It was the weekend of the 134th Kentucky Derby -- and whoa, was it one to remember. Big Brown,
the favorite, took the race and reports show that he earned roughly 1.2
million dollars. Pretty good for 2 minutes, huh? But this Kentucky
Derby will be remembered for the tragedy just minutes after the race.
In an unprecedented moment and freak accident, the 2nd place runner-up,
filly Eight Bells, broke both of its ankles, collapsed, and had to be
euthanized on the track. Fans turned away, some shed tears, and the
horse was honorably taken off the course with tact.
The week also provided us with some exciting NBA action. LeBron's Cleveland Cavaliers
finally got past the Washington Wizards, and the Utah Jazz put away the
Houston Rockets to take on the Lakers in Round 2. Most notable,
however, was the surprisingly close battle at the op of the Eastern
Conference. The No. 1 seed Boston Celtics were pushed to 7 games by the
No. 8 seed Atlanta Hawks. Keep in mind, the Hawks only won 37 games
this season, and here they are pushing the dominant Celtics to the
brink. But, in anti-climax, the Celtics destroyed the Hawks in Game 7,
and the Hawks went back to looking like... well... the Hawks. They
played sloppy, committed a nasty technical foul, and even shot a few
air balls. The game almost looked like a scrimmage, and the Celtics ran
away 99-65. The good news: Atlanta has a great young team, and
basketball might be alive again in the South.
Now... onto the second round. The Lakers stayed perfect, defeating the Jazz 109-98. The New Orleans Hornets edged the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in Game 1, 101-82. And the Detroit Pistons got the first step on Orlando, 91-72. However, the NBA playoffs are anything but predictable, and each and every one of these series could go 7 games. Keep watching!
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This weekend played host to the eagerly anticipated NFL DRAFT. In the months leading up to the draft, the experts make their predictions of who will go where. They speak with such confidence, almost certain that their assumptions will prove correct. And always... they are wrong. Here's how it played out.
The Miami Dolphins had myriad options at the #1 pick, but decided that the most important need was'protecting the quarterback'. They selected Offensive Tackle Jake Long from the University of Michigan. Perhaps a little QB protection, they will win a few more games next year.
Other notable picks: Running Back Darren McFadden,
the most talented player in the draft according to college football
experts, was passed up by 3 teams and was finally selected by the
Oakland Raiders. A good pick, but they already have 4 RUNNING BACKS
competing for the position. Seemed like they had holes to fill
elsewhere, but when you have the opportunity to take the best player in
the draft -- you take it!
The Atlanta Falcons took Matt Ryan, the highly touted Boston College quarterback, off the board with the 3rd pick. Now, they finally have someone who can actually throw the ball (sorry Joey Harrington). That is... until Michael Vick gets out of jail.
The other prodigal QB, Louisville's Brian Brohm, slipped to the 2nd Round. However, not so bad -- he fell into the lap of the Green Bay Packers, and could potentially be the heir apparent to Brett Favre. To be a king in Green Bay -- he could do worse.
The NBA playoffs have been a bit lopsided -- only one of the series (Detroit v. Philadelphia is tied at 2). Most of the other matches will seemingly end in around 5 games. However, many thought the Suns would get swept by a strong San Antonio team, but Phoenix absolutely crushed the Spurs in Game 4. So... ya never know... maybe there is hope for all underdogs.
And, hey for all you Steeler fans, check out this Steeler site....cool/unique gifts!
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Before we jump into the NBA playoffs, let's give a shout out to Danica Patrick who
won first place at the Japan 300 in Motegi, Japan. She can now lay
claim to being the first female winner of an IndyCar race.
The NBA playoffs have begun, and have been nothing short of dramatic and exciting.
Two notorious basketball franchises are back in the spotlight again: The Lakers and Celtics, and they both got off to strong starts in their respective series. The Celts pummeled the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 104-81, while the Lakers were all over the Allen Iverson and the Denver Nuggets 128-114. However, Denver star Carmelo Anthony said, ‘The Lakers better get used to us, cause we playing 6 more game’, insinuating that the Nuggets will not roll over and die, and the series could stretch to 7 games. Is this wishful thinking, or could the Nuggets actually give the Lakers a run.
Elsewhere
around the league, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers downed the
Washington Wizards 93-86 in what seems like a perfunctory April playoff
matchup. The Wizards always play the Cavs, and the Cavs always win.
