MySportsSanctuary

The finals in the NHL and NBA are set, one is already underway, and the Williams sisters are at it again at the French Open. Sort of.

Its déjà vu all over again. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings part deux. Sidney Crosby and his teammates didn’t learn their lesson last year so they returned again to master it. The Red Wings recent domination is well documented. This is their six appearance in the Finals since the ’94-95 season, winning four championships. They beat down the Pens last time, and figure to do so again. However, Sid is a little more seasoned, he has help, and the Pens are coming off a shellacking of the ‘Canes. This year might be the year for the Kid, but I wouldn’t bet on it. They are already down a game.

Back to the soap opera known as the NBA Playoffs starring Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and a special appearance by…Superman himself Dwight Howard! The show’s headliners for the next couple of episodes were changed at the last minute. See Superman was only supposed to push Mr. James to the limit. He was to help create drama, action and excitement but was to fall in the end. When Mr. Howard gave an Oscar-winning performance in Game 6, propelling the Magic past the Cavs to advance to the NBA Finals, the script was shredded and for great reason. As I was watching the series, you know a team isn’t going to win if you are hoping they make a shot or stop the other team, and when you pray the other team misses. The Magic dismantled the Cavs in every phase of the game. As the NBA does a retake, I wonder if Superman will get a puppet too. Probably not.

Why are the Williams sisters making headlines? Well one is out which isn’t breaking news. Venus Williams hasn’t played well at Roland Garros in her career. Her straight set loss in the 3rd Round is a microcosm of her struggles. She hasn’t advanced past the 3rd in a couple of years, no titles, and only one final’s appearance back in 2002. You can’t really called it an upset with her play here and the growing talent pool, but it does make you scratch your head. Serena Williams is still charging for the title, with a little flair for the dramatic. Her three set victory against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez was marred by a play in which Serena argued the ball struck Ms. Sanchez on the arm. According to tennis rules, if a ball strikes you, you lose a point. Maria disagreed, said it hit her racket. The network showed the replay, Serena called Maria a ‘cheat’, Maria declined comment and after all of that the Earth still spins on its axis. Thanks for playing.

Well, well, well, it’s time to put the puppets away. I guess more players than LeBron James and Kobe Bryant drunk their Vitamin Water. In a playoff season so stellar with twists and turns in every round, lurking in the back was almost a surefire thing. Almost.

After the Magic dispatched the Cavs in six games, one could only wonder how good are the Magic or how bad the Cavs played. I will not take credit away from the Magic, they played terrific. However, the Cavs had won 66 games and only lost two home games all year, and lost half that much in the playoffs, losing the opening game of this past series. The team from Cleveland steamrolled through the first two rounds, winning by double digits game in and game out, not even tested while on the road. The Magic stumbled through the Sixers and although they dethroned the Celtics as NBA champs, the jury was out on them to even make a dent in the Cleveland juggernaut.

That’s why they play the game. Someone famous said that and I have listened for all of my sporting life. Never was it more prominent when the Giants defeated the Pats last year, but that is another story. No one gave the Magic a chance. LeBron and Kobe were permanently penned in, not penciled, to the Finals. It was only two games left in the second round series and Dwight Howards was about to put Van Gundy in a headlock. Things like that overshadowed the Magic’s potential of crashing the superstar party.

What’s ironic is that the Magic may have been the best team of the final four, let alone the Eastern Conference. First off the Magic swept the Lakers, took two of three from the Cavs and split with the Nuggets. That 5-2 record is the best mark with the Lakers second at 5-3. Cavs, one of the best road teams this year, didn’t notch a single victory under their belt at Amway, losing all five games including all three this series. And even more frightening, the Magic was one miracle shot away from sweeping the series! Ouch! Talk about domination.

As all superheroes go, it seems like Superman still reigns supreme, and he proved it again in Game 6.

Last night, I was in a conversation with a bunch of people, some Cavs fans, many not, during the Magic-Cavs game. It became increasingly clear as the Magic was chomping away at the lead that many were decreasingly in favor of Mike Brown’s coaching ability.

Some say he is a decoy coach, that LeBron really runs the show. The choking of several big leads during this series was his fault. Yada yada yada. It’s funny how a player gets the most credit for turning around a team, and the coach gets blamed for the opposite. All the analysts that don’t analyze for a paycheck needs to see that it is more to it than the player(s) that wins and loses games and championships.

