What I am dreaming for in the world of sports... Sunday May 8, 2011

Mothers Day 2011 looks like it is going to be an intense day of sports.
Now how can everything fall into place and make me feel like it was a perfect sports day?

Here's what needs to happen:

THE RED SOX NEED TO BEAT THE TWINS...
Edge closer to .500

THE RANGERS NEED TO BEAT THE YANKEES...
Have the Red Sox inch closer to first place.
THE INDIANS TO WIN IN EXTRA INNINGS...
The Indians continuing their surprising run will help keep the upcoming Sully Baseball video relevant, but I like seeing my pre season Cy Young pick Dan Haren do well.
THE GIANTS NEED TO WIN IN WALK OFF STYLE
It seems to be the only way they know how to.
THE PIRATES NEED TO BEAT THE ASTROS
But I can't disclose why or I will jinx it
THE CARDINALS NEED TO LOSE
Again, I can't spill the beans why. No Pirate fan will let me say it out loud.
MARK BUEHRLE NEEDS TO THROW HIS THIRD NO HITTER
He's due.

MY SAN JOSE SHARKS NEED TO WIN AND ADVANCE TO THE CONFERENCE FINALS
I want a Bruins - Sharks Cup final!
THE HAWKS NEED TO TIE THE SERIES WITH A WIN
When I care about neither team, I wat 7 games.
THE LAKERS NEED TO LOSE AND GET SWEPT
And maybe that will end the Kobe/Michael comparisons.

Let's see how many of these will happen.

I can't tell what I love most about the Lakers 3-0 hole

There are so many wonderful things about this Lakers collapse, I can't pick what is the best part.

- The Lakers are a loss away from a monumental face plant and doing it because the team is imploding from within.

- The Lakers are a loss away from having Phil Jackson's career end with a whimper. Red Auerbach's coaching career ended with the 1966 NBA Title. See the difference?

- The Lakers are a loss away from forever ending any talk of Kobe Bryant being on the same level as Michael Jordan. Kobe is a great player. A Hall of Famer. But would Jordan be swept out of the playoffs like this?

- The Lakers are a loss on Sunday away from making last Wednesday's 93-81 fiasco their last home game of the year. That would mean the last game Phil Jackson coached at home, the Lakers got booed by the remaining fans in Staples at the end of the game.

- The Lakers call in show on 710 ESPN are filled with fans complaining about refs calls and intense denial. Schadenfreude is fun.

- Because the Lakers are down 0-3 in the series, there is talk about how no NBA team has ever come back from that. But guess what other team they brought up? What other team came back from an 0-3 hole? I'll give you a hint... they don't bring up the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers.

That's right. My 2004 Red Sox! So I get to hear about Laker misery and how they probably won't match Red Sox heroics.

It doesn't get any better than that!

Tee hee hee

The Red Sox game started 3 or 4 hours before the Lakers game started... so naturally the Lakers game is over and the Red Sox are still playing.

Oh, did I call it the Laker game?
I meant the MAVERICKS GAME!

I know my Celtics are down 0-2 in their series as well.
But it is one thing to be down 0-2 on the road.
It's another thing to drop two on your own court.

Ahhhh to avoid seeing a Lakers threepeat.

OK, back to the Red Sox game, that might not EVER end.

There's a lot of sports going on today

There is a ton of baseball to watch.

Matt Cain is on the mound for the Giants.
The Blue Jays and Yankees are going at it.

The Indians are looking to continue their winning ways into May.

The Red Sox game is starting as they try to avoid a sweep by Seattle.

Phillies play the Mets later tonight.




Meanwhile my San Jose Sharks are looking to go up 2-0 in their series against the Red Wings.








And the playoff series people have been drooling for, the Heat versus my Celtics, starts today. (And that's after Oklahoma City and Memphis square off THEIR Game 1.)






So which one am I watching?

None.

I am off to the beach with my family.
It's called priorities. It's a beautiful Sunday in California.

(But if the Celtics make it back to the NBA Finals and the Sharks play for the Stanley Cup, my butt is parked on the couch.)

Hey Cleveland fans! Don't watch the NBA... support the Indians

Seriously. Don't watch the NBA Playoffs. You will just grind your teeth and get angry. And haven't you done that enough since the Browns won the 1964 NFL Title?

There is something fun happening at the Jake (or whatever the hell it is called now.)

Grady Sizemore homered today and if he is healthy, the Indians will plug an All Star into their lineup.

And guess what? The Indians have 10 wins already! Only the Royals and the Rangers have 10 wins in the American League. And here's another thing to think about.

