BOO HOO MARK CUBAN

So it seems that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban got his feelings hurt when Jason Kidd left his team in the offseason for the New York Knicks.  Let’s ponder the move: Mavericks were on a downhill spiral after winning the Championship 2 years ago.  They lost Jason Terry.  The Lamar Odom project was a failure.  The Knicks on the other hand have a roster filled with stars in Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks are headed to the playoffs while the Mavs are slowly on their way to the lottery. I don’t blame Kidd and frankly, even if the Knicks sucked, and it was his decision, he was a free agent.  As for Cuban, apparently he is not used to people “defying” him and not getting his way.  Sucks…. Welcome to the real world. I know you’ve been there before but your loud mouth has clouded your view.  Believe it or not, they’ve done a decent job retooling this offseason, adding Darren Collison, OJ Mayo, Chris Kaman and even an over-the-hill Elton Brand.  Cuban’s mistake was not hanging on to his roster, specifically Tyson Chandler and JJ Barea, after winning the title and bring them back for another run. Oh well, I wouldn’t worry about Jason Kidd, he wasn’t going to make much of a difference.  My guess is that the Lakers and the Thunder and gonna put a whoopin on the Mavs this year.

PARTY IN THE CITY WHERE THE HEAT IS ON!

Miami Heat concluded their season today with a parade in South Beach.  Lebron’s first title, and probably not his last.  I’m not saying that he’ll get to 7 or 8 rings but my guess is that he’ll end his season with about 4. Dwayne Wade’s on the down of his career.  Mike Miller will never play like he did in game 6. Shane Battier still has some fight left in him.  Chris Bosh still has it. Mario Chalmers surprised me with his play. Nevertheless, they’re gonna have to face a Derrick Rose and his Bulls, a season Kevin Durant and the Thunder, and dare I say, the Clippers? Okay, wishful thinking with that last one but tell me that with a healthy Chauncey Billups and a Clipper squad that has 1 year under its belt, these guys aren’t gonna make some serious noise next year? Anyway, with the NBA season officially over, time to head into the dog days of summer and the country’s official pastime, baseball.  Yawn…

LEBRON JAMES IS WEAK

This is the second game in this series between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics that Lebron James has had the ball in his hands at the end of regulation with a chance to win it. Game 2, with a MUCH smaller Rondo guarding him, Lebron took a fadeaway 20 foot jumper and bricked it.  Luckily, he had Dwayne Wade and Udonis Haslem to pick him up in overtime and pull of the win.  Today, with time winding down and the game tied, the Heat have Wade pass the ball to Lebron, who instead of trying to create something, dribbles out most of the clock then throws a WILD pass to Haslem who is forced to take a sideways fading 15 foot jumper.  What type of leader is this guy? I’ve never seen anyone be so afraid of having the ball in his hands in crunch time. I used to think that everyone was being hard on the so-called King but after watching these playoffs, I’m selling my stock.  As for Wade, how about jumping into that sorry Marquis Daniels and get three freebies at the charity stripe.  This Heat team might get past the Cs, only because they have homecourt BUT there is no way either one of these teams beat the winner of the West. Long live the King… NOT!!!

SAY GOODBYE TO THESE LAKERS

Deja vu all over again…Los Angeles Lakers blew another 4th quarter lead tonight, just like they did in game 2.  Instead of being up 3 games to 1, the Lakers just kissed their season and hopes of a Championship… GOODBYE.  I blame Kobe for game 2′s loss.  I blame the team for this one.  Changing of the guard, well that happened last year when the Lake Show got swept by Dallas. This was just a reminder for all those Angelinos that thought that the Lakers were going to pull this series out.  There’s something toxic, cancerous about this Lakers team. It reminds me of Shaq’s last year.  Andrew Bynum was dominating the 1st half. 2nd half, M.I.A.  Blame the others for not getting the ball to him. Blame Bynum for not getting open. Blame Mike Brown for not drawing up plays for Bynum.  Pau Gasol, I’m done defending this guy. Step aside Dirk Nowitzki, here’s the posterboy for softness.  Ramon Session, disappointing is all I can say. Lakers bench, what bench? Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant… Too many errors, too many mistakes, too many bad shots too, too many turnovers. How easy was it for Westbrook and Durant to score? GEEZ, James Harden looked like a superstar. The Lakers are gonna get blasted next game.  I promise you that they will lose by double digits. As for the offseason, now would be the time for Jimbo Buss to make a name for himself.  Put everyone on the block.  Get some heart on this team. To have 3 all-stars on 1 team and no get past the second round for the 2nd year in a row is a joke. If this same team returns next year, you can expect another playoff torching.  Buss should call Sterling and maybe join the two teams.

BINGO ANYONE?

Believe it or not bingo is a game that can be adapted for just about any purpose. Most of us are familiar with the home version of the game we played as kids. Believe it or not the game has been adapted for some adult purposes. Sports fans can find free printable bingo cards online that contain several ‘prop bet’ items. For those that don’t know, a prop (or proposition) bet is an exotic or side bet. Examples could include betting on which team scores first in a game, which player will score the most points, which team will score first and many other sports prop bets. In 2009, one enterprising sports fan created an NBA Finals bingo card with some very interesting and amusing prop bets like “Rashard Lewis speaks” and “Dwight Howard goaltends a shot that had no chance to go in.”

