The location of that first game was decided last night as well, as the Phoenix Suns earned the right to host the game by disposing of the Portland Trailblazers by a score of 99-90 in Portland. Jason Richardson led the Suns with 28 points as he continued his strong playoff performance.

“Everybody knows what Steve can do, and everybody knows what Amare can do. I’m just trying to be that wild card, that third scorer, and help us get wins and try to go deep into the playoffs,” said Richardson.

Dallas was the second seed and San Antonio the seventh, but they lost in the first round for the third time in four years. Dallas ousted the Spurs in the first round a year ago, so this was payback time for San Antonio.

“Going into the playoffs as a No. 2 seed, it is all we could have wanted. We just happened to see a tough No. 7 seed that got rolling at the right time,” observed Nowitzki.

The Suns/Spurs series should be a good one, and we’ll get to see if Steve Nash can get by Tim Duncan when it really counts and get to the Western Conference Finals.

“If there’s a horse that can overcome that spot, it’s Lucky. I don’t want to sound overconfident, but we got the best jockey in the country and he knows what his responsibilities are,” said Pergram.

Here is the field for the 2010 Kentucky Derby in post position order along with the morning line odds.

1.) Lookin At Lucky, 3-1
2.) Ice Box, 10-1
3.) Noble’s Promise, 12-1
4.) Super Saver, 15-1
5.) Line of David, 30-1
6.) Stately Victor, 30-1
7.) American Lion, 30-1
8.) Dean’s Kitten, 50-1
9.) Make Music for Me, 50-1
10.) Paddy O’Prado, 20-1
11.) Devil May Care, 10-1
12.) Conveyance, 12-1
13.) Jackson Bend, 15-1
14.) Mission Impazible, 20-1
15.) Discreetly Mine, 30-1
16.) Awesome Act, 10-1
17.) Dublin, 12-1
18.) Backtalk, 50-1
19.) Homeboykris, 50-1
20.) Sidney’s Candy, 5-1

“I tell you what, it’s a great feeling to have that security and know where you’re going to be. I feel what I’ve been doing over the last couple of years, I feel pretty confident that down the road, I’ll be right where I want to be and still doing the same things,” said Howard.

Howard has been an everyday player since 2006, and he has hit at least 45 home runs and driven in at least 136 runs in each of those four seasons. He has led the Phillies to the National League East title in each of the last three years, including back to back World Series appearances and a championship in 2008. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is happy to have his slugger in the fold for the foreseeable future.

“This is absolutely great. We signed Ryan Howard quite a few years ago and that means we’re keeping him. He’s one of our guys, he is a Phillie. It’s big for our team. That’s what you set out for. He’s very worthy of it. He is a great player and he is going to continue to be a great player for a while. Everything about it’s good

The Magic made short order of the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round, finishing them off with a 99-90 victory in Charlotte on Monday in what may very well be Larry Brown’s last game as the Bobcats coach. Orlando swept Charlotte in four games, and their balanced attack is hitting on all cylinders. Even with Dwight Howard saddled with foul trouble throughout much of the series, the Magic didn’t skip a beat in dispatching of Charlotte.

“If you would have told me that he would have averaged well under 30 minutes for the series and we would sweep, I would have said you’re crazy. I think it’s a testament to our other guys,” said Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy.

The Magic will face the winner of the Atlanta-Milwaukee series that is currently tied at two games apiece, while Charlotte will await the news on whether or not Brown is bolting to Philadelphia as is being widely reported.

Eskendereya, who was to enter the Derby off a pair of dominating wins in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Wood Memorial, is going to be held out of the race due to swelling in his left leg. The colt would have been made the 9-5 morning line favorite according to oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, and Pletcher had been quoting as saying that Eskendereya would be the best horse he ever entered in the Derby.

Pletcher, who has sent 24 horses to the Kentucky Derby starting gate over the years without a win, will not be without representation this time around in spite of the setback with Eskendereya. He may enter as many as six horses, including Louisiana Derby winner Mission Impazible ,Super Saver, Discreetly Mine, and Rule.

This year’s Kentucky Derby is coming up on Saturday, May 1st, and estimated post time is around 6:24 pm EDT. The race and all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding it will be televised on NBC, and that coverage begins at 4:00 pm with celebrity interviews and behind -the-scenes look at the social scene surrounding the Run For The Roses.

