Lots to say, but not much to be sure of in sports this week
The NBA playoffs have begun and will last until the middle of June! That's just too long for a playoff format! But, that being said, in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat seems to have a fairly easy road to the finals. The only team that could possibly give Miami a run for the money is the Indiana Pacers even though they had a very inconsistent second half of the season. In the Western Conference, the field is wide open. Three teams have a decent chance to win that conference: San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Los Angeles Clippers. I think the best final matchup for the NBA would be Miami versus Oklahoma. It would be the Lebron James versus Kevin Durant show, and that would definitely bring the best TV ratings.
In the NHL playoffs, the Philadelphia Flyers are down 2 to 1 in their series against the New York Rangers. In order for them to have any real chance of coming back to win the series, they have to win this next game on Friday. Frankly, they are lucky to be trailing by just one game. They were down 2 and zip at the end of the first period in game two in New York, and thankfully came back to win. The Flyers have to lay it all out if they want to move on to another series.
The Philadelphia Phillies have stayed in my good graces by winning the last three games this week against the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was feeling pretty pessimistic before Easter. Cole Hammels is due to come back a little sooner than expected to help the pitching staff, who can't seem to stay consistent from one game to the next. There's been a lot of buzz about the instant replay and it's effectiveness, but so far, I'm a fan.
In surprising soccer news, Manchester United has fired its coach of only one year. David Moyes only had three games left in the season. Really? What on earth made that a good idea? I believe he was used as a scapegoat for a team full of "old" players, especially on their defense. I hope he gets a second chance because he was a very good manager at Everton. He has a lot more coaching talent left.
And I, along with everyone else, was really pleased to see the Boston Marathon go off without anything but uplifting stories!