The Twins are having bullpen and health issues. The White Sox are a veteran team that can age in a hurry and have a shaky pen as well. And I think the Tigers are overrated and are playing sub .500 baseball.

What happens if that continues?
What if the Twins health derails them the way that injuries cut down the perennial playoff participant Red Sox and Angels last year?

What if the White Sox can't get their act together all year?
What if the Tigers' weaknesses are exposed?

None of those are outlandish scenarios.

Where does that leave the American League Central?

It leaves the Royals, stacked with young talent and the Indians.

Don't look now, but the Indians are winning games that they don't have to make up for later in the season. You aren't dreaming, but the A. L. Central is winnable.

And if they make the playoffs, who knows?
Oh I am sure YOU had the Giants winning the World Series when the playoffs started in 2010!
I am sure YOU had the Phillies winning it when the 2008 playoffs kicked off.
No doubt when the post seasons of 2002, 2003 and 2006 began, you wrote Angels, Marlins and Cardinals in pen!

Start paying attention, Indians fans. This could be a very fun year.
Either way, there is at least hope.

You can't get that watching the NBA playoffs this year.

Break out your Indians hat! Any one of them.

Celtics Magic number is 4

Maybe it was appropriate that Nate Robinson was the hero for the Celtics tonight... a guy I forgot was even on the roster.

He's #4... which is exactly the number of wins I hope the Celtics have left in them to get banner #18.

After the hiccup of the Game 4 overtime and Game 5, they are back to being a team that doesn't look intimidated by anyone. Not Wade's Heat.. Not LeBron's Cavs... Not Howard's Magic...

Why should Kobe's Lakers be any different?

I talked to my friend Kenny Mack, the great writer for the Santa Monica Daily Press, who knows a crap load more than me about basketball, broke down the Celtics chances in the Finals.

"We are 4 wins away not only from raising banner #18 and our second in 3 years... but it will officially put an asterix next to the Lakers title last year. Garnett was hurt, otherwise we'd be talking three-peat."

Kenny began to breakdown the Lakers player by player to me showing why the Celtics have more than a punchers chance to win.

I stopped him. "There is one important thing that the Celtics have that the Lakers don't right now... they've already clinched a spot in the Finals!"

LET'S GO SUNS! LET'S GO SUNS!

We interupt the baseball talk to say AAARRRRGHHH!

Couldn't Paul Pierce just heave it up with time running out in regulation?
Wasn't there someone open?

I wanted that sweep... and now we all know an 0-3 hole is NOT insurmountable.

Ask the 2004 Yankees.
Ask this year's Bruins.

I want the Celtics to win.
Why?

I am greedy.

Seriously, NOBODY was open?

If you know any Cleveland fans... leave them alone tonight

This was a bad night for Cleveland fans...
Leave them alone, Celtic fans.

Knick fans, he hasn't signed with you yet. Keep a lid on it.

Last year I suggested Cleveland fans just take a break from sports for the rest of the year.

I think they should again

In the NBA playoffs, I am rooting for Lucy

In the past I have written several posts where I support Cleveland fans in their Quixotic quest to have any happiness in their sports life.

I talked about feeling their pain...

I advised them to stop watching sports for the rest of the year after LeBron and company flopped last spring...

And I told them to move to Florida where they will be happier sports wise.

I always root for the Cleveland team because they are Charlie Brown. (Perhaps a better name for the football team would be the Cleveland Charlie Browns.)

I have nothing but sympathy for Cleveland fans and would LOVE to see them get a title... except when they play one of my own teams.

It just goes to show how powerful team loyalty can be. I rooted so hard for the Red Sox against the Indians in 2007 even though I had already seen my Red Sox win a World Series and slay the Yankee dragon a few years before.

I also knew that Indians team would probably be dismantled and 2007 was the best chance for Cleveland to celebrate.

I didn't care. I wanted to see them squirm. If the Sox had lost, I would have been rooting for the Indians big time against the Rockies.

But against my team, a region's suffering is meaningless.

And now I have the Celtics up against the Cavs.
I've seen the Celtics win it all 4 times... including a 2008 title against the dreaded Lakers.

Rooting for a Celtic title this year is just greedy... and the chances of LeBron James sticking around in Cleveland are fading fast. And the once in a lifetime talent could leave Cleveland without a ring.

And if the Cavs won this series, I would be rooting for them all the way.

But against my team? Screw em!

I am not rooting for Charlie Brown. I am rooting for Lucy to pull the football away.

