A response to LeBron, Cavs close out Nets in Game 6: Wow Lebron, you finally have closed out the series. The Nets weren't even that good in the series. Kidd, Jefferson, and Carter were all sucking up the place in the last 3 games, scoring only 30 some in the 4th in those 3 games and actually won one. Lebron, you got lucky that you didn't face a talented team like the Pistons. This series was about as entertaining as a movie with Ben Affleck and Jennifier Lopez. Speaking of the Pistons, let me preview the Eastern conference finals.

Position by position breakdown starting with the most important position, the PG.

Chauncey Billups (Det) vs. Eric Snow (Cle)- Let's see, would you have a PG that can put up clutch shots when needed or a PG that is only playing because their future PG isn't ready yet. Advantage-Det

Richard Hamilton (Det) vs. Larry Hughes (Cle)- This is probably the closest matchup in this series. Hughes used to be Areanas' swingman in Wsh, and now is LeBron James' swingman. Richard is like the Energizer Bunny, he keeps going and going. I don't know if Hughes can stay with Hamilton. Advantage-Det

Tayshaun Prince (Det) vs. LeBron James (Cle)- While most people would think this would easy for LeBron to get through, Tayshaun is a very good defender and can gets some good buckets on LeBron. LeBron will be too much for Tayshaun though. Advantage-Cle

Rasheed Wallace (Det) vs. Drew Gooden (Cle)- Sheed is having a decent playoffs, getting 14 and 8 boards, while Gooden has 12 and 10. These guys are too close to decide. Advantage-Push

Chris Webber (Det) vs. Zydrunas Illgauskas (Cle)- Webber hasn't done much in the playoffs while Illgauskas has done more then expected. Since Webber hasn't even played a lot I'll give the edge to Illgauskas. Advantage-Cle

Even though both have 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages, the more experienced team will come out on top.

Prediction- Det in 6.

I sit here watching sportscenter earlier today and they had their little section on NASCAR and I turned the TV off. Why did I turn  the TV off, because Nascar is the ####est (insulting term, not actually ####) "sport" as they like to call themselves. Nascar is very boring, going round and round and round would make me rather watch paint dry. Sure you have your faces and they try to trash talk, but in the end it sounds like 2 guys from the south arguing who's mobile home is better. And then at the end they always have to climb up the fences like they're frickin spiderman. 

Nascar needs no athletic ability, you could have an OL go in there and win the race because that is how simple Nascar is. You can try to explain the game to me all you want, but in the end I'll still think that Nascar is pretty #### and that it is only entertaining to people in the south.a 

While as you know the Dallas Mavericks, after going 67-15, were eliminated by the #8 seed Golden State Warriors. During that series, the Warriors were dominating the Mav's in every aspect of the game. One person that wasn't dominating was future-MVP Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk sucked in virtually every game and the Warriors killed the Mav's because of it. Now back to the MVP part, why did Dirk win the MVP. He blew it in the playoffs and Nash was way better by far. Just compare them-

Nowitzki- 25 PPG 9 RPG 3 APG 36 MIN
Nash- 19 PPG 12 APG 3 RPG 35 MIN

Almost equal in stats and also remember that Nash did lead his team into the 2nd round unlike Dirk. Both guys had great supporting casts but it was Nash that came up big when his team needed him. Take Game 1 of the 2nd round vs. the Spurs, he gets his nose cut but still comes in and finishes the game. Sure, the Suns lost, but at least Nash showed the leadership to try to lead his team. Now Dirk on the otherhand, well when the Mav's needed him to make a big shot he blew it. So bottom line is- Dirk blows, Nash is better.

We as sports fans know that when the Super Bowl is played we don't have much to look forward to after it except for 1 thing: The draft. All you football juggernuts out there should know 2 things: 1) Your teams needs and 2) Where you draft. Some of these are exceptions, for example, a random Bucs or Browns fans. Since there is a coin flip, you don't know if you pick 3. or 4.; but you should still know what your team needs.

I know where my team drafts-2nd, and what they need- linemen, some linebackers. So I really know who they should take- take a look at my mock draft to find out.

