About half of you are thinking, "Wait a minute, didn't the playoffs start a month ago?" The other half of you are thinking, "Hold on, the playoffs aren't over yet?" And there's probably a few of you thinking, "These leagues still exist?" The answer to all these questions is Yes.

Why have I waited until now to talk about the playoffs? Keeping an eye on more than two months' worth of playoffs is a full-time job, and I already have one of those. So I've kept one eye on the playoffs and another on everything else in the world. But it's time to catch up on what's happened and look ahead to what's on tap in the playoffs.

NBA Playoffs

Seven teams remain in the race for the NBA title, with a Game 7 ahead, and potentially two more in the works.

What's Happened So Far?

Every team with home court advantage won in Round 1, including the LA Clippers, who-even though they are the 6th seed in the Western Conference-held home court advantage over 3rd-seeded Denver in the 1st round. Strange, I know, but that's the NBA's brilliant system for you. Only one series went seven games-Suns-Lakers. It looked like it might be a fun game, too, until Kobe Bryant picked the worst possible time to try to demonstrate that his "supporting cast" stinks. He took just three shots in the 2nd half and scored only one point-on a technical free throw. This from the guy that averaged 35 points per game this season and scored 81 back in January.

What's Next?

The Lakers' loss deprived us of a potential cataclysmic event: Clippers-Lakers. I'm not sure even Los Angeles was ready for that. Instead, the Clippers and Phoenix Suns are going to Game 7 Monday in what has been a fun series. Game 5 went to double overtime and the teams are averaging 111 (LA) and 105 (Phoenix) points per game. Meanwhile, Dallas is up 3-2 on the defending champs (San Antonio). You want fun? One game went to overtime and three others were decided by 2 points or less. The Spurs need to win tonight in Dallas to force a Game 7.

In the Eastern Conference, Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat rolled past the New Jersey Nets in five games and await an opponent for the Eastern Conference Finals. They've won 6 of their last 7 after struggling with the Chicago Bulls in the first round. (By the way, watch out for the Bulls next year. This is a young team on the rise. They've got a who's who of recent college studs-Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, and Luol Deng-and are one solid move away from being dangerous. As a matter of fact, what the heck, I'll predict they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals next year.)

And then there's the throwback series. The Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers are partying like it's 1999, as the scores of the last three games have been 86-77, 74-72, and 86-84. The only thing that makes this series entertaining is watching LeBron James finally live up to the hype of being the next Michael Jordan. Against a tough Pistons defense he's averaging 25 points a game, and-in classic Jordan style-is getting his teammates involved at the right time. The Cavs lead the series 3-2, with Game 6 in Cleveland tonight.

Predictions

The last time a 6 seed made it to the NBA Finals was 1995, when the Houston Rockets knocked off the Phoenix Suns in 7 games and then beat San Antonio. Synchronicity isn't just a classic Police album. The Clippers will knock off the Suns Monday night, and San Antonio will rally to take their series with Dallas in 7. Then the Clippers will knock off the Spurs and make it to the NBA Finals. And just as the Rockets did in 1995, they'll face Shaquille O'Neal. Then it was the Orlando Magic. This time it's the Miami Heat. Cleveland will knock off Detroit, but fall to Miami (next year could be LeBron's year to go all the way). With Kobe Bryant-who basically had Shaq forcibly removed from LA so that he could be the man-watching from home, Shaq will lead the Heat to the title in 6 games. As he collects the Finals MVP, Shaq will look into the camera, smile and say, "Thanks, Kobe."

NHL Playoffs

The NHL is already down to its final four: Carolina, Buffalo, Anaheim, and Edmonton. If you didn't know that two of those teams existed, you're not alone.

What's Happened So Far?

For the first time in NHL history (and quite possibly in sports history), all four lower-seeded teams in the Western Conference won in the first round. The top-seeded and heavily favored Detroit Red Wings went home, along with the 2-4 seeds. Strangely enough, in the Eastern Conference, the 1 through 4 seeds moved on. The second round featured two more upsets, as Buffalo and Edmonton knocked out higher-seeded teams.

Meanwhile, in the San Jose-Edmonton series, the San Jose fans decided to boo the Canadian national anthem. Now, I understand that folks are still upset that some Canadian fans booed the Star Spangled Banner a while back, but two things confused me by this. First, I don't care if Canada invades Montana, why would anyone ever boo O Canada? It's a beautiful song. Second, you mean to tell me that folks in San Jose are both so tuned in and so riled up that they made a concerted effort to do this? It's San Jose, California for crying out loud! It's so cold in Canada for 10 months of the year that they probably boo sunsets. How they can boo anything in California is beyond me.

What's Next?

The conference finals begin tonight. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks vs. the Edmonton Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes vs. the Buffalo Sabres. Want some storylines? Anaheim's rookie goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, notched the 2nd-longest shutout streak in playoff history earlier in the playoffs. Edmonton is the first 8 seed to ever reach a conference finals.

And-as if in answer to the NHL's (and fans') hopes and prayers-scoring is up. Six games in the last round featured teams scoring 5 or more goals (including Buffalo's thrilling 7-6 overtime win over Ottawa in Game 1 of their series). Hockey is fun again. Take away Bryzgalov's shutout streak and there have only been 5 other shutouts (out of 61 games) in the playoffs so far.

The only real problem with the NHL playoffs is finding the games on TV. NBC has a game here and there, but the rest are on OLN, which I believe stands for One Lonely Network. On my system, it's wedged between Lifetime and Animal Planet. One wrong move with the remote and I'm watching a bad Valerie Bertinelli made-for-TV movie or Miami Animal Police.

Predictions

First, something very important you need to know. Since the NHL changed the playoff format in 1994 to the current 1 through 8 seeding system, a 6 (or worse) seed has made the Stanley Cup Finals four times. They've lost all four. Which means that there's no way that either Anaheim or Edmonton wins the Stanley Cup this year. So Carolina and Buffalo better prepare the victory parade route now.

I'm going to go with a Jo Dee Messina tune for my Stanley Cup Finals prediction: Heads Carolina, Tails California. It'll be Carolina and Anaheim, with the Hurricanes winning in 5 games. After 27 years in the NHL, the former "Forever .500s," the Hartford Whalers (the team moved to Carolina in 1997), will finally win the Stanley Cup.

www.sportsinacan.com