LeBron James was still “undecided” on his choice of teams the last time I wrote this article. That night, Wednesday the 7^th, James appeared on the most ridiculous, annoying, boring special of all time that aired live on ESPN.  Just like everyone (other than the citizens of Cleveland, Ohio) though, he picked Miami to complete the tri-fecta.

I was very glad to see Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley quickly come out and point out how cowardly James is. Jordan said that he never wanted to play with Magic or Bird because he was too busy trying to beat them. Imagine how ridiculous any team with those three would have been? That would have ruined the NBA. Will this new Miami group make the NBA unwatchable? Will James ever really have a legacy after committed to play second fiddle on a glorified All-Star team? We’ll never really know how good LeBron James is.

Luckily, the NBA still has a ton of other great players and it is certainly not a given that the Heat will even win it all. And when they don’t, I’ll be the first to laugh. But, that’s most likely because I’m just a bitter Knicks fan.

MLB: For the first time since 1873 (not really, but it seems like it), the National League won the All-Star game (3-1) and has gained home field advantage in the World Series. This might end up being huge for the NL. That extra home game without the designated hitter could end up deciding the World Series Champion.

Tour De France: Things are getting crazy in the tour De France. I’ve been trying to watch more, but I’m way too American to appreciate this bike race. I do love soccer, but auto racing and bike racing is still a work in progress with me.

This year’s race has been exciting mostly due to the crazy and erratic behavior of some of the competitors. There was the head butting incident that led to a competitor being disqualified for trying to use his head to knock an opponent off of his bike. Yesterday, Irish rider Nicolas Roche of AG2R La Mondiale berated his French teammate John Gadret on his personal website for refusing to give him a wheel when his had been puncture. Here is the exact quote, and remember that these guys are teammates:

“If John Gadret is found dead in his hotel room in the morning, I will probably be the primary suspect. As he sat beside me on the team bus I had great difficulty in not putting his head through the nearest window.”

Personally, I love that he is able to be so candid and say exactly what is on his mind. Clearly, he isn’t really planning on murdering his teammate, but he was mad and he had to fume. His quote was entertaining and real and that’s why it’s so great. No canned, PC statement there.

On a side note, Alberto Contador of Spain is the over all leader, but he’s only eight seconds ahead of Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.

Golf: South African Louis Oosthuizen has any extremely difficult name to write. Writers all over the World have been forced to check and double check to make sure they spelled his name correctly this week. Oosthuizen won the British Open at St. Andrews last week by seven strokes over England’s Lee Westwood. He celebrated by buying a tractor. This is just what you’d expect from a professional golfer. I hear Phil Mikelson bought a brand new John Deer riding mower after winning the Masters last year….eh, maybe not.

NHL: The NHL rejected Ilya Kovalchuck’s 17 year deal with the New Jersey Devils saying that the team was breaking rules in an attempt to circumvent the salary cap. Kovalchuk’s contract is loaded with money in the beginning years and slowly dwindles into the veteran minimum by the 17^th season. I’m tired of these crazy contracts. Just sign him for 6 years. What’s the big freaking deal?

Remember when Steve Young signed a 43 year $36 million dollar deal with the USFL’s L.A. Express in 1984? Too bad the team folded two seasons later and the whole league went defunct in 1986. Young went on the play for the Buccaneers and made his name with the Forty Niners. But, how cool would it be to see Steve Young still slinging the ball at age 66? Probably not that cool.

Injury: A while back, I interviewed Oakland A’s outfielder Ryan Sweeney. I’ve been paying close attention to his statistics ever since. He was leading the team in batting average (.294) before undergoing season-ending knee surgery this week due to chronic tendonitis. Let’s hope for a speedy recovery so he can continue to patrol the spacious outfield in Oakland next season.

Here’s the Sweeney article if you missed it:

http://thefatherlife.com/mag/2009/10/19/q-and-a-with-oakland-as-outfielder-ryan-sweeney/

RIP: James Gammon, the character actor most well known as Indians manager Lou Brown in the 1989 comedy Major League, died this week of natural causes. Gammon’s character in Major League is one of the most well-known in comedy movie history in one of the most quotable movies ever made. He’ll definitely be missed. I’m going to go watch Major League right now in his honor. But, not Major League 2.That movie sucks.

Related posts:

1. Q and A with Oakland A’s Outfielder Ryan Sweeney
2. [Sports] The Week in Sports #19: NCAA Hockey Surprise.
3. The Week in Sports #9: Tired of Drugs in MLB plus NFL, MLL, MMA

American League Rundown: The three best teams in baseball play in the AL East. Boston has the third best record in the AL, yet they sit in third place in their division. The Sox are 5.5 games behind division leading NY and 3.5 behind Tampa Bay. The ridiculous amount of injuries seems to finally be catching up with them. The wildcard will most likely come out of that group (just like every other season).