No.    Team          Player                School        Report     
 1.    Oakland   Brady Quinn     Notre Dame  While most teams would be drooling over Jamarcus at this spot, I'm not. If the Raiders want someone to build around, go with Brady, he may not be able to win the big one, but at least he knows what he's doing.
 2.     Detroit       Joe Thomas    Wisconsin   The Lions (like I said above) need help in one of the most important places in the game-the line. When you allow 63 sacks in a year, you need a lineman, but knowing Matt Millen, he'll take Calvin Johnson in this spot.
 *3.    Cleveland   Adrian Peterson Oklahoma  Cleveland was terrible on offense-notably the running game- and a guy who probably would've won the heisman had he stay another year is the perfect choice.
 *4.   Tampa Bay Calvin Johnson Georgia Tech  The Buccaneers don't have a go-to reciever (their leading reciever last year was Joey Gallaway, then the backup running back Michael Pittman) and Johnson was amazing with a terrible QB.
 5.    Arizona   Alan Branch    Michigan       It's a toss up here between Branch and Gaines Adams, but with Bertrand Berry not playing fully last year and Arizona's two DT's (Kendrick Clancy and Darnell Dockett) had a combined 3 sacks, while Chike Okeafor (Cards DE) had 9 alone.
 6.   Washington Gaines Adams Clemson    The Skins had a terrible run-defense, and while I have Branch taken just before they pick, they have to take the next best DL in this class, which is Mr. Adams.
 7.   Minnesota   Darrelle Revis  Pittsburgh    Although this may be a bit of a stretch, it wouldn't be a mistake. Minnesota was terrible on the Pass defense and a talented CB would be perfect to replace Cedric Griffin even if he was a rookie last year.
 8.   Houston    Jamarcus Russel  LSU     Is regarded as the next Daunte Culpepper, but I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I've heard trade rumors recently that David Carr could be moving and they'll need a QB anyways.
 9.   Miami       Dwayne Jarret         USC      Miami's "go-to" reciever was supposed to be Chris Chambers, but had an off year. If he continues to do this, at least you have a young, skillful reciever in Jarret.
 10. Atlanta        Laron Landry         LSU     Atlanta was terrible on the offense in the passing game, but there are no good QB's to take and they have Matt Schuab. They were terrible on the pass on defense also, and Landry is the best bet.
 11. San Francisco Jamal Anderson Arkansas   SF was 26th last year on the pass, Anderson had 13 sacks last year... need I say more?
 12. Buffalo     Levi Brown      Penn State   Buffalo was terrible at both the run and pass on the offense last year, Brown is very moveable... he played both left and right tackle at Penn State in which he was an All-American.. twice.
 13. St. Louis  Patrick Willis   Ole Miss   Perfect fit for the Rams. They were 31st in the run last year, and Willis made 135 tackles. Also, he'll be close to Mississippi (they play in Missouri.)
 14.  Carolina   Reggie Nelson  Florida   Both Carolina's safetys (Mike Minter and Shaun Williams) aren't getting any younger, and they need some new blood on this team.
 15.  Pittsburgh  Leon Hall    Michigan    Hall was burned in his last two games vs. 2 other probable 1st round picks (Jarret and Ted Ginn Jr.), and although his stock has dropped... Pitt needs a DB and he is the best left on the board.
 16.  Green Bay   Marshawn ####  California   Even though Ahman Green had over 1,000 yards last year, they weren't great on the rushing offense 23rd. Green was also injury prone, so you take #### in this spot.
 17.   Jacksonville  Tedd Ginn Jr.    Ohio State  Ginn got injured after he scored the kickoff return for a TD in the National Championship Game and injuries always hurt draft stock. But, Jacksonville needs a reciever badly and Ted would be the perfect fit.
 18.   Cincinnatti   Amobi Okoye       Louiville    Okoye is a very smart player, both on and off the field (was 16 when he went to college!) he was a monster last year but the Bengals may need him more for his character and less for his playing, even though he would be a good pick.
 19.  Tenessee   Paul Posluszny    Penn State  Tenessee needs a guy who can stop the run, and Paul was tremendous last year at stopping the run. May not be the sexy pick, but it's the smart pick.
 20.  New York (Giants)  Daymeion Hughes California New York was terrible at the pass last year, and Hughes had 8 picks, talk about a perfect matchup!
 21.   Denver      LaMarr Woodley   Michigan   Denver wasn't the worst last year on defense, but they weren't the greatest either. They need a reciever, but there are no good ones now so go with Woodley.  
 22. Dallas        Justin Blaylock    Texas    Dallas does need a lot protection up in the line even though they were 5th in the pass last year... and he is the best take right now.
 23. Kansas City   Dwayne Bowe    LSU    KC was terrible at the pass last year, mainly because they didn't have a guy that could catch the ball. Their best reciever was a TE, and that's sad.
 24. New England (from Seattle) Lawrence Timmons Florida State   While NE didn't have many flaws, they may need new blood at LB. Bruschi and Vrable are productive, but are over 30 years old.
 25.  New York (Jets)   Rufus Alexander    Oklahoma  The Jets need a LB so it's either Alexander or Brandon Siler. I flipped a coin, it's Alexander.
 26.  Philadelphia    Brandon Siler     Florida   Siler could challenge OLB Omar Gaither for his starting role. Needs a guy to stop the run.
 27. New Orleans  Michael Griffin    Texas    New Orleans was burned badly on big pass plays, and Griffin was able to tackle last year (111 tackles) and that's what the Saints need.
 28.  New England     Buster Davis   Florida State  Davis was thought to be the best player on the FSU squad that had 4 1st round draft picks, and that's saying something. NE might not want to take 2 LB's with 2 first round picks, Davis would be a good choice.
 29. Baltimore       Sidney Rice     South Carolina   Who was Baltimore's top reciever last year? That's right, they need a WR and Rice is a good reciever.
 30. San Diego    Johnny Lee Higgins Jr.  UTEP   SD would have been drooling to get Rice right here, but unless they trade up they won't get him. Higgins Jr. is probably the best WR for a while, a major hole in SD.
 31. Chicago   Arron Sears    Tennessee   The Bears were the NFC Champions this year, so they don't have much needs, but they may want to bite on Sears right now.
 32. Indianapolis  H.B. Blades   Pittsburgh  Son of former football player, is a terrific athelete at Pitt and was their standout LB. Indy needs a LB to help them stop the run game wich we all know was the worst last year.

