6/13 Quick Hits and Weekend Happenings

Hey there everybody, let's do a little weekend recap!

NBA: Rest easy City o' Cleveland. Your fallen superstar will NOT win a title this year. The Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat in astounding fashion - the Heat didn't pack a punch at all in the fourth quarter - and brought the team its first every championship trophy.

Halfway through the fourth quarter of Game 2, this series looked like a mismatch as Dallas was already in a 0-1 hole and stared at the scoreboard, down 15 points. But they stormed back, and won Games 3, 4, and 5 to let Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry enact their revenge on the Heat for the 2006 NBA Finals loss. A few notes on my general thoughts for the Series:

1. Good for the Dallas Mavericks franchise, even though I picked them to lose in EVERY postseason series this year. I for one, love owner Marc Cuban. I think he's funny, really connects with the players, and is entertaining for the fans. It's good to see him win a title.

2. Dirk Nowitzki really solidifies himself as one of the all-time greats with a championship victory and Finals MVP. When Bill Simmons' "The Book of Basketball" came out in 2009, he ranked Dirk as the 37th best in NBA history (for the record, he had Jason Kidd at 42, LeBron James at 20, and Dwayne Wade at an astonishingly-low 53). But now he HAS to go down as one of the best shooters in history, as well as the best European player of all time. Seeing the emotions as he hoisted the trophy was fantastic, and you can't help but like the guy.

3. I can't really see this season as a failure like the media seems to be portraying it. If the Heat has missed the playoffs altogether, or lost in the first round, it would have been a failure. This team had difficulties all season long, and they weathered the storm. With the weight of the world on their back, they beat a very good Celtics team and the best regular season team this year in the Bulls. They'll be back here. No doubt in my mind.

4. Finally, the whole Dwayne Wade/LBJ situation. Look at those numbers again from the "Book of Basketball." Does Wade really deserve to be 53rd, and James at 20? First off, let's put to rest the idea that James is the alpha dog of the Heat. Because he isn't. That's Dwayne Wade's team, no question. James is this team's Magic Johnson, and Wade is this team's Michael Jordan. Even when James had a triple double in Game 5, he couldn't take the game over in crunch time. He didn't slash to the hoop, and last night there were at least three occasions when he could have risen up for an easy layup but optioned for a fancy dish to a teammate that wasn't expecting it. Lebron disappointed me in this series, but Wade didn't. In my mind, that's all the argument I need to show that this is Wade's team.

MLB: The big news in the MLB this week is word from the MLB executives that a realignment movement has been brought into discussion. Apparently, this is a real possibility and a move that I think needs to happen. The NL has 16 teams, and the AL has 14, creating an inequality in playoff chances between the leagues. The word on the street is that the Houston Astros will be the team to move over to the AL to create a natural rivalry with the Texas Rangers - again, a logical move. The interesting thing is that the MLB is considering having two 15 team divisions and eliminating the East, Central, West division scheme we see today. Why, you ask? Because the Blue Jays and Orioles have no shot at the playoffs behind the Red Sox and the Yankees in the AL East. A final decision on this is months or even years away, so stay tuned.

The Milwaukee Brewers swept the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend to take the lead in the NL Central (sigh) behind Zack Greinke's arm and Prince Fielder's bat. The NL Central race is shaping up to be a doozy, with three teams (including the Reds) with a legitimate shot to win the title.

Welcome back to reality, Cleveland Indians. After a fantastic start and early eight game AL Central lead, the Indians have lost 9 of their last 10 to fall into a tie at the top with the surging Detroit Tigers. The Yankees took three from the Tribe this weekend as surfire first-ballot Hall of Famer Derek Jeter got his 2,993rd hit yesterday, moving him closer to being the 28th player in MLB history with 3,000 hits.

NFL: Not much to report on the NFL front, but apparently the LA Sports Commission has had talks with five teams about moving to Los Angeles. The City of Angels - America's second largest metropolitan area - hasn't had a franchise since the mid 1990's. The teams in question: San Diego; Minnesota; Oakland; Jacksonville; and St. Louis. I find it interesting that the two teams that left LA in the mid 1990's - the Rams and Raiders - have discussed moving back. To me, Jacksonville seems to be the most logical choice, as they have had trouble selling tickets for years. Once again, this issue is months if not years from being finished, so stay tuned.

