Jazz drop Game 5 to Nuggets

The Utah Jazz lost to the Denver Nuggets by a score of 116-102 tonight in the Pepsi Center. The Jazz now lead the series 3 games to 2 with Game 6 on Friday back in Salt Lake City at 8 p.m. MT on ESPN2, FSN-Utah and espn3.com. Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 26 points and 11 rebounds and only had one turnover as opposed to the 9 he had in Game 4. Chauncey Billups had 18 as well. The Jazz were led by Deron Williams with 34 points and 10 assists while Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 16 rebounds. Paul Millsap had 16 points off the bench.

The Nuggets simply played better down the stretch. J.R. Smith, he of the twitter post claiming the Nuggets were too selfish in Game 4, had 17 points off the bench and was 4-5 on 3-pointers, which always seemed to come at the most inopportune time for the Jazz. When he's making threes like that, Denver is a tough team to beat. He does seem to be a streaky shooter whose shot is better at home so hopefully he'll leave those 3-pointers behind in Denver. I thought the Nuggets played better team basketball and deserved to win this game.

I thought the Jazz had a lot of good chances to take hold of this game, but didn't have as good of a team game as they had in the previous three. Don't get me wrong, some of our guys had really good games, just not everyone did -- Kyle Korver was scoreless on 0-6 shooting for one thing (I still don't mind him shooting because he is such a great shooter). I think Korver and a lot of the other guys will play better in Game 6. I think the Jazz will close this one out Friday at home with a good team performance and a raucous crowd, but the pressure is on as I think a trip back to Denver for Game 7 would spell doom for the Jazz. Who knows, I may end up going to this one in person.

Here are the rest of the NBA Playoffs scores from the past couple of days:
Tuesday:
Game 5 -- (4) Boston 96, (5) Miami 86 (Celtics win series 4-1)
Game 5 -- (1) Cleveland 96, (8) Chicago 94 (Cavaliers win series 4-1)
Game 5 -- (2) Dallas 103, (7) San Antonio 81 (Spurs lead series 3-2)
Game 5 -- (1) LA Lakers 111, (8) Oklahoma City 87 (Lakers lead series 3-2)

Wednesday:
Game 5 -- (6) Milwaukee 91, (3) Atlanta 87 (Bucks lead series 3-2)

I was particularly impressed with the Bucks' Game 5 win on the road in Atlanta behind an 18-5 run in the last five minutes. John Salmons and Brandon Jennings in particular played well for Milwaukee. And the saying they've been repeating on TNT is catchy: Fear the Deer.

Here's the NBA Playoffs schedule for the next two days:
Thursday:
Game 6 -- (2) Dallas at (7) San Antonio, 6 p.m. MT (TNT, Spurs lead series 3-2)
Game 6 -- (3) Phoenix at (6) Portland, 8:30 p.m. MT (TNT, Suns lead series 3-2)

Friday:
Game 6 -- (3) Atlanta at (6) Milwaukee, 5 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, Bucks lead series 3-2)
Game 6 -- (1) LA Lakers at (8) Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, LA Lakers lead series 3-2)
Game 6 -- (4) Denver at (5) Utah, 8 p.m. MT (ESPN2, FSN-Utah, espn3.com, Jazz lead series 3-2)

4/28/10 -- Giants take two of three from Phils, blow sweep

Here's the San Francisco Giants (12-9) Weekdays Review: The Giants beat the Phillies 5-1 and 6-2 on Monday and Tuesday. Jonathan Sanchez labored through five innings on Monday but made enough pitches and came away with the win. Todd Wellemeyer pitched well last night. Today Tim Lincecum pitched 8 1/3 awesome innings but departed with one out in the ninth with a 4-1 lead after walking Shane Victorino on four pitches. Closer Brian Wilson was summoned and got one more out but put two more guys on to load the bases. Jayson Werth hit a bases clearing double to tie the game at 4 and the Phillies (12-9) went on to win 7-6 in 11 innings.

It was a gut-wrenching loss and it almost feels like the Giants lost the series after snapping defeat from the jaws of victory in the Wednesday matinee. I think Lincecum should have been allowed to face at least one more hitter and if that guy got on then manager Bruce Bochy could have gotten Wilson. Lincecum had pitched so well and deserved a chance to finish the game, especially since the tying run wasn't even at the plate yet. That being said, Wilson hadn't blown a save this year until today and is a very solid closer that I have confidence in. It's just a tough one to swallow. Still I'll take it as a good thing taking two of three from the team that won the last two NL Pennants and the 2008 World Series. The offense, questioned by me a few days ago, really came alive. Hopefully that bodes well for games to come. The Giants look a lot better at home so far, hopefully they can take this stuff with them on the road next week.

SFG Weekend Preview: At home Friday through Sunday against the Colorado Rockies (11-11) at 8:15 p.m. MT, 2:05 p.m. MT and 2:05 p.m. MT. The games Friday and Sunday are on FSN-Rocky Mountain and for people that live in regions where I don't on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Saturday's game is available only on a tape-delayed basis on mlb.tv in the United States due to FOX's exclusive Saturday afternoon broadcast window. I'm excited to see how the Giants hold up in their first series of the year against the team I picked to win the NL West. The rivalry seems to be growing between these two teams as they had some intense games last year. Hopefully the Giants put together another good series and don't let today's loss have too much of a carry-over effect.

Habs beat Caps in Game 7, other hockey notes

The (8) Montreal Canadiens beat the (1) Washington Capitals 2-1 tonight in Washington, D.C. I typically cheer for teams from Canada in the NHL since one of them hasn't won a Stanley Cup in quite some time. However, the Habs are big rivals with my favorite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs and I really love the hockey loving atmosphere that is present in D.C. The Caps sold out every game this year and people were rocking the red all year and all series long. I think it's really cool that a U.S. team has that kind of atmosphere at their home games and I think it's good for hockey. It's too bad their season ending in such a disappointing manner.

Here are the scores from the past few days in hockey:

Sunday:
Game 6 -- (4) Phoenix Coyotes 5, (5) Detroit Red Wings 2 (Series tied 3-3)
Game 6 -- (3) Vancouver Canucks 4, (6) Los Angeles Kings 2 (Canucks win series 4-2)

Monday:
Game 6 -- (6) Boston Bruins 4, (3) Buffalo Sabres 3 (Bruins win series 4-2)
Game 6 -- (8) Montreal Canadiens 4, (1) Washington Capitals 1 (Series tied 3-3)
Game 6 -- (2) Chicago Blackhawks 5, (7) Nashville Predators 3 (Blackhawks win series 4-2)

Tuesday:
Game 7 -- (5) Detroit Red Wings 6, (4) Phoenix Coyotes 1 (Red Wings win series 4-3)

I said last week that the road teams win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs more often than they do in the NBA Playoffs (in fact the Capitals led for less than 7 minutes in their four home games of their series), but I didn't mention that I also thought that in Game 7 home ice was a huge advantage because the pressure is on both teams and the crowd can help out. However, in both Game 7s in the first round, the road teams won so it's not an end-all, be-all type rule for sure.

Here are the second round matchups for the Stanley Cup Playoffs (remember the NHL is different from the NBA in that the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed rather than a strictly bracket style tournament):

Eastern Conference:
(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens
(6) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Philadelphia Flyers

Western Conference:
(1) San Jose Sharks vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings
(2) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks

Here's Thursday's schedule:
Game 1 -- (5) Detroit Red Wings at (1) San Jose Sharks, 7 p.m. MT (Versus)

Carmelo Anthony says "I need some help"

As promised here are the Carmelo Anthony comments from after Game 4 in Salt Lake City. http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2010/04/25/0040900174_den_sound3.nba/

Notice how he uses the phrase "I need some help." And now here are comments from the famous Leon from the Budweiser commercials from several years back. Leon was a fictional athlete notoriously painted as an arrogant hothead in the commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BkIh1R5utY

Also included the phrase "I need some help." Strikingly similar comments about teammates if you ask me. I can see the reporter asking Carmelo Anthony "So your 9 turnovers weren't a factor in your mind?" followed by a Leon like response by Anthony.

To be fair Anthony had 39 points and 11 rebounds and was a major force in Denver sticking anywhere close to the Jazz at all. But he also was one turnover away from what I like to call an "Evan Turner Triple Double" named for the Ohio State standout who had a traditional double-double this season that was lauded by analysts, but still had 10 turnovers in the same game.

Anthony said he wasn't trying to point fingers, but he clearly was when saying he needed help and that he couldn't do it on his own. I think he did play well but, as I noted earlier, the Jazz were clearly playing better team basketball last night. I don't know that Anthony is completely parallel with Leon, but his comments were strikingly similar and don't speak well of chemistry in the Denver locker room.

Here are the rest of the NBA scores for the last couple of days:
Sunday:
Game 4 -- (5) Miami 101, (4) Boston 92 (Celtics lead series 3-1, Dwayne Wade had a monster game with 46 points for the Heat)
Game 4 -- (1) Cleveland 121, (8) Chicago 98 (Cavaliers lead series 3-1, LeBron James' triple-double and half court shot at the end of the third quarter were impressive)
Game 4 -- (7) San Antonio 92, (2) Dallas 89 (Spurs lead series 3-1)

Monday:
Game 4 -- (2) Orlando 99, (7) Charlotte 90 (Magic win series 4-0)
Game 4 -- (6) Milwaukee 111, (3) Atlanta 104 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5 -- (3) Phoenix 107, (6) Portland 88 (Suns lead series 3-2)

And here's the schedule for Tuesday:
Game 5 -- (5) Miami at (4) Boston, 5 p.m. MT (NBA TV, Celtics lead series 3-1)
Game 5 -- (8) Chicago at (1) Cleveland, 6 p.m. MT (TNT, Cavaliers lead series 3-1)
Game 5 -- (7) San Antonio at (2) Dallas, 7:30 p.m. MT (NBA TV, Spurs lead series 3-1)
Game 5 -- (8) Oklahoma City at (1) LA Lakers, 8:30 p.m. MT (TNT, Series tied 2-2)

Jazz beat Nuggets, go up 3-1

The Jazz beat the Nuggets last night 117-106 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead with Game 5 on Wednesday in Denver at 8:30 p.m. MT on TNT and FSN-Utah. Carlos Boozer had a huge game with 31 points and 13 rebounds while Deron Williams had 24 points and 13 assists. C.J. Miles continued his big series with 21 and rookie Wesley Matthews had 18. Everyone seems to be playing well.

I think D-Will had more assists than the entire Nuggets team, so to me that shows that the Jazz are playing much better team basektball. I really like the way Boozer is playing hard and attacking, he's having a really good series. And Miles is really coming of age I think. And well, everyone seems to have brought their A game. Let's hope the Jazz can close this out on Wednesday.