Does the NBA plan this at the beginning of the season?
Additionally, we saw some first round surprises this weekend. The
red-hot #7 seed Philadelphia 76ers upset the #2 Detroit Pistons in a
triumphant comeback, taking Game 1 90-86. Additionally, some experts
thought that the Utah Jazz tanked their last few games of the season in
order to get an easier playoff match-up against the Houston Rockets.
Well, if this is true… it’s working, as the Jazz marched into Houston
and took care of business 93-82.
The
most exciting game took place in San Antonio, as the Spurs barely got
past the new ‘Shaq-i-fied’ Phoenix Suns in Double OT 117-115. But,
rest assured, this series will go to 7 games. These teams have an
extensive amount of playoff history, and the Suns have lost every
time. Will Shaq finally get the Suns over the hump that is San Antonio?
Anyway, this year’s playoffs will be one of the best in years. Keep watching!
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The main event in sports this week: THE MASTERS. That's right, for
one week out of the year, golf gets the spotlight. Everyone tunes in
to see the best of the best play in Augusta, GA. Tiger, Vijay,
Mickelson, Cink -- all there. However, the honorable green jacket this
year wen to an underdog -- South Africa's Trevor Immelman who shot an
incredible -8. He was able to hang on, outlasting the dominant Tiger
Woods, who finished a distant second at -5.
Baseball
is roughly 12 games deep now, and there have been surprises in the
standings. The Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals were predicted
to finish dead last in their divisions, but both teams jumped and held
onto first place for the first 2 weeks. Both teams have cooled
slightly, but still linger in 2nd place above higher rated teams (i.e.
NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox, etc...). In the National League, the
ArizonaDiamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals are the teams to beat --
both performing strong at 9 wins each.
In the NBA, the Lakers
are for real, crushing the reigning champ San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Now, the Lakers have sole possession of 1st place in the competitive
Western Conference. If the Lakers do finish the season as the #1 seed
-- this should secure Kobe Bryant as the MVP for the season. However,
while you can start crossing your fingers for the historic yellow and
green jerseys in the championship game (Lakers v. Celtics) -- don't
count on too much; these playoffs are wide open, and will be a pure
thrill to watch!
And finally, just 15 hours after winning her
second NCAA Championship with the University of Tennessee, Candace
Parker was drafted as the No. 1 pick overall pick in the WNBA draft by
the Los Angeles Sparks. This LITERALLY took place on back-to-back
nights (Tuesday & Wednesday). Now that's an exciting week!
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Unbelievable. That's the only word that can describe last night's
championship game between Memphis and Kansas. It went something like
this:
First Half Part I: -- neck and neck, swapping one point leads.
First Half Part II: -- Kansas starts playing the better ball, and heads into halftime with a one point lead.
Second Half Part I: -- Kansas keeps the game steady, maintaining a 3 point lead for most of the way.
Second Half Part II: -- Memphis goes on a 12-2 run, led by freshman phenom Derrick Rose. Memphis looked like the had it in the bag.
Second Half Part III: Memphis is up by 9 POINTS with only 2:12 to go. Then, the unthinkable happens. Kansas makes an 'unbelievable' comeback -- stealing inbound passes and hitting open threes, AND, Kansas' coach, Bill Self, makes a brilliant coaching decision -- opting to foul the heck out Memphis, a team that shoots only 59% from the free-throw line, and see if they can hit their foul shots... when it counts. Well, this worked, as Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts made only 1 of 5 free throws during the last 1:12. Had he hit even one more, Memphis would have closed the door.
With 10 seconds left on the clock, Douglas-Roberts missed a crucial free throw that would have put them up by four. This gave Kansas one last chance, and Mario Chalmers hit a miracle three (with two Memphis players in his face) to tie the game at 63, and send it to overtime. THE PLACE ERUPTED, and Chalmers will now be part of college basketball lore. Prepare to see this highlight alongside the famous Christian Laettner highlight for many years to come.
Kansas had all the momentum going into overtime, and couldn't be stopped. They won their first National Championship in 20 years, coming back from a 9 point deficit in only 2 minutes (mostly attributed to Memphis' atrocious free-throw shooting, and a bit of luck for Chalmers to hit that insane 3-pointer). Memphis' coach John Calipari said it best -- "Ten seconds to go, we're thinking we're national champs, all of a sudden a kid makes a shot, and we're not".
This game was truly... 'unbelievable'.
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