Toledo Rockets Men's Basketball Coach Gene Cross...

Coach Cross is in his second year with the Rockets after being an assistant at the University of Notre Dame. During his first season with Toledo Cross opened up the new Savage Arena with a thrilling last second victory over the University of Massachusetts 57-56. The Rockets would go on to finish the regular season with 7-24 record. UT faced the Akron Zips in the first round of the MAC tournament but lost on a last second tip-in 93-92. The Rockets have 7 incoming freshman to help pump some new life into the basketball program. Coach Cross is a really cool guy and I have a lot of respect for him, enjoy the interview.

UT Rockets Coach Cross, Part 2...

Coach Cross is in his second year with the Rockets after being an assistant at the University of Notre Dame. During his first season with Toledo Cross opened up the new Savage Arena with a thrilling last second victory over the University of Massachusetts 57-56. The Rockets would go on to finish the regular season with 7-24 record. UT faced the Akron Zips in the first round of the MAC tournament but lost on a last second tip-in 93-92. The Rockets have 7 incoming freshman to help pump some new life into the basketball program. Coach Cross is a really cool guy and I have a lot of respect for him, enjoy the interview.

Jurevicius is suing the Browns over staph infections..

Former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Joe Jurevicius is suing the Browns and the Cleveland Clinic due to the recent rash of staph infections. Jurevicius' lawsuit states that physicians Anthony Miniaci and Richard Filger failed to warn him that the therapy equipment was not sanitized. He has had 5 additional surgeries after the initial knee surgery to clean out the staph infections and the lawsuit goes on to state that, "Jurevicius may never be able to play professional football again." An affidavit by Dr. Bonnie Bock, an infectious diseases specialist from Newport Beach, Calif., claimed, "Sterile techniques were not at all times used at the Browns training facility. Therapy devices commonly used by multiple Browns players were not properly maintained, disinfected or cleaned, if at all at the Browns training facility." His lawsuit is seeking more than $25,000 in damages, plus unspecified punitive damages, attorney and expert fees and related costs.
At least 6 players over the last few years have suffered from staph infections including Kellen Winslow who was recently traded after fighting with the team last year because they would not disclose his injury to the media. The Brown's handling of the staph infection as an undisclosed injury resulted in wild internet rumors saying he had testicular cancer or an STD, but when he finally spoke out about his injury the Browns reprimanded him. LeCharles Bentley signed with the Browns in 2006 and suffered a torn patellar tendon in his first practice as a Brown and never played a down again after suffering from severe staph infections and the doctors almost had to amputate his leg resulting in Bentley's retirement in 2008.
Look its about time someone has sued the Browns and the Cleveland Clinic because this is ridiculous, they have potentially ended 2 players careers and the spat between the organization and Winslow was the last straw between the 2 parties. I'm sorry but with the way the Browns have handled the situation they have looked completely classless. The NFL may need to step in and handle this if the Browns continue to not take action. Hopefully Joe Jurevicius will win the case and set an example for the rest of the league and steps can be taken to prevent this from happening in the future.

Clippers take Griffin first, Magic trade for Vince Carter...

So the big surprise of the night was the Los Angeles Clippers selecting Blake Griffin with #1 pick in the NBA draft, oh wait that was a foregone conclusion, I guess there weren't any real surprises last night other than that the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted 3 point guards but more on that later. Hasheem Thabeet was taken second overall by the Memphis Grizzlies and then the T'wolves drafted Ricky Rubio the point guard from Spain 5th and then Syracuse PG Johnny Flynn 6th. The Warriors drafted Stephen Curry 7th and "Psycho T" Tyler Hansbrough was taken by the Indiana Pacers with the 13th pick in the draft. Minnesota drafted their 3rd PG in Ty Lawson from North Carolina but they traded him to the Denver Nuggets, which really works out for Lawson in the long run because he gets to sit and learn from a great veteran like Chauncey Billups.
The Detroit Pistons took Gonzaga forward Austin Daye with the 15th pick, Daye averaged 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds in his sophomore season with Zags. Daye is tall and lanky at 6'11'' but he only weighs in at 192 pounds and will probably get beasted by most small and power forwards in the NBA. In the 2nd round Detroit ended up with 3 picks with the key players being their first and last pick of the round, Georgetown small forward Dejaun Summers who averaged 13.6 points and 4.1 boards and Arizona shooting guard Chase Budinger who led the Wildcats with 18 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists during his junior season. Sandwiched between those picks was Jonas Jerekbo a SF from Sweden, the Pistons addressed a few of their problems but they are obviously setting themselves up for this year and next year's free agency pool.
The Chicago Bulls had only 2 picks both of which were in the 1st round and they addressed their need for a couple of big bodies who can contribute on both ends of the floor. With the 16th pick they took James Johnson a power forward from Wake Forest. Johnson is 6'8'' and 220 pounds and averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds during his sophomore season with the Demon Deacons. 10 picks later the Bulls took Taj Gibson a PF from USC who is tall 6'10'' but skinny 214 pounds but he did dominate during the PAC-10 season averaging 14.3 points and 9 boards. Chicago got some guys who can score but they are under sized. Like a lot of the Bulls picks lately these guys have potential but they are probably a few years out from really contributing.
The Cleveland Cavaliers used the last pick of the 1st on Christian Eyenga a 6'6'' 220lbs SF from the Congo. This pick came as a surprise because this kid is raw offensively and will take a few years to develop and the Cavs are looking to win now. He might be able to help on the defensive end but he won't have any major contributions for a few years. The Cavs traded to get back into the 2nd round and they sured up their perimeter defense by drafting Danny Green a 6'7'' 208lb SF from North Carolina. Green routinely hit big 3 point shots for the Heels during their march to the national title and he was usually the best player on the defensive end of the court. The Cavs had a good draft with picking up Green who should be able to contribute right away but Eyenga will be a work in progress.
And in probably the biggest move so far this offseason the Orlando Magic traded reserve PG Rafer Alston, PF Tony Battie, and SG Courtney Lee to the New Jersey Nets for Vince Carter. This move puts the Magic as the favorite to win the East next season barring some huge free agent signing/trading by the Cavs or Celtics. Vince is getting a little old but hes always been the number 1 scoring option and has been dominate at times but now he won't have to try as hard because he has a lot of talent around him. The offseason is just starting for the NBA and things should get more interesting as we move along.