Carmelo Anthony had 39 points for the Nuggets, but also had nine turnovers, something interim coach Adrian Dantley pointed out in the post-game press conference, saying "'Melo" needs to take better care of the ball. However, I thought he did play hard and at least kept the Nuggets in the game to some extent. Anthony had some interesting comments after the game which I'll chronicle later. Go Jazz!

Baseball Weekdays Preview 4/26/2010

Here's the Baseball Weekdays Preview 4/26/2010:

Most intriguing series: Philadelphia Phillies (11-7) at San Francisco Giants (10-8). Not just because they're my two favorite teams (don't worry I'm still pulling for the Giants in this series) but because the series involves two playoff contenders and I'll be interested to see who mamkes an early statement. For more, see below.

Another intriguing series: Minnesota Twins (13-6) at Detroit Tigers (10-9) Tuesday through Thursday at 5:05 p.m. MT (MLB EI, mlb.tv), 5:05 p.m. MT (ESPN, MLB EI, espn3.com, mlb.tv) and 11:05 a.m. MT (MLB EI, mlb.tv). These two are in first and second in the AL Central. I think the Twins will be able to keep up their hot start against the Tigers and will take two of three. The Tigers will try and throw their weight around at home against a division foe. Another series of note is Oakland (12-8) at Tampa Bay (14-5) Tuesday and Wednesday.

Least intriguing series: Cleveland Indians (8-10) at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (10-10). I dunno I had to pick one to fill this category and this definitely isn't the top series of the week. I'll take the Angels in a sweep. There doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz around the Tribe these days.

Baseball Weekend Review 4/26/2010, Howard extension

Ryan Howard got a big contract extension, that and more in the Baseball Weekend Review 4/26/2010:

Most impressive performance: The Chicago Cubs (9-10) had a convincing sweep on the road at the Milwaukee Brewers (8-10), winning by scores of 8-1, 5-1 and 12-2. The Cubs were the better team in just about every faze of the game over the three games at Miller Park. I'm surprised by their dominance this past weekend and I thought they showed glimpses of their division winning team of 2008 that played so well. I think they are moving things in the right direction. For the Brewers, I think this is cause for concern, but I also think they'll stay within striking distance in the Central for at least a little while.

Another impressive performance: The San Diego Padres (11-7) had stretched their winning streak to eight games before dropping the finale of their series to the Reds in Cincinnati. I didn't think the Padres would be a threat at all this year, but they have been playing some good baseball of late and are in first place in the NL West. I don't think they'll stay in the race, but they're off to a good start.

Least impressive performance: The Pittsburgh Pirates (7-11) were swept again, this time in Houston by the Astros (8-10) who had started the year 0-8. At least the scores this weekend weren't as lopsided as they were in their previous series against the Brewers, this time it was 4-3, 5-2 and 10-3. The Bucs look like they're in for another long year. The Astros are starting to turn it around but I still don't think they'll be close to the playoffs.


Regarding my predictions: I correctly picked the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (10-10) to take two of three from the New York Yankees (12-6) in what was one of the weekend's better series. We'll see if the Angels can use this to launch themselves to more series like this. I totally missed on the Brewers-Cubs series as I picked Milwaukee to win two of three. I got the Astros to win the series but not the sweep and I missed on the Giants taking two of three from the Cardinals (but I'll take it).

San Francisco Giants (10-8) Review: See below.

Final thought: The Philadelphia Phillies (11-7) signed star first baseman Ryan Howard to a five year, $125 million contract extension that should keep him in Philadelphia through at least 2016. It's a big deal that this contract got done as Howard is a key to what the Phillies do and is the biggest power threat in the middle of their order. I didn't know that this deal would get done with all the difficulties in contract talks the two sides have had in the past but I'm glad it did. It's good that he'll be staying in Philly for a while on my second favorite team.

4/26/10 -- Lincecum, Zito dazzle against Cardinals

Here's the San Francisco Giants (SFG) Weekend Review (WER) and Weekdays Preview (WDP) 4/26/2010. Pictured at left is Tim Lincecum pitching on Friday and sporting the Giants' new orange jersey look.

Weekend Review: The San Francisco Giants (10-8) took two out of three this weekend from the St. Louis Cardinals (11-7) at home this weekend. Tim Lincecum (4-0, 1.00 ERA) was once again the man who was instrumental in stopping a losing streak, this one had lasted four games. Closer Brian Wilson, who picked up a pair of saves in the series had this to say about Lincecum: "When Tim's on the mound, we have the utmost confidence we could score one run and still win. Anytime Tim pitches, the crowd is electric. We can feel that, and it gives us a sense of confidence as well." On Friday "The Franchise" went seven innings and gave up only one run in the 4-1 victory. I'm just glad the Giants have Lincecum. I said last week that Roy Halladay of the Phillies is "probably" the best pitcher in the game today but I'd like to rescind that for now. I'll stick with saying he and Lincecum are two of the best and the way things are going they could be neck and neck for the NL Cy Young Award this year.

Friday also marked the debut of the Giants' new orange jerseys that they will be wearing on Fridays at home this season. They look pretty cool but I'm kind of sad the team isn't just sticking with the traditional white and gray jerseys this year. I still kind of like the jerseys, though.

On Saturday, Barry Zito struck out 10 hitters in eight shutout innings and looked pretty dominant. Toward the end of his outing the crowd started chanting "Barry, Barry" much the way they did for Barry Bonds for many years. It was pretty cool to see Zito pitching to his full capabilities again. The Giants scored two in the bottom of the eighth to take the game 2-0. The Giants dropped the finale as the Cardinals took it 2-0 behind a strong pitching performance from former Giant Brad Penny. Of course Jaime Garcia and Adam Wainwright were both pretty good earlier in the series for the Cards, but were on the wrong end of stick.

Two out of three against the odds-on favorite to win the NL Central is a pretty good performance, but I'm still concerned about the offense. The Giants only scored 6 runs the whole the series and half of those were the result of Cardinals miscues. The Cards do have a very strong pitching staff, but this is two series in a row now where I haven't seen much offense from the Giants.

Looking ahead (Weekdays Preview): The Giants take on the two time reigning National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies (11-7) Monday through Wednesday at 8:15, 8:15 and 1:45 p.m. MT (all on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv). Wednesday's game featuring a pitching matchup of Lincecum and Cole Hamels is also available on MLB Network. The Phils send Halladay tonight and the ageless Jamie Moyer tomorrow night while the Giants counter with Jonathan Sanchez and Todd Wellemeyer. I think the Phillies are a very deep and talented team. I'll take them to win two of three. The winner of Tuesday's game could determine the series. Also, the Phillies have reportedly signed star first baseman Ryan Howard to a lucrative multiyear contract extension. I'll have more on that later.

NHL Playoffs update

The NHL Playoffs are in the first round and I've been catching a little bit here and there. Here are the scores from Saturday's games:

West Game 5 -- (2) Chicago Blackhawks 5, (7) Nashville Predators 4 (OT, Blackhawks lead series 3-2)
East Game 6 -- (4) Pittsburgh Penguins 4, (5) Ottawa Senators 3 (OT, Penguins win series 4-2)
West Game 6 -- (1) San Jose Sharks 5, (8) Colorado Avalanche 2 (Sharks win series 4-2)

And here are the games slated for Sunday:
West Game 6 -- (4) Phoenix Coyotes at (5) Detroit Red Wings, noon MT (NBC, Red Wings lead series 3-2)
West Game 6 -- (3) Vancouver Canucks at (6) Los Angeles Kings, 7 p.m. MT (Versus, Canucks lead series 3-2)

Here's a look at the rest of the series...
East:
(1) Washington Capitals lead (8) Montreal Canadiens 3-2
(7) Philadelphia Flyers defeated (2) New Jersey Devils 4-1
(6) Boston Bruins lead (3) Buffalo Sabres 3-2

The playoffs can be pretty exciting, I find it interesting that in hockey being the home team doesn't seem to be as big of a deal as it is in basketball. Road teams seem to win a much greater percentage of the games. I also enjoy all the big crowds and how into the fans seem to be. I think it's really cool that the Washington Capitals sold out every game this year and always play in front of a sea of red. The Canadian fans are passionate so it's cool to see that from a U.S. team's fan base. I don't know everything about hockey, but I do enjoy watching it, especially when the playoffs roll around.

Brandon Roy returns, Blazers win

Trail Blazers star forward Brandon Roy returned to the lineup just eight days after having knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. I am very surprised that he was able to return so soon and it really speaks to his toughness. It's just a great story. Not only did he return but he chipped in 10 points including a couple of key baskets down the stretch. The Blazers were led by LaMarcus Aldridge who had 31 points and 11 rebounds. Andre Miller chipped in 15 for Portland while Amare Stoudemire had 26 for Phoenix in the loss. The best-of-seven series is tied at two games each. I was saying today while watching the game that if Roy has a big part in the Blazers going on to win the series he will be elevated to legend status in Portland. After blowout wins by the Suns in Games 2 and 3 I had thought the series was all but over, but now it becomes very interesting.

In other NBA action the Oklahoma City Thunder were never seriously challenged by the Los Angeles Lakers in taking Game 4 110-89. The Thunder were led by Kevin Durant's 22 points. It really was an impressive performance by Oklahoma City who evened the series at 2 games each. After Game 3 was close I definitely didn't see a blowout win by the Thunder coming, but it makes me happy anyway. I love it when the Lakers lose. Game 5 should be a good one and I think the Lakers should be worried.

In the other NBA game Saturday, Milwaukee took care of Atlanta pretty easily, winning it 107-89 behind John Salmons' 22 points. The Bucks cut Atlanta's series lead to 2-1. I enjoyed hearing the crowd chant "ole, ole, ole, ole" late in the game in salute of their injured star Andrew Bogut, who is from Australia. Pretty cool stuff. Of course I have a soft spot for Bogut (and Portland's Andrew Miller for that matter) since he starred at the University of Utah.

Here's the NBA Playoff schedule for Sunday:

Game 4 -- (4) Boston at (5) Miami, 11 a.m. MT (ABC, Celtics lead series 3-0)
Game 4 -- (1) Cleveland at (8) Chicago, 1:30 p.m. MT (ABC, Cavaliers lead series 2-1)
Game 4 -- (2) Dallas at (7) San Antonio, 5 p.m. MT (TNT, Spurs lead series 2-1)
Game 4 -- (4) Denver at (5) Utah, 7:30 p.m. MT (TNT, FSN-Utah, Jazz lead series 2-1)

It's a big one in Salt Lake tomorrow night, a must win for the Nuggets. I'll definitely be watching and have my thoughts on it afterward. Go Jazz!

