Michigan's first night game ever will be historic.

The Michigan Wolverines will host the first ever night home game tonight against Notre Dame after off-season renovations added luxury suits and stadium lights to The Big House.

This is a significant game, and not only because it is the first night game to be played at home for the Wolverines. A win for the Wolverines over a favored Notre Dame team in just Brady Hoke’s second contest would cement the start of a potentially great legacy for the hyped Michigan coach.

Hoke has been receiving nothing but positive reviews from the media the entire off-season. A loss tonight would make this seem like another ordinary year that we have seen out of the Wolverines over the past few years.  However, if Hoke pulls off an upset of Notre Dame with the roster he inherited, it would be a huge step in confirming the Hoke hype.  Hoke will obviously have numerous occasions in the future to get the Wolverines back in the upper echelon of college football, but tonight could put that process on the fast track.

Lights out San Diego

Lights out!  I thought that term faded to black in San Diego when Shawne Merriman took his talents to Buffalo.  But, here I was at home getting prepared for the first regular season NFL contest between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints when the lights truly went out.

Apparently, the real life Homer Simpson (Homer was notorious for wrecking Springfield’s power grids on The Simpsons), works for San Diego Gas and Electric Co.  One of their workers knocked out the power of millions of customers Thursday afternoon around 3:45 pm.

Football is one of my favorite sports to watch, but as most Americans were watching the stars on the field I could only watch the stars in the sky (it was a nice, star-lit sky, but the stars have not been locked out, I needed football).  Technology became useless because of the power outage, my smartphone became as useful as a pet rock (speaking of pet rocks, it might as well have been the 1980s, or an earlier era without precious electricity, HDTV and the internet).

At one point, around 10:05 pm, I received a single text from my dad that read: Wow! What a game!!! Thanks dad (and thank you family and friends for your non-concern).

Those hours without electricity will haunt me for a while; and each time I see the San Diego Chargers lightning bolt logo this year it will remind me of electricity, or lack thereof.

Detroit Lions

Stafford's health is the key to Detroit's season

Matthew Stafford has to stay healthy. Stafford has been dinged up each of his first two seasons in the league. He has to break that pattern and have a healthy and successful season.  Reports say that his shoulder is 100 percent healthy, and if that is the case, he has the talent to lead this team to a playoff berth.

The lions have to get something out of their backfield duo of Jahvid Best and Jerome Harrison. Running back depth is thin, plus Best and Harrison both have struggled to stay healthy the past few years. Production from these two is key so the offense can have a balance to go with their promising passing attack.

The talent and depth at the cornerback position for the Lions will be under scrutiny as well.  Corners Eric Wright and Chris Houston have a lot to prove, especially after their previous teams gave up on them. But, they won’t be asked to be great with the constant pressure applied by a very good defensive line.

The Lions have seven games against playoff teams this year (four of those games are against divisional foes Chicago and Green Bay), but the rest of the schedule puts them in great shape to compete for a playoff spot.

St. Louis Rams

Bradford and new OC Josh McDaniels will be a great match.

Sam Bradford’s development is the key to a playoff run for the St. Louis Rams.  He has a few new options at wide receiver as the team added veteran Mike-Sims Walker to go along with rookies Austin Pettis, Greg Salas and tight end Lance Kendricks.  The receiving corps is improved, which isn’t saying much compared to the situation they had last year as injuries and depth issues hurt their offense.  The biggest key for Bradford and the passing game this year will be new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.  His head coaching stint soured in Denver, but he will make a great play-caller for a potentially great quarterback.

The defense was fifth in turnover differential last year, and the unit will only get better with the additions of underrated safety Quintin Mikell and rookie defensive end Robert Quinn.  The Rams defense is solid and had a surprisingly efficient year last year. The defense will keep the Rams in games and give the offense a great opportunity to win games despite a tough schedule outside of the division within their first eight games (the Rams schedule includes games against Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas, Green Bay, New Orleans and the New York Giants).

