Saturday, December 29, 2012

MLB 2012 Review


MLB Standings - Updated: Oct 31, 2012
AL EASTWLGB
New York Yankees9666
Boston Red Sox9567
Toronto Blue Jays8379
Tampa Bay Rays8280
Baltimore Orioles6399
AL CENTRALWLGB
Kansas City Royals8676
Detroit Tigers8478
Cleveland Indians8181
Minnesota Twins7686
Chicago White Sox7587

Here is my late review of the 2012 MLB season...  I kind of thought I already posted this, but apparently I did not.
The Yankees were within a game of my prediction.  I wanted to believe in Baltimore, but I couldn't pull the trigger.  Plus I had Baltimore in last place and they finished 30 games above where I predicted them to finish, so that was a really bad prediction.   Tampa Bay finished 8 games below my prediction.  Toronto finished 10 games below.  While the Red Sox stunk and finished 26 games below.

Detroit was actually fairly accurate.  While the Royals were my homer pick, I still did actually think they would make some noise this year.  Chicago was a bit better than I thought.  Cleveland didn't do a lot.  Surprising to see Minnesota lose 96 games.

MLB Standings - Updated: Oct 1, 2012
AL WESTWLGB
LA Angels9666
Texas Rangers9072
Seattle Mariners 7389
Oakland A's7290
NL EASTWLGB
Philadelphia Phillies9765
Florida Marlins8973
Atlanta Braves8874
Washington Nationals8082
New York Mets7290




Oakland won 22 games more than I expected and won the division.  Who saw that coming?  Texas was within the margin of error.  The Angels only finished 7 games worse than expected, but they still finished outside of playoff contention.  The Mariners I nailed.

Washington's talent came together a year earlier than expected.  Atlanta was accurate.  Philly suffered some injuries and collapsed in the first half of play.  Nailed the Mets.  Really, really dumb decision by me to pick Miami to win 89 games..



MLB Standings - Updated: Oct 31, 2012
NL CENTRALWLGB
Cincinnati Reds8775
Milwaukee Brewers8577
St. Louis Cardinals8478
Pittsburgh Pirates8181
Chicago Cubs7389
Houston Astros53109
NL WESTWLGB
San Francisco Giants9072
Arizona Diamondbacks8577
LA Dodgers8082
Colorado Rockies7884
San Diego Padres7389



Solid pick with the Reds, but they did finish with 10 more wins then expected.  Accurate win total for the Cards, but they ended up reaching the playoffs.  Brewers were accurate.  As were the Pirates.  I was too favorable on the Cubs.  Houston said goodbye to the NL Central with a 55-107 record, ouch.

The San Fran prediction was accurate for the regular season, but I did not see them winning the World Series.. Dodgers prediction was mostly accurate.  Accurate with both the Diamondbacks and Padres.  The Rockies were a bit disappointing.
Credit for the blue box scores on the left goes to http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings and for the right side red box scores, http://www.operationsports.com/.  

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Scintillating Locks of the Week

These are some theoretical recreational bets.  In no way do I want anyone to use these bets, or any other  imaginable bet.  Trying to make your living by betting sports is a very silly way to try and make a living.  However, so long as you don't mind investing your money in the stock market, then I don't necessarily see a huge problem with someone making an occasional bet.  However if it becomes an addiction, then that is an entirely different matter.  For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. (2 Peter 2:19)  Gambling has and does destroy lives and families, so in no way shape or form do I endorse gambling.  With those disclaimers in place..  Here is a pick.  I don't know how often I will do this..  The average will possibly be around one pick a week.  I'm just going to update this blog post whenever I am making a pick, so I won't just be making a ton of 50 word blog posts.  Once I get to 50 (maybe..), then I'll start a new blog post to add picks on.

Overall record  7-5

Just for fun, I'm starting out with a fictional $1000.             Money placed     won-lost          Balance
I think Cleveland actually has a vague chance of upsetting the Broncos.  I'll be content to just lay the 13.5 though.  Peyton Manning is the reason that Denver has improved so much this season, and I think he has an off day today.  And I'm tired of people saying that this is how the Broncos should have looked last year..  Cleveland did struggle last week against the Redskins, but the Browns play opponents toughly and 13.5 is way too much.
Cleveland +13.5 (+100) vs. Denver.                    X                  50                    -50                    950
First pick didn't turn out very well.  Denver dominated Cleveland.