Stern, Jackson trade barbs

NBA Commissioner David Stern is not happy with all the criticism the league's officials have been taking lately. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy as well as forward Matt Barnes and Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace were all fined Thursday for comments made criticizing officials. Lakers coach Phil Jackson has been fined twice in the past month for comments critical of officials.

Stern had this to say Thursday: "I wish I had it to do all over again, and starting 20 years ago, I'd be suspending Phil and Pat Riley for all the games they play in the media, because you guys know that our referees go out there and they knock themselves out and do the best job they can. We have coaches who will do whatever it takes to try to work them publicly. What that does is erode fan confidence, and then we get some of the situations that we have. So, our coaches should be quiet because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families, and if they don't like, they should go get a job someplace else."

Stern continued: "It's corrosive. It's corrosive, and because of the pressure cooker that is the NBA Playoffs, over the years I've let it go." He went on to reference a number of shots Pat Riley and Phil Jackson made a couple of decades ago about NBA referees in the Playoffs and continued with comments about Stan Van Gundy taking shots at the officials which he says leads the players to join in as well.

Stern then said " ... if I had it to do again, I would stop it and the price wouldn't be a modest $35,000 fine. It would be whatever a day's pay is and then two days' pay and then a week's pay. And if someone wants to try me the rest of these playoffs, you know, make my day because the game is too important and I don't think the people who trash it are respecting it and what we'll do what we have to do -- to players and coaches alike."

Stern finished off by basically saying the officials only agenda was to work hard to support themselves and their families, etc. and not to help out any particular teams or players.

Van Gundy said prior to Orlando's Game 3 win over Charlotte "I've been fined for saying how good they were this year, and I've been fined for criticizing them, so nobody understands more that we're just not to talk about them at all."

To nobody's surprise, Phil Jackson's ego wouldn't allow him to give a similar response. Jackson first said that he thought one and two games suspensions for comments would be excessively taking away from teams and coaches, calling the threat "awfully heavy-handed." Jackson went on to say yesterday that "(If) there's a natural situation of favoritism on the NBA court, I don't think is going to be deluded into thinking that people don't get calls on the court, regardless of how you say it. It's just a natural evolution of the game and a natural evolution of who gets the ball the most. They're going to end up a lot of times at the foul line. Unfortunately it didn't work for Kobe (Bryant) that way last night, but it did for Kevin (Durant)."

It'll be interesting to see how Stern responds to these latest comments because it's like Jackson is essentially daring Stern to suspend him. I would love to see that happen as I've gotten sick of Jackson's comments about referees. I do think that referees can be biased and that superstars often do get calls they shouldn't as well as supposed bigger name teams and teams that are playing at home. I've said before and I'll say it again that the NBA is the worst officiated of all the pro sports leagues, so I don't think all of Stern's comments have a lot of merit.

I do think that if anybody has a right to complain, it is not Phil Jackson. He had Michael Jordan getting calls all over the place for years in Chicago and has enjoyed similar benefits with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. Bryant gets as many or more calls than anybody in the game today. To me Jackson's latest comments are just another example of how he tries to play mind games with the referees and with the opposing teams.

NCAA Tournament expands to 68 teams

The NCAA announced Thursday that it will expand its Tournament from 65 to 68 teams beginning next season. A new 14-year TV deal with CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV was also announced in which every Tournament game will be broadcast nationally. I admit I'm surprised that the Tournament is "only" expanding to 68 teams, I thought that it going to 96 was nothing but a formality. With only three new teams in the field, I feel that the Tournament will retain most of its magic and be very similar to the Tournament we know and love.

I agree with Gary Parrish of cbssports.com that it would be best for the Tournament to go back to the 64 team format, but this is still going to allow it to be pretty cool. Making the Tournament will still be a reward for having a good season, as it should be. My hope is that the four "play-in" games will be involving the last 8 at-large teams selected but I believe that the games will feature the 8 lowest seeded teams in the field. That's unfortunate because those eight teams will almost certainly be teams that won their conference tournaments and I think they shouldn't have to have a "play-in" game just to get to the First Round. But overall, I'm still pretty happy that the Tournament isn't grossly expanding to the point where it would water down the regular season. At least for now.

Jazz beat Nuggets, take 2-1 series lead

The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 105-93 tonight and now lead the best of seven series two games to one. Paul Millsap was the man tonight, pouring in 22 points (18 in the first half, making his first nine shots) and grabbing 19 rebounds. Deron Williams had 24 points and 10 assists. Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony each had 25 for Denver.

The Jazz trailed early after getting off to a slow start but managed to take 52-48 halftime lead before starting to blow the game open in the third quarter. In one of the early timeouts, Nuggets interim head coach Adrian Dantley told his team he was glad they were keeping their composure. But it appears they were only able to do this so long as they had the lead.

When the Jazz took the lead and started to pull away, the frustration of the Nuggets players mounted. I think the crowd got to them. I enjoyed seeing Chris "Birdman" Andersen get a technical foul as I've never particularly cared for him. It was apparent that the Nuggets let their emotions get away from them and the Jazz took advantage of that. We'll see if the Nuggets are able to better control their emotions and stay focused in Game 4 on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. MT (TNT, FSN-Utah). Another moment I enjoyed was Deron Williams laying it in during the fourth quarter to push the lead to about 20 and then smiling and trotting (perhaps strutting a little?) back to the bench. I like to see that sort of confidence from D-Will.

I also liked that the home crowd at the ESA was ready to go and loud throughout. I thought it was cool and funny that almost immediately after the game started the fans started "Denver sucks" chants that recurred throughout the game. This in response to the "Utah sucks" chants (some of which were made right before the Nuggets lost Game 2) by Denver fans at the Pepsi Center. I liked that when our fans chanted, it was more applicable because we actually won this game. I thought the rowdiness of the crowd contributed to the Nuggets losing their cool.

Earlier on Friday, the Celtics took a 3-0 series lead by beating the Heat in Miami by a score of 100-98 on Paul Pierce's buzzer-beating jumper. I like Pierce and think he is a clutch player and tonight was just further proof. His game-winner essentially assures that the series is over and we can begin preparing to see a Celtics-Cavaliers second round series. I thought the Heat should've fouled with 4 or 5 seconds to go to make the Celtics reset as Pierce just held the ball from about the 7 second mark on down until he fired right before the buzzer. Had the Heat fouled it would have been more difficult for Boston to get that same shot. It probably was worth at least a try.

In the other game Friday, the Spurs beat the Mavericks 94-90 to take a 2-1 series lead. Here's the NBA schedule for Saturday:

Game 3 -- Orlando at Charlotte, noon MT (TNT, Magic lead 2-0)
Game 4 -- Phoenix at Portland, 2:30 MT (TNT, Suns lead 2-1)
Game 3 -- Atlanta at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, Hawks lead 2-0)
Game 4 -- LA Lakers at Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, Lakers lead 2-1)

NBA First Round heats up

The NBA Playoffs featured a couple of exciting games last night with both 8 seeds winning to tighten up their series (both 2-1) with the top seeds.

The Chicago Bulls hung out to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-106 after nearly squandering a 21 point second half lead. Derrick Rose had 31 for the Bulls and Kirk Hinrich in particular appeared to be lights out with 27 points. LeBron James poured in 39 for the Cavs in the loss. I picked a Cavs sweep and I still think there's a good chance they'll win it in five. James was just incredible last night, he seemed to be hitting shots from everywhere on the court. He really can do just about everything on the basketball court. Unless Hinrich stays hot or someone else steps it up, it'll be tough for the Bulls to win Game 4.

Out west it was the Oklahoma City Thunder picking up their first playoff win over the Los Angeles Lakers by a 101-96 margin. Kevin Durant had 29 and Russell Westbrook had 27 for the Thunder. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 24. The Thunder fell behind 10-0 early but didn't give up and I thought getting the win showed some resiliency. The Ford Center was packed and rocking -- it really looked like a wild atmosphere on TV and that clearly played to the Thunder's advantage. I think Game 4 should be a good one and I'll even pick the Thunder to win that one.

Also out west last night, the (3) Phoenix Suns dispatched the (6) Portland Trail Blazers 108-89 in the Rose Garden. Phoenix put the game out of reach early and led by as many as 31. The Blazers cut it to 11 at one point in the fourth, but it was simply too big of a deficit to overcome.

In the NBA Playoffs tonight:
Game 3 -- (4) Boston Celtics at (5) Miami Heat (in progress on ESPN and espn3.com, Boston 85, Miami 76, 9:57 left in the fourth quarter, Celtics lead series 2-0)
Game 3 -- (2) Dallas Mavericks at (7) San Antonio Spurs, 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, series tied 1-1)
Game 3 -- (4) Denver Nuggets at (5) Utah Jazz, 8:30 p.m. MT (ESPN2, espn3.com, FSN-Utah)

I'm pretty stoked for the Jazz game. I'm rocking my D-Will jersey right now in preparation. I'll probably be on after the game with my thoughts.

Baseball Weekend Preview 4/23/2010

Let's do the Baseball Weekend Preview 4/23/2010:

Most intriguing series: New York Yankees (11-4) at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (8-9) Friday through Sunday. Game times are 8:05 p.m. MT (MLB Extra Innings, mlb.tv), 2:10 p.m. MT (FOX) and 1:35 p.m. MT (MLB EI, mlb.tv). The Halos are off to a bit of a slow start, but could really make a statement that they're still the top dog out west with a strong performance this weekend in a rematch of last year's ALCS. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the Angels take two out of three behind strong starting pitching and timely hitting. I still think they're a good team and will ultimately win the West. They are a bit fortunate in that they don't have to face CC Sabathia this weekend as well. It should be a good series.

Another intriguing series: This was a close one and I almost went with Rays (12-4)-Blue Jays (9-7), but I'm going to take Chicago Cubs (6-10) at Milwaukee Brewers (8-7) Friday through Sunday. Game times are 6:10, 5:10 and 12:10 p.m. MT (all on MLB EI and mlb.tv., Sunday's game also available on TBS). The Cubs have a lot of talent but are really struggling to gel so far this year and the spotlight has largely been on left fielder Alfonso Soriano and pitcher Carlos Zambrano, both of whom are off to rough starts. It was announced this week that manager Lou Piniella will move "Big Z" and his 7.45 ERA to the bullpen for a while. The Brewers are coming off a three game pounding of the Pirates and in yesterday's game star first baseman Prince Fielder finally hit his first home run of the year. I think these two teams are really in the race for second behind the St. Louis Cardinals (10-5), but could still make some noise in the playoff race. I think the Brewers really found their stride in the Pittsburgh series and will continue to play well, taking two of three from the Cubs, who will continue to struggle for now.

