ROZAY

It's impossible to win in the NBA without a big man. Miami only screwed themselves, and I love it. James would have been better off in Cleveland.

With the same squad that got exposed by Boston and Orlando during their last two trips to the playoffs? They had no room to make any improvements. I'm not saying that it was just the rest of that team that didn't get it done because that's bullshit, but I think Lebron's best shot at winning and still being "the guy" at the same time to me would have been going to Chicago.

That said, I still see the Heat being able to turn things around this season if they can get it together and get healthy by the time the playoff push begins. They ain't getting past a healthy Boston team, though.

Being born in Detroit, living in New York most of my life and now residing in Philadelphia, you'd think I'd be use to any type of teasing that may come my way.

Some things just cut deep though. Especially my beloved Knicks, because anything that anyone says about them I know deep down is true.

Gallinari got styled on! At least my boys got the win though. It sort of made up from all of the teasing (me being the only Knicks fan in the room) while watching the game with friends.

It's a pretty decent album. I don't like "Hell Of A Life" at all or "All Of The Lights" very much and he definitely could have replaced "So Appalled" with another G.O.O.D Friday track, but for the most part it's a very complete album. Certainly not his best, but it's a much better effort than 808's & Heartbreak. "Runaway" also goes on way longer then it should, but that's really my only complaint about it. I still like Late Registration, College Dropout and possibly Graduation more, but the production on this one is phenomenal and might just exceed all of his previous albums in terms of that.

Favorite tracks: "Blame Game" (love that song), "Devil In A New Dress" and "Power".

Well, that sucked. Pretty entertaining show for my first time watching, though.

Thanks man, appreciate it. I'll probably flip between the baseball game and the pre-show to get an idea about things.

I'm trying to get into UFC more, so if anyone could help me with a few questions I would greatly appreciate it.

Anyone know what time this starts, and about when the Lesnar fight will be on? Also, are there any undercard bouts worth checking out, or does the whole card look to be pretty good?

4 Quarters' musical theme for Monday will be "songs from the LeBron/Cleveland breakup." Thinking about "Don't Want You Back" by Eamon, but need a few songs from the dumper's perspective. Any suggestions?

"I Use To Get It In Ohio" by Cam'ron? "Miami" by Will Smith?

Unless, of course, you don't want any of that rap shit.

Anyway, I'm not buying into this whole "no loyalty" and "betrayal" thing. At the end of the day, it's really not that serious. It's just sports, as well as business. If anyone feels betrayed by a guy they had no personal ties to besides the fact that they happened to be from the same state, then something is wrong with that.

And the Heat aren't winning the championship this year. We all know Phil Jackson wins his championships in threes.

And the Big Three in South Beach begins.

EDIT: Nothing to see here.

Lakers in 1... Joey Crawford is officiating and we all know he has Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and Jerry West stuck up his ass pulling his strings.

I think a little bit of credit has to go to the Lakers for coming out in game one and showing the toughness that they lacked in the 2008 Finals. They didn't back down, they didn't shy away from getting physical, and against a team like the Celtics you can't afford to let them beat you up, especially in games like this. Yeah, there were a few calls that were questionable, but I wouldn't say that determined how the game went. The Celtics actually went to the line more then the Lakers last night, but at the end of the day the C's defense (especially in the 3rd quarter) just wasn't up to par as it usually is. That, and Gasol dominated the Celtics front line. Everyone's saying that his play will be the difference in this series, and I think he's already got off to a great start. Definitely much better then any of his efforts in 08.

I'll take the Lakers in 6 if they take the first two home games, as I'm fairly sure that they will take one of the three games in Boston. If they split the first two, then Lakers in 7. I think it's basically going to come down to the Lakers simply having the home court advantage, as I don't see the Celtics being able to come back LA for game six or seven and win both of them, even if they happen to be up 3-2. Kobe is on a mission, and while the Celtics will definitely put up a fight, I think the Lakers have the toughness this year that plagued them in the 2008 Finals.