The AL Central race is one of the tightest in baseball. Chicago has a 1.5 game lead over Detroit. Minnesota is now 2.5 games behind the division leaders. That division is up for grabs and will most likely be decided by a trade deadline deal or two. The most surprising division leader might be the one in the best shape down the stretch. Texas is leading the AL West by 3.5 games over Los Angeles, but they recently acquired pitcher Cliff Lee from Seattle. They now have the bats and the pitchers to run away with that division.

National League Rundown: The Bravos are back in a big way. Most analysts assumed that reigning NL Champ Philadelphia would easily run away with the NL East and that potentially New York could challenge. Few thought that the Braves had what it took to take the division. But, as of July 18^th, they are sitting pretty 4.5 games ahead of the Phillies and 5 ahead of the Mets.

The two other NL divisions have very surprising leaders. In my season preview I picked Cincinnati to finish fifth and San Diego to finish dead last. I was very wrong and I’m actually happy about it. I like the Red Legs and the Padres are my second favorite team. Cincy may not be able to hold of St. Louis and will probably be battline San Francisco, Colorado and Los Angeles for the wildcard. The Padres look like they might be able to distance themselves from the competition with their superior pitching and defense.

Midseason Awards:

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton – Texas (22 HR 66 RBI .348 BA)

NL MVP: Joey Votto – Cincinnati (22 HR 60 RBI .311 BA)

AL Cy Young: David Price – Tampa Bay (12-4 100 K 2.42 ERA)

NL Cy Young: Josh Johnson – Florida (10-3 130 K 1.62 ERA)

AL Best Reliever: Mariano Rivera New York (20 Saves 34 K’s in 35.1 innings 1.02 ERA)

NL Best Reliever: Carlos Marmol Chicago (17 Saves 82 K’s in 43.1 innings 2.91 ERA)

Who’s going to make the playoffs?

AL: New York (East Champions), Tampa Bay (WC), Detroit (Central Champions) and Texas (West Champions)

NL: Atlanta (East Champions), St. Louis (Central Champions), Cincinnati (WC) and San Diego.

Way too early playoff predictions:

Divisional Series:

New York over Texas

Detroit over Tampa

Cincinnati over Atlanta

San Diego over St. louis

Championship Series:

Detroit over New York

Cincinnati over San Diego

World Series:

Detroit over Cincinnati

Related posts:

1. [MLB] 2010 Season Preview: The AL
2. [MLB] 2010 Season Preview: The NL
3. NFL Power Rankings 2009: Week 10

After almost a month of play, the World Cup final is set.  The Netherlands in all of their orange clad glory will take on Spain for the right to hoist the World Cup. Neither team has ever played in the World Cup final, but that will all change on Sunday afternoon (2:30 pm EST) LIVE on ABC.

Spain and Netherlands took a slightly different path to get to the final. After losing 1-0 to Switzerland to open the tournament, the Spanish have reeled off five straight wins. They only allowed one more goal (2-1 over Chile) and took down rival Portugal (1-0), upstart Paraguay (1-0) and favored Germany (1-0) in the knockout stage.

The Dutch seemed to fly under the radar all tournament. They zoomed through the first round with wins over Denmark (2-0), Japan (1-0) and Cameroon (2-1). After that, they beat pesky Slovakia (2-1), tournament favorite Brazil (2-1), and surprising Uruguay (3-2) in the knockout stage.

I’ll be rooting for Espana just like I have been ever since the US and England were knocked out. My buddy Nacho is from Valencia and I joined the Spain bandwagon after Germany beat England. Most of my friends were rooting for Germany for most of the tournament as well as in their game against Spain. Germany looked unbeatable in putting up 4 goals in back to back games, but was shut down by Spain’s straight up sucio, dominant defense.

Viva Espana! David Villa es numero uno!

MLB: It’s almost the midpoint of the MLB season and there are some surprising division leaders. The New York Yankees (no surprise there), the Detroit Tigers (with Twins and White sox within a game and a half), the Texas Rangers (comfortably ahead of LA), Atlanta Braves (Mets three games back), the Cincinnati Reds (who knew they’d be good?) and the San Diego Padres (I’m dumbfounded as to how amazing their pitchers have been). The AL is a lot less surprising than the NL. Few would have predicted any of the NL division leaders correctly.

NBA: LeBron James. That’s all you have to say when it comes to NBA free agency. Teams have been setting up their salary cap for years in anticipation of his imminent free agency. Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade have signed with the Miami Heat and it is expected that James will join them in creating one of the nastiest trifecta’s in history. I wish he would go to New York and join newly signed Amar’e Stoudamire. Instead of just decided where to go, he and his people have turned his free agency into a joke.

