Warriors Still Golden

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Golden State Warriors took the rubber match of their three-year NBA Finals trilogy over the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night in Oakland, California.  The final was 129-120, clinching the Warriors' championship in five games.  Stephen Curry scored 34 points while teammate Kevin Durant contributed with 39 of his own, and was named the playoffs' most valuable player.

Like any movie superhero sequel, the Warriors-Cavs series was a big disappointment to those who had expected more from it.  Golden State's roster of superstars rolled over LeBron James and his hand-picked crew in the first three games.  The Cavs did win Game 4, but by then it was too little and too late.

The Warriors blew past everybody during the regular season in winning the top Western Conference seed with a 67-15 mark.  They then swept past the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs (in that order) in the playoffs.  The Cavs ranked second in the Eastern Conference with a 51-31 record, then made their own sweep through the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics to get to the finals.

The anticipation for a third straight Warriors-Cavs NBA Final was so strong that it rendered the rest of the playoffs as irrelevant.  Never have there been so many blowouts and one-sided games.  Even Charles Barkley of TNT declared the games to be unwatchable, switching over to the decidedly more interesting NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

Because the Warriors and Cavaliers (and the Spurs, to a lesser extent) were so dominant this past season, there is much concern in NBA circles about certain teams in certain markets stockpiling so many talented players on its roster that it's becoming harder for anyone else to compete.  This is why Durant decided to ditch the Oklahoma City Thunder for Golden State last year as a free agent, because he knew he could get a championship ring there.  And he did.  LeBron James has dismissed the notion of so-called "superteams" and claims he doesn't play for one.  If that's true, then what are Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving doing with the Cavs?  And what about Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who took their talents along with James to the Miami Heat and won a couple of titles?

The Warriors and Cavaliers are already projected to be NBA finalists for the fourth time next season by some forward-thinking pundits and Vegas oddsmakers.  But sooner or later all those sequels, whether it's movies or basketball, become more about the box office than what you see on the big screen.  People get sick of them and want to move on.  As long as the NBA championship bounces between the Bay Area and Lake Erie with little else to challenge them, this is the way it's going to be for awhile.

The Cup Stays In Pittsburgh

The Stanley Cup. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Pittsburgh Penguins, battered and bruised for most of the season with its star Sidney Crosby sidelined at times with concussion issues, stayed healthy long enough to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup (and fifth in franchise history) Sunday night in six games over the Nashville Predators.  That hasn't happened in nearly two decades, when the Detroit Red Wings were NHL champions back-to-back in 1997 and '98.

In a series that had seen the home team win every game--a fact made obvious by the presence of the underdog Predators and their raucous fans--Game 6 was different in that it was a tightly contested, scoreless game until late in the third period when the Penguins scored twice to retain the Cup.  Of course, the Predators might have had something to say about that if the goal they thought they scored hadn't been whistled down by the referees--and couldn't be reviewed on replay.

Crosby, who has won just about everything in his hockey career including two Olympic gold medals for Canada and now his third Stanley Cup for the Penguins, also adds the Conn Smythe trophy for being the playoff MVP.  It is his second.

The Penguins, with Crosby, Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin, goaltender Marc-Anthony Fleury and others defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference to get here.

The revelation of these playoffs have been the Predators, who were one of the last teams to make the playoff field in the Western Conference.  They surprised everyone by sweeping through the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks before taking the Penguins to six games in the finals through the play of P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, captain Mike Fisher, goaltender Pekka Rinne and others. 

The city of Nashville, much better known as the capitol of country music, has suddenly become hockey territory through its support of the Predators during the playoffs.  Bridgestone Arena has been sold out, national TV ratings have been better than expected, and country music stars such as Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood (Fisher's wife) have performed the national anthem.  And, oh yes, the ceremonial flinging of catfish onto the ice.  Animal rights groups hate this new tradition.  So do those who think this is a waste of food.

The Penguins proved that not having a completely healthy roster is no deterrent to winning another championship.  Can they make it three in a row?  Is this the start of something big for the Predators, or are they just a one-season wonder?  These questions and others will be answered next season.  For now, the Stanley Cup stays in Pittsburgh.

