Three quick thoughts to end the week:

Joe Torre said today that he doesn’t think that Manny Ramirez should play in the all-star game if he gets voted in. I’d go a step further – if the fans vote Manny into the all-star game then MLB should immediately ban people from entering every stadium in the league. It would be better to play in empty stadiums then to let people who are stupid enough to vote a suspended druggie into the all-star game make the team. This would make a mockery of the all-star game. Of course, the mockery ship sailed years ago when it come to all-star games.

Continue reading “It’s Friday!”

The Cleveland Cavaliers, down three games to one, survived one more day by beating the Orlando Magic 112- 102 in game five.  That’s old news by now. The news on the Eastern Conference front will be made Saturday when these two teams meet again.

Continue reading “NBA Eastern Conference Finals Critical Game Six”

I find myself writing about Kentucky basketball way more than any single program deserves in the offseason, but so much of what is going on there is just so compelling that I can’t help it. It’s rare that a team goes through such a complete overhaul in an offseason, never mind an iconic program like this one. The program found itself in the news three different times yesterday, for three totally unrelated reasons:

Continue reading “Bad Day For Kentucky”

It continues to amaze me just how bad the American tennis players are on clay. The latest disaster came today in the French Open when James Blake was beaten in straight sets by a 22 year old Argentinian qualifier making his grand slam debut. Mardy Fish is out as well after a first round setback to another Argentinian. The Americans have three players ranked in the top 22, and only Andy Roddick survived to the second round. It’s pathetic, really. Roddick has played in seven French Opens. He has lost in the first round four times, the second round twice, and once more in the third. This was Blake’s seventh Open. He has two first round departures, four more in the second, and one in the third. Fish has only made it as far as the second round once in four tries. That’s 18 tries combined without so much as a round of 16 to show for the effort. Over the same period the players have a grand slam win, five semifinal appearances, and 12 more quarterfinal showings in the other three slams. It’s pretty clear what the problem is – clay.

Continue reading “Americans and Clay Do Not Mix”

I want to weigh in on the whole Michael Vick thing, and I promise not to use any bad dog puns as I do so.

I have to admit that I don’t buy a lot of the arguments that are being made concerning Vick these days. The most common opinion in the media seems to be that he’s a bad, bad man who hasn’t yet done enough t earn another shot in the league. I don’t agree, and I think it’s a matter of perspective. I don’t for a second want to make you think that I condone what he did. I’m an animal lover and I’ve had lots of dogs in my life, so I think what he did is worse than terrible. Here’s the thing, though – he has spent time in prison. He was sentenced and he is almost done serving that sentence. I think that that has to mean that, provided he behaves like a responsible professional, he deserves anther chance to be one. There are a lot of guys in the league that have done a lot of really bad hings and have been given another chance – Leonard Little and Tank Johnson come to mind without even thinking about it. Vick’s crimes were worse than Johnson’s, but then so was the punishment. This idea that Vick should never be able to play again just doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t particularly respect the guy, and I’m not sure that I would want him on my team, but I believe absolutely that he deserves another shot. He should be on a short leash, and he should have to remain on his best behavior to stay in the league, but as long as he does that then I get very uncomfortable at the thought of the league making moral judgments that stretch well above and beyond the scope of the legal system. Lord knows that the league is powerful enough already without giving them total control over our thoughts and actions as well.

Continue reading “My Two Cents On Michael Vick”

This is how sure I was of the likely outcome of yesterday’s Cavs game – I didn’t even bother to watch it. I watched a movie instead (Incidentally, it was the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie which was on TV – what a piece of crap. Talk about wrecking a good thing). I like watching the NBA playoffs, and I think this series is fascinating, but I was sure of how it was going to turn out. I mean, think about it – the Cavs had lost just twice at home all year, they were looking all but invincible in the playoffs, they were well rested and prepared while the Magic were coming off a tough, long series, and they have the best player on the planet. I thought that the Magic could keep the series interesting, but I gave them almost no chance in this first game. Neither did the oddsmakers, apparently – the Cavs were favored by a healthy 8.5 points.

Continue reading “The Magic Did What!?!”

The late spring into the early summer is a great time for professional sports. Here are a few observations regarding some of what’s happening in the NHL, NBA, NFL, NASCAR, PGA and MLB.

Continue reading “All Around Sports”

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the most rested team in the NBA playoffs, having beaten the Detroit Pistons four games to none and the Atlanta Hawks four to zip. Thus far they have dismantled their post-season opponents. On the other hand, their next opponents, the Orlando Magic, are coming off a long, hard seven game series against the Celtics. The Magic will play the Cavs with just two days rest. Plus they have to travel to Cleveland as the Cavs enjoy home court advantage. This could be a short series if the Magic have a tough time rebounding from their semifinals match.

Continue reading “NBA Eastern Conference Finals”

The 2009 NBA Western Conference Finals will feature the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers finally beat the Houston Rockets in game seven of the semifinals by a score of 89-70 and won a spot in the Finals. To say the least, although the last game of the series was an easy victory, the series was hard fought. The Nuggets have been waiting around for days to see who they’ll face in their next best of seven series.

Continue reading “NBA Western Conference Finals”

There’s a lot of hype around this game. It’s not just a match up of two teams, it’s also a figurative fistfight between Los Angeles Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson and Houston Rockets’ head man Rick Adelman. Three times teams coached by Adelman have been knocked out of the playoffs by a Jackson-coached club. However, neither guy will be on the court when this game is played and the fact is whatever these guys have done to get their teams to this point is all in the past. In other words, today’s win has more to do with the talent and skill on the court than the coaches on the bench. Here are five keys to each team’s success in today’s game seven.

Continue reading “Rockets Versus Lakers in Game Seven”

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