Vol 2.5 next week.

I just got done watching the end of the Duke-Florida State game on FSN, which Duke lost. They had about 4.5 to try and score and bricked 2 of them. Florida earned their first win EVER at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke was up 17, let me repeat that, 17 points and somehow lost. I'll give my kudos to Florida State, But what has happened to Duke's reign that we are used to seeing, ya know, blowing out teams like FSU by 20, now losing to them? We need someone to get on this case, and that's me.

Duke is now 18-5, 5-4 in the conference. Usually, they don't even have five losses at the end of the year. The team may be young, but a Coach K Duke team usually doesn't blow a lead like they did today. Let's look at their 6 losses-

• Marquette, 73-62, neutral court. This was in early November, so this young team hadn't played a lot of games together, and they were playing a team that was ranked in the Top 15 at least at the time. This was apart of a tournament, but it doesn't ring a bell right now. Anyways, the guards, James and McNeil, combined for 42 of Marquette's 73 points. You have to stop that.
• Virginia Tech, 69-67,@Cameron Indoor Stadium. This was their first game of the conference, which went into overtime, and lost. At the end of the half, VT was winning by 5. It's not very big lead but when you have that kind lead against Duke, it's huge. They did come back in the second half, but, again they were unable to stop the guards. This time, Dowdell and Gordon combined for 37 of VT's 69 points. You have to stop that.
• Georgia Tech, 74-63, @Alexander Memorial Coliseum. This was the first time since like 1995 that Duke lost their first 2 conference games. They didn't play really well this game, not showing any signs of defense. And here's a mind-boggling stat thrown at you, they were .200% (4-20) Three Point percent. It was close once, but they couldn't stop the guards. This time it was, Morrow, Crittenton, and Young who combined for 41 of their 74 points. You need to stop that.
• Virginia, 68-66, @John Paul Jones Arena. They were on a long winning streak, but were beat on a game-winner in overtime. This time, they had a reasonable 7 point lead, but again Virginia came crawlin back to force OT. Again very poor 3PT% going .218 (5-18). They basically gave them the game when they went to OT. Once more, they couldn't stop the guards. This time it was, Reynolds, Diane, and Singletary who combined for 56 of their 68 points. You really need to stop that.
• Florida State, 68-67, @Cameron Indoor Stadium. This was the second time this season that Duke lost back-to-back conference games. They had a huge lead at the game, if you were paying attention at the top you would know how big of a lead they had, and lost it. They didn't controll the lead and Florida State earned their first ever win at CIS. This time the guards weren't as big as a factor, with F Al Horton being the big scorer.

