The "IF" factor: An early look at the MLB pennant race

The "IF" factor post I did for the NBA playoffs was received well by you guys so I decided to go with the same format to break down the playoff race in the MLB. This time with a little more truth and a little less humour but before I get down to business it must be said that I have separated the pretenders from the contenders and bottom line is...

"IF" baseball allowed 30 teams into the playoffs then I would be talking about the following teams: Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Florida Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Miwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona D'Backs

Now lets break it down...

American League East
"IF" Big Papi slows down on the big pimpin'
"IF" Jonathan Papelbon keeps the Mohawk for the season
... then the Boston Red Sox will win the AL East

"IF" A-Rod can concentrate on baseball rather than writing bedtime stories
"IF" Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle can make up for the loss of the entire outfield
... then the New York Yankees will win the AL East

"IF" The Jays actually go 1 month with the same pitching rotation
"IF" The Yankees and Red Sox beat up on each other in September
... then the Toronto Blue Jays have a chance to win the AL East

American League Central
"IF" the rookie pitchers can hold down fort for the next two months
... the the Detroit Tigers will win the AL Central

"IF" Ozzie Guillen stops taking the spotlight away from the team
...then the Chicago White Sox will win the AL Central

"IF" the team keeps beating up their division
... then the Minnesota Twins will win the AL Central

American League West
"IF" Barry Zito is still in Green come September
... then the Oakland Athletics will win the AL West

"IF" they revert back to being the "Anaheim Angels"
... then the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will win the AL West

"IF" they decide to play like they can and go on a mini run
... then the Texas Rangers will win the AL West

"IF" Kenji Johjima can find an easier way to communicate with his pitchers
... then the Seattle Mariners will win the AL West

National League East"IF" the earth keeps revolving
... then the New York Mets will win the NL East

National League Central
"IF" they can get help in the outfield or at the mound
"IF" Busch Stadium can avoid further natural disasters
... then the St Louis Cardinals will win the NL Central

"IF" Ken Griffey Jr. can get his mojo back
"IF" Elizardo Ramirez is still making headlines in September
... the the Cincinnati Reds have a chance to win the NL Central

National League West
"IF" they can get Mike Piazza to show them how to go on a win streak
... then the San Diego Padres will win the NL West

"IF" Bary Bonds is vindicated
... then the San Francisco Giants will win the NL West

"IF" they keep up this "revival" approach for the rest of the season
... then the Colorado Rockies might win the NL West

"IF" Jered Weaver can keep up this record breaking pace of wins/starts
... then the Los Angeles Dodgers will win the NL West

The "IF" Factor : Breaking down round 2 of the NBA Playoffs

LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM?

Well that was totally anti-climactic... Kobe Bryant was MIA for game 7 against Phoenix and being the Kobe hater that I am I was thrilled. He came out to play but when he realized his team was not going to be able to pull it off he went AWOL. My theory ... Once the Lakers were down 15 he started passing the ball to the rest of his team, who for the most part don't belong in the NBA and when they lose he can say he got them the shots they didn't make them... blah blah team player blah blah... Youth in the playoffs... But really the Lakers were down on the Raptors by 20 points the day Kobe decided to go nuts on us all and drop 81 points. You tellin me he couldn't even try to win this game on his own somethin he is done all season long?

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Round 2 is underway and I am a little late for a preview (blame the good weather) so I decided to go with the humor approach to break down the series. Every game has some players that are tagged the "X" - Factor so here is my version with my "IF" factor for each team to get to the next round.

(#2) Miami Heat v/s (#3) New Jersey Nets


IF Shaq can arrest Vince for faking an injury
IF Dwayne Wade can stop wearing those pantyhose
IF Jason Williams can go back to being "White Chocolate"
IF Antoine Walker figures out a way to become useful on the court
IF Alonzo Mourning thanks Vince for asking for a trade which in turn got Zo to Miami
IF Gary Payton can stop trash talking and actually start playing ball
IF the Miami Heat never again don the Floridians uniform


... Then the Miami Heat will win this series.


IF Vince Carter doesn't have a graduation to attend...
IF Richard Jefferson can bribe Jason Kidd to pass him the ball from time to time
IF Jason Kidd can keep his manchild of a kid away from the press conferences
IF Nenad Kristic pulls a "Raja Bell" on Shaq
IF Uncle Cliffy would reveal what age defying pills he has been taking
IF John Thomas can enjoy his 15 minutes of fame
IF Lawrence Frank can grow some facial hair


... Then the New Jersey Nets will win this series.

