Monday, May 5, 2008

The Sports Watercooler

What a busy sports oriented weekend. Everything seemed like a milestone in the world of sports this weekend.

Which Derby horse will people remember a year from today? Big Brown who almost looked like he could have started lapping some of the trailing horses had the Derby continued for another turn? Or will it be Eight Belles who finished second, broke 2 ankles and was immediately put to sleep?

I think they way NBC covered it really hit America's conscious too. While Barbaro got hurt mid-race, American was forced to endure thousands of updates as he "bravely" struggled for life over the next month. With Eight Belles, NBC cut to the official horse doctor and without tip toeing around the bush said matter-of-factly "Eight Belles suffered two fractured ankles upon finishing the race and was immediately euthanized". It all happened so fast, there was no room for emotion, just straight facts. NBC didn't know whether to focus on the horse being draped with roses, or the corpse of the second fastest horse being removed from the track.

Hopefully one of our 2 writers who were live in attendance will have an eye witness account on the whole day.

There were some other second place finishes this weekend that are noteworthy. First and foremost, the Atlanta Hawks. Analysists almost anonymously predicted they would be swept and should just be happy to make the playoffs at all (surely no one at THIS blog said such things). Atlanta showed that they not only were happy to make the playoffs, they belonged in the playoffs, and were the only first round team to play in a Game 7. They never lost a game at home and have positioned themselves as the "young team to look out for in the future", which is indeed bright in Atlanta.

In the NHL playoffs, 2 more teams saw their season end yesterday, both in a dramatic fashion. It really didn't get much better than the Rangers and Penguins game yesterday. I watched the final two-thirds of this game and was thoroughly entertained. Two quick power play goals in the 2nd by the Penguins were responded to with 2 quick goals by the Rangers to open the third. That set the pace for a high pressure very intense 3rd period and overtime, before the Penguins won and advanced to what is now an All Pennsylvania Eastern Conference final, playing the Flyers.

Dallas needed to work a bit harder to end San Jose's season. In fact, it took them a whole extra game to do such, as they scored the winning goal in the 4th overtime to win 2-1. They move on to face Detroit in the Western Conference finals.

And this brings us to a new Bandwagon Team of the Week: The New Orleans Hornets. This team is fun to watch and playing possessed. And if that is not enough, for those of you who didn't listen to Bill Simmon's podcast last week, I give you this story:

After already having committed to Wake Forest, a young high school point guard's grandfather died. He was incredibly close to his grandfather and decided to honor him by scoring 1 point for each of year of his life at the age of death, which was 60. As it happened, he was fouled while scoring the 60th point, so at the free throw line, he received the ball from the ref, took a dribble and passed it back. He then was substituted out of the game and was near tears as he walked off the court. That young high school senior was Chris Paul. A man who in high school took AP Psychology classes to better understand his teammates. Now he is one of the most likeable players in the NBA and is finishing in the top 3 of the MVP award this year. The Hornets have already taken Game 1 from San Antonio and will need all the fan support they can muster to oust the defending champions. So hop on this bandwagon before it fills up!

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