Houston Texans

Foster's health is key to the Texans season

Arian Foster’s hamstring injury should only affect him for the next few weeks is treated properly.  He will be healthy enough by week three that his hamstring injury scare will be forgotten news by then.  The Houston Texans have been one of the most underachieving teams in the NFL the past few years based on the talent on their offense.  The defense is another story, but it should vastly improve this year with the addition of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.

It will take time for the defensive front to mesh, as they transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4. But, this offense will be able to carry the load until the defense is up to speed with Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and Foster lighting up scoreboards.

The recovery time for Peyton Mannning in Indianapolis and the rebuilding efforts in Tennessee and Jacksonville makes this division Houston’s for the taking. Unfortunately, this has been said the past few years about the Texans, it is put up or shut up time for this team.

San Diego Chargers

Gates' foot health will be monitored on a weekly basis

Antonio Gates finished the 2010 regular season with 782 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns on one foot in 10 games.  Gates is not 100 percent healthy this season, but he has shown improvement after battling plantar fasciitis last season and having foot surgery in the off-season.  Gates’ presence gives the Chargers offense a great boost (a unit that finished first in total offense despite Gates missing six games).

Phillips Rivers is an elite quarterback that is oftentimes overlooked because of the amount of good-to-great QBs in the league today.  But, Rivers has the talent to take this team to the Super Bowl.  The Chargers have the talent to get through the teams shown a lot more attention in their conference (Pittsburgh, New England, Baltimore and the New York Jets).

Underrated and key additions to the defense include Takeo Spikes, Bob Sanders and rookie defensive end Corey Liuget add to an already solid defense.  The Chargers are often overlooked and have had previous postseason failures, but this can be the season where everything comes together for them.

Remember the days when Darius Miles was exciting Los Angeles Clippers crowds with his athleticism and making cameos in movies such as Van Wilder? Miles’  has only been out of the NBA spotlight a few years (it feels as if it has been at least ten) but he found his way back in the news Wednesday by being arrested at an airport with a loaded handgun.

Sadly, Miles is another story of wasted NBA potential. His Weis Factor was already a 10, but with this latest incident he has historically hit 14 on the subjective Weis Factor Scale. At least you’re breaking records somewhere Mr. Miles.

How will winning affect the Warriors' draft hopes?

Just a few weeks ago the Golden State Warriors were in prime positioning for a top three pick in June’s 2010 NBA Draft.  However, the Warriors have gone 5-5 in their past 10 games for two main reasons: The Warriors have young and hungry players, including D-Leaguers, which are fighting to make a name in the league; also, the players are competing hard nightly to push head coach Don Nelson past Lenny Wilkens for the all-time career win record (Nelson tied Wilkens with a win in Toronto on Sunday).

As of April 6, 2010 the Warriors are 23-53, a record they share with Detroit and Washington as the third worst in the league.  Coincidentally, the Warriors play Washington tonight, followed by Minnesota and the Los Angeles Clippers to finish out the week.  The Warriors could easily win all three games which could potentially place the Warriors as the seventh or eighth pick in the draft.

If the Warriors brief run of success continues their draft options can go from choosing between Evan Turner, DeMarcus Cousins and Derrick Favors to choosing between Cole Aldrich, Greg Monroe and Patrick Patterson.

I am not a big fan of tanking because the team with the worst record hardly ever gets the first pick in the draft; however, if the Warriors continue to win games they can see a big drop-off in terms of talent if they are picking from the 7-10 range and not the 2-5 range.

There are numerous intricacies to the NBA that I feel take away from the fan experience; and there are parts of the NBA culture that bug me. The rule changes I am proposing won’t alter the NBA in major ways, but they will at the very least be entertaining to every fan of the game. Each rule is a useless as the next; regardless of that fact I decided to count them down from five to one. Enjoy!

5.  Marv Albert and Hubie Brown have to use slang during each broadcast: Don’t get me wrong Albert and Brown are great NBA announcers, but there’s a part of me that wants to see the two totally embrace the hip hop culture which is prevalent in the NBA.  Hearing Albert and Brown use slang throughout an NBA contest would make a fan’s viewing experience unparalleled by any announcing team in the four major sports.  Albert and Brown could run for president with their already legendary statuses if they were to add Redman’s vocabulary.