Least intriguing series: To me this is easy, it's the Pittsburgh Pirates (7-8) at the Houston Astros (5-10). Game times are 6:05, 5:05 and 12:05 p.m. (all on MLB EI and mlb.tv). The Pirates recent struggles have been chronicled in this blog and the Astros were the last team in the Majors to win a game, dropping their first 8. Neither of these teams is going to be very good this year and they really have to focus on the future. The Astros have been playing better since their awful start and given that they are at home I will pick them to win two out of three from the struggling Pirates.

San Francisco Giants (8-7) Weekend Preview: At home vs. the St. Louis Cardinals (10-5). See below.

Baseball Weekdays Review 4/23/2010

Here's the Baseball Weekdays Review 4/23/2010:

Best Series: Phillies (10-5) taking two of three from the Braves (8-7) by scores of 3-4 (10 innings), 2-0 and 8-3. The Braves had a dramatic comeback in the first game of the series behind back-to-back homeruns in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, the latter (as previously mentioned in my blog) by rookie prodigy Jason Heyward. The kid is something else. The Braves won it on a Nate McLouth homer in the tenth. In the second game Roy Halladay tossed a complete game shutout for the Phillies. That guy is just unreal. Probably the best pitcher in the whole game for my money and a big reason I picked the Phils to win it all this fall.

Most impressive performance: Normally I'm not big on giving props to teams for beating the Pittsburgh Pirates (7-8), but the way the Milwaukee Brewers (8-7) completed the sweep, it had to be the most impressive performance of the week. The Crew outscored the Pirates by a combined 36-1 in the three games and something like that just has to be mentioned. The final game featured an astounding 20-0 Milwaukee win. Brewers slugger Ryan Braun summed it up nicely: "It was fun and it was special. This game is really so much about failure, particularly as a hitter, that you rarely get a day where everyone is enjoying so much success at the same time. I've never been involved in a game like this and likely never will be again. So, I enjoyed it and I'll savor it. It's one to remember." We'll see if the Brewers can keep it up this weekend at home against the Cubs (6-10).

Another impressive performance: The Tampa Bay Rays (12-4) taking two of three in Chicago from the White Sox (5-11). The Rays are off to a really good start and they appear like they're going to duke it out with the Yankees (11-4) in the AL East all year long. The White Sox record isn't great but I still think they'll get back into the AL Central race. I'm just impressed that the Rays are taking care of business like they are, particularly against a good team like the White Sox.

Least impressive performance: Pittsburgh Pirates, hands down. See above, anytime you get outscored 36-1 over three games on your home field, it's cause for a lot of concern.

Regarding my predictions: I successfully picked the Phillies and Yankees to take two of three from the Braves and Athletics (10-7), respectively. I also successfully picked Seattle (9-7) to sweep Baltimore (2-14). So a pretty good week for me with the picks, don't know that I'll be able to keep up such a great pace, but I'll try. I was impressed that the Athletics showed some fight in their series with the Yanks, as is somewhat evidenced by pitcher Dallas Braden getting into it with Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez during yesterday's game. The two exchanged verbal jabs after A-Rod broke what some consider an unwritten rule of the game (though I wasn't aware of it) by crossing the mound during the 6th inning. Neither man backed down afterward. I did like that Braden said something to the effect of "We're not the doormat anymore." Hopefully the A's can keep up their solid play.

San Francisco Giants (8-7) Weekdays Review: See below.

Van Gundy, Brown each make own kind of interesting comments

The Orlando Magic vs. Charlotte Bobcats playoff series hasn't been very interesting to me, unless you count quotes both coaches made recently that I feel inclined to comment on.

During practice on Tuesday, Bobcats coach Larry Brown had a message for his team: "Orlando took the day off. That's how (expletive) serious they're taking us." I, like Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, find this pretty funny. I'm pretty sure the Magic are taking the first round seriously as evidenced by their 92-77 win last night to go up 2 games to none in the series. I'm sure Brown was trying to fire up his team, but that just seemed silly, and if anything just gave more motivation to Orlando. I still think this will be a pretty short series; we'll see if Charlotte can do anything at home the next two games.

Van Gundy, meanwhile, had criticisms for the first round schedule. "It's almost like you're on a high school schedule or a college schedule playing twice a week. ... Baseball gets their whole playoffs and World Series done in like three weeks. Us, it takes us the first round to go three weeks." He went on to say that he knew it was for TV and that he knew it helped teams to make money so he would be willing to play when told to play.

I'm pretty much on board with Van Gundy's point -- I do think the early rounds of the NBA playoffs can be too spread out, but I am glad that all the games are on TV at times I can watch them. I wish there was a way to condense the schedule a little bit and still make it TV friendly, but I'm not sure that's possible.

Here's the other NBA Playoffs scores from the past couple of days:

Tuesday:
Game 2 -- (3) Atlanta 96, (6) Milwaukee 86 (Hawks lead 2-0)
Game 2 -- (4) Boston 106, (5) Miami 77 (Celtics lead 2-0)
Game 2 -- (3) Phoenix 119, (6) Portland 90 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 2 -- (1) LA Lakers 95, (8) Oklahoma City 92 (Lakers lead 2-0)

Wednesday:
Game 2 -- (7) San Antonio 102, (2) Dallas 88 (Series tied 1-1)

And here's the schedule for tonight:
Game 3 -- (1) Cleveland at (8) Chicago, 5 p.m. MT (TNT, Cavaliers lead 2-0)
Game 3 -- (1) LA Lakers at (8) Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m. MT (TNT, Lakers lead 2-0)
Game 3 -- (3) Phoenix at (6) Portland, 8 p.m. MT (NBA TV, Series tied 1-1)

Establishing my five favorite baseball teams

I feel it is a good idea for me to get the list of my five favorite baseball teams out there right now so as not to be accused of being a frontrunner or something of that nature later on. Here they are:

1. San Francisco Giants
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Oakland Athletics
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Kansas City Royals

I also have a bit of a soft spot for the Toronto Blue Jays as well as typically have a sort of rooting interest for smaller market teams. Numbers 1 and 2 on my list are solidly in place. 3-5 are more fluid with Toronto kind of close to the list as well.

My love for the Giants started on a family trip to San Francisco when I was still pretty young. My dad took us to Opening Day at Candlestick Park and the Giants had a thrilling victory over the Houston Astros in 10 innings in which J.T. Snow scored the winning run on a close play at the plate. The crowd was big, rowdy and passionate about their team. I just love that kind of atmosphere. That day is what really started me toward becoming a big San Francisco Giants fan. I love being part of a passionate fan base of a team that plays in a really cool city as well as has a great history (that it appropriately honors) and runs things in the organization the right way.

As for the Philadelphia Phillies my love for them has blossomed in more recent years. I distinctly remember a four-game series in Philadelphia in August of 2007 against the New York Mets who were at the time the team to beat in the division. The Phillies swept the series, winning the fourth game in thrilling fashion, and cut the division lead to two games. The Phillies also had a good run down the stretch of the season while the Mets collapsed. I fell in love with the Phillies old-school attitude of playing the game hard and having fun on the diamond. I could just tell there were a lot of good guys on the team and that they had great chemistry. I love stuff like that. Jimmy Rollins became my favorite player around that time with his bold talk of the Phils being the team to beat in the National League East prior to the season and then backing that up with an MVP season and division title. He also exhibited great leadership on the team. Really cool stuff.

I don't have stories like the above for the rest of the teams on my list, but I still like them nonetheless. So there you have it, the list is out there.

SF Giants swept in San Diego, look ahead to Cardinals

San Francisco Giants weekdays recap: The Giants (8-7) were swept by the San Diego Padres (9-6) in a three-game series by scores of 3-2 (10 innings), 1-0 and 5-2. The Giants finished their southern California road trip with a paltry 1-5 mark. After scoring a combined 17 runs in the first two games of the trip at Dodger Stadium, the Giants proceeded to score only 5 runs in the last four games.

With the exception of Todd Wellemeyer, the Giants starting pitchers were solid throughout the entire trip and with any kind of reasonable offensive support San Francisco should have at worst gone 3-3 and more like 4-2 as I predicted. It's disheartening that the Giants' offense struggled so much, particularly as the Giants were averaging nearly 6 runs per game before the trip. In the San Diego series, the Giants were 1-30 with runners in scoring position. I don't need to tell you that isn't a recipe that's going to win you many games. "This is not something I thought we'd go through, but we are, and we have to handle it," said manager Bruce Bochy after Wednesday's game. I'm surprised too after the additions made in the offseason. I think things will turn around. Aaron Rowand and Mark DeRosa have been banged up, but I think it's just a bad stretch and can't be blamed too much on injuries. DeRosa looks like he's back and will be able to contribute, so hopefully that bodes well for this weekend and beyond.

San Francisco Giants weekend preview: The Giants host the St. Louis Cardinals (10-5) at AT&T Park this weekend Friday through Sunday. The game times are 8:15 p.m. MT, 7:05 p.m. MT and 2:05 p.m. MT with all games available on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Saturday night's game is also available on MLB Network. The pitching match-ups are Jaime Garcia (1-0) vs. Tim Lincecum (3-0), Adam Wainwright (3-0) vs. Barry Zito (2-0), and Brad Penny (2-0) vs. Matt Cain (0-0). The Giants are badly in need of win on Friday to snap their four-game losing streak and should get it with two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum on the mound. The latter two games should be excellent pitching match-ups and I think the Cardinals win both games in close ones. The Cardinals are a very talented team with a solid pitching staff and line-up anchored by Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. I think the Giants offense will improve this weekend (I mean it can't get much worse, right?) and Pablo Sandoval appears to be finding his stride at the plate. However, I still think the Cards take two out of three.

Jason Heyward does it again

Braves rookie Jason Heyward has done it again. He hit a game-tying homerun last night in the bottom of the ninth against the Phillies, immediately after Troy Glaus had hit a two-run shot. Nate McLouth won the game with a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 10th to give the Braves a 4-3 win.

Not only has Heyward hit a three-run homerun in his first big league at-bat against Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano, delivered a walk-off single on Sunday against the Rockies, but now does this with the game on the line. He is hitting .298 with 4 homeruns and 16 RBIs already this season and has an on-base percentage of .411.

