NBA coaching carousel begins

Now that the NBA season has come to an end, the major coaching moves will begin. Some major moves happened this past weekend. Pat Riley, a future hall off fame coach has stepped down from coaching the Miami Heat, the team with the worst record in the NBA. Also Larry Brown was hired by Micheal Jordan to coach the bobcats. This move was needed in order to bring a strong leader to a team that might be on the cust of becoming a factor in the NBA.
Now the real fun will begin with the other questions about coaches. First off who will Walsh hire to be the next coach of the terrible Knicks? can anyone who is hired change the face of that franchise? This will soon be answered. Also which coach that made the playoffs, fell short of expectations and can be on the hot seat? On possibility i see is the firing of George Karl. Denver has 2 of the best players in the NBA, however they were swept in the first round. Phoenix and Dallas had championship expectations and they both look like they will have first round exits, however against very good teams. Many will say Mike Dantoni and Avery Johnson are on the hot seat, however I feel that both coaches are too valuable to fire. Another big name coach that can be in trouble is Flip Saunders. Detroit has the expectation to win the east, and if they fall short again I feel he will be fired. We can only wait and see how the coaching carousel will fall this off season.

NFL Draft

What is a sports page, without a mock draft for the NFL draft? All sportswriters and fans have been weighing in with their mock drafts. I will now add my mock draft of the first ten picks to my page. The NFL draft is this upcoming Saturday, and many teams are looking to make many improvements. I believe this draft will be very intriguing with many possibilities.

My Mock Draft- 1-10

1. Miami Dolphins- Jake Long OL- Team needs to build foundation starting with offensive line.

2. St.Louis Rams- Glen Dorsey- DT- Team needs big force in middle of defense.

3. Atlanta Falcons- Matt Ryan QB- Maybe he will help people forget about Vick.

4. Oakland Raiders- Darren McFadden RB- Team needs star, after many loosing seasons.

5. Kansas City Chiefs- Chris Long DE- Team needs to replace pro-bowler Jarrod Allen

6. NY Jets- Vernon Gholston DE- He could play in the hybrid position in the 4-3 defense.

7. NE Patriots- Keith Rivers LB- Team needs to get younger at LB position.

8. Baltimore Ravens- Sedrick Ellis DT- Boost defense which is getting older.

9.Cincinnati Bengals- Ryan Clady OT- They need to protect Carson Palmer

10. NO Saints- Leodis McKelvin CB- Need shut down corner

What makes the draft so special is that all the experts have totally different opinions. The ESPN Scouts have all the players ranked. Also the two NFL Experts that cover the draft all year round are Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, who have their own official mock drafts.

Wild Wild West

The NBA playoffs are set to begin. I would like to concentrate on the conference that is clearly the dominant one, the western conference. The East has some intriguing matchups however nothing will beat the 2008 western conference playoffs. It consists of 8 teams who have 50 or above wins. My opinion is that any of the 8 teams has a shot of making the finals, to play the Celtics (clear favorite in the East). We will see the best teams with the best players in the Wst. Also the two main MVP candidates are in the west, which are Kobe and Chris Paul. They happen to play for the top two seeds.
1st round matchups
1. Lakers Vs. 8. Nuggets- Kobe with probably the best team around him ever, against a team that consists of two of the best players; Carmelo and Allen Iverson.
2. Hornets Vs. 7. Mavericks- The suprprise of the league led by MVP chris paul, against the team that had one of the best regular seasons in history just a year ago.
3. Spurs vs. 6. Suns- Two of the preason favorites. Now that Suns have Shaq it only gets more intriquing
4. Jazz vs. 5. Rockets- Jazz are one of the most consistent teams and best home team, against a team which one 22 straight during the regular season( second all time)

My predictions
rd.1 rd.2 Western Finals
Lakers win 4-2
Mavericks win 4-3 Lakers defeat Jazz 4-3
Suns win 4-3 Suns defeat Lakers 4-3
Jazz win 4-3 Suns defeat Mavs 4-2

Trevor Immelman wins Masters

Trevor Immelman has won the 2008 masters. The Masters is known as the biggest golf tournament of the year. Tiger Woods, who was expected by everyone to win, came in second place. Any tournamnet in which Tiger does not win is considered a surprise. Immelman gets his first maajor win ever. Only four months ago, Immelman was in a hospital in South Africa as doctors prepared to remove a tumor from his diaphragm, learning only after the operation that it was benign. In my opinion it is always a great story when an underdog wins. Tiger Woods is by far the number one golfer in the world, and to Immelmans credit he was able to out golf him in the biggest tournamnet of it all. Immelmans lead never got lower than two strokes on Tiger. The big debate os going to be in Tiger Woods lost the tournament, or did Immelman win it. Although Tiger did miss some makeable putts, Immelman stayed consitstent and played solid golf all weekend at a tough course. That was why Immelman wore the green jacket, as Masters winners do.