The Lynx and Other Things

Cheryl Reeve as an assistant coach with the Detroit Shock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Chicago Sky 70-61 Sunday to open their 2017 WNBA schedule.  It was played before a modest audience at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, their temporary digs while Target Center in Minneapolis gets a makeover.  Both teams looked a little rusty, given that some of the players went overseas to play basketball during the winter and others did not, but the Lynx made enough of their shots to win the game.

The Lynx, who came within a few seconds of winning their fourth WNBA title this decade before losing to the Los Angeles Sparks, are being picked by most basketball experts to do it again.  Most of the core players--Seimoine Augustus, Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles--are back, but is this finally the year age and time catches up to the Lynx?  Coach Cheryl Reeve might dismiss that talk publicly, but even she could see that one day younger WNBA stars such as Breanna Stewart and Elena Delle Donne could outhustle and out play her team.  Career-ending injuries are also a possibility.

Still, the Lynx do have the means to take another run at a championship, with their biggest threats coming from the league champion Sparks and Delle Donne's Washington Mystics.  Can Minnesota win another WNBA title before time runs out?

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The Lynx' TV package has improved greatly this season with Fox Sports North doing 17 telecasts (most of them at home), along with some national appearances on ESPN2, to bring the total number to 24 games.  That's still not as many as the deal Minnesota United, the new pro soccer team in town, is getting.  WFTC-Channel 29 is running most of their matches, with the exception of the ones shown on FS1 and ESPN.  So why are the Lynx games still heard on a small FM country music station?

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Speaking of United, they've improved in their first Major League Soccer season from a team that set a record for giving up too many goals to a tighter outfit that shut out Sporting Kansas City at home, and lost a close match on the road at Toronto.  We still don't know who most of the players are, but we do know that they're going to be competitive as the season progresses.

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In an off-season that's seen veteran NFL quarterbacks Tony Romo and Jay Cutler moving to the TV booth as game analysts, what about Colin Kaepernick?  He's been having trouble finding a job since he left the San Francisco 49ers.  Is it because the image-conscious NFL, which spends millions of dollars to prove how patriotic they are, doesn't want to hire a guy who took a knee during the "Star Spangled Banner" (which Kaepernick said he won't be doing any more because, well, he made his point)?  That might be changing because ESPN reported Monday (through its radio affiliate KIRO in Seattle) that the Seahawks might have some interest in Kaepernick, as well as Robert Griffin III (another "where are they now?" QB), as a backup to Russell Wilson.  If that doesn't work, there's always TV.

ESPN: The Game Has Changed

ESPN (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What if we told you that people who are fed up with the rising cost of cable and satellite have ditched them in favor of streaming movies and TV shows on their computers and smartphones, creating a day of reckoning for sports channels?

No, this isn't the beginning of another ESPN "30 for 30" documentary.  The Disney-owned sports network just whacked at least 100 jobs last week, most of whom are writers, production people and on-air talent.  True, there have been layoffs before, but none of this magnitude.

The ESPN brand includes several TV channels, two regional networks, a Spanish-language channel, a radio network and a magazine.  They also own their own events to televise, including the X Games and some college football bowl games.

It's not just cutting the cord that's caused Disney's stock to go down every time ESPN loses subscribers.  The rights fees and long-term contracts to the NFL, NBA, MLB and the college conferences keep accelerating, resulting in various forms of cost-cutting that might not be obvious to viewers.  It's telling that some of the layoffs involve reporters and commentators who covered such sports as hockey, auto racing and golf--events ESPN does not televise.

Another reason some people have turned off ESPN is because of what they believe is the network's coverage of sports and society from a liberal perspective, whether it comes from its commentators and contributors or not.  One recent example came during the coverage of the NFL Draft, where after it was announced that Oklahoma football star Joe Mixon had been chosen by the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN showed footage of him beating up on a woman.  That alleged incident drove Mixon's draft value way down.  For those who complain about the network's supposed progressive stance, there's always the chance they'll mention former football star Tim Tebow at least once a day.  He's currently playing minor league baseball for the Class A Columbia Fireflies in the New York Mets organization.