Personally, I find this whole circus to be rather annoying. James hasn’t decided where he’s going yet, and he will announce his decision live on Sports Center tonight. And we

wonder why other countries think Americans are so arrogant. It’s extremely sad that ESPN is letting James make a mockery of sports in this manner.

NHL: The NBA isn’t the only league in the midst of a free agency frenzy. The NHL started it’s free agency the same day as the NBA. Obviously, the names available are nowhere near as famous as LeBron or D-wade. But, they still have Ilya Kovalchuck and his 85 points. Veterans Mike Modano, Paul Kariya and Marty Turco are also still available. Sharks Netminder All-Star Evgeni Nabakov jumped ship to the KHL.

MLL: The Major League Lacrosse All-Star game is tonight at 7 pm EST on ESPN2. Check out the best players in the world as they take on team USA LIVE from Boston. I’d rather watch this than LeBron James.

The ODD: In Germany, an octopus has correctly picked the winner of every German World Cup game. Yes, an octopus. They put food in two containers, one with the German flag and the other with their opponent, and wait for the octopus to pick one. It even correctly picked Serbia’s upset of Germany in the first round as well as their eventual loss to Spain in the final four. People throughout Germany are blaming the octopus for jinxing them and want to fry him up and eat him with a side of cocktail sauce.

Related posts:

1. [SPORTS] The Week In Sports #22: USA’s redemption song.
2. [FIFA WORLD CUP 2010] Group Announcement
3. [SPORTS] The Week In Sports #20: World Cup Fever

The first round of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is almost over. After this Friday, it’s time for the knockout round. There has been a ton of excitement, some close calls and some devastating disappointments.

There was three huge first round upsets: Switzerland over Spain, Serbia over Germany and Mexico over France. Spain rebounded with a win and will most likely make their way to the second round. That same can be said for Germany. Not so much for the French.

All was not well in France’s first World Cup since Zinedine Zidane’s infamous head butt.  The team didn’t want Raymond Domenech as their coach and it showed. They tied a good Uruguay team 0-0 to open the tournament. They never rallied behind their coach and came out flat in a very surprising 2-0 loss to Mexico. Be reminded that this is the 9^th ranked team in the world. This is a team which won the 1998 tournament and lost in the final in ’06.

One of their top players, Nicolas Anelka, was then sent home after the Mexico match for criticizing Domenech. That led to the team refusing to practice and their eventual loss to South Africa 2-1 to end their disappointing tournament with only a lone goal and a shocked and embarrassed nation.

Teams that have already advanced:

Group A – Uruguay and Mexico

Group B – Argentina and South Korea

Group C- USA and England

Group D – Germany and Ghana

USA fans went from frustrated sadness to unbridled joy in a matter of moments.

All they needed to do to get to the second round was beat Algeria. If they win, they win group C (for the first time since 1930). If they lose, they are out of it altogether. The Yanks clearly outplayed Algeria and had the far superior squad, but just couldn’t put one away. There was another disallowed goal, a post shot and a number of wide open shots missed. The score was 0-0 and time was running out.

And then…..EUPHORIA.

Just when it looked like it would be another sad first round exit for the US, Landon Donavon scored in stoppage time to give the Yanks a 1-0 win and a ticket to battle Ghana in the second round.

For US fans, the Ghana/USA game will be on Saturday at 2:30 pm EST on ABC. If you don’t watch this game, you should be deported to Canada.

MLB: Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies is an evil wizard.  Well, probably not, but he’s been destroying the egos of batters all over Major League Baseball this season. He’s 13-1 with a 1.15 ERA through only 14 starts. He’ll take on the high powered Red Sox tonight. It will be the third time he’s faced a team in the AL and so far he’s handled being away from the NL (no hit league) quite well. He gave up three runs to Toronto and one against Minnesota. He’ll have to be even better to beat a Red sox team with the best record in the Majors since the beginning of May.

NBA: NBA free agency is just around the corner. How long with big names like LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade stay on the market and where will they end up? A minor league baseball team offered LeBron a spot on their team. The Lake Erie Crushers offered James a $1,600 contract to play for them on the evening of their “Keep LBJ in C-L-E night” on June 30^th. They are going to wear Cavalier themed uniforms. Any fan named LeBron gets free tickets. I wonder how many people are named LeBron.

MLL: Defending Champion Toronto finally got a win. The Nationals 11-9 win over Long Island give them a 1-5 record and still very little chance of making the playoffs. The Boston Cannons, Chesapeake Bayhawks and Denver Outlaws are tied at the top of the league table at 4-2. Boston’s Matt Poskay is leading the way with 28 points in six games.