GO BULLS!

The NBA Draft is tonight...

Tonight is the NBA's draft and the Los Angeles Clippers have the number 1 pick. The Clippers are going to draft Blake Griffin out of Oklahoma and then after that the draft is anyones guess. This years crop of talent is short with only a few elite players but everyone of them has a question mark in some capacity. Ricky Rubio is a big point guard who is only 18 but he's been playing pro basketball in Spain since he was 14. The knock on Rubio is his shot but the kid is only 18 and has a few years to learn to develop a solid jump shot(Lebron has been in the league 5 years and he still doesn't have a jump shot) and he also has to buy out his contract from his pro Spain team before he can come over and play. Hasheem Thabeet is a tall, lanky defensive stud but he won't be able to control the paint like he did in college and he doesn't have an offensive game. Stephen Curry is the best pure shooter in the draft but many feel he won't be able to dominate like he did at Davidson. I don't know why Ty Lawson is not higher on draft boards because he developed into a leader during last year and his speed and quickness is unrivaled by anyone in the league. The knock on Lawson is his size but look at Derron Williams and Chris Paul, plus he had a tremendous assist to turnover ratio and learned how to knock down clutch 3 point shots. Also how is Tyler Hansbrough low on draft boards, the man was every one's main focus on defense and he faced double and triple teams his entire career and he still averaged over 20 points. Hansbrough is battle tested and he has evolved in every year of his college career facing the top competition year in and year out. Tyler will be a good pro just for the fact he won't take plays, days, or games off and he has a motor that very few in the NBA have.
The Bulls have 2 first round picks and there is a lot of speculation as to who they will take. Dejuan Blair is high on their board, he will bring a big body who can play defense but he has very little offensive game. The Bulls really need a good swing man and a big scoring guy but I doubt they will find what they are looking for in this draft. I'm looking forward to seeing who they will draft and also where Lawson, Hansbrough, and Wayne Ellington will go. Coverage starts tonight at 7:30p

GO BULLS!

Shaq headed to eat Cleveland...

The big news on the eve of the NBA Draft is the Cleveland Cavaliers trading for Shaquille O'Neal with the Phoenix Suns. The Suns got in return a retiring Ben Wallace, a useless Sasha Pavlovic, cash, and the 2nd round pick in tonight's draft. This is a terrible trade for both teams, the only reason the Suns made the trade was so they can free up salary and starting rebuilding for the next few years. The reason the Cavs made the trade was to make it look like they are trying to keep Lebron beyond next year but on paper the trade does not make sense, if the Cavs were really serious about keeping James they would open the checkbook and sign some free agents. Here are the negatives and positives of this trade for the Cleveland Cavaliers:

The Big Lazy will camp out in the key which will make it more difficult for King James to score his points since he doesn't have a good jump shot. Also how will Shaq help the Cavs make open shots or help other guys create shots since that has been their main problem over the last few years? The Cavs traded for him to contend with Dwight Howard but at this point in Shaq's career he is a defensive liability because he won't be able to keep up with Howard or the other younger guys. Cleveland's main defensive problem was that they weren't able to defend the perimeter, they gave up 26 3-pointers to the Magic in one game, how does Shaq solve that problem? While with the Suns he had to get in where he could fit in with a wide open offense and he had the best distributor in the game in Steve Nash, how will he handle another open, fast paced offense in Cleveland? Shaq only seems to respond to coaches who have rings, like Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, when he had a lesser known coach he did whatever he wanted to and even caused some problems in Miami before Riley took over, so how will he handle Mike Brown who isn't really that good of a coach anyway? How is his body going to respond to the cold weather of Cleveland after Shaq has spent his entire career in sunny Florida, California, and Arizona? There are a lot of questions the Cavs have to answer but only time will tell.

The East is always wide open on who will win it and with Shaq the Cavs have an advantage over most teams due to the leadership he brings to the table. Another positive out of this trade is that Shaq should be super motivated with Kobe winning his 4th title and he hopefully realizes this is his best chance to win another title. Also this helps Zydrunas Ilgauskas because he is just as old and broken down as Shaq is, but the 2 should be able to split minutes and keep each other healthy. Shaq might help on the defensive side because guys won't have to worry as much about whats going on in the key and they can be more aggressive around the perimeter.
I guess as long as they get more production out of him then they did from Wallace and Pavlovic the trade will end up being worth it in the end. The jury is still out on this trade but the Cavs still have work to do this off season like getting more athletic on both ends of the floor and they need someone who can hit a clutch shot.

Steelers sign Starks to 4 year extension...

Max Starks signed a 4 year deal after being placed under the franchise tag by the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier in the off season. The move frees up money for the Steelers so they can probably give extensions to a few of their upcoming free agents. After being drafted in the third-round out of Florida in 2004 Starks made 30 straight starts from 2005-2006 including playing right tackle during Super Bowl 40.He will remain at the Left Tackle spot for the Steelers, where he started the last 11 games including Super Bowl 43, until at least the 2012 season. After Bill Cowher retired Starks feel out of favor with Mike Tomlin and his new regime but he persevered and stepped up when he was needed. Last year the Steelers placed the transition tag on Starks allowing him to make $6.9 million just for being the back up going into the season but Marvel Smith went on the IR mid way through the year and did not return. Smith left via free agency to join the San Francisco 49ers.

