Since moving to Los Angeles from Michigan, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to watch my Red Wings without buying a cable package I wouldn’t be using otherwise. As such, I’ve had to find all possible venues for watching hockey in downtown LA. BTW, to show some love, Far Bar in Little Tokyo totally hooked me up with Game 1 of the Cup Finals.
Even though it was only on NBC, it should be noted that my quest for comfortable settings for watching the Wings is not going to get any easier this week or even next season. Apparently, NBC bumped (to the Versus channel) the Stanley Cup Finals for every weeknight in order to maintain its week-long coverage of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (A television program I’m sure we will be talking about for years to come) and the start of the new Conan O’Brien show. Back home, folks aren’t particularly happy about the move. Here’s what Michael Zuidema of The Grand Rapids Press had to say as posted on MLive:
Granted, hockey hasn’t consistently pulled the strongest ratings numbers throughout the years, but it doesn’t deserve to be treated like a second-class citizen or an afterthought. Not when you have a matchup pitting Hockeytown against hockey’s poster boy, Sidney Crosby.
The buzz already is there, build on it. Or is Conan O’Brien that much more important? (Never mind, we already know the answer.)
For all NBC does right with hockey — and its coverage of the Winter Classic stands out as a huge plus — the sport still doesn’t feel like a priority, even during the Winter Olympics.
And Versus may be fighting for its niche in the sports world, but it still isn’t a destination point for casual fans. It’s not even available in every home. Nonetheless, it will carry the NHL through the 2010-11 season.
I like Conan O’Brien, and people watch him more than hockey. I’m not debating the numbers here. Nor am I about to tell everyone in Los Angeles to start liking a sport they can’t actually play without all sorts of technology. I suppose what I would like to say, and this kind of echoes Mr. Zuidema, is that despite its relative lack of mainstream appeal, hockey is still one of the great sports in America. Where it’s popular, it’s VERY popular.
I wish there was some easier way to get around all this, some way to bring hockey back to a more profitable level in order to justify it preempting something else instead of vice versa, but there isn’t. Either you like hockey or you don’t. But come on, hockey is sweet. In that vein here’s another article to check out: 10 Reasons Why You Should Be A Hockey Fan.
The Cavs were destined to make the Finals and face the Lakers, with LeBron turning in a fantastic Game 7 performance in front of his loyal fans at the Q to bring the city of Cleveland its first championship since 1964. With a title already under his belt, and a few more on the horizon, he would happily re-up for another four or five seasons. Or at the very worst, the Cavs would lose to the more talented Lakers, leaving fans with the feeling that “one more piece” would be all that is needed to finally bring a title to Cleveland. Under that scenario, there would be no way that LeBron could leave, right? Not when the Cavs were thisclose to a title…
Just over a year ago, I wrote that “The Cavs have failed LeBron James,” which was posted about three months before GM Danny Ferry pulled the trigger on the trade that brought Mo Williams to Cleveland. That trade, along with LeBron’s renewed focus and an improved work ethic (which was inspired by his seeing first hand how Kobe prepared during the 2008 Olympics), pushed the Cavs to a league-best 66 wins this season. Williams was named as an alternate to the All-Star Game (after grousing about not being voted in by the coaches) and all was well with the world.
The Cavs received some more good news when Kevin Garnett struggled with injuries down the stretch of the regular season and was eventually shut down for the playoffs. At the time, the Celtics were considered the Cavs’ biggest threat in the East, but KG’s injury might have allowed the Magic, one of four teams that beat the Cavs twice during the year — the Celtics, the Lakers and…um…the Wizards were the other three — to advance to the Conference Finals when they otherwise wouldn’t have survived to face the Cavs. The Magic were a very bad matchup because the Cavs simply didn’t have anyone that could cover Dwight Howard. When they didn’t double-team him, he would make a living on the post, and when they did send another guy, it would free up the Orlando sharpshooters for open jumpers.
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (05/31/2009 @ 8:39 pm)
Cleveland Indians all-star outfielder Grady Sizemore has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with left elbow inflammation. The Indians have called up utilityman Chris Gimenez from Triple-A Columbus.
Sizemore had struggled at the plate and not played much in the field recently because of the injury. He went 1 for 4, hitting his team-leading ninth homer Saturday night against the Yankees, but is hitting only .223 overall.
“We couldn’t take it any further,” said manager Eric Wedge, who had tried to keep Sizemore’s normally productive bat in the lineup by using him as a designated hitter.
The two-time Gold Glove center field had played in the field only three times in his past 12 appearances, all in an interleague series in Cincinnati.
“The first couple of days, it looked like Grady was getting better, then it leveled off. We didn’t want to push it and hurt it even more,” Wedge said.
Wedge said an MRI exam showed no structural damage and that Sizemore would not swing a bat or do any throwing for two weeks.
