NFL Draft

The NFL Draft took place on Saturday April 25 and there was only one guarantee. That guarantee was that quarterback Matthew Stafford was going to be the #1 pick. He signed a $78 million contract for 6 years with the Detroit Lions the day before the draft. The St. Louis Rams had the #2 pick and they picked Jason Smith, offensive lineman from Baylor, who everyone predicted the Rams would pick. The Kansas City Chiefs had the third pick and they picked Tyson Jackson from LSU, who people predicted they would pick as well.

Many thought that the Seattle Seahawks would pick quarterback Mark Sanchez with the fourth pick. They decided to pick linebacker Aaron Curry instead, and that prompted the New York Jets to make a move. They made a trade with the Cleveland Browns to move up to their #5 spot, where they acquired Sanchez. The Oakland Raiders made a big move at #7 by drafting Darrius Heyward-Bey, wide receiver from Maryland. He was projected as a late first round pick and he went ahead of Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin.

Which teams made a splash in the draft? Which team did the worse in the draft?

Terry, Rose Receive NBA Awards

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks have been rewarded with NBA awards this week. Rose won the Rookie of the Year award, and award that many saw him winning since the middle of the season. O.J. Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies was a far second in the running for the award. Terry has been reported to win the award, having a good season for the Mavericks off the bench.

Terry has always been a factor in the Mavericks offense. He has come off the bench to give the Mavericks energy, complimenting Dirk Nowitzki's good season. Terry had competition from J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets for the award, but Smith came on late in the season, while Terry has held the team together and has consistently produced offensively for the Mavericks. Rose was able to take a Bulls team who won 33 games and bring them to the playoffs.

Did Rose and Terry deserve their awards respectively?

April 19

The only big news that happened on this day was the second day of the NBA playoffs. The four games that were play were the Western Conference matchups between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers, and the New Orleans Hornets and Denver Nuggets. The Eastern Conference matchups were the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic, and the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks. This day wasn't like the first day, where three road teams were victorious. The only road team to win on this day was the 76ers.

The 76ers beat the Magic, despite being down 18 in the third quarter. The 76ers beat the Magic 100-98, on a game winning jump shot by Andre Iguodala with 2.2 seconds remaining. The Lakers, Hawks, and Nuggets were able to dominate their Game 1 matchups, with each team winning by double digits. Game 2 for the 76ers and Magic, Heat and Hawks, and Hornets and Nuggets is Wednesday night, while the Jazz play the Lakers in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

April 18

The New York Yankees, in their third game in the new Yankee Stadium, lost to the Cleveland Indians 22-4. This was aided by another terrible start by pitcher Chien Ming Wang, who only lasted 1.1 innings, giving up eight runs. The Indians scored 14 runs in the second inning alone, a MLB record for the most runs in the second inning. The Indians were the team who started out 0-5 to begin the season, but have gone 4-3 since. The Yankees record stands at 6-6 after the loss.

The NBA playoffs started, with three road wins coming on this day. The first one was a shocker to a lot of people. The seventh seeded Chicago Bulls beat the second seeded Boston Celtics 105-103 in overtime to take a 1-0 series lead. The Cleveland Cavaliers easily beat the Detroit Pistons 102-84, with the Cavaliers being the only home team to win on the playoff opening day. The Dallas Mavericks shocked the San Antonio Spurs, beating them 105-97 to take a early series lead and the Houston Rockets surprisingly handled the Portlan Trail Blazers, beating them 108-81.

April 16

John Madden has announced his retirement as an NFL broadcaster, after serving 30 successful years as a broadcaster. Madden was a broadcaster for CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC. For the past couple of seasons, Madden was a commentator for NBC's Sunday Night Football, including calling the Super Bowl XLIII matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals.

Also, the Cardinals announced that they would finally hear offers for the services of wide receiver Anquan Boldin. Boldin has expressed his frustration before the start of the season about not getting a new contract. The Cardinals have stated before that they will not trade Boldin and will get a deal worked out, but now, nine days before the NFL Draft, they have decided to pursue other options. It isn't a guarantee that Boldin will be traded, but the Cardinals have said they are looking for a first and third round draft pick if they were to deal him.

Finally, Doc Rivers, head coach of the Boston Celtics, has stated that there is a good possibility that forward Kevin Garnett may not be available for the playoffs. The Celtics play the Chicago Bulls in the first round, and Garnett has tried to practice in order to get into game shape. After watching Garnett attempt to practice, Rivers concluded that there is no way that he is able to play now. There is still an outside chance Garnett can play later on in the playoffs if they're still in it, but that is not a guarantee.

Angels Pitcher Dead

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed on Thursday morning after his car was struck by another driver hours after the Angels game against the Oakland Athletics. Two other passengers in the car with Adenhart were killed as well and another passenger is currently in intensive care unit. The driver that struck their car fled the scene after the accident but was caught by police shortly afterward. It was reported that he had a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.