So if you look into these losses, you'll see that the guard game for the other team was the X-factor of why Duke lost (excluding the FSU game). I know they are young, but do you think Duke's reign is finally done, or is it just a little stumble? You decide.

I started this last year, and before my hiatus it was my thing. And here's how this week went down.

Sunday

The Phoenix Suns Win their 17th game in a row over the Cavaliers, SA beats LAL in OT.

Monday

The Suns' 17 game winning streak is snapped by the Minnesota T'wolves.

Tuesday

The Detroit Red Wings come back from a 3-0 deficit in the 3rd period to beat the Islanders 4-3.

Wednesday

The Wisconsin Badgers 17 game winning streak is snapped by the Indiana Hoosiers.

Thursday

Virginia beats Duke with a game winning basket from Sean Singletary

Friday

The LA Clippers defeat Boston, to give the Celtics the Franchises' longest losing streak ever.

Saturday

North Carolina loses to rival NC State, 83-79.

Join in next week for "A week it was"

Super Bowl XLI (that's 41 for you dim-wits) is going to be a, close game. My 2 reasons for that thought is:

1. Adam Vinatieri is playing in the game, every Super Bowl he's been in was decided by 3 points.
2. The Steelers aren't in it, so the refs won't hand the game to a guy who they know that's going to retire after the game.

Now this is how the game will go down half-by-half.

1st half- Peyton Manning will throw for a 73 yard TD to Dallas Clark on the 3rd play of the game. But they'll try for 2 to get an edge but Brian Urlacher pulls a Bobby Bouche move and kicks Joseph Addai who'll fall down for a loss. The Bears first drive doesn't go as well, with Rex Grossman fumbling the ball and Rob Morris falls on it for Colts ball. Then the Colts drive all the way to the 2, but have to settle for a Adam Vinatieri FG. During commercial break, we see a very dull commercial dealing with international kids playing futbol. Then Jerome Bettis asks them what they are doing, with one of the kids telling him in German that they are playing futbol. The Bus tells them they are wrong, goes to Nike to get them pads and teaches them real football and then they go to McDonalds to celebrate. Uh, back to the game, while the Bears are in the huddle, a fan comes out streaking. But he has bad rolls, which the FCC mistakens for boobs, so they blur them out. The Bears kick a 46-yd FG to go in the half down 9-3.
Halftime- While the teams talk it over in the lockerroom, Prince tries to dazzle the people, but they decide that he's not very good so they throw garbage at him. Eventually, they show us Beyonce, but they staple her dress up so we won't get the incident like we had at Super Bowl XXXVII (if I did the numerals right.)
2nd Half- On the kickoff, Devin Hester takes it all the way and helps the Bears take a 10-9 lead. Throughout the whole 3rd Quarter we don't see much more action, except for a missed FG by Gould. Fast-Forward to the 4th with roughly 2:00 to go. The Bears have the ball at the 20, hang on to the ball they have the win. So they hand it off to Thomas Jones, oh, he pulls a Jerome Bettis and fumbles it, but, you guessed it, Rex Grossman pulls a Ben Rothlesberger and tackles Bob Sanders at the 40. They get a first down, Manning to Wayne, then rundown the clock to :10 left and Vinatieri get's it blocked by Tank Johnson. And the Bears win Super Bowl XLI 10-9, with Devin Hester being the MVP, with 173 yards 1 TD on 3 returns.

What's your thoughts?