NFL Draft Wraps Up in New York

• The Indianapolis Colts started the NFL draft on Thursday drafting Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, as expected. They ended the draft on Saturday drafting Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish. In between these two quarterbacks, 251 other men were drafted by all 32 teams. The Colts used their second round draft pick on Luck’s college teammate and friend Coby Fleener. Fleener was Luck’s best receiving target in college, and will provide the rookie a security blanket as he begins his pro career.
• The two best drafts are probably those of the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals. The Eagles addressed their most glaring needs by drafting Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox in the first round and Cal linebacker Mychal Kendricks in the second round. They continued to help a defense that was lacking in depth by drafting 4 defensive players in their top 5. The Bengals had a boatload of picks and were able to turn them into a number of players who should be playing right away. Dre Kirkpatrick, the cornerback from Alabama, Kevin Zeitler, guard from Wisconsin, and Mohamad Sanu, wide receiver from Rutgers should all contribute right away.
• Perhaps the most eye raising story from the draft was that of Sanu. Somebody called Sanu’s agent telling him the Cincinnati Bengals had drafted Sanu with the 27th overall pick. The agent relayed the news to Sanu and they both began to celebrate. However, when it became aware that the actual pick was Zeitler people were flummoxed. It turned out that the agent had been the victim of a prank. In a turn of fate, the Bengals actually drafted Sanu in the third round. Sanu has expressed no ill will towards the pranker, I do not believe I would be so forgiving


Clips come from 27 down to beat Grizz

• The L.A. Clippers have only been to the playoffs once in the past couple of decades, and it was showing as they were down by 21 points entering the 4th quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies (their largest deficit was 27).  Yet in the 4th quarter, against all odds, they mounted a furious comeback and ended up winning the game 99-98 after Chris Paul's 2 free throws with 23 seconds remaining.  
• The comeback was tied for the largest ever in the playoffs entering the 4th quarter, and it likely would not have happened unless Paul begged his coach to put him back into the game despite the huge deficit.  Fans and players alike were stunned afterwards and Blake Griffin could only mumble, "I've never been a part of a game like that at any level."
• The Clippers lost SF Caron Butler to a broken hand in the game (although that loss is more manageable than that of the Chicago Bulls, who lost reigning MVP Derrick Rose to an ACL tear in their own Game 1).

NBA Playoffs start

• The 2012 NBA Playoffs are finally about to get underway, beginning on Saturday now that all of the teams have been set.  There are some terrific series right off the bat in the 2-7 matchups, as the defending champion Dallas Mavericks play the up and coming Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that was the best in the NBA for much of this season.  In the East, the New York Knicks play the Miami Heat, a team they have historically upset in the playoffs even when the Heat were much better.
• The Chicago Bulls have the top seed in the East and will play the Philadelphia 76ers while the San Antonio Spurs have the top seed overall and will play the Utah Jazz, a big team who may give the aging Tim Duncan and the Spurs weaker inside defense some issues.
•  Remember that since the NBA lockout shortened the season, only 66 games were played in the regular season this year instead of the typical 82. 
• One team not in the playoffs is the woeful Charlotte Bobcats who lost 23 games in a row to end the season at 7-69, the worst mark in NBA history.  Many have made a point of noticing that Bobcats part owner Michael Jordan, the key player on the mythical 70 win Bulls team that had the best record in NBA history, has now been a directly involved in both the best and worst NBA teams ever.
• For full matchups and game times, click here.  Every team will play a game either Saturday or Sunday. 


NFL Draft ongoing

• The first round of the NFL Draft was Thursday night and many players went where they were supposed to although, in many spots, they went to different teams than expected due to the 8 total trades.  Here is the current list of players taken.  Check back later as we fill in more details!

"World Peace" a misnomer?

More Insanity from Metta World Peace

• During Sunday's matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) threw down a monster dunk on two Thunder players. Right afterwards, and accounts vary on the purpose of the action, World Peace threw a pretty vicious elbow in the direction of James Harden catching him right below the left ear. Harden collapsed and displayed concussion like symptoms.
• World Peace’s history of bizarre both on and off court behavior lead to the NBA suspending him for 7 games. This will make him miss at least 6 games in this year’s playoffs as there is only one more regular season game for the Lakers.

NFL Draft on Thursday

• This Thursday is the first round of the NFL Draft. The annual process by which the NFL dispenses college players to its 32 teams. This year the first two picks are almost as widely known as in any previous year. However, after those picks, the rest of the picks are up in the air.
• The Indianapolis Colts are on record saying they will pick Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, and the Washington Redskins traded their first round pick this year and that from the next two years for the second overall pick. They are widely expecting to select Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.
• The Minnesota Vikings, own the third pick and they have three different options that they are considering. Left tackle from USC Matt Kalil, Wide Receiver from Oklahoma State Justin Blackmon and Running Back from Auburn Trent Richardson are expected, in some order, to be the next three players off the board.
• The second and third rounds of the draft are Friday night, and the fourth through seventh rounds will be Saturday.

