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Can you blame them? After a couple of seasons watching Greg Oden screw himself over, it’s about time those guys have a reliable center for a change.

As of this writing, the Portland Trail Blazers are still primed for a significant run in the 2010 NBA playoffs despite playing through with every injury imaginable this year. And since injuries have, for the second straight season, defined what kind of campaign the Blazers would be able to run this season, it looks like they are finally putting the pieces together that just might alleviate the problem next season.

And in case you didn’t get that, the Portland Trail Blazers are trying to sign Marcus Camby for a two-year extension, a move that the Blazers are probably hoping can finally give them that solid and reliable presence at the center position for a change.

Reports claim that the Blazers and Marcus Camby have been negotiating toward a new deal that would be able to keep Camby from becoming a free agent this summer. According to the reports, the rumored deal is believed to be worth in excess of $20 million.

The Blazers originally got Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers before this season’s trading deadline. The Blazers were desperate for a solution after losing centers Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden (surprise surprise…) to season ending knee injuries and Camby was, without a shadow of a doubt, became more than a suitable replacement.

Sure, the Blazers are still rooting for Greg Oden to finally get his shit together and have a healthy and productive year for a change. You see, after the Blazers got this guy as their overall no.1 draft pick three years ago, Oden spent most of his time in Portland sitting on the Blazers bench with an injured knee.

Having Camby on board for two more years will hopefully fill the void while they wait for Oden to become the force he once was in Ohio State.

The Trail Blazers finished the regular season…

Ah, the Western Conference. Some people still say this is where it’s at.

And with good reason too because in the West, it doesn’t matter what seed you are because any one of these Western Conference teams can go on and win the NBA championship. In the 2010 NBA playoffs, it’s more or less the same story.

Heck, Kevin Durant, the youngest player ever to win the scoring title this season, will be playing from the no.8 seed with the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder. You see, these guys could go on and advance to, probably the second round of the playoffs. The problem is, they will be on a head-on collision with the no.1 seed Los Angeles Lakers.

That’s right, it’s the defending champions for the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s probably why NOBODY expects them to get past the Lakers in the first round other than them Thunder players and their mommas.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Kevin Durant and the season he had but when you pit him against Kobe Bryant? They don’t call him the Black Mamba for nothing.

The no.2 seed Dallas Mavericks take on the no.7 seed San Antonio Spurs in what is sure to be an exciting Texas shootout. Some people say the Mavericks, since the All-Star break, have supplanted the Denver Nuggets as the biggest threat to the Lakers in the West but since the Spurs caught fire late in the season, people are starting to reconsider that notion.

I mean, this is the San Antonio Spurs we’re talking about, the model of consistency in the NBA. And with a healthy Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili once again leading the charge, you can’t deny that the Spurs is one team to watch out for.

But if there’s one team that can be considered the team that can be considered the ”darkhorse” if you will to beat the Lakers in the West, it would have to be the no.3 seed Phoenix Suns.

The Suns clicked at the right time and…

And that’s not because of some new technology those guys will be introducing next year.

But because at the end of the 2010 F1 season, the sport will have no tire manufacturer to turn to with Bridgestone set to quit at the end of this campaign.

And since Michelin, which was F1’s ”other” tire manufacturer a few years back, is still reluctant to return to the sport, Formula One is scrambling to find a solution before this season is over.

So who’s to blame for this yet another fiasco? Well, the ”powers – that – be” of course.

It was only four years ago when the French manufacturer, Michelin, walked away from the sport after the ”powers – that – be” decided to switch to a single manufacturer, enabling Michelin’s rivals, Bridgestone, to monopolize F1’s tire demands.

Now that Bridgestone is quitting they expect Michelin to just return? Well, at least Michelin is interested in making a return to the sport, provided that they have competition.

”We are interested in it but it must be right, who know what will happen,” a senior Michelin company spokesman said in an interview with Racecar Engineering.

”Certain things have to be done, we must have competition, we do not want to be the only supplier.”

”Also we need to be able to use the the opportunity of competition to improve our tire technology. For example our new Pilot 3 road tires had technology developed for Le Mans in them. We need this from Formula 1.”

”Finally it must have the possibility to improve…”

Cleveland has secured the top spot in the East for quite some time. As for the rest, here they are.

The matchups in the East for the 2010 NBA playoffs are finally… um… finalized and while the Cleveland Cavaliers have secured the top playoff spot in the conference a few weeks ago, the remaining few seeds were not determined until the final few days of the season.

As it turned out, the no.1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers will be taking on the no.8 seed Chicago Bulls, who secured the last playoff spot in the East after beating the playoff-pound Charlotte Bobcats, hence denying the Toronto Raptors of postseason play for the second straight year.

Kudos to coach Vinny Del Negro and the rest of the Chicago Bulls for overcoming a late-season injury to Joakim Noah and the publicized rift between coach Del Negro and team manager John Paxson. Congratulations guys, you’re in the playoffs.

Your reward? LeBron James. (I don’t know if the Bulls would still be happy about that in a few days…)

The Orlando Magic will be this year’s no.2 seed as they look to make a return to the NBA Finals when they take on no.7 seed, Charlotte Bobcats. Thanks to some key additions to the Magic roster, more specifically the addition of Vince Carter, the Magic have become an even bigger threat in the East.

And since the Magic will have the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that will be making their very first appearance in the playoffs, there should be no problem for Orlando to get past the first round. Who do the Bobcats have to guard Dwight Howard anyway?

Probably the most surprising team in the East this season is the Atlanta Hawks, who have secured the no.3 seed in the East this season. Yup, those high-flying Hawks are now one of the East’s three kings, supplanting the Celtics in the food chain to join the Cavs and the Magic.

They have the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round…

At least that’s what Eagles coach Andy Reid feels.

Yes, Kevin Kolb will be starting for the Philadelphia Eagles once the 2010 NFL football season gets here. That’s right, Kolb will finally get the opportunity to show Eagles fans why their team drafted him three years ago.

And as far as Kevin Kolb is concerned, he’s ready for the challenge ahead. Andy Reid has already talked about how much confidence he has in Kolb and the command his young quarterback has over the Philadelphia Eagles offense. Kolb feels it’s his time to show the rest of the world that he is a star in the NFL.

”Everything I’ve done in my life has led to this,” Kevin Kolb said. ”I’m ready to roll and lead this team.”

”I didn’t even blink when Andy told me. I really didn’t,” Kolb said, referring to him being promoted to the starting role. ”I’m excited about it. I’m sure it will have a little drama, but it will be a fun ride. I truly have that outlook on it. I think this team will surprise some people.”

”I trusted the organization, I trusted Andy to get me here one day,” Kolb added. ”The times last year when I started that I felt I was ready, but the team wasn’t ready, maybe the city wasn’t ready. I knew Andy would put me in the situation to be the starter.”

Of course, you can’t blame some people who feel Kolb shouldn’t be a starter yet, especially when you still have a guy like Michael Vick on your team.

When Michael Vick was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, almost every single football fan from the City of Brotherly Love thought he and Donovan McNabb will be one formidable one-two punch together. Instead, it was Kolb who played McNabb’s backup and Vick was relegated to a gadget player.

Now that McNabb is out of the picture…