Who's a home boy supposed to root for anyway?

The Pistons were lousy, and are history for this year. The Lions are, well, the Lions. The Tigers have a long season ahead of them, and they appear to be about average. And, of course, the Red Wings got knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs last week. So what's left?

The rest of the NBA and NHL playoffs. But who to root for? Let's break it down.

In the NBA, there's Miami vs Chicago, and Oklahoma City vs Dallas. If you're anything like me, you've just about had enough of all the hype over Lebron, D-Wade, and Bosh in South Beach. Dallas/Okla is a tough call. I can sympathize with the Okies, because what else do they have going on out there? Then again, Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavs, a probable future Hall of Famer, is a heck of a guy and helluva player that has slaved away for many years in a bridesmaid's role, because the Lakers or Spurs always seemed to stand between him and glory. Yet every time I think of Dallas, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys come to mind. They rank right up there with the aforementioned Big 3 in Miami. What did the kids used to say? Gag me with a spoon? Close enough. So OK, ChiTown won the Stanley Cup last year, but the north-siders have been enduring the Cubbies since forever, and the south-siders have to tolerate Ozzie Guillen, so I consider that a push. And I'd "sooner" be a lot of places than Oklahoma. Go Bulls.

Then there's the NHL. Boston vs Tampa Bay, and San Jose vs Vancouver. Boston's got enough going on. The Celtics are perennial contenders, as are the Red Sox, and the Brady Bunch in nearby Foxborough is always an elite football team, so I can't get behind the Bruins. Tampa Bay? Nothing against them, but any place where Mother Nature hasn't made ice in the last few thousand years is difficult to consider a serious hockey town. San Jose? They're in the same neighborhood as the reigning World Series champions in San Francisco. Besides, they just knocked off our beloved Red Wings -- again. A pox on them. That leaves Vancouver. Maybe it's unpatriotic for an American to root for a Canadian team, but not counting a certain snooty waiter in a Montreal restaurant, I never met a Canadian I didn't like. They're a friendly bunch. And how can you not root for a club that calls itself the Canucks, ay?

Don't you think our northern friends would root for a team south of their border that called itself the Yankees?

Hmmm. Maybe not.