Macca

"Two years ago, Yasiel Puig fled Cuba in the hands of black-market smugglers. This is the story of how the cost of the defection journey - in money and human lives - shadows him still." ... No one walks off the island

Here are the playoff match-ups ... tips in dark italics (I'm really only confident with a couple of tips although both 1 and 2 seeds from each conference should get through) East No. 1 Indiana Pacers (56-26) vs. No. 8 Atlanta Hawks (38-44) No. 2 Miami Heat (54-28) vs. No. 7 Charlotte Bobcats (43-39) No. 3 Toronto Raptors (48-34) vs. No. 6 Brooklyn Nets (44-38) No. 4 Chicago Bulls (48-34) vs. No. 5 Washington Wizards (44-38) West No. 1 San Antonio Spurs (62-20) vs. No. 8 Dallas Mavericks (49-33) No. 2 Oklahoma City Thunder (59-23) vs. No. 7 Memphis Grizzlies (50-32) No. 3 L.A. Clippers (57-25) vs. No. 6 Golden State Warriors (51-31) No. 4 Houston Rockets (54-28) vs. No. 5 Portland Trail Blazers (54-28) All 4 West match-ups look interesting and the Rockets/Blazers series could be a beauty. In the East, it looks a bit more straightforward although the Wizards and Raptors can win their series. ESPN are kicking off their coverage with the game between the Grizzlies and OKC this Sunday morning (11.30am AEST) Edit: After Sunday's game, the next live cable match doesn't seem to be until next Wednesday (although that could change) .

Classic opening game in Tampa ... highlights Canadiens @ Lightning

On cable, over here in Oz, I'm fairly sure we get game 1 of the Rangers/Flyers game on "Good Friday" morning (9am) Always great to watch these games live and I'll certainly be tuning in. It's quite haphazard with the scheduling by Foxtel though ... they are apt to only listing the live games at the last moment (say a day or 2 beforehand) Still, here's hoping they show plenty of the matches. I'd neglected to remember the rivalry between those 2 aforementioned teams - as Barry Melrose would say ... "These 2 teams hate each other!" Your tips are interesting ... agree for the most part with regards to the length of each series. Just differ on a few winners. Regardless, we've got 2 months of great hockey coming up.

Here are the playoff match-ups after today's final games in the regular season ... for what it's worth, my tips are in dark italics. The playoffs start on Thursday AEST (Montreal @ Tampa Bay, Columbus @ Pittsburgh and Dallas @ Anaheim kick things off) Eastern Conference Metropolitan Division No. 1 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. WC1 Columbus Blue Jackets No. 2 New York Rangers vs. No. 3 Philadelphia Flyers Atlantic Division No. 1 Boston Bruins vs. WC2 Detroit Red Wings No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 3 Montreal Canadiens Western Conference Pacific Division No. 1 Anaheim Ducks vs. WC2 Dallas Stars No. 2 San Jose Sharks vs. No. 3 Los Angeles Kings Central Division No. 1 Colorado Avalanche vs. WC1 Minnesota Wild No. 2 St. Louis Blues vs. No. 3 Chicago Blackhawks It's fairly wide open as usual with a lot of the big guns in there again. Boston/Detroit looks a good match-up along with San Jose/L.A and St Louis/Chicago. Colorado/Minnesota is another interesting duel. Montreal are in with a shot.

And the Canucks are like St Kilda (although the Saints have at least won a premiership) All the same, I'm looking forward to the playoffs. What are your thoughts on St Louis and who is your team to win the whole thing? I reckon there's any number of teams who could win the Stanley cup but maybe Boston? Minnesota could cause a few headaches and they've finished the season off well ... however, at this stage, it looks like they might be matched up against the Avs or the Blues in the first round (unless Anaheim lose the overall 1 seed in the West) As for our teams, there's always next year!

Keep an eye out for "Fargo" ... I believe the first season is in 10 parts (1 hour each) It's based on the Coen brother's 1996 film of the same name. This time around, the Coen Brothers are Executive producers. Looks the goods with a decent cast ... starts airing in mid April (in the States) and on SBS in Australia, 2 weeks later. Orphan Black is back for a 2nd series as well. Also on SBS around about the 20th of April. The first season was excellent. Tatiana Maslany plays the lead and does a superb job.

So there's no crossover between divisions in the 1st round of the playoffs unless the wild-card with the least points is in a different division to the division winner with the most points. (in each conference) I've re-read the above back a few times and it's about as clear as mud. Anyway, this link explains it a bit better. The way I read it, the 2nd and 3rd seeds in each division play each other in the 1st round of the playoffs. And the other match-ups are dependent on the least and most points gained by the division winners and wild-card teams. In that situation, there can be crossover games. As an example, as it stands right now, the Avs would be up against Chicago in the 1st round of the playoffs.

We're getting to the pointy end of the season and it's not looking good for my Canucks. We'd probably have to win at least 7 of our remaining 9 games to have any chance. Some tough games in there as well Meanwhile, the Sharks look safe whilst the Avs should make it. The Leafs are in the wild-card spot right now but it's a tight tussle for spots. Boston, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Chicago and Anaheim are all well placed. Playoffs are about 3 weeks away. ... Standings ... and here's some highlights from the game held today between the Red Wings and Minnesota .

