Lots of random thoughts as we March toward April (see that play on words right there; March the month and march the verb. That's good writing.)

• I am so happy that tomorrow is April because April is the best month of the year. Here are my reasons why April is the best and if you disagree, you are wrong: Baseball starts ('nuff said), NBA playoffs (we get to see professional basketball players try!), NHL playoffs (the most intense postseason of any sport), Final Four (Butler, Michigan St., Duke, West Virginia,) NIT finals (just kidding), international pillow fight day (click the link), and Tiger plays golf (I hope there are hecklers). The one downside of April is allergies, but nothing's perfect right? Wrong. UConn women's basketball is.
• Is it just me or does Leo DiCaprio give the same look in every movie? Ya know, that one where's he like half crying, half scowling. I have a feeling it's not just me.
• The Yankees Grapefruit League record is 12-15. Should I be worried? At first I thought no, but now I'm not so sure. I wonder how much letting go Matsui and Damon is gonna affect us (when I say 'us' I mean the 'Yankees.' I may not technically be on the team but I pay for tickets and merchandise and food, so if you think about it, I am partially paying Jeter's contract. So, I am a part of the Yankees...kinda.)
• I never realized how important a coach is in the NBA, but look at the Nuggets without George Karl. They're now in fifth place in the West and have lost six out 10, including a loss to the Knicks (that's when you know something's wrong).
• Hideki Matsui is gonna love Los Angeles. First of all, there's more Japanese people in L.A. than in New York, and well, there's no second of all but the first of all is pretty big I think.
• The Detroit Red Wings weren't even in the top eight of the West after the Olympic break, now there in sixth place and are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games. I guarantee you, no team wants to play Detroit in the first round. The Red Wings and the Boston Celtics are both teams that are prime examples for my "82 games of boredom theory" about the NHL and NBA. Let me explain: I think that some teams, usually veteran teams like the Red Wings and the Celtics get really bored during the course of a long NBA or NHL season. Due to their boredom they don't really try unless they have to. They basically don't try until the playoffs, but when the playoffs come, look out. So even though the Celtics haven't looked as good as teams like the Cavs or the Magic, you do not want to play them when it matters. This theory doesn't work for baseball because even though the season is longer, the teams that get bored don't make the playoffs. 16 teams make it in the NBA and NHL while only eight make it in baseball. There's no doubt teams get bored in baseball, I mean its 162 games, and you play every day, but you can't afford to get bored in Major League Baseball, while you can in the NBA or NHL.
• I would never be bored if I played a professional sport, but some people are just spoiled, I guess.

The Nets are not the worst

With their victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, the New Jersey Nets got their 10th win of the season, which ensures that they will not finish with the worst record of all time. I went to a Nets game about a week ago and it was a bizarre experience. Literally, the arena was half empty (and they were playing D-Wade!) and it was quiet as a morgue. It did not feel like a professional basketball game. The Nets move to Newark next year and in two years move to Brooklyn where the team will be renamed the Brooklyn Nets. Not a very good team name in my opinion but I digress. There is hope for the future of the Nets with the new Russian owner, good young players like Brooke Lopez and Devin Harris, and hopefully getting John Wall in the draft. Now that the Nets will not go down in history as the worst team of all time, Nets fans should hope for losses the rest of the way. Why you ask? Because there is a chance that the Nets could surpass the Minnesota Timberwolves (who have 14 wins) and then Minnesota would have a better chance of first pick in the draft. If the Nets get first pick the starting five would look something like this: John Wall, Brooke Lopez, Devin Harris, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and someone else. Not necessarily a playoff team, but not that bad. I wonder if people will go to games in Newark next year, and I really wonder who will go to Brooklyn. But it can't be less people than in East Rutherford and when Jay-Z is partially responsible for a team's success, anything is possible.

OSCAR predictions

Best Picture

will win: The Hurt Locker

should win: Inglourious Basterds

The best picture category has essentially become a two film race between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Avatar won the best drama at the Golden Globes but Hurt Locker has won basically every other best picture award this awards season. As visually stunning as Avatar is, I am hopeful that academy voters will realize that Hurt Locker is a far superior film,

even if it didn't make a hundred billion dollars at the box office. Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds would be my vote for best picture but I will not have any problems with Hurt Locker winning.

Best Director
will win: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Should win: Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)

Again, this is a battle between Avatar and The Hurt Locker.

James Cameron, director of Avatar is the ex-husband of Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow which makes for a very compelling best director race. Cameron will get votes for the sheer enormity of his project but in the end Bigelow will win for creating an incredibly intense, extremely well acted war film in The Hurt Locker. I think Tarantino should win because his movie is the best of 2009 and his attention to detail is impeccable.

