NBA Playoff tickets have been holding out the hope for the Miami Heat to win another NBA Championship. Which of course is totally unfair for every other team in the NBA. But then again it’s hard not to understand why this is happening. To have one team, in this case the Miami Heat, be an overwhelming favorite in the league is quite simply very good for the NBA. It gives one group of fans high expectations. That group of course would be Miami Heat fans. But it also provides a valuable focal point for the rest of the NBA.

In short, having Miami running wild in the polls also energizes the rest of the NBA in a very peculiar way. In short, it gives every other group of NBA fans someone to hate. Think about it. The Miami Heat are the biggest draw on the circuit in the regular season. Not because they are loved but because everyone wants to see them go down. So what do you do? You buy tickets when the Miami Heat come to your town. One, because of the star attraction. Two, because you’re hoping against hope that your favorite NBA team will be the one to knock them off their pedestal.

Nowhere was this more evident than in Chicago where the Bulls happened to be the team to end the long winning streak Miami pulled off this season. That one victory elevated the hopes of every NBA fan in Chicago. Not to mention the rest of the country. When the Bulls pulled off a victory in Game 1 of the series against Miami, and did it in Miami, some folks out there were licking their chops, hoping to see the Heat take a dive. It didn’t happen. Miami now leads 3-1 and Chicago probably won’t come back. They may win Game 5 but the series? Not likely. But you see that’s what teams that everybody loves to hate will do. Make you hate them more. Which is good for the NBA.

Continuing on our series of NFL Power Rankings as published by the geniuses at ESPN. Some we can live with, some we disagree with.

At #6 in the ESPN Power Rankings are the New England Patriots. Which is an indication of the shifting structure of the NFL. In past years the Patriots would be in the Top 5. Is Father Time catching up to New England? Their absence from the Super Bowl would tend to indicate so but they are also a team you can’t rule out of anything.

Houston Texans – Coming in at #7 are the Houston Texans, a team on the rise in the AFC South. The window of opportunity in the division could be closing fast but the Texans solid defense, coupled with an offense that can be great if it stays healthy, makes Houston a legitimate contender for this spot.

Baltimore Ravens – The defending Super Bowl Champions took a massive hit after winning it all. I’m sorry but I think they have a year or two before they can regain their strength and that’s if all their draft picks work out as hoped.

Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals ranked in the Top 10? Again, things are changing. I’m a little leery about this pick being so high. The Bengals are getting better but they still have skeptics and I’m one of them.

Indianapolis Colts – I like this slotting. The Colts are much better with Andrew Luck and with a year under his belt he could improve even more. Defensively the Colts should also be better with some solid draft picks on that side of the ball.

NFL tickets are ramping up after the excitement created by the NFL draft. As usual we’ll see some movement here but there are already opinions being thrown around about the top teams in the NFL. ESPN has an article that lists the power ranking in the NFL. Let’s take a look at a few teams at the top.

Seattle Seahawks – Ranked at #1. First of all I love the Seahawks although I hate their coach. I must admit they have made huge strides in the last two years, not the least of which is at quarterback. But #1? I don’t know, mainly because the team they outrank is the San Francisco 49ers.

San Francisco 49ers – We now have two teams from the NFC West occupying the two top spots in the power rankings, something I thought I’d never see. And I’m thinking they’ve got the positions reversed. The 49ers have everything they need to get back to the Super Bowl. I may be splitting hairs but I believe San Francisco is more capable than Seattle.

Denver Broncos – Manning may be everything and all that but he’s been surrounded by plenty of talent. How the debacle occurred in the game against the Ravens I don’t know but it was pretty heartbreaking. The Denver broncos should play 2013 with a chip on their shoulder. They blew their chance.

Atlanta Falcons – I hate to be negative. The Atlanta Falcons have a really good football team.  The Atlanta Falcons have also had everything going for them the last two years and they’ve failed miserably. Yes, Atlanta will be a playoff team and once again they will fail miserably. The return of Sean Payton to the Saints means the division is up for grabs again. But in the NFC South that’s the usual state of affairs. The division is open for anyone (except may Carolina) and Atlanta will let down it’s fans.

