It's that time of the year again, the time when football news isn't actually on the forefront. Well, except for the two super divas TO and 85 who made headlines in their ongoing attempts to become relevant again. The Stanley Cup Finals are underway, the NBA Conference Finals are underway, and it's almost Memorial Day, which marks the first significant point in the season for baseball. There is also some horse racing action going on, so we better get going.
NHL vs. NBA
Whether you are primarily watching the NHL or NBA at this time of the year probably depends on where you live and the color of your skin. This dichotomy amongst sports fan is unfortunate, as both sports have a lot to offer the casual fan. I grew up favoring the NBA, but now I favor the NHL. I can attribute this to one factor and that is parody. If you want to watch the favorite team win, watch the NBA, but if you want an intriguing series, you have to favor the NHL. Just look at the numbers.
The favorites in the NBA playoffs were Miami out of the East and San Antonio/OK City (depending which bandwagon you are on) out of the West. Clearly we are going to see these teams in the finals. If you look at the playoffs in a whole, 8* out of the 10 series were won by the higher seed (the asterisk is for the Philly/Chicago series, which wasn't an upset after Rose went out). Essentially, the only upset, if you can call it that, was the 5th seeded Clippers over the 4th seeded Grizzlies.
The NHL, in contrast, is what the casual fan should be watching. We have the 8th seeded Kings against the 6th seeded Devils in the finals. Unlike the NBA, 8 out of the 14 series were won by the lower seed. Folks in New York and Vancouver probably aren't too happy, but who else doesn't like to see upsets? Thanks to NBC there is actually good NHL playoff coverage this year, but unfortunately there is still is the ESPN bias towards the NBA. The LA Clippers have gotten more airplay than the LA Kings. If it weren't for Barry Melrose, I wouldn't see any NHL news on channel 1602.
So to channel my inter-Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that." I know everyone always loves my predictions, so I'll take the Kings in 5 games to win the Cup. In the NBA, I'll take the Heat to sweep the Celtics and the Spurs to win it in 6. I'll take the Heat over the Spurs in 7 in the Finals.
MLB Injuries
The MLB is approaching what enthusiasts consider the first important date in the baseball season. We are nearly 2 months in and hot bats are cooling off and slow starters are heating up. Pujols' epic homer drought is now in the rear-view mirror as he now sits at 8 homers on the year. The horrible Red Sox are just 2.5 games out of the division lead, which is still held by the Orioles, although they have lost 5 straight. I'm not concerned about standings or statistics at this point of the year (except the possibility of a Triple Crown for Hamilton, which I will touch on later), I'm more concerned about the injuries that are piling up. My Brewers have had more injuries than I can possibly remember, but fortunately our top 3 (Braun, Grienke, Gallardo) are healthy and going strong. Unfortunately for other teams, injuries may shape up the league this year.
Let's look at some of the big names that are on the shelf and how it will affect the league:
Mariano Rivera (out for season): This is going to hurt the Yankees down the stretch. They still have the talent to win games, but I'm predicting they miss the playoffs this year.
Matt Kemp (TBD): Kemp just returned from the DL, but re-injured his hamstring and initial reports are that it might be worse this time. The Dodgers were looking like they were going to run away with the division, but the loss of Kemp for another month or two could open the door for the Giants, who will be getting Pablo Sandoval back soon.
Evan Longoria (out til late June/early July): The loss of Longoria is immeasurable for the Rays. Like Kemp, Longoria has a hamstring injury, which are easily re-aggravated. I expect Longoria to miss the month of June. If the Rays can hang on without him, they'll be fine, but if they drop a few games behind the Yankees and Red Sox, they may be on the outside come playoff time.
Roy Halladay (out til mid-July): Let's start by saying mid-July is the optimistic timetable for Halladay. Just when Phillies fans were starting to gear up for Utley and Howard to return, they lose one of the best pitchers in the game. They are in the most competitive division in the NL, so this could possibly end the Phillies' season if Halladay has any setback.
Jered Weaver (out til late June/early July): The Angels received good news about Weaver's injury, but it still is likely he will miss at least 3-4 starts. Things were looking up for the Angels as Pujols was heating up and Haren was getting dialed in, but the Angels should be able to weather this injury. They likely will not make a run at Texas for the division, but a wild card spot should be attainable for the Angels.
Triple Crowns!
I'll Have Another or Josh Hamilton? Will either be able to accomplish the rare feat? We'll know much sooner if I'll Have Another can get it done at Belmont, but that was almost in jeopardy today. If you just read that article, you read how close horse racing came to having the worst thing possible happen. Hamilton's fate is just as much on the edge. A month ago Matt Kemp was in these talks, but a re-aggravated hamstring injury has put an end to that story. Hamilton has an ever greater history of injuries. First and foremost, Hamilton needs to stay healthy. Second, he will likely need to hold off a couple veteran White Sox in Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn. Third, he will need a little luck. If we see one triple crown this year, that would be incredible, but if we saw two, it would be historic. Once again, it's a great time to be a sports fan!!