The move frees up money so the Steelers can offer extensions to one of their many free agents for the next off season which includes Casey Hampton, Heath Miller, Jeff Reed, Brett Kiesel, and Ryan Clark. I would love to see the Steelers get Miller taken care of and make him a Steeler for life. Then I think they should extend Hampton for a year or 2 while Ziggy Hood develops and then Ryan Clark should be next because he has been the perfect compliment to Troy Polamalu. Jeff Reed is the only kicker who can make a field goal in Heinz Field so it would be pretty hard to replace him but he is a notorious party boy in Pittsburgh which could work against him come negotiation time. Brett Kiesel has been rock solid for the Steeler defense but hes getting up there in age and they drafted a couple of guys who could soon replace him.

I have complete faith in the front office of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they have a proven track record and they have a method that has been successful for them for many years. Their front office has a knack for knowing when a player is past his prime and they usually have someone waiting right there to step up and fill the void. I can't wait for the upcoming season so I can watch my Steelers defend their Super Bowl crown!

GO STEELERS!

Cavs have alot of questions this offseason...

Despite making it back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2nd time in 4 years the Cleveland Cavaliers have a lot of personnel questions to answer. Ben Wallace said he is thinking of retiring soon, like this off season, so he won't be that enticing to anyone as trade bait plus he is not worth what he is making. Anderson Varejao is opting out of his contract at the end of the month and is probably signing elsewhere so they will need to fill his energy void. Delonte West is good but he would be coming off the bench for any other team. Daniel Gibson needs to play more or they should use him as trade bait. And Zydrunas Ilgauskas is old and shoots to many shots from outside of the key.

There are a lot of good free agents that will be available this year and the Cavs don't need to trade to pick themselves up a viable 2nd option for James. Ben Gordon will probably be available and would be a great compliment to Lebron and he would knock down open shots. Mike Bibby, Jason Kidd, Rasheed Wallace, Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Andre Miller, Shawn Marion, and Carlos Boozer are all unrestricted free agents and would be huge up grades over the players they currently have or are losing to free agency. The majority of those guys have a lot of playoff experience and would help the Cavs win their first NBA title.

Now on to the rumors, the Cavs trading for Shaq does not make much sense for them or the Suns. First Cleveland would actually have to give something up in order to get Shaq, I'm sorry but a broken down Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic 's 5.8 points per game are not enough to get Shaq. The Suns will actually want something in return, like say Delonte West or Mo Williams, but the Cavs don't want to part with either so that's out of the question. Secondly Shaq is going to retire within the next 3 years and many believe James is gone after next year if they don't win a title. Plus Shaq will just camp out in the key and get in the way of Lebron, creating offensive confusion. And who will make the open shots when the other team is guarding the Big Lazy and King James in the paint?

With a Chinese group of investors taking minority ownership of the Cavs there are now talks of Yao Ming coming in a trade. Yao would be a slight upgrade at best over Big Z and at worst he would be a lateral move. Sure Yao scores and rebounds more, 19.1 and 9.3 to Z's 14.3 and 7.9, but Yao has not played a full season in 5 years and has been hurt either going into or during the playoffs. Say what you want about Ilgauskas but at least he's been healthy down the stretch. Also who are the Cavs going to give up in the trade that would be fair value for a healthy Yao Ming. This also doesn't answer Cleveland's main problem of who is going to make the wide open shots when Lebron draws the double team in the key.

I think Cleveland needs to look to free agent pool for their answers because they don't have the pieces to move to get the players that they want. Cleveland has a lot of cap space and could free up more if Wallace retires so it's not like money is a problem for them right now. Also if they can work on an extension for James that could free up more money to sign a few of the available guys.

More rain pushes U.S. Open finale to Monday, hopefully...

The rain shortened the day on Saturday meaning they will attempt to start playing today at noon and they will hopefully crown a champion by Monday morning. Ricky Barnes is atop the leader board shooting a record 8 under 132 giving him a shot lead over Lucas Glover and the best midway score in the tournaments 109 year history. Tiger Woods is 11 shots back and unless he can pull one of the many tricks out of his bag he is going to loose this U.S. Open. Phil Mickelson is 1 under but he can't wait for this tournament to get over so he can go on vacation with his wife before they start her battle with breast cancer. The rain is the worse thing that can happen for the PGA because it pushes back the final round to when people will be working and most won't be able to attend or watch on t.v. The rain also neutralizes the talent so therefore Tiger won't be competing when they need it the most. Oh well I guess I was wrong on thinking Tiger would win but I did say that only Tiger or the course could beat him and that's what it looks like right now. Hats off to Ricky Barnes hopefully he can pull it off and not ruin his tremendous start with some choke job down the stretch.

Stallworth suspended indefinitely, U.S. Open rained out, and Ovechkin wins NHL MVP award...

The NFL suspended Donte' Stallworth indefinitely for this upcoming season after he coped a plea for 30 days in jail for killing a guy with his while driving drunk. Under commissioner Goodell's new NFL that was the right thing to do, Stallworth does not deserve to play one down of football this entire year. Stallworth was celebrating his multi-million dollar roster bonus that he received from the Cleveland Browns and you're telling me he couldn't afford a cab or to pay someone to drive him home. The NFL has a policy setup where the players can call a number when at a club and they will get a taxi ride for free no questions asked, why don't any of these guys use the darned thing, I guess the theory is that it could be used against them come negotiation time but whats more important a few extra dollars or yours or someone else's life. Getting a DUI with that kind of money is just plain ignorant and should not be tolerated and I hope that Stallworth never sees the field again.


The U.S. Open was rained out yesterday so the players will try to fit 2 days of golf into one day. Mother nature prevented Tiger Woods from getting off to a fast start with the rain ending his day tied 12th at +1 after 6 holes. The leaders are Jeff Brehaut, Johan Edfors, and Andrew Parr at-1 with Brehaut finishing 11 holes. Phil Mickelson didn't even get a chance to start with the rain cancelling the day after only 3 and a half hours of play.