A year ago, Sizemore had career-highs of 33 homers, 90 RBIs and 38 stolen bases.
I find it strange that all these guys who were putting up big numbers last year are not only getting hurt but having poor seasons. On the flip side of that coin, some guys who have been unproductive in past years are having great years but are also getting hurt.
Grady Sizemore, Geovany Soto, and Alexei Ramirez are all having poor to mediocre seasons. Sizemore and Soto have battled nagging injuries and it’s showing. However, Jason Bartlett is having a phenomenal year and has never shown this talent before. Still, he’s young and hurt. I don’t get how these young guys are so easily injured.
There’s been a lot of talk flying around after last night’s ousting of the Cavaliers by Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. One of the most common lines has been about Lebron James’ behavior following the game. Refusing to shake hands and subsequently skipping the post-game press conference has put all kinds of opinions out there as to the ups and downs of his reaction to the loss. Coupled with recent comments by Lebron (which you’ll find below) and a congratulatory e-mail he reportedly sent to Howard, blogs have been burning up with comments. Robert Littal from Black Sports Online had this to say:
“It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them,” he said. “I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor. That’s what I do. It doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.”
Someone needs to tell Lebron James to grow the hell up. You win like a Champion you lose like a Champion no matter how hard it is. I am very disappointed in him. A competitor and winner respects his opponent regardless of the outcome.
Lebron sounds like a spoiled rich kid who when he lost “took his ball and went home”. He has a long way to go in his maturity to be considered The King of the NBA. Wasn’t even man enough to call Dwight Howard. An email? Seriously Lebron? You would have been more successful on Twitter.
Once again I am very disappointed in his behavior.
Well, I can’t deny that LeBron acted a little bit poorly after the game. As “The King” I guess he should really be able to act like one. However, perhaps this just goes to show that he’s human. Let’s remember that he spent his whole season with his eye on the championship, racked up the NBA’s best record, won the league MVP award, and swept his previous playoff opponents. That’s quite a bit to see go up in smoke in one night.
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (05/31/2009 @ 7:23 pm)
Congratulations to Jamie Moyer, professional baseball’s Darryl Hammond, for earning win #250 against the Washington Nationals. Over six scoreless innings, the 46 year-old only allowed three hits en route to the Phillies’ 4-2 victory. In reaching this plateau, Moyer joins 43 others, only 10 of whom are lefthanders.
Still, Moyer reached the 250-win plateau while moving into 44th place, one behind Bob Gibson with 251 on the all-time wins list. Among active pitchers, Moyer ranks third, trailing San Francisco’s Randy Johnson with 299. Moyer is the oldest pitcher to win his 250th game at 46 years and 194 days.
“I really haven’t thought about it,” said Moyer, who is in his 23rd Major League season. “For me, it takes so much effort to prepare and to play. I’ve been taught to play the game as a team and not as an individual. That’s really how I approach things.”
In his sixth attempt at the milestone, Moyer stayed in control, allowing just three hits and no walks, which had been a problem. One of those hits, off the bat of Josh Willingham, traveled beyond the left-field wall for a solo home run, but otherwise, no runners advanced past first base. Moyer struck out four, throwing 62 of 102 pitches (60.8 percent) for strikes.
For the unassuming lefty, helping the Phils register the sweep and move a season-high eight games above .500 was more meaningful than his 250th career victory.
“I was looking for some consistency,” Moyer said. “I wasn’t concerned with the win beside my name as much as the win beside the Phillies’ name.”
I like Jamie Moyer. The man is (as far as I know), the only player in the MLB who rocks the stirrups. Also, despite his age, he’s managed to figure out a way to remain effective in a league with more cheaters than spring break in Puerto Vallarta. Along with Cole Hamels, Moyer was extremely vital to the Phillies during their 2008 championship run. Way to go, Jamie.
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (05/31/2009 @ 7:00 pm)
Eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic was unable to defend her title at the French Open as she lost today to 19 year-old Victoria Azarenka. Ivanovic couldn’t get anything going during the entire match, making 20 unforced errors and only converting two of five break points. Along with Nadal’s unexpected loss earlier today, this French Open is going all sorts of weird.
The eighth-seeded Ivanovic did little right on Court Suzanne Lenglen, converting only two of five break points and making 20 unforced errors in her 6-2, 6-3 loss to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
Before the final game of the first set, Ivanovic called for a trainer to look at her neck. Azarenka then held to take the lead, and broke Ivanovic’s serve in the first and third games of the second set to take a 4-0 lead.
Ivanovic won her only Grand Slam tournament title at last year’s French Open.
