Very Real Threat

The World Cup is making a ton of noise this summer and it's not because of the vuvuzelas. It has some of the best drama anywhere. Well, the French have the best drama anywhere because of refusals to practice, players getting the boot off the team and now there is word of a prostitution issue. It's better than The Real Housewives!

But back to the matter at hand, the games. The World Cup has seen some fun game moments thus far. New Zealand scoring their first ever World Cup goal and earning their first ever point, watching the ball slip through the hands of England goalie Robert Green to tie the US and England up at 1 and the flops everytime two opposing players touch.

There are a thousand Anderson Varejo's running around falling on the grass everytime they draw contact or feel a beed of sweat. It's really weak.

The officiating goes hand in hand with the flopes. The refs should withhold their yellow and red cards and let the players duke it out and say "quit whining." It woukld help them not make calls that have no point (i.e. USA/Slovenia disallowed goal).

Speaking of the stars and stripes, they have played about on par in the World Cup. After dominating a lot of the Confederations Cup, then blowing a three goal lead to Brazil, the Americans continued that style of play by allowing early goals from England and Slovenia. If not for late heroics, we'd be speaking of an 0-1-1 red, white and blue. However, all of that is now over and there is only one game that matters. Algeria.

It's simple, the US wins and they go to the knockout stage. This team has shown flashes of brilliance. Now it's time to put it all together for 90 plus minutes. If they can do that there is no reason why the US cant hang with the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. This team could be a threat to all of those. If New Zealand can make some noise in their Cup, why can't the US make a run?

The Effect of a Strike

It's no secret by now that the NFL is looking at the cold reality of a strike in 2011. Sure there would still be high school football and college football. Fans will still be able to get their "fix," but there won't be the lore of a Sunday game at Lambeau or 89,000+ going wild at Jerry's World. In essence, it could be disastrous for the NFL.

Most of you are thinking, the fans will flock back. And yes, the die hards will be back quicker than you can snap. However, this is a case of history repeating itself. Baseball's strike had the same effect. The die hards came back, but the casual fans weren't so quick to lend their love back. It took an era of steroids to get fans back. A home run race we could all be proud of. Baseballs biggest record had to be broken for people to attend games and flip on the tube.

The NBA was fortunate their 1998-1999 season was only shortened and not erased for seasons at a time. The ratings are low enough for the regular season and that would have almost certainly killed a league gaining momentum. However, that wasn't the case and a new breed of players has blossomed carrying the league to it's growing prominence.

However, hockey was an unfortunate casualty. FOX, ESPN and NBC all carried the NHL during the 1990's. When the strike happened, bye bye TV. ESPN dropped them like they were hot. Hockey hasn't recovered in America since. It has it's cult followers, but just now the casual fan is making their way to the ice with the help of Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.

This season is a year for fans to be proud of. There is parody with the Flyers and the Blackhawks in the finals. The Canadiens knocked out the Senators, the popular pick to win the title. The Flyers came back from a 3-0 series deficit against the Bruins to make it to the conference finals. The NHL is making it's way back. Slowly, but surely. The Olympics had an excellent effect on how Americans viewed hockey this season. Also, fans like outdoor hockey. The NHL Winter Classic has been in existence three years and each one of those three seasons a representative from that game has gone on to play for the Stanley Cup. In the next two years, NBC and Versus will look like geniuses for their hockey coverage.

There's no doubt the NFL would recover from a strike quicker than all the fore mentioned sports. It's easy to say, but actions speak louder than words. Let's hope for the sake of love that the NFL will have their collective bargaining agreement taken care of before the 2011 season. It might be a cold, long and hard 2011 winter with no NFL football.

Goodbye for Now

Yesterday, the Amarillo Gorillas announced they would cease operation for the 2010-2011 season. Meaning it could be a permanent goodbye. Sure the attendance was bad, but in my short 6 months here in the high plains, it happened to be one of my favorite things to go and shoot.

The Gorillas struggled to win and keep people in the seats. Coming from Oklahoma City, this is something that doesn't surprise me. The CHL once called the 405 area code home as well with the now defunct Blazers. Amarillo is losing one of it's hidden treasures. This sports landscape is built for football and baseball. I understand that, but at the end of the day, those games were a whole lot of fun. It renewed my faith in hockey. A faith I had lost after the NHL strike.

Now OKC has the minor league affiliate for the Vancouver Canucks. I'm not saying that will happen with Amarillo. Seldom does a franchise hit the bricks and an even better one come to town. It worked for OKC, but it wont work for Amarillo. The Gorillas are being replaced by a truly "minor" league hockey team. A junior national team that doesn't get paid to play.

Only time will tell how this new NAHL team will adapt to this sports landscape. In the meantime, I hope fans and non fans alike realize that we have lost an important asset to this market. If history says anything, it is that the NAHL is fighting an uphill battle to be successful in a place that has lost a professional team that struggled to make ens-meat.

A Truly Special Mothers Day

Today was an extraordinary day for Dallas Braden. Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. He sat down 6 while achieving perfection. It's the second time an Oakland A has accomplished the rare feat. Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter owns the first. He did so on May 8, 1968. For Braden though, this game was more than "just" a perfect game.

