Yeah I know that title is making Dr. Strangelove spin in his grave but I really don't care.
Alright, so my post yesterday about Nadal was way off apparently. For Mr. Nadal was knocked out today by a man name Robin. I mean really, Robin and a Swede no less. (Nothing against Swedes, see Red Wings). Well at least Rafael can still say he's never been taken to 5 sets at the French seeing as it only took 4 for Soderling to top the reigning champ. And to be honest it really could've been straight sets. Well this really opens the door for Roger Federer to win his first French and I believe that he will do so.
In NBA news the Orlando Magic fulfilled my prophecy by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in last night's game 6. Orlando was in control the entire night. LeBron was basically shut down and Dwight Howard took control with his 40 points and paint domination on both ends. I think this series was a real wake up call for the Cavaliers. Cleveland figured they would walk right through the East into the Finals with no problems. And I think that attitude left them caught off guard in game 1 and never managed to compensate for how over matched they were. They are probably going to have to bring in a more mobile defensive big man for next season.
As the Magic advance to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals they will have to do some strategy retooling. The Lakers will match-up much better against the Magic. With players like Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol able to guard several players to guard the likes of Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard, the Lakers are much better suited defensively. Should be a good series.
More on the NBA later. Tonight the Red Wings managed to take a 2-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Game 2 played a lot like game 1 in my mind. Similar score, goals provided by secondary scorers, and luck. The Penguins played hard and had several good chances but just could not master Chris Osgood tonight. Obviously with this loss game 3 becomes a virtual must win for Pittsburgh. I believe that they will in fact do just that and win. They will win if for no other reason than the energy of the home fans and the absolute need to not go down 3-0. Get ready for Tuesday night on Versus. Wait, Versus? Yeah the NHL is idiotic. Nothing like putting the Finals of your sport on a network that half the country doesn't even get. Way to rebuild your fan base.
A final note. Conan O'Brien is starting his run on the Tonight Show tomorrow. So tune in, should be fantastic. If you ever watched Late Night then you know he'll be gold, pure gold.
(You know that you have a failed blog when you finish a post by quoting Kenny Bania)
Tonight will mark the beginning of the Stanley Cup Finals here in Detroit. As I have stated in pretty much all of my blog posts thus far. I believe that Wings win this thing, even without Datsyuk tonight. Luckily, the defensive core will be back in tact with the return of Nicklas Lidstrom and Jonathan Ericsson. Tonight should be a great barometer game for the series to see if the Wings players are in good shape and to see if the Penguins have truly improved over last year's Finals. I'm Calling It... Wings 4 Pens 2
In the world of less popular sports of America, the French Open. The clay of Roland Garros has been quite active the past week. This weekend we saw highly ranked Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva for the women as well as David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic all go down. I saw Djokovic as somewhat of a real threat to, clay court behemoth, Rafael Nadal. (Not really but makes Nadal seem vulnerable) Of course, the likes of Nadal and Roger Federer survived the third round in Paris and will likely see each other in the final again this year. Andy Murray, the third-seeded Scot, also advanced and I see him being a solid player for years to come but not in the French this year. Keep an eye on Murray at the All England Club this June and July for Wimbledon. I'm Calling It (early)... Nadal (boo) over Federer (yay) in 4 Sets and Safina over Jankovic in Straight Sets
Yeah and Magic top the Cavaliers tonight to play the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
That is all
"You Don't Win Friends With Salad"
~Homer, Bart, and Marge Simpson
Yesterday's game 5 Eastern Conference Finals game went basically as I had planned. Cleveland pulled out the victory albeit only after losing a 22 point first half lead. For a few moments I actually though Orlando was going to win. Any way I think the Magic will seal the deal on Saturday.
Alright, so the Stanley Cup Finals start Saturday Night in Detroit and I'm a little peeved at couple of things. First, the idea to do a Saturday/Sunday back to back, this is the Finals, if the NHL wants the people to watch they are going to want players at top form. To be at top form a day off is a virtual necessity at this point of the season. Point 2, the preview article written by ESPN.com writer Scott Burnside. Burnside's final prediction states that....well I'll just post it.
