Monday Morning Mehta 6/27/05

Edition # 124
June 27, 2005

Next MMM: July 25th, 2005

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Phillies/MLB

After a 1-5 homestand which followed a 2-4 roadtrip, the Phillies have completely taken any positive momentum created by their 12-1 homestand and flushed it down the toilet. They've dropped into 4th place in the division and the wheels are spinning off.

- If Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell don't hit, this team isn't driving in any runs. They both struggled mightily in the homestand minus big games yesterday. Thome, Mike Lieberthal, David Bell, just can't get the job done. Chase Utley has been decent but hasn't had many people to drive in.

- If you saw the game yesterday, the usually hustling Pat Burrell watched his fly ball hit the wall instead of busting it out of the plate. A single instead of a double may have cost the Phils a run. I have to give Burrell props for diving for an out late in Saturday's blowout loss though.

- The Phils cannot beat teams in their own division. A 13-20 record is pathetic. Mets and Braves this week.

- Brett Myers has come down to Earth in a big way. He's been shelled in his last two starts.

- Jon Lieber's ERA is closing in on 5.00. Kevin Millwood disease.

- Ugy Urbina has been very shaky, but he should've been brought in the 8th to start the inning last night. The manager's looking like an idiot again.

MLB

Overall, I think it's becoming more and more obvious that parity is pretty much taken over baseball. Teams play well for a few weeks and fly up the charts. They then play badly for a few and fall drastically. It's a continual cycle, just look at the NL East, NL West, AL East, AL West. Somebody gets hot every other week in those divisions it seems like.

The two most consistent teams have been the White Sox and the Cards. The Orioles pitching is killing them, and I don't expect them to be a factor.

The Twins are surprisingly struggling. They Yankees are only 4 games out of a wild card spot believe it or not.

Two teams quietly playing good consistent baseball are the Tigers and Indians.

Not so quietly are the LA Angels of Anaheim. They've opened up a big lead in the AL West which should be theirs the rest of the way.

Member when the Dodgers started off so hot? They're now 35-40, looking for hitting anywhere they can find it.

The most unwatchable team in baseball may be the SF Giants. The trade deadline will be a week after MMM's return, it will be interesting to see if Jason Schmidt is traded. Schmidt hasn't been himself for the most part but is finally getting some of his velocity back. If he's really healthy, someone could be getting a proven ace who is capable of winning 12 games in the 2nd half of the season.

As badly as they've played, I think the Astros can get right back into the wild card race in the next few weeks. Lance Berkman is hitting like he's healthy and ready to have a monster 2nd half. Expect the Astros to be big buyers at the trade deadline if they can sneak to .500 (7 games back right now).

British Open pick

St. Andrews is Tiger Woods favorite course in the world, it's tailor made for his game, and he should win and will be the heavy favorite. I picked Tiger to win the Masters so I won't repeat that. My pick of Phil Mickleson at the US Open was a disaster. He wasn't in contention after Friday's 77.

My pick at the Old Course will be Ernie Els, with a longshot pick going to Luke Donald. Els hasn't played well since March, but I think playing in Europe will rejuvenate him. Donald has played well all year, but winning a major will be tough. The "feel good" story could be Padraig Harrington, whose father is badly ill.

NHL Week in Review By: Ed Wasser

- The NBA just made the NHL look like complete fools by completing their CBA in a matter of weeks and not canceling a single game. The NBA had some serious issues to address but they were able to hammer out a deal, the NHL on the other hand can't get anything right. Now the NHL has Mario Lemuiex in the media saying that the players were stupid for not taking the deal in February and Jeremy Roenick saying that any fan that says the players are spoiled can kiss his a$$. That's the way to win the fans back!!

- The movie 'Rounders' has been airing on the Starz cable network this month. If you haven't seen 'Rounders' then you are living a woefully incomplete life. If you have seen 'Rounders' then you know that the movie is brilliant, yet flawed. Here are the top 4 problems with 'Rounders' that have kept it from a 'Caddyshack' -like level of perfection.

4.) Worm's tattoo - Worm, played by Ed Norton, gets out of jail and is picked up by his old buddy Mike McDermott, played by Matt Damon. As they are driving Worm shows Mike his tattoo of an ace of spades on his forearm so "I've always got a ace up my sleeve". The problem is the tattoo, even by jailhouse standards, looks like it was drawn on by my 4 year old niece. No lie, I got cooler, more realistic looking ink for .25 cents in an Acme vending machine.

