If you missed them on our show over the past week, here are my over/under baseball predictions this season:

NL East

Phillies Over 92.5

Marlins Over 81

Braves Under 85.5

Mets Under 81.5

Nationals Over 71

 

NL Central

Cardinals Over 88

Brewers Over 81

Cubs Under 83.5

Reds Over 79

Astros Under 73.5

Pirates Under 69.5

 

NL West

Giants Over 82.5

Diamondbacks Over 82.5

Dodgers Under 85

Rockies Under 84.5

Padres Under 71

 

AL East

Yankees Over 95.5

Red Sox Under 94.5

Rays Under 89.5

Orioles Over 74

Blue Jays Under 71

 

AL Central

White Sox Over 83

Tigers Over 80

Twins Under 84.5

Indians Under 75

Royals Under 72

 

AL West

Mariners Over 82.5

Angels Under 84.5

Rangers Under 83.5

A's Under 78.5

 

And the playoff predictions

NLDS: Cardinals over Marlins in 4, Phillies over Giants in 4

ALDS: Red Sox over Mariners in 5, Yankees over White Sox in 3

NLCS: Cardinals over Phillies in 6

ALCS: Yankees over Red Sox in 5

World Series: Cardinals over Yankees in 7

 

Quick thought: Did super serious "The Hunt for Red October" and "Malice" Alec Baldwin ever think that 20 years later, he would be co-hosting the Oscars as a funnyman?

On to predictions....

Best Picture:

Who Will Win: Hurt Locker

Who Should Win: Up in the Air.....but I won't be too upset if Hurt Locker wins. It was one of the most engrossing and realistic war movies ever made, and seems to be on unstoppable momentum right now. But I think Up in the Air is a movie for our times, and one that will last longer.

Best Director

Who Will Win: James Cameron

Who Should Win: James Cameron.....I wasn't the biggest fan of "Avatar". But James Cameron wanted to make a massive, revolutionary 3D spectacle at the level of Titanic. From that standpoint, he hit a home run.

Best Actor

Who Will Win: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"

Who Should Win: George Clooney, "Up in the Air"....Full disclosure Pt 1, I haven't seen Crazy Heart. But Clooney in Up in the Air was an upgrade over Clooney in "Michael Clayton." And I thought he was robbed of an Oscar that year.

Best Actress

Who Will Win: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"

Who Should Win: No clue....haven't seen any of these movies or weren't impressed. Seems like Bullock winning is just to fulfill a comeback story.

Best Supporting Actor

Who Will Win: Christoph Waltz, "Inglorious Basterds"

Who Should Win: Waltz......No chance anyone else takes it. And no one should. Waltz was as frightening of a villain as anyone since Hannibal Lecter. At least QT's masterpiece will get some notoriety. If this were 2008, it would win best picture.

Bust Supporting Actress

Who Will Win: Mo'Nique, "Precious"

Who Should Win: Didn't see Precious, but people were raving about Mo'Nique left and right.

 

 

 

 

 

I won't write a full review right now, or delve too much into spoilers. Because the less you know going in, the better.

But the master of cinema, Martin Scorsese has done it again.

Scorsese has delved into psychological horror before(Cape Fear, Bringing Out the Dead). But with Shutter Island, he creates a true horror film. A movie that completely assaults your psyche and makes you uncomfortable-without relying on cheap jump scenes or excessive gore.

The acting is phenomenal. Leonardo DiCaprio continues to be in my mind, the modern day DeNiro. Mark Ruffalo does convincing supporting work. Nobody plays a shady creep better than Sir Ben Kingsley.

As always, the filming is brilliant. Tops on the list, a wide-length panoramic shot involving a mass prison camp shooting that may be one of Scorsese's best filmed scenes ever.

But best of all, Shutter Island takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to offer a multi-layer thriller that never plays games with the audience. Let's just say the surprises are earned and make sense with the context of the story.

Marty Scorsese is the best living filmmaker in the world. And Shutter Island is as good of a true horror movie as anything since Alfred Hitchcock.

It means two things:

1. The Heat were not offering Michael Beasley

2. Pat Riley has no concerns over Dwyane Wade leaving.

That's all I got for now....

As some of you know, before joining ESPN 760, I spent two and a half years as the Miami Heat Basketball Network's studio host. And during that time, from multiple people in and around the organization, I gleaned this information about the Heat's plan for 2010 free-agency.

Step 1: Obviously sign Dwyane Wade

Step 2: Pair Wade with at least one of the following players:

 Option A: LeBron James

 Option B: Chris Bosh

 Option C: Amare Stoudamire

 Plus, the Heat still have Michael Beasley, who the team has been on-record numerous times saying will not be traded, but most of us believe could be had in a great circumstance.

 Understand that this master plan was hatched over two years, back on February 7, 2008, when Shaquille O'Neal was jettisoned to Phoenix. So while the Heat has made signifigant moves in the draft(Beasley, Mario Chalmers), and less signifgant moves through free agency/trade(Jermaine O'Neal, Shawn Marion, Quentin Richardson, Rafer Alston), Pat Riley, historically one of the most impatient men of all time, has resisted the urge to go for the quick fix over the last two and a half years in exchange for the opportunity to potentially build a multiple-championship dynasty on the court, and a cash cow like the NBA has never seen off the court.

So in the wake of this "Heat are giving up on 2010 free agency and instead settling for Amare Stoudamire now" talk, I'm wondering has anyone been paying attention?

That's not to say this Stoudamire deal won't happen. I'm of the belief that Michael Beasley is not part of the Heat's long-term plans, because he's the type of player that needs to be a No. 1 option, and that won't ever happen as long as Wade County is open. And while I think Amare is not a superstar, but just the best of the Suns players who looked a lot better playing with Steve Nash, there's no downside to adding him as a piece of the Heat's championship puzzle.

But a piece. Not the second piece.

Pat Riley panicking would only happen if the following scenarios were to happen: Dwyane Wade was pushing to leave, and LeBron and Bosh were staying in Cleveland and Toronto. No one knows for sure what Wade's plans are, but he spent the weekend talking about "recruiting players" to come to Miami. Does that sound like a guy ready to bolt? LeBron refuses to address 2010, but said about the possibility of playing with D-Wade after Sunday's All-Star Game "We'll see." And Toronto may be doing well enough to pull Bosh off the trade market, but they still aren't that good. 

Heat fans enjoy the next couple of days and we'll see if they make a major move. But the biggest move, or moves, are still several months away.

Enjoy some of these flushes from the glory days of the slam dunk contest:

 

And Vince Carter single-handedly saving the dunk contest in 2000

 

Maybe LeBron will do the same in 2011.......in a Heat uniform????