Even without the Wings' injuries, this series looked to be tilting in favor of the Pittsburgh Penguins given the exceptional play of Crosby and Malkin. But with the Wings banged up and missing key ingredients (or having key ingredients not at their best), the Penguins are suddenly the clear-cut favorites to win their first Cup since 1992. Penguins in six.
Basically what is being said is the Pittsburgh will win because Crosby and Malkin have played well against defenses less than that of Detroit, and that the Wings may be injured. He didn't say that if the Wings are injured but that the Wings are injured. Plus he says the Penguins are clear-cut favorites. I think that last statement is a bit of a stretch.
Alright, that is all. Lakers lose tonight for some reason. I'm also thinking I may pump out a Mock NBA Draft sometime in early to mid June. Considering my accuracy in predicting drafts in the past has ranged from dead on to way off base I'm confident that it will be Grade A.
I figure an appropriate theme for tonight's blog post would be closing out a series. Considering how pertinent that has been to both yesterday and today in the sports world.
Game 4 between the Penguins and Hurricanes went exactly as I suspected last night. After a brief seven minute lead for Carolina the Penguins just dominated. With goals by Fedotenko, Talbot, Guerin, and Adams the Penguins once again took advantage of very poor defense and goalkeeping by Carolina. Though Cam Ward had had an outstanding Playoffs thus far for the Hurricanes his efforts were not the same against Pittsburgh, see Talbot's floater of the glove of Ward in period 1. Moving forward Pittsburgh will have a much more difficult task against the Red Wings, whom they lost to in last year's Stanley Cup Finals. I do feel that the Penguins are much improved over last year, at least mentally, but will they be able to overcome the juggernaut that is Detroit?
Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals was tonight and even though the outcome was as expected the road to it was not. The goalkeeping of both Cristobal Huet and Chris Osgood was phenomenal in the least. Props to Huet for his stop on Franzen as time expired especially considering his terrible game 4 performance. Congrats to Chicago on a good season, better luck next year. As for the Finals the Wings are going to have to get healthy with key players like Lidstrom and Datsyuk being out the last couple games. They also are going to have to watch out for Malkin and that punk Crosby. Needless to say I think the Wings in 6 again this year.
Game 4 last night in Orlando was a thing of beauty. As expected they game was a closely fought battle like most of the games thus far. Cleveland, in my opinion, played their best team game so far. They had larger scoring contributions from guys like Delonte West and Mo Williams even if they did shoot just 40% from the field. Two keys to Orlando's victory were Howard's foul shooting, which was very unHowardlike, and the smothering defense by Pietrus and Courtney Lee on LeBron. Granted, I believe that the Magic had better inside and outside play than the Cavaliers. I see Cleveland coming back and winning another nail biter at home in game 5, if for no other reason than that they will be at home. But I defiantly see Orlando closing this one out in six.
Tonight's game 5 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets allows for a chance for one on the teams to put themselves in a close out situation for game 6. The effort of both teams at times has seemed lax, with the sluggish play and questionable passes of many of the players. I like LA in this one because they are at home and I feel that in this series there has been a lot of going through the motions hoping for the win and the usually favors the home team. Before this series I had figured the Lakers would win in all but now I'm not so sure. With the way Orlando has come hard for 48 minutes a game and the solid 36 the Lakers have put out I feel the Magic are now the favorites. I'm rooting for Denver in this series if for no other reason than Chauncey Billups but my main focus thus far is on the East Series.
My efforts to provide comedy in to my post will come so stay on your toes.
So tonight the sports watching slate for me consists of a nice combination of Tigers v. Royals, Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals in both the NBA and NHL.