If coaching was everything, then they would be paid like the athletes, but they aren’t because sports are predicated on star power. No matter how good Pat Riley was, he didn’t fill stadiums to watch him coach. Doc Rivers was part of one of the worst teams in the NBA three seasons ago as the Celtics won only twenty four games. Danny Ainge, who was taking heat, traded what seemed like the whole team and whoever participated in the Tea Party for Kevin Garnett. Ray Allen signed on and voila, instant championship. Two 60-wiin seasons in a row, two division titles, but was it all about Rivers or the Big Three? The same scheme was used with the team from the 24 win club as well as the championship squad. Was it the players making the scheme work, or did the X’s and O’s bring a championship to three players who had never won one? Doc looks like a genius, Ainge a master, and the city of Boston is drunk with power.

Phil Jackson is considered a great coach. However, he had His Airness for six rings, and Shaq and Kobe for three. All three are surefire Hall of Famers, so was Phil’s Triangle offense the reason why they were so successful, or was the players he inherited the sole reason.

What I am trying to say is Mike Brown is a good coach and all great teams have either one or two superstars. The only team in recent memory that won a championship in the three power leagues without a significant superstar was the 2001 New England Patriots. Most teams that win it all have great teams and they are made up of superstar players. The coach should get credit for making it work, but in Brown’s case, it seems like it is up for debate. For what reason is beyond me.

These next three months will be a joyous occasion for many students, from kindergarten to seniors graduating from college (unless you are looking for a full time job). Along with the economy downturn which forced the Yanks to sell first class seats at coach prices, the sports appetite wanes as the months of June, July, and August roll through.

At June 1, we will have the NHL and NBA playoffs almost reaching its climax, and MLB is in its early stages of weeding out it pretenders. Once July hits, baseball will be king, champions are crowned in basketball and hockey, but two behemoth sports leagues are revving up for their shot at glory and ooh will they ever succeed.

August is when the NFL and College Football begin to really prep for their upcoming season. You hear of OTA’s, spring games, involuntary (did I say that) workouts, and scrimmages as early as spring. The pads start cracking in the summer heat and just in time for school to start (sorry 6th graders).

The college football season will start with the usual suspects of Florida, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, and some lucky team from the SEC rounding out the top five. Not in that order, but don’t be surprised. Until we have a playoff…I said I wouldn’t go there just yet. Moving on, the NFL is wide open as it has been since ’91. Only the Cowboys, Broncos, and Patriots have repeated as champions, and many of the SB losers this decade haven’t even made the playoffs the next year. And that even happened to the Patriots after their attempt at moving Mercury Morris down the street fell short and going 11-5 the next year. Arizona already looking like one with coordinators leaving, Anquan wanting out, and the Edge already shipped out.

So why not enjoy the summer’s heartbeat known as the MLB season. I will, sort of, with one eye on Tom Brady’s comeback, Dolphins season after the miracle, and some guy making a comeback after two years. Not all is lost in baseball once the leaves starts turning. They’ll have the spotlight again in October. It may be the temps in these next few months that are scorching, but it’s in the fall when things really heat up.

It’s the middle of the night and David Stern is sitting on the side of his monstrous bed sweating. Tissues are being tossed on his floor and he staring at the moon in horror. He can’t believe his dream is turning into a nightmare. Could it really be happening: An NBA Finals without LeBron and Kobe?

He is too rich to ‘get away’ on Southwest Airlines, but he definitely wants to vamoose from this unlikely scenario unfolding. Sure he’s gonna say all the right things. He is a commissioner, and can’t be seen as biased. Everyone saw two trains steamrolling to the game’s ultimate stage. Two stars headline the two best teams in the league. Two stars who won the last two MVP awards. Too good to be true. Too bad that they must ‘play the game.’ Stan Van is not the Master of Panic in this series just yet, but it would have been sweet if Herm Edwards was the coach in this instance(Hellooo….you play to win the game!).

It is totally agreeable that the Nuggets and Magic feel disrespected before and during these conference finals. Commercials, analysts, and the media anointed the Cavs and the Lakers to battle for the title before they even stepped into these series, let alone the playoffs.

With the high flying Cavs grounded to one loss away from elimination, and the Nuggets squaring up the Lakers, that dream matchup isn’t looking like a sure shot anymore. LeBron is capable of creating a miracle, and Kobe is known to elevate his game just in time so these series are not over by a long shot. David Stern, the NBA, and fans for both squads hope the dream stays alive. The way things are going, he may need to stock up on some Kleenex.