The NHL awards were last night and Alexander Ovechkin took the MVP award over Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk. Ovechkin won the Hart award overwhelmingly over Malkin and Datsyuk and is the first repeat winner since Dominik Hasek won the award in 1997 and 98 for the Buffalo Sabres. Alex the Great also won the NHL Players' Association's Lester B. Pearson Award, which is voted on by the players themselves. Datsyuk would not walk away empty handed winning the Lady Bing Trophy for displaying gentlemanly play and skill and he also won the Selke Trophy for being the league's best defensive foward. Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas won the Vezina Trophy for the league's top goalie, fellow Bruin Zdeno Chara won the Norris trophy for being the best defenseman in the league, and Bruins coach Claude Julien won the Jack Adams award as the top coach in the NHL. Columbus goalie Steve Mason helped lead his team to their first ever playoff bid ever and was rewarded by winning Calder trophy for the NHL's rookie of the year. Evgeni Malkin may have walked away empty handed but at least he won the biggest trophy of them all just about a week ago, that would be the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe. GO PENGUINS!

The U.S. Open starts today, I bet you Tiger wins...

The U.S. Open starts today and Tiger Woods will be defending his crown from last year in his 2nd major after having knee surgery, finishing 6th in the Masters. Tiger is coming off a win at the Memorial and he usually has a mental edge over the field but they especially can't feel too confident knowing he won this event last year on a bad knee and then won his previous tournament still adjusting to the repaired knee. I'll always take Tiger over the field because the only way he really loses is when he beats himself or the course beats him, which Bethpage Black has really good chance of doing since it is super long. Phil Mickelson is playing for his wife who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer so that might give him extra motivation but will it be enough to get him past Tiger? My guess is no. There is not really a name in the field that I would feel comfortable selecting to win this year other than Tiger, the other guys are good but in Tiger's absence no one stepped up and took control and if you can't do it while he's gone what makes you think they will do it now. Whatever happened to Vijay Singh? He was the only guy with enough intestinal fortitude to stand up to Tiger but that was like 5 years ago and since then he is nowhere near as good or mentally tough. Tiger has played in 7 events this year, he's won 2 and has finished in the top 10 in 6 of those events. He is going for his 4th U.S. Open title and his 15th major overall trailing Jack Nicklaus by 4. Did I mention that I think Tiger Woods will win the U.S. Open? Anyway golf during Father's day weekend is always fun, usually exciting and should be that way this year, plus it's the only sporting event I care about for the next 3 months. Go Tiger!

Lakers capture 15th NBA Title with 99-86 win over Magic...

Kobe Bryant led the Los Angeles Lakers to their 15th NBA Title by knocking off the Orlando Magic 99-86 in Game 5 of the Finals. Kobe lead all scorers with 30 points to go along with his 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks, and 2 steals in winning his 4th NBA title, his first without Shaq. Pau Gasol added another double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds in winning his first NBA Title. Phil Jackson won his 10th NBA title passing Red Auerbach as the coach with most NBA titles. Lamar Odom put in another great effort off the bench with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Game 4 hero Derek Fisher scored 14 points and Trevor Ariza had 15 points for the Lakers. The Magic got an all around effort from their team but they were not shooting anywhere like they did against the Cavaliers or like in Game 3 finishing this game shooting only 41%. Dwight Howard scored only 11 points on 5-9 shooting, Rashard Lewis scored 18 but shot 6-19 and a terrible 3-12 from beyond the arc. Hedu Turkoglu and Rafer Alston scored 12 a piece but they provided little leadership or accurate shooting. I figured the Lakers would win by 15, they won by 13 so I was close. The Magic were over whelmed before they even started the series with Kobe Bryant doing everything he could to not be denied for a third time. Orlando lives and dies by the 3 point shot and those teams rise and fall very quickly which is exactly what happened to this team, they rose quick knocking off the Celtics and then the Cavs but faded fast being outplayed in every game even the one they won. Kobe was named the Finals MVP. I'm glad they got it out of the way so n ow other teams can start winning the Title and so the NBA can share the wealth.

What a sports year so far....

Wow what a sports year it has been for me so far this year. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame started things off ending their 9 game bowl losing streak by knocking off the Hawaii Warriors 49-21 in the Hawaii Bowl. In the game Jimmy Clausen set the Notre Dame bowl game record for most passing yards with 401 yards while completing 84.6 percent of his passes(21-26) and 5 touchdowns which are also team bowl records.
Then in February the Pittsburgh Steelers won their 2nd championship in 4 years by squeaking past the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in Super Bowl 43. The NFL's Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown before the end of the half changing momentum and giving the Steelers a 17-7 lead. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 256 yards and 1 td which was the game winner with only 35 seconds remaining. Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes, finished with 9 catches for 131 yards, was on the receiving end of the game winning touchdown in which he had to catch the ball over his shoulder and keep his feet in bounds as he was falling out of the back of the end zone. The Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team to win 6 Super Bowl Championships. The Steelers won a divisional round match up against the San Diego Chargers 35-24. The Steelers won the AFC Championship against the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 after Holmes caught another controversial TD pass against the Ravens.
In April I got to go to Ford Field in Detroit to watch the Final 4 teams practice and I got Wayne Ellington's autograph. The North Carolina Tar Heels routed the Michigan State Spartans 89-72 to win the 2009 NCAA National Championship. The Tar Heels were led by Junior PG Ty Lawson who finished with 21 points, 6 assists, and an NCAA title game record 8 steals while helping them win their 2nd championship in 5 years and their 5th overall. The Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 Final 4 was Wayne Ellington who ended the game with 19 points and Senior star Tyler Hansbrough had 18 points to go with 7 rebounds.
The end of April brought along the NBA playoffs and the Chicago Bulls were facing the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in a first round match up. The Bulls pushed the Celtics to the brink of elimination but came up just short losing 109-99 in Game 7. This was probably the most exciting series in a long time for the NBA with 4 games going into overtime and the teams trading clutch shots. The Bulls stole game 1 in OT, lost game 2 on a buzzer beater, were blown out in game 3, needed OT to even the series, lost in OT, evened the series again but this time in 2OT, and ran out of gas in game 7 ending the most entertaining playoff series this decade.
The Pittsburgh Penguins went 18-3-4 over the last 25 regular season games to finish 4th in the Eastern Conference Finals and they got a 1st round match up against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins dispatched the Flyers in Philadelphia in 6 games. Pittsburgh then squared off against the Washington Capitals. The Caps took an early 2-0 series lead before the Penguins won 3 straight including Game 5 on the road. The Pens failed to wrap it up at home but showed a lot of grit by blowing out the Caps at home in Game 7 6-2. The Penguins swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals wrapping the series up in Carolina winning both games by a combined score of 10-3. The Penguins would get a rematch against the Detroit Red Wings and knocked them off in 7 games winning in Detroit in the clincher. Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe trophy for the playoffs MVP. The Penguins won the 3rd Stanley Cup in team history.
I'm not sure what the rest of the year will bring but I'm pretty excited about the possibilities. My wife and I may go to Pittsburgh for our anniversary to attend the Steelers training camp. I plan on making it to a couple of Steelers games this year, they play in Detroit in December or the Penguins and Flyers are up for the Winter Classic game in Happy Valley on New Year's day. I may be the road engineer for the UT Rockets again which would mean I will go watch the Rockets play at Purdue, Florida International, and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Cleveland Browns Stadium. So who knows but the possibilities are endless.

