Heading into Memorial Day Weekend there are some major story lines in the sports world. I'll preview the weekend and make my predictions in my weekend Super 6:
1. NBA Playoffs - On Saturday we'll watch an exciting Game 7 between Philly and Boston. The winner gets the Miami Heat who finished off the Pacer's last night. Although the Sixers are coming off a great win a couple days ago, I'll still give Boston the edge. The C's are playing at home and have an experience advantage with Rondo, Allen, Pierce, and Garnett. I say the "Big 4" play well and control the game. Rondo will flirt with a triple double, Allen will hit at least three 3's, Pierce will score 25+, and Garnett will have a double double. C's by 12.
In the Western Conference, fans are getting hyped for the start of the Spurs/Thunder series. I too believe it could be an extremely entertaining series and can't wait until Sunday night. I'm taking the Spurs in the series and will take them Sunday night also. They are playing well right now and will continue their winning ways. Tony Parker (not Durant or Westbrook) will be the best player. He'll go off for over 30 points and Spurs will pull away late to win by 9.
2. NHL Playoffs - All eyes are on the Eastern Conference Finals to see who will face the red-hot Kings for the Stanley Cup. Many believe the Rangers can level the series and send it to a Game 7... not me. The Devils will protect their home ice and Brodeur will play great in goal. Devils will win 2-1 in OT. The Kings will find out who they will play after tonight.
3. USA Soccer - New"ish" coach Klinsmann has gotten the defense playing well. And coming off their shutout upset at Italy a few months ago, expectations are building. My worry is the offense. I am still waiting for things to click and for the US to find some weapons outside of Dempsey.
Saturday, the US hosts Scotland in an International Friendly. As they continue to ramp up to World Cup Qualifying, I expect the Americans to find a way to win in a low scoring affair. I'll stick with the score that has become the norm: 1-0.
4. Weekend Baseball - In the NL, my eyes are drawn to the two top teams in the NL East when the Nationals head to Atlanta for some weekend fun. Although the Braves just got swept by the Reds over the last four days, these teams have started the season strong. These are the types of series that may have an impact in the standings coming down the stretch. Expect to see good pitching, timely hitting, and the series to come down the Sunday's matchup. The Braves will win the series though after Brandon Beachy pitches a gem on Sunday.
In the AL, I'll also go east again and focus on the Rays/Red Sox series. It's the Red Sox who are in last place currently and need a good showing this weekend. I'll be bold and predict that Boston sweeps Tampa Bay. This will be the weekend Boston breaks lose and makes a move in the standings. Couple this with the Celtics win and it will be a good weekend in Beantown.
5. How about a little golf. The main story line personally is that I am playing 27 holes Monday with my family. But, as I mentioned in my golf blog yesterday, the Crowne Plaza is going on at Colonial. I went with Zach Johnson (who leads after round 1 actually) and Greg went with Jason Dufner (who sits 1 back in second place). We'll see what happens this weekend though as it's been a crazy year on the PGA Tour. My guess is that whatever happens, it will once again be exciting.
6. The second slam in tennis starts this weekend as well (French Open). Novak Djokovic is the top seed, and with the win he would hold all four major trophies (Australian in January, Wimbledon and US Open in 2011). For now I'll just say that it may be a Spaniard who is celebrating at the end of the tournament, but stay tuned for a full French Open Preview this weekend.
Lastly, I hope everyone has a great weekend. But let us not forget why we celebrate this weekend (and get a day off of work Monday). I want to say thank you to all of the military that are currently serving across the globe, and thank you to the veterans who have served before. My thoughts are also with the men and women who have lost their lives serving to protect this country. My prayers go out to all of them, and their families this weekend. God bless!
Andrew
I'm looking forward to US Soccer moving forward as well. Klinsmann hopefully will continue to help the US to be more organized all over the field and expecially strong in defense. It has been tough to gauge how much he has actually improved the team because many of the best players have not been available. As World Cup Qualifying starts we should see more U.S. top line players show up and we'll have a better idea just how improved this team is. Dempsey has been great and just finished up a wonderful EPL season with Fulham. Great to see an American do well overseas.
ReplyDeleteA second soccer note is that it was great to see the "inevitable" final in the Champions league between Barca and RM derailed by Bayern and Chelsea. Its nice to know that once in awhile the script can be re-written and the best teams knocked off.
A little baseball note. Boston actually has the second best run differential in that division, so eventually that has to start turning into a better winning %. I love the story that the fighting showalters are putting together though. The AL East is competetive and its great for baseball to see a lot of teams in the hunt, especially with this being the first season the extra playoff spot is available.
Its also great to see two Indiana College players doing well in the majors. Justin Masterson (Bethel College, IN) and Brandon Beachy (Indiana Wesleyan University) are really lighting it up this year.
I know the cubs are bad this year, it was inevitable. But the future looks bright as Anthony Rizzo has a .417 OBP, is slugging .705, and has an OPS of 1.122. He plays great defense at first and Brett Jackson is starting to get it going as the weather heats up as well. Hopefully Steve Clevenger heals up soon and can get Koyie Hill out from behind the plate everyday. I'd like to see if Clevenger has what it takes to be an everyday catcher. If he does, the future combo of he and Welington Castillo could be a bright spot for the Cubs as well.
In addition to your baseball note, the interesting thing is that every team in the AL East has a positive run differential. That's crazy! Even more crazy is that the Rangers are +79. That's insane. The Cardinals are way up there too.
ReplyDeleteLastly, how come Cubs fans are always say positive things...future looks bright...this could be our year...I like our chances...GIVE IT UP. They will NEVER mean anything because they will NEVER win the World Series again. Haha!
As a recap, I was pretty much right on with what I said about the NBA playoffs and the NHL Playoff game. I was way off on the baseball predictions, but redeemed myself with an incredible Zach Johnson prediction.
ReplyDeleteUSA Soccer won (which I called) but not in the fashion I anticipated. 5-1 showed that our offense is finally getting it.
As for the French Open, see my preview and follow how my predictions are doing there!