when asked about the execution of his team.

"I asked him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.' "
- Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player

"You guys line up alphabetically by height."
- Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach

"The first time I played the Masters, I was so nervous I drank a bottle of rum before I teed off. I shot the happiest 83 of my life."
Chi Chi Rodriguez

MLB Power Rankings

I was thinking of new things to write about and I realized that I had not written about MLB baseball yet. I have started to pay more attention to the league recently. I really think there are some young teams that can do a lot this season. Teams like Arizona and the Rays are finally giving their fans something to cheer about. I just hope my Braves can pick it up. I decided to create my own power rankings. Let me know what you think.

*Records as of May 2, 2008

1.) Diamondbacks 20-8

2.) Athletics 18-12

3.) Cardinals 18-11

4.) Angels 18-12

5.) Red Sox 17-13

6.) Rays 16-12

7.) Cubs 17-11

8.) Phillies 16-13

9.) Brewers 16-12

10.) White Sox 14-12

11.) Dodgers 15-13

12.) Indians 14-15

13.) Tigers 14-15

14.) Mets 14-12

15.) Marlins 15-13

16.) Braves 12-15

17.) Orioles 15-13

18.) Yankees 14-16

19.) Astros 13-16

20.) Mariners 13-16

21.) Twins 13-14

22.) Reds 12-17

23.) Giants 13-16

24.) Royals 12-16

25.) Nationals 12-17

26.) Blue Jays 12-17

27.) Pirates 11-17

28.) Rockies 11-17

29.) Padres 11-18

30.) Rangers 11-18

My World Series prediction:

Arizona over Tigers

Wrong Coach?

Larry Brown was hired this week by the Charlotte Bobcats. It will be his 9th NBA coaching job and first since he was fired by the Knicks in 2006. 

I love the thought of Larry Brown coaching the Bobcats. Brown has been around the game for what seems like forever and instantly gives the team credibility. He knows basketball as well as anyone and has ties to the city and state. But there is a chance the Charlotte Bobcats could have gotten the wrong guy. 

The Dallas Mavericks recently fired Avery Johnson after another first round playoff loss. The Suns are also considering firing Mike D'Antoni reports say. Both coaches have had consistent playoff teams in the last half a decade and in my opinion, neither deserve or so far in Johnson's situation deserved to be fired. D'Antoni coached some fantastic players in their prime including Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire. Johnson had a very respectable 194-70 record with Dallas and was once considered the new young NBA mind. 

When we think back on Larry Brown's last coaching job with the Knicks we do not think highly of the job Brown did finishing 23-59. Brown also struggled when it came to the National team winning only a bronze medal. But he has done a great job resurrecting many other teams including the Clippers, Nuggets, Sixers, and Spurs. He is one of 5 coaches all time to win over 1,000 victories. Many think the reason the Knicks job was not successful for Brown was because of the lack of talent. I believe that the Charlotte Bobcats have a great young core with Wallace, Richardson, Felton, Dudley, etc.

Only time will tell if this ends up being a good hire by Michael Jordan and I am looking forward to this coming season. 

Carolina Panthers First Round

The Carolina Panthers drafted powerful running back Jonathan Stewart from Oregon with the 13th pick in round one. Stewart is big and powerful at 5-10, 233 pounds and I was ecstatic about having a player with the upside of Stewart but I had my doubts about the pick. "How is Stewart's turf toe coming along? I also wondered aloud "Don't we need an O lineman and DE more?"

Both answers came within a few minutes. ESPN reported that Stewart said he will be available for training camp which made the pick look more responsible. The Panthers then responded by trading up to get Philadelphia's number 19 pick in the first round. They used that pick on Jeff Otah, OL from Pittsburgh. This is the guy I had the Panthers choosing in my questionable mock draft that I posted last week. He is huge at 6-6, 340 pounds and could make our offensive line one of the best in team history. 

The question is did we pay too much? Carolina had to give the Eagles their 2nd and 4th round pick this year as well as our first round pick in the 2009 draft.“You never want to give that up,” general manager Marty Hurney told the Charlotte Observer. “But that says a lot about how we feel about Jeffrey Otah. The two players together, I think, really help us toward our goal, of the personality and character. They are two very physical players.”

I saw John Kasay yesterday and I asked him how he felt about the picks. He didn't give up much but he did tell me that Stewart is who the Panthers wanted all along. That is encouraging. John Fox is known for loving the power running game and we have struggled to find one since Stephan Davis left. I also heard that Carolina had Otah high on their draft board and felt he was important enough to trade up to get and has great upside. These guys better pan out or this may be the last season for Fox-Hurney.

