Cup Finals

Wow, this extremely late, though once again I promise I didn't change my picks after I saw the first two games. It's kinda hard to get the predictions in on time when I don't have direct access to a computer thanks to the mom. Haha, but yeah, these first two games have been seriously awesome. My hometown Wings have been beating the Penguins in every single aspect of the game. They've been out skating them, out shooting them, and just overall outplaying them. I completely expected the Wings to be up 2-0 in the series after the first two games, just like they are, though never did I even think that they would keep the Penguins completely off the scoreboard in both games. With the likes of Crosby and Malkin, I thought that both games would be at least somewhat highscoring affairs; though thanks to the Red Wing's amazing defense and Osgood having some luck, they have completely kept Pittsburgh off the scoresheet. And yeah, I still think that Osgood isn't good at all... I mean yeah, that's great that he has two shutouts an everything, and being a Wings fan I'm loving it, though whenever the Penguins have had an opportunity, either the Wing's stellar defense has been there, or the Penguins screwed it up themselves by missing the net or something. Plus, the Penguins aren't getting to any of the rebounds that Osgood is giving up, so the Wings defense is able to get the puck out of harms way. Haha, but yeah, thats what's going on so far. Now for the delayed unchanged prediction.

#1 Detroit Red Wings over #2 Pittsburgh Penguins in 5
Yeah, I had the Wings winning it since the beginning of the playoffs, and I never really thought that the Penguins would make it this far. At the beginning of the playoffs, I thought it would be the Wings and Rangers, and I predicted the Penguins getting knocked out in rounds two and three to both NY and Philly. Plus, I took the Wings in all three series, so if you think I'm cheating because it's two games into the series, take a look back at some old predictions for some extra proof. As for the series, I had Pittsburgh winning either game 3 or 4 at home for the fans... mainly because the Wings would let them so that they could come back to Detroit for game 5 and win the cup at home. It's nice to see Franzen back on the ice for the Wings, and I hope he scores a few more to set some more records that he could have broken weeks ago if wouldn't have been for the concussions symptoms that cost him basically an entire series. Anyways, I think we all knew that the Wings were gonna win this one, and I'm happy to see my hometown team win their 4th cup since I was born.

NBA Conference Finals

Alright, I finally broke the rule. Now this blog has more than the other one. Oh well. This is a little bit late, but I promise I didn't change my guesses even though each series has already had one game played. The Celtics beat the Pistons in game one in Boston, and the Lakers came back from like 20 down to beat the Spurs in game one of their series in LA. Anyways, I got all of my picks right last series, and I only got one wrong in the first round when I took the Mavericks over the Hornets, so I'm 11 for 12 so far in these 2008 NBA Playoffs. However, I am really not confident in either of my picks for this round because both of the match ups are so tight, that it could easily go the other way in either series. They're both going to be great to watch, and I'm pretty sure that both are what the TV stations wanted. And then of course we all know that ABC (the station that will be showing all the the games in The Finals this year) wants the Celtics and Lakers to win out so they can have that crazy popular match up in The Finals this year. Anyways, here are the picks for Round Three:

#2 Detroit Pistons over #1 Boston Celtics in 7
Yes, I'm taking the Pistons. I'm sticking with the hometown team here on this one because I believe that they are just more experienced than the Celtics. They've been here in the conference finals six years in a row, with basically the same core of guys for all six of those years, give or take a Wallace. The Celtics are a great team, and thats why I'm taking them to win three games in this series, though after Boston winning three at home and Detroit winning three at home, Boston's third game seven in a row will just be too much for the them, and the Pistons will be able to take over the game and take the series in seven.

#1 Los Angeles Lakers over #3 San Antonio Spurs in 6
I don't know why I'm going against my pre-season finals pick. At the beginning of both last year and this year I said it was going to be a Spurs vs Pistons final. Last year the Spurs got there and the Pistons just missed out. Though I have a feeling that it's going to be the other way around this year. I don't know whay, but I just have a feeling that Kobe will be able to beat the aging and tired Spurs. It's going to be one of those things where if the Lakers win, I'll be like "I told you!! Oh man that was an amazing pick!!" but if the Spurs win, I'll be like "Why the hell did I change my mind? I'm such a dumbass!!" Haha, well, that's my final pick. 2004 Finals rematch instead of a 2005 Finals rematch.