ESPN has also weathered the loss of on-air personalities that used to define them:  Chris Berman, Mike Tirico, Brent Musberger, Keith Olbermann, Colin Cowherd, Jason Whitlock, Brad Nessler, Skip Bayless and others.  In their places are so many sound-alike play-by-play announcers, "Sportscenter" broadcasts that rely less on scores and highlights and more on personalities, and debate shows that aren't much different than what you'd find on CNN.

ESPN is the most expensive of all the cable channels, yet it is also the hardest to give up.  This is also true of other sports channels, whose contracts with individual teams and cable providers (some of which last decades) restrict them from going the over-the-top route like HBO, leaving sports fans with no choice but to stick with cable.  Something has to change, or else it's game over for sports on TV.

Wild 2016-17: Swooning Out of the Playoffs

Minnesota Wild (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Wild ended their NHL season in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs once again, in five games to the St. Louis Blues this time.

The Wild had their best regular season ever with 106 points, challenging the Chicago Blackhawks for the right to be best in the Western Conference and a favorite to win the Cup.  Under first-year coach Bruce Boudreau, many of the players had their career years.  Most importantly, they didn't fall victim to the usual mid-season slump that forced them to scratch and claw for a playoff spot.

Instead, the Wild's annual slump came in March, weeks before the regular season ended.  It was so bad that they ceded the conference and the Central Division to the Blackhawks, but managed to hang on to home ice advantage.  Which is why what happened next was almost predictable.

The Wild did not score much or win a home game against the Blues, who were the ones struggling to get into the playoffs this year.  It was a combination of Jake Allen's star turn in goal and the game plans of coach Mike Yeo, who knew the Wild all too well as Boudreau's predecessor in Minnesota.

(If it's any consolation to the Wild, the Blackhawks were swept out of the first round by the Nashville Predators.)

So what happens now?  General Manager Chuck Fletcher doesn't have many options.  He just hired Boudreau a year ago, whose teams in Anaheim and Washington also flamed out in the playoffs, so at least he now knows what kind of coach he's got.  Too many of his players are under long-term, big money contracts.  Though he did get Eric Staal on the free agent market and traded for Martin Hazal at the deadline, Fletcher had to give away most of his draft picks in the process.  And there's not a Conor McDavid or an Auston Matthews to be found at the Wild's minor league affiliates.  Or maybe it's time to blow everything up and start over?

Because if teams like the Minnesota Wild want to get within a sniff of Lord Stanley's cup, you have to have a lineup that's built for the playoffs.  Sure, winning a division title is nice, but there's more than one way to get where you're going.  The Wild aren't there yet.

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Our Stanley Cup finals pick:  Anaheim Ducks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins.

NBA: The Rest of the Story

English: LeBron James playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers Español: LeBron James con los Cavaliers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They say regular seasons in professional sports are too long.  The NFL spreads sixteen games per team over seventeen weeks.  Major League Baseball teams play 162 games over a five month period.  The NHL plays 81 games per team over six months.  All this to eliminate a few teams from the playoffs, which usually last a month or two longer.

The NBA has an 82-game regular season schedule over six months.  In response to this, some teams--which happen to be marquee names like the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors--have taken to giving star players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry the night off so they could rest their weary bones.  It doesn't matter if the game is on national television, or if fans paid good money to see the best players in the league, only to see him on the bench in a suit and tie.

Usually when a player sits out a game, it's either because he's injured, in foul trouble, or has a disagreement with his coach.  You could limit the number of minutes your typical millionaire superstar athlete plays during a game, but that doesn't mean he's not going to turn an ankle or worse on the court.

It's not exactly a glamorous life on the road.  There are the plane flights, hotel accommodations, practices, meet-and-greets and all that other stuff before they get to the arena.  When the game is over, it's rinse-lather-repeat.  Now multiply that times forty.

