If you're as excited as I am...then your giggling right now...

In a world full of "experts", analysts, Colin Cowherd and Puxatony Phil, the prognosticator of prognosticators, I give my sole opinion.

It's no secret...I love sports. and even though football is amazing...basketball has my heart. The season starts tomorrow and the following is my annual list of what will happen....enjoy!

*Injuries and/or mid-season trades could drastically alter outcomes. All of which is impossible to be seen by yours truly.

Also, I would like to preface my predictions with this picture. Just a reminder that I love the Jazz more than anyone on the planet.


Division Winners:

Atlantic Division- Boston
Central Division- Cleveland
Southeast- Orlando

Southwest- New Orleans
Northwest- Utah
Pacific- L.A. Lakers


Playoff Teams:
1.Boston
2.Cleveland
3.Orlando
4.Detroit
5.Toronto
6.Philadelphia
7.Washington
8.Miami



1.L.A. Lakers
2.New Orleans
3.Utah
4.Houston
5.San Antonio
6.Phoenix
7.Dallas
8.Portland

Teams that made the biggest leap from last year-Portland, Miami
Drastically improved teams but not there yet-Minnesota, NY Knicks

Most promising teams but will under achieve- Philadelphia, L.A. Clippers
Teams that will ask themselves... “What happened?”-Phoenix, Detroit

NBA Finals- L.A. Lakers over Cleveland Cavaliers in 6

Most Valuable Player- LeBron James
Rookie of the Year- Greg Oden
Defensive Player of the Year- Kevin Garnett
Coach of the Year- Jerry Sloan (finally)
6th Man of the Year- Shane Battier
Most Improved- Danny Granger

Player most likely to be traded- Lamar Odom

Players that will make themselves household names- Mo Williams, Ronnie Brewer, David Lee

Players that will take the step from pretty good to wow!- Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Brandon Roy, Jose Calderon

You heard it here first!

Comments!

So, this blog is meant to share thoughts and stories from our lives. We try to think out of the box and give humor to random occurrences that may happen. We love blogging and hope you enjoy reading.

Recently, we had a friend think he was commenting too much on our blog. Preposterous! We want comments! They let us know what you're thinking and even better...let us know that you are reading. Comment Comment Comment! The longer the better!

The World's Greatest Pumpkin Contest!

Autumn.

It's in the air, in our minds and in our tummy's. It's a great time of year, if not the best. I am not looking forward to snow though. Freaking snow and ice and bad driving conditions and shoveling and scraping your car and cold and snow!

anyway...sorry...autumn...

What's autumn without a good old fashioned pumpkin carving competition?!?

This past weekend we gathered at Casa De Horne (my old house) and we all put our skills to the test. Let's let the pictues do the talkin'.


Gotta love that authentic pumpkin spice!

Dave and Nicole talked a big game but could they deliver??

We all knew Ricky and Bree wouldn't compete for the title but they sure did boost the overall prettiness. (Is that a word?)

Let the designing begin! We wanted to be sure and give the voters something to talk about. I call this one..."Focus."

She's the creative one...I'm the tall one.

Let's take a look at the finished products...


Dave went classic on us with this pretty face. He wanted to be sure and avoid the typical "triangle eye" look. Not bad Dave. Not bad at all.

Jooge, our diva, turned in this excellent likeness of his fastball. It just looks like it wants to be on fire!

Richard and Bree did a great job. Bree won the award for "free spirited" while Ricky won the award for "most liberal." (Sadly this snapshot doesn't show the "Obama" carved into the side.)

Here we are! We went Old School on 'em with the original Jazz Logo! It took much time and effort. When I married her, I did not realize that Amanda was so skilled with a blade. Breathtaking.

There ya have it...The display to end displays!

And the winner is....?

Best time of the year

I want to preface this post with a warning that it will be heavy on text. If you don't enjoy reading witty commentary...sorry. :(

It is the BEST time of year for any sports fan. Football is in full force, Baseball is hitting it's homestretch and basketball is right around the corner. I want to focus this blog on a few pertinent topics in the wonderful world of sports...

Tyler Haws is a senior at Lone Peak High School and the most recruited basketball player in the state. He has led Lone Peak to back to back 5A State championships and plans to win a 3rd this season. He is a great talent and I was able to interview him working for KSL during last years tournament. He has been heavily recruited by Utah, BYU, Pepperdine, Gonzaga, Harvard, Stanford among others. Last week he made his decision and will attend BYU. BYU is a great school and he will be close to home, family and friends. But, how in the world can anybody pass up an all expenses paid education at Stanford?! It's a top 3 institution in the country and when basketball is over, he would've always had that degree to distinguish himself. Furthermore, Stanford is always contending for a National Championship where as BYU hasn't won a tournament game in many years. Well, at least staying home he'll be able find a good girl to marry. :)


It's no secret that I don't care for the sport of Hockey. I do, however, love hockey movies. Mighty Ducks, D2, Miracle...classic. Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio had this to say about hockey..."Hockey is unwatchable. Seriously, who cares? Unless all the players suddenly burst into flames I'm not watching."


Is bowling a sport? Regardless...I went bowling for the first time in many years last week. I set 2 goals for myself going into the game. A.) Get at least 1 strike. 2.) Score over 100. After embarrassing myself on numerous occasions, my last role of the ball was a strike! (My only strike) and that 1 strike made my score exactly...100. Impressed? I knew it.


Back in July I made it known to the world that I was a Phillies fan. I got a lot of negative comments for my choice and many people attempted to sway my decision. I never wavered. Now, the Phillies are the NL East champions and face the Brewers in the NLDS. No bandwagon fans here. Just true fans. Phillies=2008 World Series Champs!


College Football is getting better and better every week. I love it! As a fan living in Utah we all better be rooting for BYU and Utah to go undefeated. If this happens...we will have the greatest football game we could hope for and I'll be there! A few weeks into the season...Alabama has really impressed me. If I had to make a prediction as to who would play for the BCS title...Alabama and Oklahoma will face off in the battle for Maroon!


NFL All-Pro, Carolina Panther and University of Utah Alum, Steve Smith, was suspended the first two weeks of the season. Smith got into a fight with teammate Ken Lucas during practice and ended up punching him the face. The Panthers suspended Smith to show the team that this sort of behavior would not be tolerated. Last week, against the Falcons, Smith scored his first touchdown of the season. After celebrating with his team, Smith took the ball over to the sideline and handed it to Ken Lucas. The memento was well received and then and there, the players mended their relationship. When I heard this story...I was very impressed with both players and think people in general can learn from this situation.


Lastly, I just want everyone to know that NBA training camps are underway and the season is less than a month away! I will be posting much on this topic in another blog. Jazz!