So...I guess it is time for me to blog about sports.
I absolutely love this time of year. At this very moment, I have just finished watching the third round of the Player's Championship, I am currently watching game five of the Penguin/Capital series, and am flipping to the Royals game during commercials. This is one of my favorite seasons for watching sports.
The Royals are off to a really hot start behind the complete dominance of Zack Greinke. "The K" is newly renovated and much improved. Karalie and I watched Greinke pitch a complete game, shutout earlier this week and he is definitely the favorite to take home the AL Cy Young Award. The great thing is Greinke is not alone. The starting pitching has been spectacular so far. I can't wait for Luke Hochevar to get the call-up from Triple-A. Who would have thought that Alex Gordon going down for a while would have been a blessing in disguise. Teahen seems comfortable and confident, both at the plate and in the field. Overall, the Royals' approach at the plate has been more disciplined. The addition of Coco Crisp and Kevin Seitzer has given this team a swagger at the plate. Now, I just have to get used to them getting clutch hits and pitching out of jams. I am not ready to guarantee a playoff appearance, but I can say that I am more excited to watch the games on t.v., and much more anxious to get to the stadium. Go Royals.
The NHL Playoffs are starting to heat up. And, as I write this, game five of the Pens/Caps series is heating up. It has been a blast to watch Sidney Crosby against Alex Ovechkin. I am hoping that the Penguins find a way to pull this series out. They are going to need Fleury to be the best he's been to get past Ovechkin. It seems that he is looking to shoot at all times. Every time he touches the puck he is looking at the net, and most times he gets it to the net. If he is not hitting someone, he's shooting the puck. I just get tired of the Cap's overconfidence. I would love to see Sid the Kid and Geno get the last laugh in this series.
It all comes down to goaltending in the playoffs, or does it. Tim Thomas looked like the best net-minder all year, until now. The Bruins need complete dominance from Thomas the rest of the way if they are going to come back from a 3-1 hole against Cam Ward. It was goaltending that knocked out my favorite team. The St. Louis Blues got swept right out of the playoffs. After putting together one of the greatest runs to make the playoffs I have ever seen in any sport, the Blues ran out of energy and creativity against the strong play of Luongo and the Cannucks. All that to say, I was very proud of how hard the Blues fought all season long. I can't wait til next year when they get Brewer back. Go T.J. Oshie.
So enough hockey talk. I know that nobody cares but me. So my pick is Boston over Detroit in 6 games.
Alex Cejka takes a five stroke lead into the final day of the Player's Championship. This is probably my second favorite tourney to watch all year. It will be interesting to see how Cejka responds playing in the final group with Tiger.
I used to always get frustrated when golf announcers and former players would discount Tiger's dominance by declaring that his competition (the other players in the top 20 or so in the world rankings) is not nearly as talented as the competition that Jack and Arny faced. I hate to compare athletes from different generations (because it is impossible), but I think I am starting to see their point. It seems that when Tiger is not at the top of the leaderboard the players that are cannot put together a solid round. Week after week the final four groups come in bogeying three of the the last four holes leaving someone in the clubhouse for over an hour with a win or a tie. I am getting tired of seeing so many people buckle. When is someone going to smell the victory and break 70. Instead, it seems that people are trying to avoid winning by giving the championship to someone else. Take this week for example: Tiger hacks it around and saves a few pars while everyone but Cejka gives up their advantage. Let me guess what happens tomorrow. Cejka 74, Tiger 69...Tiger wins in a playoff! We'll see...
