It is hard to believe the WNBA is about to begin its 20th season. Last year the New York Liberty had the best regular season record. Below is a reminder from the classy Liberty organization that another season begins this Sunday.
May 15th Home Opener and Roster Finalized
The New York Liberty will tip off its historic 20th WNBA season on Sunday, May 15, with Opening Night presented by Kia Motors against the Dallas Wings at Madison Square Garden at 5 p.m. To celebrate cast members from the Broadway show Hamilton will sing the national anthem, Montell Jordan will perform at halftime and the first 5,000 fans will get a T-shirt.
Andy B Sports will have updates on the WNBA and New York Liberty as the 20th WNBA season progresses.
Tonight the San Jose Sharks, bidding for their fourth NHL semi-finals/conference final appearance (they are 0-3 in such series), are about 9 to 5 favorites vs the Nashville Predators, in game 7 of their quarterfinal series.
The Predators won game 7 at Anaheim to take their preliminary series vs the Ducks, giving Nashville just its third playoff series victory in this the 17th season of the franchise. Nashville has never been to the NHL semi-finals.
That series between the Preds and Ducks produced 5 victories by the road team, three by the Predators the final one, an incredible 4th straight home, game 7 loss for the Ducks in as many seasons (2013-2016).
This series vs the Sharks has been different, in that the home team has won all six games played.
The winner of tonight’s game will meet the St. Louis Blues, beginning Sunday in St. Louis, in the NHL semi-finals.
Only 2 of the 32 playoff teams in the NHL and NBA are still undefeated at home in the playoffs.
Both the record breaking, defending champion Golden State Warriors (8-2) overall, and the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-0) overall have not lost at home in these playoffs and each team has advanced to the NBA semi-finals for the second straight year.
The Cavaliers are overwhelming favorites to hold up their end toward a rematch of last year’s NBA finals, won by Golden State in six games.
Of course the much tougher NBA Western Conference is the reason that Golden State is not a prohibitive favorite to make the finals. They would be a bigger favorite (in the semis) vs the Oklahoma City Thunder, who take a surprising (3-2) series lead home tonight, than they would be vs the Thunder’s “quarter” opponent, the San Antonio Spurs.
With tonight’s 5th deciding game between the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars’ franchises only hours away here is a look at Wikipedia getting the facts right and wrong regarding Kevin O’Shea’s series, winning overtime goal in the 7th game between the two franchises back in 1972. Speaking of 1972, on this date in 1972, the Boston Bruins clinched their 2nd Stanley Cup title in three seasons.
This is wrong as the goal was in game SEVEN—“Danny O’Shea congratulates his brother Kevin after scoring the game-winning goal overtime goal versus Minnesota in game six of the Quarterfinals which elevated St. Louis into the semifinals.”
Wikipedia gets it right in its text.
Kevin William O’Shea (May 28, 1947 in Toronto, Ontario – January 18, 2010 in Ontario) was a professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues, as well as in theWorld Hockey Association with the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Prior to his professional career, O’Shea played two years for St. Lawrence University.[1]
In his NHL career, O’Shea appeared in 133 games, scoring thirteen goals and adding eighteen assists. He is best known for scoring an overtime goal in Game 7 of a playoff quarterfinal series in 1972, leading the Blues past the Minnesota North Stars and into the next round.[2]
Kevin O’Shea – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Above the picture, with the incorrect text, and link of Danny congratulating brother Kevin in what was game 7 of the Blues/North Stars NHL quarterfinal series won by the Blues on April 16,1972 a day Burt Hooton, then with the Cubs pitched a no hit game and Kareem Abdul Jabbar on his 25th birthday led the Milwaukee Bucks to a series squaring game 4 home win vs the eventual NBA champion, Los Angeles Lakers.
Do not look now, but on a night the top ranked team in the NHL, the Washington Capitals, by circumstance forced to play a truly tough quarterfinal opponent, were eliminated, the Oklahoma City Thunder, a truly tough quarterfinal round opponent, took a (3-2) series lead vs the (67-15) San Antonio Spurs, the team with the second best record in the NBA.
During the regular season, the Spurs did not lose a home game but now they have lost two home games to the Thunder after routing “OKC” in game 1 at home.
That rout and the subsequent over reaction is rarely good for the team doing the “routing” especially if the opponent or “routee” has talent which “OKC” led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, most certainly do.
Russell Westbrook pictured above.
Nick Bonino scored in overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a (4-3) home win in game 6 and a (4-2) quarterfinal series victory over the top ranked Washington Capitals.
