Minor League Baseball

I believe that minor league baseball is fun for the whole family. It is usually much more local so you are more likely to see your friends there. Normally, there are not many seats in a minor league game. This makes it seem like a more friendly environment because it makes you feel more at home then a huge, intimidating major league ballpark. When I go to a minor league game, I go to see the Great Lakes Loons. They are a triple-A team so there is no big names it is just pure baseball. All the seats are "good" seats too. You don't get the "nosebleeds" way up at the top. In Dow Diamond, where the Loons play, they have a nice play structure where the kids get to play when they get bored of the game. They have a very nice souvenir shop that is heated so when it gets cold you can just duck inside and escape the cold and rain. Plus, you don't have those drunken idiots who just yell and swear right behind you when you brought your kids for a fun experience. I just love to go to minor league games and I hope I see you at one.
Dan the Sportsman Says: My Loons aren't doing to well but they have improved over the past couple of years.

NBA Playoffs

I believe that the Bulls and Celtics series is one of the best ever. It was a seven game series that just ended Saturday. Four of the seven games went into overtime including one triple-overtime game. During these games there was a lot of bad blood. Rajon Rondo got two flagrant fouls in this series and almost got into two fights because of them. He even made Brad Miller bleed. All but two games were nail-biters. Five of the games came down to three points or less! This series also proved that Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose can be extremely effective in big games. The Cavaliers have swept the Pistons in four games. I knew it was going to happen from the start, the Pistons have a lot of work to do before next season. The Mavericks upset the Spurs but I didn't think it was an upset because the Mavericks are the better team, especially when Manu Ginobli of the Spurs is out. I thought that the Lakers would sweep the Jazz, but the Jazz got one win in before losing in five games. In the Rockets versus Blazers match up, the winner always won by a big margin no matter who was winning. I also suspected the Nuggets would win their series against the Hornets. The Hornets have a good, young team, but they could use some depth and maybe another good big man. I really don't have much to say about the Magic vs. 76ers match up. It was pretty boring. The last series is the one that isn't over yet. The Hawks against the Heat. Game seven has not been played out yet but I suspect that the Heat will win because Dwyane Wade will drop at least 40 points on them.

Dan the Sportsman Says: I look forward to the second round. I still think the Lakers will be champions.

NFL season preview

I believe that a lot of teams will have a turn-around this season. The Lions for example. I have them going 5-11 in the regular season. This is not a full turn-around but it's a start. The Rams should go 6-10, but you never know. They could have the best season and make the playoffs, or they could just fall apart and never recover. I do like their draft picks though. The 49ers for instance, are a good team now. They have the cornerstones for any good team. A good running back, a future hall of fame middle linebacker in Patrick Willis. The Jacksonville Jaguars have two good starting tackles now so they should have less of a problem with sacks. Plus, they went out and got a go-to receiver, Torry Holt. The Packers have a good team now that they had a good draft. The biggest turn-around team in my mind is the Houston Texans. They have a good defense, a good offensive line, a franchise quarterback, and a running back they can rely on for years to come.

Dan the Sportsman Says: I see the Patriots winning the Super Bowl because they have great talent at almost every position and they have great chemistry.

Lions Draft Day

I believe that the Lions had a metiocre draft. They had some good picks especially early with picks like Matthew Stafford and Louis Delmas who should be good picks come the start of the season. I was skeptical about the Brandan Pettigrew pick because the Lions had a lot of bigger positional needs like middle linebacker, defensive line, and offensive line. Plus Brandan Pettigrew is a run blocking tight end who has the ability to catch some passes in the red-zone. There were a lot of bad picks though in the later rounds, such as Derrick Williams who is a wide-receiver. He is not a bad player, but he is just not what the Lions need right now. Also, They should not have picked two outside linebackers. They shouldn't have even drafted one! The Lions already have good starters at that position. I would rather have them have drafted a better outside linebacker then DeAndre Levy who is not very good. They also drafted a second tight-end in the seventh round which quite frankly is just dumb. That tight end gives them five total! They also drafted a running back for some reason. Not that we don't have three good ones already. I did like the fact that they drafted Sammie Lee Hill out of Stillman. He will add size to our defensive line.

Dan the Sportsman Says: The Lions had a metiocre draft but that didn't make them worse. Their record should be 4-12.

