Wednesday, May 30, 2012

05/30 (Spurs) Quickie

At this point, I am fully rooting for the Spurs to go 16-0 en route to a title, if only for the novelty -- to go along with the jaw-dropping excellence.

(That it would imply the Spurs sweeping the Heat in the Finals to get there is just a bonus. I think the Spurs will be extra-motivated to destroy the Heat in the Finals, because it is the ultimate validation of the Spurs' awesomeness, which has been largely overlooked throughout the Duncan dynasty.)

Stanley Cup Finals: My 6-year-old son Gabe is picking/rooting for the Kings; my 3-year-old son Jonah (who is the one who actually plays ice hockey) is picking/rooting for the Devils. I love the fact that it's a toss-up, particularly between two teams that two months ago, no one thought would get here.

NBA Lottery: For we Wizards fans, it's the perennial event that is a proxy for our "playoffs." We get unusually into it -- almost always let down. Let's be clear: The team that lands Anthony Davis gets the kind of super-elite talent that is necessary to be an NBA title contender; everyone else at the top of the draft gets a nice piece -- maybe even a starter -- but nothing that will transform a team like Davis will.

USMNT vs. Brazil: Right up the road from me at FedEx Field. Fully expect a Brazil W, but in a friendly, the US has pulled off bigger shockers in the past (like Spain a few years ago). Should be a fun one.

MLB: The Rangers were already the odds-on favorite to win the World Series -- signing Roy Oswalt only firms that up. Meanwhile, the Phillies get the brunt of going all-in when the title window is open -- Halladay breaking down was unexpected and entirely painful for a team trying to keep it together to hold off charges from the rest of the division, which have pushed the Phils down already.

RIP: Condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of CBSSports.com's Craig Stanke, who died suddenly and tragically -- he had been in online sports since the mid-1990s (the SportsLine days), making him one of the real early believers and practitioners in the medium. So sad.

-- D.S.

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