Sportszilla Live  

Sportszilla Live – April 29^th, 2007

First Quarter – NFL Draft

-Why did Brady Quinn drop all the way to the Browns? Because he didn’t play anyone in college and played poorly in his few marquee games (LSU, Ohio State – small sample size alert?)? Did Cleveland give up too much (2^nd rounder this year, 1^st next year).

-What the hell were the Dolphins thinking with Ted Ginn Jr, who ran 3 routes in college and is utterly afraid of running over the middle? Oh, and he’s currently hurt!

-Who had the best draft? Raiders (JaMarcus Russell, Zach Miller (TE), Quintin Moses. Michael Bush)?  Cleveland (Joe Thomas, Brady Quinn, Eric Wright)?

-Troy Smith drops to the 5^th round

-Undrafted players include Chris Leak, Jared Zebransky, Darius Walker, Tyler Palko, Tyrone Moss

-Two Pro Bowl receivers change teams: Raiders send Randy Moss to the Patriots for a 4^th round pick, Seahawks send Darrell Jackson to the 49ers for a 4^th as well.

Does this make the Patriots the favorite in the AFC again?  How realistic is it to think they can get him back to the All-Pro level?  Is it just a matter of being on a contender, or will he never play hard again or be healthy again?

What were the Seahawks thinking, trading Jackson in division for just a 4^th?  Are they that desperate to get DJ Hackett playing time?

Also, Josh McCown and Mike Williams to the Raiders for a 4^th round pick – gives the Raiders a decent QB (better than Andrew Walter for sure) and a somewhat intriguing receiver.

Second Quarter - NBA Playoffs

-Defending Champs are no more – Heat are swept by the Bulls in the first round.  First series win for Da Bulls since some guy wore 23.  Is there a chance that this is it for Shaq? Is there hope for the Heat down the road? Missed more games this year than ever before.

-Pistons sweep Magic – no shock there: who can knock off Detroit in the East?  Also, Grant Hill may retire: giant case of what-could-have-been.

-Nets are up 3-1 on the Raptors. Does this team have a chance to make the Finals?  Kidd is having a fantastic series, Vince Carter is playing well, but the team isn’t deep (Kidd, Carter, Jefferson, and Nachbar are good, everyone else is inconsistent or crappy or both).

-Cavaliers up 3-0 on the dregs of the Wizards

-Out West, the Warriors are clearly giving the Mavericks all they can handle.  Is G-State the new Dallas?

-Nuggets blow a chance to take control of their series, Spurs lead 2-1.

-Phoenix blowing past the Lakers – again, no real surprise there

-Rockets or Jazz are probably winning that series…but I’ll be damned if I could tell you who.

Third Quarter – MLB

-Yankees continue to struggle – have now lost 5 of 6 to the Red Sox, are in last place.  Pitching continues to struggle, offense can’t bail them out every night. Bigger concern is Wang pitching poorly for the second straight start.  Mussina comes back on Thursday, but will that be enough?

-Will the Boss turn on Torre if the struggles continue?  Can he possibly fire the guy who took the team to 4 WS championships?  Is Girardi the natural replacement if they make the move (he’s currently working on their broadcasts)?

-Cardinals also struggling, now have to deal with the death of pitcher Josh Hancock.  Can this possibly help them focus on the field?

-The MLB season is one month old: what’s for real

-Brewers as NL Central champs?

-Indians as AL Central champs?

-Can the Mariners win a terrible division? Only if they stop letting Jeff Weaver pitch

-Who’s the best player in baseball? Gotta be A-Rod at this point.

-Who’s the best shortstop in the NL East? Reyes or Ramirez

-BJ Upton having a nice start, but that contact rate is scary

-Derek Jeter struggling with the glove? What a shock!

-David Wright struggling with the bat? Not a shock to me

-Albert Pujols (.831 OPS) – ridiculously low BABIP, he’ll come around

-Manny Ramirez (.578 OPS) – is this the beginning of the end for the greatest right handed hitter we’ve ever seen?

-Alfonso Soriano – how’s the contract looking now?