Buzzer Beaters

The Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat face off in south beach in game one of the NBA Finals for the right to call themselves champions. Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks has been great in this postseason, averaging 28.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. For the home town heat, Lebron James has been scorching. James is averaging 26 points, 8.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Much has been made regarding the big two and a half of the Miami Heat, for they have scored a crazy 73.5 percent of their team's 92.9 points per game. And although the Dallas Mavericks went 2-0 against the Heat in the regular season, that does not carry much weight. The Chicago Bulls went 3-0 against the Miami Heat in the regular season, and the Boston Celtics went 3-1 against the Heat; but both teams fell victim to the big two and a half in the playoffs. Short synopsis, the Heat have the better stars, but the Mavericks have the better bench and Dirk Nowitzki is the one player that Lebron can't guard one on one; so I'll go with Mavericks in 7. Tip off is at 9:00 on ABC.

It's not just basketball that has it's championship series getting underway this week. The Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins will play game one of the Stanley Cup Finals tomorrow night. Like the Heat, the Canucks have been lights out in the playoffs. They have a high powered offense led by the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler with a combined 55 points during their playoff run. In addition to the three pronged attack, the Canucks have had an elite power play, 28.3 percent conversion percentage, in the playoffs compared to the pathetic power play of the Bruins at 8.2 percent. Boston however has only allowed 45 goals in the playoffs behind Vezina Trophy favorite Tim Thomas. In addition to getting better slightly better play from their netminder, the Bruins have surprisingly out scored the Canucks in the playoffs 58-50. This series, like many in hockey, comes down to goal tending and although Roberto Luongo has been great, Tim Thomas has been the best this entire season. These two teams split the regular season series, so we all should be in for a great seven game series. In the end, Lord Stanley's Cup will be shipping up to Boston.

Auto racing and crashes go together like Romeo and Juliet, peanut butter and jelly and college kids and "studying"; yet on the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, the timing for this crash could not have been worse. J.R. Hildebrand, a 23 year old rookie, ran his car on the final turn of the race to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Hildebrand was not in front of the pack for long, for he passed two time winner Dario Franchitti on lap 196 and held the lead until the fateful turn. The young buck's slip up opened the door for 32 year old Dan Wheldon to take the checkered flag instead. Wheldon had won the Indy 500 back in the year 2005. Like Hildebrand, we all have had that feeling of getting so close, but yet so far from accomplishing something important and cool. It's a bummer for Hildebrand, and even if he wins the 101st Indy 500, this one will always be the one that got away.

As far as sports streaks go, doing something 28 times in a row is either really good or terrible. And for Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes, a major league record 28 consecutive starts without-a-win loosing streak was quite bad. However, things seemed to turn for Reyes as he snapped his streak with the Blue Jays 11-1 trouncing of the American League Central leading Cleveland Indians yesterday. Reyes pitched a complete game 

Come On Son

Professional sports is full of great moments that become stories to tell your grandkids; yet there are also moments in sports that make everyone scratch their heads. These wild and wacky moments are usually an intriguing statement from an athlete or coach, or something different that somebody did. These moments have gone from stories your local newspaper writers would release in a book they wrote down to 10 moments that can be found on Sports Center's Not Top 10 every Friday. Yet that all being said, there are only a few moments that are truly head scratching that are going to make this list.

First up: Scottie Pippen says Lebron James could be considered the best player in NBA history.

Come on Son.

That title, and six O Brien trophies, all belong to this guy.

Let's ignore the fact that Pippen slammed his former teammate that he won six rings with during their days with the Chicago Bulls and move to the facts. 

First of all, Michael Jordan ranks 3rd in the NBA's all time scoring list with 32,292 points compared to Lebron's 17,362. Lebron's total is not good enough to crack the top 70 (James sits in 73rd). 

Second, James is having a strong playoffs this year because he is averaging 26 points per game, 8.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game: which are all good numbers. However, that is still lower than Michael Jordan's worst line of 29.3, 5.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game, in his entire playoff career. Jordan also has a NBA record 33.1 points per game average in the playoffs and James does not. 

Third, Michael Jordan has never lost in the NBA Finals and accumulated six finals most valuable player awards; while King James has only been to the finals once before this year. Jame's first trip ended with a loss to the San Antonio Spurs in 4 games in the 2007 Finals. The ring count still remains 6-0 in favor of Jordan and even if the Heat beat the Mavericks in the Finals this year, James would still need 5 more rings to catch Jordan. 

Now James is a better passer than Jordan ever was, but in terms of greatness and success when it matters most, Lebron James is nothing like Mike.

Second: Drew Brees saying that the owners "saw blood in the water" when former NFL Players association director Gene Upshaw passed away in 2008.

Come on Son

Although this statement has some validity due to Upshaw's relationship with NFL owners, Drew Brees did not help the players cause by saying this. This statement will be analyzed for a day, then, like all of the other things players and owners have been saying about the situation, it will become just another example of the public mud slinging that is usually reserved for presidential elections. The players angle for this entire lockout has been trying to make the owners look like an oppressive business. Yet the fact remains, that angle does not work when they get paid more money a year to play a sport than most of us will make working for our entire lives.

And one other part of the quote that caught my eye for all the wrong reasons,

" we're going to stand up for what is right and what is fair. Fifty-fifty is fair..."

If the players or the owners really wanted to do this 50-50, then their lawyers would split the nine billion dollars in television revenue evenly to four point five billion dollars to each side no problem. But greed just does not work that way.

So the bottom line is simple and one that I have re stated through out the 74 days of this Lockout: Sorry Brees, but nobody cares about the legal issues as long as both sides kiss and make up so you can play football starting September 8th.

Third: The amount of scandal in college football is worse today than it has ever been.

Come on Son




Anyone who has seen "Pony Excess" by ESPN's 30-30 film series knows how bad college football used to be back in the late 1960's and 1970's. This film series follows the rise and fall of Southern Methodist University and how they successfully bribed star running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James by giving them the newest cars in order to recruit them both to SMU. But it was not just SMU that used such techniques to bribe recruits. It was the norm for members of the Big Twelve Conference, including respected Universities such as Texas and TCU, offered bribes that far exceed the free tatoos that Ohio State Quarterback Terrelle Pryor got.
The amount of money and illegal benefits that players received during the hight of the SMU football team was far greater than the violations today, but the reason that people see so much scandal in the NCAA is because of the media coverage. The difference between the media back in SMU's times and the media today could not be more drastic. Most of the benefits those players got back then still have not reached the surface, even with ESPN reporters doing enough digging to make an hour long movie. Today, if a player so much as looks at an agent, he gets found out immediately because the 24 hour media is omnipresent and looking for athletes to mess up.
But the biggest reason for all this scandal is because players are not allowed to get any slice of the money pie while they are in college. The NCAA and the schools these athletes are attending take all of the money generated from the players image and hide behind the notion that these players are amateur athletes. But based on the amount of television revenue that they generate suggests other wise. If the NCAA and schools really wanted to cut down on the scandal, they would figure out some fair way to pay the players. ESPN college football analyst Jon Ritchie suggested that schools hold autograph sessions to their fans that enables the players to receive money for their image. That is an interesting suggestion that could be a good starting point, but the money gap between players and their bosses needs to be bridged. 

Players (Right) to the NCAA and Athletic Directors (left)

Finally to Baseball: Los Angeles Dodger Outfielder Andre Ethier Flips off a cameraman and then claims the camera man was being inconsiderate.