3.) Mike McDermott lets a horny Famke Janssen walk out his door - For those that don't know I actually worked on the movie 'Rounders'. In the not so distant past I did occasional acting work and when the movie 'Rounders' shot in Atlantic City, believe it or not, I was Matt Damon's stand in for 2 days. While I was working on the movie I was just standing around waiting for...I can't remember, it doesn't matter...and out of the corner of my eye I saw a vision, and I stared at that vision like I was Moses staring at the burning bush. The vision was Famke Janssen walking to the set. She is so stunningly beautiful in person that I wanted to kneel down in front of her and kiss her hand. So fast forward to the actually movie. Mike's girlfriend has moved out and he is left all alone in the apartment when Petra (Janssen) shows up. She tells him that Worm is essentially screwing him out of money and ruining his good name at his local poker lair, The Chesterfield. After Mike gives Petra $1000 to help stop his financial bleeding at The Chesterfield she comes over and starts to hook up with him. It's obvious that she wants a little horizontal hold 'em if you know what I mean. What does he do? He lets her leave. I'm sorry, that would be impossible. Any normal guy would have taken her up on her offer even if she had come by to tell you that your life savings was swindled by a teenage computer hacker...that can wait.
Best line of the movie. "In the poker game of life, women are the rake".

2.) Mike's apartment - Now granted this movie was filmed in 1997 and the rents in New York were a cheaper back then but I somehow doubt that a college kid, even with his girlfriend's help, who is no longer making money through poker playing can afford an apartment with rent that I'll estimate to be around $8000 a month. Ironically Mike's Manhattan apartment is bigger then the entire Caesar's Palace high roller poker room. Seems a tad hard to believe.

1.) John Malkovich's Russian accent - First of all I think John Malkovich is the most overrated actor to ever clutch a SAG card and his performance in 'Rounders' was another example why. His accent was so over the top and big it sounded like he was trying to clear his throat. In the final scene when Mike finally beats Teddy KGB Malkovich's ludicrous accent takes away from what could be one of the coolest scenes in any movie. "Pay dat man hees mahknee" (he said like he had a mouth full of flem). Awful, just awful.

Comments:
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ewasser@hotmail.com

Monday Morning Mehta 6/20/05

Edition # 123
June 20, 2005

NOTE: DERRECK SURA'S COLUMN HAS BEEN UPDATED!

Phils/MLB

Since our last writing, the Phillies have gone 8-5, but as usual it's been a Jeckyll and Hyde team. Last week's road trip was a very unimpressive 2-4 against the bottom of the AL West. The Phils played sloppy baseball most of the week and showed many of the same issues they've had the last few years.

Quick Hits:

Pat Burrell who was red hot on the homestand, went 1 for 19 with one run scored and 8 strikeouts in Seattle and Oakland. With Thome still struggling (1 RBI on the road trip), Burrell is vital to the Phillies success. Inconsistency like this will kill the Phils.

Jimmy Rollins had an excellent road trip, including a $40 million contract to boot. I would've liked to seen the Phillies wait a little bit on Rollins, possibly going to arbitration next year, but with the Phillies payroll increasing again next year (Wolf, Thome, Lieber, Burrell all increase significantly), Ed Wade wanted to lock Rollins in at a relatively cheap $4 million next year (probably would get around $5-$6 mill in arbitration). His contract balloons to $7-8 mill in future years.

Randy Wolf's injury comes at an awful time. Wolf will likely miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury. Robinson Tejeda has been amazingly good, but more than likely Ed Wade will need to make a trade sometime in the next 7 weeks. Please don't revive Paul Abbott!

Great trade by Ed Wade to get Ugy Urbina. Urbina looked shaky in his first start but has been great since. They should just let him pitch the 8th no matter lefty, righty, whatever. I've really had enough of Rheal Cormier.

Has anyone noticed Placido Polanco is tearing it up for the Tigers? He had a walk off homer yesterday.

Jon Lieber's had one marginally good start in his last 8 outings. Kevin Millwood disease is setting in.
The Phils take on the struggling Mets this week. They might miss Pedro Martinez if the Mets decide to hold him until the Yankees series over the weekend.

MLB

The Yankees are hot again after going 6-0 this past week. I think I'm just going to look up at the standings on August 15th and figure out what the Yankees are this year, I can't figure that pitching out.

