Pay Up, Your MajestyNBA commissioner David Stern says LeBron James has been fined $25,000 for skipping the postgame news conference after Cleveland lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals. Stern said Thursday night that he spoke with the Cavaliers star on Wednesday and that James admitted he was wrong to not congratulate Orlando’s players and coaches after the loss. Initially, Stern had said he wasn’t going to fine James, but the commissioner said, “It was inappropriate for me to give someone a pass here.” As much as we admire the skill and charisma that LeBron has brought to the NBA, we’ll have to side with the Commish on this one.
A No-Doubt Rout
After spending the entire week declaring to the world that they “absolutely belonged in the NBA Championship round,” the Orlando Magic performed a disappearing act last night that would have made David Copperfield envious. In one of the most dominating openers to the NBA Finals, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant poured in 40 points to lead his team to an embarrassingly easy 100-75 destruction of the Magic. “I think the best thing we can do is forget about it,” said a magnanimous Bryant, who added eight assists, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. “This is a resilient Orlando Magic team.” The Magic, heading into Sunday’s Game 2 in Los Angeles, face an ominous deficit even after one game. Orlando must stare down history to overcome the favored Lakers: Phil Jackson-coached teams have a 43-0 record after winning the first of a best-of-five or seven-game series. Yikes!
Big Day For The Big Unit
He’s no longer the fearsome, intimidating presence he used to be on the mound but pitcher Randy Johnson finally joined the 300-win club. The Big Unit pitched two-hit ball for six innings to pick up his 300th career win Thursday night at Nationals Park, but the milestone nearly had to wait. First his Wednesday start was postponed by rain, and then the San Francisco Giants’ 5-1 victory against the Washington Nationals on Thursday nearly slipped away. With the score 2-1 in the eighth inning, reliever Brian Wilson stuck out Adam Dunn looking on a 3-2 fastball with the bases loaded and two outs. An inning later Johnson became the 24th pitcher to win 300 games.
Sometimes You Feel Like A Nutt
Can we call it “The Houston Nutt Rule?” After Ole Miss signed 37 players in February, the SEC passed a rule last week limiting conference football teams to signing 28 players annually. “The Ole Miss situation was embarrassing for a lot of our coaches,” commissioner Mike Slive said. “I know Ole Miss’ plan was to steer those non-qualifiers to the local JUCOs in Mississippi. But it left a sour taste in a lot of coaches’ mouths that stress that these recruits are students first and athletes second.” NCAA rules allow schools 25 scholarships per year, but there is no rule about how many letters of intent a school can send out to players. Programs across the nation generally oversign in anticipation that a few of the players they sign won’t qualify academically. The SEC joins the Big Ten as the only conferences in the nation to have a limit in place, but one Big 12 assistant who asked to remain anonymous said he hopes this will push the NCAA to make it a rule throughout Division I football.
Take Off, You Hosers
No, we haven’t forgotten about Bob and Doug McKenzie’s favorite sport and the annual battle for Lord Stanley’s Cup. But after Detroit jumped out to a quick 2-0 series lead over Pittsburgh, it looked like a sweep was in the offing. Not so fast, my friends! When Pittsburgh Penguins center Jordan Staal outmuscled Brian Rafalski to score a shorthanded goal against the Detroit Red Wings last night, it ignited the Penguins to a 4-2 victory that tied the best-of-seven series at 2 heading into Game 5 on Saturday in Detroit. Now, two-out-of-three takes home the big prize.
Courtesy of the www.houseofsports.com/
Posts
