Let's Play Two
The Dodgers and Padres narrowly avoided playing two full games yesterday, with the Dodgers winning a 5-4 marathon in 17 innings. All pitchers and bench players on both teams were used up, except for Wilson Betemit. He and Grady claim he was unavailable because of food poisoning due to some bad chicken wings he ate the night before. I claim he was unavailable because of his .133 batting average.

Chief Medlock
It's never a good thing when the best player on your football team is the kicker. Alas, that was the case with UCLA this season. The Kansas City Chiefs took Justin Medlock with the 2nd pick in the 5th round, making him both the first kicker and first Bruin selected. Only, no other Bruin was drafted. We should all be happy that the win over USC made Bruin fans forget that the rest of the season was painfully mediocre. Anyway, Medlock figures to win the job in KC from Lawrence Tynes; if not immediately then at some time during the season for sure. Tynes made only 56% of his kicks from 40-49 yards this past season, a distance Medlock made with 76% accuracy at UCLA.

NBA Playoffs
The playoffs have been a little wacky this year. Miami got swept by the Bulls and the Nets are up 3-1 on Toronto. But by far the biggest surprise has to be Golden State repeatedly spanking the Dallas Mavericks on their way to a 3-1 lead in the series.

Even though the Warriors swept Dallas in the regular season, I am stunned by what is happening in this series. The Mavs have yet to display any semblance of a playoff mode and don't seem to be playing with any sense of urgency. They're just bending over and handing Baron Davis the lube. Golden State, on the other hand, is playing furiously. Their small ball tactics employ a swarming defense and a demoralizing drive-and-kick game that's ridiculously fun to watch. Why is this happening? Perhaps Dirk isn't really the MVP-level player we all thought he was. Perhaps Avery Johnson (the student) is being outcoached by his old mentor Don Nelson (the master). Perhaps Baron Davis is healthy for the first time since he was 6 years old. All viable reasons, but the most likely has to be: Bruins on the Warriors: 2. Bruins on the Mavs: 0.

Randy Moss: Patriot
By now you all must have heard the Raiders traded Randy Moss to New England for a 4th round pick. In the past few months, the Pats' top two recievers have gone from Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell to Randy Moss and Donte Stallworth. Amazing. Bill Belichik's genius shines again. After getting blasted all last season for leaving Tom Brady with no tools to work with, the Patriots are the clear-cut Superbowl favorites going into this season. Considering they were millions under the cap last year and were only one drive away from the big game, they have to be. I just can't wait for the annual Pats/Colts game and the possibility that Moss might moon Peyton Manning.