Caps dominate, Cavs win, Noah's comments, and the Jazz defeat the Nuggets

Last night, I parked myself in front of my TV and flipped channels.  That might sound lame to some, but for me, it was about all I could handle.

First up was Game 3 for the Washington Caps and the Montreal Canadiens.  I started watching hockey, 15 mins into the game.  Before you knew it the Caps were up 4-0.  Nice!  Realizing that the Caps didn't need my moral support I started focusing on the Cavs game. 

The Cavs were up 10 points and Shaq was on the bench sweating like Patrick Ewing.  A 10 point lead isn't the end all, especially since it was early, but I wasn't interested in watching the game.  No matter how I tried to get into the game, the Cavs v Bulls series just doesn't interest me.  I don't believe that the Bulls are a threat to the Cavs.  I'm not a fan of Joakim Noah either.  I didn't like him in college, and I don't like him in the pros.  He seems awkward to me.  I remember I had dinner with some of my sporty friends and one of them told me that Noah was killing it on the boards and really proving himself.  As I politely smiled and then yawned into my napkin, I'm sure my disinterest was apparent.  The only Noahs that interest me are Yannick and the one who managed to gather pairs of animals and survive a storm for 40 days and 40 nights.  Both of those men's stories, I find far more fascinating than the youngest Noah.  Shoot...  When I was in Paris, I found myself intrigued by the billboard I saw for Yannick's concert.  However, while in Chicago, Joakim was the furthest thing from my mind...  I wanted to see Derrick Rose and the United Center.  Yep, the building was more exciting to me than Joakim.

Yannick > Joakim

****  There's an "I hate Joakim Noah" facebook group.  I thought about joining it, but next to "Affiliation" it reads, "Peyton Manning is overrated."  Um, excuse me.  As a Colts fan, I'm definitely not down with that.  Oh well.  They almost had me.

Can someone tell me what Joakim's problem is?  Why does he think he can start jawing with LeBron James in Cleveland?  Further to cement, my feeling that Noah is just terrible, check out the video of him trashing Cleveland.  Now, I'm sure that Cleveland isn't at the top of the list in terms of vacation destinations, but I'm also confident that there are at least 20,000 people who'd be more than happy to put Noah on the Rapid and send him back to the airport.  Don't worry, Joakim.  You'll be on vacation soon enough!  Feel free to go wherever you want in the off season.

The last game I watched was the Jazz v Nuggets game.  It was Game 2 and was being played in Denver.  The injury riddled Jazz managed to defeat the Nuggets.  Injury riddled...  With Kirilenko out and Mehmet Okur rupturing his Achilles it should've been an easy game for the Nuggets...  "Should" was the key word.  What is going on with the Nuggets?  Sure, they're not the same team they were now that George Karl is tending to his health, and Adrian Dantley has assumed coaching responsibilities.  George Karl's presence is obviously missed.  I know Adrian Dantley is knowledgeable, but he only had 1/10 of the passion to win last night's game compared to me.  I'm actually a little surprised that the folks in Denver didn't tell me to, "Shut up," because my inside voice was SCREAMING last night.

The Nuggets are supposed to win this series!  Am I the only person that knows this?  Has anyone told the Nuggets that they can and should win?  ARGH!  It's almost as if the refs didn't want the Nuggets to win either.  Is it just me, or did it seem like every time I heard a whistle blow, one of the Nuggets had drawn a foul.  Crazy...

****  I just checked.  Numbers don't lie.  Fouls for Denver looked like this:

• Anthony:  6
• Nene:  5
• Martin:  5
• Afflalo: 5
• Billups: 5

I was still steaming after the game and started thinking ahead to the Suns v Trailblazers game in Portland on Saturday.  I remembered that I knew a former front office executive for the Blazers and decided to drop him an email.  I also started thinking about Carlos Boozer and got reminded of the debacle in Cleveland when he duped management and left for Salt Lake City.  Don't remember?  How can you forget?  Well, just in case you can relive the nightmare by reading the following link.  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/ian_thomsen/07/09/paxson.boozer/index.html

Being a Cavs fan, I'll say this.  I know Gordon Gund to be a class act, and I respect Jim Paxson.  I believe in Paxson's basketball knowledge.  Based on those statements, you can deduce how I feel about Boozer (i.e. especially when it comes to the Cavs).  Boozer had a very strong performance last night.  Come on Denver, let's stop getting tattoos, practice, get it together, and WIN!

Kenyon Martin had 15 pts, but was hampered with 5 fouls Monday night

Actually now that I think about it, when the Nuggets were in town to play the Wizards, the Wizards won 107-97.

Seriously... What is wrong with Denver?

Enough about all that.  Today is a brand new day and there is a full slate of games on tonight.

Bucks and Hawks tip at 7.

