The NBA Playoffs & NFL Draft

David R.

April 23, 2010 - 3:00 PM

The NBA playoffs are barely underway and already the excitement is building. After stealing game one in Phoenix, the Portland Trailblazers have been blown out during their last two contests. The one seed Los Angeles Lakers dropped a game to the Thunder in Oklahoma City last night (second in a row). The Denver-Utah series, the one that has been chosen by ESPN analysts as the one that is most likely to go seven games, has been taken over by Utah at two games to one. Utah was able to snag a game in Denver before heading home to Salt Lake City. It is imperative that the Nuggets take at least on game in Utah. Utah's home court advantage worries me a bit because like Portland, Salt Lake City's only professional sports franchise in the Jazz. Fans come out whole-heartedly to support their only team. This will undoubtably make for quite a hostile environment.

As the NBA playoffs are moving along, the 2010 NFL draft is underway. As expected, Sam Bradford went first overall to the Saint Louis Rams. There were definitely some surprises as well. Dez Bryant, Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy were un-drafted after the first round. Clausen was the third best passer in the nation last year , McCoy led the Longhorns to the national championship game and Dez Bryant was one of the best receivers in college football.

The Denver Broncos went with some interesting moves on day one of the draft. Originally the Broncos had the eleventh pick in the first round. McDaniels and owner pat bowlen decided to trade up three times to be put in position to acquire the University of Florida great Tim Tebow. Many were surprised that Tebow went so early in the draft. He wasn't considered a first rounder by analysts, especially considering that Jimmy Clausen was still on the table. Nonetheless, I have confidence in Tebow. Granted he wasn't the best passer in college, but he has been working meticulously to change his throwing motion so that he can be more effective via air mail. The media was and still is in love with Tebow, so I feel he is the perfect guy to be the face of Denver's franchise. Denver's current quarterback situation is weak. Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn are far from what any logical thinker would consider to be a productive pair. Orton was a part of Denver's epic fail during the 2009-2010 season. He has shown that he is rather in-capable of leading a team the way Elway did.

This weekend my parents came out to visit me. It can be hard to go home for spring break so I hadn't seen my parents since January. It was great to see them again after being gone from home for so long. We ate at P.F. Changs on Friday night and my parents were able to meet all of my roommates.

On Saturday, I showed them around town a little bit. We drove by the new baseball field that neither of them had seen yet, and we also took a drive up to the historic Pre's rock. After a delicious meal we went over and checked out a few innings of the baseball game. The Ducks weren't able to hold on unfortunately, losing to USC in extra innings.

The day's last stop was at Prince Puckler's, a popular icre cream parlor just past Hayward Field. President Obama made a stop here on his way out of town after making a campaign speech. The ice cream is phenomenal and may be the best in Eugene.

Hanging out with my parents was a nice change of pace. I was finally able to go to my first baseball game of the season, which I have always meant to do, but always felt like I didn't have time. Week five is coming up. I'm hitting the books early so I can watch the Nuggets game tonight. Gotta have a win.