NHL Round 2

4-4 in the 1st round.

East

Boston over Philly in 7
Pittsburgh over Montreal in 6

West

Detroit over San Jose in 6
Chicago over Vancouver in 6

Baseball Preview

I know this is way late but I wanted to get it in. I will make it more detailed over the next week or so. As for my picks nothing in the first two weeks impacts my preview, which I actually sketched out in late march. And as the Jays painfully showed after a 24-12 start last year, your start really does not mean much in the end.

AL East

1. Tampa Bay Rays 97-65
2. Boston Red Sox 95-67
3. New York Yankees 94-66
4. Baltimore Orioles 74-88
5. Toronto Blue Jays 67-95

AL Central

1. Minnesota Twins 89-73
2. Detroit Tigers 81-81
3. Chicago White Sox 76-86
4. Cleveland Indians 72-90
5. Kansas City Royals 62-100

AL West

1. Seattle Mariners 92-70
2. Los Angeles Angels 86-75
3. Texas Rangers 83-79
4. Oakland A's 78-84

NL East

1. Philadelphia Phillies 102-60
2. Florida Marlins 84-78
3. Atlanta Braves 83-79
4. New York Mets 75-87
5. Washington Nationals 62-100

NL Central

1. St. Louis Cardinals 85-77
2. Cincinnati Reds 83-79
3. Chicago Cubs 78-84
4. Milwaukee Brewers 75-87
5. Houston Astros 68-92
6. Pittsburgh Pirates 59-103

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers 91-71
2. Colorado Rockies 89-73
3. San Francisco Giants 88-74
4. Arizona Diamondbacks 76-86
5. San Diego Padres 61-101

AL Division Series
Tampa over Minnesota
Boston over Seattle

NL Division Series
Philly over Colorado
LA over St. Louis

ALCS
Boston over Tampa

NLCS
Philly over LA

World Series
Philly over Boston

AL MVP - Joe Mauer
NL MVP - ALbert Pujols

AL Cy Young - Felix Hernandez
NL Cy Young - Roy Halladay unanimously

NBA Playoffs

This will be quick too. At least for the first round.

East

1. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 8. Chicago Bulls

The Bulls should consider themselves lucky to be in the playoffs after Chris Bosh had his face broken. And they should enjoy it while they can because it ain't gonna last long. They have now chance to defend LeBron, Shaq, Jamison etc and no inside game at all. This will be a sweep and I think every game will be decided by the end of the 3rd quarter.

Cavs in 4

2. Orlando Magic vs. 7. Charlotte Bobcats

As much as I would love to see Larry Brown outcoaching Stan Van Gundy be the difference in this series it won't be. Dwight Howard will be because he is the best player on the court. Charlotte will make them work though.

Magic in 6

3. Atlanta Hawks vs. 6. Milwaukee Bucks

This would have been a hell of a lot more interesting if Andrew Bogut had not got hurt. Atlanta is a very good young team that defends well and attacks the basket. Without Bogut the young Bucks can't defend them.

Hawks in 5

4. Boston Celtics vs. 5. Miami Heat

This will be interesting. The Celtics are really just a .500 team over the last 4 months and look done. It's actually astonishing how bad they have been and how lethargic they have looked. This is their last real chance and even at that I think they are going to get destroyed by the Cavs in the 2nd round - if they make it that far. Dwayne Wade is the 3rd best player in the league and is fully capable of carrying the Heat to winning this series. I think their is enough Celtics pride left though to stop him when it counts.

Celtics in 7

West

1. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 8. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Lakers just don't look right right now but I foolishly believe they will correct things in the playoffs. They don't need to fix everything to beat the young Thunder though. As great as this team is going to be, the lakers are too much for them this year.

Lakers in 5

2. Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are scary as hell on paper but not in reality. A lot of their vets have not played that well down the stretch and Richard Jefferson never fit in for some reason. The Mavs are also a lot tougher than previous years with the addition of Caron Butler. We'll see how much tougher later.

Mavs in 6

3. Phoenix Suns vs. 7. Portland Trail Blazers

This series would have been great if Brandon Roy was healthy for the Balzers. Without him Portland just does not have the end of game threat they need to bounce the Suns. And hats off to Steve Nash for having a hell of a year. He even coaxed Amare Stodamire into playing a little bit of defence.

Suns in 5

4. Utah Jazz vs. 5. Denver Nuggets

Both these teams looked like they were capable of pulling together a great playoff and getting to the Finals about 10 weeks ago. Then George Karl went into cancer treatment and the Nuggets lost a lot of energy having to watch their coach go through that and the Jazz lost Andrei Kirilenko and now neither team will get by round 2. Too bad. It would have been great to see one of them go against the lakers at full speed.

Jazz in 7.

I like the Lakers over the Mavs in the Western Final and the Cavs over the Magic (who will rue the day they signed Vince Carter) in the East. I still think the Lakers will knock off the Cavs in the Finals but don't hold me to it.

NHL Playoffs

Quickly....

East

Washington over Montreal in 5
New Jersey over Philly in 6
Buffalo over Boston in 7
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5

West

San Jose over Colorado in 6
Chicago over Nashville in 6
LA over Vancouver in 7
Detroit over Phoenix in 6

I picked Pittsburgh over Detroit for the Cup to start the year but I will change it the Penguins over Chicago going into the playoffs.

The Masters

This will be a very curious Masters. For obvious reasons. It will be interesting to see whether the commentators criticize Tiger or stick strictly to golf. I assume they will touch on his personal life only to the degree that they could be expected to, which is not too much and that is fine with me. This is after all a golf tournament not Entertainment Tonight.

As for the tournament itself I think the final pair on Sunday will be Phil and Paddy with Harrington winning it. I think Tiger can maybe sneak into the top 10 with a good Sunday and other guys sliding back but that's it.

Side note - That knew Nike commercial with Earl Woods talking to Tiger and asking him what he has learned is an absolute joke.

Baseball Preview to Come...

I will have a detailed MLB Preview at some point next week. In the meantime I will make two predictions. First, Phillies over Red Sox in the World Series. Second, Roy Halladay wins the NL Cy Young unanimously. He goes from winning 16-18 a year for an at best average Jays team in the AL East with the Yanks, Red Six and Rays to a stacked Phils team in a division with the Mets, Braves, nationals and Marlins and no DH. He will win 25 games this year.