How about them Cleveland Indians? A 9 game winning streak and really starting to realize a lot of the hype people had been giving them in the preseason. They've been beating up on the lowly NL West, but the streak is still impressive.

The Colorado Rockies may be the worst road team in the history of baseball. A 5-28 road record is just ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous, the Reds are 6-24 on the road and a decent 21-18 at home. They have so many problems in Cincy I don't even know where to start. One positive is the play of Ken Griffey Jr., who seems to have finally gotten back on track.

Parity is the word this year in the majors. I don't buy into the White Sox hype yet even though they have the best record in the majors. The Orioles have the Red Sox and Yankees knocking on their doorsteps, I'd be worried if I was an O's fan.

The scuffle between the Nationals manager Frank Robinson and the Angels manager Mike Scoscia was one of the best non-fist fight controversies I've seen in a long time. Brendan Donnelly (P, Ana) gets caught with pine tar on his glove, and Scoscia counters by getting Nationals pitcher Gary Majewski's glove looked at because the laces were too long. They brought scissors out onto the field to cut them. Added to this was Jose Guillen, who was cut by the Angels last year after going nuts in the locker room. Guillen would go onto to hit an emotional 2 run homer to tie the game in the 8th. You just can't make this stuff up. The only thing that would've made this game better is if they plunked Guillen in the 9th when he came up again. This game alone was worth the money I spent on the baseball package.

US Open

Michael Campbell (WHO?) with an incredible final round of golf wins the US Open with some excellent play and a final round 1 under 69 to hold off Tiger Woods. Campbell who had a nice run at the British Open in the late 90's, has pretty much been a non factor on the US Tour in years. The US Open sometimes yields a strange winner (Steve Jones) and this year was no different. Don't expect Campbell to compete for too many more majors.

As for Tiger, his putting was simply un-Tigeresque this week. He bogeyed 16 and 17 in the final round which essentially dropped him from contention. Tiger isn't the Tiger he was in 2001, but he's getting close. I expect him to win the British. As for my pick, Phil Mickleson, just a pathetic showing.

The difficulty of the # 2 course at Pinehurst was in question all week. Was it unfair? I thought so until Sunday. In the final round of the majors, I want the players who are leading to be able to hit birdies in the final 9 holes, and make play interesting. Woods and Campbell had plenty of birdie opportunities.

Retief Goosen's 81 will go down as one of the biggest choke jobs in a long, long time.

NHL Week in Review By: Ed Wasser

- Word on the street is that the NHL management and players agreed on a salary cap structure. The cap will be based on team by team revenues. If that's true it's a nice step in the negotiations but there's still a loooooooooooooooong way to go. Everything from free agency to rookie contracts to the players' merchandising percentages has to still be hammered out. Al Morganti actually had a good point on WIP (A good point on WIP? I don't believe it!!). He said that he just hopes that this all gets settled before it's too late to promote the season. Also he hopes that the rule changes (namely a shoot out to settle ties) which don't require player approval get settled before the CBA so no time is needlessly wasted.

- On '100 Greatest Kid Stars' on VH-1 Corey Haim actually uttered the line, regarding he and Corey Feldman's fame and success in the 80's, "we felt like the Beatles!!" Let me ask you, do you think Paul McCartney ever uttered the line "The Beatles were so big we felt like we were Corey Feldman and Corey Haim!!"

- Former NHL player John Welsbrod quit his job as the Orlando Magic general manager because he wanted a job in the NHL. He wrote his reasoning in an article in last week's 'The Hockey News'. It can all be summed in these sentences..."I knew the NBA would be different but ultimately I thought, though the culture and mentality of NBAers differs from NHLers, human nature is human nature and people respond to the same things. I've been asked "What's the difference between an NBAer and an NHLer?" I've never known any basketball players to use their signing bonus to buy heads of cattle. I played with a lot of hockey players who did just that. Hockey players, more than any athlete, know how lucky they are to play a game for a living. Basketball is more of an individualistic, ego driven game. There's a sense of entitlement among some of the guys". Damn straight.