Some thoughts on the games yesterday:

Lebron and Wade, as mentioned, had spectacular playoff performances yesterday. Too bad in Wade's case it was to survive rather then take a commanding lead or even tying the series up. I'm kind of bummed that I won't get to see them go at it in the second round, although seeing Lebron and Pierce go at it again is a fine substitute. I have to say that while I'm not surprised about the Celtics being on their way towards advancing to the next round, I am surprised in the manner that they have done it. I would have thought it would be a six-seven game series at least, but here's hope towards Miami getting some decent help for D-Wade so he can compete next year.

Shame about Denver. They're just not all there right now with George Karl being out. This was looking like a team that was definitely a favorite to be in the WCF, and dare I say the NBA finals and now are more then likely heading for a first round exit. I'm pretty sure they'll take game five, but I can't see them winning game six in Utah after losing the home court. Denver really fell apart at the end of the season, and I'm not even sure that being a second or third seed would have made much of a difference for them at this point. Got to give props to Utah, they're just dominating Denver at every turn.

Same with the Mavericks, although I believe they have a lot more fight in them then Denver does at this point. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them win game five and take the home court back in a close game six. I do have to say that like the Celtics, I may have underestimated the Spurs. Actually, probably more so then the Celtics, as I expected the Spurs to be on the brink of elimination right now. I guess the boys in SA aren't quite as done as a lot of people think they are.

Looking forward to Portland/Phoenix tonight, that should be a hell of a game that could go either way. Magic might let one go tonight, but I'm pretty sure that if they do lose, they'll finish them off when they get back to Orlando. Atlanta will probably take game four tonight as well.

I have to say that I'm really surprised that we're going to see at least six games in the Lakers/Thunder series. I would have thought that despite all of their problems, the Lake Show would easily dispatch of Durant and company. Not that I really wanted them to - I really like Durant, I like Westbrook enough, and I love the energy that this team brings to the floor. Their fans are great and they really give the game that electric atmosphere that you can only get during the NBA playoffs.

I'd love to see this go to seven, but I'm with naiwf. Whoever takes game five is getting the series. Hopefully it will still be the Lakers, because even though I like the Thunder and will probably be rooting for them, I'm still looking forward to a Denver/LA series in the second round as well as Lakers/Cavs in the finals.

Portland/Phoenix is also shaping up to be a good series, and not as one sided as I thought it would be. I still gotta say that the Suns take this, despite Roy coming back. I had high hopes for the Celtics/Heat series, but Pierce really put the nail in the coffin the other night. Everything else seems to be going like many on here predicted it would though. So far, anyway.

It figures that the one series I predicted a sweep in is the only one that the underdog/road team stole the opener in this entire weekend.

The Blazers were lucky to even get the win after practically giving the Suns every opportunity to tie the game and force overtime. Didn't expect a Blazers win in game 1 on the road without Roy though.

Anyway, for some late first round predictions:

East

Cavs def. Bulls in 5 - Bulls will pull one out, most likely game 3, but I don't see them rising to the occasion like they did with the Celtics last year.

Magic def. Bobcats in 6 - I like the Bobcats, and I can see them winning a couple games here, but the Magic will easily close them out when they need to.

Hawks def. Bucks in 6 - What a turn around the Bucks have had this season. Hawks, like others have mentioned, are just too deep for them.

Celtics def. Heat in 7 - I'll probably regret going with the Celts, but I see their experience just barely edging out the Heat in this one. Miami should get over the first round hump next year though when D-Wade gets the help he needs.

West

Lakers over Thunder in 5 - Durant's gonna shine in this series, but I just don't see OKC beating a focused Lakers team in more then one game.

Mavs over Spurs in 5 - Spurs are too old, Mavs are too deep, nothing new to see here.

Suns over Blazers in 6 - Blazers stole game 1, and will probably get another one at home, but I don't see them being too much of a problem for the Suns.

Nuggets over Jazz in 5 - Nuggets sure fucked themselves over by slipping to what's looking to be a second round match-up with the Lakers. However, with key injuries to the Jazz players and Melo seeming determined to get them as far as they can go, I don't see this being much of a series as I was expecting it to be.