Braden lost his his mother to cancer growing up. What better ode to give his late mother than to re-write baseballs history books? However, the former Texas Tech Red Raider wasn't alone when the final out was recorded. Braden's Grandmother, who raised him after his mothers death, was in attendance. The two met for a long, emotional embrace in front of the A's dugout after his teammates celebrated the 4-0 masterpiece.

Baseball does an exceptional job promoting the fight against cancer. On this Mother's Day, many players wore pink wrist bands, arm bands, and batting gloves. Most of, if not all of that will be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. What a perfect ending to a perfect performance to help raise awareness for the fight against cancer. I know Dallas Braden is proud along with his mother who is looking down on him.

As Mothers Day comes to a close, be greatful for the women here and in spirit that have made a difference in your life. Let's never let another special lady in our lives fall victim to cancer.

Luck of the Irish?

Either the Boston Celtics magically got hot at the right time, or we aren't giving enough credit to a veteran savvy team.

The Celtics went 3-5 in April before the playoffs tipped off. Their home record this season (24-17) compared to last season (35-6) was horrific. However, Boston owned the road. The Celts went 26-15 which is tied for second best in the league. It was a season that seemed like their payroll was equal to their age.

After those sloppy last 8 games, the Celtics turned it on. They made quick work of Miami in the first round winning the series 4-1. Had Beantown not squandered away a late lead in game 4 against the Heat, brooms would have made an appearance in the sunshine state.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, the best team in the NBA this season, came next. The two teams split their 4 contests in the regular season. Boston looked youthful in a game 1 loss, that quite frankly should have been theirs. Game 2 the Celtics opened the flood gates. So that brings us to tonight.

Game 3 is a little under 7 hours away. Boston has stolen home court from Lebron and the Cavs. Now with "Elbow-gate '10" underway, writers and talk show hosts will say that is the key to the series. "James isn't himself." They will say. It helps, but it's not key.

The Celtics are neutralizing the king. Rondo is playing lights out as he just set a Celtic playoff record with 19 assists (none of those came in the 4th qtr), Pierce is his usual self, KG is hanging in there and Rasheed even showed up for a game! The Celtics, while seasoned, are playing near their title form in 2008. The question that fans across the NBA should be asking is how long will it last? This team flipped a switch, which most teams in all sports almost never do. It might be only a matter of time before Boston's Irish luck runs out. In the meantime, this run should be chalked up to playoff experience with a deep supporting cast. Tonight will tell us a lot about how deep a run this team can make.

Baseballs Best Kept Secret

Living in the Panhandle of Texas, you mainly hear about the Texas Rangers or Houston Astros if you're a causal baseball fan. In fact, if you don't live on the west coast, then you aren't hearing about baseball's best kept secret. The San Diego Padres.

Most people will say San Diego will eventually crumble to the exceptional pitching and fiesty bats of the San Francisco Giants, but for right now, that's not the case.

The Padres are off to an early 1.5 game lead in the NL West with Jon Garland heating up on the mound. Garland (3-2) has pitched a few gems in his last three starts. His overall ERA is 2.06. He has only struck out 23 in his six starts, but his defense has had his back and he's not giving up runs. All of this while starting pitcher Chris Young is on the DL.

In addition to that, the Padres are dead last in batting average in the NL west, 19th in MLB (.249). The Dodgers, Giants, D-Backs and Rockies (in that order) all have higher team batting averages.

You might ask how they're hanging in there? They find ways to win with solid, not great, but solid pitching, good defense, and they drive in runs when guys are on base. Plus the sweet camo gear isn't hurting their cause...

I'm not saying the Padres are going to the playoffs, but I am saying give respect where it's due. These guys were picked to finish in the cellar of the NL west. Who knows? Maybe the wild card will go through San Diego this year. We'll get a better barometer on the Padres in the next week when they open up sets against SF and the Dodgers.

Hard To Swallow...

Lessons are always hardest when learned by losing. Tonight the Oklahoma City Thunder learned a lesson. Don't struggle down the stretch. OKC was fighting for the sixth seed in the West at the end of the season. In their final 11 games, the fighting Clay Bennett's lost 5 games by eight points or less. That caused them to be the eighth seed and face the defending NBA champion Lakers in round 1.

However, this isn't an all negative post. We mustn't forget that a young Thunder squad who wasn't supposed to win 30 games all year came within 0.5 seconds of forcing a game 7 against the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. In addition to that, the team went 50-32. That would be good enough for the fifth seed in the East, at the very least.

I could say the future is bright for this team, but that would be an understatement. With the team buying into Scott Brooks defense, Sam Presti doing a phenomenal in the front office and the fans in OKC as hyped as they are, this team may no doubt become a contender in the West, as early as next season.

Sure, it's hard to have a moral victory of "We almost" and "We were this close" but with another year comes more experience and with more experience comes more wisdom. This team has nothing to hang their heads about. It could always be worse. The Thunder could have been just like the Dallas Mavericks. 2 seed losing to the 6 seed Spurs and being bounced from the playoffs in the first round 3 of the last 4 years. The Thunder have the ingredients to make noise each year. We just have to let the oven preheat before baking.