Five For Friday

1) Dez Bryant - He's the wide receiver out of Oklahoma State who has tremendous "upside" (comparisons to Randy Moss in ability) but has off the field issues. Along with Tebow, lot's of discussion where he may go in the draft. He has top 5 talent, but won't go there... With Denver trading Brandon Marshall this week, people are speculating he'll now land with the Broncos with the number 11 pick. However this isn't why I'm mentioning him here. In reading about him, I discovered that his mother conceived him when she was 12..... GOOD GOD. I just found that amazing.

2) Speed of Game - Umpire Joe West made the comment last weekend after the Yankee's / Red Sox series how the speed of the game was a disgrace to baseball. Most of those games go 3 and a half to 4 hours due to so many players stepping out between pitches and catcher mound visits. My viewpoint? I agree completely with him. I understand a batter stepping out and regrouping after a pitch he swung at, but when guys step out and rearrange their gloves, shirt, batting gloves after every single pitch, it's gets ridiculous. Step in the box and hit. I'd also like to see a rule be put in place limiting the catcher to 1 mound visit per inning (same as the coach is allowed). No need to be making 3 or 4 visits per inning.

3) NBA Predictions - With the playoffs getting started this weekend, here are my 1st round predictions:

In the East,

1) Cleveland over the Bulls

2) Magic over the Bobcats

3) Celtics over the Heat

4) Atlanta over the Bucks

In the West,

1) Lakers over the Thunder

2) Suns over Portland (wish Roy was healthy)

3) Spurs over Dallas (upset)

4) Denver over Utah (great series, could go either way, I'll go with home team)

I went with the home team in 7 of the 8 series with San Antonio the only upset.

Heard a rumor that the NHL playoffs started last night but couldn't' get confirmation on that as nobody cares.... So fuck it!

4) The Spider - This is for you MMA fans out there. What's the deal with Anderson Silva? In his fight last weekend against Demian Maia (UFC 112) he put in another lackluster effort. Have you ever seen anyone look so bored in the ring? Granted, he got the win, but this is a continued pattern where he looks like he just has no interest being there. He's fought like this in probably 5 of his last 6 fights (Forrest Griffin being the lone exception) where it looks like he knows he can win at any point so he just goes thru the motions until he finally decides to end it. I'd rather watch him go in there and destroy the guy in 30 seconds instead of the boring 3 rounds he moves around toying with guys. Now he wins, which at the end of the day is the important thing, (take note BJ), but still, either step up in weight (or down and take on GSP) and challenge yourself, or if you're that bored, retire. I like Silva a lot, but I'm tired of this.

5) Angels - We're only 2 weeks into the season so I'll wait a little longer to worry, but something needs to change soon. They've off to a 3-7 start, however I'll give them a pass due to the competition they've faced. Minnesota beat them 3 out 4 and they're my pick to win the central so they're no pushover (and off to a 7-3 start) and they just finished a 3 game series in NY with the Yankee's getting their WS rings, so I can understand getting beat 2 out 3. The other series they had which was against Oakland does bother me though. The A's beat them 2 out 3 in Anaheim, and that's not good. Wood is struggling at the plate which was to be expected but some other guys need to step up with timely hits. The schedule doesn't lighten up for a while as the Angels now travel to Toronto to face the East leading Blue Jays for 3 games, before coming home for a 10 game home stand against the Tigers, Yankee's and Cleveland. I'd like to see them win 2 out 3 in Toronto, then 6 of 10 at home. They do that, they'll be fine. They don't, then it's time to shake some stuff up.

Hope everyone has a great weekend,

Bill