Come on Son.




With the glitz, glamor, and Hollywood backdrop of Los Angeles, people are going to put their professional athletes under microscopes. And Andre Ethier is no exception. Every single person has would be envious of the six million dollars in guaranteed money that Ethier is making this year. I do not buy that Ethier's lame excuse that the cameras were throwing off his timing in batting practice. He had been in a horrible slump at the time of the incident, going 0-17 during the few games prior to the incident. If anything, Ethier needed to be distracted from how poorly he was hitting. 
Also, Ethier seems to have a lack of knowledge as far as how the distribution of photos by paid cameramen work. The cameraman only takes the pictures to present to their publication or television show. Once the cameramen present their findings, then their superiors presents their work to the media outlet that distributes the pictures. What Ethier primarily suggests is what fans do when they go to batting practice early looking to get a glimpse at their favorite players. Imagine, going to batting practice to see your favorite Los Angeles Dodger flip you off because you were "distracting". However, if Ethier had done this to a fan, he would have been hauled up to the general manager's office to discuss his conduct. Out of the incidences on this list, Ethier's is the least offensive, but still was head scratching.




Every sport has it's ugly side, but none of these incidences are physically or really emotionally harmful to those of us who follow them. Rather, these are a gathering of things athletes and analysts say that make us scratch our collective heads. And because of the lackluster personalities of analysts and the egos of the athletes, the collective sports head remains itchy.  

Can't we all just get along?

Football has been one of the most successful sports businesses in this decade. The model is that of a great work environment on the outside; a great product, everybody gets paid, and there are fewer serious complaints about these business than the every day jobs the rest of us have. Yet as the lockout continues to dominate the summer sports news, there is quietly another sport looking to follow the NFL's summer schedule. The NBA's collective bargaining agreement expires June 30th; and like the NFL, if the players union and owners can not reach an agreement, the NBA's logo for the 2011-2012 season would look a little something like this.

Although the NFL has been so successful this decade, that doesn't mean that all other sports should follow this part of the blueprint. The labor situation in the NFL has dissolved into a public smear campaign masking the legal tug of war for nine billion dollars in television revenue. Also, all of us fans who pay the hard earned money to go see games, and buy team merchandise could care less who "wins" as long as regular season games are still scheduled to start September 8th.

This, Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, is what we all WANT to see.

That being said, the NBA seems determined to follow in the NFL's footsteps by making this process as messy as possible. The NBA's players union has already complained of bad negotiating tactics from the owners, less than a month after the owner's initial proposal. These guys are not even being forced to have federal mediation for these negotiations yet, and they are already trying to sling mud at each other. If any of these owners or union reps have watched ESPN over the last two months, they have seen how NOT to handle their negotiations. And even if the NBA did follow the NFL's success proof lockout plan, they would not even receive the same amount of media attention. The reason for this is because the sports media would use most of it covering the NFL regular season. I'm no English major, but that sounds like a big, heaping pile of irony.

Yet the fact that the NBA's collective bargaining agreement is almost up is a fact that is lost on the majority of the league's audience. The playoffs are doing a great job of distracting most of us from this fact. These playoffs have seen stars such as Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph shine, while other stars, such as Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, become mortal.  But when the big two and a half and the rest of the Miami Heat are one game away from going to the NBA Finals; potentially against the best-players-never-to-win-a-championship Dallas Mavericks, who wants to be reminded that there could be no basketball this fall either?


So here are my parting words to David Stern, the NBA player's union, and the team owners: just because the NFL is jumping off a metaphoric bridge does not mean that you guys need should. These negotiations can be solved quietly, calmly, and everybody can play without the drama. But that would be too easy for so many big egos. The NBA's situation will play out just like in the NFL negotiations, it will get ugly fast. Get ready sports world, we are once again about to be drenched in collective bargaining madness. Everyone bring a rain coat.

Growing Pains

At certain junctures of life, people just need to know when to set pride aside. Whether it is in a debate one person has clearly lost, or if a bet cost someone money; there comes a time to swallow pride and learn from past mistakes. Tonight, selfish play lead to starting point guard Russel Westbrook sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder's 106-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Westbrook could only watch as the Thunder reserves boomed with 50 points; and their back up point guard, Eric Maynor, ran the offense down the stretch in a key playoff game. But it was not just Maynor and his 13 points that propelled the Thunder to even the series; the credit for that goes primarily to James Harden and his beard, for they scored 23 points and effectively replaced Westbrook's usual offensive output.

Playoff Beard in full effect

Yet the primary reason that Westbrook did not get his number called in the fourth quarter is because of his attitude towards head coach Scott Brooks after being benched with 7:20 to go in the third quarter. Westbrook drove to the basket looking to score; instead  of scoring, Westbrook committed his fourth turnover and earned himself a trip to the bench. Head coach of the Thunder Scott Brooks slapped Westbrook on the back, telling him to pass the ball more. That lead to Westbrook expressing his frustration to the point in which assistant coach Maurice Cheeks had to calm him down. After the incident, Brooks decided to let back up point guard Eric Maynor run the offense for the rest of the game. Sitting your second best player when your team is down 0-1 in the series was a risky move by the 2010 coach of the year, but the Thunder won without Westbrook.

And honestly, as tough as it was for Westbrook to sit in the fourth quarter of a key game, it should serve as a good wakeup call in the long run.

Russell Westbrook is a 22 year old professional basketball player, yet he has his moments in which he plays with the selfishness of a 14 year old teenager. Sure Westbrook has had his scoring numbers rise from 15.3 points per game in 2008-2009 to 21.9 points per game this past season, but his ability to defer to the better player in Kevin Durant has not improved much over the course of his three year career. One example of this selfish trend came in the series against the Memphis Grizzlies in game in which he took 2 more shots than Druant, but unlike his teammate who went 11-21, Westbrook only made 9 of his 23 shots. At times, Westbrook plays what ESPN analyst Michael Wilbon likes to call "hero ball" in which Westbrook shows a genuine dislike for passing; which leads to Westbrook taking to many shots and the Thunder not capitalizing because of it.

There is always a little bit of growing up that everyone needs to do in their lives; and if Westbrook wants to win an NBA title, he will take the positives from this experience and use it as motivation to get better. 

Buzzer Beaters

Action on the ice is heating up. The Boston Bruins shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Most of the game was exactly as advertised. Both teams played lock down defense for the majority of the game. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, the leading candidate for the Vezina trophy, had 31 saves over the course of the game. While Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson racked up 23 stops in 25 chances.
What little offense went on in the game came from the visiting team. The B's struck early off a goal by David Krejci in the first 1:09 of the game off a solid pass from Milan Lucic. In the third period, Andrew Ference scored his first goal in a playoff game since his goal, and controversial celebration, against the Montreal Canadiens. The series continues Saturday at 1:30 P.M. on NBC.

The next beat is staying with hockey, but changing conferences. The Vancouver Canucks blew the San Jose Sharks out of the water 7-3 on Wednesday. Little defense necessary for Vancouver to win this one with all of their offensive firepower. Daniel Sedin scored two goals for the Canucks, while his twin brother Henrik added three assists. Christopher Higgins added three points of his own to the Vancouver attack with a goal and two assists; while Dan Hamhuis was the third Vancouver player with three points in the game with three assists of his own. The goaltending for the Canucks has been solid as well. Roberto Luongo had 28 saves on 31 shots.
The Sharks have given up twice as many goals, ten, as they have scored, five, in the two games of this series. The puck drops for game three tomorrow at 9 P.M.


