So, both the Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals match-ups are set. The US National Team played, and won, a World Cup warm-up game, but received criticism in the process. Federer is done at the French Open, and Lewis Katz, the former owner of the Nets and Devils, was killed in a car crash.
Stanley Cup Finals:
With the New York Rangers having punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals by eliminaitng the Montreal Canadiens late last week, the y were able to sit back, like the rest of us, and watch the rest of the Western Conference Finals to see who they would be playing.
In Game 6, the Chicago Blackhawks were able to stave off elimination at Los Angeles, to force a decisive Game 7 in Chicago.
And after an electrifying Game 7 that went into the overtime, the Kings were able to score off a fairly strange looking goal that sent Los Angles to the Finals.
The series will start on Wednesday evening with Game 1, to be hosted by the Los Angeles Kings.
NBA Finals:
The Miami Heat lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but pretty much were in control of the rest of the series, cruising to a 4-2 series victory over the Indiana Pacers, marking two years in a row that Indiana lost to Miami at this stage. Once the Pacers lost home court advantage with that Game 2 loss, their fate was sealed, as they were unable to reciprocate and hand the Heat a home loss.
And now, this past weekend, the San Antonio Spurs, after a decidedly more challenging Western Conference Finals than the Heat faced out East, finally moved back to the NBA Finals, after surviving a challenge by the Oklahoma City Thunder, who returned the favor of a blowout loss to the Spurs in Game 2 with a blowout win against those same Spurs in Game 4, leveling the series at 2-2.
From that point on, however, San Antonio took control of the series, blowing OKC out of the water in Game 5, then coming back from behind to win solidly in Game 6, and cliuching the series, to set up a rematch of last year's NBA Finals, which went the distance to Game 7. This time, the Spurs enjoy home court advantage, as the Finals begin on Thursday evening.
World Cup Warm-Up:
The US played a relatively weak Turkey National Team yesterday in Harrison, NJ, home of the Red Bulls.
They were able to earn a 2-1 win, although they received a lot of criticism in the process for not warming up to the kind of talent that they will be facing in Brazil shortly, during the World Cup tournament.
When you have both Germany and Portugal in your division, I am inclined to agree that you need tougher competition than that, to really be at your best, and have a shot against some of the best in the world.
Still, the US will have to try and get things done in Brazil shortly, and they are a better team than perhaps many expect, so let's see what happens!
And finally:
RIP, Lewis Katz.
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