NBA playoffs

I believe that the Pistons have no chance of winning their series. Neither do the Jazz for that matter. The first seeds, Lakers and Cavaliers, are going to destroy them. It is going to be a four-game sweep. The four and five seeded games are going to be tight throughout this first round. I predict that the Hawks will win their 4 vs. 5 series against the Heat. The Hawks just have more good players then the Heat. In the other 4 vs. 5 series between the Blazers and the Rockets, the Rockets will win because they have more experience. In other series, the Nuggets will beat the Hornets, the Mavericks will beat the Spurs in an upset. The Celtics will beat the Bulls and the Magic will beat the 76ers. The only upset I see going on is the Mavericks over the Spurs and the Bulls over the Celtics in seven.
Dan the Sportsman Says: In the long run the Lakers will be NBA champions because of their size and their depth.

NHL Playoffs

I believe that the NHL playoffs is going to be exciting. Anaheim, the eighth seed took down the team with the best record, the San Jose Sharks 2-0 in their first playoff game. The Red Wings won their game against the Colombus Blue Jackets 4-1 in their game yesterday. The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Flames 3-2. The Canucks beat the Blues 2-1 in a mostly defensive game. The Penguins trounced the Flyers 4-1. Martin Brodeur and the Devils won their first game against the Hurricanes. The Rangers nudge the Capitals aside with a score of 4-3. Bruins beat the Chanadiens 4-3 as well.
Dan the Sportsman Says: The Red Wings are going to repeat as Stanley cup champions.

First Week of MLB

I believe that the first week of Major League Baseball got out to a surprising start. The defending champion Phillies have a record. have a metiocre record of 4-3 and their star player Ryan Howard has only one homer run! The big-shot New York Yankees have a losing record of 3-4 and the Red Sox have a record of 2-5. A lot of teams have been a good surprise though. The San Diego Padres, a team who has not been good for a while now has a record of 6-2. The Atlanta Braves have a division-topping 5-1. The Toronto Blue Jays shockingly lead the supposedly best conference in the league with a record of 6-2 with the Baltimore Orioles not far behind with a nice record of 5-2. The other teams in that division are the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays. Last years big league dissapointment, the Detroit Tigers have an OK record of 4-4.
Dan the Sportsman Says: The Phillies should have a turn-around by the end of the month but there are teams like New York that I just don't see coming back.

NFL Mock Draft: First Round

1. Lions---Matthew Stafford/QB/Georgia
2. Rams---Jason Smith/OT/Baylor
3. Chiefs---Aaron Curry/OLB/Wake Forest
4. Seahawks---Eugene Monroe/OT/Virginia
5. Browns---Chris "Beanie" Wells/RB/Ohio State
6. Bengals---B.J. Raji/DT/Boston College
7. Raiders---Michael Crabtree/WR/Texas Tech
8. Jaguars---Andre Smith/OT/Alabama
9. Packers---Brian Orakpo/DE/Texas
10. 49ers---Tyson Jackson/DE/Louisiana State
11. Bills---Michael Oher/OT/Mississippi
12. Broncos---Aaron Maybin/DE/Penn State
13. Redskins---Mark Sanchez/QB/Southern California
14. Saints---Michael Jenkins/CB/Ohio State
15. Texans---Jeremy Maclin/WR/Missouri
16. Chargers---Everette Brown/DE/Florida State
17. Jets---Vontae Davis/CB/Illinois
18. Bears---Percy Harvin/WR/Florida
19. Buccaneers---Knowshon Moreno/RB/Georgia
20. Lions---Rey Maualuga/MLB/Southern California
21. Eagles---Lesean McCoy/RB/Pittsburgh
22. Vikings---Darrius Heyward-Bey/WR/Maryland
23. Patriots---D.J. Moore/CB/Vanderbilt
24. Falcons---Louis Delmas/S/Western Michigan
25. Dolphins---Alphonso Smith/CB/Wake Forest
26. Ravens---James Laurinaitas/MLB/Ohio State
27. Colts---Sean Smith/CB/Utah
28. Eagles---Brian Cushing/OLB/Southern California
29. Giants---Brandon Pettigrew/TE/Oklahoma State
30. Titans---Peria Jerry/DT/Ole Miss
31. Cardinals---Michael Johnson/DE/Georgia Tech
32. Steelers---Duke Robinson/OG/Oklahoma
Dan the Sportsman Says: I'm not so sure about my late picks but I feel confident in my early ones.
Fun Fact: In my mock draft there are four people with the last name "Smith". That's one-eighth