Penguins beat the odds, win Stanley Cup 2-1 over the Red Wings...

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the odds by going into Joe Louis Arena and knocking off the defending Stanley Cup Champions Detroit Red Wings 2-1 to win their first Cup since 1992. Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe award, the playoff MVP, finishing the series with 8 points(2 goals, 6 assists). The 1st period of the game was what many expected a tough, physical game with the action flowing back and forth and both teams counter punching, ended in a scoreless tie. The Penguins jumped out to a quick start in the 2nd period when Malkin forced a turnover which lead to Maxime Talbot leading the puck out in front of Chris Osgood and firing shot into the net for the 1-0 lead. Talbot forced another turnover which lead to a 2-on-1 and Max let one rip over Osgood's shoulder and just under the cross bar for a 2-o lead. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby left the game 6 minutes into the 2nd after taking a hit for Henrik Zetterberg against the boards in which Crosby appeared to hurt his hip or knee. The Red Wings finished the period with a flurry of shots but Marc-Andre Fleury stood tall and kept the game 2-0 after 40 minutes of game time. The Wings kept the pressure on in the 3rd and it finally payed off for them when Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom fed the puck to Jonathan Ericcson who fired a shot over the shoulder of Fleury and into the net to cut the Pittsburgh lead in half 2-1. Crosby returned for a shift in the 3rd but left after a moment. Crosby later said of the injury,"It was so painful, being a captain and seeing what the guys are doing out there blocking shots. You get to the point where you've got to ask yourself whether you're going to be hurting your team by being out there. I knew I had everything I could to numb it or try to play through it. At the same time, I'm playing against [Pavel] Datsyuk and [Henrik] Zetterberg. One misstep and I could cost the guys a lot of hard work. I didn't want to be the guy who did that." Detroit eventually pulled Osgood to get the man advantage but Fleury denied them every chance he got including the winning save with 1 second left when he dove across the crease to block the shot from Lidstrom. Fleury finished with 23 saves. Crosby became the youngest captain to ever hoist the Stanley Cup and only the second ever in the history of the Penguins. Malkin finished as the leader in points in both the regular season(113) and post season with 36 points which is the most since Wayne Gretzky recorded 40 in 1993. Crosby and Malkin are the first teammates to each record 30 or more points in the same postseason in 15 years. Hats off to the Detroit Red Wings who are a classy organization and they played one hell of a series. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins for winning their 3rd Stanley Cup Title!

GO PENGUINS!

Regardless of what happens tonight the Penguins still accomplished something...

Tonight is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Everybody keeps saying that the Wings have it won because they are 11-1 at home in these playoffs including being 3-0 in this series, but the Pens are a feisty young team and are capable of pulling off the upset. Pittsburgh went on the road in Game 6 against Philadelphia and closed out the series, won a Game 7 in Washington against the Capitals, and swept the Hurricanes in Carolina so they are capable of winning big games on the road but those teams weren't the Red Wings. Regardless of what happens tonight though the Penguins have nothing to be a shamed of they made a return trip to the Finals after being in 10th place in the East only 4 months earlier. The team fired Michel Therrien, the man who got them to the Finals the previous season, and promoted Dan, who was playing in the Stanley Cup Finals only 6 years ago, from their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Penguins went 18-3-4 leaping from 10th to 4th in the East and knocking off their cross state rival on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games. Then they faced the star power of Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The Pens went into Washington and won Game 5 and ultimately Game 7. Pittsburgh swept the Carolina Hurricanes winning in Carolina by a combined score of 10-3. The Penguins played the Wings tough in the first 2 games and could have won them if they would have gotten a few breaks to go their way. They took it to the Red Wings in Pittsburgh winning both games in a tough physical fashion. The Penguins lost their composure in Game 5 and Detroit took advantage of it routing them 5-0 and looking poised to repeat. But the Pens came back in Game 6 and out muscled the Wings forcing a Game 7 with a 2-1 win. Just by forcing a Game 7 the Penguins set themselves up for an opportunity to be a win away from the Stanley Cup which very few people thought would happen. Pittsburgh's 3 big stars need to be exactly that tonight in order to quiet the raucous Motown crowd. If the Penguins play with the grit and poised that got them here then they will set themselves up for a golden opportunity to win the Stanley Cup for a 3rd time. This should be awesome for the NHL with prime time on a Friday night and 2 star studded teams giving it all in one game for Lord Stanley's Cup and a chance at immortality.

GO PENGUINS!

Lakers force overtime, win 99-91, take 3-1 series lead...

