April 21, Week in Sports
:: NBA PLAYOFFS BEGIN (Pro. Basketball)
:: NFL RELEASES OFFICIAL SCHEDULE, PREPARES FOR DRAFT (Pro. Football)
:: DANICA PATRICK MAKES HISTORY (Auto-racing)
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SAN ANTONIO “SPURS” EXCITING FIRST ROUND OF NBA PLAYOFFS
The NBA playoffs kicked off last week, with sixteen teams taking the first step on the road to the championship. The NBA post-season is long (running until mid-June), but the competition should be consistently good from the beginning to the end. The Boston Celtics finished the regular season at the top of the Eastern Conference, and the Los Angeles Lakers won the fiercely-competitive Western Conference.
Many NBA analysts believe that the Western Conference playoff matches will yield some of the most exciting post-season games in recent history. The Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs set the tone for the playoffs with their game on Saturday, which took two overtimes to decide a winner. Ultimately, the Spurs, led by Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, took home the victory, winning the game 117-115. The Spurs, who have won four championships in the past decade, are perennial contenders, and their win over the Suns on Saturday was a statement that they still have what it takes to go all the way.
Some of the other much anticipated match-ups in the first round include the Lakers and Nuggets, and the Mavericks and the Hornets.
Quote of the Week: “We had a lot of opportunities to win. You can’t make mistakes against a team like that, especially here in this building.” — Shaquille O’Neal, Suns center
Further Reading: “Spurs steal Game 1 from the Suns in double overtime” — Associated Press, via USA Today
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
Last week, the NFL released the official schedule for the 2008 season, and the NFL draft will take place this Saturday and Sunday. As a result, the NFL is back in the headlines, since the draft is the most important event in the off-season of the country’s most popular sport.
The draft, where professional teams take turns picking players from last year’s batch of collegiate stars, can be a very complicated event, and it generally takes years to learn the full ramifications of each team’s picks. Ultimately, then, even the experts do not know exactly which teams will pick players in which order. That being said, there is a general consensus on the top five best players available in the draft: Darren McFadden (running back), Chris Long (defensive end), Jake Long (offensive tackle), Glenn Dorsey (defensive tackle), and Matt Ryan (quarterback). However, even though those players are regarded as the best, that does not mean that they will necessarily be picked first, since, for example, a team that has a solid running back would have no need to waste a pick on another running back.
The Miami Dolphins have the first overall pick in the draft (since they were the worst team in the NFL last year), and they are expected to select either Chris or Jake Long. However, unlike the NBA or NHL Draft, where the first overall pick is highly-coveted, every team in the NFL will pick up a tremendously talented player in the first round of the draft, so having the first overall pick is not necessarily a great honor. As for how it will all work out…only time will tell.
Quote of the Week: “The Dolphins should be the envy of the draftosphere right now. Instead, every executive in the NFL is glad he isn’t [Dolphins GM] Bill Parcells because in a draft in which the top six or seven guys are judged pretty even, the only thing picking first gets you is the honor of paying many millions of dollars more than the team probably getting somebody just as good two or three spots lower.” — Greg Cote, Miami Herald
Further Reading: “Mock Draft 4.0” — Pat Kirwan, NFL Analyst; This article contains some of the most recent predictions on how the draft will unfold
EAT HER DUST: PATRICK WINS JAPAN INDY 300
On Sunday, Danica Patrick became the first female driver to win an IndyCar race when she finished in first at the Japan Indy 300, held near Tokyo.
Since her appearance in the Indianapolis 500 in 2005, Patrick has quickly become the most prominent female driver in a sport dominated by men. However, up until Sunday, she had never won a race on the IndyCar circuit. As a result, she has been hounded by questions about her ability to actually capture a win for her entire career. That all changed this weekend, when she pulled out the victory in Japan.
Finishing in second place at the Japan Indy 300 was Helio Castroneves, who became one of the sport’s biggest names when he won the TV show “Dancing with the Stars” in 2007.
Quote of the Week: “Finally. I knew there was a reason I always liked coming to Japan.” — Danica Patrick
Further Reading: “Danica quiets her critics with landmark victory in Japan” — John Oreovicz, ESPN
:: HOCKEY — The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is almost over. The Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins have already clinched spots in the second round. The series between the Canadiens (the top-ranked team in the East) and the Boston Bruins (the lowest-ranked team in the East) has come down to a final seventh game, which will be played Monday night. If the Canadiens were to lose, it would be a huge upset.
:: BASKETBALL — The NBA playoffs began over the weekend, and there has already been an extraordinary amount of action. The full schedule of games is available at www.nba.com.
:: FOOTBALL – The NFL draft, a hugely important annual event in the NFL, will take place this Saturday and Sunday.
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MLB (Pro. Baseball): Baseball season is in full swing, but it is a long season, so teams tend to measure their success month by month. The All-Star break takes place the second week of July. By then, teams’ records will be a good indicator of how well they are performing this season. [Official MLB Website]
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NBA (Pro. Basketball): The first round of the playoffs continues this week. Sixteen teams qualified for the playoffs, with the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics sitting at the top of the Western and Eastern conferences, respectively. [Official NBA Website]
MEN’S GOLF: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments are the four Major Championships: The Masters, U.S. Open, The Open (The British Open), and the PGA Championship. Now that the Masters is over, the next event will be the U.S. Open, which is played in the month of June. [Official PGA Website]
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els
NHL (Pro. Hockey): The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue this week. Sixteen teams qualified for the playoffs—eight from the Western Conference and eight from the Eastern Conference. This week, the field will be narrowed to eight teams. [Official NHL Website]
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments of the year are the four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. The Australian Open took place in January. The French Open, which is held in May, is the next Grand Slam event. [USTA Website]
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Justine Henin
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL (College): Now that the tournament is over, college basketball news will focus on which players leave their schools for the NBA, and which college teams land the premier high-school players for next season. [CBS Sports]
NFL (Pro. Football): The NFL Draft takes place on Saturday and Sunday. The pre-season begins in August, and the regular season begins in September. [Official NFL Website]
NCAA FOOTBALL (College): Now that signing day has come and gone, there won’t be much news in college football until the summer, when practice sessions begin. [NCAA Football, ESPN]
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