4/25: My ludicrous Braves experience, NBA Playoffs, NFL Draft, etc....

Okay, Before I get to real sports....My friend Josh had his 23rd birthday yesterday and...long story short....I ended up getting to go with him and his parents to sit in the brand new Suntrust seats right behind the plate at Turner Field...like I'm talking 3rd row in view of the TV cameras....It was the craziest sporting experience I have ever had that had nothing to do with the game....free food all night and the best seat I've ever sat in for everything...had to share....Thanks J...Moving on....

• Rockets...WIN!???! In Utah.....Okay, let me be the first to say I thought this series was going to be a sweep after Utah won the first 2 in Houston....Utah was a ridiculous 37-4 at home this year and Houston wasn't playing well...but hey, it's the NBA....everybody makes a run right? lol.....People are making too much out of T-Mac's "improbable late explosion"...he scored 7 points in 3:30...not that crazy people....The story to me was Rafer Alston coming back with 20 and providing a huge lift....It's still Utah's series but last night caught me off-guard...
• The Wiz pound the Cavs....This doesn't necessarily shock me (sans the margin of victory) because the Cavs notoriously lay eggs on the road and Washington is capable of big-time offensive outbursts....Agent Zero looks to be quite shaky though and his status going forward is uncertain...but as I've been saying for weeks....ESPECIALLY right now, I think they are a better team without him b/c they played without him all year, and Caron Butler looks lost when Gil's on the floor right now...just an observation...
• Toronto holds serve on Orlando....Free Jose Calderon!!! 18 and 13 dimes is pretty good..in 25! minutes.....get him on the floor....more...now......Actually I can't hate on TJ Ford from last night and they got 39 and 16 from the PG position (wow) but I still think Calderon is the better option....if only they could play together....I maintain that they can against Orlando because whoever is playing the 2 for the Magic isn't gonna light Calderon up on the other end...but it would be an interesting experiment....not one you can just pull out in a playoff series though

Other stuff.....

• Full NFL Draft Mode commences....I think literally year-long coverage of this is insane...but it's worth the hype when you get there if your team has significant picks because the top 2 or 3 rounds produce starters usually (except at QB) right out of the gate....And this is a huge one for my Falcons in that they have 6 picks in the first 98 and 4 picks in the top 48....conceivably could land 4 starters if they don't package the deals to move up.....On the record, I would do anything I could to NOT take Matt Ryan at 3 but if they do...man, I hope he works out.....
• Do you think Brett Favre will contract a serious disease or something now that the Madden Curse has been passed to a guy who isn't currently playing? All kidding aside...it's crazy how the Madden Curse always seems to hit....as a conspiracy guy, no way am I ever doing it if I'm an active player...
• MLB: Cliff Lee is a madman....another crazy CG Shutout and his ERA is...drumroll please....0.28!...wow....Chipper Jones is knocking the cover off the ball right now with another 3-3 with a HR last night...you can tell he's just seeing a beach ball up there right now (and a sidenote to the Braves win...is there any better looking young SS in the majors NOT named Ramirez or Reyes than Yunel Escobar? I don't think so)....Nobody looks more impressive in person than Hanley Ramirez....just for the record.....The Tigers' bats are still alive...8 more runs and they've won 8 of 11....just gotta get Justin Verlander going....Things are VERY wrong with Francisco Liriano...the former phenom rookie got pounded to the tune of 0.2 IP, 6 ER last night and fell to 0-3...I feel bad for the guy....always sad to see injuries derail a promising career....maybe he'll get it back....
• Have you seen this story about Stanford offering their head men's basketball job to LARRY BROWN!? He reportedly turned it down anyway...but there's no way I'm offering a big-time college job to the guy who will leave in about 3/4 of a season....get outta here....
• Last thing...I've heard blog criticisms of the Milwaukee Bucks trying to hire Kelvin Sampson as an assistant....I don't understand the outrage...The guy can flatout coach and since there are no recruiting violations to be had in the NBA, why doesn't he fit? For all the "character issues" he has....he didn't pay players or anything...he contacted recruits too much (the last time with text messages).....chill....he can coach, I'd hire him in the NBA too

Hiatus tomorrow as I have a ridiculously packed day of music and the first Hawks home playoff game in 9 years! Here's hoping I have a great sports day tomorrow....Come on Tom Dmitroff and the Playoff-Bound (well I guess we're there?) Hawks....