1. There’s an article today on ESPN that suggests that Notre Dame is going to go 11-1 and return to the BCS this year. Apparently they aren’t kidding, either. I’m not sure I have ever read anything more stupid. They are returning a bunch of players and all, but it’s not like they are returning BCS caliber players or anything. Experienced garbage is still garbage. Eight or nine wins is believable, but 11 is a joke – even against the puffball schedule they have given themselves this year.
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This Tim Floyd situation is going to get uglier and uglier. His resignation, and the speed and seeming joy with which the athletic department at USC took it, is a clear indicator of his guilt in the alleged cash-spreading incident, and it’s not hard to imagine him being guilty of more, either. The NCAA combined their investigation into the basketball team with their one into Reggie Bush and the football team et al . That would suggest that they are taking it pretty seriously, and this just adds fuel to their efforts. It will be very interesting to see what happens here. It could end very badly – loss of scholarships or post-season eligibility or the like. This really makes you wonder if maybe Pete Carroll will find the next NFL offer too good to refuse. If he does have some blood on his hands then he’d be much better off following the example of John Calipari – get out ahead of the scandal – than that of Tim Floyd.
It’s the 2008-2009 NBA Finals and this season sees the number three seed in the East, the Orlando Magic (59-23), meet the number one seed in the West, the Los Angeles Lakers (65-17). The Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the initial round, the Boston Celtics in the second and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Lakers took it to the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets.
Andy Roddick lost at the French Open today. What a shock. Actually, he got crushed. He lost in three decisive sets to hometown hero Gael Monfils. This victory sets up one heck of a quarterfinal match. Monfils has only dropped one set, and he’s playing as well as he ever has. His next opponent – Roger Federer. Federer is building a nice unbeaten streak on clay, but he had to fight for his life to come back from 0-2 against Tommy Haas to win in five sets. Federer is obviously favored to win the match, but it won’t be easy for him. The winner of this match will be in very good shape to win it all, so this could be a classic. It should go down on Wednesday.
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”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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