The ODD: Shortly after the Algerian team lost 1-0 to the US, Algerian player Rafik Saifi slapped a female reporter in the face. Apparently, Saifi was angered by an article the Algerian journalist wrote before the World Cup and decided that this was his best chance to slap her around. I was glad to hear that she slapped him back, but this is just another black eye for the World Cup. First there were the ridiculous safety concerns, then France refusing to shake hands after their loss to the host nation and now this. FIFA needs to crack down on some of this behavior.

As a US citizen, I’m very happy to see that in all of this craziness, the American team has shown nothing but grace and good sportsmanship even after having two clearly good goals disallowed. Although, it may have been different if the US didn’t win today….

Zane Lamprey: Our old friend Zane Lamprey posted some great news on his website the other day. The Travel Channel has officially purchased all 52 episodes of his show Three Sheets. They will begin airing on June 28^th on Wednesday and Thursday nights. If you haven’t seen it already, check out the interview I did with him:

http://thefatherlife.com/mag/2010/04/28/osburn-on-tap-comedian-tv-host-world-traveler-zane-lamprey/

Earthquake: Apparently there was a 5.5 Earthquake in Ottawa that we felt here today at 1:40 pm. Facebook was blowing up with people claiming that their offices and houses were shaking. Well, I was at my house and I’m almost sad to say that I felt nothing. Did anyone else in the Vermont, New York, Michigan area feel anything?

Related posts:

1. [FIFA WORLD CUP 2010] Group Announcement
2. [SPORTS] The Week In Sports #23: Viva Espana!
3. [SPORTS] The Week In Sports #21: Copa Mundial Sudáfrica 2010

Smack!

The batter connects and the softball flies over the second baseman’s outstretched glove, headed to you in the outfield. You field the ball cleanly on one hop, but the man on second is racing around third. “Home!” your teammates scream. “Throw it home!”

Only a strong throw from you can ensure your team’s victory. You rear back the ball and heave it, to the effect of … what? A missile to the catcher, who tags the runner out, making you the hero of the game? Or a sissy dribbler that barely makes it to the pitcher’s mound?

Well, that depends on how you throw a ball — and how well you’ve prepared for this moment.

“If you just try to use your am to throw, you’re not going to generate the force you need,” says Lexington, Kentucky orthopedic surgeon David Dome, a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine. Throwing a ball, he explains, is a chain of movements, starting with the leg, moving through the hips and core, and finally your shoulder.

Developing that throwing-specific strength requires work on the field, as well as in the gym. Mike LaLuna, who pitched professionally for the Detroit Tigers (and who is also a certified personal trainer) recommends these two drills to make sure your throws — whether you’re on the mound, in the outfield or the infield — have punch:

1. Everyday Throws
A daily 15-minute drill for everyone. “You’re basically playing catch here,” says LaLuna, but you’re doing it with a conscious effort to work on the multiple phases of throwing. The drill consists of the following:

• The stretch

  “Your knees are slightly bent; your rear is sticking out almost as if you’re about to lower yourself into a squat,” says LaLuna. “It’s a strong, solid position to start your throw.”

• The leg lift

  With ball in glove and hands held forward, lift your left leg (right if you’re a lefty), then lower it, grasping the ball from the glove with your free hand.

• The step-off

  Several things happen simultaneously: Plant your leg in front of you, with your toe pointed at your target. That’s key: “People have this misconception that it’s a push-through with your arm that creates velocity,” says LaLuna. “It’s more that your front leg pulls your body around.” This in turn transmits the power into the shoulder, as you release the ball with a whip-like motion, using the power from your legs and core. Your throwing arm comes around and up, while your glove hand is pointed straight out.

2. Long Toss
A more accurate name for this exercise might be “start-short-and-get-longer toss,” but that’s out of our hands (so to speak). “The long toss,” says LaLuna, “is how you increase distance on your throws.”

After five minutes of easy warm-up throws with a partner, start throwing to each other from about 60 feet apart. Then, each minute, one of you backs it up five paces. Continue until you get to about 180 feet apart — or to the point when you’re hitting your partner on one bounce to the ground. The benefit to your pitch: As you throw a ball farther and farther, your body must adapt to it — you’re taxing more muscle fibers, mobilizing more energy and firing more neurons — which is the same result as, say, increasing weights on a barbell.

Then start gradually walking it back in (five paces every 60 seconds). “The arc in your throws, which will increase the further you’re apart, should flatten out again as you get closer,” says LaLuna. The point of closing in: Readjusting your now stretched-out muscles to the shortened distance — key to building strength in the arm. You should find it easier to fire the ball hard from short distances and increase your arm’s output power.