Random NBA bet.  I like New Orleans to stop their losing streak tonight.
NO to win outright (+130) vs. Orlando                                    60                     +78                 1028
Well, it was right.  That's all I've got to say.

Last regular season week for the NFL in 2012, so I went a little crazy on the number of bets this week.
I don't like this pick very much, but I'll take Tennessee to beat Jacksonville in what should be Jacksonville's last game without Tebow.
Tennessee - 4.5 (-110) vs Jacksonville                                      50                      +45                1073

Andy Reid's last game with the Eagles, I'll take the 7.5, thank you.
Eagles +7.5 vs Giants                                           X                    60                      -60                 1013                                                                  
That was ugly tosay the least.  Adios to Coach Reid and Mr. Vick.

Another anti Broncos pick.
Chiefs +15.5 vs Broncos                                      X                    70                      -70                 943                                                                      
Yep.  I should stop taking the Broncos opponent..  I'm sure that will stop in the postseason..  Or not.

Taking 14.5 on principle only.  Don't like taking the Cards though..
Cardinals +14.5 vs 49er's                                                        50                      +45                988                                                                          
Won by a measly half a point, but a win is a win.

Rams have owned their division.  Even though they've been insanely hot lately the Seahawks aren't playing for very much this week.
Rams +10.5 vs Seahawks                                                        50                      +50                1038                                                                          
Rams had a chance to win the game, but I only had them for the cover anyways.

It's probably going to be that the winner gets the lone remaining playoff spot, so I'll go ahead and take Tony Romo over the rookie RGIII.
Cowboys to win outright (130) vs Redskins         X                 70                       -70                968                                                                              
Good game by RGIII, but the game was lost thanks to Tony Romo.  I was a little surprised by how much he struggled.

I really shouldn't do this, but I'm going to pick each wildcard playoff match.
Similar game to last year, once again Houston wins.
Houston -4.5 against the Bengals                                           60                       +60               1028
Part 2 like part 1.

On principle only I'm very tempted to pick the Vikings, but I think the Pack should be extremely good in the rematch at Lambeau.
GB -7.5 vs Vikings                                                                  60                        +55             1083
Pack attack dominated.

I like the Colts, but they should be overmatched in this game.
Balt 6.5 vs Indy                                                                        70                       +65             1148              
Yep, the Colts were overpowered.

I've struggled with this match-up a ton, but I'll go ahead and have a clean sweep for the home teams.
Washington +130 vs Seattle                                   X                   50                     -50              1098                          
It looked good early on, but then RG3 suffered a gruesome injury.

Boston +1000 to win division.  Since I expect the Knicks to fall back to earth, I don't understand why you can be getting so much, when Boston only needs to go on a little winning streak.               150                                        948                                                                                                
                                           
Falcons +800 to win SB.                                                              50                   -50                898
Falcons had at least a decent chance to get to the SB, but they fell to the ground in the end.

Seahawks are a mediocre team on the road, but I definitely did not want the Falcons to have to face them.
Falcons vs Seahawks                                                                  60                      +60            958    
Falcons had just enough to win in the end.

Manning is the GRQBOAT, but I think he'll struggle a little in this game, and the Ravens can pound the Broncos on the ground.
Ravens +600? vs Broncos                                                            60                      +360          1318                
For a while it looked like the +9 would have been better, but the Ravens ended up pulling it out.

A-Rodge vs Kaepernick..  Yep.  That pretty much settles it.
Packers +130 vs 49er's                                            X                    80                      -80              1238
Kaepernick did some impressive stuff and overpowered the Packer's defense.

Falcons getting home field should be the deciding factor in this game.
Falcons +130 vs 49er's                                            X                    70                      -70              1168
Very similar game to last week, only this time the Falcons couldn't recover.  Falcons went up 17-0 blew the lead, and they were up 24-14 at half.   Blew that too.  Still had a good chance to win at the end but that blew up as well.

