Five For Friday

Happy Cuatro de Mayo everyone!

Before I get going with today's tidbits, the That's What HE Said news room just heard reports that a small plane carrying rap impresario Jay-Z may have crashed in the Smoky Mountains near Asheville, NC.

Authorities have confirmed a plane carrying 4 people did go down in the area, with 3 dead, but have not yet confirmed if Jigga was on the flight.

Thoughts and prayers to anyone who might have been involved, whether it's Jay or not.

Stay connected for updates as we get them.

And in what can't be anything but an awkward transition, let's talk the wonderful world of sports (after all, isn't that what sports is for? To let our minds escape this sort of thing. It's better than anything a doctor can prescribe)...

- One Thing NOT Going On My TiVo - HBO has announced it is working on a six-part miniseries about the Boston Red Sox 2004 championship season. Apparently the series will be based on the book written by Stephen King and someone named Stewart O'Nan who wrote down their feelings about every game that season.

Um, ok. Nice timing.

This might have been interesting, oh I don't know, three years ago when it happened.

My question is will anyone outside of New England have any desire whatsoever to watch this?

If you disagree, leave a comment and let me know. I'd love to know if I'm the only one who could give two craps about watching this (Bill and Seth, you guys don't count. Crazy chowdah heads!)

- Break Up The Warriors! – I'm not even sure what to say here. I am truly stunned, not just that the Mavs were sent packing, but the manner in which the Warriors bounced them from the playoffs. If you watched this series and had no idea what the seeds were, you would've thought GS was the #1 and the Mavs were the West bracket bottom feeders. Kudos to Don Nelson. Throughout the series, he dictated the tempo, the style and the size of the game and Dallas was unable to match any of it.

Frankly, I don't think Utah or Houston will be able to matchup with the run and gun style either, so early congrats to the Boys from the Bay on making it to the Western Conference Finals (what kind of odds do you think you could've gotten on that one?!?).

That's where the ride ends. Spurs or Suns will mop them up. Having said that…

- Time For The Suns To Set – Is it just me, or do the Spurs have to go through the Suns every year? As a professed Spurs fan, it seems the desert dwellers are often the ones standing in our way on a march to the title. Thankfully, this is the playoffs. And that means defense always wins. And thankfully, the Suns play none of it and my Spurs, well, I hear they're pretty good at that sort of thing. I mean hey, #1 in the league has to count for something, right? Yeah, not too shabby. But it won't be easy and, in fact, this Suns team worries me more than any of the Suns squads from years past. By the way, the winner of this series waltzes to the title. But since I've got $100 with my AZ boy Richie that says Suns don't make the Finals and another fitty with my Access Hollywood boy MJ on the Spurs winning this series, I'm not about to waiver in my confidence. Long series. Good series. Spurs in 7.

- Brian Bruney Rules! – My allegiance to players not wearing Cubbie blue usually begins and ends with my fantasy teams. But there's always room for one more, and Yankees middle reliever Brian Bruney is welcome at my house for dinner anytime. So why the love for a guy who's pitched just 30 forgettable innings over the last two seasons? Because anyone who watched last night's game between Texas and the Yanks watched Bruney bean Sammy Sosa right in the ear hole, causing an entire nation of Cubs fans to grin, chuckle and mutter a "Ha!" under their collective breaths. I'm not a guy that roots for injury – ever. But watching Sammy take one to the dome is God's way of showing all of us who respect the game and the way it should be played that he still loves us.

***Our newsroom just confirmed through one of Jay-Z's reps it was in fact not him on the plane. Jay-Z was on a plane this morning to Vegas for the De La Hoya – Mayweather fight, but he was not on the plane that went down. Like I said, thoughts and prayers to those who weren't so fortunate.***



- Let The Kid Be - And finally, a quick note on the Josh Hancock autopsy results. My heart sank when the news broke alcohol was found in his system. It was the last thing his family or the Cardinals organization needed. He was 29. He's dead. Just let him and his family be.

Have a great weekend everyone! And go Floyd Mayweather!!! Kick the crap out of that pretty boy!