All I can say is that the legend is growing for this kid who isn't even 21 yet. I can't remember seeing a performance like this from a rookie (especially one so young) in a long time. Soak it up folks. Game 2 of the series with the Phillies is tonight at 5:10 p.m. MT on ESPN, espn3.com, MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

Reds' Edinson Volquez suspended 50 games

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez has been suspended for 50 games for using a banned, performance-enhancing substance. Volquez is still recovering from Tommy John surgery last year and is allowed to serve the suspension while continuing his rehabilitation. I find that to be a dumb rule, I think he should have to serve the suspension from the time when he rejoins the active roster. This way, Volquez won't have to miss any games he wouldn't already be missing from his injury sustained last year, although he will not be getting paid for this time as he otherwise would.

Volquez said that what triggered the positive test was a sort of treatment he received to start a family with his wife and that nothing about it was to gain a competitive advantage. He said he was embarrassed and that this was an isolated incident. Stop me if you've heard this before. Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez said he wasn't trying to gain a competitive advantage after testing positive for a female fertility drug last year and drawing a 50 game suspension himself. I'd like to believe these guys, but it's just hard to do. Major League Baseball and individual clubs give players abundant information so that they know what is and what isn't okay to take and other things of that nature. To me there isn't an excuse for a positive test.

Volquez, 26, is a very talented pitcher and started the All-Star Game for the National League in Yankee Stadium in 2008. He went 17-6 that year with a 3.21 ERA and was off to a decent start last year before getting injured. The Reds are 6-8 so far this year and take on Ramirez and the Dodgers (6-7) tonight at 5:10 p.m. MT at Great American Ballpark on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. The Reds won the series opener last night 11-9.

Jazz win in Denver to even series

The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 114-111 in Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Quarterfinals tonight at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The series is tied at 1-1. Deron Williams had a monster game with 33 points and 14 assists while Carlos Boozer added 20 and 15 rebounds for the Jazz. Carmelo Anthony had 32 points, Nene had 17 and Chauncey Billups had 16 for the Nuggets.

Everybody seemed to play well for the Jazz. I thought the big shot for the Jazz was Kyle Korver's three-pointer with just over a minute left to put the Jazz up 108-106, a lead they would never relinquish. Korver finished with 13. Paul Millsap also had 18 off the bench.

I was particularly impressed tonight with C.J. Miles. He had 17 points and six assists. I thought he made a lot of clutch plays in the fourth quarter and I think this was a big step in him growing up as a player. Miles drew the sixth foul on Carmelo Anthony with about 30 seconds left. Anthony complained about the call, but he was clearly draped all over Miles during the whole sequence and it was a call that had to be made. Miles was clutch making the big free throws following the foul. Williams and Korver also made both of their free throws in the final minute.

With Mehmet Okur out for the playoffs after getting hurt early in Game 1, I didn't think the Jazz had much of a shot at winning tonight. This team really showed me something tonight and I'm cautiously optimistic heading into Games 3 and 4 this weekend in Salt Lake City.

One more thought on the game: With D-Will at the line with about 6 seconds left the Denver crowd started a chant of "Utah sucks." If they really sucked so bad, then why were they ahead? Just sayin. It was really cool that D-Will knocked down both shots to provide the final margin and the Denver fans had to suck on that.

Game 3 is on Friday at 8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN2, espn3.com and FSN-Utah. Game 4 is Sunday at 7:30 p.m. MT on TNT and FSN-Utah.

Here are the rest of the NBA scores the last two days:
Sunday:
Game 1 -- (1) Los Angeles Lakers 87, (8) Oklahoma City Thunder 79 (Lakers lead 1-0)
Game 1 -- (2) Orlando Magic 98, (7) Charlotte Bobcats 89 (Magic lead 1-0)
Game 1 -- (2) Dallas Mavericks 100, (7) San Antonio Spurs 94 (Mavericks lead 1-0)
Game 1 -- (6) Portland Trail Blazers 105, (3) Phoenix Suns 100 (Blazers lead 1-0)

Monday:
Game 2 -- (1) Cleveland Cavaliers 112, (8) Chicago Bulls 102 (Cavaliers lead 2-0)

Here's the playoff schedule for Tuesday:
Game 2 -- (6) Milwaukee Bucks at (3) Atlanta Hawks, 5 p.m. MT (NBA TV, Hawks lead 1-0)
Game 2 -- (5) Miami Heat at (4) Boston Celtics, 6 p.m. MT (TNT, Celtics lead 1-0)
Game 2 -- (6) Portland Trail Blazers at (3) Phoenix Suns, 8 p.m. MT (NBA TV, Blazers lead 1-0)
Game 2 -- (8) Oklahoma City Thunder at (1) Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 p.m. MT (TNT, Lakers lead 1-0)

Baseball Weekdays Preview 4/19/10

Here's the Baseball Weekdays Preview 4/19/10:

Most intriguing series this week: Philadelphia Phillies (8-4) at Atlanta Braves (7-5) Tuesday through Thursday. Game times are 5:10 p.m. (MLB Network, MLB EI, mlb.tv), 5:05 p.m. (ESPN, espn3. com, MLB EI, mlb.tv) and 5:10 p.m. MT (MLB EI, mlb.tv). It'll be interesting to see if the Braves and their new addition rookie Jason Heyward can make any kind of statement about how things will go in the NL East this year against the three-time defending division champions. I'll say Phillies two out of three.

Another intriguing series: New York Yankees (9-3) at Oakland Athletics (9-5) Tuesday through Thursday with games starting at 8:05 p.m., 8:05 p.m. and 1:35 p.m. MT (all on MLB EI and mlb.tv). This should help provide some insight on whether the Athletics good start is an aberration or an indication on whether this year will be better than expected. I think the Yankees take two of three in this one.

Least intriguing series: Baltimore Orioles (2-11) at Seattle Mariners (6-7) tonight through Wednesday all at 8:10 p.m. MT (all on MLB EI and mlb.tv). Can't say it's completely unintriguing, but I had to pick one for this spot and I figured one with a team playing as poorly as the Orioles would work. We'll see if the Mariners can start living up to the enhanced expectations this year and can hold the fort down until Cliff Lee gets off the DL. I say it's a Seattle sweep.

San Francisco Giants (8-4): at San Diego Padres (6-6) tonight through Wednesday at 8:05 p.m., 8:05 p.m. and 4:35 p.m. MT (all on MLB EI and mlb.tv). Hopefully the Giants will be able to rebound from the gut-wrenching loss yesterday in Los Angeles and put it together against a Padres club that they should beat. Aaron Rowand is on the DL after getting hit in the head by a pitch on Friday, so Eugenio Velez or one of the other outfielders will get more of a chance to show what he can do. Mark DeRosa is day-to-day. The Giants are better with both of those guys in the line-up but should still be able to take two of three from the Padres with Cain, Sanchez and Wellemeyer (who needs to bounce back from a poor Friday outing) on the mound. I'd like to say sweep, but I see them losing one of them.

Baseball Weekend Review 4/19/10

Let's do the Baseball Weekend Review 4/19/10.

Team that impressed me the most: Tampa Bay Rays (10-3). After I predicted they would lose three out of four at Fenway Park this weekend, the Rays proceeded to take all four games. The last two games in particular the Rays were quite impressive, winning by wide margins. They clearly looked like the better team this weekend. I know it's early, but I think the Rays made a statement over these last four games and I think they're going to be in the race all summer long.

Another impressive performance: Florida Marlins (8-5) taking two of three over the Phillies (8-4) at Citizens Bank Park. I think the Marlins are a solid team but I don't put too much stock in this one series in April. I still think the Phils are the frontrunner in the National League and will also win the World Series. I think they'll be okay for now but will also be helped out when my favorite player short stop Jimmy Rollins comes off the disabled list in a week or two. But the Marlins should take some confidence from this and I think they'll be around as well.

Least impressive performance: Boston Red Sox (4-9). See above. Just bad news for the BoSox. It's still early and I think they'll stay in the race, but they've got to start turning it around soon.

San Francisco Giants update: The Giants lost two out of three at Dodger Stadium this weekend: 10-8, 0-9, 2-1. Tim Lincecum on Saturday and Barry Zito on Sunday were simply dealing and Lincecum even added three hits and RBIs to complement his strong pitching performance. I thought the Giants had the game yesterday, but Manny Ramirez hit a two-run pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning off of reliever Sergio Romo who had just entered the game in place of Zito (who I'm happy to see pitching so well this year as he seems like a quality guy). It was a tough game to swallow for me. But taking the positives away from this weekend, it seemed like the Giants (8-4) got smoked pretty much every time they played the Dodgers (6-6) last year and they were competitive in every game this weekend. So I think that alone shows the Giants are improved over last year. We'll see how things go the next time they meet their hated rivals June 28-30 in San Francisco.

Mets and Cardinals go 20 innings

The Mets beat the Cardinals 2-1 in 20 innings Saturday in a marathon game. The game was scoreless through the first 18 innings, which is the longest such stretch in a single game since 1989. The game lasted almost seven hours. Both teams scored a run in the 19th, before the Mets finally came out on top in the 20th. Every time I see a game go this long, it is pretty incredible to me. That's a long time to be out there. Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols looked exhausted while being interviewed after the game which is totally understandable. It got to the point where the Cardinals were using position players to pitch which is always quite a sight. New York (4-7) and St. Louis (7-4) go at it again from Busch Stadium on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. on ESPN and espn3.com.

Jazz drop playoff opener to Nuggets

The Utah Jazz lost Game 1 to the Denver Nuggets 126-113 at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Saturday night. The Jazz hung with the Nuggets for most of the game, they just seemed to wear down in the closing minutes. Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 42 points, while J.R. Smith added 20 including four three pointers. Deron Williams led the Jazz with 26.

I thought there wasn't enough defense on three pointers by the Jazz, particularly in the fourth quarter, and there were a few key rebounds the Jazz couldn't grab on the defensive glass late in the game that may have been enough to help stop the Nuggets run. A lot of it comes down to mental toughness in these road playoff games, and of course having Mehmet Okur go down in the first half with an injury didn't help matters. It's unknown if he'll be available for the rest of the series.

All that being said, the Jazz still showed some signs of promise and I think they will make a series of it. Game 2 is Monday night at 8:30 p.m. MT on TNT and FSN-Utah.