Does that make me a jerk?

Yeah probably.

Go Celtics.

One of the best weekends for sports watching

As a baseball fan first, no weekend for watching sports is better than that early October weekend when there can be as many as four playoff series going on at the same time.

But this weekend is right up there. You have the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (and my San Jose Sharks are trying to avoid a third straight year where finishing first in the Division meant an early playoff exit.)

You have the start of the NBA playoffs (where my Celtics hope they have one more good push in them and all of Cleveland is hoping that THIS is the year.)

And yes, you have some great baseball series.

Now before you roll your eyes and say "Sully... it's early" just remember these games count as much as the games in September down the stretch. And some wins this weekend could make September a little less stressful.

The Red Sox and Rays will be battling for a playoff spot at some point this year. They are squaring off this weekend in Fenway.

The Giants are off to a great start and they are off to Chavez Ravine to take on their rival Dodgers.

The Rangers have AL West title aspirations. Let's see if they can pass a test in the Bronx starting tonight.

The Marlins hope to contend for the division title. They can take a step towards that when they head to Philadelphia to take on the three time defending division Champs. Plus you have Jorge Cantu's strange streak of having an RBI and a hit in each of the first 10 games of the season... and he'll try to keep that streak alive against Roy Halladay no less.

There are good games on... and each win now is a win the team isn't scrambling for later.

So watch basketball and hockey to your hearts content. But check in to the baseball games... unless you are a Mets fan. Oliver Perez is on the mound. You may want to avert your eyes.

Did LeBron James just answer Michael Jordan's shot over Craig Ehlo?

I was watching the last few minutes of the Cavs/Magic game with my father in law tonight. I explained to him why when in doubt, I always root for a Cleveland team.

I'd get into it again, but it is best explained in my Cleveland Rocked City post from last year.

When Hedo Turkoglu (I think I spelled that correctly) his the shot with one second left, I strangely felt deflated. 

I had been there before. That moment where you think "I thought this year was going to be different."

I had that when the Red Sox lost in the post season in 1988, 1990, 1995, 1998 and 1999. None of those teams got to the brink of 1986 nor 2003... their disappointment came not from how close they got but with how they whimpered out.

It was the "Oh no" feeling that my Cubs fan boss Frank had when Loney hit the grand slam last October.

And the TNT cameras cruely went around the arena, getting shots of the thousand yard stares from Cleveland fans of all ages. 

There were some middle aged fans who were clearly thinking "I can't believe THIS team is going to putter out."

There was a kid who had an expression on his face as if to say "Wait a minute? Am I really going to grow up as miserable about my sports teams as my dad?"

There was an older guy who you could see his brain working. "Cavs are toast, the Indians are the worst team in the AL, the Browns stink... oh man this isn't getting any easier."

And I said to my father in law "There is no way the Cavs can win it now."

And my father in law in his infinite wisdom said "Oh it's possible."

I shook my head and said "This city needs a hug."

Then LeBron hugged them.

It's amazing to watch a sporting event live that when it happens, you know it will be shown on highlights reels from this day forward.

And of course the comparison will come to Jordan's shot over Ehlo... only this time Cleveland is happy.

In some ways the Jordan shot will always be bigger. It ended a series and it signaled the beginning of Jordan's playoff supremacy. 

But if the Cavaliers win the NBA title this year, James' shot my wind up being bigger.

It was a Conference Finals game, not a first round match up like Jordan's.

And Jordan's Bulls didn't win the title THAT year. (They did 6 of the next 8 seasons... but still.)

If this is the turning point... the Gibson homer... the Messier Game 6 against the Devils... the Dave Roberts steal... the LT recovering Roger Craig's fumble... that leads to a dramatic championship... then it will be bigger.

What I am saying is Cleveland fans should be clearing their schedules for any Cavs game.

Evidently all they need is one second to do something amazing.

(Why didn't Van Gundy quadruple team LeBron?)

Sully Baseball Honors THE AWESOME CELTICS-BULLS SERIES

My GOD what an amazing series that Celtics/Bulls series was.

I don't follow basketball as closely as I used to, but I still cheer on the Celtics and they made me proud in this mind boggling "I can't believe it is just the first round" series that made me wish BOTH teams could advance.

Of course I want to see the Celtics repeat as NBA Champs, but with Garnett out and LeBron on a mission, that is going to be asking too much.

And this series quenched any thirst for NBA Drama this spring.

That being said... I hope the Celtics kick Orlando's ASS!

OK, back to baseball