My thoughts on the last week of April

Jeff Ireland to Dez Bryant: "Was your Mom a prostitute?"

The news broke this week that the GM of the Miami Dolphins, Jeff Ireland, asked WR Dez Bryant, in a pre-draft interview, if Bryant's mom was a prostitute. We will probably never know what context this question was asked in, but there is no doubt that this question was completely out of line.

Dez Bryant did have a difficult childhood and when he was born his mom was 12 and his dad was 40. Those ages jump out at you and it's only natural to want to know more, but the way Ireland phrased his question to Bryant was horribly wrong. If you're about to pay a guy millions of dollars to catch a football, you have the right to know about that person and if he will cause problems down the line, but still Ireland should not have brought Bryant's mother into the equation. I applaud Bryant for not straight up punching Ireland in the face, I probably would have.

Even if Bryant's mom was, or still is a prostitute, it has no bearing on how Bryant will play football. If Ireland wanted to find out if Bryant was going to be a troublemaker down the line, there are many other questions he could have asked. Imagine if the Dolphins ended up drafting Bryant, instead of the Dallas Cowboys (that woulda been fun to see).

You can't spell Ovechkin without a C-H-O-K-E.

Coming back from a 3 games to 1 deficit, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals in game 7 to complete one of the biggest upsets in first round NHL playoff history. It looked

like it was going to be an easy series for Alex Ovechkin and his Washington teammates after taking a resounding 3 games to 1 series lead, but thanks to the unbelievable goaltending by Montreal's Jaroslav Halak the Canadiens were able to win.

The gap between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby is as large as it has ever been now. In the past 12 months, Crosby has a Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal (with the game winning OT goal in the gold medal game), and beat Ovechkin's Capitals in a playoff series last year. Crosby has proven he knows how to win and perform in the clutch while Ovechkin hasn't won anything. Ovechkin may have more talent than Crosby but in the playoffs Ovie seems to shrink, and the playoffs is when it matters most.

Jaroslave Halak proved how any team can win any series with a hot goaltender and Washington's collection of all-stars were not able to gel together as a team quickly enough to beat Montreal. Ovechkin is gonna have another really long summer, as he seems to be turning into the pre-2009 Alex Rodriguez of hockey.

Jacques Lemaire retired! What?

I was completely taken by surprise, along with everyone else, when Jacques Lemaire suddenly announced his retirement from coaching in the NHL. For the third year in a row, the New Jersey Devils will be looking for a new coach in the offseason. I would really like a coach to stay for longer than one year, so how about Scott Stevens. Stevens is

one of the best Devils of all time, would command immediate respect from his players, and would probably stick around for longer than a year. If not Stevens, the Devils will go with John MacLean.

The Spurs win; the Mavs don't

Seemingly a perfect example of my "82 Games of Boredom Theory," the San Antonio Spurs upset the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games. The Spurs seem to win a championship every couple of years so don't be surprised if they go very, very deep this year. With a top ten player of all time in Tim Duncan, the best coach in the NBA in Gregg Popovich, and a really good supporting cast with Ginobli, Parker, Jefferson, and Hill, the Spurs can beat any team in the league. Don't ever count out experience in the playoffs, it's important.

I kinda feel bad for Mavs owner Mark Cuban (not really 'cause he's really rich but ya know). He wants to win so badly but can just never seem to make it work in Dallas. I don't think Dirk Nowitzki will ever win a championship, he just doesn't have that killer instinct that someone like Kobe has, and I think Jason Kidd is coming to the realization that he will never win a championship either.