Well looks like the playoffs have continued and things have not been exactly what everyone thought they would be... Or so I thought! The Lakers get upset in the first game of round two, as well as the Celtics. The Wings start the second round down two games to one, and the Bruins find themselves in a one-one tie with the Hurricanes. Anyway, check out my take on things below, and some rumors and ideas that have been floating around on the internet!
Let's start with some NBA talk... The LA Lakers lost their first game of the second round to the Rockets, but me's thinking that the Rockets don't have enough to take down the colossal Lakers. The Celtics went down a game in the second round, but seem to be all business now and have a commanding lead over the Magic in game two. The Magic blew a pretty big lead in the first game of the series, so this may very well be a rest of series thing in which the Celtics just straight up dominating the rest of this matchup. Denver, unlike a few other teams has been one of the biggest surprises in the playoffs thus far. They have pretty much had a commanding lead over every single team they have played so far in the first two series (recall their 58 point victory over the New Orleans Hornets). ATL looks like they are in some big trouble right now, finding it difficult to stick with the high-flying Cavs. LeBron seems like he is all that and a bag of chips, but in reality, the dude is just bag (no chips included). When he plays the way he does against Detroit & ATL against the Lakers, Nuggets or the Celtics. Rumor's have been floating around the league and some have landed with the once dominant Detroit Pistons. The Stones have been in rumor talks around the league stating that they will make a bid for trading with the Hornets for Chris Paul... YEA, THAT'S RIGHT!!! CP3!!! Now the trade that they are talking about would make a lot of sense, seeing as the Hornets need to clear some cap, and the Pistons have a ton of cap room to accommodate the high-performing and paid superstar. I think CP3 would have a nice look in a Red-White-Blue Detroit jersey, don't you think!? Haha, we'll see what happens, it looks like there won't be much left from the '04 Championship team. If you trade for CP3, your likely going to lose Hamilton and someone else. This would in turn mean that you move Stuckey to shooting guard, and have CP3 take over your point guard duty. We'll see what happens, only time will tell Piston fans.
Moving on to the NFL (we'll take a small break from the playoff talk for a bit). It looks like Brett Favre will never retire. News has come about that Mr. Favre is in talks with the Minnesota Vikings, a franchise deeply in need of a presence at QB. Now I don't know what crack the people over in Minnesota are smoking, but it must be some heavy duty stuff! To want to sign a 40+ year old QB, have him take your team, and turn it around, and lead them from just making the playoffs to a Super Bowl team is some way left ideas. I guess I won't judge though, since they really don't have many options at QB... Jackson is only a good QB when you use the run game on a regular basis, and the guy they got from Houston is a decent dude, nothing special. Then again, Favre does have the capability to throw a 30+ pass game, but he will only help if he can stay healthy all year. I guess if Favre is making a return, Madden will have to come out of retirement and get back in the booth. The Detroit Lions made some splashes today (and it is about gosh darn time, I mean you go 0-16 and make barely any moves... what's the deal!?). Detroit native Larry Foote (who I am a big fan of) signed a one year deal with Detroit (which will potentially turn into more years if he plays well). I like the signing, it is a huge step in the right direction for the 0-16 Lions. I am glad that someone has figured out that the D sucks and that there is no O-Line at all. Maybe they will win one game this season (but only because they signed Larry Foote).
Now to the NHL... Things are looking different, then again, the first round was a tell-tale sign that upsets were going to happen throughout the playoffs this year! Let's start off with the Boston Bruins. After manhandling their first round opponents, they took on the Hurricanes in the second round. After two games, the teams are tied at one a piece (pending the game tonight, as it stands, the game is 2-2 with seconds left in the third... The Canes are known for last minute crazy goals!!!). The Pens and Capitals series has been everything that a fan could want. A high action, scoring, and hitting series that features two of the best in the NHL. Games 1 & 2 were taken by the Capitals, and it as of right now, Game 3 is in overtime! Some have compared Ovechkin and Crosby to NBA's Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. The two young players are battling it out on the rink, and I am sure that the two of them will be having this whole rivalry thing for a very long time. On we go to the Vancouver/Chicago series where Vancouver (no big surprise there) is up two games to one. Should be interesting to see how much fight the Blackhawks have left, they have made it this far, let's hope they make a push for an upset and get the Canucks out of the playoffs. Luango has been insane in net for them, and looks like he will be tough to score on, no matter what team he faces. And the last series of the NHL playoffs... The Wings are taking on the Ducks and unlike many thought, the DUCKS have a surprising 2-1 series lead over the powerful and high-scoring Wings. Now I am not going to get into the whole debate about how a certain referree who was in the game screwed up a call and blew the game for the Wings, because that is neither here, nor there. Game 4 is a must win for the Detroit Red Wings, and if they go down 3-1 tomorrow night, it will be another upset in the Ducks book. I got a lot of faith and hope that the veteran Wings will get their mojo back and be able to put three or four past the young Hiller (goalie) of Anaheim.
