The Cubs will be in DC this weekend and so will I….so the blog will rest…although if I have a few minutes I will check in with a post on the new Nats Park…and the Five Guys that is inside…

Here’s to hoping that both the Cubs and the Magic can get some wins in the meantime…..

“I definitely think we’re still in control [of the series],” —-Rashard Lewis

This quote comes after the Magic’s game three loss to the Raptors….

Rashard….you better get the fellas to drink some more Powerade…….

There is something that has really bothered in the last few weeks when it comes to the draft coverage on all the networks. Everyone keeps mentioning that there is not a “franchise quarterback” in the top three, but how does any “draft expert” know that?

I mean seriously, nobody truly knows how any of these guys, (quarterbacks or otherwise) are going to turn out. Was Akili Smith a franchise quarterback? Tim Couch? The list could go on and on, but, please whatever you do, stop saying there isn’t a “franchise quarterback” in the top 3. Nobody knows who will turn out to be the best quarterback in the draft right now, and we won’t know for at least another five or ten years…

Maybe Chad Henne or John David Booty becomes the next Tom Brady. The same Brady who was a sixth round pick, oh by the way.

I think Matt Ryan has the chance to be good, if he gets picked into the right system. I stood in the pouring rain in Blacksburg a few months ago, and watched as he led a mediocre BC team past the Hokies.

My sleeper pick of the weekend, a total homer pick I know, but still…..Kevin Smith…RB UCF

The guy is a workhorse and will make some team very happy in the 3rd or 4th round…..

Leave your thoughts in the comments as to how you think the draft might go…..

I had a bad feeling that this was going to happen once the Magic got to Toronto…

The Magic looked rattled through a majority of the game. I’m not sure whether it was the crowd noise, or whether the Raptors just started hitting their shots, but they better get it together before game 4…

Hey Jameer, you played great in Games 1 and 2 at home, but you got to Toronto and went off for….6 points….yep, the point guard of the future….

Anyone else realize that Marcin Gortat, who hardly played all year, has taken Adonal Foyle’s minutes?

Was that the artist formerly known as J.J. Redick who made an appearance in the fourth quarter?

Bottom Line: The Magic need to get their perimeter defense together if they have any shot to win game 4….

The Cubs won for the 10,000th time in their history on Tuesday night. The funny thing is that the win came in a game they almost always lose. Going into the 9th the Cubs were down by a run, until Aramis Ramirez deposited a two-run homer into the left-field seats.

So here comes Kerry Wood into close…two quick outs…and then bam-bam the Rockies score a run to tie the game. Here’s where it gets weird for the Cubs and their fans. Wood actually got out of the inning and then the Cubs scored another run in the tenth. Carlos Marmol came in to the game in the bottom half of the inning and shut the door to preserve the win.

This kind of game does not usually happen for the Cubs. They find a way to lose, they don’t find a way to win. These are the types of games that good teams win. Maybe that’s what everybody has to realize this year….the Cubs are good.

The lineup is solid, and is only going to get better when a healthy Soriano returns. The bullpen is solid, especially with two closers at the back, in Wood and Marmol.

Now, I am trying not to think too much like a Cubs fan, because if I do, I’ll realize that what I’m seeing is really just a mirage, and they will figure out a way to start playing badly. I just don’t see that happeneing this year though. This team is as deep as I can remember it in years.

Maybe, just maybe, this is, in fact, the year…..

“Orlando!! I’m going to Disneyland!!!”—-Bruce Springsteen

Thanks goes out to my buddy Bagel who heard Springsteen say this at tonight’s concert and sent in the quote….Note to Bruce….it’s Disney World here in Florida not Disneyland….

You’ve got to give the Orlando Magic marketing people credit, they are trying to get everybody swept up in the “Blue and White Ignite” promotion….even the media. I went to the game last night and sat almost directly behind the section where the press sits behind the floor.

As it was on Sunday, each seat in the O-Rena, had either a blue shirt or a white shirt on it, and people were encouraged to put them on. I was in the white section this time, and I guess so were the press people.

That’s because on almost all of the chairs I saw, there was a white shirt laying on them. To every press person’s credit at the game, I did not see anyone put on the shirt, I even saw some writers throw their shirts to fans in the stands.

Are the Magic serious though? Why even put any shirts in that section? Do they really believe that any member of the media was going to put that t-shirt on. Were they trying to influence them, or was it just an honest mistake by the people who put the t-shirts on the chairs?

Either way, it was embarrasing to have to watch working media members, have to sit on the white Magic t-shirts.

“They’re all pansies.”

My mom in reference to all the flopping she saw from the players during the Magic’s Game 2 victory over the Raptors.

As I flipped through the Sentinel this morning, I realized that there was a huge ad on the back page. Sometimes, a car dealership will buy a full-page ad in the back page so I wasn’t expecting much, but when I saw what the ad was for, I was surprised.

That’s because it was a full-page ad for Powerade, and the person featured in the ad was none other than Rashard Lewis. Now, let me start off by saying that I think Lewis is a very good player. The Magic would not be where they are this year without them, and from all the reports I’ve seen, he seems like a genuinely nice guy too.

Having said that, I think Lewis is extremely overpaid. I am not blaming him for that at all though, hey if somebody wants to give me 118 million dollars I’ll take it. I blame the Magic for making that decision.

The thing is, I can’t understand why a major company, like Powerade, would pay Lewis to be a spokesperson for their product, and why they would feature him in a full-page ad. Like I said, Lewis is a good player, but is he really worthy of a full-page ad, and endoresement deal with Powerade?

Endorsement deals should be reserved for athletes who can actually help sell a product. When was the last time you heard anyone say, “Hey I want to go to the game to see Rashard Lewis play.” Or how about, “Hey, I’m going to drink Powerade because Rashard Lewis drinks Powerade.” I just don’t see that happening.

Having worked for an agent, I know how important they can be to an athlete’s success, especially in terms of how they are marketed. That’s where I think the credit should go in this situation. Lewis’s agent Tony Dutt, not only got Lewis a max contract, he now has gotten him a Powerade endorsement deal as well.

While he’s no Tom O’Connell (my old boss), he has definitely proven that he can make his clients some money.

That may not be such a big overstatement. For the first time possibly in the history of the city, Orlando will play host to two major league sporting events on the same day. First, the Magic will be playing at home against the Raptors in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Out at Disney, the Tampa Bay Rays will play “host” to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first of a three game series.

I can’t remember the city ever having two games, as large as these, happening on the same day. The thing I just can’t seem to grasp is why in the world the Rays would have scheduled these games at Disney while the Magic are in the playoffs. They saw the NBA schedule just like everybody else, obviously, they didn’t believe the Magic would be that good. How else can you explain why they would have scheduled the games the way they did?

You’ve got to think that the Magic being in the playoffs will have a major impact on the attendance, and overall coverage, the Rays will get out at Disney. I would be out at the baseball game on almost any other day, but I want to see the Magic in the playoffs instead.

You’ve also got to figure that the Sentinel will devote a hefty portion of its space to the Magic, and push the Rays to the back pages.

The Rays supposedly scheduled these games to try and drum support in the Central Florida area, but their target audience is basically the same as the Magic’s.

Where would you rather be if you were a local fan in town, at a playoff basketball game, or a regualr season baseball game?

At least, for once, local fans will be able to make that choice for themselves.