Larry Brown to Charlotte?

Larry Brown is now on the market.

He stepped down as Vice President of the Philadelphia 76ers this week. This comes as a surprise to me for a few reasons. Those same Sixers are in the middle of a first round playoff series with heavy weight Detroit and the series is even at one game a piece. It seems like an awkward time to resign from an organization that is making its way up out of the cellar, where it has been since Allen Iverson left. 

Could it mean he is in talks with another team about another job?

Maybe. I do not believe Larry Brown would resign as the Vice President of the 76ers unless he had an idea of where he was going. Just last week Brown said that there is a chance that he would be back in coaching either in college or the NBA. There are not many coaching jobs available in the NBA and as far as I can tell, not many coaches on the hot seat either. The Knicks are looking for a new coach but we all know how that went the first time around. Plus, I am not even sure anyone would willing coach that team right now. 

One coach that is on the hot seat is first year coach Sam Vincent with the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats finished with 32 wins in a season which the playoffs were expected. If vincent is dropped I do not think there would be much surprise even though he was not the only factor that contributed to the disappointing season. Brown has connections here as well. He was once the coach of the Carolina Cougars ABA team which played in Charlotte as well as other North Carolina towns from 1969-1974. He attended the University of North Carolina as well, and we all know a certain Tarheel that runs the Bobcats. Yes, that guy named Jordan. Brown's mother also lives in Charlotte and he has a home in town. 

Another possible scenario could be Stanford for Brown.

No word has yet been said about why Brown ditched Philadelphia or where he may end up, but it is an interesting scenario to think about.

My 2008 NFL Mock Draft

All About The Longs

 1.) Miami Dolphins- Jake Long, T-Michigan

2) St. Louis Rams- Chris Long, DE-Virginia



3) Atlanta Falcons- Matt Ryan, QB-Boston College


4) Oakland Raiders- Glenn Dorsey, DT-LSU


5) Kansas City Chiefs- Ryan Clady, T-Boise State



6) New York Jets- 
Darren McFadden, RB-Arkansas

7) New England Patriots- Vernon Gholston, DE-Ohio State

8) Baltimore Ravens- Aqib Talib, CB-Kansas



9) Cincinnati Bengals- Sedrick Ellis, DT-USC

10) New Orleans Saints- Michael Jenkins, CB-South Florida

11) Buffalo Bills-Limas Sweed, WR-Texas



12) Denver Broncos- Keith Rivers, OLB-USC

13) Carolina Panthers- Jeff Otah, T-Pittsburgh



14) Chicago Bears- Rashard Mendenhall, RB-Illinois



15) Detroit Lions-Derrick Harvey, DE-Florida


16) Arizona Cardinals- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB-Tennessee State

17) Minnesota Vikings- Devon Thomas, WR-Michigan State

18) Houston Texans- Chris Williams, OT-Vanderbilt

19) Philadelphia Eagles- DeSean Jackson, WR-California



20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Chad Henne, QB-Michigan.

21) Washington Redskins- Phillip Merling, DE-Clemson

22) Dallas Cowboys-Jonathan Stewart, RB-Oregon





23) Pittsburgh Steelers-Michael Oher, T-Ole Miss


24) Tennessee Titans-Malcolm Kelly,WR-Oklahoma

25) Seattle Seahawks- Kentwan Balmer, DE- North Carolina

26) Jacksonville Jaguars- Calais Campbell, DE-Miami


27) San Diego Chargers-Pat Sims, DT-Auburn



28) Dallas Cowboys-  Early Doucet, WR-LSU



29) San Francisco 49ers (from Indy)-James Hardy, WR-Indiana



30) Green Bay Packers- Leodis McKelvin, CB-Troy

31) New England Patriots-Forfeited (CHEATERS!)

32) New York Giants- Kenny Phillips, S-Miami

Let me know what you think!

 

NBA Playoffs

The NBA playoffs start on Saturday. I am excited about it. I wish my Bobcats had risen to the occasion and made the playoffs but they didn't and once again the phrase "there is always next year" comes up again. But when I look at the match-ups for the first round I can not help but become intrigued. As John Delong said "this is the best playoff scenario in 10, 12, 15 years". I have to agree. 

The West is better than maybe any conference has ever been in any sport. With series such as Phoenix/San Antonio and New Orleans/Dallas, the first round is now as great as the later rounds usually are. Kobe has gotten over his selfish demands and the Lakers have become the team to beat in my opinion. Denver has their hands full. If I had to guess I would say that most of these series go to seven games.

