General

Shanoff’s W.U.C.: Celtics, Crawford, A-Rod

May 4, 2009, 12:07 PM UTC

Today’s Calls: Celtics vs. Magic, A-Rod vs. Insecurity, Carl Crawford vs. Jason Varitek, Sean O’Hair vs. Tiger Woods, Brett Favre vs. Green Bay and More.â†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: OK, so now what?â†µ

â†µâ†µWe now reach the dull middle of the NBA Playoffs. Sure, the Celtics-Bulls series was epic -- even if Game 7 was an anti-climactic dud compared with the rest of the series.â†µ

â†µâ†µSo the Celtics survived: Is there that much intrigue over whether they will get past the Magic? (I suppose it is mildly interesting to see whether the C’s expended themselves so much over the last 3 weeks with the Bulls that the Magic can steal home-court advantage with a win in Boston tonight.)â†µ

â†µâ†µWe are back to the inevitable: The Lakers will beat the Rockets (starting tonight). The Cavs will cruise past the Hawks (starting tomorrow). Both favorites will roll in the conference finals.â†µ

â†µâ†µIn the end, Celtics-Bulls was fun while it lasted ... but ultimately meaningless -- a distraction from the dominance happening in L.A. and Cleveland.â†µ

â†µâ†µThere is a reason that 1st-round series -- heck, almost every playoff series -- are almost entirely forgotten. There is just no time for the Celtics (or fans) to revel in any sort of success. â†µ

â†µâ†µSpeaking of forgotten, the Finals favorites are still rolling along -- like headliners waiting on the cheers for the opening act to peter off.â†µ

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â†µMore NBA Playoffs: The Mavs had as much success with the Nuggets as they did during the regular season. ... If Celtics-Bulls was a contender for Best 7-Game 1st-Round Series Ever (see Last Word below), was Hawks-Heat a contender for Worst 7-Game 1st-Round Series Ever?â†µ

â†µâ†µA-Rod, Cont’d: The new book about him comes out today, and its underlying theory is that his whole deal is about ... working out daddy issues?â†µ

â†µâ†µMLB Talking Points:â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Milestone Watch: Crawford steals 6â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Red Sox-Yankees, Cont’d: Zzz ... didn’t they JUST play?â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Who’s the bigger 2009 dud: CC or C-Lee?â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Strasburg Mania: Nats can’t screw this up.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Rookie Watch: Matt LaPorta picks tough day to debut.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Fantasy Stud: Justin Verlander (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 11 K)â†µ

â†µâ†µNHL Playoffs: This would be the play of the playoffs so far.â†µ

â†µâ†µGolf: Hey, Sean O’Hair didn’t choke to Tiger this time. (And the sport is worse for it -- when Tiger doesn’t win, everyone loses.)â†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Offseason: How long do you think Kellen Clemens lasts as the Jets’ “QB1?” I’ll give it through the end of August, tops.â†µâ†µ

â†µâ†µFavre Watch: What kind of “hero” makes his decisions out of spite?â†µ

â†µâ†µInfrastructure: Horrible news about the paralyzed Cowboys scouting assistant.â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Awards: Warkentien wins Exec of the Year. When the Nuggets folded in the 2008 playoffs and the team traded away Marcus Camby, its defensive linchpin, for a 2nd-round pick, you could hear the howls across the league. But the trade for Billups swung things the other way -- it was one of the best moves by an executive this decade.â†µ

â†µâ†µRIP: Jack Kemp, AFL QB and longtime politician. Loved football, hated taxes.â†µ

â†µâ†µDerby: Why SHOULD Mine That Bird run in the Preakness? All that can happen from here is that his legend erodes. When you’re a 50-to-1 shot who puts on one of the most amazing spurts in the history of the Kentucky Derby, there isn’t anywhere to go but down.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: With the Celtics-Bulls series behind us, it can now be said definitively -- it was NOT the best 1st-round NBA Playoff series ever: Warriors-Mavs in 2007 was the best ever. Boston-Chicago had better individual games, but Warriors-Mavs was the first 8-over-1 in a 7-game NBA series.â†µ

â†µâ†µDan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff. â†µ

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