- From the wire...(AP) Philadelphia : The Philadelphia Eagles announced the signing of free agent kicker Jimmy Kibble. Kibble's main duties in training camp will be holding the ball while David Akers practices kickoffs, fetching wayward Akers' field goal attempts, and yanking the net up and down while Akers practices extra points. Said Eagle coach Andy Reid, "last year we lost ball boy Wally Glick for a week when Akers accidentally kicked his finger. That's not a chance we want to take again". In an effort to save time, immediately after signing his contract Kibble was given the locker closest to the door and a release form already filled out and dated Aug. 29, 2005.

- I know, I know...everybody's waiting for me to comment on the big story from last week, Brad and Krystal getting eliminated from 'Beauty and the Geek'. Don't you know that it had to happen? Krysal was cursed from the start as was Brad by proxy. Krystal was a blithering moron like the other girls, and not really that hot like all the other girls but she still never had a prayer. You see, in the first episode she announced her occupation, "I'm a dancer for the Philadelphia 76ers!!" That's it, thanks for playing, the security guard at the gate will validate your parking. Nobody, under any circumstances, associated with Philadelphia sports can win anything. Period.

- Nice week for Bada Boom Racing stables. First was Clemente running last Tuesday in a 7.5 furlong turf race, running from the second post position with Rodrigo Madrigal Jr. in command. When the race started a horse named Storm at Sunset bolted way in the lead. Storm at Sunset was ridden by Victor Molina. It was such a stupid move on his part. 7.5 furlongs is a long way, don't have your horse at full blast right away, he's going to run out of gas. And that's exactly what happened. As the turn for home came Storm at Sunset tired out but, and more importantly, Clemente, who was lying in wait in about the third position, turned on the jets and "PASSES STORM AT SUNSET LIKE HE'S STANDING STILL!!!" to steal a line from Belmont Stakes announcer Tom Durkin. Clemente won by a length. He paid $32. It was a huge win because it was an allowance race with a lot of quality horses in the field. Needless to say he'll be on the turf again soon. Last Saturday was the debut of Velocious for Bada Boom. He was running in a 5.5 furlong claiming race with David Mello as the pilot. The race began and David had Velocious in good position, running in about the third position with room to make a move against the rail. Unfortunately, since this was a low level race, there were a lot of immature horses and one jockey, named Carlos Lopez, who had no idea what he was doing. Lopez's horse, which I believe was named after a MMM subscriber...I just don't know which one, was called Little Chubby Guy and he was all over the place. Inside outside inside outside, Lopez rode Little Chubby Guy like there were orange cones on the track and he had to run in between them. David did everything he could but he finished fourth. The more I get to know David Mello I'm finding out that he's pretty feisty. He was a high school state wrestling champ in Rhode Island in 2001 and has been fined and suspended for fighting in the jockey locker room. I'll bet anybody anything you want to bet that Mello had Lopez up against a locker after that race. Velocious should be going again in about 3 weeks. He's having some knee issues so he needs some time off. Also, he's crazy. He bites, he rears up, and he's generally psycho in the paddock so we may have to have him gelded. That's why I always behave in the paddock, I wanna keep my cajones.

NBA - Derreck Sura

Detroit v San Antonio - Spurs leads 3-2. Robert "Big Shot" Horry has done it again. His game 5 winning 3 pointer with five seconds left in overtime has SA planted firmly in the driver's seat as the series shifts back to the Alamo for game 6, and potentially game 7. Counting the Pistons out is never a good idea, since they play their best when their backs are against the wall, but winning two straight games away from Motown is going to be a very difficult, if not impossible, task, even for the defending champions. After watching the last three games, and reading about the first two, I can't help but think Detroit's effectiveness is determined by the way the referees call the game. If the zebras call it tight, then the Pistons' defense suddenly isn't as suffocating. However, when the officials let them play, Detroit takes advantage and is able to put the clamps on like no other. There's no more tomorrow for the Pistons now, so taking the night off is no longer an option for them. If Detroit is able to bring the intensity necessary at this stage for two straight games, they still have a shot, albeit a long one, to defend their title.

Prediction update - Even though I didn't make an "official" pick, Spurs in 6 was the way I would've went if I had written a preview of this series. I'm not sure SA can end this one in 6, but I like their chances to win one out of two at home. The main reason for that is the Spurs' role players always seem to perform better and play with more confidence in SA.