Throwing the ball from a great distance, which would be the max distance of your long toss drill, your whip, or rotational speed of the arm is not as fast as it would be since you are trying to throw the ball higher in the air to reach your partner and not necessarily on a tight line low to the ground.

Practice long toss three times a week if you’re a pitcher; once a week if you’re a fielder.

Bottom line: Practice these exercises and … whoa! There’s the throw — the runner slides, and he’s … out at the plate! Nice toss, buddy.

John Hanc is a New York-based fitness writer and author of eight books. His most recent one is The Coolest Race on Earth: Mud, Madmen, Glaciers and Grannies at the Antarctica Marathon.

Image credit: ttarasiuk

No related posts.

The World Cup is now only a little over two days away. The host nation, South Africa, will take on Mexico in the opening game on Friday Morning at 10 am EST. The only other Friday game will be Uruguay against France at 2:30 pm EST. For many American soccer fans, the World Cup will officially begin on Saturday afternoon when the Yanks take on the Three Lions (England) at 2:30 pm EST.

There has, however, already been a few big injuries that will impact the tournament in a big way. England has been bitten by the injury bug (good news for USA fans). Defender and team captain Rio Ferdinand is out of the tournament and midfielder Gareth Barry has a bum ankle (Won’t play against USA). Forward Wayne Rooney and midfielder Steven Gerrard have had injury plagued seasons, but appear to be ready for the most important tournament in soccer (aw dang). Dutch striker Arjen Robben won’t be playing in the first few games after pulling his hamstring right before the tournament.

The biggest injury might also be the  most important. Ivory Coast star (and arguably the best player in the World) Didier Drogba broke his arm in a preliminary friendly match against Japan.  Originally, it was assumed that Drogba was lost for the World Cup and with that, so were the hopes of the Ivory Coast making it out of the group of death. Drogba had emergency surgery to set the bone and will be wearing a soft cast during the tournament. Only time will tell how this will affect his and the rest of his team’s style of play.

MLB: Stephen Strasburg made his MLB debut last night in an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Strasburg struck out 14 and only allowed a two run home run to Delwyn Young in a 5-2 victory. This is the first time ever that a pitcher struck out 14 and didn’t allow a walk in his MLB debut. I went and saw Strasburg pitch in a minor league game a few weeks ago and was amazed at how he baffled hitters with his fastball, his changeup and his ridiculous curve ball. If you didn’t watch last night’s game on MLB Network, you missed out big time. Let the hype machine continue!

NHL: The Chicago Blackhawks can wrap up their first Stanley Cup since 1961 tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. Chicago won the first two games 6-5 and 2-1 and looked to be cruising, but Philadelphia came back to win the next two 4-3 and 5-3. The Blackhawks, led by American Dustin Byfuglien’s 4 points (2g,2a) beat up on Philly 7-4 in game 5. If they want to hoist the cup tonight, they’ll have to win in front of the brutal Philadelphia fans tonight. I think they will. Hopefully someone else will step up so I’ll never have to write Byfuglien ever again.

NBA: The NBA finals have also begun, although much more recently than the NHL finals. The Lakers, after last night’s 91-84 win over the Boston Celtics, are up 2-1. It’s still anybody’s game in this classic match up of the last two NBA champions, but my money is on the Lakers. Nobody beats the Black Mamba.

MLL: Open mouth, insert foot. I wrote a Major League Lacrosse preview for Inside Lacrosse where I made odds on which team will take the Championship this year. Boy was I wrong. The team that I gave the best odds, Toronto, has yet to win in their first four games and the team I gave the worst odds, Chicago, is 3-1. I guess that’s why they play the games on the field and not just on paper. Plus, sports would be fairly boring if they were only played on paper. If you haven’t caught the MLL yet, check it out next time a game is on ESPN or locally if you have a team in your city.

Take a break from the World Cup and check out the Boston Cannons as they take on the Denver Outlaws on Saturday at 3 pm EST on ESPN2. On second thought, don’t. USA will be playing England at that time. Talk about a tough break for the MLL. NOBODY will be watching that game. I think you should DVR it like I will be doing. The magic of technology.

Zane Lamprey: I interviewed Zane a while back about his TV show(s), his book and his tour. The tour is now in full swing and there are rumblings that the Travel Channel might finally be ready to finally pick up Three Sheets. I’ll surely keep you updated.

As for the World Cup…Here’s the match schedule: http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/schedule/

The games are on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and Univision). I strongly suggest turning to Univision for goal calls. Those guys go freaking crazy.  You definitely won’t be disappointed.

Related posts:

1. [SPORTS] The Week In Sports #23: Viva Espana!
2. [SPORTS] The Week In Sports #20: World Cup Fever
3. [SPORTS] The Week In Sports #22: USA’s redemption song.