Kansas Wins Tournament

Another great NCAA tournament is over. Although I did not win any of my brackets, the tournament was very entertaining and had some great games. The Kansas Jayhawks defeated Memphis in the championship game. The championship game was just a remarkable game to watch.Chalmers' 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation put the game in overtime. Memphis had the game won in the final minute, however, they missed four of five free throws at the end. Chalmers three point shot will go down in history as one of the biggest shots ever, and this game will possibly go down as the best championship game ever. In overtime Kansas pulled away and won the game 75-68. Chalmers was the MVP of the tournament. The championship game marked the end of in my opinion a very good NCAA tournament. For the first time ever the top 4 teams made the final four. The championship game was a great game with two great teams.

Fantasy Baseball

I am the commissioner of a very competitive high money fantasy baseball league. Two fellow classmates Adam Miller and Luca Giacona are in this league. The draft took place two weeks ago, and every manager believes that their team is the best, and feel that they will win the league. I will discuss my team in detail below. Adam Miller's team name is Willie Sux. Luca Giacona's team name is Cant Stop US. Their blogs discuss their teams in detail.
Analysis of My starting Lineup
Catcher- Brian McCann- Top five fantasy catcher. all star
First base- Prince Fielder- 50 home runs, and possible MVP candidate
Second Baseman- Robinson Cano- Top 3 second baseman, finished in top 3 in batting average
Shortstop- Troy Tulowitzki- Finished second in rookie of the year voting
Third base- Aramis Ramirez- Averages around 30hr, 100 RBI every year, top 5 3rd baseman
Outfield- Gary Sheffield- Great career, with over 400 HR's
Vernon Wells- a very consistent player with 5 tools.
Fukudome/Hamilton- two up and coming players who I feel will break out.
utility- Jim Thome- tremendous power. Closing in on 500 HR's
Carlos Delgado- Once one of the games best power hitters. I feel he can still produce.
Pitchers
Starters- Roy Oswalt- always finishes near the top in wins, ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched
Justin Verlander-also good #'s with wins, ERA and innings pitched. Will be great on a good team.
Brad Penny- Ace-like numbers. starting NL all star pitcher last 2 years.
Jarod Weaver- Young pitcher only getting better on playoff caliber team.
Joe Blanton- Solid numbers to closeout my rotation
Closers - Mariano Rivera- possibly the greatest ever
Jason Isringhausen- 30-40 saves every year
Manny Corpas- Big reason why Rockies made World Series run.

Knicks introduce Donnie Walsh!

The New York Knicks have announced that Donnie Walsh is going to be their new president. I am a big Knicks fan, and believe that a change of face running the franchise was very much needed. The Knicks have been an absolute disgrace over the past few years under Isiah Thomas. They have spent the most money than any other team in the league, and have been one of the worst teams. In my opinion Isiah Thomas has done an extremely poor job running this team. Donnie Walsh will take over the duty of running this team. He had a very successful reign in running things for the Indiana Pacers. He is a former New Yorker who is determined to change the franchise around. I believe his first move must be to fire Isiah Thomas. He was a great player, however he wasn't meant to coach or manage. He must also get rid of over payed veterans. Donnie Walsh has a lot of NBA experience and knows how to run a team. He seems to have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to be a contender. I am excited about the signing of Donnie Walsh because I think that was exactly what the franchise needed.

Wrestlemania

Today I would like to switch to a sport that doesn't get much attention as a major sport. On Sunday night Wrestlemania 24 was on pay per view. This is the WWE's biggest night of the year.I must admit that I used to be a huge WWE fan, however I am not a big follower of it anymore. Saying that, I watched this Wrestlemania and it was one of the most exciting wrestling events I watched in a very long time. First off I saw my favorite wrestler, The Undertaker, defeat Edge and win the championship.There was also a very good triple threat match for the championship between three of today's best wrestlers: Randy Orton, John Cena, and Triple H. Randy Orton won this very entertaining match. Another great event was boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s defeat of the monster 440 pound Big Show. It was amazing to see a 140 pound boxer defeat the Big Show by knocking him out. The greatest event of the night was the last match ever of Ric Flair. He was defeated by HBK. Flair has been fighting since 1972, and has been champion a record 16 times. The fans gave him a well deserved standing ovation afterwards. The next night on Monday Night Raw he gave his farewell address and all his colleagues came out to salute him. I have admired Ric Flair for all of my life, and he is probably he best wrestler to live.I am glad I decided to watch this event.