Say what you will about the many tyrannical regimes around the globe, for my money they are few despots that can match the owners of professional sports teams.  Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban, Daniel Snyder, and, of course, George Steinbrenner are about as vicious as they come.  And the some of the divas among the ranks of professional athletes have reached a demagogue status to rival Joe McCarthy, at least in their own minds.  Just ask Terrell Owens, Kobe Bryant, or Peyton Manning.

You may think this is just a lame attempt to run a scary picture of Jerry Jones and to blog about sports instead of important serious things.  And you're right!  But you know what?  I've satisfied my own (minimal) criteria, and that's enough for me.  So without further ado, here are my picks for the NBA Playoffs (and the obligatory creepy Jerry Jones photo).

Eastern Conference:

Cavs over Bulls in 5
- Bulls can take a game while LeBron shakes off the rust and they reintegrate Shaq into the offense, but that's it.

Hawks over Bucks in 5
- Losing Bogut means no chance for the Bucks.

Celtics over Heat in 5
- DWade is terrifying (as a Celtics fan), but his complete lack of a supporting cast dooms the Heat.

*Upset Special* Bobcats over Magic in 6
- Slightly crazy, I know, but I just can't buy into this Magic team.  Howard is still limited offensively, and I have a hard time seeing any of their other guys creating for themselves offensively.  Larry Brown has a crew of long, athletic defenders who can disrupt the Magic 3-point attack, and I think they can put together enough offense to steal the series.

Western Conference:

Lakers over Thunder in 7
- The Lakers are reeling and Durant can score on anyone anytime he wants, but they're still too young and green (not Jeff Green) and small in the middle to take down the champs.

Mavs over Spurs in 7
- This one will be a war.  It all comes down to Manu, and I don't think he can take 4 games for the Spurs.

Suns over Blazers in 6
- No Brandon Roy means no second round for Portland.

Nuggets over Jazz in 6
- I know the Jazz are playing well and the Nuggets are struggled, but who is going to guard Carmelo?  And never bet against Billups in the postseason.

Check back next week to laugh at me when my predication turn out to be terribly wrong.