- On Tuesday the Los Angeles Lakers re-hired Phil Jackson as their head coach. As a Laker fan, I'm very happy with this move. Probably not as happy as Phil though, who ended up getting his 10 million per year after all. I'm sure Kobe Bryant and Phil will still have their share of run ins over the course of their reunion, but I think ultimately it will all work itself out. The main reason being, there's no more Shaquille O'Neal for Kobe to have to share the spotlight with. LA is now unquestionably Kobe's team, and everyone knows it, including Phil. There will be no more internal struggles about who's team it is, and that's where most of the Shaq-Kobe trouble started. Phil and Kobe both have tremendously big egos, and both want to win like no other, so in order for that to happen, they must work together and be on the same page. This may take a while, depending on how bull-headed they are with each other, but in the end their desire to win should be enough to overcome any personal issues they have. As I see it, Phil has two tasks in his first year as Laker coach. Number one is getting Lamar Odom to perform to the level he's capable of playing along side Kobe Bryant. That's the main reason I'm excited about Phil's return, because if Phil can't find a way to maximize Odom's immense potential, no one can. Number two is getting LA to play a much better brand of team defense. Even before the Lakers started mailing it in last year, their team defense was awful. A perfect stat to explain this is when LA held their opponents to under 100 points, they were 27-6 last season. As opposed to 7-42 when they allowed over 100 points in a game. Regardless how many personnel changes are made (a pass first PG with quickness and an athletic big man that can defend, rebound, and block shots would be my top priority), if Phil can do those two things, the Lakers should be back in contention for a playoff spot next year.

- On Friday the Minnesota Timbewolves hired long time Seattle assistant Dwane Casey as their head coach. Casey had been on the Sonics' bench for the past 11 seasons and was promoted to "associate head coach" in 2000. Casey is a defensive oriented coach who is known for his intensity and preparation. I like this move for the Wolves, especially when the rumored other two finalists were P.J. Carlesimo and Paul Silas. Yuck. As I've said before, I always prefer giving a long time assistant, or an up and coming assistant, a chance before hiring one of the same old retreads.

- Since the Finals will be over, one way or the other, by Thursday, this will be my final column of the year. The news has been positive as of late regarding a new collective bargaining agreement, and I truly hope both sides are able to work things out before the 7/1 deadline. A lockout would be disastrous for the league, and if it gets to that point, I expect the owners to take a new, and extremely hard line, approach with the union, which will ruin the off season, and eventually lead to games being lost in the '05-06 campaign. With the NBA on the verge of exploding internationally, there has to be a way to split up the reportedly 3 billion dollars the league pulls in annually that both sides can live with. I guess you could say that I'm "cautiously optimistic" right now that an accord can be reached, but in the world of professional sports, nothing is a given, nor does anything surprise me anymore.

Monday Morning Mehta 6/6/05

Edition # 122
June 6, 2005

Note: Next MMM will be June 20th.

MLB/Phils

The Phillies accomplish something they haven't done in the previous 121 editions of MMM. They had a perfect 6-0 week. By doing so they have put themselves in the thick of the divisional and wild card race.

Even so, this Phils team continues to remain an anomaly. A 30-27 record isn't exactly grounds to throw a parade, so we'll break down the Phillies using the "Is the glass half full or half empty" question.

Half full:

- The hitting has finally come around. The Phillies rank second in BA and have hit exceptionally well with runners in scoring position the last 3 weeks.

- Randy Wolf is back. 5-0 in his last 6 starts.

- Bobby Abreu is having another great year. Abreu, Derreck Lee and Albert Pujols are the frontrunners for NL MVP at this point.

- Pat Burrell is quietly putting together a monster season. His 43K's to 30 walks ratio is the best of his career.

- Jimmy Rollins has been hot the last 2-3 weeks.

- Mike Lieberthal is 7 for his last 16 with 8 RBI's. He had 9 before that.

- The platoon of Kenny Lofton/Jason Michaels and Chase Utley/Placido Polanco is working out very well. Sure you'd like to see both Polanco and Bell in the lineup more but this is the glass half full portion.

- Ryan Madson has allowed one earned run in his last 15 innings.

Half empty

- The bullpen is depleted. After Madson everyone else has been very shaky. 2 setup men just isn't going to get it done.

- No starter has gone 8 innings since May 22nd. This is going to catch up to them soon.

- Jimmy Rollins "hot streak" has gotten him to a .315 OB%, still pathetic for a leadoff hitter, and not conducive to scoring runs in the long run.

- Jim Thome just doesn't look right.

- Billy Wagner just doesn't look right.