NCAA Championship Game

I believe that I was right, wasn't I? Well, it was a very unsatisfying game. North Carolina scored early. They were up 15-5 in the first four minutes! At one point they were up by a margin in the mid-twenties. In the end NC won by a score of 89-72. Michigan State just didn't show up to play. 72 points is a lot for Michigan State who usually score in the early sixties. Ty Lawson scored 21 points, had six assists, and stole the ball eight times. Also for North Carolina, Tyler Hansborough had eighteen points and seven rebounds. Wayne Ellington scored nineteen points. For Michigan State, Goran Suton had seventeen points and eleven boards, while Kalin Lucas scored fourteen points and had eight assists.

Dan the Sportsman Says: North Carolina is just the better team. Unfortunately, their two best players Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansborough are going to the NBA. Good luck next year Michigan State!

Final Four

I believe that the two best NCAA teams have advanced. If you may recall, I predicated that Michigan State would win their game against Connecticut. They were the winners. I also said that North Carolina was going to win, and they did. The Michigan State versus UCONN game was close the whole way through, except for the end for course. The final score was 82-73. I didn't really watch the North Carolina versus Villanova game but NC had a big win. The final score was 83-69. In that game Ty Lawson scored 22 points with eight assists. In the Michigan State game Kalin Lucas scored 21 points. Hasheem Thabeet for UCONN had 17 points and two blocks.

Dan the Sportsman Says: North Carolina is the best team out there and they will win this one last game.

Lions' Draft Pick

I believe that the Lions should draft Jason Smith with the first pick. I say that they shouldn't pick Matthew Stafford because you could put Peyton Manning in the Lion backfield and he wouldn't have enough time to throw an accurate pass. Therefore, we need to draft offensive line before they can even think about drafting a quarterback. In my opinion, the best way to go is to trade the newly acquired Julian Peterson to the Broncos for Jay Cutler. Lions need a quarterback and the Broncos need an outside linebacker. Plus this would open up a spot to draft Aaron Curry, another outside linebacker. With the twentieth pick they should draft Percy Harvin because we only have one good wide receiver. With the thirty-third pick they should draft Peria Jerry. Because we don't have a defensive line.

Dan the Sportsman Says: The Lions should not trade that number one pick. They desperately need it.

Tigers

I believe that the Detroit Tigers are going to have a disastrous season. They have, in my opinion, the worst pitching in the entire league. They have some fire power behind the plate such as Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera. In the outfield they have the best fielding outfielder Curtis Granderson. He can also hit fifteen homers per season. They have good defense, especially in the infield. Placido Polanco, Miguel Cabrera, and Carlos Guillen. All with low error rates. The fact that they still have Fernando Rodney, who could blow a game when you are up ten points, is still on the team. Right now the best pitcher on that roster is Armando Galarraga.
Dan the Sportsman Says: The Tigers are looking at 100 losses this season

United Football League

I believe that the UFL (United Football League) will be fun to watch. The AFL (Arena Football League) got the ax lately, so now there is an opening for semi-professional football players. Right now, the UFL has seven teams and should only have seven for the upcoming season. None of these teams are in my area, though. So far there will be teams in San Francisco, Hartford, Orlando, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Sacramento. I don't know any players or coaches or any of the names of the teams for that matter. The only thing I know is that it is going to be great to watch a new kind of football.

Dan the Sportsman Says: Go to ufl-football.com and vote for the names of the new football teams.

Fourth Round of March Madness

I believe that the Elite Eight was not a big surprise. As you may recall, I said that Michigan State and Villanova were on upset alert and they both won! Now there are four teams left in the tournament. North Carolina, Connecticut, Michigan State, and Villanova. Connecticut and Michigan State will play, and North Carolina and Villanova will play. The games will be played on April 4th. Michigan State really blew out Louisville. It was a surprise to me that the game was not at all close throughout. The North Carolina game was not close either. The only close game was the Villanova game, which they won by two last-second points.

Dan the Sportsman Says: Michigan State will upset UCONN because they are more experienced and Tom Izzo is one of the best NCAA coaches no matter what anyone says. Also North Carolina will win.

