Happy Mother's Day!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!  I'll give you one guess to which person above is Shaq's mom

YEP.  BASEBALL NEEDS A FEW MORE PLAYOFF TEAMS:  I know, I know.  I am the devil for thinking this.  Hey, I was just like you.  I liked the fact that baseball rewards just it's elite into postseason play.  But, with Wildcard teams winning World Series about as much as the division champions are....why not add another round to the playoffs? 

The reasons I have for this is Hope and Fun.  One thing the Wildcard has done for MLB is bring another race into the mix.  That adds more teams into the fun....and everybody another shot in case there is a runaway winner in their division.  It instills hope.  Well, adding another 2-4 teams in each league not only adds more hope....it adds more fun. 

One of the biggest gripes from the small and mid market teams is that they cannot compete.  That really isn't true.  They can compete....just not consistently and not as easily at the level that the big market ones can.  As a Cincinnati fan, just being "in the race" is a successful season now....something idiotic just 15 years ago.  Adding another round means adding another 4-8 teams which adds more excitement.  I mean, this is baseball....in a playoff format, anyone has a chance. 

Under this plan....last year the Indians and Athletics would've made the AL playoffs.  But, also, teams like the Twins and Blue Jays would still be in striking distance into the last few weeks.   In the National League, the Phillies and Marlins would've been in....with the Mets, Nationals, Brewers, Cubs and Diamondbacks just within 6 games of that final playoff berth.  Add those teams....give the top two division champions in each league a first round bye.....have a 5-game series with the other four teams in each conference with the winners facing the bye teams in a 7-game series in the AL or NLDS. 

I know, you don't like it.  So what.  It's my blog, lol. 

HAVE AN 80s WEEK:  Speaking of tangents....why not have an 80s week in baseball??  For one week during the season, each team has to don their 80s uniforms.  If they weren't around in the 80s, make up some unis that they may have worn then.  Hey, this is my excuse to see those Brew Crew uniforms on non-Sundays....oh, and those Phillies uniforms [ya know, the burgundy pinstriped ones].  Bring back the sweatshirts where blue was the roadies.  Oh, and those Astros home unis, too! 

NBA PLAYOFFS:  Can the Spurs come back??  In their current championship era, the Spurs haven't been able to make a comeback in a playoff series.  When trailing in a series after Game 3.....the have comeback to win ZERO of the series.  The last time they trailed after the third game of a playoff series was the last series they lost....to the Lakers in 2004.  Can the Clippers actually advance to the Conference Finals??  Yes.  They are using the Lakers blueprint to how to beat Phoenix....pound the ball inside.  Elton Brand is averaging nearly 30 ppg in this series.  If it wasn't for a poor offensive showing in Game 3, the Clippers could be looking at a 3-1 series lead right now.  Can the Heat beat the Pistons?  Well, that series isn't set in stone, but c'mon.  I think the Heat can beat the Pistons....but I don't think they will.  Despite all of what I've just said, I still expect a repeat of last year with the Suns-Spurs in the West and the Heat-Pistons in the East. 

LARRY BROWN MAY BE OUT OF NYC:  There are rumors that Larry Brown may be bought out of his Knicks head coaching contract.  Wow...what a weird stretch.  He wins an NBA title and gets into the Hall of Fame in Detroit.  He then moves to New York to own the 2nd worst record in the NBA while his old team cruises to the best record. 

SHARKS FANS BOO "O CANADA":  Don't know why this all of the sudden became an issue again.  Sure, there have been issues of Canadian fans booing "The Star Spangled Banner"....but San Jose fans didn't do that in games 1 and 2, nor did the Edmonton fans do that in games 3 and 4.   I find it quite disrespectful....not so much that because their opponent, the Oilers, are from Canada.....but because many of the Sharks players themselves are Canadian citizens. 

METS-CARDINALS SERIES ON TAP:  This is the series to watch for the first half of the week.  Both lead their divisions....as both are own the top two records in the National League.

AND THEN INTERLEAGUE PLAY BEGINS:  A fun thing to have.

ARAS WINS SURVIVOR:  Since my wife didn't do a Survivor blog this time, I'll pass along the word. 

And RIP Floyd Patterson and Ryan Francis.