The 19-year-old Azarenka lost in the fourth round at Roland Garros last year, and will next be playing in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
Now, I have never wanted to say a negative word about Ivanovic. She played amazing tennis at this time last year. Throw in the fact that she posed for FHM and speaks adorable English and I’m her #1 fan. Still, she’s far from an elite tennis player anymore. As much as I don’t want her to pull a Kournikova, it’s looking inevitable.
Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux has maintained a low profile all season with the media. He has let other members of the front office speak out on club issues. That was until yesterday.
Lemieux held a 12-minute press conference prior to the start of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday. Looking tanned and rested, Super Mario offered his opinion on a variety of subjects, including young Penguin superstar Sidney Crosby, the post-lockout game of hockey, and the chances of his team in their return trip to the Stanley Cup finals.
Here are his comments on Crosby:
The Pittsburgh Penguins owner – and one of the greatest NHL players of all-time – indicated that Crosby is much better at age 21 than he was. Lemieux thinks the team’s captain is a lot more mature, too.
“He’s a special kid,” Lemieux said Saturday night. “He’s a better player than I was at the same age, for sure. Some of the things that he does on the ice, his strength, skating ability is incredible. His passion for the game and his will to be the best each and every shift.
“His work ethic, he’s got it all.”
Crosby has lived with Lemieux since entering the league four years ago and has become like another member of the family. The two men speak about hockey “all the time,” according to Lemieux.
He added that the overall play in the league has been great this season, and this is coming from someone who called the NHL a “garbage league” of players clutching and grabbing the elite superstars in the neutral zone. Lemieux hopes his team follows the same path of the 1984 Edmonton Oilers. The previous year, they lost the finals to the New York Islanders before winning the Stanley Cup. He feels both teams were built similarly, with two elite players headlining an up tempo offensive-minded team.
The longest game in NCAA history ended on a simple force out at second base, as Texas defeated Boston College 3-2 in 25 innings at the Austin Regional of the NCAA collegiate baseball tournament. The game lasted seven hours, three minutes.
Longhorn Travis Tucker, in his 12th at-bat on the evening, bounced a single through the right side of a drawn-in infield to score Connor Rowe from third base in the top of the 25th inning.
UT reliever Austin Wood was the unsung hero of the game, as he threw 13 shutout innings in relief. He pitched no-hit ball through the first 12 1/3 innings, striking out 14 Golden Eagle batters on 169 pitches thrown.
After the final out was recorded, the entire Longhorn team celebrated the victory on the field, and saluted the remaining crowd with a rendition of “The Eyes of Texas.”
Boston College has an early wake-up call. They will play Army in an early afternoon elimination game on Sunday, while Texas will not play until later that evening at 6 PM.
Sometimes greatness is taken for granted. Fans expect Florida or USC to be playing for a national title year in and year out, the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox battling for American League pennant every season. When it doesn’t take place, it throws the sports universe off base.
Well, another sports gimme has ended. Rafael Nadal’s unbeaten streak has ended at the French Open.
The four-time defending champion lost to Sweden’s Robin Soderling 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the round of 16 on Sunday, thus ending his 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros.
In his 31 previous matches at Roland Garros, Nadal had never been pushed to five sets in victory. He had not lost so much as a set in any match here since the 2007 final against Roger Federer, but Soderling changed all that with a varied but consistently aggressive approach: clubbing forehands with or without clear openings, serving big under pressure with the exception of the second-set tiebreaker and pushing forward to net on a semi-regular basis.
But Nadal, the Spaniard from Majorca who is seeded and ranked first, was clearly not the same irresistible force as usual. He failed to generate depth consistently, which allowed Soderling the space to keep applying pressure. He made errors off the ground from positions where he would normally generate winners or high-bouncing shots to the corners. He also looked, at times, less convincing than normal on defense, as Soderling made him stretch and then stretch some more.
But Soderling, an erratic player with a reputation for cracking under pressure, still had to summon the gumption and the shots to do what no other player had done in the five years since Nadal emerged with his topspin forehand, two-handed backhand and matador’s brio. With Nadal down, 1-2, in the fourth-set tiebreaker, Soderling ripped a backhand pass that Nadal could not handle and on the next point, Nadal made an uncharacteristic unforced error with his backhand.
It was 4-1, and it would soon be 6-1 when Nadal’s forehand pass hit the tape. Nadal would save the first match point he had ever faced at Roland Garros with a forehand winner down the line, but on the next point, he moved forward and pushed a forehand volley just wide.
Soderling pumped his fist, quickly shook Nadal’s hand and then the umpire’s hand, as well. Only then did he show just how much this moment meant to him, running back on court, throwing back his closely cropped head and roaring with delight before tossing his racket into the stands.
Earlier this season, Nadal defeated Soderling in straight sets on the clay surface at a tournament in Rome. The Swede has never advanced this far in a Grand Slam tournament before, as the deepest he went was the third round at the 2007 Wimbledon.