Though the Tigers game is just a mid-season game between divisional rival, the pitching match-up is intriguing. Edwin Jackson brings his 2.55 ERA, 9th in the majors, against 7-1 Zach Greinke and his ridiculous 0.82 ERA. I expect nothing other than a solid pitcher’s duel based on the high quality of pitching and low level of hitting by the teams participating tonight. The Royals rank in the bottom half of the majors in batting average and most other hitting categories. The Tigers on the other hand have been very up and down as of late when it comes to hitting. They are coming of a 13-1 of the Royals but, in the previous series against the Rockies they only managed 8 runs over 3 games. Also, I'm not convinced that Jackson is the pitching stud that he has been so far this year. In his years with the Tampa Bay he was a very up and down pitcher with a 4.85 ERA. I'm hoping that a solid outing tonight will convince me that he is as solid as he has appeared to this point.
The Tigers in my mind will win the division this year considering the suspect pitching of the White Sox, the suspect hitting of the Royals, the average play of the Twins and the atrocious play of the Indians this year. The Tigers could have a shot at a World Series title this year if they can keep up what they have been doing thus far and with the addition of another decent bat in the lineup as well as one more reliever.
Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals is tonight with the Pittsburgh Penguins looking to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes. I'm not going to waste my time describing what I think is going to happen because Pittsburgh is going to finish off the Hurricanes tonight. Instead I'll focus on the two teams’ efforts thus far.
The Hurricanes basically just over achieved this post season, simple as that. They came in as a six seed and did a heck of a job upsetting the Devils in the first round with shear toughness on defense. I feel that actually got lucky playing a team like the Bruins in the second round. The Bruins finished the season with the second best record in the NHL but with a young team that really only has one season of playoff hockey under its belt. In all likelihood next season Boston will be in the conference finals next season barring major changes to their roster this off season. Carolina simply out matched the young bruins and even though the Canes have not been in the playoffs since their Stanley Cup winning year in 2006 they have a lot of carryover from that team.
The Penguins on the other had I feel underachieved for a good portion of the season. The defending Eastern Conference Champions came back this year with a lot more experience having been to the Finals the year prior. The team is quite similar to the team they had last year minus a couple of key pieces that will inevitably result in their demise again this year. The loss of Ryan Malone, whom I felt was a real presence in front of Chris Osgood in last year's Finals, was shipped off to Tampa Bay due to Pittsburgh's cap situation. Also, the loss of Marian Hossa, whom was by far the best player on the Penguins a year ago in the playoff, to the Red Wings is a major hit to the potency of the Penguins. Obviously in the Wings top the Penguins again this year it will sting a little more have Hossa and the opposite side of the ice.
Okay, so Pittsburgh finishes the series tonight and Detroit finishes tomorrow, are we really going to have to wait 9 days for the Stanley Cup Finals to start?
My main focus for tonight will most likely be with Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the LeBrons AKA Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. This series is very intriguing mostly due to my hatred of the Cavaliers and the fact that Orlando has outplayed them thus far. As has been noted by a number of news outlets the reason for the struggles of Cleveland has been the match ups. They have been using ZydrunasIlgauskas and Anderson Varejao as the primary defenders against Dwight Howard. Problem is Ilgauskas is too slow and Varejao is too weak. They should try to use Ben Wallace a bit more even if he isn't that tall. Ben did a half way decent job on Shaq in the 2004 NBA Finals, even if he is just a shell of what he was then. The two players that have caused the most problems for Cleveland have to be Rashard Lewis and HedoTurkoglu. Defensively they have no real options for both of them. LeBron James seems to be focusing on Turkoglu for the most part but is sometimes shifted over to Lewis but then that leaves either Delonte West or Varejao to cover the other. West is too small and Varejao is not agile enough to stay with the slashing big men with range. I really don't see much of cure for the problem out there for Cleveland. On the defensive end I've been really impressed by Orlando's ability to keep Mo Williams and Delonte West in check. The stellar D of Courtney Lee is much the reason for this. Not to mention MickaelPietrus, one of my favorites since he was drafted by Golden State, has be fantastic against LeBron even if he is averaging 41 PPG.