And that concludes our... OH WAIT, BASEBALL! Haha, well there really is not much to cover here, I will give you a standings update, whose where, and who's dominating the sport right now. As of right now, in the American East, Toronto is in the lead followed by Boston, and then the Yankees (who were recently swept by the Sox, and have been having a pretty bad season for a team who is jacked with some pretty high profile players, remember though, it is only the beginning of the season). In the AL Central, Kansas City (a huge surprise) is atop the standings in first followed by my Detroit Tigers and then Minnesota in third. In the NL East, Philadelphia is on top, followed by the young gunning Marlins and the injury/poor pitching NY Mets. In the AL West, Seattle is on top (after recently acquiring Ken Griffey Jr. in the offseason), followed by Texas. The LA Angels are in third, and are definitely a team to keep an eye on, they are really solid, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them spring up in the standings. In The NL Central, St. Louis is on top followed by Milwaukee and Cincinnati. Lastly, in the NL West, the Dodgers are off to a great start and are 12-0 at home, and have already won 20 games! They are ahead of the Giants (since when were they good?) who are ahead of San Diego. Now for my Tigers talk, haha. I don't have much to say, Nate Robertson needs to be either dropped, traded, sent down to the minors, are moved to the minor league coaching staff, I can't stand seeing him on the mound anymore. Verlander needs to play like he did in his last outing, and some positives from pitching are the presence of Edwin Jackson and Porcello who won just last night. Should be interesting to see what moves the Tigers make with their pitching, and from what I understand, the D-Train is in the process of making a comeback. Apparently he threw a real solid game last night in the minors, and is definitely on his way back to being in tip-top shape. Cabrera is still a boss, and Maggs needs to start hitting the ball, but other then that, the Tigers could be making a strong bid for the playoffs if Inge and other players keep playing the way they are!
UPDATE: Boston Bruins lost to the Hurricanes in OT last night, they lost the game 3-2, and the series is now in favor of the young and upset team of the playoffs, The Canes. Along with that, the Capitals were unable to eek out a victory in OT against the young gunning Pens, who scored three goals, one big goal in OT giving them the win and cutting into the Capitals two game lead in the series. In the NBA, The Lakers and The Celtics each got even, as each team won in their respective games, causing both series to be tied at one... That's your sports update from last night!
There You Have It... Sports In A Nutshell For Ya!
Hockeytown was going crazy tonight, and they had ever right to do so! The Wings put on a spectacular performance and and sent the Penguins back to Pittsburgh being down in the series three games to two. What was so impressive about the game was that Detroit was massively outplayed by the Pens in games three and four. It was surprising to see them bounce back and score five unanswered goals in Game 5. I didn't really cover Game 4 on here, just never got around to it, so for the record, the Wings lost that one, 4-2. You got it all in Game 5, hard hits, some big scramble for the puck, and some sick narsty goals. This series has been better then last years, and as a hockey fan, I can really appreciate the way these two teams have battle against one another in the Cup finals the past two seasons! Anyway, not going to take too much time on this post, just basically saying that the Wings are now one win away from winning the Cup, and the next game is going to be Tuesday in Pittsburgh at 8:00 P.M. Be sure to check it out, and if it is a Pens win (which I sure hope it won't be), there will be a Game 7 in Detroit at 8:00 P.M. (if the Wings lose Game 6, I will hopefully try and get tickets for the final game)!!! GO WINGS, and let's bring the Stanley Cup back to Hockeytown for a second straight year!!!
