Stanley Cup finals begin with a bang
The Stanley Cup finals began this past week, and while Boston Bruins fans are still reeling from their team’s crushing Game 7 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, some pretty good hockey is being played between two unlikely teams. Although the Chicago Blackhawks finished second in the Western Conference with 112 points, the Flyers backed into the playoffs with a victory on the final day of the season. As the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers have defeated the New Jersey Devils, Bruins, and Montreal Canadiens, to advance to their first finals appearance since 1997. In Game 1 each team traded goals for the majority of the game, leading to a 5-5 score at the end of two periods. In the third, Blackhawks winger Tomas Kopecky scored the eventual game-winner at the 8:25 mark to seal the deal. Blackhawks goalie Antti Niemi stymied the Flyers in Game-2 , 2-1, to take a 2-0 series lead.
Celtics-Lakers rivalry renewed
After the Celtics took care of things last Friday to advance to their second NBA Finals in three years with a dominating Game 6 victory over the Orlando Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the pesky Phoenix Suns the following night to give every basketball fan their dream matchup. Considered one of the best rivalries in all of professional sports, the two teams will once again face off for the coveted world championship. Starting Thursday June 3, the Celtics will travel to LA to kick off the series, which was considered a long-shot when the playoffs began in April. The Celtics, after all, stumbled into the playoffs after playing inconsistently all season. But things turned quickly as the Green found their rhythm defensively and beat Dawayne Wade, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard in consecutive rounds. Pierce and the Celtics will see if they can defeat Kobe and company for their 18th title in franchise history.
Perfection never looked so easy
Although it has only been achieved 20 times in the history of Major League Baseball, the perfect game is being made commonplace this season as two pitchers –Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics and Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies –have already made history for not allowing a base runner for an entire nine-inning game. As recently as Saturday, Halladay, the 33-year-old veteran of 12 seasons, dominated the Florida Marlins and reserved himself a place in history with the second perfect game of the season. Braden, the 26-year-old up-and-comer from Oakland, threw his on May 9 against the Tampa Bay Rays, and made this not-so-easy feat look like a regular occurrence. Considering something like this happens once every couple years, it is striking to see it happen twice within a two-month period.
World Cup ball controversy
With the FIFA World Cup beginning June 11 in Johannesburg, South Africa, a small controversy has been brewing regarding the soccer ball Adidas distributes for the games. Although it seems trivial, various players, including goalkeepers Iker Casillas of Spain and Julio Cesar of Brazil have voiced displeasure with the official game ball. Company spokesman Thomas van Schaik told the Associated Press that these complaints are new to him. “We started using it in December in a wide variety of leagues,” he told the Press. “All the response we have had has been positive.” Other players have claimed the ball is “weird,” and have gone as far as to say it is “a disaster,” according to ESPN.