Heat and Celtics tip at 8.
****  Earlier tonight, for his Twitter fans, dwadeofficial, posted this:  "First 1 to get this question rt. How many players on Miami and Boston R from chicago??? And name them."  If you're not on Twitter and you're a fan, you might want to correct the situation.

Trailblazers and Suns tip at 10:00.

Thunder and Lakers tip at 10:30.

If you follow this blog, you know who I want to win...  Let's go guys!  BRING IT!!!

THE WIRK

Fight, Overtime, Hat Trick ~ Capitals defeat the Canadiens in Game 2

On Thursday night, I watched an exciting Montreal Canadiens v Washington Capitals game, that ended with the Caps losing in overtime.  I watched the game on TV and regretted not being in attendance at the Verizon Center.

Determined to not make the same mistake twice, I hustled my way over to the phone booth and sat pretty in section 104 for Game 2 of the series.  If you're a Caps fan and you missed last night's game, you should be ashamed of yourself.  Plain and simple.  You probably even hate yourself right now...

Last night's game in one word, can be summarized with, "UNBELIEVABLE".  Thanks to Metro's delays, I was about 5 mins late to the game.  Yes, I took public transportation.  It's ridiculously convenient to the arena, and the prudent thing to do.  Just my luck due to service delays, by the time my ticket was scanned, Montreal had scored.  The scoreboard read 1-0, and the bad were guys up.  Next thing you knew it was 2-0.  Great.  Jose Theodore was yanked out of the game, and Varlamov was placed in goal.  New goalie, new game...  Finally, still in the 1st period, we got on the board thanks to Eric Fehr, who scored his first goal in the Playoffs.

Time elapsed, the Canadiens caught fire and next thing you knew the Habs were up 4-1. 

With a 3-goal deficit, things weren't looking good for Caps fans, but unlike in basketball games where it appears there's going to be a blowout ~ Caps fans stay.  The entire arena was "Rockin the Red" and no one was going anywhere.

During the game, I was texting scoring updates to my friend in Canada, who couldn't watch the game, since he was at a business dinner.  Each time I'd text him that his Habs had scored, I'd receive the same response, "OMG".  Even he couldn't believe it! 

If you can't beat them, why not fight them, right?!?!  I mean, this is hockey...  So, in the 3rd period, Caps fans were treated to a fight when Tom Poti and Scott Gomez decided to mix it up.  Told you this game had everything for a hockey fan..

Fight ~ the Habs, Scott Gomez and the Caps, Tom Poti

Sure enough, the Caps were able to find their offense and John Carlson scored his first goal of the Playoffs.  Carlson's goal tied the game at 5, and we were heading into OT.

So many stories can be told about Saturday night at the Verizon Center, but the hero of the game was Nicklas Backstrom who notched a hat trick and led the Caps to victory in OT!

Hat Trick!!!

On the way home from the game, I ran into someone I knew on the train.  Actually, the minute I got on the Metro I heard someone yelling my name.  Imagine my surprise to see that it was a guy wearing a mask.  "Mask guy" was creeping people out on the train and drunk from the DC United soccer game.  He couldn't tell me if DC United had won, but needless to say no one bothered me on the train, while he was next to me.  Yes, I have strange friends.

Go Caps!  Game 3 is on Monday in Montreal, at 7PM.

THE WIRK

NBA and NHL Playoffs ~ Go Cavs, Win Game 1! Go Caps ~ Win Game 2!

I am watching the Cleveland Cavs whip up on the Chicago Bulls on TV, and trying to resist the urge to take a nap this gorgeous Saturday afternoon.  Somewhere admidst my boredom, I started to think about my plans for tonight and remembered that Game 2 of the Washington Capitals v Montreal Canadiens series is tonight at 7 at the Verizon Center.  The Caps dropped game 1 in overtime, so tonight's match-up is expected to be a good one.  Soooooo, began the hunt for the perfect ticket.

After looking at Ticketmaster and striking out, I went to my favorite ticket broker site.  I wanted to see where those sharks priced the tickets in their inventory, since they're usually the highest once you add fees, etc.  Then I went to Craigs list to see where those folks had priced tickets, but they didn't have a lot of inventory available and the idea of meeting a complete freak, who knew I was carrying cash, this afternoon wasn't appealing.  Ebay is always fun to look at, but there was one guy out in Springfield who wanted a price, that I could get outside the arena tonight ~ so a trip to Springfield was out of the question.  My last and final stop was the Capitals Ticket Exchange, where season ticket holders list their "extras", and I found a ticket listed for a more than reasonable price.