Originally, I wanted this NCAA Lacrosse tournament piece to be a preview. But, I realized that there was bound to be upsets and excitement that I want to be able to tell you loyal readers all about.

The Division I tournament is in full swing (they’ve actually already played the first two rounds). Here’s a recap of what happened so far:

Round 1:

#1 Virginia 18, Mount St. Mary’s 4

#8 Stony Brook 8, Denver 7

#5 Duke 18, Johns Hopkins 5

#4 North Carolina 14, Delaware 13

#3 Maryland 11, Hofstra 8

Notre Dame 8, #6 Princeton 5

#7 Cornell 11, Loyola 10

Army 9, #2 Syracuse 8

There was a few upsets as well as a few surprise blow outs in round one. Notre Dame dispatched IVY League Champion Princeton (I covered the IVY League championship for Inside Lacrosse) quite easily, but the biggest upset is also one of the least likely wins in tournament history. Syracuse, the two-time defending champions and a team that only lost a one goal game to #1 Virginia, lost in overtime to Army. Syracuse doesn’t lose in the first round. They were 22-1 at the carrier dome prior to this game. Stony Brook’s defeat of Denver probably falls under the category of an upset as well just due to the high level of play that Denver had been engaging in during the last month of the season.  Virginia easily dismantled Mount St. Mary’s. This team, playing with a lot of fire and emotion after the past few week’s events, didn’t let the Mount get remotely comfortable in front of a packed house in Charlottesville. Duke’s demolition of Johns Hopkins was a sad sing that the Blue Jays are no longer near the elite programs in the country and didn’t even deserve to be in the tournament.

Round 2:

#1 Virginia 10, #8 Stony Brook 9

#5 Duke 17, #4 North Carolina 9

Notre Dame 7, #3 Maryland 5

#7 Cornell 14, Army 5

The second round didn’t have as many surprises as the first. The only reason surprises being how easily Duke beat bitter rival North Carolina and Notre Dame’s upset of Maryland. The closeness of the Virginia/Stony Brook score would seem strange if it wasn’t for the fact that Stony Brook is a solid team and they were the only team playing in front of their home crowd.

The final four is all set. Cornell will take on Notre Dame and Virginia will take on Duke. Both of those are terrific match ups. I’m still going to attempt to predict how this will all turn out.

Predictions:

I’m picking Notre Dame’s Cinderella run to end in a close game against Cornell. I covered Cornell for Inside Lacrosse for several games this season and they are a young, talented team. They seem to have shaken their stigma for giving up big leads in last weekends shellacking of Army.

Cornell 12, Notre Dame 9

This game is probably going to make me look foolish. Many experts believe that this game is the real national championship since these two teams are both more talented than the other two. Virginia is a team playing with emotion and fire and the #1 seed. Duke has been dominant in the tournament, with neither win remotely close. I think Virginia gets the edge because of what they are playing for.

Virginia 15, Duke 12

Check out the games this saturday on ESPN2 and the championship on monday afternoon on ESPN2 as well. Also, follow we on twitter: twitter.com/chrisosburn

Related posts:

1. [SPORTS] NCAA Lacrosse Preview 2010
2. NCAA Basketball Pre-Season Power Rankings
3. [SPORTS] NCAA March Madness Preview 2010

The World Cup is less than a month away and I am getting more and more excited by the day. I’ve said it in the past, but I seriously, there is no sporting event in the world I would rather go to than the World Cup. Not the World Series, not the NHL finals and not even the Super Bowl.

Soccer (in my opinion) is the most pure form of sport in the world. It’s like a giant game of chess and most Americans don’t have the patience or just don’t understand it. I’ve always found this slightly confusing due to the fact that baseball, “the great American past time”, is extremely slow and the games are fairly long and full of delays. But, Americans have grown up with it and have nothing but love for the game that Abner Doubleday invented. To most Americans, soccer is just a bunch of guys on a field running around and doing nothing until one team scores and the game always ends 1-0.

I would love it if the U.S. masses appreciated soccer as much as I do. But I almost feel like I’m in a special club.  For now, I’m ok with that. I’ll watch the World Cup matches with friends who appreciate soccer as much as I do. I just received a facebook invite to a cookout and viewing of the USA/England match on June 12^th at my brother’s house. To say I’m stoked is an understatement.

NBA: Is the stage set for Lebron James to leave Cleveland and come to New York? Last night, the Celtics embarrassed the Cavaliers 120-88 in front of the home fans in Cleveland. It was the worst home playoff loss in Cavaliers history. The Celtics lead the series 3-2, but the lack of any other feared players besides James might mean that this series is over and so is Lebron’s time in Cleveland.