Other Game 1 scores in the NBA Saturday:
(1)Cleveland 96, (8)Chicago 83
(3)Atlanta 102, (6)Milwaukee 92
(4)Boston 85, (5)Miami 76

Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez tosses no-hitter

Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez threw the first no-hitter in team history Saturday night in Atlanta. Jimenez walked six, but retired the last 15 hitters he faced. He threw over 120 pitches. As a Giants fan who watches a lot of NL West games, I've been aware of how good Jimenez has been becoming over the last year or two, and now I think it's safe to say he's fully arrived on the national scene. Jimenez has dominant stuff with filthy movement and when he's dialed in he can be capable of nights like tonight. His biggest issue is control, this was evident even in this game with the six walks. But I think he is the real deal and will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Even though I'm not a Rockies fan and often root against them for the good of the Giants it was still pretty cool to see Jimenez so thrilled over a no-hitter. It's quite an accomplishment and it's just neat to see people excited about it. "It is every pitcher's dream to be out there for nine innings and throw a no-hitter," said Jimenez after the game. It's something I'm sure he'll never forget. Even Braves catcher Brian McCann was in awe saying, "I'd never been no-hit. I'd never even seen a no-hitter, except on TV. ... It was probably the best performance I've ever seen. He's impressive."

As is often the case in no-hitters, a great defensive play was made behind the pitcher. In this case it was center fielder Dexter Fowler making a nice diving catch on a line drive from Troy Glaus in the seventh inning. It really was quite a catch and Jimenez was clearly appreciative.

The Rockies (6-5) and Braves (6-5) have the rubber game of their three game set tomorrow at 11:35 a.m. on FSN-Rocky Mountain.

Giants trade Lewis to Toronto

The Giants traded outfielder Fred Lewis to the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday for a player to be named later or cash considerations. I'm sad that it didn't work out for Lewis with the Giants as I think he has a lot of raw skills and talent. Last year he was given the opportunity to start and he wasn't ready to do all that the team expected of him, particularly offensively. It was clear to me by the end of last season and this spring that he had fallen out of favor within the organization. I think the guys playing right now are deserving, I'm just kind of sad Lewis didn't get another chance to show what he can do with the Giants. However, I think that this trade could give him new life and new opportunities to show what he can do with the Jays. I'll be interested to see how it works out for him north of the border.

Baseball Weekend Preview 4/16

Here's a new feature I'm going to try. The Baseball Weekend Preview. I will also have the Baseball Weekdays Preview as well as corresponding recaps for each feature. Now upfront I'll say that subjectively the San Francisco Giants are pretty much always involved in the most intriguing series of the weekend for me and I typically prioritize watching their games over any other teams, but for purposes of this feature I'll try and point out the intrigue on the national level. Of course I plan to still provide frequent Giants updates whether in or outside of these features.

Most Intriguing Weekend Series: Tampa Bay (6-3) at Boston (4-5). Game times for the Friday through Monday series are 5:10 p.m. MT (MLB EI, mlb.tv), 5:10 p.m. MT (MLB EI, mlb.tv), 11:35 a.m. MT (TBS, MLB EI, mlb.tv) and 9:05 a.m. MT (MLB Network, MLB EI, mlb.tv). I'm interested to see how the Rays do at Fenway Park against their division foe and to see if they'll be able to continue their positive start. The Red Sox will want to make an early season statement that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with as well. The Red Sox have Beckett, Bucholz, Lester and Lackey going and I'm going to say that's going to be good enough to take three out of four at home, although Garza and Shields in particular should make the Saturday and Sunday games interesting. I still like the Rays to win the division despite the Yankees' strong start, however.

Another Intriguing Series: San Francisco (7-2) at Los Angeles Dodgers (4-5). Game times for this Friday through Sunday series are 8:10 p.m. MT (mlb.tv), 2:10 p.m. MT (FOX) and 2:10 p.m. MT (MLB EI, mlb.tv). One of the fiercest rivalries in all of baseball is renewed for the first time this year and I have to say that I am quite excited about it. The way the Giants have been playing it's tough to pick against them winning a series so I'm going to say they'll take two out of three this weekend at Dodger Stadium. Tim Lincecum is going on Saturday and I think the offense and bullpen will be enough to lead him and the other starters (Wellemeyer on Friday and Zito on Sunday) to the series victory. The Dodgers are off to a slow start and I'll be interested to see if their pitching staff and lineup can shake off the cobwebs and perform like I expected the team to before the season began.

Least Intriguing Series: Arizona (5-4) at San Diego (3-6). Game times are 8:10, 6:35 and 2:05 p.m. MT for Friday (Fox Sports Arizona Plus), Saturday (Fox Sports Arizona) and Sunday (Fox Sports Arizona). I don't think either team has enough to be competitive this year, despite the Diamondbacks having a winning record to this point. Neither team has enough pitching depth or offensive firepower to stay in the race in my opinion. I may check out a few minutes here or there during commercials if I'm watching other games but this will definitely not be the main attraction for me this weekend.

NBA First Round preview

The Jazz were trounced at home by the Suns 100-86 last night to finish the regular season. The game was never in doubt and the Jazz just looked bad. Even with Carlos Boozer out of the lineup, I felt that the Jazz should have won that game. However, they didn't even show up. As a result Phoenix (54-28) gets the three seed while Utah (53-29) slips all the way to fifth. Here are the playoff matchups by conference:
Eastern Conference:
(1)Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8)Chicago Bulls
(2)Orlando Magic vs. (7)Charlotte Bobcats
(3)Atlanta Hawks vs. (6)Milwaukee Bucks
(4)Boston Celtics vs. (5)Miami Heat

Western Conference:
(1)Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8)Oklahoma City Thunder
(2)Dallas Mavericks vs. (7)San Antonio Spurs
(3)Phoenix Suns vs. (6)Portland Trail Blazers
(4)Denver Nuggets vs. (5)Utah Jazz

And now for a new feature in which I fearlessly forecast the winners of each series as well as the best and worst series.
First round predictions:
Cleveland over Chicago 4-0
Orlando over Charlotte 4-1
Atlanta over Milwaukee 4-2
Boston over Miami 4-3
LA Lakers over Oklahoma City 4-2
Dallas over San Antonio 4-3
Phoenix over Portland 4-1
Denver over Utah 4-3

Sorry everyone, I just don't see any upsets occuring in the first round. I hope I'm wrong about at least a couple of these, though, particularly the Jazz.

Most exciting series: This is a tough call, but I think I'm going to have to say the Lakers vs. the Thunder. Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant should make for a lot of exciting moments throughout this series and I think Durant has enough talent and firepower around him to win a couple of games in this series. However, as much as it pains me to say it, I think the Lakers are the more talented team and will win with their depth which includes Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest. I don't think the Thunder have as many talented players as the Lakers do and as I've said many times before, there's nobody I'd take over Kobe Bryant in crunch time with the game on the line. I am excited to check out this series, though.

Least exciting series: Cleveland vs. Chicago. Chicago needed until the last night just to qualify for the playoffs in the weaker Eastern Conference and didn't even finish above .500 at 41-41. I think the Cavaliers will roll over the Bulls behind LeBron James and his talented supporting cast which includes Antawn Jamison. Derrick Rose could make a game or two interesting but I just don't think he is as good as James nor do I think his supporting cast is as talented.

Here are the matchups for the opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs with television networks in parentheses.
Saturday:
Game 1 -- Chicago at Cleveland, 1 p.m. MT (ABC)
Game 1 -- Milwaukee at Atlanta, 3:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com)
Game 1 -- Miami at Boston, 6 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com)
Game 1 -- Utah at Denver, 8:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, FSN-Utah)

Sunday:
Game 1 -- Oklahoma City at LA Lakers, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Game 1 -- Charlotte at Orlando, 3:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 1 -- San Antonio at Dallas, 6 p.m. (TNT)
Game 1 -- Portland at Phoenix, 8:30 p.m. (TNT)

Giants beat Pirates, K-Rod, Pierzynski, MLB Network

The Giants continue to impress, taking two out of three from the Pirates with a 6-0 win today. They are now 7-2 on the year with a big series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles coming up this weekend. Aubrey Huff had an inside the park homerun today that was fun to watch. I also enjoyed Eugenio Velez's two run shot last night. I hope Velez continues to get playing time, he's an exciting player and I think deserves some more at bats.

Another thought I had about Francisco Rodriguez hitting Willie Harris -- I think it was on purpose, I just don't understand why he felt like he had to hit Harris. I mean all Harris did was make a diving catch to win the game for his team, he didn't do anything to show up the Mets.

Ricky Romero of the Blue Jays took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the White Sox before surrendering a two-run homerun to Alex Rios. A.J. Pierzynski reached first before that because he claimed he was hit by a pitch and acted like it stung him. However, replays clearly showed the pitch hit the ground and not Pierzynski's leg. This is just the latest incident like this for Pierzynski, who is notorious for such behavior as running into a fielder on the basepaths to attempt to get an interference call and of course running to first after a strike out in the 2005 ALCS against the Angels because he claimed the ball was not caught cleanly. I guess at least this time it wasn't the play to break up the no hitter, it's just disappointing that players are trying to gain advantages however they can.

As for my thoughts on MLB Network, it's just awesome. I love it. They have MLB Tonight and Quick Pitch which are shows which exclusively show baseball highlights and talk baseball. I was watching Quick Pitch this morning and it did a better job than SportsCenter in getting me filled in on the previous day's action. I still plan on watching SportsCenter in the future as it covers all sports, etc. but I will also be hitting up MLB Network for the latest on baseball.

Last night of NBA regular season is upon us

The Suns blew out the Nuggets last night 123-101 last night in Phoenix while the Jazz held off the Warriors 103-94 in Oakland. Both teams are 53-28 and play tonight at 8:30 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City (ESPN, espn3.com, FSN-Utah). Tipping off right about now are the Mavericks (54-27) and the Spurs (50-31) in Dallas (NBA League Pass). If the Mavericks win they get the two-seed in the Western Conference. If they lose they still get the 2 unless the Jazz win in which case Utah gets the 2. Otherwise a Jazz win gets them the 3 seed. In this scenario Phoenix would get the 4 and Denver the 5. If the Jazz lose the Suns get the 3, the Nuggets the 4 and the Jazz the 5. The Blazers (50-31) host Golden State at 8:30 p.m. MT (NBA League Pass) knowing that a win or a Spurs loss gets them the 6 seed. The Spurs get the 6 with a win and a Blazers loss. Should be an interesting night in the West and I'll be back on later to give the playoff breakdown. In the East, the Raptors need a win over the Knicks (probable) and a Bulls loss at Charlotte to make the playoffs as the 8 seed. Otherwise it's Chicago. I'll be back on later with some NBA and baseball thoughts, including how much I enjoy MLB Network.

NBA West race update; K-Rod & the Nats; early baseball surprises

The Mavericks beat the Clippers 117-94 last night to improve to 54-27 and now are in position to claim the two-seed in the West with a home win tomorrow night against San Antonio. The Nuggets routed the Grizzlies 123-101 to go to 53-28 on the year. The Jazz need the Nuggets to lose tonight to have any hope of winning the Northwest Division title. Denver is at Phoenix with tip-off a little more than an hour from now on TNT. I think the Suns will take that one at home since they have a lot to play for and Steve Nash has been playing lights out lately and should be given some consideration for MVP after the way he has carried that team this season (though the consensus is LeBron James will repeat in that category, I don't think it's as clear-cut as people make it seem).

