Grizzlies Get Iavaroni

Well, the Memphis Grizzlies have signed former Phoenix Suns Assistant Marc Iavaroni as their next head coach. Damn! I was really hoping the Sonics would land him, but I guess not. The question I have is this: who the hell are the Supes trying to get? Why haven't I even heard rumors about who the team wants to fill either the head coach or GM position? Has Lenny Wilkins fallen asleep at the wheel?

Rashard Lewis opts out, heads for Free Agency

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2883178
This was bound to happen anyways, and it doesn't mean he leaves the Sonics. I'd prefer Chauncey Billups, but of course as soon as I mentioned it, he blew ass the last two games. Also, it seems like it'd be hard to get him to leave Detroit. Anyways, we'll have to determine if Durant and Lewis can play together, or if Portland for some reason drafts Durant, then resigning Lewis would be a good idea.

Sonics get number 2 pick!

Sonics get the number two pick, Blazers get the number one pick. I can't explain how ecstatic I am, the NW is now a basketball hot bed, with two future hall of famers going there. I'm kind of mad we didn't get the first pick, but I think both players are championship caliber players. The Sonics are now saved, and are probably going to stay in Seattle. Oden would really have helped us out on defense, but either way, we get a good enough player that Rashard Lewis might resign, and we immediately become contenders.

Stop Pitching Weaver

This is going to be a short entry, as it's really only a quick vent of frustration, but for fuck's sake, STOP PITCHING WEAVER! He's terrible! He's a guaranteed loss every time he's on the mound. I understand we paid an obscene amount of money for him, but at some point, we have got to cut our losses and just drop him. In six starts, he has compiled a stunning 14.32 era, and in not one of those starts has he managed to have more innings pitched than runs earned. NOT ONE! Drop him and drop him NOW!

Clemens signs with Yanks

This isn't on ESPN or anything, but during the M's Yanks game today, it said so during the 7th inning. Personally, I don't care, I think Clemens is overrated, and by playoff time, his fat tired old body is so useless that he won't help his team much anyways. He's never been much of a playoff factor anyways. Good move for the Yanks though, because with a strong AL Central, they're not guaranteed a playoff spot.
Update: So Roger is going to be paid $4.5 million per month for what would've been $28 million over a full year. I bet they got this number just so he's the highest paid player, which is dumb because he's not the best player, and he'll cost the Yanks $7 million or more in luxury tax. I also hate this because I hate Roger's mercenary attitude and the whole give me attention thing, I'm sick of it. Retire already you fat lard.

Mariners back over .500

Despite losing 6 games in a row last week, and being swept in two series, and despite Jeff Weaver being the worst pitcher alive, the M's are now above .500 with a record of 11-10.
It's pretty clear that anyone from AAA, whether is Jorge Campillo, Jake Woods, Ryan Feierabend, or even Brandon Morrow or Sean Green, we'd do better than having Weaver start. He has no stuff, his attitude sucks, and he sucks the life out of the team by giving up so many runs so early. He's also killing the bullpen by not making it out of the 3rd inning ever.
Bad news though, we don't play a sub .500 team (except for the Yanks) until the 22nd, so this stretch of games could very well determine our season and the fate of Ichiro perhaps.
Unexpected surprises so far? Vidro is leading the team in BA with a .315, Jose Lopez has the highest OPS with .780 (Johjima's .933 doesn't have enough at-bats to qualify), Beltre leads the team with 2 stolen bases, Raul Ibanez has the least hrs for a regular on the team with 1, Jamie Burks has a line of .375/.474/.625, and our starting pitching is actually starting to look decent.
For Youngsters, Brandon Morrow has had some great relief appearances, just blowing by his 99 mph fastball to get guys to strike out when he needs to. Matt Tuiasosopo, whom everyone stupidly called a bust last year, is tearing up AA with lines of .371/.478/.506. He's starting to hit doubles too, so I can only expect the HRs to come. Wlad Balentien is equally impressive with .371/.436/.640 with 6 HRs. Wlad is still just 22, and Tui is just turning 21, so needless to say both these guys could be studs, and if not great trade bait.

NBA Playoffs

Well, so far, there have been THREE Sweeps in the East, and the West has been equally interesting (read Houston vs Utah, and Dallas vs Golden State).

Eastern Conference:

Detroit vs. Orlando:
Did anyone think Orlando was going to win one? They have Dwight Howard, who isn't quite there yet. Jameer Nelson should never be a second player on a good team, and an aging Grant Hill.

Cleveland vs. Washington:
NO ONE should Praise Lebron for sweeping the Wizards. Besides Antawn Jamison, they have NOTHING. NOTHING!

Chicago vs. Miami:
WOW. THis series could not have turned out better. Miami got swept and they deserved it. You can't just walk through the regular season and hope to turn on a switch. Also, Hinrich played great defense on Wade despite Wade getting special treatment for the refs. OVerall this was a 2 person team with 2 guys who aren't even that good (Wade's shoulder and inability to shoot, and Shaq's oldness) against an up and coming complete team. Deng was awesome, Gordon provides some timely scoring (thought I think he shoots to much) and Wallace even played very well.

New Jersey vs. Toronto:
Lots of people picked New Jersey, despite Toronto playing well in the second half. Still Toronto is too young, and Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson should be too much, and it looks like they might be.

Western Conference:

Dallas vs. Golden State:
Well, the Warriors have wont 8 of the last 9 and this is a good story of Don Nelson vs. the team he built, 8 seed vs 1. Sure its a great underdog story, but if I were the league, I'd MAKE Dallas win because they seem to have decent character guys, where Golden State has Baron Davis, who isn't too high on my list, and Stephen Jackson, who isn't high on anyone's list. Still, Dirk is getting a lot of criticism, as he should for his "if we don't win this game (game 5), we probably won't win the series) comment." HOWEVER, Avery Johnson should not blame Dirk, since he is being THOROUGHLY outcoached. Looking back on this, Avery Johnson should NOT have EVER been considered for Coach of the Year, and Dirk should NOT be MVP.
More on this matchup is the talent levels of each team. Golden State is not that much worse. How good is Dallas anyways? There second best player is Josh Howard, and he's not even that good. So it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they lost. Not now, not before the series.

San Antonio vs. Denver:
Denver sucks. Carmelo is fat. Iverson is a loser. Spurs are winners despite me not liking them. That's all I have to say.

Phoenix vs. L.A. Lakers:
The Lakers cannot win this if Kobe has to do it all, it has to be a team effort because while Kobe can outscore bad teams, he can't outscore good teams, and he CERTAINLY cannot outscore Phoenix. That said, Kobe's team isn't good enough. Bynum is too young (not that I think he'll be good later), Kwame will never play up to his talent, and Odom can only do too much.

Houston vs. Utah:
Good matchup of a good well-rounded team (Utah) against Houston, essentially a 2 man team with some good parts (Battier, and ... some other dudes). I hope Houston wins, but it could go either way.