The Silver and Black was ONCE a model franchise. They were one hip injury away from being the only franchise to go to the Super Bowl each decade. The days of ‘just win baby’ are long gone. Al Davis has been through it all. He has led the Raiders to the top but now he is the sole reason why they fell off a cliff.

The days of Kenny Stabler, Gene Upshaw, Art Shell and John Madden led to Howie Long, Jim Plunkett and the great Marcus Allen. The 70’s brought a lot of winning. The mystique was born and even though Kenny’s miracle pass against the Dolphins cancelled out the Immaculate Reception, Oak town’s team was a giant in the AFC with the Steelers and Dolphins.

The 80’s started out with a bang, winning in SB XV against the Eagles and in ’83 against the Redskins. That is when they fell into a coma as an organization and have yet to come out. During their last run to glory, they were known as the LOS ANGELES Raiders. The move proved nothing as they moved back, but it forecast the misfortunes they would suffer from there on. They have yet to see the same success or sanity they had enjoyed in years past. Only one SB appearance since which was a loss to their former coach Davis got rid of a year earlier.

Now it is spiraling out of control. Six straight 10+ LOSS seasons since their thumping in SB XXVII, a firing of once beloved Art Shell after one season, a top pick who has yet to prove anything, and the he said he said relationship involving Lane Kiffin. They all have one thing in common: Allen Davis.

Davis rules the Raider organization with an iron fist. You get out of line, he steamrolls right over you. He brokered a deal while a managing partner was at the Olympics in ’72 to take over majority rule. How could anyone forget the benching of Marcus Allen in the early 90’s? Or how he single handedly tried to destroy Kiffin’s coaching career. Can anyone, anyone, explain to me what happened in this year’s draft? Now Darrius Heyward-Bey is a fine wide receiver and no one should ever doubt his skill level, but when you leave the nation’s top wide out for the past two years on the draft board, you can only scratch your head, and that has been going on a lot lately concerning the Raiders.

Al Davis is stuck in his ways and thinks the 70’s will resurface. It will not and once he realizes it or someone steps in, the Raider mystique, along with success, will be a long way from coming back.

On Memorial Day, a day after it was supposed to run, the Coca Cola 600 got underway and completed (sort of) in Concord, North Carolina at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Being down the street in Charlotte, this is a big deal for many around here. I, though, had my mind elsewhere like ‘cueing before the rain came. Although I am not a NASCAR fan-atic, I do follow it and some of their rules. I will NOT tell you my favorite driver for one. Too MANY fans of the sport don’t particularly care for him, and that is being nice.

It can be interesting to watch especially those final laps when they are jockeying for position. In the end destiny, disaster, or disappointment prevails. Getting to those final seconds to success is the problem. The races that are 500, almost all of them, are long enough. This race is an extra 100 miles, and some of us really don’t have the patience for it. Most of America doesn’t want to sit through hours and hours, and now more hours just for a race. We shortened baseball, the play clock in football, and we even have a mercy rule in high school sports. The clock doesn’t always stop in college football like it used to, so they know time in this ADD world is precious. We lose interest, turn the TV, go outside and do other things while the race is on. Some see it as a waste of gas, and with the oil prices creeping back up, it does take notice. Environmentalists complain, but those aren’t key issues at all. I for one won’t blame the earth’s ozone problems on a couple of cars going in a circle for most of your afternoon. That problem is much bigger.

It may have looked good at the end, like Dave Reutimann winning his first Sprint Cup race, but even Mother Nature felt the race was too long. I don’t have a voice in this, but 600 is 100 miles WAY too long.

As a sports fan, the week that past was a great one. The NBA is just soaking in the best start to both conference finals in recent memory. Interleague is back, and the NHL playoffs have been anything but dull so far.

The biggest story is the two tied NBA conference finals. The Nuggets manned up and canned the Lakers in Game 2, however Kobe Bryant has now mastered his Jordan acts, and took over in the 4th in Game 3 in Denver where the Nuggets haven’t lost since Jay Cutler left town. Okay not that far back, but it has been awhile. Travel to the Midwest and LeBron, wearing number 23, is improving his late game heroics like his idol and drilled a three at the buzzer to break the spell cast by the Magic. If they had gone down 0-2, I would have had a better chance at climbing Mt. Everest wearing pink biker shorts, a brown tank top and blue flip flops than they did at coming back and winning the series. I have to say that the games all have been competitive, dramatic, and best of all, entertaining.