I have a friend who's a Habs fan, and as soon as the game went into overtime we bet about the outcome of Game 1.  The loser owed the winner a trip to Vegas.  Unfortunately the Caps and I lost.  Fortunately, my friend couldn't accept the bet and offered me the trip to Vegas anyway!  Woohoo ~ I won after all!!!  Told you I was lucky.  We'll see if the trip actually pans out, but regardless at least I'm off the hook without having to weasel my way out (i.e. I'll never explicitly renege on a bet).

Anyway, I'm all set for tonight's hockey game, so I'll see you at the phone booth.  Oh ~ and I'll be sporting my "new"  Ovechkin jersey.  This is going to be a good one!

By the way, if I had to guess about the scalper prices to night, here's what I think.  A pair of lowers will run about $250/$300 and you'll be able to score a pair of uppers for $150/$200.  Those are just my guesses, based on what I've seen.  It is the playoffs after all.  ****  As a rule, I'd never agree to paly a price that's not a multiple of $20.  Why?  Everyone knows that ATMs don't give out $10s, so it's pointless.  Therefore, why stress about finding $10, when the scalper may even be pressed to give you change?  Do everything in increments of $20. 

Let's go Caps!!!

Ugh - in the amount of time it took me to type this, the Bulls have cut the Cavs lead to 7 points.  Time to re-focus my energy towards Cleveland.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not scared, but seriously...


THE WIRK

The NBA Playoff schedule is out and NHL Playoffs are underway ~ Let's go Cavs and Caps!!!

Basketball:

The NBA playoff schedule has been released, and I've been looking at my frequent flier mile balances and proposing multi-city trips trying to make the most out of each and every trip (i.e. trying to combine baseball and basketball).  If I'm heading West, I want the trip to be worth it.  The only issue, is that I'm not sure when I have to start traveling for work.  Soooooooooo, West coast friends should expect to hear from me in the next couple of days as I attempt to hash out a schedule that makes sense, physically and financially. 

Plus, let's put this into perspective ~ this is only the first round.

I took a quick look and here are my predictions for the NBA playoff 1st round match-ups :

Lets's start with the East:

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers (61-21)  <--- Advances (i.e Go Cavs!!!)
(8) Chicago Bulls (41-41)

(2) Orlando Magic (59-23) <--- Advances (i.e.  I predict a Magic sweep)
(7) Charlotte Bobcats (44-38)

(3) Atlanta Hawks (53-29)  <--- Advances (i.e. Coach Woodson's Hawks are exciting to watch)
(6) Milwaukee Bucks (46-36)

(4) Boston Celtics (50-32)
(5) Miami Heat (47-35) <--- Advances (i.e. I can't in good conscience pick the Celtics and even Doc doesn't want to think about the future)

And, now for the West:

(1) Los Angeles Lakers (57-25)  <--- Advances (i.e. going to be exciting with Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant)
(8) Oklahoma City Thunder (50-32)

(2) Dallas Mavericks (55-27) <--- Advances (i.e. I'm so tired of watching the Spurs play sleepy basketball)
(7) San Antonio Spurs (50-32)

(3) Phoenix Suns (54-28) <--- Advances (i.e. Portland isn't healthy enough squad to compete with the hot Suns)
(6) Portland Trailblazers (50-32)

(4) Denver Nuggets (53-29) <--- Advances (i.e. going to be a fight, might even go to 7)
(5) Utah Jazz (53-29)

The road to the NBA Finals should go through Cleveland.  Check out the following video, to get a taste for what to expect if you want to come out and see the Cavs play in the finals.



****  On another note, what in the world is going on in Chicago with John Paxson and Vinny Del Negro?!?!http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=5086856

Hockey:

The Caps are kicking off the NHL playoffs.  Game 1 is tonight at the Verizon Center today @ 7PM.  Game 2 is on Saturday (i.e. same time, same place).  They're taking on the Montreal Canadiens.  I have a few friends that are Habs fans, but I think those guys are going to be disappointed.  I've been to the Bell Centre and seen how passionate the Habs fans are about their winning team, but I look for the Washington Capitals to advance.

Nice, but the Caps are going to advance

Incidentally, I just took a poll on the Caps website and it looks like I'm not the only one.  Here is the question and the poll results.

Question:  Who will win the series between the Capitals and the Canadiens?

Caps in 4 or 5 = 56.67%
Habs in 4 or 5 = 5.67%
Caps in 6 or 7 - 24.6%
Habs in 6 or 7 = 13.06%

A while ago, I was watching Washington Post Live and listening to Mike Wise talk about Washington Capitals' fans and their expectations with regard to the postseason.  If I remember correctly, his point was that Caps fans are expecting too much by "expecting" to see the Caps win the Stanley Cup.  I respect his opinion, but disagree.  I believe, that when you are so close to the championship and it appears you're stronger than the previous year, winning it ALL is not an unrealistic expectation.  Let's go Caps!  Go get that Stanley Cup and bring it back to DC.


THE WIRK