Derek Fisher's late game heroics and Dwight Howard's kryptonite(free throws) lead to the Los Angeles Lakers to take a 3-1 stranglehold over the Orlando Magic with a 99-91 overtime victory. Fisher forced overtime by nailing a 3 with 4.6 seconds left just after Dwight Howard missed 2 free throws that would have given the Magic a 5 point lead and an even series heading back to L.A. Fisher then put the nail in the coffin making another clutch 3pt basket with 31 seconds left in the overtime to take a 94-91 lead. Fisher finished with 12 points. Kobe Bryant continued his unselfishness dishing out 8 assists to go along with a game high 32 points and 7 rebounds. Pau Gasol had another double-double ending up with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Lamar Odom finished with only 9 points and 5 boards. Trevor Ariza provided a much needed spark hitting 3-4 3 pointers giving him 16 points including 13 in the 3rd quarter. Dwight Howard put in a Superman like effort with 16 points, 21 rebounds, and an NBA Finals record 9 blocks but he found his kryptonite at the line shooting a terrible 6-14 from the line. Hedo Turkgolu lead the Magic in scoring with 25 points but Rashard Lewis was held to just 6 points on 2-10 shooting. Rafer Alston had 11 points and Mickael Pietrus had 15 but the Magic shot horribly and no one else contributed. The Lakers were down 12 at halftime but Ariza blew up in the 3rd and the Lakers a 4 point lead going into the 4th. The Lakers will wrap things up in Orlando on Sunday night in Game 5, the Magic would have to shoot 63% again just to be able to hang in this next game. I expect the Lakers to win by at least 15 points and to cruise to their 15th NBA title.

LAKERS LEAD SERIES 3-1 OVER THE MAGIC

I have nothing to talk about today...

I tried putting it off as long as I could but I just could not find anything to write about today. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tomorrow, tonight is Game 4 of the NBA Finals but Ill be in bed before the end of the first quarter, and baseball just plain sucks. There are minor stories out there but none of them catch my fancy. I don't care about Brett Favre until he comes out of retirement and I'm sick of every little update about what he's doing or what the Minnesota Vikings are saying or not saying. Baseball is just too boring to watch and every play looks exactly the same. Tiger Woods won the other day but it's not news unless he wins another major and gets closer to Jack Nicklaus. Alabama is getting penalized by the NCAA and will have to forfeit all games from 2005-2007, but they've been irrelevant for the last decade so big whoop. Baseball sucks. Derrick Rose has a picture on the Internet throwing up gang signs at a party but who cares he is not hurting anybody and he released a very mature statement about the pics, so what you want but it sounds good. I'm really looking forward to Game 7 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings tomorrow, I believe the Pens can do it but they just need to be patient and good things will come.

GO PENGUINS!

Magic win first Finals game ever 108-104 in Game 3...

The Orlando Magic used a record setting shooting performance to knock off the Los Angeles Lakers 108-104 to get their first ever Finals victory. The Magic shot a record 62.5 percent from the floor including making a ridiculous 75% of their shots in the first half and they got help from everyone in the effort to end their 6 game Finals losing streak. Dwight Howard had 21 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal which came in the closing seconds when Kobe Bryant was trying to take over with a drive through the lane, Howard tipped the ball to teammate Mickael Pietrus who was fouled. Pietrus scored 18 points, Rashard Lewis contributed 21, Hedo Turkoglu had 18, and Rafer Alston threw in 20 points to round out the all around effort for the Magic. Kobe Bryant scored 31 points to go along with 8 assists but went only 5-10 from the free throw line including missing crucial freebies down the stretch. Pau Gasol chipped in 23 points in the losing effort and had only 3 rebounds, but when the opposing team shoots 62 percent how are you supposed to get more rebounds. Trevor Ariza had 13 points, Lamar Odom came off the bench with 11, and Jordan Farmar chipped in 11 points also. Andrew Bynum has been a disappointment so far for the Lakers in the Finals but this is his first taste of playoff basketball plus going against Howard what do you expect. The Magic live and die by the 3, yesterday they definitely lived by it but they can't assume they will get the same luck in the next game and they will die more often than not shooting that many 3's. Game 4 in Thursday in Orlando.

LAKERS LEAD SERIES 2-1 OVER THE MAGIC

Penguins stave off elimination, force Game 7, defeat Red Wings 2-1...

Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded from his horrible Game 5 performance to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings to even the series at 3. In the first period the Penguins came out on fire and established the pace early limiting the Wings to only 3 shots on goal. For the first time all series these 2 were tied at 0 at the end of the first. In the second it took Jordan Stahl only 51 seconds to break the tie when he and Tyler Kennedy had a 2-on-1 but Stahl kept it to himself, shot the puck, missed and put back his own rebound for a 1-0 Penguins lead. The rest of the period the 2 teams battled back and forth ending the period with the score 1-0 even though Henrik Zetterberg had a shot ricochet off the post and land underneath Fleury who prevented it from going in the net. In the third period MMMMMMMMRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Kennedy, Tyler Kennedy scored what turned out to be the game winner 5 minutes into the period for his 5th goal of the playoffs. Maxime Talbot and Ruslan Fedotenko kept the puck alive in the Wings zone and got the puck to Kennedy who tried a wrap around goal but missed and then he flicked his own rebound up and over Chris Osgood's glove for a 2-0 lead. After that the Red Wings woke up and tried furiously to get back into the game, and veteran Kris Draper provided exactly what they needed. Draper grabbed a Jonathon Ericcson rebound and got the puck past Fleury to cut the Pittsburgh lead in half 2-1. Daniel Cleary had a breakaway opportunity but he was stoned by Fleury with a kick save to keep the Pens in the lead. With 13.7 seconds left and an empty-net the Wings had their best scoring chance denied by Rob Scuderi who was acting like a goalie on this play. Johan Franzen crashed the net with puck and Scuderi was in the crease and block the shot with his stick, then blocked the rebound with his shin, then blocked the final rebound attempt with his skate before Fleury finally fell on it to secure the victory 2-1. Fleury stopped 25 shots while rebounding from his Game 5 performance, but his opposite Osgood played lights out making 29 saves while stopping several very strong scoring chances from Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin, and Kennedy. If a lesser goalie was in the net for the Wings this series would be over now in favor of Pittsburgh, and last night would have been at least 4-1. For the first time all post-season the Pens 2 big stars were held without a point in a win. Game 7 will be awesome as long as the Pens play with the poise and patience they displayed in their last home game.Game 7 is Friday night back in Detroit.