Shifting to the NBA now, we have ourselves a series out West. The Oklahoma City Thunder took game two of the Western Conference Finals 106-100 over the Dallas Mavericks. Kevin Durant was impressive for the Thunder as usual, scoring 24 points. However, it was the bench of the Thunder that enabled Oklahoma City to get back into this series. The reserves for OKC put up a total of 50 points, lead by sixth man James Harden and his 23 points. The Oklahoma City Thunder have not lost consecutive games in this postseason, and this win snaps the Maverick's seven game home winning streak in these playoffs. The series now shifts back to Oklahoma City, and the NBA's take on the Red River Rivalry tips off at 9 P.M. on Saturday.

The Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls are both seeing red after the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Chicago Bulls took game one by a final score of 103-82. Derrick Rose lead the running of the Bulls with 28 points, and the rest of the team held the big two of Lebron James and Dwayne Wade to a combined 33 points; although  Chris Bosh had 30 points and nine rebounds.
Game two was a much different story, mostly because the Miami Heat played great defense in their 85-75 win. Lebron Jame played much better in game two, scoring 29 points while grabbing ten rebounds and five assists. Dwyane Wade also stepped his game up, scoring 24 points and coming down with 9 rebounds and getting two assists.
The key to this series has been rebounding. The Bulls out rebounded the Heat 45-33 in game one, but the Heat beat the Bulls on the glass 45-41 in game two. Both teams will take their talents to south beach for game  three. Tip off is at 8:30 P.M. on Sunday.

With all of the television money that certain conferences are making, college football could explore the possibility of paying their athletes. The idea was first proposed by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and several other conference commissioners across the NCAA. Conference USA commissioner  Britton Banowsky summed up the situation, by saying, in his words, "Universities justify spending tens of millions of dollars on coaches' compensation, with a seemingly insatiable appetite for more growth. At the same time, a small fraction of that amount is spent on all scholarships for all student-athletes, Unless the student-athletes in the revenue-producing sports get more of the pie, the model will eventually break down. It seems it is only a matter of time." The specifics of financial compensation for players has not been specified, yet it seems that college football continues to move towards the business aspect of football. 

How do you Spell...

Every sports team has that guy. And I'm not talking about the guy that sparks a family wide debate on whether he is good or not. This particular player is the one with the odd name. You know, the guy who's name comes up on the television screen and you have to ask the closest person to you how to say his name. Or if you are driving along listening to a game on the radio, this player's name will come up; and if he does something productive, the first thing you do when you get home is look up his career stats. Everyone knows who he is one way or another. This guy usually does not fill up the stats sheet, but he is often productive and is not a weakness to his team. So here are some of the best examples of "that guy" on sports teams past and present.

Leading off is First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz (Men-Kay-Vich)

One of the oddest names ever to put on seven different major league baseball uniforms. Mientkiewicz played on the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Mets, the Kansas City Royals, the New York Yankees, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Los Angles Dodgers. His best season came in 2001 with the Twins, when he hit .306 with 15 home runs and 74 runs batted in. That year, Mientkiewicz also won the gold glove award for best defensive first baseman. Mientkiewicz was regarded as one of the best  defensive players in the league, but offensively he was average at best. Over the course of his ten year career, his career totals include a .271 batting average, 64 home runs, 372 runs batted in, and a .358 on base percentage. Not Hall of Fame numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but serviceable. But for this oddly named defensive stud, his one shinning moment came with the 2004 Red Sox, when he recorded the out that gave the Red Sox their first World Series in 86 years. 

Let us stay with the Red Sox for our next player: Carl Yastrzemski (Yaz-Strem-ski).

One of the few exceptions to the rule that players with odd last names do not often fill up the stat sheet. In fact, Yastrzemski was enshrined in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1989. Yaz was one of the best hitters in the majors during his 18 year career with the Boston Red Sox. His career accomplishments were extraordinary. Yaz had a .285 average, 452 home runs, 1844 runs batted in, was selected to the American League's All Star Team 18 times, and won seven gold glove awards.But the season that made sure everyone knew how to spell Yastrzemski came in 1967. He lead the league with a .326 batting average, 44 home runs and 121 runs batted in. Not only did Yastrzemski win the MVP that year, but he also accomplished one of the toughest feats in Baseball; he won the triple crown. Out of all the players who have ever put on a major league uniform, only 13 players, in the American and National Leagues, have ever won the triple crown. 8 is a great number in Red Sox history, thanks to Carl Yastrzemski.


This next player is quite large: Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Ill-gaus-kas)

This Lithuanian big man has been snagging rebounds in the NBA for a total of 13 years. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavilers with the 20th overall pick in the 1996, and went on to have a very serviceable career with the Cavs. Big Z's best statistical year came in the 2002-2003 season, when he averaged 17.2 points per game, while grabbing 7.5 rebounds per game and blocking 1.9 shots per game. The overall duration of Illgauskas' career with the Cavs are very consistent. Big Z averaged 13 points per game, 7.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots during his tenure in Cleveland. His consistency and size made him a fan favorite in Cleveland. When Ilgauskas returned to Cleveland as a member of the Miami Heat, the fans gave him a very warm reception. Even in Miami, Big Z has been productive, for he started 51 out of the 72 total games he has played with the Heat. Ilgauskas is a guy that shows up to work everyday and is productive, and winning teams have a few Zydrunas Illgauskas'.

Let's hit the Grid iron with the next one: TJ Houshmandzadeh (Housh-man-zada).

Very few players in the NFL have been as successful at being the second banana for a team's wide receiving corps as Houshmandzadeh. TJ took the hard road to becoming an NFL player; he was drafted in the seventh round out of Oregon State in the year 2001 by the Cincinnati Bengals. Houshmandzadeh had a very productive career with the Bengals, for he averaged 72 receptions, 826 receiving yards, and 5 touchdowns over a seven year span. In 2009, Houshmandzadeh went to the Seattle Seahawks, where he maintained his serviceable skill set (79 receptions, 911 yards, 3 touchdowns). Houshmanzadeh has never been the star of his team because he played beside Chad Ochocinco (Johnson) in Cincinnati, Nate Burleson in Seattle, and now Anquan Boldin for his current team: the Baltimore Ravens. Yet despite being listed as the number two receiver in the depth chart, his humble beginnings and first rate work ethic make him a productive player.

Although these athletes play different sports, they all have unique names that catch the attention of their fans. These players' names may be a nightmare for the jersey makers, but to the fans, they are people that will always be welcome on their teams.

Oye Vey Jorge

Remember that time where the bread was accidentally left out for too long and that disgusting green stuff got all over it? Or the time where a toy that used to receive countless hours of playing time suddenly became boring and useless? Memories such as these are prototypical examples of the effects of things getting old. Becoming older does mean getting wiser, yet there comes a point in which there are certain things we just can not do anymore. Some people age more gracefully than others; and one person who is not taking aging so well is Yankee catcher Jorge Posada.

In last night's game against the rival Boston Red Sox, Jorge Posada was slated to bat ninth as the team's designated hitter. Then, right before the game started, Posada asked manager Joe Girardi to take him out of the lineup, for he needed to "clear his head."
There are several different versions of this story. One version is that he threw a fit about batting ninth and refused to play. Another version is that he had a bad back that stiffened up just before the game started. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman insisted Posada was not hurt, while Posada claimed he was. Posada, Girardi, and Cashman are locked in a public he-said-he-said situation, and nothing good ever comes of public confrontation. We may never know what actually took place that lead to Posada not playing, but the bottom line is clear as day.