Now that the Falcons are out I will actually be rooting for the Ravens to win the SB.  (even though the Pats were the other half of my SB pick) I'm not positive the Ravens will pull off the upset this week, but I'll definitely take the +9.
Ravens +9 vs Patriots                                                                70                      +65              1303
Ravens upset yet another team.  The defense really dominated the Pats throughout.

I've seen a couple of both team's games and Houston dominates in terms of Quality shots vs non quality shots.
Houston vs +130 Utah                                                               70                      +90              1393
Houston ended up giving the Jazz a record setting loss.

After the Falcons lost their close game, I have thought the Ravens would win the SB.
Ravens +130 against the 49er's                                                 80                      +110              1503
Flacco gets a SB in another entertaining SB.

Over/under NFL
Bengals under 8 ½ Even
Colts under 8½ -105
Dolphins under 7½ +105
Vikings under 7½ -125
Raiders over 5½ -110
Eagles over 7 -115
Redskins under 8½ -140
Buccanneers over 7½ -140
Chargers over 7½ -130
Steelers over 9 -140
First 5 at 150, next 2 at 50, and final 3 at 40.  

Over/under cf
OSU over 10½ +120
Iowa over 5½ -140
Purdue under 5½ -300
Baylor over 8 -105
ISU over 5½ +195
Arkansas over 5½ -130
OKSU under 9½ -115
Washington over 7½ -130
First 4 at 100, next 2 at 60, and final 2 at 40.

To win division
Patriots 1/6
Packers 5/8
Texans 4/11
Broncos 1/7
Falcons even
Steelers 7/4
Eagles 5/1
49ers 5/6
First 3 at 100, next 3 at 60, final 2 at 30.

To reach SB
Texans 5/1
Falcons 7/1
Packers 6/1
Eagles 30/1
First 3 at 40, final 1 at 8.

To win conference
Texas 5/2
Oklahoma 3/1
Baylor 12/1
Boise State 2/5
USC 2/1
OSU 1/5
First at 40, next at 30, next at 10, and final 3 at 50.

Most of these lost, at some point I may get to posting the results.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Presidential Race 2012, part 2

Well, my NFL favorites prediction was actually extremely accurate, only the Buffalo Bills lost straight-up (and they only lost by a single point on a late touchdown) and favorites were 8-5 against the spread.  Though I'm not trying to toot my horn or something silly like that, especially since I had my worst week of the season last week. And I apologize for not getting this out before, I was running into some technical difficulties.

Presidential Race

Unemployment 'below' 8%  
You can color me unsurprised that jobs were 'below' 8% for the first time in 40 months.  I've thought for a couple of months that jobs would be below 8% starting around August or September, so while I was off a little, I was still pretty close.  The reasons for thinking such was because 1. More people would give up hope of finding a job. And 2. Because I thought that the last stimulus package had some little 'presents' that wouldn't be opened until a few months from the election.

Debates 
I thought the debates were extremely predictable.  The first debate was about the $, the second was about being competitive, and the third was about a second term.

Is it a sin to vote for Obama?  
It has been said that it is a sin to vote for Barack Obama, because of all the evil he has helped to facilitate..  But if I were to grant their point, then isn't voting for Romney a sin too, if Romney's track-record is just as bad as Obama's?
Saying that it is a sin to vote for someone is interesting..  I guess I would tend to agree with them that voting for a candidate who supports evil is a sin.  But at the same time, I hope they realize that every candidate (and person) is evil, so in a vague and literal sense they are voting for evil no matter the candidate.  (So in a sense you could actually truthfully say that every presidential choice is a choice between the 'lesser' of two [or more] evils)