Humber perfect, NBA/NHL playoffs

Humber Hurls Perfection

• Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Philip Humber threw the 21st perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball on Saturday night, retiring all 27 batters he faced. Humber, a former top draft pick by the New York Mets in 2004 but was not a regular starter until last season, had never even thrown a complete game before.
• The White Sox defeated the listless Seattle Mariners for Humber’s 12th career win. Humber’s career was flat after being drafted 3rd overall out of Rice College in 2004. He debuted for the Mets in 2006, and spent time with the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals before signing with the Chicago White Sox in 2011. Humber struck out 9 Mariners.
• The Mets, founded in 1962, have never even had a pitcher throw a no-hitter (a game where players get on base by only walks, errors, hit by pitches, etc but not a base hit). Humber became the 7th former Met who threw a no-hitter or perfect game for another team. The improbability of this is something not lost on the fans from Queens.
• The final hitter of the game, Brendan Ryan, struck out but the pitch was wild and got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski.  If Ryan had made it to first base, as you can do on a dropped third strike, the perfect game would have been ruined, but luckily Ryan was confused as to whether or not his check-swing had been called a strike to begin with and by the time he had figured it out, the ball was being thrown to first and Humber's spot in history had been secured.


NHL Playoffs wrapping up first round

• Half of the first round playoff matchups in the NHL have finished. The LA Kings, the 8th seed in the Western Conference, surprised the top seeded Vancouver Canucks winning the series 4-1.  It was the third time in the last four years that the best team in the regular season lost in their first playoff matchup.  The 4th seeded Nashville Predators defeated the 5th seed Detroit Red Wings. The Predators will move on to face the Kings. The 2nd seeded St Louis Blues defeated the 7th seeded San Jose Sharks 4-1.  The lone series in the West yet to be completed sees the Phoenix Coyotes leading the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2.
• In the Eastern Conference the only series that has wrapped up has the 5th seeded Philadelphia Flyers defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. After a rough and tumble third game, the Penguins won two in a row, but fell short in game 6.
• In the other Eastern series, Tyler Seguin scored a goal less than 4 minutes into overtime to force a game seven between his 2nd seeded Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals. The 3rd ranked Florida Panthers lead the New Jersey Devils 3-2 and the 8th seeded Ottawa Senators are leading the New York Rangers 3-2.


Suns, Jazz battle for last playoff spot

• The NBA season has 1-3 games left (depending on the team) and while most playoff spots have been locked up, the #8 seed in the West is still up for grabs.  The Phoenix Suns, who lost to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, trail the Utah Jazz, who came back to beat the Orlando Magic later that night.  Despite the one game lead, the playoff spot will probably come down to the two teams' matchup in Utah on Tuesday (Isn't it great when it works out that way?)
• The Suns have already locked up the tiebreaker, so if they win that game, they'd only need to win their last game (Against a San Antonio game that would presumably rest its starters) or have Utah lose to Portland. 
• Suns PG Steve Nash, who is a free agent this summer, has said he wants to play for 3 more seasons but has said he wants to see improvement to Phoenix's roster this summer before he commits to re-signing moved into 5th place on the NBA's all-time assist list, passing the legendary Oscar Robertson.

Luck to Colts, Pudge to retire

Colts officially admit they'll draft Luck

• Denial is a powerful tool and despite the fact that everyone and their mother thought that The Indianapolis Colts were going to use the #1 pick in next Thursday's NFL draft to select Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck, they denied that it was a done deal... until yesterday.  The Colts finally announced that Luck would replace Peyton Manning as the team's franchise quarterback this coming year.
• Luck has been widely expected to be the first overall pick for more than two years. He is considered the best quarterback prospect since Peyton Manning, the last guy the Colts drafted with the first overall pick.
• With the Washington Redskins trading multiple picks to get the second overall pick and expecting to pick Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, the Minnesota Vikings are for all intents and purposes “on the clock.” Sportico will have more in depth draft coverage next week.


"Pudge" Rodriguez retires

• One of the greatest, if not the greatest, catchers in MLB history has finally decided to hang up the spikes after a brilliant career that spanned more than 20 years.  Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez (pictured above) played most of his career for the Texas Rangers, including 1999, when he won the AL MVP.  Debuting in 1991, he finished his career with 2844 hits, 1354 runs (both all-time records for catchers) a .296 batting average and 311 home runs, (although his stats were watered down by some weak years toward the end of his career).
• Despite his offensive prowess though, he'll be forever remembered for his play behind the plate.  Pudge was probably the greatest weapon against base stealers ever, frightening otherwise potent base stealers to stay at home.  He won 13 Gold Gloves which obliterates Johnny Bench's previous record of 10.
• I'd like to list Pudge as the #3 Catcher of all time and although some may disagree and I haven't looked at all the stats yet, I believe he's pretty close to that second tier following the epic duo of Bench and Yogi Berra (who younger fans may only know for his appearance on Aflac commercials).
• Congrats on a great career Pudge.  Baseball will miss you for the short period of time between now and the day you'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame.