Saturday will be the 13th time since 1978 that a horse has come to the Belmont Stakes with a shot at the Triple Crown. The 12 previous times have seen those horses finish in second place four times, including Smarty Jones’ near-miss in 2004. They have finished in-the-money eight times. But in none of those […]
Those of us who picked Cleveland to win the NBA Finals have to answer this question—if the Cavs couldn’t get a road win on a night when LeBron dropped 44 and Cleveland’s inside personnel decisively won the battle against Golden State and when the Warriors were clearly tight for a quarter-plus, then when exactly does […]
The telltale warning signs came early for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Lightning came out of the gate playing with aggression and grabbed an early 1-0 lead. But amidst that free-flowing play they committed three dangerous turnovers, leaving the […]
The narrative for this year’s NBA Finals has been cast as a choice between the best player or the best team. Do you take LeBron James to carry the Cleveland Cavaliers on his back to their first NBA title? Or will the 67-win Golden State Warriors, easily the league’s best, to bring home their first […]
The Tampa Bay Lightning came into existence in 1993 and have won one Stanley Cup, back in 2004. The Chicago Blackhawks are an Original Six team, born in 1927 and with three Stanley Cups before the Lightning were even born. Now the Blackhawks seek their third Cup in six years. These very different heritages collide […]
The Game 7s of the NHL’s conference finals weren’t as exciting as the each series overall was, particularly Chicago-Anaheim, which went for thrill-a-minute to Game 7 clunker. But Tampa Bay-NY Rangers produced a good game, and in the end the Blackhawks and Lightning advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals. Tampa Bay won 2-0 in Madison […]
The drama throughout May has been provided by the NHL rather than the NBA, so it’s fitting that both of hockey’s conference finals are going to a Game 7, promising a weekend of heart-stopping drama on both coasts. The New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road in Game 6, meaning the […]
The Golden State Warriors are going to the NBA Finals for the first time since their back-to-back championship years of 1974-75. A 104-90 win over the Houston Rockets last night sewed up the Western Conference Finals in five games. Here’s a look at how the Warriors did it… *The stars were close to a wash […]
The city of Cleveland closed in on its first professional sports championship since the Browns won an NFL title in the pre-Super Bowl era of 1964. On Tuesday night, the Cavaliers concluded an Eastern Conference finals sweep of the Hawks with a 118-88 win. Conventional reporting of this series is saying it boiled down to […]
The cities of Tampa Bay and Anaheim don’t exactly jump to mind when you think of great hockey towns, but there’s no disputing the quality of the talent each franchise puts on the ice. And the Lightning and the Ducks are now each within a victory of the Stanley Cup Finals after taking Game 5 […]
Cleveland barely survived at home in overtime, while Golden State put its foot on the gas and turned in a road blowout. Two different paths, but each team put itself on the brink of a conference finals sweep with Game 3 victories this weekend. The Cavs’ 114-111 win over the Hawks was by far the […]
The NHL conference finals are providing springtime the drama that the NBA has mostly failed to give us. The New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks each tied up their series at 2-2, with the Blackhawks again going multiple overtimes to get the W, and this time turning back a stunning third period surge from Anaheim. […]