Jorge Posada is too old to get the job done anymore.

This season, Posada has a meek .165 batting average; which ranks very last among 172 players with an at bat this season. Posada also has a wimpy .272 on base percentage. Out of his 109 at bats, 30 have been strike outs. Yes, the Yankee catcher has six homers and 15 runs batted in, yet he has not hit a home run since April 23rd.
With statistics that bad, he is lucky to even be on the team; much less complain about where his is hitting in the lineup, allegedly. But even if his numbers improve, it remains highly unlikely that Posada will return to his former role as primary catcher. For the Yankees signed 27 catcher Russell Martin in the offseason, and backup catcher Francisco Cervelli is 25; compared to the 39 year old Posada. More bad news for Posada is that Martin has played fairly well so far this season, hitting .245 with seven homers and 22 runs batted in.

The decline of Jorge Posada can best be compared to Cleveland Indian fictional catcher Jake Taylor in the movie Major League 2.

Taylor, like Posada, entered the season planning on having an impact, but management decided to bring in two more catchers. For the fictional Cleveland Indians, it was Taylor being replaced by good hitting catcher Jack Parkman and youngster Rube Baker. In Posada's case, Russell Martin has taken the role of Parkman while Francisco Cervelli has been cast as Baker. Taylor eventually decides to retire and become an assistant coach for the fictitious Indians. And although Posada has been a core member of the New York Yankees for 17 years, his presence after this incident is likely to sour the Yankee locker room for a while. Perhaps Posada will follow the rest of the script, and help guide his team to the World Series in a different way. Maybe Jorge  can follow the script, and help a pitcher fix his character concerns; as well as his problem finding the strike zone.

=

Very accurate casting New York

 Posada does not have to retire and be the interim manager of the New York Yankees who leads them to the World Series. All he has to do is accept his new role and be a good teammate. Because it is better to age well like wine, as opposed to badly like milk.

Buzzer Beaters

Tonight is a good night for the world of baseball. The Boston Red Sox head to the big apple to battle the New York Yankees in a 3 game set this weekend. This is the second series of the year between these historic franchises. The first time these teams met this season on the week of April sixth; when the baseball season was still young and the Red Sox were 0 and six. Boston was able to get their first win of the year against Yankee Starter Bartolo Colon, but the Yankees took two of three in the series. First pitch is at 7:05 tonight, and the starters will be Clay Bucholtz (3-3 4.19 Earned Run Average) against Bartolo Colon (2-1 3.86 Earned Run Average).


The NBA conference finals are almost set, but there is still some second round action that needs to be settled. The Oklahoma City Thunder look to close out the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals tonight. It has been an explosive series up to this point, with two games going into overtime and game four's triple overtime marathon. As expected, the Thunder have been lead by the two headed scoring monster of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; in this series, Duranchula and Westbrook are averaging 27.0 points per game and  25.4 points per game respectively. However, Memphis has been able to bully the Thunder in the low post thanks to the efforts of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, who are averaging a combined 40.6 points per game in this series. Tip off is at 9:00 P.M. on ESPN, and the winner of this series will take on Dirk Nowitzki  and the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.


For the first time since 1992, the Boston Bruins are going to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins completed their sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on May 6th and will face the Tampa Bay Lightning for the right to play for the Stanley Cup. Don't expect a sweep from either of these teams in this round. The Lightning explosive offense is lead by Steven Stamkos (45 Goals in the regular season) and Hart Trophy finalist Martin Saint Louis (99 points in the regular season).  Yet the Bruins strong defense, lead by Zdeno Charra and Dennis Sedinberg, has given up only 24 goals in 11 games. The Bruins also have goaltender Tim Thomas, who leads all goalies in the playoffs with a .941 save percentage, but are without their best postseason player Patrice Bergeron; who received a concussion in the Flyers series. The Bruins won three out of four in the regular season series, but the Lightning did not have goaltender Dwayne Roloson in any of those games. The puck drops at 8:00 P.M. tomorrow in Boston.

Moving over to the West, that conference Final will feature the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks have been regarded by many hockey analysts as the best team in the NHL; and their play has been outstanding. The Canucks dispatched the Nashville Predators in 6 games while it took the Sharks 7 games to rid themselves of the Detroit Red Wings. The Canucks have gotten great play from center Ryan Kesler, who has 5 goals and 10 assists in the playoffs. The Sharks will turn to Danny Heatly and Joe Thorton and their combined 24 points in the postseason to lead their offense. Don't expect either team to dominate this series defensively. The Canucks have given up 33 goals in the postseason while the Sharks have given up 38.
These two teams had the best power plays in the regular season with the Canucks converting 24.3 percent of the time and San Jose converting on 23.5 percent of their power plays. In the postseason the Canucks remain hot on the power play, with a conversion percentage of 22.2 percent; and the Sharks have less of a power play bite, for they have only converted on 13.7 percent of their power plays in the playoffs. The series begins north of the border on Sunday at 8:00 P.M.

There seems to be some movement towards finding the two men who attacked San Fransisco Giants fan Bryan Stow. According to the Santa Cruz sentinel, approximately 200 billboards showing police sketches of the suspects appeared all over the Los Angeles area on Thursday. Lamar Advertising Company was behind the making of the billboards, each with a 100,000 dollar reward for any information regarding the two men who attacked Stow. Bryan Stow was beaten by two men wearing Dodger Jerseys on March 31st opening day game between the San Fransisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Stow remains hospitalized in Los Angeles with a coma.

Welcome to Miami

Over the summer, the unification of Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Lebron James to the Miami Heat drew a great deal of negative backlash. The big two and a half were all brimming with confidence, and Lebron went as far as to say this Heat team would win more than 7 NBA championships. There was scrutiny from the fans and media, but after ousting the Boston Celtics in 5 games, the Heat are beginning to back up their talk.

Every move the Miami Heat made in this season received lead story media coverage, and rightfully so. Lebron James had left his hometown team in order to try and win a championship. And Dwayne Wade openly courted Bosh and James on ESPN, even though  the NBA rules say you are not supposed to openly tell free agents to join your team.
But between 'The Decision' and that first presentation of the big two and a half to the Miami fans had a certain feeling towards it. And that general feeling was that these three guys were extremely cocky after never playing a single minute together. These three guys simply thought, and likely still think that they were better than everyone else. But after all of the talk and most of the NBA season, the Miami Heat are one of 6 teams left standing in the quest for the Larry O'Brien trophy.

So with their biggest nemesis defeated, who among the remaining teams can stop the Miami heat from winning a championship?

Is the team that can stop them Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls?

Doubtful.

Although Chicago has the youngest Most Valuable Player in NBA history, and the coach of the year in Tom Thibodeau. But despite being able to take the Heat in the regular season, the Bulls will have to get out of Miami's kitchen if they get past Atlanta.
The Bulls have almost everything needed to beat Miami. A good blend of young and veteran talent. The ability to play good defense. And really good team chemistry. But the   reason the Bulls will not oust Miami is because Derrick Rose can not score all of his team's points by himself. The blame for Chicago's lack of offense falls on their disappointing number 2 scorer, the ghost of Carlos Boozer. Boozer is averaging 10.7 points per game while shooting 39 percent from the field. And at the age of 30, Boozer shows signs of slowing down. Granted he did suffer several injuries throughout his career, most recently the famous stubbed toe that caused him to miss game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Indiana Pacers. Chicago simply can not count on Boozer to carry the rest of the scoring load when he has been playing this badly. If the Bulls had a big time second scorer, say a Ray Allen or a Danny Granger, to accompany all of the existing elements that make them good, they could beat the heat. But unless Carlos Boozer has the series of his life, expect Miami to beat Chicago.