The East is not as impressive but the games should be just as great. The East is top heavy. Series such as Atlanta and Boston are bound to be 4 gammers. Boston beat Atlanta all three times they met this season by double digits. On the other hand the Wizards and Cavaliers series should be excited. Gilbert Arenas called out the Cavs and he got them. Will he be able to stop them or will Lebron take his team to the second round? Another thing that I was wondering is if the Cavs lose will James leave? 

I am asking you guys who do you think will win some of the big series? Do you want to see a team like San Antonio win for what seams like the tenth year in a row or would you love for a Cinderella like Denver or Phiadelphia to pull it out? (Wouldn't a Denver/Phila final be interesting with AI now playing for Denver). Let me know what you guys think. 

Chris Johnson

Everybody needs to watch out with this guy. He is a beast and if you have overlooked him prepare to be surprised. He ruled East Carolina for the past 4 years and is going to be a force in the NFL. Whoever gets him is going to get a steal if he drops to the second round. He ran a 4.24 40 for crying out loud. And did everyone see his performance against Boise State? He had over 400 all purpose yards against a top 25 team! I have a feeling his speed and talent will make him a name we will all know in the future. Along with David Garrard and Andrea Allison, he will put ECU on the map. I really hope the Panthers grab him. We need a tough big back more than a medium size speed guy but he would instantly make our return game unstoppable and he can be a great first down back when Deangelo is hurt or needs a rest. What do you guys think of him and where do you think he will go?

A thought on the Carolina Panthers

I love the thought of D.J. Hacket coming to the Panthers. He will take a lot of pressure off of Smith and having Moose as a 3rd receiver will make us one of the best receiving corp in the country. I hope Jarret gets his act together. He could be a great third receiver or return guy assuming he is sober. I am really excited about this upcoming year. Jake Delhomme is a great QB when healthy and I expect him to make a full recovery. We also cut many of our problem players and hopefully the new kids on the block can all contribute. What do you guys see the Panthers doing in the upcoming draft?I think we need an offensive and defensive lineman more than anything else. It may not be the sexy pick but it could help this team for a decade unlike a running back. Leave me your opinions and thoughts.

Charlotte Bobcats

Tonight is the last Bobcats game. The Sixers are coming to town for a layup game before the playoffs start. I am really disappointed for more reasons than one. First of all this is the last game of the season and I am going to miss the heart that the Bobcats play with and the entertainment a good NBA game provides when the team you care about is playing. The team has underachieved even though they have an above average squad in my opinion. It has been a rough four years even though we were the most successful 3 year franchise and only one team, the Orlando Magic, made the playoffs within four years of their inaugural season. We have a talented team and the future looks bright for the product on the floor. Why is this teams record not better? Why are Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace not leading this team to the playoffs?

Reason 1. 
We have a lame duck owner and team president. Bob Johnson is never at the games. More than that, he never goes to work. He blames the city for the financial loss this team has gone through and he does nothing to try and win fans. Michael Jordan is not much better. It seems like he cares more about playing golf in a charity event in Utah or partying in the Caribbean. He comes to games ever so often, but for some reason he does not want the casual fan to know he is around. This baffles me. If I owned or operated a team, I would be in the stands every game I could and talk to the average person. I would want to know what the guy sitting in section 215 thinks of the product and how he thinks we could do better.

Reason 2. The Bobcats have made horrible business decisions that may have set this organization back five years. C-SET and Time Warner Cable have made it nearly impossible for the Bobcats to get a serious fan base so far. Fox Sports South will be a huge upgrade for this team next season assuming it is not too late. Speaking of Time Warner Cable, the naming right to the arena were practically given away for Johnson and the Bobcats to get out of a binding TV deal that restricts how many people see the team. More than anything, the price of tickets (65-140 for lower bowl seats) and the price of food (7 dollars for a pan pizza) is driving away the average fan and the middle to low income families. When the prices are to high and the fans feel cheated they don't show. When the stands are full the players are energized and motivated and they feel loved. That has not happened with this team yet.

Reason 3.
Sam Vincent is a rookie head coach. Some bad decisions have been made by Vincent. He seems to be a talented coach and he has a smart head on his shoulder but he needs time to learn the league and to adapt. I believe Vincent used McInnis too often and Felton needed more time at point guard. He will finally get it but it may have come two seasons too late. He finally is getting the hang of things in this league and I hope that Michael Jordan does not cut ties with a coach that has potential.

Reason 4.
Attendance is down. Charlotte finished in the bottom fourth of the league in attendance. Why? See reasons one and two.

Hopefully bob Johnson will and the rest of the front office will get their act together or Johnson will sell the team because this is a grat city that deserves a winner and an owner that cares.