SERIES TIED AT 3 BETWEEN THE PENGUINS AND RED WINGS

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Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals...

Tonight is Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The first four games of this series went exactly how the Penguins wanted it to go, well of course they wanted to steal one in Detroit but they played good enough to win those first two games, losing both 3-1. Chris Osgood dominated Games 1 and 2 he single handedly shut down the Penguins powerful offense. When the series moved to Pittsburgh the Pens stole the momentum and Marc-Andre Fleury played out of his mind and was a big reason the series was tied at two, winning both games 4-2. In Game 5 the Wings got a much needed boost from Pavel Datsyuk returning from injury and he made an immediate impact drilling Evgeni Malkin to the ice and assisting on the first goal of the game. The Penguins then self imploded and played the worst any team could play in the Cup Finals and they only lost 5-0, it should have been a lot worse but it wasn't. The Penguins should be able to regroup at home and send this series back to Detroit for a Game 7, but if the they act like they did in Game 5 I don't want to see them play again. Hopefully Pittsburgh will keep their heads, be patient, and keep playing their style of game and good things should happen for them.

RED WINGS LEAD SERIES 3-2 OVER PENGUINS

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Barry Church interview...

Barry Church is the starting Safety for the Toledo Rockets and finished second on the team with 93 tackles. Barry has been selected as a 3rd team All-American by Phil Steele's 2009 College Football Preview publication and in the same issue they predict the Rockets to finish 3rd in the MAC West this season. Church has earned being named to the 1st team All-MAC 3 straight years and his highlights include recording 19 tackles in a game against the Iowa State Cyclones in 2007, and returned an interception 84 yards in the 4th quarter against the Kansas Jayhawks helping the Rockets win 37-31 in 2OT.

Lakers win in overtime 101-96, take 2-0 series lead...

The Los Angeles Lakers needed some luck and then Kobe Bryant did his thing in leading the Lakers to a 2-0 series lead by defeating the Orlando Magic 101-96 in overtime. With .6 seconds remaining the Magic had the ball on an inbounds play and Courtney Lee tried for a tip in to win the game but came up just short letting the game go to overtime. Pau Gasol scored 24 points including seven in the OT to go along with 10 rebounds and 3 assists in the winning effort. Kobe has rediscovered his teammates by leading the team in assists for the second straight game to go along with his team high 29 points. Lamar Odom provided a spark off the bench with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Orlando's big three were exactly that but the rest of the team did not show up. Dwight Howard had 17 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, and 4 steals becoming only the second player in the history of the NBA playoffs to put up those kind of numbers(Hakeem Olajuwon was the first). Rashard Lewis threw in a game high 34 points with 11 rebounds and 7 assists and Hedo Turkgolu had 22 points while playing the point guard position most of the night. The Lakers have this series in the bag unless they pull one of their patented let's not show up for this game syndrome, but you know it lasts for four straight games. The Magic still have a lot of room to grow and as long as they keep this team together they will be competing for championships for some years to come. Game 3 is Tuesday night in Orlando.
LAKERS LEAD SERIES 2-0 OVER THE MAGIC

Red Wings crush Penguins 5-0, take 3-2 series lead...

The Detroit Red Wings absolutely crushed the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-0 in Game 5 last night. The Penguins played horrendously and the Wings defense was suffocating allowing the Pens only 22 shots on goal. The Red Wings got Pavel Datsyuk back and he sparked the teams power play unit to an efficient 3-9 including drawing penalties and assisting on goals during a 6 minute period in the second when they went 3-4 and converting on a 5-on-3. Many of the Pittsburgh penalties were stupid and unnecessary and were usually done out of frustration, Evegni Malkin got rocked by Datsyuk and later took one of his three lazy penalties resulting in a Detroit goal. Marc-Andre Fleury had the worst game of his career giving up all five goals and looking lost for big chunks of the second period before being pulled with 4 minutes left in the period. The Pens defense wasn't much better contributing to Fleury's awful night by allowing a defense man to plant himself in front of Fleury all night long. The Penguins were thoroughly embarrassed and should be ashamed of themselves, but at the same time it's not like they were on their game and received the butt whooping, they should be able to regroup at home. Game 6 is Tuesday in Pittsburgh and the Penguins need to come out strong and fast if they want to force a Game 7.
RED WINGS LEAD SERIES 3-2 OVER THE PENGUINS

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Lakers rout Magic 100-75 in Game 1...

Kobe Bryant scored 40 points and the Los Angeles Lakers shut down Dwight Howard en rout of routing the Orlando Magic 100-75 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers quickly erased memories of last years bitter ending to their season by jumping all over the Magic and making sure history will not repeat itself. Kobe had his best game of the post season scoring 40 points along with 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, Bryant scored 16 in the first half to give the Lakers a 10 point half time lead, then he scored 18 in the third to put the game out of reach by 24. Pau Gasol contributed 16 points and 8 rebounds, and Lamar Odom had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers. When a Phil Jackson coached team wins Game 1 they are 43-0 all time, so the Magic have already lost the battle. Dwight Howard had 12 points and 15 rebounds but on 1-6 shooting. Against the Cavs the Magic could not be stopped from the 3pt line but in Game 1 they shot 8-23 from beyond the arc. Hedo Turkoglu added 13 points for the Magic and Mickeal Pietrus came off the bench to score 14 points but they got no help elsewhere. Jameer Nelson came back from what was thought to be a season ending injury to score 6 points but he was supposed to give the Magic a much needed lift but he gave them very little from that standpoint. I figuerd the Lakers would take this series in 6 but after the way Kobe played it might be over in 4. Game 2 is Sunday night in star studded L.A.
LOS ANGELES LEADS SERIES 1-0 OVER ORLANDO

Stahl's shorthanded goal changes momentum of game, possibly series...

