Weekend Observations

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine on Saturday with regards to the Miami Heat.  He questioned whether or not it was wise of me to take the Heat vs. the field to win the championship.  From a mathematical perspective it's not the safest bet, but all things considered I still fell pretty confident about it and Sunday's game against the Pacers certainly helped.  As if it wasn't tough enough to stop the Heat with just LeBron and D Wade going off Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers decided to pitch in.  Bosh had 24 points shooting 11-15 from the field and Chamlers added 26 shooting 5-6 from 3 point range. 

If they can get that kind of production from those two guys we may have to start asking ourselves can they sweep the playoffs.  The only thing standing in the Heat's way is complacency.  They may have peaked a little too early winning their last 18 games in a row or they might get bored waiting for the games to have more meaning.  Either ways it goes all they have to do is flip the switch and it all comes back to them.  The team is too talented and the rest of the league is playing for 2nd place.  Here are some observations over the weekend.

Tiger Woods came back looking like Tiger Woods at the WGC-Cadillac Championship winning by two strokes over Steve Stricker.  It was the 17th time Tiger has won at Doral.  The next closest player has won there 3 times.  There's dominant and then there's Tiger Woods.  If he can win a major or two this year we may forget about window bashing episode a few years back.

Although the US was able to advance in the WBC it's pretty clear the best players in the world aren't American born.  I'd hate to see what a Caribbean all star team would look like.  Baseball is to Dominicans and Puerto Ricans what basketball is to the inner city.  it's a way out of poverty and despair.  As the sport declines in popularity here in the states it's never been bigger in those countries.

Utah, Houston, and Golden St. are suddenly on choke alert as the Lakers have won 16 of their last 22 games and currently have the 8th seed in the Western conference.  Over the last 8 games (before Sunday afternoon) Kobe Bryant is averaging 36 points 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game.  Steve Nash has found his shot and Dwight Howard is cleaning the glass like a Windex employee.  I'm still not 100% positive they will make the playoffs, but the Black Mamba's guarantee has certainly motivated the Lakers to play inspired ball.

Free agency has begun and in typical Pete Carroll fashion the Seahawks are looking to add Percy Harvin.  At his best Harvin is one of the most explosive players in the NFL.  At his worst he suffers from migraines and has a history of injuries.  For now I'm ok with the deal even if the Seahawks have to give up a 1st round pick to get him.  Your thoughts?