NOW WHAT

March Madness is over, so what's next?. If you're like me, baseball doesn't really start until the NBA/ NHL playoffs are over. 162 games played all summer long is a lot, so keeping track of what is going on during games four and five seems pretty tedious. It's also impossible to really gauge anything until a month in anyways. Luckily, there's plenty this year to keep you entertained until the boys of summer really pick up. The NBA playoffs are shaping up to be one of the best ever. In either conference there are four conceivable representatives in The Finals, and every team has enough pros and cons that it is inconceivable to proclaim an early champion. Last summer through this year's trade deadline was one of the busiest ever. Lebron and Bosh leave for Miami to play with Wade, Amare Stoudemire and eventually Carmello Anthony go to the Knicks, the Lakers improved their bench, the Spurs returned to championship form, Derrick Rose has become an elite player, Dwight Howard has truly become a dominant center, the Oklahoma City Thunder become that much more viable trading for a championship center in Kendrick Perkins, while the Celtics must adjust without him and lean on two aging O'neals, Shaq and Jermaine. There are at least fifteen potential Finals match ups that seem logical. Then there's the NHL. I realize most of this country poo poos hockey, but have you ever been to a game? Especially a playoff game. Hockey is potentially the most entertaining game live with a faster pace of end to end action than any other sport. Letting loose a pack of wild animals, most with Jack-O-Lantern smiles, always makes for a good time -- especially in a seven game series. Two things to look for this year. The Vancouver Canucks have far and away been the best team this season. Being the sport of choice there, it always adds to the excitement when a team from Canada is a top candidate to win it all. Second, never ending overtimes. I love it, some people hate it, but I think that it is solely due to the fact that it is hockey. No one complained when a Syracuse game went 6 OT's a few years ago in the Big East tournament, did they? Watching a game go the length of two full ones in to a third and fourth overtime is exhausting, exciting, nerve racking, and a bunch of other three syllable words I can not think of. As the game continues on, every offensive chance eventually has you on pins and needles. It's a novelty among the major sports, and another reason to watch. So there you have it. There's something for everyone unless all you care about is NFL Football, in which case you're in a picket line somewhere while simultaneously glued to the NFL Network. Rejoice sports fans, the world is your oyster.