Who Would the Lakers Pick As Their Opponent ... If They Could

David Stern mentioned that the NBA may look at allowing division winners to pick their opponents in the playoffs. The conference's top team would get the first pick, followed by the next highest, followed by the final one. The two teams left would face off in the other matchup.

So, if this rule were in place this year, do you think that the Lakers would pick the Utah Jazz (their real matchup) as their opponent this year? Maybe not.

There are a couple reasons for this. The Lakers and Jazz have a bit of a history between each other. Their games often get chippy and the Jazz have had success at home. Utah may be the most talented No. 8 seed in the history of the NBA.

The Lakers probably would pick Dallas ... even though the Mavericks are entering the postseason on a hot streak. Dallas can't win in Los Angeles, while the Lakers have been very successful in Dallas. There is a better chance of a short series here.

It would be interesting to see how the NBA's rule would extend. Would the second round be the same way where the highest seed remaining gets to pick its opponent? If so, then you know that the Lakers would pick anyone but Portland in that round.

I'm one of the people that is actually intrigued by what this possible change.

Ten Places Terrell Owens Should Go to For Our Amusement

Forget logic for a moment. Forget salary caps, personnel and burned bridges. Imagine if we could plop Terrell Owens on any team we wanted. What would be that team? Here are my top 10 guesses ...

10-CAROLINA: Just to see if Steve Smith hits him or not.

9-BALTIMORE: He nearly was a Raven five years ago. I just want to see how Ray Lewis handles Owens if he gets a bit hot-tempered.

8-INDIANAPOLIS: T.O. would have to respect Peyton Manning, right? That will be until Manning throws a blame-tantrum his way (or does that scrunchy-face-while-pointing-out-what-route-you-were-supposed-to-run look).

7-NEW ENGLAND: Randy Moss + Terrell Owens = Unbelievable. T.O. would love to be in a place where the camera is always on. There is also the viewing pleasure to see if T.O. can destroy one of the model franchises in sports.

6-WASHINGTON: Daniel Snyder is Jerry Jones, Jr. You think he'd love to be the man who tamed T.O.? Imagine the rivalry if Owens walked into New Cowboys Stadium wearing a Redskins jersey.

5-MINNESOTA: It makes sense from a football standpoint. However, T.O. and Brad Childress loathed each other when all hell broke loose in Philly. This would get good!

4-NEW YORK: Giants? Jets? It doesn't matter. T.O. in the Big Apple might be exactly what A-Rod needs right now.

3-CINCINNATI: Who wouldn't want to see T.O. and Chad Johnson on the same team? I get chills just thinking about it.

2-OAKLAND: Imagine T.O. in Oakland. With a young, unproven Jamarcus Russell. Tom Freakin' Cable would be his coach. Oh, and Crazy Al is the owner. How long do you think it would take before T.O. ran that team?

1-PHILADELPHIA: Nothing would be better than McNabb-Owens II. Imagine both of them looking at each other and saying, "well, the closest we got to winning it all was that one season we were together".

Cowboys Cut Terrell Owens

Wow. I really, really, really didn't think that Jerry Jones had it in him. I can't believe that he actually cut Terrell Owens.

ESPN.com is reporting that they did just that.

Of course, there will be several teams lining up for T.O.'s services (unfortunately, methinks that my beloved Redskins could be one of them). There is usually a team or two that is desperate enough to look past anything to sign a guy. Just wait and see when Michael Vick becomes available.

What does this mean for Owens? Well, it looks as if his shot at winning a Super Bowl ring is over. He had a decent shot in Dallas and I can't see another legit contending team going after him. He has blown opportunities in three cities where the franchises were playoff-caliber teams. Why would anyone give him a shot unless you're the Detroit Lions?

Stephen A. Smith says that he'd be interested in going to a team like the Colts, Giants or Patriots. Well of course he does. What receiver wouldn't want to catch a pass from a Super Bowl MVP quarterback who has a great shot at a Super Bowl every year? The issue is that he doesn't fit in any of those places.

Can you really see T.O. as a Colt? That is a team that Peyton Manning is God and what he says goes. When is the last time you saw anyone yell back at Peyton after he goes off on them? I don't see how Owens can deal with that. As for Peyton's brother Eli, well the Giants are trying to rid themselves of Plaxico Burress. So why dump Burress for Owens? If you want a problem player, keep the one that has been there and known for being an ass and not known for imploding teams. The Patriots? Think Belichick and Brady will deal with that mess? Could T.O. and Randy Moss co-exist on the same team?

The Cardinals don't need him; Seahawks just signed Houshmandzadeh; Steelers won't touch a guy like that; Philly is obviously out; Washington doesn't have the money; Green Bay is too small for him and they'd be scared that he'd devour Aaron Rodgers; Tampa doesn't have a QB; Carolina doesn't need him; Neither does Denver, New Orleans or many of the top dogs; That leaves teams like the Chargers, Vikings, Bears, Jets and the bottom feeders.

Maybe he will just go away.

A-Rod Speaks Out ... But Does He Say Anything?

Okay, we have now seen Alex Rodriguez come out and admit that he used performance enhancing drugs while a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003. He went on ESPN and talked very candidly about his use of PEDs to Peter Gammons (UNC grad).

Now we all get to digest this and spit out what we believe it to mean.

I don't see this as all the truth or all a lie. There is a nice mixture instead. As Gammons said in a later interview, he was surprised by how much A-Rod admitted in the interview. He voluntarily gave the timeline of 2001-2003 and seemed sincerly sorry that this happened. Also, I liked the fact that he came out and admitted to this instead of doing the ol' "I didn't know that was wrong" or the Roger Clemens "you're a liar" tact.

Of course as Jim Rome asked, is he sorry he did this or sorry that he was caught? Obviously it is the latter. If A-Rod was truly sorry for using PEDs, why would he wait until a day or two after he was exposed to pubically be sorry? Why would you go on CBS 14 months ago and tell (err ... lie to) Katie Couric that you've never used PEDs?

All that lends to the fact that you cannot possibly believe everything he said in his interview with Gammons. How can you? He has lied before when his back wasn't against the wall. It wasn't as bad as Rafael Palmerio's statement in a Congressional hearing, but it looks pretty bad. Due to this, most of us will assume that he was using PEDs outside of his 2001-2003 timeline, despite what he may say.

Of course, the real damage will be done to baseball. Sort of.

The games will still march on, A-Rod will be eventually welcomed back to his role as a Yankee slugger, and attendance will still be rolling. There will be a cloud hanging over A-Rod but he really won't have to deal with it while he is still playing (other than some opposing fans giving him some lip ... but it isn't like he hasn't been dealing with that already).

A-Rod will have to answer this as he approaches Barry Bonds home run record. He will have to answer this when he retires and the Baseball Writers debate about his Hall Of Fame status. This also puts a huge bucket of sludge on top of the mess that Bonds, Clemens, Palmerio and Mark McGwire have already made. It makes the Steroid Era that much more significant and places more doubt in minds of the fans. If A-Rod was doing it, then who else?

Will those fans leave? No. They haven't yet. The game has been threw betting scandals, drug scandals and a cancelled World Series. Steroids won't bring the game down. They will just put some rust on top of that sludge.