Since the BBQ will be dominated with World Cup content for the next month, I thought I would highlight some other events that are going on in the world of sport before all 4 of you get annoyed with my writings on soccer.

Congratulations to the person who successfully picked the NBA finals to be between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat - even though you also picked San Antonio to win the Championship before they were eliminated in the second round. Although common sense is telling me that Miami is going to win the series (and the Championship) because of Shaq and Dwayne Wade, it’s hard to ignore any team that beats the defending champions in a game 7 while playing on the champs’ home court. Dirk Nowitzki has been unstopable for the entire playoffs, and I think he’s going to lead Dallas to the Championship.

The French Open Finals will be played over the weekend also, with the women’s competitors already decided: Svetlana Kuznetsova playing against defending champion, Justine Henin-Hardenne-Soreloser-I’m ’sick.’ I would really like Kuznetsova to win this match, but I don’t see it happening. Henin-Hardenne in straight sets. On the men’s side, it looks like we’re heading for another Federer vs Nadal final. Federer is, without a doubt, the best and most complete tennis player I have ever watched, but he always struggles against Nadal, who is the best clay courter around. I think that if they both make the final, Federer will erase his demons against Nadal by winning his first French Open title. If he manages this, I GUARANTEE that he will win the Grand Slam this year, becoming the first man since Australia’s Rod Laver to accomplish the feet.

In local BBQ news, the Portland Trail Blazers have been put up for sale. While I’m not a fan of Paul Allen in the slightest (the fact that the fifth richest man in the world can claim one of his business is bankrupt makes me sick), you can’t deny the fact that he did everything in his power to bring a Championship to Portland. He came close, too. If it wasn’t for the biggest choke in NBA history in game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals against the Lakers, Portland would have won the Championship that year. The city and the fans need a fresh start - they have become increasingly despondent with Allen, and the sale of the team is what they need in order to fall in love with the Blazers again. Anyone have a spare $300 million?

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 8th, 2006 at 3:48 pm and is filed under NBA, Tennis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.