How about the Atlanta Hawks? No, they will not even see Miami because they will not beat Chicago in the conference semifinals.

So assuming the Heat make it out of the East, which is sounding more likely every day, who out West can cool down the big two and a half.

How bout the team from an equally hot state in Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks?

Can they? Yes, will they remains to be seen.

The Mavericks stomped on the Lakers in the Western conference semi finals, winning their last game 122-86. Dallas has consistent scoring from Dirk, averaging 26.5 points per game in the playoffs; and 6th man Jason Terry averaging 18.3 points per game in the playoffs. Another thing the lone star state team has going for them is that they can play either a half court offense, or transition offense well. The Mavericks also have pretty good chemistry and the best bench out of all the teams remaining.
The biggest concern with Dallas is their average defense. Against the Lakers, Dallas had moments in which they could not guard anybody, but they were able to get stops when they had to. That kind of D will not cut it against the Heat because Miami can score.
It would certainly be a fun series to watch, and these two teams look like the best remaining. If I had to pick a winner today, I'd go with Miami in 7 because Dwayne Wade has beaten Dirk in the NBA finals before, without Bosh and Bron-Bron.

How about the Oklahoma City Thunder? Can they beat the Heat?

Although it would be a lot of fun to watch Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook go up against the big two and a half, the Thunder aren't ready to challenge the Heat.

Yet.

Oklahoma City can score with anybody and have a solid bench. The Thunder also can play your style of play better than you because they are flexible. The flexibility comes from their great coach Scot Brooks.
But OKC still has three glaring weaknesses to this very sound team.
One is that they don't like to play defense. The Thunder were 18th in the League in total defense this past season. This is not because the Thunder don't have the athletes to play defense against anybody, it's their mindset. Oklahoma City wants shootout victories, but that will not work against the very good defense of the Miami Heat.
The other weakness is their youth. Oklahoma City has some veteran players, but the core players for Oklahoma City are still extremely young with some growing up to do. Durant is 22 and as great as he is, he needs to work on his defense for the next few summers. Westbrook is 22 and has moments when he thinks he is the star of the team; instead of differing to the better player in Durant. In addition to Westbrook's mentality, he also has to finish around the rim better, for even if you can blow by people as quickly as Westbrook, you still need to score. Their third guy, Serge Ibaka is still mostly raw talent at 21. Ibaka can block shots very well and finish around the rim. The Serge Protector has been working on a 15 foot jump shot, but it's far from completed.
The final thing that the Thunder need to address is their lack of a consistent third scorer. Durant and Westbrook are going to get their points, but the third scorer is a day to day position on this team. Some days it's Ibaka, other days its 6th man James Harden, sometimes it's 3 point marksman Dequan Cook. The championship teams all have two great scorers and a third good one. The Thunder have the two great scorers, but there is no third good scorer. The Heat have Chris Bosh who is a good third scorer.
If this core stays together, expect the Thunder to challenge the Heat consistently for championships, just not this year.

How about Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies?

No.

Although the freight trains that are Randolph and Marc Gasol would overpower the Heat's front line, and Memphis does have two great defenders in Shane Battier and Tony Allen. But the fact remains that the Grizz are having a hard enough time guarding Durant and Westbrook; so Wade James and Bosh are too much to handle. Not to mention that Memphis lacks a wing player that can score to take pressure off their front line. If Rudy Gay was healthy and starting, this could be another story. But Memphis is also young, they could one day challenge the Heat.

It would not be the upset of the year to pick the Miami Heat to win the whole thing. They are winning all of the games they need to win, and  although the Mavericks and Thunder could pull off the upset, the Heat should be the favorites right now. The only thing left to do is see if the NBA is ready for the Heat wave.

A Little Birdie Told Me...

It is in the 1st Amendment in the Constitution that every American is entitled to freedom of speech, yet some athletes need to be a little more aware as to how they use that right. This has become a more alarming trend since the cultural establishment of websites such as Twitter and Facebook. But these athletes need to remember that the words they put on the internet, can and will be used as news stories if the quotes are inflammatory.

Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard recently stated on Twitter that the Orlando Magic media is attempting to run him out of town. "Why does it seem like the writers of the Orlando Sentinel are trying to push me out of Orlando with dumb articles, It's annoying can I enjoy my summer and get ready for next season in Orlando Please, you guys did the same thing to Shaq, Shake my head"

Well Dwight, from what I have been reading, there has been far less criticism about your overall play then there should have been. For one thing, Howard's playoff resume is not very impressive. In his 8 year career, Howard has been to the playoffs 3 times and has only been to the NBA Finals once. Howard's trip to the Finals in the 2008-2009 ended in 5 games with a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. As far as this season's playoff run, Howard himself played well, averaging 27 points per game and 15.5 rebounds per game. But his team, lost to the Atlanta Hawks in 6 Games. So Howard is more along the lines of Spiderman, instead of Superman. Recognizable, but not strong enough to carry the load alone.
If Howard read that kind of writing on a consistent basis, then maybe he would have a little more of a beef with the Orlando Sentinel. But here is one thing that Dwight is not coming out and saying. He wants to be courted by other teams in free agency next year, so he is doing his best to indirectly distance himself from the Magic. But he's still under contract, so he can not come out and say 'I am looking towards being courted in free agency, I'll try next year to get the Magic to the playoffs to make myself look better to other teams.' Hope I got that right Dwight.


And in other twitter news Saints running back Reggie Bush mentioned that he was enjoying his extended vacation. "Everybody's complaining about the Lockout! Shoot, I'm making the most of it! Vacation, rest, relaxing vacation here and there, I'm good. Right about now we would be slaving away in 100 degree heat, practicing twice a day while putting our bodies at risk for nothing"

Now Reggie Bush brings up the typical player complaint, 'too much Organized Team Activities, not enough vacation.' But when he got drafted number 2 to the New Orleans Saints in 2006, he, like all NFL players knew what they were signing up for. Every job has difficulties, long hours, cranky bosses, and sometimes an unstable work environment.  But players who make it in the NFL get two really big perks that most jobs do not offer: popularity, and a lot of money. Reggie Bush has money because he was a high pick and is popular because of his relationship with celebrity Kim Kardashian. But Bush's career has not taken off. Yes he won a ring in 2010, but he has played in all 16 games only once, has 2,090 rushing yards over 5 years, and has never gotten 800 yards receiving or rushing in a season. At this point, Bush is more of a celebrity than a good football player, so the lockout benefits him.

Athletes use social media to put themselves out there in a way that the prepared end of game press conferences do not allow. But that freedom comes with positive and negative consequences. The positive is in situations when athletes promote positive causes. But more often than not, Twitter shows us the sides of athletes we do not want to see. For example, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson comparing football to slavery and Steelers running back Rashad Mendenhall floating out 9/11 conspiracy theories. Freedom of speech should never be taken away, but since athletes have voices that a great deal of people will listen to, they had better be careful of what they say.

