“Prepare for a weekend of sports like no other because Friday, Saturday and Sunday feature some of the most anticipated sports entertainment of the year.  It’s the March Madness of April-April Almighty, if you will.  The action begins Friday with the Jim Rome Show Smack Off on ESPN 850 WKNR at noon.”
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Prepare for a weekend of sports like no other because Friday, Saturday and Sunday feature some of the most anticipated sports entertainment of the year.

 It’s the March Madness of April-April Almighty, if you will.

 The action begins Friday with the Jim Rome Show Smack Off on ESPN 850 WKNR at noon. No other sports radio personality in the business has the charisma and interviewing ability Rome has, but that has nothing to do with the Smack-Off. Followers of The Jungle, as the show is aptly titled, are familiar with the set-up of this event.

The SmackOff is an invite only contest that pits the top callers against each other in a realm of verbal abuse and destructive criticism. Rome refers to these callers as Clones, a fitting name for the smack-talking, living-in-their-parents-basement types who seem to frequent the show. Past champions get an exception every year, regardless of when their last call was.

Basically, the rules are simple; whoever makes the most impressive call wins.  

But the added bonus in this year’s SmackOff is that five-time champion Sean the Cabilinasian won’t be there to drop verbal bombs on the rest of the Clones, all the while capturing his sixth title.  

This leaves the championship pursuit wide open for any hopeful first-timers or veterans wanting to add to their Jungle legend.

The SmackOff is more than an event though; it’s the most addicting three hours of radio in the history of broadcasting. Nowhere else will you hear more people being called losers and degenerates on your radio dial. Nowhere else is it okay to ramble on for five minutes degrading other callers to the show. Nowhere else will you find three hours of radio in which a host opens up his show like Rome does for the SmackOff.

So, without further ado; the winner of the 2008 SmackOff will be… Terrence in Sierra Madre.

Terrence has been known for years as the Best Caller to Never Win a SmackOff, and with the Cabilinasian out of the picture, it’s Terrence’s year to claim the crown.

Tune in, you won’t be disappointed.

NFL Draft

Nothing better than watching six hours of television in which hardly any action happens. For some reason, it’s still exciting to hear Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay talk about something that no person on this earth, other than a National Football League Scout, should know so much about: the 2008 NFL Draft.

The Miami Dolphins have already signed Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long, officially making him the No. 1 pick in the ’08 NFL Draft. While that takes a little bit of the fun out of wondering who will be the first pick, it’s been happening quite often lately. Besides, no NFL General Manager wants to have a Jamarcus Russell hold-out headache that extends into the regular season, so I see why this is a smart move.

Now that Long is already taken, here’s how I see the rest of the Top-10 picks shaking out.

2. St. Louis Rams – Glen Dorsey, DT, LSU

3. Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College

4. Oakland Raiders – Chris Long, DE, Virginia

5. Kansas City Chiefs – Sederick Ellis, DT, USC

6. New York Jets – Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas

7. New England Patriots – Vernon Gholston, DE/OLB, Ohio State

8. Baltimore Ravens – Branden Albert, OG, Virginia

9. Cincinnati Bengals – Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State

10. New Orleans Saints – Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State

NBA Playoffs

After two days of great sports entertainment, the weekend will conclude with a National Basketball Association filled Sunday.

Starting at 1 p.m., when the Cleveland Cavaliers will be starting their, hopefully, sweep of the Washington Wizards, and ending at 9:30 p.m with the New Orleans Hornets vs. Dallas Mavericks (another potential sweep), Sunday is jam-packed with NBA playoff basketball.

I’ve criticized pro basketball repeatedly in this column before, but I never once said that the NBA playoffs were lacking in the entertainment department.

The playoffs have lived up to every expectation so far. The Hornets are proving they are legit, and Chris Paul should be the MVP and the Detroit Pistons look vulnerable and old again. The San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns, a match-up I think could have been the NBA Finals if rules warranted it, have been dueling in their first two games. The Suns need to come back from 0-2 against the defending NBA Champions, and I don’t see that happening.

Not that the playoffs matter anyway, no team in the East, except maybe, just maybe, the Boston Celtics can contend with any team from the West.

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