- Tonight the Sixers should finish-off the Miami Heat and move on to round two of the NBA playoffs. Think of that: Only two years ago the team won 10 games all season. Now Joel Embiid plays his very first- and not to be his last- home playoff game. I look for him to come up big, as well as the entire team, not wanting to return to Miami for a Game 6.
- The Phillies hope to continue their winning ways against the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks. Taking a series from the tough D-backs would show me something. The sexy game of the three-game series is Wednesday night when Jake Arrieta faces Zach Greinke. Nice to have a true No. 1 starter to match vs other aces in the league.
Each day with Gabe Kapler's line-up is like going to a Bruce Springsteen concert- you never know the line-up. The Boss changes his set-list nightly. Kapler changes his line-up daily as well. Will Franco sit and Kingery play third again/ What about shortstop for Crawford? Odubel is hitting well but when will he get a break?
- The Eagles continue to prepare for the upcoming draft. I still think they trade down to collect a few more picks. Is getting a No. 2 and No. 3 for the 32nd overall selection good enough? No. 32 is a prime spot as teams may want to jump up and take a first round type quality guy with low first round money.
Speaking of the Birds, controversy is brewing about whether the team should go to the White House for the traditional Super Bowl-winning ceremony with the president. In this case a few of the players have already spoken out that they won't go to meet with President Trump. That's fine. As with the standing for the National Anthem, everyone has a right. So does the team and organization want to show solidarity and not go if a few players back out of the invitation? What about the people who want to experience the White House and who are Trump supporters?
- Baseball: some random thoughts as we ease into another April week of baseball. The weather is slowly warming and so are the races...
AL East- The Red Sox are 17-4 and reminding the Yankees who still rules in the division. The Bosox did lose two straight in Oakland over the weekend, including getting no-hit. Their hot start has overshadowed the Blue Jays' good start at 13-8. The Yankees are 12-9 and may be coming out of their early-season funk. Tampa Bay and Baltimore are as expected- bad teams.
AL Central- Cleveland is the only club in this division that is playing over .500 ball. The twins remain a long-term threat but I see the Indians as having few problems this summer. Detroit, the White Sox and Kansas City all seem to be in rebuilding mode.
AL West- Houston and Anaheim should have a good battle all year. Mike Trout already leads the majors with nine home runs. Seattle will be on the bubble for a wild card spot, nut no one else will threaten in this division.
NL East- The Phillies are the big story here. Vegas has recalculated their odds and now the Phils have the best odds of actually winning the East at 36%. The Nationals are second with 30%. The current front-runner, the Mets, are only a 24% favorite to win the division. Washington is 5 1/2 games back. You know they will surge sooner or later, so every Nationals loss is good long-term. Atlanta will trend water all year, unless rookie Ronald Ocuna shines as expected. The Marlins are a hopeless cause.
NL Central- The Pirates were on top of this division until they were swept four games in Philly. St. Louis is always in the mix, as they are now. Ditto Milwaukee. The Cubs are lurking, only a pair of games back of first. The Reds are already looking forward to next season.
NL West- Big-time series for first place Arizona this week in Philadelphia. Don't look now but suddenly the Dodgers are over .500 and in second place in the division, only four behind the Diamondbacks. The Giants and Rockies are around .500 and the Padres are seven out, waiting for their prospects in the best farm system in baseball to emerge.
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