So let’s look at our projections and see how we did:  Wow, actually pretty good.  Go wcbias.com.  The AL predictions were flat out money and of course I whiffed on the Reds winning the Central and the Giants in the West but I did come up with Atlanta winning the Wild Card which has got to be worth something.  And while I’m at it here’s my playoff picks:

Philly over Cinci
San Francisco over Atlanta
Tampa Bay over Texas
Yanks over Twins

Philly over Giants
Tampa Bay over Yankees

Tampa Bay over Phils in an upset

And let’s look at a few semi-sports things that we’ve done over the last few weeks.
1. Kickball.  0% fun.  Seriously no fun at all.  You use a ball that is more medicine ball than anything else so it goes nowhere, you play ELEVEN people in the field that is about the size of half a basketball court and lends itself onto to bunting.  Oh, and 26 people are on each team so you play every-other-inning and likely only get one at bat.  Quitmastered after only one game and joined another softball team instead.
2. Hiking in Yosemite.  This was good times, close to 100% fun probably I would say.
3. Fantasy football…Ray Rice I hate you with the burning passion of 1,000 suns.

And that is all.

LA to face either Phillies or Cards...6 of one, half-dozen of the other?

There’s no positive spin you can put on this.  Going into the season (and even at the All-Star break) Billingsley and Kershaw were the two horses the Dodgers were going to rely on once they reached the Postseason.  Now?  Yikes.  If the season were to end today I believe they’d play Saint Louis in the first round (the Rockies would win the Wild Card and play the team with the best record which would be the Dodgers but they’d have to play a team outside of their division so they would draw the Phillies) and would face not only a team that has killed them head-to-head this season but they’d also be looking at Carpenter, Wainwright and Pineiro who are a combined 74-6 or something like that.  By contrast the Dodgers best three pitchers at the moment are Wolf, Kuroda and….Garland?  Padilla?  Seriously I don’t even know who their third best pitcher is but I know for sure that it is NOT Chad Billingsley.  I liked bringing him out of the bullpen last night but it looks to me like he’s not necessarily unsure of his stuff, he’s just flat out gassed.

We saw this a few years ago with Brad Penny having an absolute meltdown the last few months of the season while the team grinded towards October.  So, without any real chance against the Cards I am all for throwing a few wins away and sacrificing home field advantage if it means we get to play Philadelphia.  Not that Lee and Hamels are schlubs but at least it’s a team the Dodgers have played to a standstill this season and a team that leans pretty heavily to the left-side, meaning even a less-than-perfect Kershaw could have some success before turning the ball over to lefty-killers Kuo and Sherrill.  Do I necessarily like that approach?  No.  Do I like it better than facing Saint Louis?  Yes.  And as we all know, I am never wrong.

Ryantific “The Lakers 6th Man”:

RK back in the day.

I think everyone is underestimating the Magic ,who just shut down the Cavs in 6.

They are bombing threes at a very high rate and they have Dwight in the middle. If the combination of Ariza, Kobe, and Shannon Brown can keep a hand up on the shooters, Bynum comes to play on Howard, and Lamar continues his great play, the Lakes will take it but it will definitely go 7.

Prediction: Lakers in 7.

BG “The Dodgers Batboy”:

BG at The Ravine.

Both teams lose their first home games but eventually the length and athleticism of Pau and Odom keep Turk and Rashard Lewis honest (something that Cleveland couldn’t do), and eventually the 3s will stop falling for the Magic.

Orlando did take the two games from the Lakers during the regular season, but in both contests Jameer Nelson was the high point scorer – and with him out I don’t see them winning more than 2 games.

Prediction: Lakers in 6.

Pembertonian “The Sr. Blogger”:

Señior Bloggor

In any sport, having momentum at the right time is often what propels a team to championship glory. And clearly the momentum in the NBA championships goes to the Magic, who neglected to read how good the Cavs were at home.

In that series, Dwight Howard proved how dominant he can be (watch for him to get even better next year), adding big points to his normal rebounding prowess.

Beyond Howard, the Magic don’t have as much personnel to match up against the Lakers, who have better support behind Kobe than the Cavs did for LeBron. Of course, that didn’t seem to matter during the season, when the Magic owned L.A., 2-0.

Look for this to rival that Bulls-Celtics series, with the final game will being determined in OT.

Prediction: Magic in 7.

BSlim “The Editor”:

Newspapers suck

Wow, I guess Senior Bloggers need their own blog entry when asked to submit a one-paragraph prediction about who will win The Finals. Then you go and pick the Magic, when you know deep down the Lakers will pull it out? Don’t make me remove your Senior privileges Patty.

Ha. During the Western Conference Finals, I kept asking myself who the Lakers would rather face in the Finals – Cavs or Magic. I think both teams present problems, particularly with a LeBron or DHoward on their side. But my answer was always “the Magic,” because that would give the Lakers home court, which I feel is the difference in this series. As long as the Lakers take care of business in the first two home games, I think Kobe will get his first title without Shaq along with that first Finals MVP. If the Lakers drop one of those first two, however, the series might not come back to L.A. So Games 1 & 2 are the key.

Prediction: Magic in 5 Lakers in 6.

UPDATE: Guess Barack agrees with me and BG. Excuse me, BG and I. Obama takes the Lakers in six games.