WOODS:
Well Eli, we’ve had a good run, but it looks like this is the end of the road: our last column for the Pio.   We’ve covered a lot of ground this semester, from a shocking upset in the Super Bowl to the scandal issue that covered Clemens and the bizarre Jason Kidd trade, a fabulous NCAA tournament and now we’re in the midst of one of the greatest NBA playoffs of our generation.   Let’s get some insight into what you’ve seen so far in the playoffs, but let’s not leave our last column without making some bold predictions for the major sporting events to come.

ASCH:
This has been a great semester to write this column.   The sports world is as interesting as I can ever remember seeing it: between some awesome deadline deals and hot stove action, two titans coming up short in their quests (the Pats for a perfect season and Tiger for a Grand Slam), the NBA being as exciting as it has been since Jordan’s second retirement and scandal, scandal, and yet more scandal, this has been a great semester of sports.

But enough bloviating: let’s talk playoffs.   I think this year’s NBA post-season is proving what terrible prognosticators we are: we thought all the action to watch would be out West, but the Lakers have already completed a sweep of the eighth-seeded Nuggets, and the other three series all see the top seed leading three-games-to-one.   Not that the Spurs-Suns series hasn’t seen some excitement (especially in the first two games when the Spurs came back from 14-plus points in both games at home), but it looks like we won’t have any seven-gamers out there.   In the East, though, both the top-seeded Celtics and the second-seeded Pistons find themselves in unexpectedly tight series, knotted up at 2-2 with the Hawks and 76ers, respectively.   How is this happening?

WOODS:
Everything seems backwards so far this playoffs, especially the East.   We expected the Celtics and Pistons to roll through their series and now the Pistons look unfocused and disinterested while the Celtics look old and unathletic (but to be fair, the Hawks can make any team look unathletic).   And in what we thought would be tough, close series between Orlando vs. Toronto and Cleveland vs. Washington are done (Orlando won theirs 4-1) or almost done (Cleveland goes home for game five up 3-1).

As for the West, the Lakers did what champions do by taking care of a talented (albeit dysfunctional) Denver team in four games.   I didn’t expect that series to go much beyond those four games anyway, but I can’t say the same for the Mavs/Hornets series or especially the Suns/Spurs series.   Josh Howard has disappeared in the playoffs for the Mavs while the All-Star duo of Chris Paul and David West can beat anyone the Mavs send at them.   The Suns/Spurs series is a little disappointing, because it would have been great to see it go seven games.   After a thrilling game one really took the wind out of the Suns’ sails, I don’t think they recovered until game four, which the Spurs seemed to mail in anyway.   Even with the addition of Shaq to the team, they once again haven’t been able to match-up against the Spurs in the playoffs.

ASCH:
People always seem to sleep on the Spurs, even though we should know by now never to count them out.   But when they lost four straight (to New Orleans, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Orleans) and six of seven in mid-March, even I was starting to wonder whether they could still turn it on in the postseason; after all, Tim Duncan isn’t getting any younger.   But he and Tony Parker are combining to average over 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in their playoffs so far, and both are shooting over 50 percent from the floor.   Maybe the Spurs dynasty (and, yes, I feel safe using the “d-word” to describe this team since they’ve won four of the last nine and three of the last five titles) isn’t over just yet.

But you said we need to end this article with some bold predictions.   I’ll start: who you got for the NBA title?   You sticking with the pick you made on our show a couple weeks ago: the Lakers: or are you gonna jump ship?   I’m sticking with my Celtics, now over the Hornets (yeah, you heard right) in seven games in the Finals.

WOODS:
There’s no reason for me to bail on the Lakers now, after their demolition of the Nuggets, and the fact that they may get Andrew Bynum back for round two (remember he was averaging a double-double before he went down).   I see them beating the Cavaliers in the finals in five games.   After watching the Celtics lose twice to the 39-win Hawks, I can’t pick them in the finals.   King James will carry the Cavs to a repeat finals appearance and submit his name as the best player never to win an MVP award after Kobe gets his long-overdue accolade in a few weeks.   And that’s all I have to say about that…Eli, it’s been a pleasure being a non-shock jock with you this past year, I’ve enjoyed every sound bite of our hung-over Friday morning radio shows and every word of our ever-tardy articles.   Best of luck in your fantasy baseball league.

ASCH:
I’m not gonna lie, the fantasy baseball league isn’t going so well right now.   My brother drafted for me because I was traveling home to Maine on draft day, and I’m currently a cellar-dweller.   But, regardless, this has been an absolute pleasure.   We’ve still got a radio show or two coming up, though (including, perhaps, a finals week marathon show where we don’t get off the air until we raise $100 for the Whitman Cross Country team).   But, seriously, before we wrap up, let’s make some bold predictions:

Which team’s NFL draft will look the best in five years?   I’ve got St. Louis: Chris Long, who went No. 2 to the Rams, is gonna make his pitchman father proud.
How many majors will Tiger Woods win this year?   I say two: the U.S. Open (his comeback win), and the PGA.

Who will win the World Series this year?   I’ve got my Red Sox over the Diamandbacks: whose lineup looks GREAT so far this year: in six.

Did Roger Clemens actually sleep with someone over a decade younger than him while in his mid-/late-20s?   I say yes.   Absomotherfuckinglutely yes.

WOODS:
1) Best Draft in five years?   The Steelers-picked Oregon quarterback (and would-be Heisman winner if not for an injury) Dennis Dixon in the last round.   He’ll be a stud in five years.
2)   Tiger majors this year? Two: I agree with you this time, Eli.
3)   World Series?   I’ve got the Cubs over the Angels: another curse is broken.
4)   Roger affair?   At this point, there’s absolutely nothing I could hear that Clemens has done and   a) be surprised, and b) not believe it.