NFL Draft Is Finally Here

The NHL playoffs have been quite a thrill ride so far. The Capitals, Bruins, Flyers, and Penguins all have commanding 3-1 leads in their series, while the West series are still open to anyone. But as exciting as the NHL playoffs have been, it is time to switch modes to the NFL Draft tonight. Since I am a Redskin fan, this is the team I will talk about.

Well draft day is finally here. We are only a few hours away from the marathon that is the NFL draft. All of us Redskins fans are excited to see what the Redskins will do in the draft with the league-low of 4 draft picks. All I know is with so few picks, they better make them count. We cannot go back and retrieve our draft picks that we traded away. We are stuck with 4 so we have to look to the future and do the best with what we have. There has been all kinds of speculation about who the Skins may draft, from quarterbacks to offensive lineman to defensive lineman. My personal preference is an offensive lineman. Russell Okung and Trent Williams are both solid options. Until we build stability on our offensive line, we will never again have a potent offense like we did with the Hogs in the Joe Gibbs era.

There has been a lot of talk about maybe taking either Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen in the draft. Drafting a quarterback would be a mistake with this team. McNabb will not be around forever, but we already have more than enough quarterbacks. It is time to solidify another position. Let's get some young talent on this team and build our way to a Super Bowl. I think that next year a quarterback could be a good idea because he can learn from McNabb. This year, no way. We need to keep McNabb upright and, more importantly, healthy. If we draft another quarterback, we will just have another year with a bad offensive line and a beat up quarterback, ultimately leading to another weak offense. I wonder if George Allen and Mike Shanahan agree with me and a large portion of the Redskins nation.

Mike Wise believes they will draft an offensive lineman:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/21/AR2010042104786.html?hpid=artslot&sid=ST2010042106112

Is he right?

Well our suspense with the #4 pick finally ends tonight. I just hope it is the right pick.

Reasons Why It's Ok to Grow a Playoff Beard

A good friend of mine sent me this article a couple days ago. It "debunks" every reason to not grow a beard for the NHL playoffs. After watching the Capitals pitiful effort vs the Canadiens last night, perhaps there is no better time than now to grow the playoff beard for good luck.  And maybe this could bring Alex Ovechkin back from the dead!  Where the heck was he for Game 1?  Not even a shot on goal?  That has only happened one other time this year.  He led the league in shots even after missing 10 games. Seriously, Ovechkin and the Capitals need to pick it up if they want to win this series. I guess there are two good things I can take from this game:

1. As horrible as the Capitals played for the 2nd, 3rd, and OT periods, it still took the Canadiens an overtime period to beat them. This shows that the Capitals are that much better than the Canadiens when they play at a high level. If that Capitals can pick it up and play their game, they should be able to bounce back and win this series.

2. The Capitals once again have been reminded they are not invincible and have to play hard if they want to have a shot at the Cup.

San Jose and New Jersey may be able to benefit from some lucky beards as well. Well without further adieu, here's arguments against each reason to NOT grow a playoff beard:
http://www.rockthered.net/2010-articles/april/debunking-every-reason-to-not-grow-a-playoff-beard.html

NHL Playoffs Finally Ready to Begin - A Look at the East

We are now only hours away from the beginning of the NHL playoffs, which are set to kick off Wednesday at 7:00pm Eastern time. The first game is the defending champion, 4th-ranked Pittsburgh Penguins vs the 5th-ranked Ottawa Senators. Following the opening game are the series between New Jersey/Philly, Detroit/Phoenix, and San Jose/Colorado. The Stanley Cup playoffs are sure to be exciting, physical, and fast as they are every year. What is done in the regular season means nothing now. It is all about the Cup.

This begins with the league's top team, the Washington Capitals. They locked up the President's Trophy with more than a week left and clinched the playoffs and the Southeast Division amazingly early in the year. The Capitals have a high-powered offense led by Alex Ovechkin. The only question is if the Caps can play tight enough defense to lead them to the Cup. As a Caps fan, I worry about the sometimes shaky defense and goaltending. Luckily, Theodore is hotter than ever and I hope he can carry the momentum to the playoffs.

Staying with the Eastern Conference, you always have to worry about the Penguins. As much as I hate them, and Sidney Crosby, they are a dangerous force each year. Star player Evgeni Malkin also helped lead the Penguins to the Cup. Some say he was a bigger part in the win than Crosby. Their playoff point totals, as well as the fact that Malkin won the MVP, support this theory. In the finals, Malkin had 8 points to Crosby's 3. This is the Penguins' 3rd year in a row at the #4 seed and what did they do the last 2 years? Only reach the finals, and then win it all last year. I cannot see how the Senators can get past the Penguins.

The Capitals obviously should be able to give them a run for their money, as they did in the 2009 playoffs when they fell short in Game 7. But let's also not forget about the New Jersey Devils, who with the addition of star Ilya Kovalchuk are certainly a force to keep in mind. Kovalchuk will be hungry to win after spending losing seasons with the Thrashers. Martin Brodeur is always solid in net and the Devils also have Zach Parise, another one of the best players in the NHL. If Buffalo's Ryan Miller can play like he did in the Olympics, Buffalo also has a good shot at reaching the finals. They will first have to get past the only hotter goalie in the NHL than Miller, Finnish rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask from the Boston Bruins. This should be a solid series, but I think in the end Buffalo will pull it off.

According to ESPN.com's SportsNation voting as of 04/13/10, the following is the list of the best playoff teams in order:

(#1 Votes) Points # 1 Capitals (15,499) 448,696                       # 2 Blackhawks (3,052) 396,359 # 3 Sharks (2,014) 375,430 # 4 Red Wings (4,568) 346,329 # 5 Penguins (2,589) 339,417 # 6 Devils (772) 306,094 # 7 Canucks (454) 277,586 # 8 Sabres (569) 250,707 # 9 Coyotes (143) 219,423 # 10 Kings (198) 166,529 # 11 Senators (59) 159,296 # 12 Predators (94) 135,606 # 13 Bruins (260) 133,326 # 14 Flyers (488) 117,899 # 15 Avalanche (214) 103,735 # 16 Canadiens (73) 90,222

How accurate are these votes? Only time will tell. Get ready hockey fans; it is going to be a great show.

5 Ways Faceboook Has Changed Dating (For the Worse)

I do not think this article needs any introduction.  We all know that Facebook makes our dating lives more difficult.  So check out the 5 ways Facebook has complicated the dating scene as we know it.  I also enjoyed the Big Bang Theory clip (great show).

5 Ways Facebook Has Changed Dating For the Worse