Well the Celtics are currently leading by 19 points and Leon Powe is channeling the powers of Kevin McHale, good lord he is having a fantastic game. The Celts should head to L.A. up 2-0, something I did not see coming. Now they have a great chance to come back up 3-2. It will be great to see what happens in L.A.

I was really sad to see the fall of Big Brown on Saturday at the Belmont. I thought I was going to get to see my first Triple Crown winner. This year's Triple Crown has made me realize the cruelty that can go into the sport. Ken Desormeux did the honorable and completely correct thing in calling off Big Brown when he knew the horse did not have it in him. The amount of racing these horses have to go through to win the Triple Crown is amazing. I hope I get to see a horse win all three races soon.

The European Cup started this weekend too. Germany, Portugal, Crotia, and the Czech Republic won this weekend. I think Germany will end up winning it, they are very solid. I can't wait to sit down and watch the games. As long as Italy does not win I will be happy, I hate the way those guys play soccer, and when they win it seeps into all the youth soccer. The diving and acting, it has even made its way into the NBA with all the international players who no doubt grew up playing soccer.

Rafael Nadal destroyed Roger Federer in the French Open final on Sunday. I dont care what surface they are playing on, when you beat one of the all-time greats 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 you deserve some serious recognition. Now everyone will await the Wimbledon rematch where Federer can get Nadal on grass...

Ana Ivanovic might be my new favorite female athlete. She is definately in my pantheon sitting with Danica Patrick and Natalie Gulbis...

...So while I was writing this Leon Powe has gone nuts. Gotta feel happy for him after seeing the halftime special...

Thoughts and prayers to Jim McKay and his family. He was a person who brought many great and transcendent moments into homes around the country and world.

So I while I was writing this the Celtics have given up a 24 point lead, Radmonavic just stole the ball and blantantly travelled and dunked. An awful no call... this stinks...I just vomited a little on my keyboard...

Phew, that was close. I was worried my first paragraph was going to jinx this whole thing... on to L.A.

Links:

Rick Reilly's first ESPN article... heavy stuff...

Funny clip of Jerry Seinfeld getting angry at an idiotic Larry King...

Alexander Ovechkin is going to the NFL...

So here we are, the day of game one. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this series and what might happen. The conclusion I have come to is... I am clueless. I so badly want the Celtics to pull this out. It is something I think they can do, but I honestly cannot see them doing it.
The reasons I cannot see the Celtics winning are:

1) Kobe Bryant: The guy scares me. He can win the series by himself. One big game in Boston this weekend and I think this series will be too tough for the Celtics. Kobe is the one closer on the court for either team. He has proven it before. The scariest part is he still feels the need to prove it without Shaq around.

2) 2-3-2: The fact that the Celtics have to go on the road for game 3,4, and 5 makes me nervous. Game five is always a pivotal game in a series. It would be 2-2 or 3-1 going into that game. Although the Celtics proved that they can close a series on the road, they also proved they can drop a game at home. A split in Boston is a possibility, and it would make it tough for the Celtics.

3) Who will cover Lamar Odom?: This could be the biggest key in this series. If Odom, matched up with Ray Allen, (at least that is how I see it) decides to give a damn the Celts will be in trouble. Odom averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds a game this season. He is a wonderful third banana to Kobe and Pau Gasol if he puts in the effort.

4) Coaching: This is a no brainer. We have a guy in Phil Jackson who has won 9 titles as a coach and one title as a player. That means he has on 10 out of 60 titles in NBA history. Pretty impressive. On the other side Doc Rivers has a Docorate in...coaching? and he has also won a total of three playoff series victories... I dont want to write about this anymore, it is making me ill...

However, as I look at the matchup there are some things I can see the Celtics doing to win...

1) Paul Pierce homecoming: Paul Pierce is coming home. He has come full circle. Growing up in Inglewood (home of the famous Forum) as a Laker fan Pierce is now in a position to win a championship for a team he hated while growing up. Pierce has a huge series in him, this would be the perfect time for it to come out. Although he may be chasing Kobe around we cannot forget that Kobe has to chase Pierce (and maybe Ray-Ray) around all series. It affected LeBron, maybe it will take away from Kobe too...

2) The Benches: I actually feel good about our bench matchups in this series. The Lakers have some nice players: Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, and Ronny Turiaf. Farmar scares me the most because of his shooting and his quickness. But I like Eddie House over him. I think P.J. Brown, Posey, Powe, House, and (gulp) Cassell offer better options. Here's hoping Doc chooses the right ones...

3) Defense > Offense: As a Patriots fan this smacked me in the face this winter. As a Sox fan I saw how a great defense (read: Josh Beckett) can close a 1-3 series deficit. The Celtics had a suffocating defense all season. We have seen glimpses of that during the playoffs. I think the Celtics need to turn the defense all the way up all series. If they do they will be raising banner #17...

I must say again that these late starts are too bad. Personally I dont mind staying up to watch. The people who are missing out are the young kids. As someone who works with kids, it is a shame seeing them come to school in Celtics gear knowing they will be in bed two hours before the game starts. Even if you are a 15-18 year old functioning the next day is tough on very little sleep. It really is a shame that young fans have to miss these games, and it is a shame kids cannot watch the games with their parents, that is something I know parents will miss...

Anyway, I think the Lakers take this series in 6 games. If it goes seven games though, the Celtics win. Now excuse me while I readjust myself as I sit on this uncomfortable fence...

An all NBA-Finals Links:
Sports Guy on the series...

Great article running through the last 21 years of the C's. Print it out and read it in the bathroom...

Even Tommy Heinsohn defends this move...gotta love the old school Celtics-Lakers. Oh and listen to the chant the L.A. fans start around the :55 mark...

Celtics - Lakers.... wow. This is going to be a fantastic series. The Celtics proved they belong in the Finals after dispatching an experienced Pistons team at home. The Pistons were exhausted, Rip Hamilton missed three shots down the stretch that barely even reached the rim. The thing I am most excited about right now is the fact that I have three nights to catch up on rest because a three hour game on Thursday night starting at 9:15 is a terrifying thought. Maybe I should buy stock in Dunkin' Donuts coffee this week. But enough about basketball for now...

Manny hit his 500th homer this weekend. Manny is my favorite Red Sox player of all time. He cracks me up, I know he dogs it once in a while and can look really bad in the field but he is one of the best right handed hitters in the history of baseball. He is sixth all-time in slugging percentage he will be in the top ten in homers when he is finished also. He is 35 with probably another solid 4 years of production ahead of him. 25 homers a year and he will be at 600. 

An interesting topic came up on the radio this morning regarding Manny's number being retired. Dwight Evans, an 18 year member of the Sox who hit 363 homers, also wore number 24. Evans' numbers as a member of the Sox are better than Manny's. Manny has hit 265 homers with the Sox. Evan also won 9 gold gloves. Needless to say, Manny won none. I think it would be pretty awesome if the Sox found a way to honor both during a number retirement ceremony.

On another home run note, Ken Griffey Jr. is on the cusp of 600 homers. It is amazing to think that he is 38 and should have nearer to 700 homers. He hit only 63 homers between 2001 and 2004.  If he hit 40 each one of those years he would have hit 160 homers. I guess we will just have to wait for A-Rod to smash the record completely...