Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Sports Roundup

Kyle and the Mrs. were selfish enough to schedule having their baby right when (a) nothing much was going on in the sports world, and (b) I didn't have a lot of time to write about it anyway. So, sorry for the radio silence around these parts. Let's see what's happening. I'll run through this Shanoff-style.

NBA Playoffs: Underway. The Bulls are getting whipped, which must mean the Heat truly stink. Suns-Spurs looks like the de facto championship. I wonder if Tyler Hansbrough had flashbacks when Steve Nash's nose was busted the other night.

NHL Playoffs: Also underway, apparently.

NASCAR: Big announcement coming tomorrow from Dale Earnhardt Jr. He may be leaving his dad's old team, Dale Earnhardt Inc.

College basketball: Moving the 3-point line back a foot, to 20'9". Use that tidbit of trivia for extra credit on Jim Harrick Jr.'s Principles of Basketball exam. In recruiting news, uber-recruit Patrick Patterson will announce his school next week. It's down to Kentucky, Florida, and Duke, with Florida being the supposed front-runner. He'll probably go to the same school as almost-as-uber recruit Jai Lucas, and Florida seems the best fit for the pair.

Major League Baseball: Curt Schilling backs off from flat-out saying Barry Bonds did steroids. I wonder if Schilling made his comments just to get Roger Clemens off the front page. My team, the mighty Devil Rays, say they're not going to replace the crappiest stadium in baseball any time soon. Also, Rickey being Rickey.

Pro Football: Mini-camp time. Is Chris Leak really bad enough to go undrafted? Leak makes me think of former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker. All he ever did was win: 45 wins overall, 28-1-1 as a starter. I think Leak will have a solid career as a backup somewhere, and look how well that worked out for Matt Schaub!

College football: Some charges dropped in the Penn State apartment fight case. Still waiting to see what Paterno decides to do with this one. (Link via EDSBS.) Speaking of EDSBS, be sure to check out their radio show, EDSBS Live -- very funny, and enough of a college football fix to get you through the off-season.

NCAA: The NCAA releases its report cards for Division I teams. The BCS conference teams came out pretty well, although this article says Maryland basketball might be cutting it close next year. Someone with more creativity than me should do a Breakfast Club parody of the teams getting NCAA detention. I think Cincinnati as John Bender is pretty obvious. Myles Brand could do his best Mr. Vernon: "Mess with the bull, you get the Brand!"

Politics: Sports figures on the guest list for the President's fancy dinner for Queen Elizabeth: Peyton Manning, Tim Hasselbeck, Gene Washington, Arnold Palmer, Jim Nantz, T. Boone Pickens (huge Oklahoma State donor), Calvin Borel (Kentucky Derby-winning jockey, functional illiterate).

High school pole vaulting: Allison Stokke. Trust me. It that makes you feel guilty, read this.

So, what did I miss?

Also, we need to clean up, update, and expand the Wishbons blogroll. I have a few I have been meaning to add, but let me know if we're missing any must-read awesome sports blogs. Thanks!