Best Actor

Will win: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)

Should win: George Clooney (Up in the Air)

Ok, so I didn't see Crazy Heart but Jeff Bridges has won every acting award given out so far this awards season. It is almost a lock that Bridges will win the Oscar giving a performance that many have said is similar to Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. I can't think that Bridges should win because I didn't see the performance but of all the nominees that I saw Clooney gave the best performance. There is no actor in the world that could have played Clooney's character in Up in the Air, besides Clooney.

Best Actress

Will win: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)

Should win: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)

Bullock might have some problems beating out Meryl Streep from Julia & Julia but in the end the voters will award Bullock's complete transformation into Leigh Anne Tuohy. Everything from the accent, to the movements, to the hair, was perfect about Bullock's performance. Watching interviews of the actual Leigh Anne Tuohy, I almost couldn't tell the difference between Tuohy and Bullock. Bullock will win, as she should.

Best Supporting Actor

Will win: Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Should Win:

Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

This category is a lock. From the moment Waltz won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival, he has been racking up awards like Tiger racks up chicks. Only Waltz doesn't have to apologize because he has created one of the best villains in movie history. With the help of Tarantino's ingenious dialogue, Waltz frightens, amuses, and shocks the audience, in the most memorable performance of 2009.

Best Supporting Actress

Will win: Mo'Nique (Precious)

Should win: Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)

Like Christoph Waltz, Mo'Nique is also a lock to win her category. Mo'nique gives a really good, nearly over the top performance, in the very difficult to watch Precious. Obviously, Mo'Nique is completely different in Precious then in her comedy movies, and Mo'Nique does as good a job as she could have with her role. But really all she does is yell and throw stuff the whole movie, until the heartbreaking last scene that will win her the Oscar. Vera Farmiga has no chance of winning but her performance, while not nearly as out there as Mo'Nique's, is really, really good. Farmiga has been quietly giving tremendous performances throughout her career and its nice to finally see her getting recognized for her performance.

The other categories:

Animated Feature Film: Up

Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air

Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds

Art Direction: Avatar

Cinematography: The Hurt Locker

Sound Editing: Avatar

Sound Mixing: Avatar

Editing: The Hurt Locker

Visual Effects: Avatar

Makeup: Star Trek

Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon

Costumes: The Young Victoria

Original Score: Up

Original Song: Crazy Heart

Documentary: The Cove

USA lost, but people watched!

27.6 million people in America watched the best hockey game I've ever seen. If Sunday's incredible hockey game between Canada and USA does not raise the popularity of hockey (my favorite sport) in America, nothing will. In what was basically an all-star game, where people tried, and there was a gold medal on the line, Sidney Crosby scored the game winning goal in overtime to beat the Americans. Ryan Miller, the American goalie, played a remarkable tournament, winning the MVP, despite only winning silver. Winning silver though, is a great accomplishment for USA hockey. The American hockey team, picked by GM Brian Burke (who's son died just weeks before the Olympics), wasn't even favored to medal. But by coming together as a team, USA beat Canada in the preliminary rounds, and made it all the way to an overtime in the gold medal game.

The game showcased everything that is great about the sport of hockey. It was fast paced, there was hitting, great goaltending, pretty goals, lots of hustle, and of course an incredible finish. When the New Jersey Devil Zach Parise scored the tying goal with 24 seconds left in regulation, it was one of the most exciting moments I've ever witnessed in sports. Watching the USA hockey team, I was so proud that Parise and the captain Jamie Langenbrunner were such important parts of the team, coming from the New Jersey Devils organization. Anyway though, after 60 minutes of breathtaking hockey, Sidney Crosby scored a goal seven minutes into overtime, off a pass from Jarome Iginla. The entire nation of Canada erupted. Sidney Crosby is 22 years old and he already has the resume of a 10 year vet. A Stanley Cup, an NHL scoring title and MVP, and now the game winning goal of a gold medal game in his home country, Crosby has become a national hero. I still think Ovechkin has more talent than Crosby, but as much as I hate Sidney, there's no denying that he knows how to win.

It was fitting that a hockey tournament that incredible was finished from a goal by the face of the NHL. Also perhaps there is a new face of the NHL in Ryan Miller, who is now a household name in America. This game and this tournament will not make hockey more popular than the NFL in America, but maybe more people will start to pay attention to what truly is an incredible sport. The NHL playoffs are coming up shortly and there are no playoffs more intense than hockey's. Give hockey a chance; if you're not a fan become one.