In baseball, the New York Mets (2-4, trailing at Colorado 2-0 in the third) are still a mess, losing two of three over the weekend at home to the lightly regarded Washington Nationals (3-4). I was watching part of Saturday afternoon's game at Citi Field and it came right down to the end. The Nats held a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, but the Mets had the bases loaded. Rod Barajas hit a line drive to left that as soon as it was hit I thought would go for a base hit, two runs and a Mets win. However, left fielder Willie Harris made a nice diving catch to give the Nationals the win. The next day Mets closer Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez hit Harris with a pitch late in the game. The two exchanged heated words as Harris made his way to first base and both teams benches cleared although no punches were thrown. K-Rod probably won't say it was intentional, but Harris obviously thought it was and I tend to agree more with the latter. I haven't been a fan of K-Rod's antics dating back to his time with the Angels. Every time he saves a game he acts like he's just won the World Series. I'm fine with pitching with emotion and all that as well as celebrating but at the same time I'd say save the most extravagant of celebrations for when you actually do win big games.

The season is about a week old, so it's tough to tell who the real winners and losers are going to be. The two teams I've been surprised the most by so far have been the Blue Jays and Athletics who are both 6-2 following Toronto's 4-2 win over the White Sox (3-5) tonight. The A's play at Seattle a little later. It'll be interesting to see how long the Jays can stay competitive in the ultra competitive AL East which I think has three of the best five teams in baseball -- the the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox. They've been playing well so far though. As have the Athletics who have gotten a lot from their young pitching so far and gotten some offense as well. I picked them to finish last in the AL West because I didn't think they had enough experience pitching or enough offensive punch. They're one of my favorite teams, though, so I hope I'm wrong. On the other end of the spectrum the Angels and Mariners, both 2-6, don't look as good as I thought they would. But again, it's early, and Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee is still on the disabled list. I think things will still more or less go as I've predicted even if the standings don't look as expected after one week of play. As for my Giants they improved to 6-1 with a 9-3 win over the Pirates last night. Game 2 of that series starts at 8:15 p.m. MT.

NBA's Western Conference seeding goes down to last three days

Seeding is very much still up for grabs for the playoffs in the NBA's Western Conference as we head into the final week of the season. The Nuggets, Mavericks, Jazz and Suns are all alive for second place in the conference and potential home court advantage for the first two rounds in the playoffs. Let's take a look at the games remaining involving these teams:
Monday:
Memphis at Denver, 7 p.m. MT (NBA League Pass)
Dallas at LA Clippers, 8:30 p.m. MT (NBA TV)

Tuesday:
Utah at Golden State, 8:30 p.m. MT (FSN-Utah & NBA League Pass)
Denver at Phoenix, 8:30 p.m. MT (TNT)

Wednesday:
San Antonio at Dallas, 6 p.m. MT (NBA League Pass)
Phoenix at Utah, 8:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, FSN-Utah)

Dallas is 53-27 right now, the other three are 52-28. For the Jazz to get the two seed they need to win out and hope for Dallas and Denver to lose. The Jazz have the tiebreaker with Dallas but not Denver. Beyond that, I'm not going to trouble my speculative powers right now. The Jazz should be favored in both of their remaining games as Golden State isn't having a very good year and the Jazz get the Suns at home. I figure Denver and Dallas both win tomorrow against non-playoff teams, but you never know and a guy can always hope. The better hope is for Dallas to lose to the Spurs, who have been playing very well, on Wednesday. The Spurs are in a three way tie for sixth-place with Oklahoma City and Portland at 49-31 and could very well be playing for playoff positioning themselves. Remember, nobody wants to face the top seeded Lakers in the first round. I'll pick Phoenix to beat Denver at home Tuesday setting up a really big one Wednesday in Salt Lake for the Jazz and Suns. It should be an exciting few days as the regular season winds down. It's too close to call, but I'll have my eye on the developments and be back on here for updates.

Phil Mickelson wins third Masters

Phil Mickelson won his third Masters and fourth major overall after posting a final round that featured no bogeys. Mickelson shot, -16 for the tournament, winning by three strokes over Lee Westwood. Tiger Woods finished tied for fourth at -11 in his first tournament back since accounts of numerous infidelities started surfacing shortly after Thanksgiving. Mickelson seems like a good guy to me and I'm happy that he won. This is his first major victory since his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer (long-term prognosis is looking like it will be okay) and I could tell this one meant a lot to him. Phil just seems like kind of a normal guy who doesn't let fame get too his head too much and I'm really happy that he was able to win the Masters even with such trying things going on in his personal life.

Giants take two of three from Braves

The Giants beat the Braves 6-3 Sunday evening to take two out of three in the weekend series. The game was completed after a four hour, nine minute rain delay. Tim Lincecum looked really sharp to me as he went 7 innings, giving up 2 earned runs and striking out 10 batters. Pablo Sandoval aka the "Kung Fu Panda" hit his first home run of the year and it was a monster shot. Braves rookie right fielder Jason Heyward hit his third home run of the season in the ninth inning. Heyward is young but he looks like the real deal to me. The Giants are 5-1 on the year and looking really good. I know it's early but I'm feeling very optimistic about the rest of the year after this strong start. Also in the division, Arizona is 4-2 after a 15-6 victory over Pittsburgh in which the Diamondbacks scored a remarkable 13 runs in the fourth inning. Those same Pirates visit the Giants for a three game series starting tomorrow night. Pittsburgh starts Ross Ohlendorf (0-0) and the Giants go with Barry Zito (1-0) with first pitch at 8:15 p.m. MT on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

Giants win home opener in thrilling fashion

The San Francisco Giants won their home opener Friday in a thriller, beating the Atlanta Braves 5-4 in 13 innings. The Giants trailed most of the game, and down 4-2 in the 9th Eugenio Velez doubled to open the inning. After Aaron Rowand was retired, Edgar Renteria hit a game-tying two-run homerun to left field off Braves closer Billy Wagner. Renteria is off to a blazing start and what a difference a year and a healthy body make. It got me pretty excited to say the least. In the 13th, Juan Uribe walked, stole second and took third on an errant throw from catcher Brian McCann. McCann claimed he was interfered with from Rowand's backswing, and I can honestly say that he probably had a point. Later in the at-bat Rowand grounded one into the hole at shortstop and beat the throw to first as Uribe came home with the winning run. I'm glad the call went the Giants' way. The Giants are now 4-0 and the last undefeated team in baseball. It feels good to type that. The Braves drop to 2-2. It was a great home opening day, you can't ask for much more than that. Just another to reason for me to love the Giants and love baseball. The Giants (Todd Wellemeyer) and Braves (Derek Lowe, 1-0) go at it again tonight at 8:05 p.m. MT on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. In other notes, Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected from the game yesterday for a record 154th time in his career.

Umpire says Red Sox and Yankees are too slow

Umpire Joe West criticized the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees for taking too long to play saying "They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace. They're two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest? It's pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play." West was the crew chief for the season opening series in which the three games had time of 3:46, 3:48 and 3:21. The time for an average baseball game last year was under three hours. Some of this may be players working counts, etc. but having watched these two teams play numerous times, I agree that they are very slow. ESPN's Buster Olney said this morning that he didn't feel it was appropriate for West to make comments like that, much as it would be for a player to make similar comments about an umpire. However, I don't feel that detracts from the validity of West's comments. I've been telling people that the Yankees and Red Sox give baseball a bad rap for being a really slow game and that if they watch other teams the pace is usually quicker. Not that I don't enjoy watching games involving either of these teams (although I'm not a fan of either), I just wish they would play quicker. There's no need for hitters and pitchers to have excessive routines. Just step up to the plate or pitch the ball. A lot of guys would be well served to do this. I pointed out to my brother on Tuesday night that the Giants game I was watching which started an hour after the Red Sox-Yankees game that night still managed to end about 20 minutes prior to the game in Boston. I don't imagine slow games will ever stop me from watching baseball (it is by far my favorite sport), but it would help in increasing and maintaining its fan base.

Marshall Henderson latest Runnin' Ute to transfer

It was announced today that Utah Runnin' Utes guard Marshall Henderson, the team's second leading scorer in his just-completed freshman season, will transfer. Henderson is the fifth underclassmen to leave the program this offseason, joining leading scorer Carlon Brown along with Matt Read, Chris Hines and Jordan Cyphers. Henderson said he wants to be closer to home and that the decision wasn't about basketball, but also said "Coach Boylen's program also has certain rules and restrictions that I respect, but I don't feel they fit with my individualism." The loss of Henderson really hurts as it now means that the Utes' two leading scorers from this past season will not return. I expected Henderson to carry a lot of the scoring load this upcoming season with his silky smooth three-point shot and he leaves an even bigger void now present on the offensive end of the floor for the Utes who were abysmal offensively last season. With Luka Drca and Kim Tillie graduating, there will be a total of seven players gone from this year's team. Some may say this is a good thing as the team was terrible offensively and clearly had some chemistry issues. However, it is going to be difficult to lose the substantial offensive firepower that Brown and Henderson brought to the table and still be successful. Key contributors expected to return at this point are Jace Tavita, Shawn Glover, David Foster, Jay Watkins and Jason Washburn. I realize I may be stretching a bit with the word contributors as now of the aforementioned players were consistent offensively last season. All five showed flashes of being productive on offense, most notably Watkins in the loss at BYU. However, I am wondering where the 3-point shooting is going to come from. Glover was probably the biggest threat of the bunch from beyond the arc, but I never knew quite what to expect from him. Hopefully he'll get better as he moves into his sophomore season. I hope all those players work on their offense this summer. Additionally, this whole situation puts more pressure on Utah coach Jim Boylen to bring in a successful recruiting class, particularly with some good shooters. The fact that five underclassmen have left the program also puts more pressure on next year's team to succeed. It doesn't reflect well on a coaching staff when five underclassmen transfer after one season; it causes me to wonder what is going on with the basketball program. Even Boylen's much-maligned predecessor as head coach Ray Giacoletti never had that happen. I'm not very optimistic about the Runnin' Utes next season, but I'll continue to cheer for them and hope for the best.