Trying to infer political verses in the Bible 
(And I'll say up front that it's a vaguely dangerous thing to try and infer political things into the Bible, but I wanted to incorporate some Bible verses in my discussion.) 
I think it could be said that Christians in the Republican party like to follow the verse, Luke 6:29, "If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also." In my opinion, Luke 6:29a is largely referring to religious persecution.  If a person suffers religious persecution, then they should be willing to suffer more. (Mainly spiritual abuse, not necessarily literal physical abuse [at least in this part of the world]) And Luke 6:29B, is largely saying that we should not want revenge on an enemy, but instead offer our enemies love and give them even more than for what they asked.  I think that Luke 6:29 can generally be applied on an individual level, but not really on a political or national level.  
        In the OT when Israel would be invaded, would God tell Isreal,  "You Israelites constantly sin, I'm not even sure why I set you up as a nation..  When the Philistines (or whoever) come to attack Jerusalem, let them take it.  Don't put up a fight.  Give them anything and everything that they want."  Is that what God would do?  No.  He would have the Israelites face insanely tough odds, and yet beat the pulp out of their enemy.  (And I'm not trying to say that God is endorsing creating some sort of righteous third party, or that God blesses America more than any other country, I'm just saying that just because evil has the apparent upper-hand doesn't have to insinuate a compromise by the righteous.)

We will never create a heaven on earth, but that doesn't mean we can just lay down to evil.  Instead of trying to apply Luke 6:29 to their political thoughts, I would like Christians to try and apply the following verses: "Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults." 1st Corinthians 14:20, "Make sure that nobody pays back evil for evil, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else."  1st Thessalonians 5 and then also verses 21b-22 "Hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil."
While these verses don't apply perfectly, I think they apply fairly well to a Christian's political life.  We should hold on to what is good and reject every kind of evil.  A political party should be striving for good not accepting evil.  We should not think like children in politics, but as adults.  We don't need to somehow twist our political lives into something different than the rest of our life.  

Perspective 
130 years from now, barring some various things, the political issues of the day won't matter at all to us (though politics will probably still matter to our great-grandchildren), and we'll discern that only our' belief in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, and God's grace were the reasons for our salvation.  And while hopefully the political things which we participated in during our lifetimes were 'good works', they did not matter to the final result of our eternal salvation.


Current Alternatives To These Two Guys...
We have done our compromising to evil and look where it has gotten us,
atrocious and open depravity along with thousands of deaths every single day.
In this election I basically think the main candidates whom a Christian can vote for are: some small 3rd party candidate or write in Ron Paul.  I kind of want to discuss some of the main disagreements I have/had with Congressman Paul, and the main disagreements are foreign policy and Abortion/'Gay Marriage'.

Foreign policy
Foreign policy is a very interesting little conundrum.  As a Christian, if there is a dictator who is butchering hundreds of his citizens each day, then I would have a very hard time not intervening.  But, as a non-interventionist/Mayberriate, by stopping said-brutality I will likely be endangering American men and women.  So I am not really convinced as to which choice is right.

Abortion/'Gay Marriage'  
In a way this is the same problem as before, only this time the policy is only affecting those in America, so I am sure Congressman Paul is in the wrong.  It appears that Ron Paul believes that humans are basically good, or, at the very least, the government shouldn't interfere and Americans should be able to make their own decisions.  While the second belief isn't entirely wrong, it is misguided.

What is the government's role?  
Effectively speaking, the government's role is to persecute evil and uphold righteousness.  Paul's position on Abortion/'Gay Marriage' is to downgrade the choice from a national issue to a state issue.  This punting of important issues is a serious FAIL.  In my humble opinion, 'downgrading' the choice is (at best) a Pontius Pilate washing of the hands on the issues.  Simply regulating evil to a state-level doesn't solve anything.  If a child is allowed to be murdered by the state instead of the national government, then he or she is not any less dead.
       Question here..  Why should the regulation stop at the state level?  Why not district?  Why not county?  Why not town?  Heck, why not person?  Oh, that's right, there's no good answer for that..  Because, (according to Doctor Paul) all of this simply boils down to each individual having a 'right' to do evil lawfully.
       While foreign policy is rarely a huge deal-breaker in voting (for me), Abortion most definitely is.  Abortion and God's definition of marriage are (effectively) both non-negotiables for me.  So... on the bright side I won't actually be forced to vote for Paul, since I'm (technically speaking) not eligible to vote. However on the downside, A. I'm not able to vote, and B.  It would be a somewhat hard pill to swallow, but I think I would be willing to compromise slightly on my principles and vote for Ron Paul.  Why?  Because, in his Congressional voting history he has been extremely pro-life.  And if the Congress went crazy and voted for a pro-life bill, then I'm (obviously) all-but positive that he would vote for it.