Third Round of March Madness

The third round was a disaster! There were no upsets. Besides from the Villanova at Duke game. I don't like Oklahoma one bit, which is why I was hoping Johnny Flynn and Syracuse would beat them. One game that came down to the wire was the Michigan State vs. Kansas game. It was tied down to the last minute! Michigan State came out on top. Another close call for the head coach Tom Izzo. Again all of the first seeds advance to the the Elite Eight. All but one of the first seeds won by a score of more than twelve. On upset alert is Villanova over Pittsburgh, and Michigan State over Louisville. Neither of the first seeds, Pittsburgh and Louisville still have a lot to prove and Villanova has really been hot.

Dan the Sportsman Says: It looks like another Final Four of one seeds.

Draft Talk

I believe that the Lions should trade the first pick in the draft to Denver for Jay Cutler. Cutler is one of the elite quarterbacks at a very young age. He is only twenty-five years old. The Lions still don't know what they are going to do with the pick and the Broncos could use it to draft Aaron Curry. We can still get someone good with the number twenty pick such as James Laurinaitas who is a middle linebacker from Ohio State, or maybe William Moore, a safety from Missouri. Both have shown that they have talent on defense. I was also thinking that they should take a quarterback with the the 33rd pick. Preferably Pat White. He is a very fast quarterback who also has a cannon of an arm.

Dan the Sportsman Says: Nothing can hurt the Lions at this point. Whatever they do will help. Whoever they draft will help.

More Basketball Playoffs

The NBA regular season is coming to an end, yet we still don't know who the eight seed is going to be in the Eastern or Western Conferences! I love the Phoenix Suns, but if they don't go on a big winning streak soon, then they won't make the playoffs. I know Shaq is trying to have fun and all, but he needs to get his team into the playoffs before he starts messing around. In the East is where there is the most chaos. There are five, maybe six, teams fighting for the last two playoff spots. Right now it looks like the Pistons are going to be one of those teams. They have experience and young talent to make a deep run in the playoffs. I also think the other team will be the Bulls. They destroyed the Pistons yesterday and ended up with a eight-point victory. At one point they were up by 20 points! They have the best young point guard in the league in Derrick Rose.

Dan the Sportsman Says: The Bucks, Knicks, Pacers, Bobcats will not make the playoffs in the East this year.

18 games per NFL season?

I believe that 18 games is better for the NFL season. I say this because the National Football League's season is way too short -- only sixteen games. All of the owners of the teams in the league will vote in May to increase the number of games for every team starting this upcoming season. If the number of games per season were changed to eighteen, there would be no preseason games. You could ask any player in the NFL what they think about the preseason and they would all say that they hate it. They especially hate the chance of injury before the season even starts. It would also take away the chance for teams like the Lions to be preseason champions again. In the preseason they went 4-0 last year, but during the regular season their record stood at 0-16.

Dan the Sportsman Says: They should change the number of games, it will make everyone happier (except the 16-0 Patriots who could have their record broken).

Second Round of March Madness

I believe that the second round of March Madness had no upsets. There were a lot of teams that came close such as USC who only lost by five, Marquette who lost by four, Western Kentucky lost by a last second shot, Texas only lost by five, and Sienna lost by seven but it was closer down the stretch then the score showed. Louisville looked shaky in their win so they better change something because they may not make the elite eight. I am a big Southern California fan. All of the one seeds, such as UCONN, North Carolina, Louisville, and Pittsburgh are Still around. Same goes for the two and three seeds. On upset alert is Villanova over Duke and Syracuse over Oklahoma.

Dan the Sportsman Says: North Carolina is still favored to win after Ty Lawson's big return against LSU

First Round of March Madness

I believe that the first round of the NCAA Tournament went pretty much how I thought. In the first round, I only got three games wrong. The Western Kentucky-Illinois game. The Louisiana State-Butler game. And especially the big shocker, Cleveland State over Wake Forest. Which I am still recovering from. All the number one seeds made it through to the 2nd round, which is no surprise to me or anyone else for that matter. In fact, a 16th seed has never beaten a first seed. One seeds are 100-0 against sixteen seeds. In the Cleveland State on top of Wake Forest game., the thirteen seed Cleveland State beat the four seed Wake Forest. It wasn't tight either, it was a fifteen point game! It was, in my opinion, the best upset game so far. I knew that most of the other upset games were going to happen. The Dayton-West Virginia game and the Arizona-Utah game were just a couple.
Dan the Sportsman Says: I'm not budging, North Carolina is still going to win the Championship.