NHL: The Western finals are set with Chicago taking on San Jose in a battle of two Western teams that I actually like. I’m a sabres fan and I’ve been rooting for both of these teams since Buffalo got booted in the first round.  The Eastern race is not as easy to call. Pittsburgh and Montreal battle tonight in game 7 to see who makes it to the East finals. Boston leads Philadelphia 3-2.

NCAA Lacrosse: The NCAA lacrosse tournament begins this weekend. Virginia, mired in a sad off the field incident, has the first seed and not surprisingly, Syracuse has the #2 seed. Johns Hopkins at 7-7 made the tournament for the 39^th consecutive season. Pretty much all of the games will be on TV. A few will be on ESPN2, but most of them will be on ESPNU. Check your local listings for times.

MLB: Ken Griffey Jr. fell asleep in the club house and missed a potential pinch hitting opportunity the other day. I know he’s old, but seriously, falling asleep in the club house during the game? ESPN today is claiming that it isn’t true, but I don’t buy it. Plus, I’d rather have it be true. I love the wacky baseball legends. That’s up there with Buck Martinez getting ejected and then putting on a fake mustache and returning to the dugout only to be kicked out again.

NLL: The national lacrosse league playoffs are in full swing. First round: Orland beat Boston 12-11, Toronto beat Buffalo 13-11, Washington beat Minnesota 14-10 and Edmonton beat Calgary 11-7. Second round: Toronto beat Orlando 15-10 and Washington beat Edmonton 12-11 in OT. The championship game will air on VERSUS at 2 pm EST on Sunday.

Follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/chrisosburn

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Douglas J. Gladstone, who has previously written for The Father Life, has written a book. I had the privilege of reading it before it was made available to the public on April 5^th. The book, A Bitter Cup of Coffee; How MLB & The Players Association Threw 874 Retirees A Curve is the story of the business side of professional sports that the general public usually hears nothing about.

With a foreward written by former ABC News Nightline and original ESPN baseball tonight anchor Dave Marash, this is an insider’s look at the darker world of baseball and the attempts to finally shine a light on it.

Hundreds of retired players are being denied the pensions they deserve due to a flaw in the requirements for eligibility to players in 1980. Previously, players had to play for four years to earn a yearly pension and medical benefits. Nowadays, players only need to play in the big leagues for one day to get health insurance and forty-three to receive a pension.

Gladstone tells the story of the efforts to correct this terrible error with heartfelt intensity. You can tell that this wasn’t just a book for him, but a mission to right an injustice that can change the landscape of  how retired professional athletes are treated.

For more information on the book, excerpts  and where to buy it visit: http://www.abittercupofcoffee.com/

The opinions expressed in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Father Life, Inc., or its owners.  “A Bitter Cup of Coffee” purchased short term advertising with The Father Life, Inc., but did not pay for this review.

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The 2010 NHL playoffs are underway after Ottawa defeated Pittsburgh, Phoenix beat Detroit, Philadelphia upset New Jersey and Colorado found a way to silence San Jose last night. Tonight is the second night of the postseason. Buffalo and Boston, Montreal and Washington and Los Angeles and Vancouver all begin their series’. Check your local listings for the time and channel of your local team’s game.

(1) Washington Capitals

Vs.

(8) Montreal Canadians

Season Series: 2-2

Prediction: The Caps are just about the nastiest team in the NHL. Few teams can boast that they have a 100 point scorer, let alone two. Alex Ovechkin finished with 109 points on the year, including 50 goals. His partner in crime, Nicklas Backstrom, finished with a career high 101 points. Alexander Semin and Mike Green weren’t too shabby either. They had 84 and 76 points respectively. Goalie Jose Theodore finished with a straight up sucio record of 30-7-7 with a 2.81 goals against average. The underachieving Canadians barely made the postseason and don’t carry remotely the same star power as Washington. Their top scorer, Tomas Plekanec only finished with 70 points. They found the goalie of the future and now though when Jaroslav Halak stepped up and took the reigns from the embarrassingly disappointing Carey Price. Washington shouldn’t have much trouble dispatching Montreal in a 4-0 sweep.

(2) New Jersey Devils

Vs.

(7) Philadelphia Flyers

Season Series: Flyers won 5-1

Prediction: Here is one of those classic battles that we’ve grown to love in the playoffs. Somehow, the Flyers dominated the regular season. That’s what makes this one such an intriguing match up. The Devils had a much better record in the regular season and they have Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk. They are, however, mostly a defensive team. They allowed an low NHL 191 goals, nine less than Boston. The main reason for the Devils’ success is because 2010 gold medal winner, Martin Brodeur, is still entrenched between the Jersey pipes. Philadelphia had a rotating door of goalies this season, and are forced to settle for Brian Boucher after their other two netminders went down with bad injuries. On that note, I’ll give this one to New Jersey 4-2.