4.   Players with idiotic tattoos start every game with one foul: Call this either the DeShawn Stevenson or Stephen Jackson rule.  If a player decides they want to get a ridiculous tattoo that is fine, they’ll have to start every game with a foul already on the books.  Players cannot go unpunished for having Abraham Lincoln tattooed on their neck (Stevenson), or hands in prayer holding a gun (Jackson…I must have missed the part of the bible that talks about the right to bear arms).

3.  Let players talk trash to each other: I understand the NBA frowns upon trash talk in the league because the amount of fights may increase as a result; but, not allowing the players to not do it much at all hurts the game as a whole.  I think talking trash is an essential part of basketball, it is necessary to talk about an opponent’s lack of game, parents, children, and/or ugliness during each confrontation.  Trash talk in the end balances itself out, because if someone is dumb enough to talk trash to LeBron James or Kobe Bryant they are going to get at least 40 points dropped on their head.

2.  A Penalty Punch to gut for a blatant flop: Basketball at the NBA level can get vicious with the size of the athletes involved in each game.  But, then you have a few individuals that like to flop from the least bit of contact as they try and draw a foul against a defender.   It’s a man’s game, and acting as if a little bump is the equivalent of getting hit by a car needs to stop.  The new rule: If a player blatantly flops they will receive a punch to the gut from Palace brawlers Ron Artest , Stephen Jackson, and Jermaine O’Neal; or  from the Diesel , Shaquille O’Neal.  The puncher is determined by which one of those players happens to play the culprit next.  This punishment would put an end to flopping in less than two weeks.

1.  Players have to get their own Gatorade: I don’t know if this only bothers me, but I hate to see supreme athletes plop down on the bench and wait for someone to bring them Gatorade and a towel.  They have accomplished so much athletically and fitness-wise; why do they need someone to fetch them a drink?  It would be great to see a bunch of 6’8” and over men standing in line at a Gatorade cooler during a timeout.  It would be a small form of entertainment during the multiple fourth quarter timeouts.

(Note: Regular season records are placed after the team names.)

-10-

2003-2004 Minnesota Timberwolves (58-24)

Key Players: Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell

There are two reasons why the Timberwolves made this list without winning the championship:

Reason #1: Kevin Garnett went off in these playoffs (24.3 ppg, 14.6 rpg, 5.1 apg) after an MVP regular season.  Garnett put up historic numbers during this playoff run, and he was truly unstoppable at times.

Reason #2: The Wolves were a Sam Cassell hip injury away from toppling the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.  Once Cassell became ineffective the entire team suffered because the Wolves were heavily dependent on Cassell, Garnett and Latrell Sprewell.  This team didn’t have much past their big three, but if healthy they had enough talent and a decent enough supporting cast to win the Finals that year.

-9-

2003-2004 Detroit Pistons (54-28)

Key Players: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace

The Pistons were on par with the ’07-’08 Celtics in terms of team defense.  Multiple defensive player of the year award winner Ben Wallace anchored a talented defensively-minded roster.  Their starting five may have been the best of the decade, and their ’04 Finals upset of the Lakers was a huge accomplishment.

-8-

2005-2006 Dallas Mavericks (60-22)

Key Players: Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Jason Terry

This team should have won the Finals in 2006.  Mavs fans would be quick to point out that the referees bailed out Dwayne Wade and the Heat with an alarming disparity in free throw attempts during the NBA Finals matchup.  In Game 5 Wade to 25 free throw attempts, the Mavericks had 25 as a team.  Game 6 was controversial as well to say the least: Wade 21 FTAs, Dallas 23 FTAs.

This was the year of Dirk Nowitzki as well, I still feel he is underrated, and he had a special season in ’06: 26.6 ppg and 9 rpg in the regular season. 27 ppg and 11.7 rpg in the playoffs.

