What the injury to Derrick Rose means for the Bulls in the NBA Playoffs

The 2012 NBA Playoffs opened today and with the exception of LeBron James' epic flopping in Miami's smackdown of the Knicks, 100-67, the big news was the torn ACL of Bulls star guard Derrick Rose late in Chicago's 103-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, which will keep him out for the rest of the postseason. What does this mean for the top seed in the East?

2012 NFL Draft: Best picks of Day 2

It may not have the glamour of the first day but there are certainly some great players to be found in the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft. Hell, there were still some players still in the green room in New York like Courtney Upshaw of Alabama, Coby Fleener of Stanford and the above pictured Stephen Hill of Georgia Tech. Here are what I thought were the best picks of the second day of the 2012 NFL Draft.

2012 NBA Playoffs: 1st Round Predictions

That certainly was an interesting NBA season, one that almost didn't happen. We had too many games in too short of time, leading to poor quality of play that we had not seen in the league since the last strike shortened season. Two games in two nights, three games in three nights, four games in six nights; this season will not go down as an all-time great season. But the playoffs have arrived and with that some days of rest, so how about that. Who will advance past the first round and keep their dreams of a title alive?

2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Semifinals Predictions

My goodness, that was one wild and crazy first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sixteen games went into overtime, a record. Three of those sixteen games required a second overtime. The higher seed held serve only once in the Eastern Conference and only twice in the Western Conference. Three seventh games were necessary. Could the action get any better than this? Here are my predictions for the conference semifinals.

2012 NBA Playoffs: 1st Round TV Schedule & Announcers

There was a legitimate fear in the fall that there would not even be an NBA Playoffs for 2012 but alas we are here. Here is the television schedule plus announcing assignments for the opening round.

2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Semifinals TV Schedule & Announcers

After a wild and crazy first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, four teams in both conferences have moved on to the conference semifinals. Here is the full television schedule, as well as commentator pairings for the second round.

2012 MLB on FOX Announcers & Distribution: April 28th

On this upcoming Saturday on the FOX Saturday Baseball Game of the Week, a troika of matchups will be featured, one of which you will receive on your FOX affiliate (and no other one, not even on Extra Innings because of the arcane blackout rules). These games are a rematch of last year's National League Championship Series as the Brew Crew head down I-55 to take on the Cardinals in St. Louis, a showdown between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who have disappointed somewhat in the early going, and the Cleveland Indians as well as an AL Central match between the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins. Here are the announcers and distribution splits for MLB on Fox this Saturday.

Cowboys trade up to the 6th pick with St. Louis

And yet another move has been made in the 2012 NFL Draft and is it courtesy of the St. Louis Rams, who traded the sixth overall selection, originally from the Washington Redskins, and the Dallas Cowboys, who traded the fourteenth selection and a second rounder. Dallas made the move for Morris Claiborne, cornerback from LSU.

Jaguars swap picks with Buccaneers, move from 7 to 5

We have the second trade already of the first round and we are still in the top five. The Jacksonville Jaguars have traded the seventh overall pick and a fourth rounder to move up two spots to the fifth overall selection of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jacksonville badly needed a wideout and got a top-flight prospect in Justin Blackmon to give Blaine Gabbert somebody to throw to. Plus they did not give up that much at all to move up a couple picks.

2012 NFL Draft: 1st Round Grades

And finally, all those mock drafts have led to something, as the 2012 NFL Draft is underway. We know who the top two picks will be tonight at Radio City Music Hall so in theory, the real fun starts with Minnesota and the third pick (we've discussed that here). Throughout the night I will be posting live grades for every first round selection, moments after they are announced by Roger Goodell. So here we go.

Cleveland Browns move up to 3rd overall for Trent Richardson

The first big trade of the 2012 NFL Draft just broke, as done by Jay Glazer, and the Cleveland Browns have traded the fourth overall selection as well as their selections in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds to move up one spot as the Minnesota Vikings trade them the third overall selection. The Browns did this clearly with an eye on Alabama running back Trent Richardson. Here's my analysis.

Will Brandon Weeden go in the first round?

It is a lock that the top three quarterbacks will go in the first round, all but a certainty that they go in the top ten (unless somehow Miami chooses to pass up on Ryan Tannehill, which I don't see but could theoretically happen). Now as so many teams need a franchise quarterback, is there a chance that the consensus fourth rated quarterback, Brandon Weeden, goes in the first round?

The logo for the Brooklyn Nets is very nice

This will be the new logo of the Brooklyn Nets, who had their final home game in New Jersey after 35 years in Monday evening. It was to be announced on Monday night but some guy doing IT posted the picture above on Twitter, his handle got removed before I could find it. Here is my analysis of the new logo.