- Where is the Jon Lieber of April? He's already gotten the Kevin Millwood syndrome?

- The Phillies are still in 4th place. No matter how you slice that, it's still not in the playoffs.

- Florida and Atlanta have played their worst stretch of baseball. Odds are they aren't going to continue to play this poorly.

Well, there you have it. Where do I fall into this whole mess? Well, I'll stand by my preseason prediction of 88 games and missing the playoffs.

Around the League

I have to start with the Cubs here again who've despite all of their injuries have put together a Philliesesque streak of 9/10. They've vaulted themselves right back into contention. Getting rid of Latroy Hawkins may be the greatest move this team has ever made.

Speaking of which, Latroy Hawkins is awful. At one point against the Phillies on Wednesday night he threw 11 straight balls.

I guess it's time to take the Washington Nationals seriously? Besides trips to visit the LA Angels and Texas, they have Oakland, Seattle, Pittsburgh (not playing bad) and Toronto on the schedule this month. They may be in the race for a while...

The Marlins looked awful this weekend. They may need a shakeup there too. Mike Lowell is just not getting the job done as he hasn't hit a home run since April 12th. Juan Pierre's Jimmy Rollinsesque .311 OB% is killing them also.

The Braves are a complete mess these days. I don't even know where I'd begin breaking down their problems. Of course this is what I was saying about them this time last year.

The Yankees are in trouble also. It's nothing a few trades can't clean up, but the starters have been bad pretty much the whole year besides a 4 week stretch. They Yanks haven't won a game all year in which they didn't score 4 or more runs. No 3-1 or 2-0 victories means no playoffs if you ask me.
Minnesota and Boston are knocking on the doors of Chicago WS and Baltimore. White Sox have a tough schedule this month too.

Finally, the Texas Rangers. Alfonso Soriano, Mark Tiexeira and company have been on fire. Mark Tiexeira is probably the most underrated player in baseball right now. I doubt the pitching can hold up (how is Kenny Rogers this good?) but Buck Showalter has got to be a top 5 manager in baseball.

NBA - Derreck Sura

Detroit v Miami - Tied 3-3. Dwyane Wade's strained right rib cage muscle is the big story here. I'm sure he'll play in game 7, but I don't expect him to be even 70% effective, and probably less. For someone that relies on their quickness as much as Wade does, the only injury I can think of that would be worse is a groin pull. As is, Wade is going to feel a pretty severe shooting pain in his mid-section every time he tries to make a quick move or stretch it in any way, no matter how much novocain he's shot up with. This is very bad news for the Heat, because Shaquille O'Neal is really no more then a role playing second fiddle right now. None of Shaq's averages in this series (32.7 minutes, 19.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.83 blocks, or 58.3% shooting) are team leads for Miami, and that's not even mentioning his abysmal 44.2% on free throws. With D Wade certain to be at less then full strength, it's going to be on The Diesel to really step up his game and earn his new contract extension, if he's even able to at this point. Wade's injury makes it seem likely to me that the Pistons are going to survive their Laker-like season long intensity malaise in true Laker fashion. Detroit's run to the title last year was aided by injuries to Jason Kidd, Jermaine O'Neal, and Karl Malone, so it's only fitting that they advance to the Finals again due to another key injury. HOWEVA, I do believe that game 7 will be competitive for two reasons. First, the Heat's home crowd will give them a lift no matter who plays or how healthy they are. Second, the Pistons have played up or down to their opponent's level all year long, so I don't anticipate another blowout.

- Last Wednesday Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert gave 35 year old Pacer assistant Mike Brown a 4 year 10 million dollar contract to become the Cavaliers' sixth head coach in six years (sound familiar Sixer fans?). Brown is a 13 year NBA assistant who has spent the last two seasons under Rick Carlisle in Indiana, and has a ring (2003) from his stint as one of Gregg Popovich's assistants in San Antonio. I don't know much about Mike's coaching ability, but he is known as a defense first guy that has a knack for helping young players develop their game. Even though Brown will be the second youngest head coach in league (Lawrence Frank is 34), I like this move. In my opinion it's always better to hire an up and coming assistant over a retread. For example, would you rather be Orlando with Brian Hill back for the second time? Or Cleveland with a young guy that cut his teeth under two of the best defensive minds in the game (Carlisle & Pop) and is eager to prove himself? The only worry I have for the Cavs is how patient will LeBron James be with a rookie head man in charge that never played a game in the NBA? It's a risk, no doubt, but given Gilbert's track record so far, I'd have to say that this is his first good move.