An aside, that kind of deals with that..
Would you vote to regulate murder?  
If I was a Congressman, and my vote would be the deciding vote in a bill that would regulate abortion to only in the cases of rape and incest, I would have an insanely, insanely hard time not voting in favor of the bill.  In regulating abortion.  Regulating murder.
       I would be responsible for saving millions of children, sure, but I would also be responsible for killing thousands of children.  But, they were just going to die anyways, right?  Well....  Yes.  But, my vote still doesn't match-up to the Bible. To God.  And you do not argue with God.  And yet..  I honestly don't know what should be done in that situation.

Now that I have said most of our differences, I'll move on to some things I really like about Ron Paul.  One of the best compliments I can give him:  He and his supporters aren't here to get a seat at the political table...  They're here to smash the table.  He doesn't buy into the zombified partyline lie: Republicans good, Democrats bad, or vice versa.  Along the same lines, another good thing about him is that he is kind of a ctrl-alt-delete candidate who isn't afraid to upset anyone.  And lastly, his economic and monetary policies are some of the (if not the) best out there.

Both the abused and the Christian constituency are dealing with an insanity complex. 
(And I'm not trying to be too blunt or rude to either 'person', but sometimes the truth hurts.) 
The abused often goes back to the abuser, because they think they are unable to make it without them and they think that someday the abuser will change.  And applying that to the Republican Party..  How often does that 'someday' actually come for the abuser or the Republican Party?  Almost never.  
       The Christian constituency of the Republican party thinks that a third party would have absolutely no legitimacy and so they simply toss their vote to the lukewarm 'conservative'.  What's the definition of insanity?  Why do 'we' keep nominating lukewarm Republicrats and then expect them to be conservative if they get into office?  We think that creating a new party would be too hard.  We lose before we even try.  While we are mired in our complacency and stupidity, evil reigns, men and women commit atrocities, and babies are murdered.  We have fought the war of compromises and WE HAVE LOST.  And even though we have lost, we refuse to change our tactics.  We try our compromising, we try our incrementalism, and we get the taste of defeat over and over again. 

Fingerprints 

I know for sure that, one way or another, my fingerprints won't be on either candidate for the presidency, at least directly.  If you feel that voting for the 'lesser' of two evils is the way to go, then have fun with your affirmation of that candidate and their policies. If you like the way a sheep looks more than  a wolf, then feel free to vote for the wolf in sheep's clothing, rather than the wolf.  Only know this--compromising with evil does NOT work.  Why do Christians think that we need to compromise with evil?  (to repeat) We will never create a heaven on earth, but that doesn't mean we just lay down to evil.  Evil is evil.  It doesn't matter what realm evil is in, or how much lipstick is applied to it.  It is still evil. It doesn't matter whether evil is perpetuated by an individual or by the policies of a political party.  Say it with me now, evil is evil.

Separation of politics and Christianity.  The Invisible Separating Wall.

Some Christians think that politics is somehow a 4 letter word that must be avoided.  They think that there is some sort of invisible line between politics and being a Christian.  Some Christians are afraid of politics.  They think that politics is better left to the world, and it doesn't really matter who wins, since God is in control anyways.  And I will say that while nothing happens in the world that God doesn't allow, that doesn't actually mean that God makes things go His way.  
       The spiritual is most-definitely more important than the political, but that doesn't mean you can't try to have both.  Really quick analogy here..  Let's say you have two children, and you have brought them up to be God-fearing Bible-believing Christians.  And then let's say that you don't care what kind of friends they have, whether or not they'll be able to find someone to marry, when they will die, and what kind of neighborhood they will live in, etc.  Don't you find that somewhat asinine?  

Future Alternatives
Here are the Republican nominees for President in the last 60 years:  Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney. 
That's quite a list.  Not exactly bastions of conservatism.  Who stands out?  I would say Ronald Reagan (his first term).  With the possible exception of parts of Reagan's first term, they all largely implemented liberal policies. (Though admittedly I know basically nothing about what Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole supported)  (So with that possible exception also taken out..)  If you would have any of those Republican candidates run with a 'D' instead of an 'R', would anyone really know the difference?

