Welcome to another edition of the weekly sports column, Ballin’ By ya man, AJ ‘AJ Rok’ Woodson.

There is a lot goin on this past week in sports let me just jump right in. Starting with a little NBA  NEWS

 

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1999 THE HAWKS ARE IN THE NBA PLAYOFFS

On March 14, the Atlanta Hawks had lost two straight games, were 12 games under .500 and were a half-game out of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. They’ve won 11 of 16 games since and with the Pacers’ loss to the Wizards Monday night Atlanta clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 1999.With two games left in the regular season the Hawks clinched the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference when the Indiana Pacers, the only other team with a mathematical chance, lost at Washington 117-110 Monday night.

The East is all set now and West just about there. If playoffs were today it would look like this:

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs (8) Atlanta, (regular season series Boston won 3-0)

(2) Detroit vs (7) Philadelphia, (regular season Series tied 2-2)

(3) Orlando vs (6) Toronto (regular season series Orlando won 2-1)

(4) Cleveland vs (5) Washington (regular season Series tied 2-2)

Western Conference

(1) Los Angeles vs (8) Denver, (regular season series LA won 3-0)

(2) New Orleans vs (7) Dallas (regular season series NO leads 2-1)

(3) San Antonio vs (6) Phoenix, (regular season series, Suns won 3-1)

(4) Utah vs (5) Houston (regular season Series Jazz leads 2-1) 

New Orleans fell out of sole possession of the top spot in the conference Saturday night, falling 94-91 to a lottery-bound Sacramento Kings team missing leading scorer Kevin Martin.The loss dropped the Hornets (55-25) into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the top spot in the West with only two games remaining. The Lakers control the tiebreaker with New Orleans based on a better conference record.L.A. furthered their cause as the best in the west by whup The Spurs, when the two NBA Conference powers met Sunday with a lot on the line. Lakers won 106-85 holding the Spurs to 32 points in da second half. Lakers clinched their first Pacific Division title in four years. The Lakers could still end up No. 2 or No. 3 seed depending on how Houston and New Orleans finish up the season. But they could win the west if they win tonight!

Many heads saw Spike Lee at the nationally televised Lakers game. Apparently Lee is in Los Angeles working on a documentary on Kobe Bryant. he did confirm that he was shooting a documentary on a day in the life of Kobe Bryant. Lee also stated that the film will be on next year on ESPN or ABC and to expect it to reveal what its really like to be one of the NBA’s premiere superstars.   

NFL NEWS

 Falcons QB Shockley’s Job In Jeopardy?

Former UGA quarterback D.J. Shockley isn’t fully healed from a knee injury suffered last season and the Atlanta Falcons are expected to select a signal-caller in the NFL draft. This combines to put Shockley’s No. 3 position on the depth chart in doubt. Herschel Walker, a Georgia football legend, successful businessman and father of one, said in his book “Breaking Free” and during an interview with ABC’s “Nightline” that he nearly took his own life and the lives of others as he struggled with Dissociative Identity Disorder. In the “Nightline” interview, which is scheduled for Monday night, Walker talks about playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun at his kitchen table shortly after his retirement from football in 1998.

 Suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones will again ask NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to reinstate him today. Jones had planned to ask to be reinstated before the NFL draft on April 26-27. His agent, Manny Arora, said that being able to work out for teams would increase Jones’ appeal to those in the market for a cornerback.The Dallas Morning News and The (Fort Worth) Star-Telegram first reported that Arora said Jones, suspended indefinitely following several run-ins with the law, would file for reinstatement on today (Tue. April 15) 

How about some college and NCAA news; some of college basketball’s brightest stars, including Kansas State’s Michael Beasley and UCLA’s Kevin Love, are featured in Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s new documentary, “Gunnin’ for That No. 1 Spot.”Yauch, 43, said the documentary, which premieres April 28 at the Tribeca Film Festival, doesn’t make a judgment on the world where the precocious teens lived, but does give viewers a glimpse into it. He added: “The people around these kids really do care about them.” “Gunnin’ for That No. 1 Spot” is slated for release June 27.

UCLA All-American Kevin Love and teammate Darren Collison will make themselves available for the NBA draft, the Los Angeles Times reported last Tuesday night… Three days after winning the NCAA championship, Kansas coach Bill Self said no thanks to Oklahoma State, his alma mater, and agreed to a lucrative contract extension that could keep him at Kansas for the rest of his career. “Home called,” Self said. “And we love home. But this is home now.”The 45-year-old Self, an Oklahoma native who played for the Cowboys and was an assistant coach there at the beginning of his career, met with Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder Wednesday night for about two hours. 

Ex-UGA player Tim Worley arrested, hit with Taser

Former University of Georgia running back Tim Worley was zapped with a Taser and arrested Sunday on a drunk driving charge in Smyrna, said Lt. Robert Harvey, a department spokesman.Harvey said police saw a black Ford Expedition speeding and weaving on Spring Road, near Campbell Road, at 3:15 a.m. When police stopped the SUV, “Worley became combative with the arresting officer and after a brief altercation Worley was Tasered,” Harvey said in a press release to AUM.Police took Worley, 41, into custody without further problems. Neither Worley nor the officers were injured, Harvey said. 

 Also on the local level, Ebuka Anyaorah, a 6-foot-4 guard from North Gwinnett High, has committed to Georgia and will sign a national letter-of-intent with the Bulldogs on Wednesday, April 16th.Anyaorah will be the fifth and final signee for the 2008 class. Howard “Trey” Thompkins, Dustin Ware and Drazen Zlovaric signed with the Bulldogs in November. Anyaorah and Decatur’s Travis Leslie will sign on during the spring period, which begins Wednesday. 

BOXING NEWS

While division kingpin Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather plays around with pro wrestlers in da WWE,  mulls over messing with mixed martial arts and looks ahead to a fall rematch with Oscar De La Hoya that will make him millions but prove nothing, Cotto stopped Alfonso Gomez in five brutally lopsided rounds and Margarito knocked out Kermit Cintron in the sixth on Saturday night. Mayweather has never shown a desire to fight either, but Cotto and Margarito have a history of fighting top opponents. Now, they’ll fight each other on July 26, site to be determined.  Antonio Tarver (27-4, 19 KOs) climbed into the ring with one light heavyweight title Saturday night. He departed with two championship belts and a roaring crowd behind him.Tarver handed Clinton Woods and ass-whuppin’ with a unanimous 12-round decision to retain his lightly regarded IBO crown and seize the IBF title from his British foe.Tarver thrilled his hometown fans by rocking Woods with a solid left jab to the head in the 11th round and carried the momentum into the final roundTarver immediately turned his attention to the future.”It’s all about the belts. I want all the beltholders,” said the 39-year-old southpaw, who brazenly claimed to be the only champion among three light heavyweight titleholders at a news conference Thursday. 

Carlos De Leon Jr. recovered from a sixth-round knockdown to stop James McGirt Jr in the seventh round Friday night in a super-middleweight bout between sons of former world champions.De Leon (son of former cruiserweight champion Carlos De Leon Sr) struggled to reach his corner after falling to the canvas from a right to the head late in the sixth. De Leon dropped McGirt (son of James “Buddy” McGirt, welterweight titleholder from 1991-93) with a left to the head and didn’t allow his previously unbeaten opponent to survive. 

That’s concludes this week’s news in sports.

Remember we are AUM, Our Better Is Better Than Your Better!

Peace

AJ ROK, Da Professional Hip-Hop Junkie!