-7-

2006-2007 Phoenix Suns (61-21)

Key Players: Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion

The infamous Robert Horry hip check on Steve Nash is seen by many as the reason for the Suns demise in their playoff series against the Spurs.  Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were both suspended for game seven after leaving the bench to come to their star guard’s aid.  The talent on this team was undeniable, and Stoudemire had reached his peak in these playoffs, averaging 25.3 ppg and 12.1 rpg on 52.3% shooting from the field.  This Suns team was playing great and had reached their peak in the ’07; it is another sad tale of what could have been.

Important note: Steve Nash averaged 18.9 ppg, 13.3 apg, and shot 48.7% from three during the playoffs. Wow!

-6-

2001-2002 Sacramento Kings (61-21)

Key Players: Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac

This was a highly unselfish and talented Kings team with solid depth.  Chris Webber was an All-Star playing at a very high level, with great star talent around him: Bibby, Divac, Bobby Jackson, Doug Christie, Hedo Turkoglu, and Gerald Wallace to name a few. They were a clutch Robert Horry three away from a NBA Finals appearance and a potential NBA title.

Important note: Chris Webber averaged 23.7 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 4.7 apg in the playoffs

-5-

1999-2000 Portland Trailblazers (59-23)

Key Players: Rasheed Wallace, Scottie Pippen, Damon Stoudamire

This team should have won the 2000 NBA Finals if not for the historic fourth quarter collapse against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.  I believe the Blazers were the more talented team this year, and that their egos and rebellious attitudes did this team in.  The Blazers were probably busy discussing party plans in Los Angeles later that night as they were up 18 points going into the 4^th.  This was not a disciplined or a mature team, and even veterans like Pippen, Stoudamire, and Steve Smith could not keep this team on track.

-4-

2008-2009 Los Angeles Lakers (65-17)

Key Players: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza

There was good depth on this team, and the best player in the NBA on was on their roster: Sasha Vujacic… just kidding, Mr. Kobe Bryant.  Anytime a team has the luxury of bringing someone of Lamar Odom’s caliber off the bench, the rest of the league is in trouble.  The Lakers also benefitted from a breakout by Trevor Ariza, he was a revelation for the Lakers on both ends of the floor.

This team featured Arvydas Sabonis, Jermaine O’Neal and Bonzi Wells.  These were good role players at the time, and O’Neal and Wells would go on to be starters for many seasons.

-3-

2004-2005 San Antonio Spurs (59-23)

Key Players: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker

Tim Duncan became dominant in the middle part of the decade, and on top of that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili started to play out of their minds as well.  This is another team that could have won with any supporting cast because their top three players were so good.  I chose this Spurs championship team over other Spurs champs because of the emergence of Parker and Ginobili.

-2-

2007-2008 Boston Celtics (66-16)

Key Players: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo

The best defensive team of the decade by far.  Their defense during their title run was so dominant that it was obvious by February of 2008 that no team in the league would be able to beat them in a seven game series.  The Atlanta Hawks did come close in their first round series, taking the Celtics to seven games, but you could always rely on their defense to ultimately get the job done.

Their depth was impressive as well, as guys like James Posey, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, P.J. Brown and Eddie House were key contributors.

-1-

2000-2001 Los Angeles Lakers (56-26)

Key Players: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant

This team was the best of the decade because of two players: Shaq and Kobe.  It did not matter who the role players were, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were too dominant for the rest of the league at this point.  They also went 15-1 in the playoffs on the way to their NBA Finals championship.  O’Neal was at his best in the early part of this decade, he was unstoppable in the early 2000s.

Important note: Shaquille O’Neal averaged 30.4 ppg, 15.4 rpg.  Kobe Bryant averaged 29.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.1 apg

Honorable mention: 2005-2006 Miami Heat, 2006-2007 Golden State Warriors, 2006-2007 Utah Jazz, 2007-2008 New Orleans Hornets, every other Spurs champ and Lakers champ, 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavaliers, 2008-2009 Orlando Magic