Go for the Glory

It has been called the most acrobatic playoff goal in NHL playoff history. May 10th 1970 Marks the 41 year anniversary of Bobby Orr's Stanley Cup clinching goal 4-3 against the Saint Louis Blues. That is showing up in a clutch situation. Because sports writing is debated in one way or another, it is only natural to compare this finals goal with historic sports moments such as Magic Johnson's baby hook, Havlicek stole the ball, Johnny Pesky waving the ball fair, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar's sky hook in the 1974 NBA finals. But these playoff moments were all before my lifetime. So, it makes sense to debate the biggest playoff performances moments from 1990 until 2011. I could write a book on this topic, but I'll boil it down to the ten most memorable moments for me. The readers can debate the order.

Aaron Boone hitting a home run of Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series.

This one still is painful for Red Sox fans. It was the bottom of the 11th inning, and off the bench comes Boone, who hit .254 with 6 homers and 34 runs batted in in 54 games with the Yankees. Not spectacular numbers, but solid. Boone comes and delivers another dagger into the heart of Red Sox nation off of a pitch that I could have hit.
What makes this moment memorable is because it was the Red Sox best chance since 1986 to reach the world series; and that they had to go through their rivals, the New York Yankees to do it. As most Red Sox-Yankee games, it lasted forever. The game started late and ended at 3:56 A.M. Little kids, like me, were staying up until 4 A.M. on a school night to watch a baseball game. But somehow we all knew that if we didn't stay up to watch it, something magical would happen. But it was the Yankees that got the magic instead. I still contend that the Florida Marlins would have beaten the Red Sox had the Boone home run not happened; for the Red Sox and Yankees played a marathon series against each other, and Florida was riding a giant wave of momentum. Although Aaron bleeping Boone was bad for Sox fans, the Marlins beat the Yankees in 6 games. Every cloud has a silver lining I guess.

Let's stay with baseball for another moment.

2003: Steve Bartman denies the Chicago Cubs Outfielder Moises Alou a potential out in Game 6 of the NLCS.

It was the year 2003, and the Cubs were playing the Florida Marlins in Game 6 at Wrigley Field with a 3-2 series lead. The Cubs were winning the game 3-0 in the top of the 8th inning when Marlins infielder Luis Castillo hit a foul ball that was drifting to the stands. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou chased the ball to the seats and jumped up at the wall to try and catch it. Alou came away with an empty glove, for the ball had deflected off of the hands of Steve Bartman and landed in the stands. Alou shouted angrily at Bartman and the Cubs argued for fan interference, to no avail. Alou maintained the stance that he would have caught the ball if Bartman had not gotten in the way. The Marlins would go on to score 8 runs in the inning and beat the Cubs in Games 6 and 7 to win the series. While the Marlins went on to beat the New York Yankees in 6 games, the Cubs were sent home wondering what could have been. 

The Chicago Cubs have a longer history of heartbreak and disappointment than any other team in sports. The last time the Cubs won the world series was in 1908. That is a 103 year championship drought, the longest in sports history by a mile and a half. 2008 was the last time the Cubs made the playoffs, a series in which they got outscored by the Los Angeles Dodgers 20-6 as they saw their world series aspirations swept away. But back to the day of the Bartman.

I highly doubt that Steve Bartman will ever be able to show his face in Chicago again, which is unfortunate and should not happen. Alou said in 2008 that it was time to forgive Steve Bartman for what happened. Unfortunately, most fans overreact to tough losses in sports. Look at what happened on Opening Day of this year. San Fransisco Giants fan Bryan Stow was beaten in Dodger Stadium all because he wore a Giants Jersey. This man now has brain damage as a result of the attack. If fans act this way if someone wears a different jersey, then Cubs fans getting a hold of Steve Bartman could result in a man's death. Yes it was a painful moment for Cubs fans, but no loss in sports should ever spark violence. That is why Bartman will forever live in infamy.

We'll come back to baseball, but for now let's go to football.

Tracy Porter picks off Peyton Manning to clinch Super Bowl 44.

After Hurricane Katrina struck the state of Louisiana, their capital city of New Orleans was virtually under water. Thousands of people were left without food, shelter, and water for an extended period of time. Sports is unique regarding American culture because it can unite people. The New Orleans Saints rallied around this cause in the 2006 season by winning their division and going to the playoffs, but losing to the Chicago Bears in the NFC conference championship game. Yet in the year 2010, it all came together.
The Saints beat future Hall of Fame Quarterback, and media darling, Bret Favre and his Minnesota Vikings in the NFC title game 31-28 in overtime off of the leg of Garrett Hartley. And that was just to go to the Superbowl to beat the Colts.
The Saints entered the game as heavy underdogs against Superbowl champion and arguably the best QB in the NFL Peyton Manning. It was the 4th quarter and the Saints lead 24-17, but Peyton and the Colts were driving. Then on 3rd Down with 5 yards to go, Manning threw the ball to Reggie Wayne who was coming in on a hitch route. Porter jumped in front of the pass and ran towards the Saints first Superbowl win.
Many people, including me, wish that they could have been in New Orleans for the celebration of winning Super Bowl 44. As good of a game it was, what the win meant to the city of New Orleans goes beyond being the best football team that year. The Saints winning the Superbowl gave the people of Louisiana something that Hurricane Katrina took away, hope. And that gift is way better than giving the fans a trophy.

2009: Santonio Holmes catch in the corner of the endzone to give the Pittsburgh Steelers a Superbowl victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

It has been called one of the best catches in Superbowl history. A catch that would make Lynn Swan proud. And arguably the best play in Superbowl history. But wide receiver Santonio Holmes' catch will go down in football immortality.
The game itself was mostly dull until the 4th quarter, for the score through 3 was 20-7 in favor of the Steelers. Then Kurt Warner and Arizona's passing attack came to life. The Cardinals scored 16 points in the 4th quarter, including a Warner-Larry Fitzgerald catch and run that gave the underdogs the lead. But Ben Rothlisberger would not be denied his second ring. The Steelers stormed down the field, and on 2nd and goal with 43 seconds left in the game; Ben to Santonio for the touchdown.
The catch made by Santonio Holmes adds another ring to the most prestigious franchise in NFL history. The Steelers now have 7 Superbowl championships, 23 Hall of Fame Players, and the song "Black and Yellow" written about them by rapper Wiz Khalifa. One of the best endings to one of the best 4th quarters in Superbowl history.

Now to Basketball

2010: The Decision: Lebron James announces that he is going to the Miami Heat.

Many individuals, like myself, were big critics of Lebron's hour long event to announce that he was going to the Miami Heat. It was one of the most arrogant, self centered moves that a player could have made to announce where he was going. James acted bigger than the game of basketball and it did not seem to bother him in the slightest.
That being said, the story of where Lebron was going to play basketball this season was the dominant news over the course of last summer. The media ate Lebron's act up. There was daily analysis on where Lebron was going to take his talents. If Lebron blew his nose and threw the tissue on the ground, there were cameras asking him where he was going to play his next season almost immediately.The media enabled Lebron's attitude, then ridiculed him for the media making a deal about where he was going to play.
The Decision drew a 7.3 TV rating, in which most of the conversation was based around how Lebron's summer was going. There was no journalism involved, no reporting, just the host chit chatting with James about nothing, until James finally said he was going to Miami. Then the new look Heat said,again on TV, that  they would win 7 championships.
It was a display of arrogance and ego, but everyone watched to see how the drama would end.


