An Exciting Sports Weekend

The NFL draft. NBA playoffs. NHL playoffs. The only negative? The Astros winning.

I worked all weekend so I didn't get to enjoy the Draft Party at Texans headquarters this year. Plus I would have missed a Penguins vs. Senators match up. Turned out to be an amazing game despite the Pens losing. Ottawa scored the game winner in the third overtime.

I'm a huge fans of the Penguins going back to the Mario Lemieux days. Everybody I knew that followed hockey and wasn't from up north was bandwagonning the Edmonton Oilers and Wayne Gretzky. I looked down the stat sheets and saw Lemieux's stats and decided front that day forth I would be a Pens fan. I'm still here all those years later.

Football and hockey are the only sports I can watch no matter who is playing. NBA basketball is pretty painful to watch these days. I grew up in San Antonio watching the Spurs. If it wasn't for them I doubt I'd watch an NBA game ever again. I'm from Texas, football is in my DNA.

The Spurs disappointed me during the regular season and falling to the 7th seed in the Western Conference. Now that it's playoff time, I'm impressed with the job they've done thus far with the Dallas Mavericks. They lost the first game in Dallas but took game two there and held serve in SA with two wins for a 3-1 series lead. The game swing back tonight to Dallas for a possible Spurs clincher.

Game 4 was brutal and harsh. The Mavericks came unglued when the game turned rough. Tempers flared on sided but the Spurs maintained their composure. The Mavs turned over the ball, missed shots and their offensive timing went haywire. The Spurs turned a deficit into a lead they would never relinquish.

I think a series loss should lead to the demolition of the Mavs current make up and start from scratch. Owner Mark Cuban probably won't do it because past actions show he considers the Mavs one piece away from winning it all.

Everything around Dallas has changed but one key player: Dirk Nowitski. Dallas has changed coaches, made major in season trades and tried to toughen up defensively. Yet here we are again on the brink of another major playoff meltdown. Nothing will ever beat the 2006 Finals choke of being up 2-0 on the edge of 3-0 and losing the series 4-2. The 2007 playoffs exit with the 1st seed against the 8th seed Golden State Warriors ranks a close second. 2010 we are looking at possibly the 3rd worst choke job in Mavs history.

That's all I have time for today. Work, errands and other things are calling.

Spurs eliminate Hornets, Pens vs. Red Wings, Lady Coogs host ULL

Spurs eliminate Hornets

Well, as much as I love my Spurs, I didn't think they would pull off the series against the younger Hornets. Losing the first two to have a two game deficit didn't look good for the defending Champs. What it boiled down to is the Spurs experience against the Hornets youth. The Hornets are no pushovers. And I thought the Hornets would run the Spurs into the ground. In game seven, it was pretty much a Spurs controlled game. The Spurs dictated the pace of the game and never let the Hornets threaten until the closing minutes of the game. The Spurs bench also put in some quality minutes to help keep the lead large in the second and third periods.

Down the stretch, some of the Hornets took ill advised shots and some desperate shots when they really didn't need to. On the other end, the Spurs worked the clock and scored key baskets to keep the Hornets at bay. Greg Popovich made all the right adjustments through out the series. He solved the Spurs problems in the third period in time for game seven's third period.

Hornets and fans should be proud of their team. I certainly didn't see the Hornets being this good. They held their own against the Mavs and sent them packing. Then they take the defending champs to a game seven. No shame in that.

Stanley Cup Finals

Detroit Red Wings finished of the Dallas Stars to advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs. I'm looking for a great series. The Red Wings have experience and titles but the Penguins are very youthful. They are going to test the Wings defense. They are high flying. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are a powerful one two punch.

I'm not surprised the Pens are in the Cup finals. I am surprised they made it this year. I thought they were a least one year away. Instead youth has been served.

It's going to be a hard fought series and will probably come down to who is the hottest goalie. I'm going to go with the Pens in seven.

Lady Cougars host ULL in Super Regionals

The Lady Cougars will be hosting a super regional in softball as they take on Louisiana-Lafayette. It's a best of three series. The 53-9 Coogs will rid the arm of pitcher Amgel Shamblin. She was on fire at the regionals by pitching a 3-0 record with three hits allowed and one run scored for a miniscule .37 ERA.

LouisianaLafayette is no slouch. The come in sport a 49-12 record. The are coming off beating a higly ranked LSU team to reach the super regional rounds. It's going to be a though match up for the Lady Coogs.

Go Coogs Go!

Is it too early for the Pens vs. Red Wings?

At the very bottom of this blog, you will find my sports allegiances and the teams I root against. The Pittsburgh Penguins are listed as one of my favorites. I've been following them since the Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Kevin Steves, Tom Borrasso, Kjell Sammuelson and Ulf Sammuelson Stanley Cup winning days. Actually I followed the team before the Cup wins.

Since then the club has gone bankrupt, was on the verge of folding or moving to another team. They assembled some young talent along the way. They added Sidney Crosby and a year later they added Evgeni Malkin. The Pens started playing some good hockey again and there was talk about them turning into an eventual Stanley Cup contender. The Penguins have a 3-1 lead over Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals.

I'm excited that the Pens have reached this point. I didn't think this would be the year they would make a Cup run. I thought the Malkin and Crosby were about a year or two away from being ready for the grind that is the NHL playoffs. Instead they've been tearing through the opposition. The only loss on the Pen's postseason record hasa been a loss to the Rangers.

With both the Penguins and the Red Wings holding 3-0 leads over the Flyers and Stars, respectively, we should see them in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Wings have been in the Finals four times since 1995. Losing the Cup in '95 but winning three times in '97,'98 and '02. The Penguins haven't been to the Cup finals since winning back to back titles in '91-'92.

It will be the young, up and coming Penguins against the grisly veteran team of the Red Wings. I give a slight edge to the Red Wings on experience. The Pens have youth and can skate and score at will. The Red Wings have been in the trenches and won't let the Pens skate all over them. Red Wings in six.