PSoTD

Can we please end it now, for the Reds? I was ready to pull the plug before it started.

I don't know about EVERYTHING, but I think there's a lot of merit in this post by The Cynic:

I have always felt that you can tell everything about a person by playing basketball with them.

How much do they shoot?
Do they set screens?
Do they rebound?
Do they box out?
Do they help on defense?
How fast do they get down on defense?
Does their man beat them down the floor?
Do they make the extra pass?
How do they react when they miss or make a bad play?
Do they play hard when they are losing or winning?

Not many sports show a lack of effort like basketball. If one player is not doing their job, the other four suffer greatly.

I like the idea of a basketball lover being in the White House.

This batting stance isn't for everyone.

(No, not anyone from our league, even)

Could not have asked for a more beautiful day to begin our son's baseball season yesterday. Sunny. 83 degrees! Slight breeze to keep everyone from getting TOO hot.

Predictions.

Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets.
Dallas Mavericks beat the New Orleans Hornets.
San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns.
Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz.

Lakers beat the Mavericks.
Spurs beat the Rockets.

Lakers beat the Spurs.

As opposed to the East, I'm not very confident about these picks. The Mavericks are a hunch. In the first round, the predicted loser could end up winning the series and I wouldn't be surprised - except for the Nuggets. Denver is not going to beat Los Angeles. If Rafer Alston doesn't come back quick, I think Utah will end up beating Houston.

Will predict the West when the seedings for the first round are set.

Boston beats Atlanta
Detroit beats Philadelphia
Orlando beats Toronto
Washington beats Cleveland

Boston beats Washington
Detroit beats Orlando

Detroit beats Boston

Well ...it was worth a try.

Beantown-loving construction worker Gino Castignoli, who lives in The Bronx, confessed to The Post last week that he buried a Red Sox slugger David Ortiz jersey at the site last summer while working at the stadium.

After reading about the traitorous act in The Post, the two workers approached a construction manager and said they remembered Castignoli, who only worked at the Stadium one day, and thought they knew where he must have placed the shirt.

They led the manager to a service corridor near the site of the planned Legends Club restaurant, behind home plate and toward the third base side.

After the hardhats pointed to the spot, workers brought out jackhammers and dug furiously for five hours, creating a 2-foot- by-3-foot, gravel-filled pit in their search for the tainted threads.

They spotted the jersey at 3:25 p.m. and called Yankee brass. The cursed shirt was about two feet deep in cement.

...

"I hope his coworkers kick the shit out of him," said George's boy, who now runs the team with his brother Hal.

Hank put no stock in talk of curses or in Castignoli's cruel bid to hex the Yankees' new $1.3 billion home.

A buried jersey, he reassured worried fans, means nothing.

"It's a bunch of bullshit," Hank said.

But Castignoli scoffed at the top Yankee honcho's ready dismissal.

"So, then, why is he making such a big stink about it?" asked the would-be hexer. "If it's no big deal, why not let it lay? Apparently, it's bothering him.

"Tell Hank he can come meet me if he wants to try - and tell him to bring [catcher Jorge] Posada, because he's the one Yankee I can't stand."

All class, that Steinbrenner kid!

For those who like to have a little statistical analysis of NBA players, Basketball Monster seems like a cool stop.

Our son had a buddy over yesterday and I was driving his buddy back to his house, and I asked both of them about their favorite teams. When we got to hockey, well, our son doesn't know much about it, we don't follow it at home. But he insisted that the Hershey Bears were his favorite team.

"Why?"

"Because they're really good at hockey fights" was the answer.

"Really? Is that important?"

"Yeah! They fight, and they knock the other team unconscious with their punches, and then it's easy to score!"

Oh, so that's hockey...

but c'mon, this is embarrassing...

Coming from Indiana, where both my mom's and dad's families lived for generations, it became a family requirement to root for Indiana-based colleges in various sports, and in no sport is that more important than in hoops. Indiana, Purdue, Butler, Evansville, Notre Dame, Indiana State, even lesser known schools like Ball State and junior colleges such as Vincennes University, have rich hoops history that demands the Hoosier-born to respect it.

Indiana University has had a less-than-spectacular basketball history for a long time now, dating back to the last few years of the Bobby Knight era. For the first time in a while, it appears they have hired a coach that might bring IU back to a dominance that Hoosiers expect and desire. Good luck, Tom Crean.

It sure seems like more than ten years since Michael Jordan scored in an NBA game.

I guess that's kind of how I feel about golf rap videos. Some people like lima beans. Some people like sushi. I'm not any of those people.

I don't know about you, but I expect my MSNBC personalities to be able to run a 15 second 100 yard dash. Anything less from a man is prissy.

I predict that the Lopez Twins will be the biggest sibling busts the NBA has ever experienced. I know, easy prediction, but still... They are surprisingly weak in the middle for 7-footers. They will get eaten alive in the NBA. They won't be there long. Dear Sacramento - do not draft one of these guys.