The NBA has tried to remedy the player fatigue by scheduling fewer back-to-back games during the season, and mandating a week off during the All Star break.  But that hasn't worked.  It seems the more likely your team is going to make the playoffs, the more likely it is that the best players are going to sit as the season winds down, whether they need to or not.

Come playoff time, however, your team had better be up for it because it only takes four games to determine whether you move on or move out.  Unless, of course, it's the first or second round and your team has a commanding lead in the series.  So you rest your stars for the next series.

The NBA is in kind of a bind here.  They could reduce the schedule, force stars to play in national TV games, or restrict nights off to home games only.  But that would run afoul of the players association, certain franchise owners and the league's numerous business partners.

Don't be shocked if this trend of resting athletes hits other sports.  Concerns over injuries, concussions and other issues of players' safety have become paramount in recent years.  Or it should be, as long as the leagues make sensible decisions regarding when, where and how long their players should play.  That, and a good refund policy for fans who want their money back when they don't want to see no scrubs.

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The Minnesota Timberwolves ended their 2016-17 season with a 31-51 record.  That's slightly better than last year, but still not good enough to make the playoffs for the 13th consecutive time.  Now coach Tom Thibodeau will put on his front office hat, and decide what to do with yet another lottery pick in the NBA Draft to go along with his phenoms Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Wiggins.  But hey, the Wolves have a cool new logo and a refurbished Target Center to look forward to, if nothing else.

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Finally, here's our off-the-wall NBA Finals pick:  Cleveland vs. Golden State. 

Pot Shots '17: Volume 1

English: University of North Carolina Tarheels Interlocking NC logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tar Heels The Final One

North Carolina won the NCAA men's basketball title Monday night with a 71-65 victory over Gonzaga at Glendale, AZ.  This is the Tar Heels' sixth championship and third for coach Roy Williams, with the last one coming in 2009.  Gonzaga, who finally made it to the Final Four after being tournament regulars for decades, got to prove they could play with the big boys.  The game was no classic, what with ragged play and the officials making every call they could possibly make.  But it was still close before UNC put things away in the final seconds.  Now it's time to see whether Carolina's success holds up in the face of alleged academic fraud.

South Carolina Wins UConn's Title

South Carolina defeated Mississippi State 67-55 to win the NCAA women's basketball title at Dallas Sunday, giving coach Dawn Staley the championship she never had as a player.  But all anyone will remember from this Women's Final Four is how MSU ended the University of Connecticut's 111-game winning streak, when Morgan William's overtime buzzer-beater struck down the Huskies 66-64.  It was, by most accounts, the greatest women's basketball game ever played.  had this not happened, coach Geno Auriemma's team would have gone for a fifth straight national championship, and Staley would not have had the chance to cut down the net.

NHL Says No More Olympic Rings

After months of hemming and hawing, the National Hockey League has decided not to send its players to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea.  The owners and commissioner Gary Bettman, it seems, no longer want to suspend the league's schedule for a couple of weeks in February every four years,  just so its players could go halfway around the world to help promote the game.  They also don't care much for the chintzy manner in which the International Olympic Committee is treating them.  Instead, the NHL would rather promote its World Cup of Hockey, which got off to a rip-roaring start in Toronto last fall.  The players are not happy about this, and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has said he'd go anyway to play for his Russian countrymen.  NBC isn't happy either, because its telecasts of Olympic hockey draws better numbers than most NHL games outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  So thanks to this short-sighted decision, we are about to turn the clock back to 1994, which was the last time Olympic hockey teams consisted of college kids and alleged amateurs.  Any chance of a "Miracle On Ice" here?

The Boycott That Wasn't

The U.S. women's hockey team is currently playing in the world championships in Michigan.  But they almost didn't go due to a pay dispute with USA Hockey, the sport's governing body.  See, the players were being paid next to nothing outside of the Olympics, so they threatened a boycott.  This would have given the world championships more publicity than they normally would get, and for the wrong reasons.  Both sides did come to an agreement with the players getting most of what they asked for.  That's a big victory for women's hockey in America, but the struggle for acceptance goes on.  The University of North Dakota recently announced that it is dropping its women's hockey program.