My Prediction: Miami in 6
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(#1) Detroit Pistons v/s (#4) Cleveland Cavaliers

IF Rasheed Wallace can find a way to hide that hideous patch on the top of his head
IF Chauncy Billups shows Larry Hughes how to make a shot in a playoff game
IF Ben Wallace releases the FRO
IF Tayshaun Prince shows Lebron what playing against a real defender is
IF Richard Hamilton admits he uses the mask to hide his ugliness
IF the Pistons fans keep their beer cups away from the players on the court.


... Then the Pistons will win this series.


IF Lebron James can stop making love to Damon Jones long enough to win a game
IF Damon Jones can forget about his 14 seconds of fame and actually contribute
IF Big Z can find a way to make a shot over Big Ben who is 6" shorter than him
IF Donyell Marshall can find his 3 point shot
IF Anderson Varejao gets cast in the role for "Sideshow Bob" in the live action movie
IF the Pistons simultaneously combust
IF the NBA pays off the refs 'cuz they want to see Lebron set new records


... Then the Cavaliers will win this series

My Prediction: Pistons in 5

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(#2) Phoenix Suns v/s (#6) Los Angeles Clippers


IF Steve Nash defects from the NBA to the MLS
IF Sean Marion takes the Red pill and gets transported to Zion
IF Boris Diaw can get his middle name on his jersey 'cuz it sounds cool (Riffod)
IF Leandro Barbosa can decide on a nickname...
IF Raja Bell can get his mom to do some more trash talking
IF Tim Thomas keeps getting paid for showing up only for the playoffs


... Then the Phoenix Suns will win this series


IF Elton Brand starts sounding like an adult male
IF Sam Cassell gets cast for the role of E.T in the remake of the movie...
IF Chris Kaman finds his way to the barbershop
IF Shaun Livingston spends less time designing his corn rows
IF the Phoenix Suns try to play defence
IF Billy Crystal swaps season tickets with Jack Nicholson (Jack is soooo much cooler)

... Then the Clippers will win this series

My Prediction: Suns in 6
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(#1) San Antonio Spurs v/s (#4) Dallas Mavericks


IF Tim Duncan grows a personality and shows some emotion
IF Manu Ginobili admits Balki from "Perfect Strangers" is his twin
IF Tony Parker stops drooling at his woman and concentrates on his extreme layups
IF Robert Horry can make about 100 more clutch 3's
IF Bruce Bowen admits to playing "dirty" defense
IF Eva Longoria flashes the Dallas Mavericks team


... Then the Spurs will win this series


IF Dirk Nowitzki can lay off the Booze
IF Jerry Stackhouse can make more 3's than Robert Horry
IF Devon Harris breaks Tony Parker's record for fastest end to end layup
IF Avery Johnson throws a fit at a post game press conference
IF Desagana Diop can stay out of foul trouble
IF Mark Cuban claims to "own" Greg Popovich


... Then the Mavericks will win this series

My Prediction: Dallas Mavericks in 7

Ladies and Gentlemen.... "Just call it a comeback!"

Ok Justin you got me motivated enough to do this... Let me fill you in some.

I was travelling for most of January and February and during that time I wrote several incomplete posts but never got the time to do them right so I never posted. One of the blurbs was my prediction for the sports year that is already underway and a lot of the stories I was writing about have already taken place so I shall move on.

As March rolled around I finally began settling back into working life, and it was around this time the NHL and NBA seasons were heading for the stretch run with one of the most exciting playoff races in both leagues as there has ever been while I have been a fan. My routine quickly became work followed by endless hours of time spent on my couch trying to catch as many games as possible (Thank the lord for PVR and PIP.) Midway through march madness I had abandoned my bedroom on weekends and layed out a makeshift bed in my den so I can wake up to the weekend games... Just like that March was over the Gators won the NCAA Championship and I kept feeling the urge to write but it just didn't happen...

Now we are well into April and its probably my favourite month of the year as a sports fan. With the urging of some of my readers I think now is as good time as any to get back to this blogging biznass... The NBA and NHL Playoffs are well underway, 20 games into the MLB season we can start to see a glimpse of the contenders and lo and behold the NFL draft is this weekend so I shall not waste time... I am promising a solid week of writing for you guys for the upcoming weekend.

Tomorrow will be my predictions with the breakdown of the first round of the NFL draft followed by a 2 part blog about the first round of the NBA playoffs. Also coming up is a roundup of the first round of the NHL playoffs and to conclude the frantic week will be a contenders v/s pretenders piece on the MLB based on what I have seen in the first 20 games. Sounds like a lot eh? Well I have been working on this for a couple days so I will be able to roll them out one after another in the upcoming week I hope you look forward to it as much as I look forward to hearing all your comments .