Maybe it's just a rumor, but I think there's this thing called a primary.  While it wouldn't be easy, I think that the best looking possibility right now is to forget this facade called the Republican Party and start a new political party.

A good baseline on deciding whether or not to vote for any candidate

If a candidate or political party won't defend those who are innocent..  the indefensible.., then what in the world will he or she defend?  It's easy to tell that America is in a sad state when a person can't defend the innocent without being viewed as the antagonist, while the murderer is viewed as the victim.  


Predictions
Best case scenario
Each House and Senate seat goes to the Republicans, marriage wins in each of the four states, Obama and Romney each get 269 electoral delegates, and (I forget if this can actually happen or not) the Congress ends up picking Ron Paul to be the President, and if not, then they can pick Santorum-Biden...  Okay, okay, that wasn't very realistic.


Very optimistic best case scenario
Obama or Romney wins the presidency (it's kind of irrelevant who is actually in the White House), but the 'R's' tie the Democrats in the Senate, 50 seats to '49', the 'R's' get a larger lead in the House 250-185, all 4 'gay marriage' initiatives are passed in favor of marriage, the 'R's win a good majority of state wide seats.  Then the House Republicans get a spine, eliminate the funding to ObamneyCare, terminate the past, present, and future 'executive orders', invalidate judicial activism, which in turn leads to the annihilation of Roe vs Wade and various other 'legislative' decisions by judges, so the 'law' defaults to something called the Constitution, and abortion is thus outlawed.  Yeah, maybe my glasses still had just a tinge too much of rose in them.., especially considering that sticking up for good would require Republicans to actually show leadership and principles, which is something that very few of them actually have.

Likely best case scenario
The beginning of the previous scenario, but ending at 'Republicans get a spine'.  In this scenario the Republicans in the House simply shut down the funding to the government.  Take a principled stand, Republicans.  It's not exactly very complicated.  Simply, shut it down.  I think this actually has a chance of happening, around a 20% possibility, so this is the first scenario that could actually possibly happen.

What I think will happen
Romney 49.8%, Obama 48.5%, Others 1.7%. Marriage wins in Minnesota, Maryland, and Maine, but, thanks to being outspent 120-1, loses 52% to 48% in Washington.  Unlike 2008, when African Americans voted for Obama over 95% of the time, Obama doesn't even garner 90% of the black vote in 2012.  The election isn't 'decided' until 3 a.m. on November 7th.  The Republicans make small gains in the House 240-195, and Senate 48-'51'.  As for the Electoral college, Obama wins 281-257.  Effectively speaking, Obama and Romney are likely running to be president of Ohio, because the presidency will likely hinge on Ohio.  If Ohio goes to Obama, he probably wins, if it goes to Romney, then it's quite possible that he will win.

Predictions for the next four years
I'm going to randomly guess that the fear-mongers who think that America will collapse with another term of Obama and that Americans will have trouble simply surviving, much less prospering, will be wrong.  And I'll also guess that those who think we can simply put evil+incompetence together and it will somehow = economic prosperity, will be extremely wrong as well.
       No matter who is elected I would tend to guess that over the next 4 years the DOW J will dip to 12,250, 'real' unemployment goes to around 19% (it's at 14.6% right not),  inflation will be viewed as a large problem in the US (which admittedly could/would curtail or eliminate my DOW J prediction), the world suffers general economic difficulty, another 5 million babies are murdered, and an Iranian conflict nearly escalates into a 'minor' nuclear war.
       Eventually the kicking-down-the-road of problems will snowball into a problem that will basically envelop America.  And while America will quite possibly suffer some of my above predictions, I don't think that the majority of America's problems will catch up to America in the next 4 years. But, please remember that no matter the economy, the politics, or the regime president over the next 4 years, the True King is still alive and always shall be.


Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” 

John 15:18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first.” 

