By Bryan Jeon
Red Wings Reclaim Stanley Cup
The Red Wings won their first title in 5 years and fourth in 11 years, jumping out early in Game 6 to
finish the series at Pittsburgh. Detroit outshot the Penguins in all six games of the Finals, 222 shots or 37/game to 142 or 24/game. Your deserved MVP, Henrik Zetterberg, who tied playoff-highs with 27 points (with Sidney Crosby) and 13 goals (with Johan Franzen) and scored the series winner to put the Red Wings up 3-1 halfway through the third period.
Game 6: Detroit beat Pittsburgh 3-2
win 4-2
Kimbo Nearly Slices Thompson’s Ear Off in TKO Victory
In the first-ever live mixed martial arts broadcast on network television, something I strongly disagree
with because of its’ absolutely raw violence, an MMA-record 6.51 million CBS viewers saw Kimbo Slice trade blows with James Thompson at EliteXC on Saturday before a referee stoppage in the third round to remain undefeated at 3-0. Thompson (16-9) actually won the first two rounds, raising serious questions about Slice’s ability to perform at the professional level. Regardless, Slice was able to give Thompson cauliflower ear, something that forms when you get hit in the ear a massive amount of times and could be permanent, before popping his ear of blood with a haymaker in the third round.
Ramirez Reaches Milestone, Griffey Just One Shy; Cubs Tops in Majors
500 – Manny Ramirez hit his 500th home run Saturday, becoming the 24th player to reach the milestone. It was the 36-year-old’s 11th home run of the year but just his second in his last fifteen games played. His solo shot in the seventh inning secured the Red Sox’s victory over the Orioles 6-3.
599 – Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 599th home run Saturday, moving him within one shot of an even more exclusive club, vying to become just the 6th player in major league history to hit 600 home runs. It was the 38-year-old’s 6th home run of the year and just his second in his last thirty games, as he’s struggling this year with a .255 average. His two-run home run in the first inning was just the beginning of the Reds’ 8-7 win over the Braves in 10 innings.
At 36-21, the Chicago Cubs stand one game better than the Tampa Bay Rays for the best record in baseball, both surprises early on in the season. The Cubs are on a 7-game winning streak after topping the Rockies 5-3 on Sunday and are averaging a major league-best 5.7 runs/game. The last time the Cubs were the best team in June? 1908 when the Cubs last won a championship.
NBA Finals Set for Classic Showdown
The Los Angeles Lakers closed out the San Antonio Spurs in a surprisingly quick five games while the
Boston Celtics won their first games on the road in the playoffs and didn’t go the distance for the first time in beating the Detroit Pistons in six games. Together, the Lakers (14) and Celtics (16) own 30 championships, the last being the Lakers’ 2002 taking of the title. The popular pick seems to be the Lakers to beat Boston, the team with the best record in basketball. Allow me to stick with my playoff prediction, Boston, to come out of this one holding the trophy.
Game 1: LAL at Boston Thurs. at 6p PT on ABC
A Look Ahead: 140th Belmont Stakes Sat. @ 3:25p PT on ABC
Big Brown is looking to be the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years when the third and final leg of the
Triple Crown is run at Belmont Park in New York. The Morning Line has Big Brown, who is up against 9 horses, at 2/5 odds while his Japanese rival, Casino Drive, owns the only other single-digit odds at 7/2 odds. As if the undefeated Big Brown needed any help, he drew the No. 1 post, where 23 horses have won at Belmont since 1905, the most of any of the posts.
final turn. The colt, who is unbeaten in five starts, will attempt to become the 12th Triple Crown winner and the first since Affirmed in 1978. The last leg: the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
Maria Sharapova‘s fourth time she has been ranked the top player. Henin, who at age 25 is winner of seven Grand Slam titles, is the first woman to retire while holding the No. 1 ranking.
end. Sorenstam has won 72 tournaments to date, third all-time, including three this year. The woman that Tiger Woods has called “the greatest female golfer of all time” won LPGA Tour player of the year a record eight times, including five straight seasons (something Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can’t even say he did, with his record six NBA MVPs).
by 4 3/4 lengths. Surprisingly, Eight Belles, the lone filly in the race, broke both of his front ankles and was so severely injured, he was unable to be taken off the track and euthanized by injection on the spot. Now, PETA is demanding a suspension for the jockey and a revocation of the $400,000 second prize, insisting that the horse suffered the injury before the finish and not during the gallop out. Notwithstanding the commotion in this year’s race, I realized that this is an event I have to make a trip to once in my lifetime. Some interesting facts from Big Brown’s win:
Depot Center in Carson. De La Hoya, who marked this the first of three fights this year, lost just one round on two judges’ scorecards and none on the other. The Golden Boy was unable to knock down, however, the former 130-pound champion fighting at 150 pounds, making it all 38 fights now that the runner up of the Contender series has not been knocked out. De La Hoya will likely get a September rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and if he wins that, a match with perhaps Miguel Cotto in December as his swan-song fight, assuming that the 35-year-old actually retires.
Matt Kemp, LAD – RF: 7 R 0 HR 11 RBI 6 SB .407 AVG (11-27)
Roy Halladay, Tor – SP: 16 IP, 1-1 13 K 1.12 ERA
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