Green Bay Packers – Picking the Green Bay Packers at #5 is I believe a show of faith in Aaron Rodgers. I’m seeing the reasoning but I’m really hesitant to agree with the pick. In their defense the Packers do look to be a little more run heavy in the coming season and that should allow Rodgers to be much more efficient.

There’s been an endless debate about Tim Tebow and his eventual position in the NFL. At one time many fans held out hope that Tebow would take the NFL by storm with his unique brand of athleticism and leadership. He almost did it with the Denver Broncos. Seriously, weren’t you surprised when Tebow engineered a few last minute wins and pushed the Broncos into the playoffs?

Is there still a chance for Tebow to make it in the NFL? Hope is growing dim. The New York Jets took Tim Tebow and basically wasted a year of their time. And Tebow’s time. Had the Broncos not signed Manning it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Tim Tebow would have continued to have success. Tim Tebow may have played his last down in the NFL unless he shows a willingness to play another position.

Elsewhere in the NFL we can look around and see some interesting things going on. The draft is over and there are several teams that have made solid picks and improved their rosters on paper. Of course every NFL team at this point thinks they killed it in the draft. But it will be three years or so of NFL games before we find out how good anyone really did.

But keep an eye on the Miami Dolphins. While they won’t take the NFL by storm this season they will be improved. On the other side of the country the San Francisco 49ers laid down some promising picks and made their future even brighter.

NBA Playoff tickets went into full swing this week and the lineups promise some excellent action and maybe a few surprises along the way.

The Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks are underway and the Pacers, as expected, have gained a 1-0 lead on Atlanta.

The San Antonio Spurs, considered by some to be the #1 contender in the West, lead the LA Lakers by a game. LA is playing without Kobe and it would be a shocker to see them get any further.

The Chicago Bulls went to Brooklyn in Game 1 of their series and went home with a big goose egg as the Nets took the early lead.

The LA Clippers may have to represent the West Coast this season. They seem prepared. A solid victory over Memphis puts them in the lead over the Grizzlies.

The Boston Celtics and New York Knicks line up against each other and the Celtics have to play some catchup.

This NBA Playoff scene is only going to get more intense as the series all progress. Most experts have the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs on a collision course. That remains to be seen. But NBA Playoff tickets are, right now, the best tickets in town.

The NBA is entering the last legs of the season and the conference battles are shaping up. In the Eastern Conference things are pretty clear. The Miami Heat have a commanding lead and there’s simply no possible way anyone can come close. The #1 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs is locked up. Everyone else is fighting for scraps. The New York Knicks are in the playoffs along with the Brooklyn Nets. From the Atlantic Division we’ll also see the Boston Celtics. The Indiana Pacers should win the Central and go into the post-season with the Chicago Bulls right behind. Finally, in the Southeast, the Atlanta hawks will come in someplace in the middle.

The Western Conference of the NBA is a little more competitive. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs are waging an all out battle with a mere one game difference between the two for the right to hold the home court advantage. Either way they’ve both locked down their playoff berths. Right now it’s too close to call. Elsewhere we find the the LA Clippers with a secured playoff spot along with Memphis and Denver.

Some where along the line here it’s going to be crystal clear but the Western Conference is clearly the most competitive at the top. The East, dominated by Miami, is a free for all 10 games back behind the boys from South Beach. We’ll keep you posted on all the latest NBA tickets and playoff seedings.

The Arizona Cardinals have a new quarterback. Again. Yesterday the Cardinals finally completed a trade for Carson Palmer, giving up a practically nothing. OK they swapped places in the draft with Oakland and if Palmer can start 13 games they’ll have to add a seventh Round pick. That’s practically nothing in my book.