Adenhart had just pitched his first start of the season and it was a successful outing for him. Adenhart had the Athletics scoreless for the first seven innings. The Athletics ended up scoring three runs in the eighth inning and three runs in the ninth inning to beat the Angels 6-4. Adenhart had five strikeouts and was very impressive, getting out of a couple of jams. That would end up being Adenhart's final start. He was only 22.

This is a tragic circumstance for the Angels team. However, I don't think the other three passengers, with two of them killed, should be left out as well. This always happen in the media when there are multiple victims with one of them being professional athletes or celebrities. The same happened with the death of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. He was killed, along with another passenger, when his small plane went into a Manhattan high-rise building. Lidle was the only one recognized, and it's unfair to the families of the other victims.

North Carolina Takes Title

North Carolina has claimed their fifth national championship by dismantling Michigan State in the national championship game 89-72. Tyler Hansbrough scored 18 points, Wayne Ellington had 19 and Tywon Lawson led all scorers with 21 and also had a record eight steals. North Carolina came into the game and the tournament as the favorites by many to win the national championship. Now seniors Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green go out like champions and hopefully continues their career in the NBA.

From the start of the game, North Carolina was already dominating. They jumped out to a 24-8 lead, and Michigan State never seemed like they could recover. At halftime, the score was 55-34. That set the record for the most points in a half in a national title game. Lawson also had seven steals in the first half alone, tying the game record. He got his eighth steal in the second half, setting the record. They were up by as many as 24 points, and Michigan State were repeatedly making careless turnovers. Michigan State, defensively, couldn't stop North Carolina's offense, and Michigan State is an excellent defender.

I knew from the time the title game was set up that North Carolina was going to destroy Michigan State. A lot of analysts were saying to not look into North Carolina's 35 point regular season win against Michigan State in the regular season. The Tar Heels were healthy, so it was evident that with all of their pieces, they were going to win easily against Michigan State. Lawson, Ellington, Hansbrough, Green and Ed Davis are worthy NBA players. Green and Hansbrough are the only locks to be in the NBA Draft since they're seniors, but Lawson, Ellington and Davis are making their decision.

What should Lawson, Ellington and Davis do?

Cutler Traded To Bears

The Chicago Bears acquired Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler in a trade on Thursday April 2, giving up quarterback Kyle Orton and first-round picks in 2009 and 2010, along with a third-round pick in 2009 to complete it. Earlier in the week, the Broncos revealed they were going to trade Cutler because of his refusal to speak with team officials and head coach Josh McDaniels.

The fallout between Cutler and McDaniels began when McDaniels inquired about the possibility of acquiring quarterback Matt Cassel from the New England Patriots. McDaniels was the offensive coordinator of the Patriots the past two seasons. Cutler was unhappy about it, feeling that he was the face of the franchise. He requested a trade initially, but then was able to sit down with McDaniels, which didn't go well at all. Afterward, he never communicated with the Broncos, forcing them to trade him.

I think this is the most unbelievable story I've heard in a while. I want to know what gives Cutler the right to act this way. Cutler is a decent quarterback at best, and Orton, in my opinion, played better than Cutler this past season. The Broncos asked Cutler to throw the football much more than Orton did with the Bears. Orton makes good decisions and he threw 12 interceptions, compared to Cutler's 18. Cutler had a better passer rating because of the passing yards and touchdowns. But Orton had a winning record this past season and as a starter in his career, while Cutler has yet to have a winning season. In my opinion, I don't think Cutler makes the Bears offense any better than when they had Orton. Cutler is just a baby who needs to get rid of his diapers and realize that this is the NFL and it is a business, in addition to it being a sport.

Calipari To Kentucky

John Calipari has accepted the head coaching offer for Kentucky, leaving a Memphis team that has had a lot of success under him. Calipari has expressed his desire to take on the Kentucky coaching job from two years ago, when Kentucky hired Billy Gillispie. Calipari will receive an 8 year $31.65 million, and he was also receiving a $2.5 million signing bonus. This is now the richest contract in college basketball.

Calipari led Memphis to the national championship game last season, where they lost to Kansas in overtime. They were eliminated last week by Missouri in the Sweet 16. He has produced NBA players such as Rod Carney, Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Joey Dorsey. Memphis is not particularly thrilled about the move, but they'll continue and look for another head coach for their basketball program.

Calipari jumping to Kentucky, in my opinion, is not a good move. I think being the head coach of Kentucky is overrated. There are other programs that are better, in my opinion, such as Duke with Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina, and Kansas and Michigan St. with Tom Izzo. However, I think Calipari will be able to make them contenders again because a lot of high school kids will want to play for him.

What do you think? Was this a good move for Calipari and Kentucky?