That's about it from me. Nice job by the Wings getting to the Cup Finals. I'll post that prediction article in a little bit. Tigers are sorta heating up, and they won again today against a bad Mariners team, 9-2. And my fantasy baseball team has now jumped up to 4th place!! I was in dead last for like the entire first month and a half of the season, and I made a few changes, and I'm shooting up in the standings. That's about it from me. I gotta go play some street hockey. Peace.

Game Seven Double Up

Alright, so there's two game sevens in Round Two of the NBA Playoffs. The Celtics are playing their second in a row against LeBron and the Cavaliers, and the Spurs are playing the Hornets in a game seven as well. Now, in both of these series, the home team has won EVERY game, and in the Celtics case, they have ONLY won at home and NEVER won on the road... So these facts about the home and away stuff would lead many to pick the two home teams and be done with it. Though, I have other ideas. I thought that the Celtics would blow through the first two rounds of the playoffs with no problem. However, they have struggled mightily, and are now playing in their second game seven in two series. As for the Spurs, I also thought that they would blow through the first two rounds, and maybe even three rounds, though they have had some trouble winning at New Orleans so far. Anyways, here are the predictions for the two game sevens taking place in Round Two:

Cleveland Cavaliers 87, Boston Celtics 80
Yes, I'm actually taking the Cavs in game seven. I know it's in Boston, and I know the Celtics are probably the most talented team in the NBA, and I know that even I took the Celtics to win the series at the beginning. Though, the X factor in this decision was the fact that the Cavs have LeBron James... and really, thats all they need. He will once again show his brilliance and win his first ever game seven on Sunday when he (almost singlehandedly) beats Boston with 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 45% shooting. Just watch, because it's gonna be a blast.

San Antonio Spurs 89, New Orleans Hornets 78
Yes, I have just taken another road team. Though this time I'm sticking with my initial pick, the Spurs. I had them winning it in six, so I guess I may have underestimated the Hornets by a little bit, but, I mean come on... there's no way that the defending champs are going down the the Hornets. CP3 is great and all, but they're the freaking Spurs, and the Hornets will not be the team to knock them off. Tim Duncan will once again have an amazing game, and Parker will show up as well, and through those two superstars, the Spurs will advance to the Western Conference Finals to set up what should be a great series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Alright, as for the two game fives in the NHL...

Deroit Red Wings 3, Dallas Stars 2
Yeah, the Wings will close this one out in five. The only reason they lost game four was so they could bring it back to Detroit to earn some more revenue for the Illitch family. Off to the finals they go. And they'll win in the finals too, in case you were wondering.

Philadelphia Flyers 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 1
Yeah, I'm taking my Fly Boys to win in Pittsburgh to force a game six back in Philly. I'm really hoping that Flyers pointmen Kimmo Timonen and Branden Coburn will be able to return to shut down the Penguin attack. Marty Biron will also have a huge game in this win.

Thats about it though. The Tigers are horrible, and they dropped what should have been a win to Arizona last night, 4-3. Nationals are bad too, but they're supposed to be bad. Haha, yeah, thats it though. I'm out. Peace.

Two Flavorites

Wow, it's already time for the conference finals in the NHL playoffs, and I'm more pumped than ever since my two favorite team, the Wings and Flyers, are still alive. I completely expected the Red Wings to be here for the second straight year, but although I love Philly and think that they're an above average team, I never really thought that they would be here in the conference finals the year after finishing dead last in the entire league. It was awesome to see them make a turn around like that, and being a fan, I'm loving every second of it. Also as a Wings fan, it's nice not to see them get upset in an early round like in 01, 03, 04, and 06. But yeah, I also really think that the Pens and Stars are really good teams teams, and no one has automatic trip to the finals. I got three out of the four series right last round, and I had one right on the money with Dallas over San Jose in 6 games. Though I did take the Rangers over the Penguins for obvious reasons like Jagr, Shanahan, Drury, Gomez, etc. I have to say that I am pretty surprised that the Pens won, though they are a very good and dangerous team. Also, I would just like to say that the Wing's Johan Franzen is on a absolute tear, as he had 9 goals in 4 games against the Avalanche, and he now has a total of 11 through two rounds. And I watched that Stars vs Sharks Game 6 4OT thriller, and even though the Sharks lost, Evigeni Nabakov had the most insane save ever in the first OT, and Turco had some nice ones of his own. Anyways, here are the second round predictions from yours truely...

