Final Four

Well it's Final Four time, and I'm hurrying to get this in before the games tonight.  Who do I got?  I got Ohio State.  I see Kentucky beating Louisville to move on to the National Championship.  Louisville is hot, but Kentucky will overwhelm them with size and talent and defense.  Ohio State versus Kansas is going to be an awesome match-up.  It's Sullinger versus Thomas, two of the top big men in the country.  They will each do what they do, but the guard play will be key.  I like Aaron Craft a lot.  He's gotta be one of the best on-ball defenders in the country, and I think he will be the difference-maker in shutting down Kansas's guards.

Then there's the Ohio State/Kentucky match-up.  I'm not an expert analyzer (yet), but I feel good about Ohio State's chances.  Yeah, I'll admit I'm biased.  I'm an Ohio boy.  I'm picking the Buckeyes.

That's my take on this year's Final Four.

Coming soon: Kobe and the hate question.

NBA MVP Race

This year's MVP race is pretty close.  There are a few guys who deserve it, namely Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Kevin Love.  I think Tony Parker should even be in the discussion at least.  If Derrick Rose hadn't been hurt so much he would also be up there.

My nod goes to Kevin Durant.  He's putting up great numbers and his team is winning; they have the second best record in the NBA (behind my Bulls, of course).  Lebron may be putting up better all-around numbers, but Miami has been struggling of late.  My only argument for Kevin Love over Durant would be that Love might be more vital to his team's success.  Minnesota is hovering around .500 and they're only 2.5 games out of the 8th playoff spot in the West, but if Love wasn't there they wouldn't be anywhere near that.  I think that the Thunder would maybe have ten less wins without Durant, and with that they would still be 29-22.  Love's numbers are ridiculous, too.  He's averaging almost 27 points and 14 rebounds a game!  Those are definitely MVP type numbers.  Meanwhile, Durant is averaging a shade under 28 points per game with about 8 rebounds.  I can't argue against that.  While I would love to say that Love should win it, Durant definitely deserves it, and the fact that his team is doing so well makes him much more likely to win it.  If I were to vote, I would give it to Durant.

Hey, didn't he win the All-Star Game MVP as well?  I wonder how many times a player has won both the ASG MVP and the regular season MVP in the same season.  I'll look it up, and maybe I'll post my findings.

That's my take.

Let's talk NBA for a minute

So I just got done watching the Spurs and Kings play in Sacramento.  I finished playing basketball for like three hours and then came home exhausted (I don't think a strawberry surf-rider was a wise recovery/pregame drink, even with an energy boost).  No one was home (which is kinda weird at my house) so I had no competition for access to the tube.  I proceeded to sprawl out on the couch.  Anyway...

The Spurs won, but did anyone else see rookie Isaiah Thomas take Tony Parker to school?  Now, Tony Parker has had an awesome season.  He has carried the Spurs through some tough stretches this season while Manu Ginobili has been hurt.  He's averaging 20 points a game, but he was held to 10 tonight matched-up against Thomas.  Thomas, meanwhile, had 28 points and 10 assists.  Don't misunderstand me, Parker is still one of the the best point guards in the league, but Isaiah Thomas is for real.  This kid can play.  Too bad his playing time comes at Jimmer's expense.  Jimmer was playing pretty well early in the game, too, but it was Thomas's night.

Well, the Spurs won.  Every season for the past few years it seems like people have been trying to say that the Spurs are on their way out, that they're getting too old and they'll start falling off the map.  I'll believe it when I see it, because the Spurs are playing as well as anybody right now and they're second in the west behind OKC.  I wouldn't want to play them come playoff time.  Gregg Popovich is the best active coach right now.  He's got their role players playing so well.  Tonight they had 55 bench points against the Kings' 20.

On a different note, the Bulls won again without D-Rose.  They beat the a Hawks team that has been playing really well lately by 21 points in Atlanta.  How 'bout a Bulls/Spurs Finals match-up?  Anyone?  My brother, Spencer, is a Spurs fan so that would be fun.

Alright, that's my take for now.

The Beginning

Well, this is my first time starting a blog.  We'll see how it goes.  I've been thinking about starting a sports blog for a little while now, and I've finally gotten around to doing it.  Right now, this blog will pretty much be made up of my reactions to significant things that happen in the world of sports.  I'll give my slant (hence the blog name (which is subject to change)) on what's going on for anyone who might be interested to read.

Let me introduce myself a little bit.  I'm 22 years-old and am currently a student at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.  I was born in Simi-Valley, CA, lived there for less than a year of my life, and then my family moved to Bowling Green, OH where I would spend approximately the next 14 years of my life.  That was home, and it still is home to a degree.  Right before my freshman year of high school, my family moved to Cedar City, UT: the hometown of both of my parents.  So I went to high school in Cedar, at Cedar High School.  My college experience includes a semester at Southern Utah University in Cedar City before I transferred up to BYU.  I've been here since then, besides leaving for two years on religious sobatical (aka mission) in Romania and Moldova.

When I was growing up, my dad didn't really take me or my two older brothers to any professional sporting events.  I went to an Indians game in Cleveland once with a friend and a Columbus Crew game with another friend, but that was about it.  Maybe that's the reason that I chose random teams around the country to be my favorites for each sport.  I chose almost all of my favorite teams when I was young and have stuck with them.  They were all experiencing some of their best years, which is part of the reason why I chose them over other teams.  Here's my list of favorite teams in no particular order:

Chicago Bulls
New York Yankees
San Francisco 49ers
Philadelphia Flyers (although I don't really follow hockey much)
Aston Villa (English Premier League soccer, for those of you who didn't know already)
Ohio State Buckeyes (mostly for football)
Bowling Green State University (local, hometown favorite)
North Carolina Tar Heels (basketball only, because I was an MJ fan)

I think that about does it.  Now that I'm at BYU, I obviously root for them (by the way, I'm really,
really disappointed that I missed Jimmermania while I was away.  Oh well).  Maybe you'll call me a "fare weather fan."  That's fine.  Just remember that I was in elementary school when I chose all of these teams, and that I've stuck with the Bulls and the Niners through about 10-12 years of tough times.  With the Yankees...not so much (lol), but I was definitely feeling some pain when I had to stomach the events of the 2004 playoffs.  Anyway...

I hope you enjoy reading my posts.  I welcome responses and encourage your opinions on the matters I discuss.  Debating is a big part of what makes being a sports fan fun.  Make sure their valid debates, though.  None of this MJ/Kobe stuff ;) (that oughta get a few people riled up).  That's my slant for the day.  I'm out.