Michael Jordan breaks down Byron Russell in the NBA Finals:

The year was 1998, the situation was game 6 of the NBA finals, the result of this one on one matchup was the most famous cross over/push off in NBA history.
With the Chicago Bulls leading the series 3 games to 2, the Utah Jazz went back to Salt Lake City to defend their home court against a Bulls team that has never gone to a game 7 in franchise history. Utah lead in the game 86-83 with 42 seconds left. Jordan cut the lead down to 86-85 with a layup, then on Utah's final trip down the floor, their best scorer Karl Malone had the ball stolen by Jordan. After dribbling to the front court, the only thing standing between the Bulls and the championship was Jazz defender Byron Russell. Jordan proceeded to break Russell's ankles and hit an easy jump shot to give the Bulls the 87-86 win.
Michael Jordan was the iconic player in the NBA during the 90's. Every kid wanted to be a great player like him. After that game, pickup games at recess featured youngsters trying to perfect their ankle breaking moves.
Michael Jordan was great because he could do things on the court that nobody else could, or have done since.

Let's transition to Hockey's memorable moments

Sidney Crosby hoists Lord Stanley's Cup at age 21

In the year 2005, the entire National Hockey League raved over the talents of a young Canadian player out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He was strong, quick, and everyone was calling him the next Wayne Gretzky. His name is Sidney Crosby, and he was taken with the number 1 overall pick in the 05 NHL draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Four years after being drafted, Crosby won the Stanley Cup as his team beat the Detroit Red Wings in 7 games in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.
This moment culminated the next big thing was everything Pittsburgh thought he would be. In the playoffs he scored 15 goals and had 16 assists. And at the age of 21, he won the Stanley Cup.And the best is yet to come.

But of course, the ultimate NHL memory was not a pleasant one.

2004-2005. NHL Lockout

The worst thing that could happen to a sport is a lockout. Players do not make money, owners do not make money, and fans are alienated from the sport. Yet the NHL Lockout will not be remembered for the failure of commissioner Garry Bettman to get a new Collective Bargaining Agreement done in time for the 04-05 season; but rather for how little the causal sports fans seemed to care that there was no hockey. And the NHL lockout still hurts the sport today. Ratings for the NHL still are the lowest out of the four major sports. Because most prime time NHL games get pushed to VS, where few fans get to see the games. If the NFL or NBA want to avoid alienating their fanbases, they should cut the business malarkey and find a way to get new collective bargaining agreements done.


2004: Keith Foulke flipping the ball to Doug Mientkiewicz to give the Red Sox their first World Series in 86 years.

After all of the years of heart break, post season failures, and waiting, Red Sox players and fans finally got what they waited so long for. This moment seemed inevitable throughout the 2004 playoffs. The Red Sox come back from being down 0-3 in the ALCS to the Yankees and the sweep of the Saint Louis Cardinals culminated the amazing run. I remember exactly where I was the moment that Foulke flipped Mientkiewicz the ball. I was watching the game with my dad in our living room, again on a school night. The first thing we both did was cheer and hug each other. It was a bigger moment for him because he had seen all of the Red Sox postseason failures, while I had only seen what happened in 2003. My mom, a born Yankee fan, then came and hugged us both; congratulating the Red Sox on the end of all the heartache. But all the noise and cheering failed to wake up my little sister, so we all went to her room and whispered the news of the Red Sox winning the world series. 

The Red Sox winning the World Series has been, and always will be the highest moment ever in Boston sports. The 3rd longest championship drought in sports history had been erased by one of the simplest plays in baseball. The Boston Celtics are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most championships in NBA history and the New England Patriots won three super bowls in the 2000-2010 decade. Fans are used to the Pats and fighting shamrocks winning. If the Boston Bruins hoist Lord Stanley's Cup, that will be cheered. But the Bruins following now is not what the Red Sox following has been. It can be argued that the Red Sox winning the world series was the biggest moment in sports history. The biggest moments in our lives are ones where we remember everything about it. Lots of Red Sox fans know exactly where they were when the Red Sox won the World Series.

David Tyree's on the helmet catch against the New England Patriots in Superbowl 42.

Only once in NFL history had a team ever gone an entire season without a loss, and that was the 1972 Miami Dolphins. The 2008 New England Patriots entered Superbowl 42 with a record of 18 wins and no losses. Just 1 win away from clinching the second undefeated season in NFL history. But as Chris Berman said, "that's why they play the game."
The New York Giants trailed the Patriots 14-10 with 2 minutes and 39 seconds remaining with the ball on their own 17 yard line. Then Eli Manning drove the Giants to the 44 yard line with 1 minute 15 seconds remaining. On 3rd down and 5 yards to go, Eli turned into Houdini. Escaping the potential sacks of linebacker Adailus Thomas, Richard Seymour, and Jarvis Green to throw a deep pass to David Tyree. Tyree somehow made the one handed catch with the ball cradling against his helmet at New England's 25 yard line. The Giants would score a touchdown with 59 seconds left to go up 17-14. That would be the game's final score.
The moment, dubbed as the catch, was the sword that enabled David to slay Goliath. The New England Patriots offense set several offensive records, including Tom Brady's 50 passing touchdowns in one season,  and Randy Moss' 23 receiving touchdowns in one season. But the offense had been harassed by the Giants Defensive line throughout the game. Patriots corner back Asante Samuel dropped the potential game sealing interception two plays before the catch. The Pats had the undefeated season seemingly within their grasp, only for Tyree and Manning to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
As the Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004 was the highest moment in Boston sports history, 18-1 quickly became one of the lowest moments in Boston sports history. Sports talk radio in Boston was unbearable to listen to the next day. And everybody seemed to be in a bad mood. History was made, but not the kind that everyone in the New England area wanted to make. Not to mention the catch was the best play in Superbowl history.

But despite these 10 great moments, the best part about sports is that there may be a moment or two that will take their place on the list. When will there be a bigger moment? I don't know, but like so many others, I can't wait until it happens.

The Call on the Field Stands

For all of the sporting events that go on every day, the individuals who bring their voices to the game go unappreciated. Now I know not every sports play-by-play announcer is Jack Buck, but many announcers do not get the credit they deserve. Going on television or radio in front of thousands or millions of people is not something that many can do. Simply because certain sports are harder to announce than others. Because of this, I decided to rank the 5 most difficult sports to announce on a scale of 1-10: 10 being the most difficult.

5: Football: NFL and NCAA:
Difficulty for TV announcing: 4     Difficulty for radio announcing: 6

In addition to being the most popular sport in the United States to watch, football is also the easiest sport to announce. The great luxury for announcing football on T.V. is that the pace of the game is slow, but it never stops completely. For example, before a play there is usually either a receiver or running back in motion; or even a change in the play. There are also not many key terms that announcers need to know regarding football. The list of important terms, excluding player names and positions, includes touchdown, field goal, downs, interception, fumble, scramble, hashmark, option, blitz, types of coverage, types of offense. With a  relatively short list of terms for a TV announcer to memorize, and the pictures telling audiences what happened: Football announcing is about as simple as it comes.


And announcing football does not get much harder on the radio. Yes the announcer needs to convey down, distance, and where the teams are on the field to the audience, but those are pretty much the only extra difficulties to radio football announcing. The players in the NFL may hit the hardest, but football is by far the easiest sport to announce.


4: Basketball: NBA or NCAA.
Difficulty rating for TV announcing: 5  Difficulty for radio announcing: 7.

