Flint Township View

April games bring better playoff games

Fat Guy Corner


 

 

The month of April has passed and we move into the month of May. The first round of the NHL and NBA playoffs are over and it’s on to the second round. We will look into the matchups and make some predictions. The NFL draft has been concluded so we will look into the Lions selections. It’s also the first Saturday in May this weekend and that means Kentucky Derby time. I will try to pick a winner and put some cheese in your pockets and see you in the winner’s circle.

NBA playoffs

The NBA round two will be super competitive with these four series. The Eastern Conference has the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks on the hardwood. I like the Bucks to win this series in seven games. The Celtics stole game one and home court over the weekend. The other series is Toronto and Philadelphia. The Toronto Raptors should take this series and I only see six games before Philadelphia is eliminated. The Western Conference has one dandy of a series in Golden State and Houston. Let’s be honest, this series is the Western Conference Finals. The Portland and Denver series is irrelevant as they cannot defeat Houston or Golden State. I like Golden State in seven games over Houston. I’ll take Denver over Portland in six games.

NHL Playoffs

The NHL round two features teams nobody expected like Carolina, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas and the New York Islanders. The higher seeded teams were all eliminated setting up a wide open race for the Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins are the logical choice in my opinion. However I don’t like the Bruins to win their season against the Columbus hockey team. The winners are going to be St. Louis over Dallas and San Jose over Colorado in the Western Conference. The San Jose team should not be in playoffs as Vegas was robbed. What a joke of officiating in game seven of that series!!!! The Eastern Conference winners will be Columbus and Carolina but I will admit I liked the Islanders when the series started.

Feeling a draft

The Lions selected a tight end from Iowa in T.J. Hockenson with the eighth pick in the first round. We all know the Lions have whiffed on Brandon Pettigrew and Eric Ebron other first round tight end selections. T. J has great hands and also is a tremendous run blocker. I hope he breaks the tight end whiffs in the draft for the Lions. I would like to have seen a defensive personally.

The second round was Hawaii linebacker Jahlani Tavai who runs to the football and makes plays. He has suffered a shoulder injury but is a tackling machine. I thought he was a reach in the second round, so we shall see. The third rounder is a safety from Boston College in Will Harris. Will Harris is also good tackler and plays physical football I like his style of play. The fourth round Austin Bryant a defensive lineman from Clemson. The fifth rounder I love a cornerback from Penn State in Amani Oruwariye! He has tremendous ball skills and will be a good addition to the Lions defensive backfield. The other picks were Travis Fulgham, wide receiver from Old Dominion, and Ty Johnson, running back from Maryland in sixth round. Ty has freakish type speed he will be an interesting to watch in training camp. TheseventhrounderisPJJohnson, defensive lineman from Arizona, a good run stopper and strong hands. Let’s hope the Lions hit on at least five of these picks and improve this football team.

Derby time

The Kentucky Derby, the best two minutes of sports, will run on Saturday. Here is my handicapping of the race, which is very tough I might add. Any horse can win this year’s Kentucky Derby! The favorite will be 4-1 Omaha Beach out of the twelve hole. I look for Code of Honor at 15-1 to have a serious shot at winning. He was victim of a slow pace in the Florida Derby. I personally like the horse Win Win Win at 15-1 out of the fourteen hole to maybe win. The horse Improbable at 6-1 cannot be ignored and could find itself in the winner’s circle. My long shot is Country House, a closer, so if the pace goes too fast it sets up for him. I will go with Code of Honor, Omaha Beach and Win Win Win in that order. Good luck.

I can be reached at thefatguy@mihomepaper.com

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