Yep, I agree on the timeline 'od'. ... and if he plays well if he gets into the side, they'll then have to monitor how many games they want him to play or how much game time he may get. In principle, I agree with Roos' stance on young players so he may well be held back for a lot longer. He could start off as the sub for a while and then as a loose man off half back. Maybe as the final link player when considering his kicking skills. He is an excellent kick and hopefully, he can bring that skill to the team. We could do with a few players who can kick the footy well to position However, decision making at the top level can sort a few out and of course, he'll need to win his own ball as well if he's going to be a good player for us. Time will tell.

I voted for Salem but I've been a bit liberal with the interpretation of the thread title. In 3 or 4 years time, we may look back at 2014 and say that Salem was the find of that year. I don't expect him to play a lot this year but he might force his way in if others picked before him aren't doing much. Christian may get in the team and then stay in. The same applies for JKH although he may get into the side earlier than Salem. Hogan is another who is a first year player and should be on the list I believe. I would have voted for Hogan if he was on the list as I believe his value in years to come could be immense. I guess we might be treating him as if he's already "arrived" but Jesse still needs to do it.

I was genuinely surprised with the Trott stuff (if true) Not sure what to make of it to be perfectly honest. There may be more to come out for all we know. With Clarke, no surprises there. The value he puts on his wicket once he's set, is Steve Waugh/Allan Border like. Opposition teams know they have to get him early. Just hope his back can hold up. Yep, spot on. All the players seem to know their roles and they just get on with the business. Most people that I speak to comment that Clarke often seems to be ahead of the game. Bowling changes and field placements are done with a minimum of fuss and the opposition batsmen seem to be constantly faced with a fresh challenge. Lehmann needs to take a fair bit of credit of course and I reckon he and Clarke compliment each other very well. They are different characters but that might be a good thing. Where they come together is their knowledge of the game.

Couple of items of interest ... Clarke played Test with fractured shoulder ... from Michael Vaughan Players will look at Trott and think he did a runner

Couple from guitarist Jeff Beck (with Jan Hammer on Synthesizer) ... the 2nd track is actually called "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"

Also ... the South Africans are back here in November for 5 x ODI's and 3 x t20's (just prior to the Tests against India) No tests against the Proteas until October 2016 though (which is a pity) As well as that, we fight another Ashes battle in less than 15 months (in England) ... Future Tours

Managed to track down all the songs from the UK comedy series ... "Lead Balloon" ... I'll post up all 11 songs eventually, but here's the first few ... "Lazy Days in Dixie" & "Shaken not Stirred" by Danny Baker (tracks 15 &17 on this link) and ... "Prenez Ma Main" by Chris Marshall .

Wow, what a finish! Well fought out South Africa ... a mighty effort. We certainly earned that win. A great series with some outstounding individual performances from quite a few players on both sides. 'tis a pity we have to wait so long before we play them again.

A clear fine day is forecast ... we've effectively got 7 hours of cricket as a maximum. An early wicket would be ideal and at least 3 wickets in the first session (150 minutes) will make things a little less uneasy. They're renowned for not giving up so victory may well be hard earned. The new ball will be due not long after lunch (another 39 overs) so the South Africans will have a few hurdles to overcome.

3-15 Johnson has now racked up 58 wickets @ 14.05 in less than 3 and a half months (8 Tests) Surely that's some sort of record.

We'll either want 30 or 40 minutes at them before tea or it might be a 500 lead we're looking for. At this rate, we might achieve both goals. Declaration at around about 11.20pm our time at a guess.

Relax, we've got this ... 1-153 in that session. There's a stack of time left. We'll have this match wrapped up before the tea break tomorrow. Doolan has done quite well if a run a minute for the session was the goal. He's scored his last 32 runs off 53 balls. We can't be expected a relative newcomer to score at a run a ball. They could have sent Watson or Smith in but chose not to. Patience.

Yep, good point. Swann probably should have waited until the end of the series. It wasn't a good look regardless of whether he thought he was done or not. Warner batting has become phenomenal. It should be noted that he made 70 and 66 as part of a losing cause in the 2nd Test.

Adding further to your points H_T ... here's my take on things, not necessarily a strong view on my part ... Kallis - played his last game in a winning series against India and made a century in his last knock. Good note to go out on and he may well have made his decision to retire beforehand anyway. Smith - the timing seems odd but what if he was always going to retire after this current series anyway? The view could be that at least he hasn't retired after or during an easier series. As for England, Swann has since stated that he'd been contemplating retirement for quite some time and Trott had a debilitating illness and has since made inroads towards making a comeback. Others like Prior simply lost form and was dropped and if Pietersen had a choice in things, he'd still be able to play for England. I agree that the way the Australians have played may have confirmed those retirements but I'm doubtful that we've been the cause of those retirements like some may think. What is also of note is that South Africa only play 5 Tests in the next 15 months (2 against Zimbabwe and 3 at home against the West Indies)

The Smith retirement comes as bit of a surprise. If he had it in mind to retire at the end of this series then I'm not sure how he can get the timing right unless his team were to go out with a series win (that may still happen but it's a long shot) As for his own form, he's struggled, but we have bowled very well to him. Going out on top may have been his original goal. It seems as if the last 2 sides we've met (England and South Africa) are/were in the process of a transition period (but we weren't to know that) Whether our team has been a contributing factor to both team's transition period's is debatable. Smith has been a terrific batsman and leader and has had a fine career. They'll still be no.1 in the world (technically) regardless of the result of this current match so in many ways, it may be a good time for him to retire.

Agree with a few of the above posters ... If we have a lead of around about 450 by tea, we'll then have 4 sessions at them. 3 of those sessions will most probably be 2 and a half hours long. That is, in effect, almost an extra session. Ample time to press for victory. We're in the box seat and the weather forecast is for fine weather.