Soccer: Apparently there's a really important soccer tournament going on - The Gold Cup. The championship for North America (including the Carribean islands), if the U.S. wins we automatically qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Unfortunately, we lost to Panama in a shocker Saturday afternoon. But fear not American soccer fans. We still can win the title and qualify for Brazil.

On Tap This Week:

NHL - Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight. Roberto Luongo played a stellar game in goal to give the Vancouver Canucks a 1-0 victory on Friday night. Tim Thomas and the Bruins hope to take Game 6 tonight in Boston and take the series back to Vancouver for a deciding Game 7.

PGA Tour - One of my favorite weeks of the year, our national championship begins this week at Congressional Country Club in Washington D.C. The U.S. Open is golf's toughest test, as more players shoot in the 80's than in the 60's. Look for a winning score around par in a tournament that has a wide open field. Tiger's not playing, so I suggest you watch to familiarize yourself with some of the players that will be taking over the game in the years to come.

Schwendy's NHL Conference Semifinals Preview

Chizzy here. I must say that this has been an extremely exciting Round 1 for the NHL Playoffs. Here’s Schwendy, our resident NHL Guru, back with his Conference Semi picks. And yes, to make him feel inadequate, I would like to point out that Schwendy went a subpar at best 4-4 with his first round picks.

Without further ado, here he is:

Wow! Now that was an exciting first round of hockey action. I really didn’t think Detroit would lay the smack-down on Phoenix. I was shocked by the LA Kings epic Game 3 collapse, along with Vancouver finally exercising the playoff demons and eliminating Chicago. Stupid Roberto Luongo actually decided to show up in Game 7, but give Chicago some credit; they were able to find some heart and fought back from a 3-0 deficit to force Game 7.

In the East, for once Washington was able to do what everyone thought they should do - beat an 8 seed. Philly’s nice OT win in Game 6 was impressive, almost as much as their drubbing of Ryan Miller in Game 7 to capture the series. Nathan Horton’s OT winner in Game 7 pushed the Bruins past the Habs in a thrilling series. And will someone please tell me who was in goal for Tampa Bay in Game 7? There is no possible way that 41 year old Dwayne Roloson posted a shut-out to upset the Pens.

Wow, did I really just realize that there were FOUR Game 7’s in round one?!?! Anyway, let’s move on to the conference semi-finals matchups. Side note: after each round the NHL reseeds each team. Let’s start in the Eastern Conference this time.

(4) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (1) Washington Capitals: After battling back from a 3-1 deficit, Tampa Bay received an out of body performance from 41 years young netminder Dwayne Roloson in Game 7 to win the series. Washington cruised past the Rangers. I like this match-up, which could be an offensive spectacle. Will Dwanye Roloson play half his age again and lead the young Lightning to a upset win, or will rookie Michal Neuvirth continue his incredible play and lead Washington to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1998.

For Washington: Uh-oh! The Caps learned to play defense. For a minute I really didn’t believe I was actually seeing this Capitals team do that, but they did, and they played D very well. As long as Michal Neuvirth plays at the same level he did in round 1, Tampa doesn’t have a shot! One player who I would love to see step up is Alexander Semin. Hehe. His last name is Semin. Yeah he scored the game winner in Game 1, but he went on vacation the rest of the series. He needs to be more involved; he’s too talented to go missing.

For Tampa: Let Dwayne Roloson bathe in the fountain of youth before every game. He has to play every game as if its Game 7. Steven Stamkos and Vinny Lecavalier need to turn on the lights and start putting points on the board. Combined in round one they had 10 points. If these two can put up 10 each, with Martin St. Louis and Simon Gagne playing at a high level, this young Tampa team might just have all the ingredients needed for an epic upset.

Prediction: Tampa has exceeded expectations all season long, but can’t catch lightning in a bottle this time. Their season ends here. I think Washington gets pushed to the limit, but buckles down and wins in 7.

(3) Boston Bruins vs. (2) Philadelphia Flyers: A rematch of the series last season when Boston pulled one of the most epic collapses in NHL history. Both teams are coming off emotional and hard fought series. Which team has enough left in the gas tank to move on to the Conference Finals? Will the Bruins continued stupidity on the ice cost them the series? Or will Philly continue to ride their hot offense and make a return trip to the Conference finals? Let’s find out!

