The NBA and Stanley Cup Finals

(Note, this post was originally written on 6/15/09).

Since I was “indisposed” for a bit and unable to comment on either the NBA or NHL Finals’ matchups as they took place, now is as good of a time as any to catch up and take a look back on them…

I have to admit to not being very surprised that the Orlando Magic made it to the NBA Finals. I didn’t pick them, per se, but I wasn’t as surprised by it as most seemed to be. I could tell from the beginning of the Eastern Conference Finals that the Magic had Lebron’s and his Cavaliers number-they just matched up too well against them. The biggest surprise to me, however, were the Denver Nuggets. I knew that when they acquired Chauncey Billups in the Iverson trade with the Pistons that they would be better, but its been quite some time since I’ve seen one player have such a profound impact on the overall attitude of an entire organization. After the Nuggets stole one from L.A. in L.A., I thought maybe they had punched their ticket to the finals, but, alas, it was meant to be the Lakers year, and once they had made it to the Finals I knew it was only a matter of time before they were crowned champs once again. Does this settle the Kobi question of whether or not he can lead a team without Shaq to a title? I’m not so sure about that…When considering this question you have to consider Kobi’s supporting cast and I would say that his supporting cast this year was better than Shaq’s supporting cast in Miami a few years back when he lead that team to a championship without Kobi before Kobi was able to do it without him…Anyways, I did think that the Magic would give them a little more of a challenge than they, but, ah well…Before I move on, I have to give some credit where credit is do: my good friend Mike Davies called the Magic for the Finals before they had dispatched the Boston Celtics-a point on which at the time I disagreed with. Good call my friend (bow)…

As for the Stanley Cup Finals…What the fuck happened to my beloved Red Wings?!! They have game 7, at home, and they can’t manage to score more than 2 goals against those pathetic tuxedo clad arctic birds?! Come on! After finding out the outcome, I was almost glad that I was unable to watch that game 7-almost (I still believe that I had been able to watch it, they would have won lol). Anyways, no one was really much surprised that it was a rematch of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in which the Wings won, particularly after Detroit got rid of pesky Anaheim, but I do think Pittsburgh pulling off the win the way they did surprised most people especially given that the Wings outscored them for the series. Unfortunately, all that matters are the wins and losses and the Wings lost the most important game of the season during the most important series of the season-a trait we Wing Nuts are used to seeing in our beloved team…Oh well, there is always next year, and, like the Yankees of Baseball, the Wings are more likely than not to be there when it’s all said and done…Again I have to give some credit where it is do. My life long friend Amy called me during the Eastern Conference Finals to tell me that, should the Wings at that time have made it too the Cup Finals, they “ didn’t stand a chance against either Washington or Pittsburgh in a 7 game series”. As a die hard Wing Nut, her statement shocked me and of course I abused her for making out. However, in the end, she was proven to be more right than I and so, it is with much eating of crow that I say-good call dude, you got me, this time lol.