NBA PLAYOFFS AND OTHER SPRING ...

Spring to most people in America is a time of year for rejuvenating one’s mind and spirit. Many of us are just coming out of a form of hybernation where we’ve been living in a cacoon from the rest of the frozen world. For those of us that spend the winter hours watching sports spring can be a period of renewal. For me, Spring means that football is not too far away. Colleges are having their spring games, showcasing next years talent. The NFL draft takes place in Spring and yes most of us feel that draft night is the beginning of the new NFL season. Of course Spring also means baseball, The Masters, The Kentucky Derby and for sure, The NBA Playoffs. 

This year we are once again looking at a playoff picture in the NBA that if anything should be as exciting and entertaining as any year care of some great starring players and great performing teams. Some of the same teams we watched last year are still in it this year, some of the them are of course not but if anything remains it’s the excitement of the playoffs themselves that keeps us watching.

As usual, The LA Lakers and LeBrone James are front and center all around the NBA, at least in the western conference. A late surging Laker team and a King James that seems to have drunk from The Fountain of Youth have once again have become the show piece for an NBA playoff extravaganza. The perineal favorite, The Denver Nuggets, will be The Lakers first challenge after winning a single game play-in against New Orleans. After the demise of The Warriors and an early exit due to a defeat by Sacramento the western conference is wide open. Personally I’m taking Denver to win it again but keep that under your hat. It’s never wrong to bet on a long shot.

The Eastern Conference of The NBA seems more clear cut but regardless has the same level of intensity. Of course Boston and Milwaukee are both favorites here but a healthy Joel Embid makes the 76ers a formidable threat in the playoffs. With The Miami Heat now out of the picture I would look to Philadelphia to make a move here against a Boston or Milwaukee team that seem a bit too over confident. With The Greek Freak playing under a questionable health status in Milwaukee it pretty much a “Stay tuned” scenario in my book, the playoffs can take a while and we have alot of basketball left to play!

As I’ve mentioned before, The NFL draft is just a week away. There’s already a ton of speculation about who will go where. The nation’s top propect, Caleb Williams from USC, looks like a lock to make the first pick by The Chicago Bears. Of course we all know I don’t put a lot of faith in the number one pick in the draft. Who does for that matter?  Has the number one pick ever worked out I wonder? Did it work out well last year for Carolina? This year I feel won’t be any different.

As of this week there are 8 or 9 offensive players projected to go in the first 10 picks, mostly quarterbacks and wide receivers. I often wonder what happened to the running backs? The league apparently is in need of good, young, strong quarterbacks over running backs who, as we all know, take alot of pounding week after week and suffer from jury more then other positions. Quarterbacks however seem to come and go, some lasting more then others, some lasting barely a season or two. The bottom line on the NFL draft for me is that it’s become merely a show piece event for the NFL, an evening full of back slapping and man love among millionaires and those soon to be millionaires. Sure, it’s entertaining but what does it really count for these days? Your guess is as good as mine. Enjoy the show!

It won’t be long now until the dog days of summer make way for another college football season. This year will be the first year in a very, very long time that we won’t see Nick Sabin walking the sidelines as head coach at The University of Alabama. It’s definitely a new era at Alabama, a new era for the SEC and a new era for college football as a whole. A lot of football programs, especially across the south, are breathing a sigh of relief in seeing him go. Love him or hate Alabama you can’t deny that the program in Tuscaloosa was a perineal power house that somehow managed to steer the course of the Football Bowl Series playoffs year in and year out. Alabama was a winner every time they suited up it seemed. The Crimson Tide put more players into the NFL than any other program bar none. They had players 3 and 4 deep in the depth chart and sitting on the bench that could start at any division one school in the country. Nick Sabin created a Goliath of the college football game and will be missed. A huge voidwill hopefully be filled quickly on Saturdays but for me he’s a legend that deserves all the recognition he gets. 

Finally on college football, remember that this is the year that the FBS playoffs expand to twelve teams. It’s going to be an interesting season no doubt! With talk of the FBS series becoming a permanent twilvecteam fixture it should be interesting to watch but as usual I’m sure there’s going to be drama and controversy as to who gets in and who gets locked out. Stay tuned and enjoy the show folks and as usual Play On!!

Kev

Kev's Corner Our Staffs Weekly Sports perspective

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