For Philadelphia: Ride the Lighting! Danny Briere had a nice 6 goals, Claude Giroux led the team in scoring with 9 points. With the return of big D-man Chris Pronger, it just adds another weapon to an already powerful offense. The big factor here is how Philly will capitalize on the power-play: in round one, the Flyers were just 2/26 - an embarrassing 7%! Boston is going to take stupid penalties; if Philly can take advantage and put pucks in the net they should have no problem advancing. If they continue to struggle, it’s only going to open the door for Boston.

For Boston: Milian Lucic needs to play smarter hockey and get more offensively involved. He alone almost cost the Bruins the series against Montreal with his idiotic face smash of Jaroslav Spacek. Pair that with a measly 2 points and he would have been your whipping boy had Boston lost game 7. If Lucic can add an offensive spark to a Bruins team that desperately needs it, it might just be enough to help them win the series and erase their memories of last season.

Prediction: Philly plays smart hockey, Boston doesn’t. Plain and simple. It doesn’t matter who’s in goal for Philly because they’ll win. Flyers in 6.

In the Western Conference we have:

(4) Nashville Predators vs. (1) Vancouver Canucks: Both teams are coming off emotional series. Nashville advances to the 2^nd round for the first time in franchise history; Alex Burrows is king of Canada after saving the Canucks in OT of Game 7. Will Vancouver have enough left after a tough seven games with Chicago? Or will Nashville pull the upset and send Canada to sulk in the corner?

For Vancouver: All of Canada is watching and rooting for the Canucks now. A little history lesson. Canada has not won a Stanley Cup since Montreal won ALL THE WAY back in 1993. They’ve come close, sending teams to the Stanley Cup finals in 04, 06, and 07. But let’s get back on track shall we? The Canucks got the type of production out of the top three (Sedin X2 and Kessler) that was needed, between 4-7 points (in my round 1 preview I said between 5-10). If this type of production and the surprisingly stellar play of Alex Burrows continues, Vancouver should have enough to slip past the Preds and into the Conference Finals.

For Nashville: Remember these two names: Ryan Suter and Shea Weber. When the Sedin twins are on the ice I’m willing to bet my paycheck that 95% of the time these two will be out there. If Suter and Weber are able to contain the production of the Vancouver Super Line, Nashville shocks the world and Canada watches as ‘Merica (F*#& YEAH!) again will own Lord Stanley. Nashville will also need Pekka Rinne to improve. His 3.29 goals against in round 1 was good enough to advance once. It won’t be again.

Prediction: Last time I picked against Vancouver they proved me wrong, so I’ll take Vancouver to win this series in 7 and wear themselves out for the Conference finals. (Editor’s note: So he can pick the Red Wings to beat them. HOMER.)

(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (2) San Jose Sharks: What do you know? Another rematch of last season’s playoffs. Last year the Sharks took care of my Wings in 5 games. This year should be much different. Will the impending return of Henrik Zetterberg put the Wings offense over the top? For San Jose will they have enough offense to sustain they’re goaltending woes? Let’s find out. HERE WE GO!!!!!

For San Jose: I feel like I’m beating a dead horse when it comes to goaltending, but it’s a huge factor. Niemi was pulled twice in the series against the Kings; fortunately the Sharks’ offense was able to bail out his poor play. Niemi needs to find a way to bring his “A” game back or he’ll get a sunburn from the red light continuously going off behind him. The Sharks offense has the potential to bail him out if it needs to. Look for Devin Setoguchi to step up and be the offensive catalyst for the Sharks. In their playoff match-up last season, Setoguchi single handily ended the Wings season (tear). For San Jose to move on to the Conference Finals, they have to be the team that closed the regular season on fire. If not, they’ll be planning tee times instead of game planning for their next opponent.

For Detroit: The talking heads at ESPN will probably say the return of Henrik Zetterberg will be a huge boost. It will be, but the biggest factor for this veteran team was having nine days off between rounds. Those nine days gave players like Zetterberg and Franzen time to heal their injuries and rest. Don’t forget people. This is the oldest team in hockey so any type of extended time off between rounds is huge. With the return of Zetterberg and Franzen this team just became extremely dangerous. But I like Darren Helm to be the “energy” in this series. He’s not going to wow you with offense, but he has heart and never takes a shift off. He give 100% all the time.

Prediction: This series can go either way, but I think the return of Zetterberg and a fully healthy Franzen puts this Red Wings team over the top. I’ll take the Wings in 6.