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Hello Columbus Sports Fans!

With so many sports circulating right now, it’s tough to decide which events are the most intriguing. Playoff basketball, playoff hockey, early MLB action, and the NFL draft predictions make it tough to concentrate on just one sport. If you had to pick a professional sport to favor right now, which would it be? I’ll breakdown my opinions and which sport events should get more credit than others.

NFL Draft – Coaches, team officials, and fans constantly see coverage this time of year on where some of the best players in college football will end up. I guess while it’s always fun trying to get into the heads of the various organizations and predict how they will decide, a few days after the draft ends, most people could care less. The only reason that some people at this point even follow the draft is to see if Mel Kiper and the draft analysis crew are close to what they predicted. It’s always fun to see a projected top ten pick drop and have to listen to the experts defend why they didn’t get it right. Also, year after year there is so much over-analysis that organizations put on the one-day combine. With all due respect, they should put more attention on game speed and films of their college football careers. Don’t expect me to be in front of the TV for half the day watching the draft. I guess I’ll catch it the following day on SportsCenter.

Major League Baseball – The 2009 season is underway and I’ll bet the teams that you predicted to win their respective divisions aren’t where you thought they would be. The beginning of the MLB season is always fun to watch; high profile players with large contracts on new teams, new defending champions, and an opportunity for bad teams to salvage a little respect from the previous season. However, there are still 150 games to be played by each team. The air is heating up and people have an itch to watch games outside, but the real excitement doesn’t start for another four to five months. Even a biased baseball fan like me can tell you that there are more exciting things to watch right now.

NHL Playoffs – A week ago in Columbus it seemed like every conversation, radio blurb, article, or TV segment had something to do with the Blue Jackets. While all the Jackets fans were pretty much just excited to be in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, does anyone think they really have a chance? Of course the optimists are going to come out and call the Cinderella series upset, but with no playoff experience, and playing against one of the most legendary organizations of all time, it does not bode well for Columbus fans. On the other hand, the Blue Jackets ARE in the playoffs! Columbus, Ohio has something to get excited about and finally this city is put up on the big stage. There has been a huge buzz around here lately, and while the world seems to be struggling around us, all people in Columbus can talk about is playoff hockey.

NBA Playoffs – How can a sport with some of the worst ratings in regular season have some of the highest ratings in the playoffs? The NBA’s highest ratings this year came on a Sunday when the Lakers visited the Cavs, who at the time had an undefeated home record. The game was televised in the evening when TV viewer ratings are at their highest during the week. The NFL Pro Bowl received more viewers than the Lakers vs. Cavs game. I’m not sure what it is about the NBA regular season, but people just don’t find it enjoyable to watch. However, it’s a different story when the playoffs come around. Even though the playoffs seem like a marathon throughout the months of April and May, the ratings increase significantly, and especially for Columbus fans. With LeBron leading the Cavs, he gives all of Ohio another reason to cheer. The NBA playoffs expose the best players on the best teams playing against each other. These games are usually very close and come down to the last minute, making it enjoyable for all sports fans to watch.

Feel free to give your opinion on any of these topics. Obviously there is no right opinion, but the city of Columbus definitely has some reasons to be happy in the sports world.

Thanks for reading!

Tags: mlb, nba playoffs, nfl draft, nhl playoffs