Giants sweep Astros, look ahead to home opener

Today my beloved San Francisco Giants completed the sweep of the Houston Astros with a 10-4 win to move to 3-0 on the year. The three starters for the series -- Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain combined for a 1.37 ERA in over 19 innings pitched between the three of them. Edgar Renteria looked awesome today with five hits and looks to be a lot healthier than last year, which should help our offense to be more potent. Newcomers Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa look to be off to good starts as well, and my boy John Bowker hit a 2-run homerun today which was good to see. Hopefully he'll see the bulk of the time in right field as he seems to have a really good stroke going so far. I'm trying not to get too excited as I know the Astros probably aren't going to be very good this year, but it's always nice to start the year 3-0. And of course it's nice that the Dodgers dropped to 0-2 with a 4-3 10-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. More good news came in the Rockies dropping to 1-2 with a 5-4 loss at Milwaukee to the Brewers. The Diamondbacks beat the Padres 5-3 in Phoenix to take two out of three in their season-opening series. The Giants' home opener is Friday at 2:35 p.m. MT against the Atlanta Braves, who should provide a stiffer test for the orange and black. The starters are Jonathan Sanchez for the Giants and Tim Hudson for the Braves. The game is available on MLB Network, MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

Jazz beat Thunder in thriller, are pounded by Rockets

The Jazz beat the Thunder 140-139 last night in a thriller but got beat up pretty good tonight at Houston by the Rockets 113-96. Last night's game was a classic with Deron Williams hitting a game winning shot with about 1 second left in overtime for the final margin. Williams ended with a career-high 42 points, Carlos Boozer had 28. Kevin Durant had 45, but it wasn't enough. It looked like he was fouled on the last play by C.J. Miles, but I'll gladly take the no-call and the win for the Jazz. Maybe the no-call was in part due to Kevin Garnett's comments last week that have previously been noted. Unfortunately the Jazz didn't really show up tonight and dropped to 51-28 on the year. That puts them in fifth place, a half-game behind Dallas, Denver and Phoenix, all of whom won tonight and are 51-27. The Jazz next play on Friday at New Orleans at 6 p.m. MT on FSN-Utah and NBA League Pass.

Baseball's Opening Day

While the power did go out while I was watching the NCAA men's basketball national championship game, I fortunately did have power for most of baseball's Opening Day. Opening Day is one of my favorite days of the year because it means that baseball is back. There is optimism with almost every team and everything seems so pure. I love all the day games to open the year with huge crowds; it makes me feel like I've gone back in time to when all games were during the day. Although my San Francisco Giants were playing an evening game, that didn't stop me from watching most of the game. Tim Lincecum was sharp in pitching seven innings of shutout baseball en route to a 5-2 Giants win at the Houston Astros. I was interested to see that John Bowker has apparently won the starting right field job. I've always liked his stroke from the plate ever since his first call up. I hope he keeps putting it together; I think he has a lot of upside. He contributed today with an RBI single in the second inning as the Giants pushed three across in that inning against Astros starter Roy Oswalt. Brian Wilson came on late to pick up his first save of the year. Game 2 of the series is tomorrow night in Houston at 6:05 p.m. MT. It is available via MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. The Giants (1-0) will start Barry Zito and the Astros (0-1) counter with Wandy Rodriguez. It was a good start to the season for the Giants today and that was helped out even more by the fact that the rival Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-5.

National Title Game heartbreaker

(5)Butler fell to (1)Duke 61-59 in the NCAA men's basketball championship game tonight. It was rough and I felt like I'd had my guts ripped out after watching Gordon Hayward's half-court shot nearly go in as it hit the backboard and rim before glancing aside. It would've been so cool to see a non-BCS team win the national title, but I think Butler's run this way showed that there is indeed parity in college basketball and that the so-called "mid-majors" can play with the so-called "power conferences." Both Duke (35-5, 13-3 ACC) and Butler (33-5, 18-0 Horizon) played gritty, tough basketball and neither team deserved to lose if you ask me. On a personal note, my power went out with about five minutes left in the game, causing me to freak out. I drove to my parents' place and arrived just in time to see Hayward miss his long three. It's a shame it didn't go in, but still one heck of a run for Butler.

Eagles trade McNabb to Redskins

Reports have Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb being traded to the Washington Redskins. I guess I'm not entirely surprised since he's been on the trading block, but I'm saddened he's leaving. He's meant a lot to the franchise and been a really good player for the Eagles. Kevin Kolb will likely take over as the starter. I'm just sad the McNabb era had to end so soon and that the Eagles couldn't win a Super Bowl with him. Also, if you haven't yet, check out my baseball preview below.

Major League Baseball preview

It's baseball season! I've got Red Sox-Yankees on ESPN2 starting up shortly with the first pitch of the season. The season starts in full swing tomorrow including the San Francisco Giants and Tim Lincecum taking on the Houston Astros at 5 p.m. MT on ESPN2 and espn3.com (formerly espn360.com). I'm excited to see "The Franchise" pitch tomorrow and see how the Giants start out. Anyway, I thought I'd get in on the baseball picks before the season officially gets under way in a few minutes. I'll go division by division including wild cards to start with:

American League East:
1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. New York Yankees
3. Boston Red Sox
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles

American League Central:
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Cleveland Indians

American League West:
1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Texas Rangers
4. Oakland Athletics

American League Wild Card:
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Detroit Tigers

National League East:
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Florida Marlins
4. New York Mets
5. Washington Nationals

National League Central:
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

National League West:
1. Colorado Rockies
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Diego Padres

National League Wild Card:
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Florida Marlins
5. Milwaukee Brewers

For the seeds of the teams in the baseball playoffs:
American League:
1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3. Chicago White Sox
4. New York Yankees

National League:
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Atlanta Braves

Oh, and I'll take the American League over the National League in the All-Star game to give the AL the home field advantage in the World Series (although this is a stupid way to determine World Series home field advantage).

And now for my playoff prognostications:
American League Division Series:
Tampa Bay Rays over Chicago White Sox 3-1
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim over New York Yankees 3-2

National League Division Series:
Philadelphia Phillies over Colorado Rockies 3-1
St. Louis Cardinals over Atlanta Braves 3-2


American League Championship Series:
Tampa Bay Rays over Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2

National League Championship Series:
Philadelphia Phillies over St. Louis Cardinals 4-2

World Series:
Philadelphia Phillies over Tampa Bay Rays 4-2

National Semifinal recap; Title Game pick

Well I was one for two last night on the Final Four games. I correctly picked Butler over Michigan State but missed on Duke beating West Virginia. Butler's defense was outstanding in their 52-50 win as they went nearly eleven minutes in the second half without a field goal and still managed to win. I thought there probably should have been a foul when Draymond Green of Michigan State drove with about ten seconds left and the Spartans down one, but there wasn't one called. I thought Butler did deserve to win, though as they made the plays down the stretch. I liked a quote from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo after the game: "If I was not playing, I'd be a Butler fan. I like the way they play, I like their story. They play like a Big Ten team." Butler really is a good story. It's awesome seeing a team from a non-BCS conference get to the national championship game and prove the critics wrong. I only hope they can continue their impressive run tomorrow night. As for Duke I was really impressed with them in their 78-57 win. Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer were all on top of their game and if they do that again they'll be tough to beat on Monday. But I'm going to stick with my guns and pick Butler (33-4, 18-0 Horzion) over Duke (34-5, 13-3 ACC) tomorrow night. Tip off is at 7:21 p.m. MT on CBS and ncaa.com/mmod.

Final Four picks

Okay so today is the Final Four! Way exciting stuff! The first game pits (5) Butler (32-4, 18-0 Horizon) vs. (5) Michigan State (28-8, 14-4 Big Ten) at 4:07 p.m. MT on CBS. In the nightcap it's (1) Duke (33-5, 13-3 ACC) vs. (2) West Virginia (31-6, 13-5 Big East) at about 6:47 p.m. also on CBS. In the first game I'll take Butler over Michigan State in a close game. I was very impressed with Butler's strong defense watching them in person last weekend and I think that along with Gordon Hayward will lead them to victory. And of course I think Butler will benefit from a substantial home court advantage. I'll take West Virginia over Duke in the second game. Da'Sean Butler is a big-time player and I'm thinking he'll have a good game to lead the Mountaineers to a win. Duke will need big performances from Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler to come out on top. I could see this game going either way, but I think West Virginia pulls it out. In the title game on Monday, I'll take Butler over West Virginia. Butler's defense and what Coach Brad Stevens described after the Syracuse game as his team's "resolve" will carry the Bulldogs to the national title. And of course I think the team will be helped out significantly by star player Gordon Hayward as well as the home Indianapolis crowd. I'll be back on later to recap tonight's games.

Jordan Cyphers in Utah gear

I saw Jordan Cyphers on campus yesterday. He was still wearing his Utah basketball coat and backpack with his #45 on them. I found this interesting since he has said he is planning to transfer. I don't think this changes anything, I would just think that if you're planning to play for another team you wouldn't wear your old team's gear.

Links for articles on possible Tournament expansion

I already blogged this week about how stupid it would be to expand the NCAA Tournament. Here is a link to an article that explains why it's stupid and why expansion is really being considered by the NCAA: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=5048513

And it should be noted that I don't particularly care for brussel sprouts.

Oh, and here's another good link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13145732/silence-tells-all-ncaa-just-creating-more-revenue-with-expansion

One of my favorite lines from this one is "expanding to 96 teams would water down the regular season to an unimaginable level." Not to mention all the other solid points in both articles about money.

Dayton wins NIT; Browns DT arrested

Dayton beat North Carolina 69-58 to win its third NIT last night. It's always tough for me to see UNC (20-17, 5-11 ACC) win, so it was cool to see the Flyers (25-12, 8-8 A-10) pull it out. Dayton is a fun team to watch, similar to those Memphis teams John Calipari used to coach in that they always seem to be running and flying everywhere. So to summarize here are the champions of the "other" college basketball postseason tournaments:
NIT: Dayton (25-12, 8-8 A-10)
CBI: VCU (27-9, 11-7 CAA)
CIT: Missouri St. (24-12, 8-10 MVC)

Meanwhile the NCAA Final Four begins tomorrow! I'm so stoked! It's Butler vs. Michigan State at 4:07 p.m. and Duke vs. West Virginia at about 6:47 p.m. MT. Both games are on CBS as well as available on ncaa.com/mmod. It's really cool that Butler is playing only about six miles away from their campus. I'm watching ESPN right now and they have a live look at Butler's practice. There are a ton of people there; I would be thrilled to have this many people at a Utes basketball game. I'll have more on the Final Four later.

Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers was arrested yesterday for attempting to board a plane with a loaded gun in his carry-on. Wow, how stupid is that? Seriously how can you let that happen? Even if he wasn't planning on doing anything, which I'm not totally sure of, you just can't let that happen. People are just dumb sometimes. I hope he gets prosecuted and gets a stiff penalty for this.