04/23 (Metta World WTF?) Quickie

Metta World Peace's elbow to the jaw of James Harden -- plus a concussion, naturally -- may or may not have been maliciously intended, but it sure seemed like more than an accident.

With MWP, you can never tell what is intended and what is incidental, and I hesitate to try to climb in his head to figure it out.

All you really need to know is that the 'bow drew massive outrage, and that outrage will likely lead to a massive suspension for MWP, into the playoffs.

(Frankly, the best idea I heard was suspending him a few more games than Harden will have to sit out -- the NBA is behind MLB, the NHL and the NFL when it comes to concussions. We'll see how long Harden is out. I'm presuming it will be less than Sidney Crosby but more than your typical NFL player.)

More:

*NHL: Bruins force a Game 7. Dammit. As I'm all in on the Caps now, this was their shot. Even if the Caps won in Boston in Game 5, I really don't think they can win there in Game 7. The Caps weren't supposed to win this series -- they have given it just about as great of an effort as possible.

*The Rangers are playing the Yankees today, and it's worth asking whether the Rangers are the new Yankees (or, perhaps more accurately, the new Red Sox) -- loaded with talent on the mound and in the lineup, with a super-smart GM and an ownership group willing to spend a ton. A killer combo.

*Today is the Nets' final game in New Jersey. It has been an era marked mostly by laughable problems, with one small flurry of greatness (those Kidd-led Finals teams of the early part of the 2000s) and one horrible tragedy (the death of Drazen Petrovic). Otherwise, it is one of the most woeful franchises in sports -- I do believe things will turn around in Brooklyn, if only because even with a sub-par product, they will have the cachet of Brooklyn.

*It's NFL Draft week. With Luck and RG3 locked in to the first two picks, the next-biggest storyline is which QB-starved franchise picks Texas A& QB Ryan Tannehill. The presumption is that the Dolphins will take him at No. 8, with no teams willing to trade up with the Jaguars at No. 7 to swoop in and swipe him. He's just not worth it in the way RG3 was for Washington. (I need to write a little more about this, but my lifetime disinterest in the Redskins -- from actively disliking them, as a DC-area resident no less, to general apathy about them -- is put to the test, because I am a huge RG3 fan and can't wait to watch him up close.)

*BTW: The best player in the draft is Alabama's Trent Richardson, the best RB college football has produced since Adrian Peterson, and the first RB I have seen since Ron Dayne his freshman year at Wisconsin that made my eyes pop with his sheer power. "Franchise" RBs just aren't as valued as they were in years past -- that's the evolution of the game -- but for however many years he is active, Richardson will be fantastic.

*Some terrific reads from this past weekend. They have been collected on Quickish -- give them a read here.

-- D.S.