And 5 things I do like this weekend

1. The Western Conference playoffs. Every one of these matchups is incredibly compelling (I may be pushing it wth the Houston-Utah series, but both of the teams still happen to have be very good teams). The Warriors and Nuggets are making us happy that the first-round was expanded to 7 because this may be the first year that the number 1 and 2 seeds need all seven just to advance. The only bad thing is that the best player in the universe may not advance to the second round, which would be a shame (Hey Lakers, go out and get KG. We get it, Kobe can't win by himself. Now get him some help.)

2. The Red Sox. OK, I know that the standings in April mean as much as a one-run lead with Mariano Rivera in the game right now, but this is fun. The Sawx have the most wins in the league. The Yankees have the second fewest And the Bombers have blown four straight leads in baseball's version of the Peloponnesian war. I am enjoying every minute of this and eagerly looking forward to when Steinbrenner goes Jerry Jones on us.

3. The NFL Draft. Yes, despite how long the draft is, it fills us with plenty to talk about. JaMarcus Russell in silver and black. Tony Kornheiser letting us know how miserable he is sitting there. The Patriots adding to their already-chamionship-caliber squad. This classic video (too bad the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS wised up and took a playbook from the Pats by hiring Belichick's protege or else that video would have needed a 2007 upgrade). And probably my new favorite... the annual which WR are the Detroit Lions going to take with their first round pick (by the way, as I write this, Calvin Johnson is just finding out he is being selected by the, surprise, surprise Detroit Lions. Is Matt Millen the George Bush of NFL GM's or vice versa? I don't know). And on that topic, two final thoughts.

3b. This gem of a clip deserves its own topic. Welcome USC Strength Coach Chuck Berry and his "unorthodox" teaching methods..

4. JaMarcus Russell vs. Brady Quinn. Add this one to the Bledsoe-Mirer, Manning-Leaf, Carr-Harrington (Ok, forgot the last one) QB battles. And this one may be the most intriguing one for so many different reasons. This is the ultimate battle: pretty-boy vs. African-American quarterback. We will hear about Quinn's intelligence and smarts while Russell is pigeonholed into the stereotypical role of the black quarterback (ironic since if anyone watched the Sugar Bowl, it was Russell who made good decision after good decision, while Quinn floundered). I actually think both are going to be pretty good, but then again, I also thought Joe Don't-Forget-The-Y Harrington was also going to be a great.

5. Mel Kiper Jr. This guy is a classic and should be forced to analyze everything from politics to movies. Are you telling me he wouldn't immediately make any telecast that much more exciting. He should even be hired to analyze individual people. You could make a fortune analyzing everything in the world Mel, why limit yourself?