The game 1 win for Orlando was a huge confidence builder if for no other reason than it was a win in Cleveland where the Cavaliers were nearly perfect during the regular season. Game 2 was a virtual carbon copy of game 1 with the exception of one of the most over hyped shots in basketball history. Sure it was a great shot but by no means was it anything we hadn't seen before and in a Game 2 no less. Game 3 was Orlando's going away and that is the game that I think really scares Cleveland. They had hardly any production from anyone not named LeBron. Keep in mind also that Dwight Howard was out a large portion of the game due to foul trouble and HedoTurkoglu was a lowly 1-11 from the field. If Cleveland can't get it together they are in serious trouble. I haven't heard anyone mention this but this series seems to be mirroring the 2004 NBA Finals and awful lot. Magic in six simply due to the fact that Cleveland has game 5 at home but don't be surprised if this one is done in 5.
That was one heck of a first post hopefully I can keep it coming.
Alright, so this is my blog. I guess. My aim is to state opinions from time to time. Most likely these opinions will be on sports. I suppose I should start with my sports background which is quite unimpressive. Over the course of my life I have play soccer, basketball, baseball, track at the organized level. Of the organized sports I played I was a 4 year JV track runner probably the only one in my high schools history. As for the other sports I was never good enough to compete at any level above parks & rec. I live in the Detroit area and in turn am a devote follow and fan of my Detroit sports teams. I also try to keep an unbiased view of sports so hopefully my opinions are considered logical and not driven by my homerism. I am considered by "many" I know to be quite knowledgeable when it comes to sports. This is likely due to the "many" being a fairly unacknowledged group. I'm a virtually unemployed 2008 Michigan State graduate. Thanks to the wonderful job market. I also post on WTFDetroit.com which consists of some of the best sports minds I have ever encountered. Basketball is my main focus but of course I follow all the major sports and no NASCAR is not a sport. Ok that's the intro maybe someday someone will actually read this. Hopefully I'll update this some what frequently. Oh yeah, I guess I'll go by my forum MO.......RegicideGreg.
Alright, so my post yesterday about Nadal was way off apparently. For Mr. Nadal was knocked out today by a man name Robin. I mean really, Robin and a Swede no less. (Nothing against Swedes, see Red Wings). Well at least Rafael can still say he's never been taken to 5 sets at the French seeing as it only took 4 for Soderling to top the reigning champ. And to be honest it really could've been straight sets. Well this really opens the door for Roger Federer to win his first French and I believe that he will do so.
In NBA news the Orlando Magic fulfilled my prophecy by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in last night's game 6. Orlando was in control the entire night. LeBron was basically shut down and Dwight Howard took control with his 40 points and paint domination on both ends. I think this series was a real wake up call for the Cavaliers. Cleveland figured they would walk right through the East into the Finals with no problems. And I think that attitude left them caught off guard in game 1 and never managed to compensate for how over matched they were. They are probably going to have to bring in a more mobile defensive big man for next season.
As the Magic advance to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals they will have to do some strategy retooling. The Lakers will match-up much better against the Magic. With players like Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol able to guard several players to guard the likes of Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard, the Lakers are much better suited defensively. Should be a good series.
n the NBA later. Tonight the Red Wings managed to take a 2-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Game 2 played a lot like game 1 in my mind. Similar score, goals provided by secondary scorers, and luck. The Penguins played hard and had several good chances but just could not master Chris Osgood tonight. Obviously with this loss game 3 becomes a virtual must win for Pittsburgh. I believe that they will in fact do just that and win. They will win if for no other reason than the energy of the home fans and the absolute need to not go down 3-0. Get ready for Tuesday night on Versus. Wait, Versus? Yeah the NHL is idiotic. Nothing like putting the Finals of your sport on a network that half the country doesn't even get. Way to rebuild your fan base.
A final note. Conan O'Brien is starting his run on the Tonight Show tomorrow. So tune in, should be fantastic. If you ever watched Late Night then you know he'll be gold, pure gold.