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Thursday, November 1, 2012

NBA 2012 Preview

Well, I meant to get to the second political post yesterday, but things didn't run smoothly enough..  So I'll post that tomorrow.  I made this NBA post before the Harden trade, but even with Harden leaving from OKC my opinion doesn't really change very much for either team.  

NBA

Atlanta Hawks
Sure the Hawks lost Joe Johnson, but they added a ton of good talent: Kyle Korver, Lou Williams, and Devin Williams.  A step back for Atlanta?  Nope.  48-34

Boston Celtics
Will Jason Terry replace Ray Allen as the new part of the big-three?  Quite possibly.  Barring injuries, the Celts roll back to the playoffs once again. 47-35

Brooklyn Nets
Starpower in Brooklyn..  A top 5 team?  Not so much.  45-37

Charlotte Bobcats
There was surprisingly little turnover for the worst team in the league..  After the worst winning percentage season of all-time the Bobcats have to go up...  Right?  Yep, barely.  23-59

Chicago Bulls
No D-Rose for a while.  Which means the Bulls are better without D-Rose hypothesis can be tested (and proven wrong) more fully this year.  The Bulls won't have the best record in the NBA this year.  43-39

Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs are young, but they're improving.  38-44

Dallas Mavericks
I don't really understand how they stole Darren Collison from the Pacers..  41-41

Denver Nuggets
Andre Iguodala on the Nuggets??  Ouch.  Denver should be nasty.  52-30

Detroit Pistons
An improving team, but they need another year or two for playoff contention.  29-53

Golden State Warriors
I would have Golden State in the playoffs if it their owner would be different.  34-48

Houston Rockets
Why the suddenly 'cash strapped' Knicks let Lin
go we may never know.  Suffice it to say though,
 they made the wrong choice.
Lost a few good players (Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic), also picked up a few (Terrence Jones, Royce White, Jeremy Lin).  Why are experts predicting that the Rockets will be the second worst team in the league?  Sure Houston will be extremely young, but I have them as my surprise team in the Western Conference.  43-39

Indiana Pacers
A step back for the Pacers, but they still make the playoffs.  39-43

Los Angeles Clippers
They actually have a few old players..  But they also have the best PG in the game, and possibly the best young PF/C.  50-32

Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers acquired during Antawn Jamison during the offseason..  Idk about everyone else, but I think that was a huge pick up.. Oh yeah, and the Lake-show acquired Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard.  A few early growing pains, but not as many as most people think.  IT'S STEVE NASH running the point.  While I don't like all of his off the court positions, he is the best over 30 PG out there.  They also have the best center in the game.  A HOF and possible HOF in Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.  How are teams going to be able to stop D-Howard, when they can't just sag into the paint?  55-27

Memphis Grizzlies
A step back for the Griz.  40-42

Miami Heat
An overlooked acquisition for the Heat so far I've thought has been Rashard Lewis.  Did Rashard Lewis really do anything the last two years?  No..  But, will he do something this year?  Sure he will.  The corner combos of Lewis and Shane Battier should be nasty.  In the third year, a team's chemistry really tends to mesh..  And the Heat haven't even played their best ball the last two years.  If the Heat wanted to only play for the regular-season, then I bet they could win a minimum of 67 games.  However, they aren't really playing for the regular-season accolades..  57-25

Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks gets my What the heck are you doing? award.  They've been a fringe playoff team the last two years, yet they were mired in complacency in the offseason. And their combination of Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings alone might chuck up 35+ shots a game of low quality shots.  I don't know what management is doing.  28-54

Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves haven't even won 30 games since 2007.  Some interesting decisions by management in the offseason..  Didn't like all of their moves, and it will probably cost them a few wins.  But, if the T-Wolves can get past the first few weeks without their injured players, then they can be a good team.  42-40

New Orleans Hornets
Other than their loss of Jarret Jack, I really, really, really liked the Hornets off-season moves.  They may have finished just 2 spots from worst in the leauge last year, but that was partially do to injuries.  They're a young team, but (if you can't tell..) a team I really like.  Some great decisions by management.  They're my second surprise team in the Western Conference.  43-39