This is exactly what Halladay provided when he pitched a complete game, five hit shutout in a 2-0 Phillies victory that was aided by a couple of stellar plays in the field. Centerfielder Shane Victorino robbed Troy Glaus of a home run with a leaping catch, and second baseman Chase Utley made a diving stop of a ball that was headed to center field with the based loaded in the 7th inning, starting a nifty inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

“My goal was to be aggressive and not cause any problems for myself. It’s worked out better than I could have thought so far,” opined the Phils ace.

Halladay is 4-0 with an ERA of 0.82 in four starts for the Phillies, and he is proving that he is the real deal, and he makes an already tough Philadelphia contingent that much tougher.

Reports are circulating this week that Edinson Volquez, the young Cincinnati Reds starter who put up some gaudy numbers on the way to an all-star game appearance in 2008, has tested positive for a fertility drug and has been suspended by MLB for 50 games. He is the first player to test positive for a banned substance since Manny Ramirez did so last year. He said that the drug was prescribed to him during the off-season in his native Dominican Republic.

“As a result, I tested positive when I reported to spring training. Although I understand that I must accept responsibility for this mistake and have chosen not to challenge my suspension, I want to assure everyone that this was an isolated incident involving my genuine effort to treat a common medical issue,” said Volquez.

The punchline, however, is that this suspension will have zero impact on Volquez or the Reds, because he is currently on the disabled list rehabilitating from major elbow surgery and wasn’t expected to return until after the suspension will be over. So this is a suspension that is not a suspension and a rather bizarre exercise in sophistry when you put it into perspective.

Vikings coach Brad Childress relishes the electric environment of the Big Easy.

“I can’t imagine it being anymore charged than the last time we were down there. That’s always a great, hostile environment to play in,” said Childress.

What we don’t know with absolute certainty is whether or not Favre will be returning to lead the Vikings in 2010. It has been widely reported that talks continue between Childress and the future hall-of-famer, but no formal announcement has been made. However, it would seem as though it is getting rather late in the game for Favre to back out, and he was one of the top rated quarterbacks in the league last year, so this pundit would say that a Favre return is very, very likely.

Ubaldo Jimenez gave the fans just that type of thrill on Saturday when he threw the first no-hitter in the major leagues in 2010 and the first no-no in the history of the Rockies franchise. It is interesting to note that he did it on the road against the Braves, and many if not most fans may have been rooting for him rather than against him in the late innings. Hey, how many times can you say that you were in the stands when a no-hitter was pitched?

Of course any no-hit, no-run game comes as a surprise to just about everyone, but in this case the man who caught the game, Miguel Olivo, was an exception. He has been telling Jimenez that he was going to pitch one at some point since back in February when he evaluated Jimenez’ electric stuff during a workout in the bullpen during spring training.

Jimenez’ fastball was clocked at 100 mph early in the game, and he reached 98 while pitching to the last batter of the gem. His manager, Jim Tracy, may be overstating the obvious in his assessment of Jimenez.

“His stuff is dominant. At times, it’s flat-out dominant,” said Tracy.

Olivo knew it all along, and who knows, it may not be the last time Jimenez does it. He will have the chance to become the second pitcher to throw consecutive no-hitters in the history of baseball in his next start against the Washington Nationals later this week

All Nowitzki has ever done is put up 25 points and close to ten boards a game for the last decade plus while leading his team to the playoffs and contention for the Western Conference championship, which they won in 2006. It’s true that they have never won it all, and that is another similarity between Dirk and Karl Malone. But here we are in 2010 and Dirk Nowitzki has another shot at that elusive ring, and he is making the most of it early on.

Nowitzki played nearly perfect basketball last night as he led the Mavs to a 100-94 victory in Game 1 of their opening round series with the tough San Antonio Spurs. He made 12 of 14 shots from the field while converting all 12 of his free throw attempts in a 36 point, seven rebound performance.

“He was impressive. We know he can score 36, but missing only two shots is what makes it really hard. He made some shots with the defense all over him. You can’t control those kind of shots,” remarked the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili.

Game 2 will be played Wednesday in Dallas with tip-off scheduled for 9:30 pm EDT.