(3) Buffalo Sabres

Vs.

(6) Boston Bruins

Season Series: Bruins won 4-2

Prediction: Here’s another classic backyard, divisional brawl. Boston won the season series 4-2, but big props to Buffalo for easily winning the northeast division after most “experts” picked them to finish near the bottom. Ryan Miller is the main reason for the Sabres success and he will most likely win the Hart or Vezina trophy when all is said and done. He finished with a 41-18-8 record and 2.22 goals against average. The Sabres have also dominated due to their team first mentality. Three players had sixty plus points and six players had forty plus points including 19 year old rookie defenseman Tyler Myers (48). Boston is a much lower scoring team, but they are led by ridiculous goalie phenom Tuukka Rask and his 1.97 goals against average. They only problem is that Rask doesn’t have any playoff experience and the team lacks the firepower to compete with the Sabres. I’ll take Buffalo 4-2.

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins

Vs.

(5) Ottawa Senators

Season Series: 2-2

Prediction: This has to be the closest match up in the East. It’s the underachieving defending champs against the hard-charging veterans with a lot to prove. The Penguins have Sid the kid, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury. The Senators counter with Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and some guy named Brian Elliot. What’s that smell? No, not the smell of fear, it smells like an upset. I’ll take the boys who occupy Scotia Bank Arena 4-3.

(1) San Jose Sharks

Vs.

(8) Colorado Avalanche

Season Series: 2-2

Prediction: It seems like San Jose clinched a playoff spot in December because they’ve been so dominant all season. The battle between the Sharks and Blackhawks went down to the wire and San Jose won the top spot by one point. Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heately are a scary three headed monster for Colorado to deal with. They also have Evgeni Nabokov to deal with in net. He finished with a record of 44-16-10 with a 2.43 goals against average. The Avs stumbled into the playoffs on the back of unheralded, but up-and-coming netminder Craig Anderson. He won 38 games in his first season as a starting goalie while allowing 2.63 goals against average and getting a serious look as a potential Olympian. Paul Stastny and Chris Stewart won’t be enough for Colorado though, and they will end up losing this series to San Jose 4-2.

(2) Chicago Blackhawks

Vs.

(7) Nashville Predators

Season Series: Blackhawks won 4-2

Prediction: I doubt there are any teams with more of a chip on their shoulder than Chicago. They lost out on the top spot in the West by one point and have people second guessing how good they really are after a less than stellar March. They have a myriad of snipers in Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Jonathan “your last name is annoying to say” Toews, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa. Antti Niemi has been a revelation in goal after Cristobal Huet was just average. Nashville quietly made their way into the playoffs. I say that because most non-NHL fans probably have no idea that Nashville even has a team. But, they won 47 games and had six players with at least forty points. Lack of playoff experience in their goalies will probably be this team’s downfall though. I’ll take Chicago 4-2.

(3) Vancouver Canucks

Vs.

(6) Los Angeles Kings

Season Series: Canucks won 3-1

Prediction: To say that the Vancouver Canucks are a high scoring team is a very large understatement. They were the highest scoring team in the West with such scorers as Henrik Sedin (112 points), Daniel Sedin (85) and Ryan Kessler (75). They also have a solid defense and one of the best goalies in the NHL in Roberto Luongo (40-22-4, 2.57 GAA). They won 49 games and are definitely a team that is due to win the Cup. They’ve been dominant for a long time and have always come up short. The Los Angeles Kings are back in the playoffs for the first time since before the NHL lockout. They are led by Anze Kopitar (81 points) and four fifty point scorers. Jonathan Quick was a backup goalie on the U.S. Olympic team this year and he earned that spot. Quick finished with a record of 39-24-7 with a 2.54 goals against average. Just like many of the series, the Canucks still have a big advantage with Luongo in net. The playoff mature Canucks will take this series 4-1.

(4) Phoenix Coyotes

Vs.

(5) Detroit Red Wings

Season Series: 2-2

Prediction: Phoenix took game one of this series last night and I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised. They won 50 games without a single player scoring more than fifty-five points. The reason for their success is the play of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He finished with a record of 42-20-6 with a mind blowing 2.29 goals against average. He also had eight shutouts. Detroit is one of the most playoff seasoned teams in the postseason, but they are also one of the oldest. With aging stars Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Todd Bertuzzi, Brian Rafalski and Kris Draper, the Red Wings definitely have the experience. But, do they have enough left to make up for a very inexperienced goalie? Jimmy Howard won 37 games, but lacks the big game experience for me to pick Detroit in this series. I’ll give it to Phoenix in a tight one 4-3.

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