New York Knicks
In my opinion an awful offseason for the Knicks..  And yet the experts expect them to be a top 4 seed in the East..  The Knicks really appear to be going with a youth movement...  They simply let Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields walk away (both 24 years old), and they also picked up Jason Kidd (39).  While I do like J-Kidd..  He isn't going to be sticking around in NY for the next decade.  J-Lin and Landry Fields would at least have had a chance to stick around for a decade, and be quality players.  Tyson Chandler is really the only saving grace on the team and even he is over 30.  Have fun with a complacent Carmelo, Knicks...    39-43

Oklahoma City Thunder
OKC has been climbing very consistently for the last four years, should a #1 seed be in line this year?  I would say, no.  And honestly I hope they aren't the #1 seed..  I usually dislike rooting for the Goliath's of the world.  Though OKC would be one of the most likeable Goliath's of-all-time.  They didn't do a ton to improve their team in the offseason, but they at least had one of the steals of the draft by selecting Perry Jones at 28.  I think it is the right decision to keep Harden (He shoots an amazingly high-quantity of high-quality shots), we'll see if the Thunder end up trading him or not.  KD and the Thunder roll to a 52-30 record.

Orlando Magic
Partially went into a youth movement in the offseason.  Somewhat decent decision for long-term, but for the short term and this year the Magic will struggle and finish with their first losing season since 2007.  26-56

Philadelphia 76ers
I think Bynum produces stats, but not wins..  We'll see if I'm right come April.  Evan Turner is the main boon about Orlando.  46-36

Phoenix Suns
My goodness, the Suns stole players left and right.  Are they young?  Sure they are, but they're also amazingly talented.  With both Rick Welts and Steve Nash gone I think I can finally root for the Suns.  Even with the loss of Steve Nash, I think Phoenix will improve.  42-40

Portland Trail Blazers
I'm assuming a healthy Lamaracus Aldridge, which is a bit of a leap of faith.  36-46

Sacramento Kings
Sacramento mostly stayed pat, which I normally wouldn't like for a cellar NBA team..  But, in this situation I think it is a good thing.  33-49

San Antonio Spurs
Despite 'constantly overachieving' (and if they are doing it consistently, then maybe they're just a better team than most people think), San Antonio is generally viewed as (at best) the third best team in the West.  I would have liked more roster movement, but SA should still somewhat easily be a top 5 Western Conference team.  46-30

Toronto Raptors
Also would have liked more movement from Toronto, but they at least picked up Kyle Lowry and John Lucas III, which should be just enough to make them interesting.  37-45

Utah Jazz
Not a lot of flashy players, but they're not a horrible team. 38-44

Washington Wizards
Some vets are coming over from New Orleans to instill some sense of personal responsibility into Washington.  35-47

NBA Standings - Updated: Jun 1, 2013
ATLANTICWLGBDIVCONF
Boston Celtics47353rd
Philadelphia 76er's46364th
Brooklyn Nets45375th
New York Knicks39438th
Toronto Raptors37451810th
CENTRALWLGBDIVCONF
Chicago Bulls43396th
Indiana Pacers39437th
Cleveland Cavaliers38489th
Detroit Pistons295312th
Milwaukee Bucks2854-5613th
SOUTHEASTWLGBDIVCONF
Miami Heat57251st
Atlanta Hawks48342nd
Washington Wizards354711th
Orlando Magic265614th
Charlotte Bobcats2359-3215th
EAST PLAYOFF RACEWLGBDIVCONF
.-70
NORTHWESTWLGBDIVCONF
Denver Nuggets52302nd
Oklahoma City Thunder52303rd
Minnesota Timberwolves42408th
Utah Jazz384412th
Portland Trailblazers36463013th
PACIFICWLGBDIVCONF
Los Angeles Lakers55271st
Los Angeles Clippers50324th
Phoenix Suns42409th
Golden State Warriors344814th
Sacramento Kings33491815th
SOUTHWESTWLGBDIVCONF
San Antonio Spurs46305th
New Orleans Hornets43396th
Houston Rockets43397th
Dallas Mavericks414110th
Memphis Grizzlies40422211th
WEST PLAYOFF RACEWLGBDIVCONF
.70