I got $20 on the Colts winning with one of my mans. Not really the biggest football fan as far as following it all season long goes, but the Saints eliminated the Vikings (who I was pulling for to see Favre vs Manning) so I'm basically rooting for the Colts by default. That, and I can't stand Reggie Bush

I'm sure it will be a classic, close game that will be decided in the fourth quarter, and probably the best match-up for the biggest game of the year that one could hope for.

Edit: Queen Latifah definitely butchered America the Beautiful.

1. "This hits everyone so super hard but especially me"

2. Singing to the coffin if I recall that bit correctly.

3. That moment where he broke up like before the very last line of the song and maybe that was sincere but it felt so incredibly "this is hitting me so hard you guys "

I'm sorry, I am admittedly a cynical bastard but that entire performance felt like a complete act of pageantry. Great singer but I wasn't feeling it in the slightest.

Understandable. I felt it was pretty genuine though but to each their own. Anyway, for the most part I enjoyed the service. I was surprised at a few people not appearing or speaking, but so be it.

Man, not for nothing, but I had a hard time not tearing up. That was just heartbreaking hearing his daughter speak

That was really devastating, yeah. Marlon Jackson's speech was very heartfelt as well. For all the weirdness and some of the more self-indulgent bits (hi Usher), there were some really touching moments in there.

What was really so self-indulgent about Usher's performance? I thought it was one of the more touching performances.

Wow. There's really nothing I can say about this news. It's just so shocking and sad. Michael Jackson was absolutely my favorite singer ever, bar none. Such a sad loss. He will truly be missed.

R.I.P Michael Jackson.

1. Jackie Robinson

2. Jerry Rice

3. Babe Ruth

4. Jesse Owens

5. Wilt Chamberlain

Alright then, thanks.

Anyway, it was a great game. Not as great as last years, but a great game nonetheless and has actually made me more of a football fan. Outside watching the Eagles since I live in Philadelphia now and these Philly guys are crazy about them, the Giants and the Lions ( ) being my two hometown teams, all I really watch is the playoffs and superbowl and they surely didn't disappoint.

Edit: Thanks naiwf for clearing that up as well. I remember that happening in the Cardinals/Eagles game, and I knew that something similar happened earlier in the season in a Broncos game and the play was blown dead and ruled an incomplete pass, so that's where my confusion came from. I believe it was against the Chargers, right?

I'm still not sure on what exactly should have been ruled, but I guess that doesn't really matter now anyway. What's done is done.

Fumbles and incomplete passes are reviewable as long as the ref hadn't blown his whistle to blow the play dead. Inside 2 minutes of each half the review comes from the official....other then that you can use one of your challenges.

How did ESPN just leave Norwood off of the Top 10 Super Bowl moments list?

Ah, alright. Thanks for clearing that up, but that leads me to two other questions. Can the ref blow a play dead inside the 2 minutes of each half and thus no booth review, and if so, did the ref blow the play dead after it happened? Or are booth reviews automatic no matter what within the 2 minutes of each half?

I'm not all the way familiar with all the rules as far as reviews from the booth go (I'm not a really big football fan barring just watching the Eagles), so please forgive me for the following question if it seems rather stupid, but it's an honest question that I'd like to know the answer to.

Are fumbles or incomplete passes of that nature even reviewable from the booth? I know in some of the games I have seen this year, similar things have happened and I believe that the announcers or referees stated that such things like that aren't reviewable plays from the booth once it's been ruled a fumble or incomplete pass. If I am wrong then I apologize, but if someone could answer that for me it would help me understand more as I was pretty confused why the Steelers got the ball back when it looked like Warner went forward with his throwing motion, which as far as I know is an incomplete pass.

I'd dare say that this is Kanye's best album to date as far as the musical content goes.

Is the Big Boi album due for release this year? I've really been getting back into Outkast recently and whilst Andre is my favourite out of the two, I'm looking forward to hearing Big Boi's solo stuff. Speaking of which, 3000 needs to drop a solo album like now. His cameos on other songs in the past two years have been some of the best things going in hip hop recently.

Andre has confirmed in a recent interview that his solo album is coming out either late this year or early next year.