NFL Draft Thoughts, NBA Playoff Predictions Revisited, and A Lighter Wallet

No thanks to cousin David, I now have a brand new laptop.

~$700 after taxes for the following (from Dell Small Business):

Dell Inspiron 6400
Intel Pentium Dual Core T2080 (1MB cache, 1.73GHz, 533Mhz FSB)
Windows XP Home <-- I wish they offered XP MCE
15.4" UltraSharp WXGA+ Display (1920x1200) with TrueLife
512MB Shared Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz, 1 DIMM
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
80gb 5400RPM SATA HDD
24x CD-RW/8x DVD-ROm
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g (54Mbps) Wireless Card
53 W-Hr 6-cell battery
3 year warranty
$70 Dell Dollars (basically, a gift certificate)

Plus, I'm 99% sure I can get rid of my existing laptop (a Dell Inspiron XPS M140) for $350-400, making this a sub $300 laptop upgrade. Yay for new toys!

- So as we near the end of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, let me revisit my playoff predictions.

Pistons in 5 over Magic. I'll give Orlando one win at home.
Cavs in 4 over Wizards. I don't see the Wiz winning a single game without Arenas and Butler.
Raptors in 6 over Nets. I'm so looking forward to hearing Raptors fans heckle Wince Carter.
Heat in 6 over Bulls. I just can't pick against a motivated Shaq, even with a less than 100% Wade.
Mavs in 6 over Warriors. I wouldn't be surprised if the Warriors pull the upset, though.
Suns in 5 over Lakers. The over/under on Kobe's PPG should be 45, and I'll take the over.
Spurs in 6 over Nuggets. AI and 'Melo should be able to steal a game or two against the Spurs.
Rockets in 7 over Jazz. This series should be the most entertaining one of the first round.

Quick thoughts:

- It looks like I gave Orlando too much credit. I can't wait for the Pistons-Bulls series.
- I wasn't sure about Cleveland sweeping Washington, and I'm glad to see that I was right.
- New Jersey looks real good. Toronto...not so much. No matter; the Nets will get beat by the Cavs in the next round.
- I was smoking something awfully strong when I picked the Heat over the Bulls. The Bulls have a legitimate chance at winning the East (at the very least!)
- The Warriors look awfully strong. I would love to see a Warriors-Suns Western Conference Finals.
- The Suns look awfully good as well...or is it just the Lakers looking awfully bad? This pick looks good for me.
- Looks like the Spurs should finish the Nuggets in five, unless they want to deal with going back to Denver for Game 6. The Suns would love to see that happen.
- The "most entertaining" series sure looks like it. I don't think the home team will lose a game in the series, and I'm rooting for T-Mac to finally get out of the first round.

Super-quick NFL Draft thoughts (as I'm falling asleep and have less than 25 minutes to get this blog entry in!):

- The Browns are the early winners of the draft, getting both OL Joe Thomas AND QB Brady Quinn. How the heck Quinn dropped that low is beyond me! And to think, Cleveland wanted to draft one or the other, and they landed both (even though it cost them a #1 pick next year, which is a high price to pay).
- The Patriots are your 2008 Super Bowl champs, after trading for another pair of receivers (Wes Walker and Randy Moss?!?) and having a typically strong draft. Not to mention, they get the Niners' #1 pick next year, which could conceivably be in the top 10.
- Nice job, Miami, drafting Ted Ginn Jr., when they could have had Brady Quinn. By the way, Ginn's sprained foot might cause him to miss the start of Dolphins' training camp. Enjoy the pick, Fins' fans!

Damn I'm sleepy! Hopefully this blog entry has the required 300 words. It looks like I will get the entry posted with fifteen minutes to spare, thank goodness!