The eternal question among the fans who buy NFL tickets is: What are the Arizona Cardinals getting? Well, potentially this could turn out to be a great deal. Carson Palmer was once a top ranked gunslinger in the NFl, leading the Bengals into the top of the offensive rankings. Given talent around him he could do as much as any good NFL quarterback. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case of late. The Bengals talent slipped into the sea and the Raiders, well, they never had any. Palmer started over the last two years and won about a quarter of his games. But that’s Oakland.

Of course he’s entering a highly questionable system in Arizona isn’t he? The Arizona Cardinals managed to win five games last season by parading four quarterbacks through their system. They all pretty much sucked. In my humble opinion I think they MAY have given themselves and upgrade here, one of considerable proportions. Arizona has the makings of a good but not great NFL team. Solid quarterback play always goes a long way. Even if you’ve got a guy whose biggest asset is his ability to avoid shooting himself in the foot, it would be an improvement in Arizona. I like this move.

If you love NFL tickets and don’t live in Oakland you have to love the Oakland Raiders. After all, the Al Davis Dysfunctional Parade has been going on for as long as most of us can remember. You recall Al Davis, the wheeling dealing genius who once ruled the NFL with his gang of misfits? He eventually succumbed to his own ego and his franchise descended into hell where they pretty much took up permanent residence for the last decade or so.

But even the most hardened Raider Hater has to at least acknowledge that Oakland is moving in a better direction than they have. The latest move is the trade for Matt Flynn from the Seattle Seahawks, a move I wholeheartedly concur with. Flynn went to the Seahawks after spending time in Green Bay watching Aaron Rodgers. Wrong place wrong time. It was expected that Flynn would be the starter in Seattle but whoa! Along come Russell Wilson and Matt is trade bait.

Hopefully Flynn will get a good chance in Oakland. It may not be the optimal move in the short term but with little hope in Seattle it could be a good move for the ex-LSU quarterback over the long term, especially if the Raiders continue to make even halfway reasonable moves. And that’s a big if.

Robert Griffin III ignited passion for the Washington Redskins in his rookie season, making the Washington Redskins far better than they had any right to be. I can remember Week 1 when the Skins came to New Orleans to play my New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. I was thinking This kid is good but he’s still a rookie quarterback so yeah he’ll make some mistakes and the Saints will win. Yes, I was actually thinking that. Then we got our butts kicked and the rest of the NFL world sat up and took notice. Of course in retrospect beating the Saints defense wasn’t much of an accomplishment but still.

As the 2012 NFL season went on, Griffin proved time and again that he is a pretty unique talent. I do expect that over the next season a few savvy NFL Defensive Coordinators will pick up a trick or two to keep him contained. I also expect that as time goes on he’ll take fewer chances and grow a little more savvy. His elusiveness and arm though, will make him a tough nut to crack.

All this is leading up to reports that Griffin is planning on being back under center for the first NFL game of 2013. It would be a pretty remarkable recovery. Adrian Peterson did it and he’s a running back so it might be possible. In any case it looks good for RG# to be back on board at some point early in the season and that’s a good thing for the NFL.

James Andrews, the doctor who did the repairs on the knee has described his recovery as “superhuman” and “unbelievable”. Those are two adjectives that could describe the first season of RG3 in the NFL. Let’s hope for many more.

The long awaited moment has come. Over the course of the past few season the murmured and shouted speculation regarding Golf tickets and the future of Tiger Woods has been the most discussed issue of golf. Many doubted the moment would come when Woods once gain picked up the mantle of the King of Golf and re-ignited interest in his game. Personal problems and injuries looked to have laid the man low, so low it was doubtful he could regain his lost position.

Those of little faith got their comeuppance this weekend as Tiger Woods earned the #1 spot in golf with a victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods is on the prowl again folks and your golf ticket just got a big boost. Now the question becomes how many tournaments Tiger Woods can own before the rest of the crowd begins to believe in his resurrection once again. There will be some naysayers for awhile.

More importantly, some are looking ahead to The Masters, asking if Woods will once again reign supreme. Time will tell. But if his play at the Arnold Palmer is any indication, Tiger Woods is regaining form, his personal house is in order, and his golf game is getting better by the week.