Sports Agenda For Friday (4/8/11)

Big Story:
I struggled with finding a big story this morning. There's little movement in the NFL labor dispute, the NFL Draft is still several weeks away, the Heat didn't play last night, the Marlins lost, and the government is shutting down.

But, the Heat take the court tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats as a precursor to Sunday afternoon's game against the Boston Celtics.

The Heat will likely be without the services of D-Wade again tonight, but luckily they're playing the Bobcats, which shouldn't be that much of a challenge. I'm not sure Wade will be back during the regular season. It might be best to rest him for the playoff run and even keep LeBron and….wait, I should be writing this under the Heat section!

Heat:
As I was saying, the Heat will probably rest Wade and should keep LeBron and Bosh out against the Hawks at least. Then, the real NBA season begins and we get to see what this Heat team is really all about.

Right now, the Heat are matched up against the New York Knicks in the first round. If the Heat overtake the Celtics for the two-seed, they get a much easier matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers.

So, if you get a chance to go to Sunday's game, it might be one heckuva matchup as the Heat fight for playoff seeding.

NFL:
Both sides have sent letters to each other requesting mediation, but neither side can agree to the mediator. Seriously. I don't know who's the bigger idiots…the guys in Washington willing to layoff 1 million workers over planned parenthood…or the NFL and its players arguing over how to split up $9 billion.

Marlins:
The Florida Marlins tried for a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals last night. It was a tight game until the tenth inning when the Nationals teed off on a Marlins pitch and took the lead by the final score, 5-3. The Marlins hit the road tonight for a 9 game road trip.

First up on the trip is a 3-game series in Houston against the Astros.

The Marlins will send up right-hander Ricky Nolasco. He had a no-decision in his last game but pitched 7 strong innings, only giving up 2 runs. Saturday, the Marlins throw up Javier Vazquez, and Sunday, right-hander Anibal Sanchez goes for the Fish.

Panthers:
Fan appreciation night on Saturday night against the Capitals! I think it's because fan's appreciate the fact that the season is finally over! I kid, I kid.