- I'll be leaving for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee on Wednesday, so there will be no column from me next week as I enjoy around the clock music in my wife's home state in the comfort of an RV. Awwwww yeah! Just in case Detroit does win to keep my playoff prediction record perfect, I like San Antonio to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy when it's all said and done, regardless of who wins the East. The Spurs are just plain healthier then Miami. I also see SA making the Pistons pay for their lackadaisical mental approach to the game. The Spurs are too good for Detroit to sleepwalk though a quarter here and there, mainly because SA's offense is far more potent then the Pistons' is. I'll even go out on a limb and say that Manu Ginobili is named Finals MVP.

NHL Week in Review By: Ed Wasser

- Nothing new to report on the NHL CBA talks. I did find something somewhat interesting, if you go to www.nhl.com you can read the old NHL CBA. I just gave it the once over because, unless you're a nerd or a lawyer, it's tough to really understand. Probably the coolest thing available is you can download and print a real, blank NHL contract. So you can print it out, fill it out with whatever team you want with however much money you want, frame it and hang it in your house so any babes that come over will think you're a former NHL star.

- Anybody that's an Eagles fan that caught the Al Harris episode of 'Cribs' on MTV was probably ready to throw a brick threw their TV set. As the former Eagle, current Green Bay Packer, was showing the world his Bentley, Rolls Royce, and Ferrari all I could think of was the constant rain of penalty flags that followed Harris everywhere he went on the Veteran's Stadium field. Any Eagles fans out there can correct me if I'm wrong but when Harris was an Eagle and it was a third and long with the opposition throwing a long pass and a flag was thrown was there any chance that flag WASN'T on Al Harris? During the 'Cribs' episode Harris showed a picture of his son fully decked out in his pee wee football uniform and I swear I saw a yellow flag flying in the background. I was so happy when the Eagles unloaded his ass but I couldn't help but shake my head at the Packers. I mean don't they have satellite dishes in Wisconsin? Didn't they see that Harris was a stiff? First the Eagles hoodwinked the Packers by getting them to take Ray Rhoades off their hands and then the Packers signed Al Harris. Now if we can get them to take Todd Pinkston the trifecta will be complete.

- The Yankees have lost 7 out of their last 8 including a sweep to the Kansas City Royals and 2 out of 3 to the Minnesota Twins. And there in lies the problem with baseball. Teams like the Yankees, with their severely limited resources, are expected to compete with massive markets like Kansas City and Minneapolis. A few years ago MLB was trying to contract 2 teams, even though baseball never came out and said which 2 teams I'm certain the Yankees were one of them. Hopefully this league will come to it's senses and come up with a way to make sure teams like the Yankees can pull themselves up from the depths of debt to be able to beat these massive big market beasts.

- So our new horse Velocious has been having some issues with being too fat and he's also having some knee troubles. Mainly his knees are a little sore. Our trainer believes Velocious' former trainer trained him a little too hard. So he's currently on a horse farm called Our Farm in Skippack, Pa. working out in what they call an "equine pool". Last Saturday I went to check it out. First of all they call it a pool but it's actually a pond. I guess they figured they have a pool and a pond, the pond was good for us. The purpose for the swimming is to work out the horse without putting any stress on his knees. So they bring out Velocious and they lead him down this ramp into the pond. In the middle of the pond is like a wooden island and basically the horse does 3 laps around the island, gets lead out of the pond to rest for a few minutes and then he does the same thing over again. The second time Velocious went in we were all a little scared because we saw in the wooden planks of the island a water snake that, if I'm lying I'm dying, was 4 feet long. We thought if the horse sees the snake he might panic and freak out. Fortunately Velocious never saw the snake. After three times of doing three laps the horse was done. After it was done Velocious was breathing heavy and it was obvious that he was tired. After the workout we were invited to see the farms new crop of what they call 'weanlings' also know as babies. These babies were all born in March. It was pretty impressive to see these horses that are for sale for thousands, and in one case, hundreds of thousands of dollars. The woman who owns the place and was showing us the horses was going over their pedigree "this colt is from (Kentucky Derby winner) Unbridled and his mare won 3 stakes races etc., etc." Definitely an interesting experience.

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