Why the Buffalo Bills should trade up for Matt Kalil

There is always a lot of trade movement at the NFL Draft and this year should be no different as we are likely to see a bevy of teams looking to move up for a guy they love and of teams looking to add more picks and move down. Charley Casserly reported only a few hours ago that Buffalo is looking at trading up for left tackle Matt Kalil. Here is why it is a move that absolutely makes sense.

Calvin Johnson is on the cover of Madden NFL 13

Brace yourselves Detroit Lions fans as there is no better way to celebrate a playoff berth and then give your star the biggest contract at his position ever that he is on the cover of Madden NFL 13 as Calvin Johnson defeated Cam Newton in the fan vote to become the cover guy. The game they know as Megatron absolutely deserves getting on the cover as he is the clear best receiver in football and his numbers last season were ridiculous (96 catches, 1,681 receiving yards, 16 touchdowns). And there not like some kind of curse on players who appear on the cover or anything.

Jim Nantz, Phil Simms the new broadcast team for Madden NFL 13

H/T pastapadre

There will be a new broadcast teams for the new Madden game, Madden NFL 13, it will be the lead crew for the NFL on CBS, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. They replace Gus Johnson and Cris Collinsworth as the voices. In fact, both Nantz and Simms will appear on-camera, which I believe is a first for a Madden game. We shall see though if Nantz' commentary will be as bad in-game as it is right now in real life. This will be Simms' first game that he will commentate in, Nantz's second as he has called the Tiger Woods series for the last two editions.

2012 NFL Mock Draft: Final Edition

Tomorrow means that the 2012 NFL Draft has finally cometh. Since the days are now turning into hours until the commissioner walks to the microphone at Radio City Music Hall in New York to announce that the Indianapolis Colts are on the clock. The action starts tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Eastern. So here is my final mock draft for 2012. Enjoy folks.

Don't worry kids, Jose Canseco is still on Twitter

Folks were worried, really worried. What would we do without Jose Canseco's twitter handle? When it was reorted that his twitter handle had disappeared, we all wondered how will we fill that void that the goofy and bizarre tweets that Canseco made. Well not to worry because as usual, Canseco had it all taken care of.

Some aliens deleted my acc.

— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) April 24, 2012

Well then.

Are the Vikings really considering Morris Claiborne over Matt Kalil with the 3rd pick? UPDATE

Vikings GM Rick Spielman 

The first real decision of the 2012 NFL Draft on Thursday night comes with the third pick and the Minnesota Vikings because we all know who is going one and two to the Colts and Redskins, respectively. Although the selection is, in my opinion, an obvious one and it is one that I have not changed since it became clear that Robert Griffin III would go second and that would be left tackle Matt Kalil. It appears that there is a real consideration to take cornerback Morris Claiborne with that selection. Here's my take.

Don Cherry makes great commercials

Now who doesn't love Don Cherry. Okay that was a rhetorical question but you get the point, eh? Anyways, I saw this hilarious and brilliant commercial featuring the man from the Coach's Corner in Hockey Night in Canada when watching the CBC feed of Rangers-Senators on Monday night and while it was for some mortgage company north of the border, I absolutely loved it. Let's go to the videotape.

Is the Barclays Center a real option going forward for the New York Islanders?

The New York Islanders have a bit of a rough future ahead of them out on Long Island. Everybody knows that the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is terribly outdated including the Islanders themselves, as they plan to leave once their lease expires in 2015. Their future out on the island is in major question, mostly after the plan for a new arena was voted down in a referendum last year. There is a new arena being built on Long Island, that of course is the Barclays Center, which will open this fall as home of the soon to be Brooklyn Nets in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL, doesn't think the arena will be viable while Brett Yormark, CEO of the New Jersey Nets and Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, says it is. But is it really?

2012 NFL Draft Mock Mob

The NFL Draft is only days away with folks like myself blowing up the web with mock drafts over who we think will be going where. So in this mock draft, I have some guest writers, all folks looking to go into the sports jounalism profession, with their own mocks all pieced together here. Let's take a look at the mock mob.

What should the New Orleans Hornets change their names to?

As has been suggested for a while, new New Orleans Hornets owner Tom Benson wanted to change the name of his new team, considering the fact that Hornets and New Orleans really do not go together and they should have changed their name when they move from Charlotte. Benson then said he wanted the name of the Jazz, who originated in New Orleans, but the Jazz said they aren't giving up their name (considering jazz music and Utah really go together, just look at their logo, it has mountains on it). So what should the Hornets change their nickname to?

2012 NFL Mock Draft: 16th Edition

The teams are getting ready. Commissioner Goodell is getting ready. Folks like me are getting ready. The 2012 NFL Draft is only a few days away. With that in mind, here is my latest mock draft, the sixteen edition of this draft cycle.