The Pittsburgh Penguins got help from all their major stars while knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings 4-2 in Game 4. Evgeni Malkin continued his unbelievable post season tear by striking first for the Penguins picking up his 14th goal of the playoffs on the first power play of the game less than three minutes in. Darren Helm would tie the game up on an unassisted goal just before the end of the period. For second the straight game the Wings looked poised to dominate the second period with Brad Stuart scoring only 49 seconds into the period. Stuart ripped a shot but Marc-Andre Fleury was screened by his own player and was unable to react before it was to late. The Wings kept the pressure up drawing consecutive penalties against the Pens but the Wings were unable to capitalize. During the 3 minutes and 59 seconds of short handed hockey, Jordan Stahl stole the puck a raced up ice and wristing a shot past Chris Osgood to even the game at 2 a piece. Stahl's short handed goal would prove to be the back breaker because the Pens seized momentum from the Wings with Sidney Crosby scoring the winning goal only two minutes later. Malkin and Crosby had a 2-on-1 and Malkin fed Crosby a nice pass and Sid was able to finally get a goal putting the puck past Osgood for the lead. MMMMMMMMRRRRRRRRRR. Kennedy, Tyler Kennedy would put the game out of reach after scoring his fourth goal of the playoffs off an assist from Crosby. In the third period the Pens played stifling defense and held on to the lead and the 4-2 victory. Fleury played tremendously stopping 37 shots including making some spectacular saves preventing the Wings from seizing the series. Chris Osgood faced 31 shots stopping 27. Malkin now has 35 points in the post season taking a four point lead over Crosby, who leads all players in goals in the playoffs with 15. The Pens handled business at home, now they need to steal Game 5 in Detroit so they can try to wrap it up at home. If this series goes 7 who knows what will happen but Detroit has played in enough of them to be the favorite to win it all, plus they will be at home.
SERIES TIED AT 2 BETWEEN THE PENGUINS AND RED WINGS

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Fleury, Gonchar give Pens enough to get back into series, knock off Detroit 4-2...

In a must win scenario for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the role players stepped up and took control of Game 3 and got the Pens back in the series by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4-2. In the first period Maxime Talbot scored first for Pittsburgh to give them life, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang were credited with the assists to help put the Pens up 1-0. The Pittsburgh lead didn't last very long though because less than two minutes later Henrik Zetterberg would tie the game up and five minutes after that the Pens found themselves in a familiar hole after Johan Franzen but Wings back in front on the first power play goal of the night to take a 2-1 lead. The Penguins were bound and determined in this game to not go away so the first power play chance they got they took advantage of the opportunity. Pittsburgh defense man Kris Letang scored his fourth goal of the playoffs off a Malkin pass during the power play to even the game at 2. In the second period the Red Wings dominated the Pens out shooting them 14-4 but Marc-Andre Fleury turned each shot aside to keep the game tied at 2. In the third the Penguins found the opening they were looking for when Detroit committed a penalty and gave the Pens the only power play of the period. Sergei Gonchar took a pass for Malkin and wristed a shot past goalie Chris Osgood for what would be the eventual game winner. "The [Gonchar] power play was an unbelievable job by a handful of guys out there, keeping the play alive and giving Gonch a chance," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. On the play Sidney Crosby fed Malkin the puck and went and screened the goalie to help Gonchar put the puck in the net. Talbot would pick up his second goal of the game on an empty netter for the insurance goal and a 4-2 victory. Like I said as long as the Pens keep doing what they are doing good things will happen and they will be right back in this series. The Wings one glaring weakness is their penalty kill unit and if the Pens can force more man advantages they should be able to hold Detroit at bay. So far this series has been what the NHL has wanted, a hard hitting, intense series with little room for error. Game 4 is Thursday night back in Pittsburgh.

RED WINGS LEAD SERIES 2-1 OVER THE PENGUINS

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Same story different game, Red Wings defeat Penguins 3-1, lead series 2-0...

The Pittsburgh Penguins quieted the raucous crowd at Joe Louis Arena early but The Detroit Red Wings would have the last laugh defeating the Penguins 3-1 to take a 2-0 series lead into Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin struck first for Pittsburgh wristing a shot towards Chris Osgood but Detroit defense man Brad Stuart deflected the puck past Osgood for the first goal of the game on the first power play of the game to give the Pens their only lead in the series so far. Early in the second period Jonathan Ericsson tied it up for the Red Wings and then Valterri Filppula put the Wings ahead for good by scoring his first goal of the series making it 2-1 Wings. In the third rookie Justin Abdelkader scored the insurance goal once again sealing the victory for Detroit. Pittsburgh had plenty of chances including a Sidney Crosby has a shot go off the crossbar, Bill Guerin had another shot bounce of the crossbar, and Crosby had a shot that was reviewed and upheld after he got a rebound and knocked the puck towards the goal but a Wings defender dove on the puck preventing it from crossing the line. Evgeni Malkin finished the game in locker room after fighting with Henrik Zetterberg and missed a one game suspension after the NHL reviewed the fight ruling... "None of the criteria in this rule applied," Campbell said in a statement. "Suspensions are applied under this rule when a team attempts to send a message in the last five minutes by having a player instigate a fight. A suspension could also be applied when a player seeks retribution for a prior incident. Neither was the case here." Chris Osgood has once again been the best player on the ice stopping 31 shots and showing the young Marc-Andre Fleury how to win a championship. The Penguins aren't out of this series, with a few breaks in their favor, better coaching, and better defense(both from Fleury and also the defense not making turnovers) the Penguins will be right back in the series.
RED WINGS LEAD SERIES 2-0 OVER THE PENGUINS

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