With interleague opening its 2009 chapter, a couple of series catch my eye. The Philadelphia Phillies, going to homer happy Yankee Stadium, will face the ‘bombers’ in the truest sense of baseball. The Yanks are hot, the Phils are defending champs and no new steroid allegations of A-Rod yet. Randy Johnson going back to where he didn’t start his career, but where he made the name ‘The Unit’ part of everyday jargon to inch closer to that 300 victory plateau is very interesting. Angels and Dodgers, Red Sox and Mets are other series worth noting.

With the Pens and Sidney Crosby taking the Caps and Alex Ovechkin out, they look like a lock to steamroll the Hurricanes on their way to a second straight Stanley Cup appearance. That’s the good news. It looks like it will be against the team who beat them down the last time, the Detroit Red Wings, who are looking good as always in the playoffs. That’s the bad news. Can ‘The Kid’ get his team to the promise land? If the Red Wings are standing in the way, it will be tough sledding.

This weekend starts the almost new tradition of baseball’s adaptation of the three other major sports. As purists balk at the notion of interleague play, a lot have grown into it and enjoyed the shift from monotony.

Baseball’s interleague schedule is by far the most interesting of the four major sports. Unlike the NFL and NBA, you can prepare for a change since certain dates are allotted for this special occasion. Some games are played in May (duh) and the rest in June, and in a 162-game, six month marathon (not including playoffs), a reprieve is justified.

The fans love it. Attendance is up more than in regularly scheduled games. The Jordan of the baseball world, the New York Yankees, brings the best following and for good reason. Baseball is all about history, and your team, probably not as good now, was great in your father’s and/or grandfather’s time. If they are in the National League and made the World Series, they most likely played the Yankees. So take the Pittsburgh Pirates for instance. Bill Mazeroski’s game seven winning walk off homer was hit in the World Series between those Yankees and Pirates in 1960. Pittsburgh has not had much success in recent years, but when the Yanks came storming into the Steel City last year, it created an atmosphere of nostalgia and jubilation as it brought memories of a great time in their team’s history.

Some people argue it takes away the ‘mystique’ or waters down the purity of the sport. You no longer have to wish of seeing a certain team or player unless your team makes it to the World Series. They say the Fall Classic and the All-Star game loses it luster. I think more people are happy that they will actually see the matchup rather than waiting impatiently for it. Baseball fans know the difference in importance too. We are not fools. The Red Sox visiting Wrigley Field is a nice story, but it would be a lot more memorable if it happened in October. With the Cubs history, that may take SOME time. Also, Mariner fans have the chance to see Albert Pujols playing at Safeco and the Reds faithful can witness A-Rod hitting a homer in Cincinnati. Interleague works well with fans, and so it does for baseball.

Take a minute and read the morning headlines. Guy got stabbed in the pinky toe at 3 AM, convenience store was held up for the fourth time in 24 hours, a bicycle accident shuts down Interstate so and so, and…Oh no, Michael Vick is out of jail.

As a human race, we are prone to making mistakes, the same ones cause we were all created equally. Some would argue that if they are only four foot twelve and stand next to Shaq. Someone with acne would fume at that quote looking at Naomi Campbell. However you look at it we are all humans, we come in all shapes and sizes, colors and IQ, and famous and nameless.

So why, because they are on TV, paid millions of dollars to shoot a ball, hit or throw a little white ball, or catch a pig covered balloon, should we hold them to the different standard? I’ll tell you why.
Because if you are granted that opportunity to excel much further in life than the rest, you shouldn’t behave like the rest, because if you did, you wouldn’t have made it. Think about it. If you wanted to be a professional at something you are good at, then the only way to be is to work at it consistently and be focused. That word is a doozie. To not detour from your goals is how many of them made it and those that are trying to get there are doing. You can’t make it going to jail, or fighting, shooting, or selling drugs and stuff like that. Not for any other reason are you a role model. You made something of yourself by staying clear of the downfalls that consume most of society, and your God given ability.

To teach our youth to follow the same path to success doesn’t include DUI’s, prostitution, drugs, arrests, gambling (excessive), and derogatory actions like that. That is why DUI’s involving Charles Barkley and dog fighting with Michael Vick hurts because those things are the same things Joe Penitentiary did a couple of days ago. But then again, we are all human. Pick your poison.