#1 Red Wings over #5 Stars in 6
Yeah, so basically, the Wings are amazing. But it always seems like their downfall is that they play against a really good or really hot goalie thats able to shut them down. They've always been able to get the puck to the net and on net, but not always in it. Last series against the Avs, we saw what happens when the Wings play against an average goalie. Frazen puts in 9 goals, they clinch the series with a 8-2 win, and it's a sweep. But yeah, as for this series, they're going to play another good and red hot goalie in Marty Turco, who is coming in with five straight shutout periods. I really don't think the Chris Osgood is good at all, and he is basically the biggest flake of a goalie the league has ever seen, but thank to the defense and Chris' luck, they're not letting in very much. The Stars are a great team and will win a couple games, though they will never have the series lead and the Wings will just be too strong for them.

#6 Flyers over #2 Penguins in 7
Yep, I'm taking them again. I'm predicting a rematch of the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, between my two favorite teams. The Penguins are a great team and will put up a great fight, and will even look like the better team for most of the series... but it won't be enough. The Flyers won't play pretty hockey like the Pens, they wont razzle or dazzle like Crosby or Malkin. Though they will win it. 4 games to 3 games. They'll hit, they'll block shots, and Marty Biron will come up huge, and the Flyers will be able to sqeak by the favored and fan favorite Penguins. It's gonna be awesome... just watch.

NBA Round Two

So in the first round of the NBA playoffs, I just basically chalked it up the whole way through both the East and West, taking seeds 1, 2, 3, and 4 to beat seeds 5, 6, 7, and 8. The only pick that I switched it up in was where I took the 7th seed Dallas Mavericks to beat the 2nd seed New Orleans Hornets. Of course that didn't happen, and the 2nd seed beat the 7th seed, so that the higher seed in every single first round series won. My 76ers lost to my Pistons in six games, and the Cavs beat the Wizards in 6. I said that it would take the Spurs sevens games to beat the Suns, but it only took them five. I really think that the trade for Shaq was pretty much the dumbest thing ever. I don't know what they were thinking letting Shawn Marion go, and... for Shaq? Then KG and the Celtics, also the number one team in the league, beat the lowly Hawks in seven games. I said that they would sweep them, and I really don't know what happened. The home team won every game in the series, and it was really crazy to watch. Anyways, it's time for round number two, and here are the predictions from the master...

#1 Celtics over #4 Cavaliers in 6
I really think that the Celtics could beat them in five, but they're pretty tired after going seven against Atlanta, so they'll lose one game because of that, plus one just because the Cavs have LeBron James. Though LBJ won't be enough to get the Cavs back to the finals, or even the conference finals against a top notch and hungry Celtics team. But, uh oh, if the Celtics are winning in six, then that means they'll have to.... win one on the road :0

#2 Pistons over #3 Magic in 5
I really like this match up for the Pistons, and it seems like they always play really well again the Magic, and run the floor against them. Dwight Howard is a beast and all, but he's not enough to get the Magic past the Pistons. Plus, last year the Pistons swept the Magic in the first round, and all the Magic have really done since then is add Rashard Lewis for way too much money, so I guess that addition, plus the addition of Stan Van Gundy will earn them a win in this second round series.

#1 Lakers over #4 Jazz in 5
Yeah, I really think that they can and might sweep them to start the playoffs off 8-0, but I guess I'll give the Jazz one win in Utah for the home crowd. I like Deron Williams, and I think he'll only get better as time goes on, though Kobe is the best, and with his new found teammates, the Lakers should pretty much own this series...

#3 Spurs over #2 Hornets in 6
The Spurs could sweep them, but they won't... just for fun I guess. I think that once again, the Spurs are by far the best team left, and they are for sure the best team left in the West. Tim Duncan is one of those great playoff leaders like Tom Brady, though I wonder if something will happen to Tim Duncan and Co. like what happened to Tom Brady and Co. in the Super Bowl this year. Maybe, but not this round.

Yeah, other than basketball, my Fly Boys beats the Habs in five games, and are going to the Eastern Conference Finals the year after finishing dead last in the entire NHL. Plus, my Wings are insanely amazing. I tried to watch the whole 8-2 beatdown in game four for the sweep, but I fell asleep when it was already 5-1 in the 2nd. And the Penguins won in OT today in game five to win their second round series against the Rangers. The Sharks and Stars are still battling it out in game six tonight, and actually right now, which is what I'm about to go watch thanks to having this Monday off of school. But yeah, I don't get the Tigers. They sweep the Yankees in NY, then get swept by the lowly Twins. Whatever though, I'm not really worried about them, and I'm still extremely confident that they'll make the playoffs. But yeah, I'm done. Go Flyers, Wings, Pistons and Tigers. Peace dogs.