Basketball is a sport that most people have played before. So most members of the audience understand the general rules for scoring. The key terms that are used in basketball, announcing excluding players and positions, are: Free Throw, post up, baseline, box out, key, elbow, rebound, assist, rim, bucket, rotation, spacing, block, shot clock, double double, triple double. These 15 terms are the backbone to television basketball announcing because they apply to both the NBA and college basketball.
Another reason in why basketball is fairly easy to announce on TV is because the flow of the game is easy to follow and is rarely interrupted. Games stop during called timeouts or TV time outs, so there are few breaks in the action. There is enough going on in basketball to get excited about, but not too much that an announcer could loose track of things that are going on. But the luxury of TV announcing is that the pictures help to tell the story of what is happening. So you will see two color analysts for many basketball games in order to create conversation on air to keep audiences from getting bored.

In announcing basketball on the radio, there is little need for in game analysis because the play by play announcer has to paint the picture of the game for the audience. The announcer has to describe every move that the person with the ball makes in order to keep the audience informed. Since the audience can not see what is happening, the announcer has to describe the game in a way that the audience can visualize. In many cases, basketball sounds faster on the radio because announcers are describing every action the man with the ball is taking. That, in a nutshell, is why radio announcing is more difficult not only in basketball, but in almost all sports.

3: Baseball:
Difficulty for TV and Radio announcing: 7.5

Good news for those of you who want to be baseball announcers; there is no extra difficulty between TV and radio announcing. In baseball, announcing is the same for TV and radio. However, the fact that there are other difficulties that the sport presents.The challenge of announcing baseball is not just in the fairly long the list of terms, but also in the dreadfully slow pace of the game. Baseball has 162 games in a regular season. And if the team you are announcing for makes the playoffs, that could be as many as another 11 games you would have to announce. And that is in the regular year. Baseball also has what no other sport has, double headers. Double headers are when the same teams play each other twice in the same day. As your team's announcer, you would have to announce both games in one day, then travel with the team to their next game. Baseball is the ultimate marathon sport to announce.

2: Hockey:
Difficulty to announce on TV: 8   Difficulty to announce on radio: 9.

Hockey is a challenge to announce. The list of key terms to memorize is long, plus the list of European players with difficult names to pronounce is even longer. The puck is about the size of the human hand, and it moves at incredible speeds. Shots off the sticks of hockey players are hard to track for goalies that are heading towards them; let alone announcers who are completely dependent on the red light behind the goalie to tell when a player has scored. There are also few stoppages during the games compared to the other sports on this list, so announcers have little time to catch their breath. And to reiterate, announcing a hard game with no pictures is even harder. I don't know how radio hockey announcers do it.

But none of the sports mentioned are as difficult for announcers as....

1: Horse Racing.
Difficulty to announce on TV and Radio: 10

Now this may come as a head scratcher to most people. There are so few terms to learn and the typical horse race only lasts about 2-4 minutes. But the reason that these races are so hard to announce is pretty simple: The announcer has to keep track of 20 running horses, all with weird names, simultaneously. Because the horse races are so short, the announcers do not get any breaks for those 2-4 minutes, they have to keep talking. There are constant lead position changes, and keeping track witch weird named horse passed another weird named horse with your brain going a mile a minute is far from simple.

Still don't believe me? Feel free to try it for yourself. But don't come crying to me when you are out of breath and mess up the names of the winning horses.

So the next time you are watching football, basketball, baseball, hockey or even the rare horse race, remember the voices behind the microphone help shape your viewing or listening experience.

Lost Angeles Lakers

There are sweeps of teams in the playoffs, and then there is the domination of one team over another. The Dallas Mavericks did the latter in this series after embarrassing the Los Angeles Lakers 122-86 to complete the 4 game sweep.

There is going to be a great deal of speculation behind the collapse of the Lakers. Magic Johnson for one has said "they were together too long." Well they were together long enough to win two championships in a row, and the Boston Celtics won 8 championships in a row from 1959-1966 with most of the same faces. Being together too long is not an excuse. 

Others will say that the Los Angles Lakers lost because they were too old. This explanation is a little more feasible. Yes all of the Laker's big name players are now 30 and older, but age was not the issue last year when Bryant, Lamar Odom, Derrick Fisher, and Ron Artest were all 30. It is not as much as the Lakers are old, it is more along the lines of the young talent in Los Angeles has been sub par. 23 year old Andrew Bynum is an injury waiting to happen and Shannon Brown is the only other Laker under 30 who sees playing time. So age may have played a factor, but it was not the primary reason.

No the reason that the Los Angeles Lakers looked so lost, so distraught, so distant compared to last year is because of the most underrated concept in all of sports.

Team Chemistry

 The above photo is what good team chemistry looks like.

Now the  team chemistry for the Lakers 2011 playoff run was about as stable as a reaction between Chlorine and Lithium. Bynum even told the media after the game 3 loss in Dallas that the Lakers had trust issues. That statement really turned up the bunsen burner in an already unstable locker room. And all of the in game problems the Lakers had were direct results of bad team chemistry. One problem was defensive rotation. None of the Lakers trusted each other to rotate to someone else's man. Why was Kobe Bryant taking so many shots? Because he didn't trust his teammates to score. Why did the Lakers seem complacent and lazy? Because they were all waiting for somebody else to do the work. No team can win by playing hero ball, it's not that league anymore. And all of the chemicals reacted viciously when Odom and Bynum both got ejected for their flagrant fouls against Dirk Nowitzki and JJ Barea respectively. How is a team supposed to win anything if they have bad team chemistry? They can't, plain and simple.

So what's next for the Lakers? There are going to be calls to blow up the team and start all over again. Normally I am not a fan of that course of action. But when the team chemistry is as bad as it is, that is the only rational course of action. The only one on the team that is untouchable is Bryant for obvious reasons. The guys who are not going to be Lakers next season are Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, and Steve Blake. Gasol has been drawing the most criticism from coaches, fans ,and the media due to his bad play and lack of effort. Odom is older, and has a bad tendency to disappear during games. Artest still has some character issues. And Steve Blake was a waste of Jerry Buss' money. All of these players have some value, but if Orlando gets a call offering one of these guys and Bynum for Dwight Howard, management would be wise to hang up the phone.

How could Orlando trade away this face?

One side note regarding Kobe Bryant. The conversations that Kobe could one day surpass Michael Jordan in terms of greatness are now officially over. Jordan is 3rd on the NBA's all time scoring list, while Bryant is 6th. Jordan's playoff points per game is 33.4. Bryant's is down at 25 points per game. And here is the conversation ender: Michael Jordan has never been swept in a playoff series. Kobe has. This is all without mentioning the iconic impact Jordan had on the game of basketball that Kobe will never touch. The only way that this conversation could ever be rekindled is if Byrant wins 7 rings. And even then, Jordan will remain on top. 

But for a collapse to happen, there needs to be a force on the other side furthering the fall. Which brings us to the Dallas Mavericks. They looked great all throughout this series. In game 4 the Mavericks scored an astonishing 86 bench points. That is as many points as the Lakers scored in the entire game. Jason Terry was on fire throughout the series and the Lakers could not guard Dirk Nowitzki at all. The Mavericks did not want to the the first team in NBA history to allow a team to win a series down 0-3. From the start of game 4, the Mavericks put their foot on the throat of LA and never took it off. As good as Dallas looked, their bench will not score 86 and the team will not shoot 63% from downtown every game. I still contend the Grizzlies-Thunder winner is coming out of the west. But one thing is for sure, there will be a new NBA champion this year. And now, without LA, the chase for the O'Brien trophy continues.