My favorite playoffs in sports begin tonight — the NHL.

The NHL regular season is too long, and there probably are too many teams in the league. Once the playoffs start, though, the NHL jumps to the top of the heap as far as producing exciting and intense games and series.

Baseball is too slow; football is a one-and-done type of atmosphere; the NBA playoffs are too drawn out … the first round takes nearly three weeks to finish.

So find Versus on your TV dial … it is there somewhere … pick a team (some day the Blue Jackets might make the playoffs) and enjoy.

A side light: NHL Network has produced some funny commercials promoting the league and the channel. Here is the latest one.

Obviously with the TV ratings, the NHL is not high on folks radar screens.

And that is too bad.

The game is fast, there is hard hitting and it can turn in an instant.

The biggest loss for fans, though, is that these players might be the hardest-working of all the pros and add in that there are few off-the-ice incidents. Anyone hear the name Shannon Brown? Or Leigh Bodden? Or steriods in baseball? Or Travis Henry in the NFL?

The Columbus Blue Jackets are the team that we can see the most in NE Ohio on FSN, but they are probably one of the worse teams in the league. New management seems to have them on a track to better days.

I recommend watching a few games and see the work of Rick Nash and the toughness of Michael Peca.

Well, this is the time of the year when baseball becomes the focus.

The NBA and NHL are over. The draft looks to be pretty quiet on the home fronts.

Golf doesn't get back on the radar scene until the British Open and Bridgestone until later in July.

NASCAR has had the Dale Jr. saga end. Only the Pepsi 400 is a big race in July.

The Browns and the NFL are on vacation until the end of July.

So really, it is baseball time. Time to talk Tribe chances of trade, who makes the all-star game and, as always, Barry Bonds.

Enjoy the lull in the schedule.

LeBron James was fouled, but the Cavs can't wait to take the last shot. Go for the throat! … Danica Patrick will win an IndyCar Series race but not this weekend's Indy 500. … The Indians, Tigers, Angels and Red Sox will be the playoff teams in the American League. … Charlie Frye will be the starting quarterback for the Browns, and Brady Quinn will sit unless Frye and Derek Anderson get hurt. … Jamal Lewis is an ancient 27 and will show it this season. … Kent State football will make a run at the MAC title game. … Jimmie Johnson will win the Coca-Cola 600 because he does just about every year. … Expect the David Beckham talk to pick up after the holiday. His arrival to MLS is two months away. … The Yankees are done, and Joe Torre will not survive the season.

Ottawa will beat Anaheim in six games to win the Stanley Cup. … David Stern had to cringe when his next two potential superstars ended up in the Northwest with the Trail Blazers and SuperSonics winning the draft lottery's top two spots. Greg Oden will go to the Blazers and Kevin Durant to the Sonics. … Will anybody see them play? … Despite all of the offseason moves, the Patriots will not win the Super Bowl. No team has bought the Super Bowl, like you can a World Series. … Barry Bonds won't break Aaron's mark until late July at the earliest. … C.C. Sabathia will sign with the Dodgers after next season for $140 million over seven seasons. … Travis Hafner will sign a contract with the Indians, something like $75 million for five years, maybe more. … USC despite having so many players back will not win the BCS title. … Tiger Woods will win the U.S. Open next month at Oakmont C.C., near Pittsburgh. … Wait until you all see the changes to that great course.

Took my boys on a family trip to Charlotte for the NASCAR All-Star race.

What a great time, go-kart tracks, good time with family and 180,000 gear heads.

The race was outstanding with the no-holds barred format. Kevin Harvick was victorious but Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon showed that they can dominate at Lowe's Motor Speedway. And that should make the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend worth the price of admission and your time on TV this Sunday.

Don't forget about the Indy 500, which will also be raced Sunday. Three women in the race for the first time.

Folks can talk about the NBA and NHL and Major League Baseball, but the attendance marks and TV ratings show that NASCAR is second only to the NFL in the U.S.

It seems to be long past due but the Columbus Blue Jackets fired Doug MacLean on Thursday.

MacLean, their team president and general manager, and the franchise have struggled for many years, but it seemed instead of getting fired MacLean kept getting more titles.

There are truly talented players on the Blue Jackets, but much like the Browns, they don't seem to know how to find their way up the standings.

Two sports that don't receive much talk, the NHL and Major League Soccer, are finally receiving great support from their TV partners. The NHL is getting two weekend dates on NBC during the playoffs, which included coverage Saturday of the Penguins' victory in Game 2 in Ottawa. MLS gets its own night on ESPN on Thursday, and Fox Soccer Channel on Saturdays.

This is important for the leagues to continue to grow. ESPN buried the NHL at the end of their contract and it really set the league behind. Now the NHL has NBC and Versus, who seem to be interested in growing the sport, and dedicating talented broadcasters to bring it to you. Like I have written before, the intensity of the NHL playoffs can not be matched by any other sport.

With MLS, both networks are adding pre- and postgame shows, and in those shows, they are including information on soccer around the world. With the increase in immigrants in the United States, soccer has an informed fan base that is only going to grow. So it makes sense to have more information than just about the game in America. Expect with David Beckham coming to the Galaxy for more coverage of the league.