Anyone can easily create their own sports bingo game. This year’s baseball season should provide plenty of fodder for enterprising baseball fans. The NBA playoffs should also provide plenty of material for sports fans during the playoffs. Most people design these games to be played by several people while watching a game or sporting event. The recent Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia would have provided plenty of material to Tiger Woods fans. The game stakes could be just about anything. Players could win money, take a drink when they mark a square, the possibilities are endless.

MR. PUJOLS, IT’S ABOUT TIME

Finally, 33 games and 139 at bats later… Albert Pujols, el hombre, tees off for a  2 run blast.  I’ve been waiting months for this.  Was Pujols older than 32? Was Pujols cycling of roids? Was Pujols just feeling the pressure of a $240 million contract?  So many unanswered questions, so many conspiracy theories.  I’m glad for the big guy.  The first one is always hard to get. But he still has a difficult road ahead him.  He needs to hit 30+ homers this season.  He needs raise his batting average from… gulp, .196. He needs to raise his slugging and on base percentages.  Draw a few more walks.  Take the Angels to the promised land (and I’m not just talking about the playoffs). But for now, let’s let Pujols and the Angels enjoy this.  I gotta feeling that he’s about to get back on track. By the way, nice gag by Tori Hunter and the fellas heading into the clubhouse while Pujols is rounding the bases.

KENTUCKY DERBY TIME Y’ALL

Cinco De Mayo… Churchill Downs… 5 p.m. eastern… the granddaddy of them all, that’s right folks, the KENTUCKY DERBY!!!  For the ladies, time to whip out the Derby hats and for the men, time to place your bets.  And if you’re looking for a site that’ll take your bets, head over to Doc’s Sports.  They’re offering a no obligation $60 in free Kentucky Derby picks. Bodemeister is the favorite right now at 4-1. But then again, when was the last time that a favorite won the Derby? Five of the 21 horses are coming in a 50-1.  While its a LONGshot for any of them to win, or even show (that’s coming in the top 3), how awesome would it be to put a couple bucks on a 50-1 winner?  Only one way to find out.  Doc’s Sports is waiting.

 

 

Los Angeles Lakers Keep Rolling

If you thought that the Lakers just didn’t have enough this year to compete, you weren’t the only one.  Then something happened: they traded for pg in Ramon Sessions, got PF Jordan Hill, dumped the crap off their payroll (i.e. Luke Walton and Jason Kapono) and then willed their way to 3rd place in the West.  Now they’ve beaten the Denver Nuggets twice…handily and are on their way to Denver to steal at least one of the next two games.  The Lakers are the only team with 2 legitimate 7 footers that can go drop 20+ points and grab 10+ boards a game.  We all know about Kobe.  Their only glaring weakness is the bench.  I’m concerned about Ron, I mean Metta World Idiot coming back and ruining their flow. Wish the league suspended him for the entire playoffs.  Either way, if you’re looking for some playoff action, head over to Ticket Liquidator where they have the best seats for the best prices.

TORN ACL ELIMINATES BULLS FROM PLAYOFFS

Derrick Rose tore his ACL with just over 1 minute left in Game 1 of their series with the Philadelphia Sixers.  At the time Rose went down, the Bulls had the ball and were up by a dozen.  There was probably a 97% chance that they were going to win that game.  Rose has been injured all year, so I ask myself, “Why wouldn’t coach Thibodeau pull him out?” I know, I’m Monday morning quarterbacking right now, but still  The Bulls just went from favorites to win the Championship to a 1st or 2nd round out.  Let’s not blame the Bulls coaching staff entirely.  I believe the league has to share about 50% of this as well. Had it not been for the lockout, the cramming of all these games in a shortened season, this would’ve never happened.  No preseason, no camp, multiple back to back to back games.  I mean, this is ridiculous.  Same thing happened to Dwight Howard, Al Horford (although he is injury prone), and now Iman Shumpert of the Knicks. Looks like Chicago’s gonna have to wait another year.  Take it from this blogger who has torn his ACL in each knee (the most recent 2 yeas ago), it ain’t fun, and rehab’s no walk in the park either.  But I’m guessing with the money they have invested in Rose, along with the state of the art facilities and medical staff, Rose should be ready to go by November. As for the playoffs, looks like the Heat are gonna coast to the finals.

Clippers Bring the Thunder

What a game! Just finished watching the Clippers abuse the Thunder in the 4th quarter, holding Durant and Westbrook to a combined single digits in teh second half and I gotta admit it, I’m sold. Don’t get me wrong, they have to make a couple of adjustments like boxing out and not allowing so many offensive rebounds. DeAndre Jordan also needs to get his head in the game.  The Clippers need his big body clogging up the pain in the final minutes.

Not much I can say about the Clipper guards though.  Chris Paul can pretty much get any shot off he wants.  As long as Mo Williams and Randy Foye keep shooting like he did tonight they’re cruise to the Western Conference Finals, at the very least.  And I gotta admit, the Nick Young trade is HUGE! Back to back 3s in the 3rd quarter plus a few other buckets kept the Clips in the game when they couldn’t buy a bucket.  I’m pumped about the playoffs, only 2 weeks left.  I know, I forgot to mention Blake Griffin. He’s awesome.  Get’s no respect from the refs. He needs to stop complaining though.  Clippers in the playoffs for the first time since 2006.  Time to make some noise.