Phil Kessel, a member of the last team to dissipate a three goal lead in a potential series clinching game, (the 2013 Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston vs the Bruins in game 7 of the preliminary round) as the Pens did last night, had two goals and assisted on the series winner.
Pittsburgh has now won 8 of 9 playoff series vs Washington, the latter a franchise that now has gone 41 completed seasons (1975-2016), sans a game victory in the Stanley Cup finals. (Detroit (Red Wings) swept the Caps in the 1998 finals and there was no hockey season in 2005).
The Penguins will now be favored vs the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL Eastern Conference finals/NHL semi-finals and will have the home ice advantage.
25 years ago, when the Penguins won their first title vs the then Minnesota North Stars, was the only time in 44 possibile seasons, that two teams from the first NHL expansion met in the Stanley Cup finals.
The winner of tonight’s tilt between the now Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues, each a team from that first expansion, will have home ice and be favored in the NHL semis as is the case with the Penguins.
Flying under the radar of the highly publicized (24-6) Chicago Cubs are the crosstown Chicago White Sox.
The South Side White Sox are off to a (23-10) start and as is the case with the Cubs have a nice early season lead in the Central Division of their league.
Joe Maddon’s Cubs have an 8 game N.L. Central lead while Robin Ventura’s White Sox have a “not chopped liver,” 6 game A.L. Central lead still so early in the 2016 season.
With the Cubs a prohibitive favorite in the National League, and the White Sox no longer such a long shot in the American League, it is not that far fetched to contemplate an all Chicago World Series, a nice round 110 years after the only other one which was in 1906.
As a result of the Dallas Stars holding on for a (3-2) victory, their second at St. Louis in their NHL quarterfinal series vs the Blues, the franchises will meet in a 5th deciding game in this their 13th playoff series against each other, on Wednesday night in Dallas.
The teams have split the previous 12 series, three of them in decisive 7th games and one in a decisive 5th game.
St. Louis won in overtime in the first two decisive 7th games in 1968 (each franchise’s first season) and 1972. The 1968 game was in St. Louis, the 1972 tilt in Minnesota and was nationally televised by CBS, with the great Dan Kelly behind the microphone,
However, the Blues did not win another playoff game in each of those seasons, losing in 4 straight to Hector “Toe” Blake’s last Cup winner (Montreal Canadiens) in 1968 and to the eventual Cup winning 1972 Boston Bruins, in a “crossover” NHL semi-final series.
Still the Minnesota North Stars, the franchise now the Dallas Stars, won a 7th game vs St. Louis at home in 1984, before losing a decisive 5th game also at home in 1986. Wednesday’s decisive 7th game will be the first between the franchises since the North Stars moved to Dallas and became the Stars.
One can make the case it has been all downhill for the Blues since Ron Schock (see above) scored in the second overtime of game 7 (1968 semi-finals/expansion NHL Western Division finals) vs the Minnesota North Stars, sending his team to the NHL finals.
St. Loo lost all 12 of its finals games in 3 straight finals appearances after Schock’s goal, not exactly a “SHOCKING” result as they represented an expansion team division. They have not made an NHL final series since and hope to make just their fourth semi-finals appearance since that point (1970), with a win in Dallas, vs the Stars tomorrow night.
I guess the sound has to stay off when I watch sports on television, unless I want to risk the potential aggravation, the so often poor presentations and announcers cause.
Last night, top of the fifth in the ESPN telecast of Detroit Tigers at Washington Nationals and Karl Ravech, bereft of play by play skills, compounds our misfortune as listeners, by going on and on about “Wash” pitcher, Stephen Strasburg’s new contract, to the point of not acknowledging Detroit’s Ian Kinsler’s leadoff single.
It was well into the next batter, J.D. Martinez’ at bat, when Strasburg fell behind on the count that Ravech finally spoke about Kinsler being on first base. Ravech said he had WALKED.(Of course Kinsler had SINGLED, evoking the name of Ken Singleton and his lazy mistake acknowledged here a few day ago.)
Bad enough they have the presentation and (non) announcers they throw at us, but can’t they at least acknowledge their mistakes?!!
Though I really never watched the television show, “Our Miss Brooks,” for which she gained acclaim, I am a big admirer of Eve Arden’s work.
The television show “The Mothers In Law,” was on this past weekend as the “Decades Binge” and all these years later, I was again reminded of why I first began to like Eve Arden.
In between, Arden’s roles in Mildred Pierce, (Joan Crawford won an Academy Award as “Mildred”) for which she was nominated for a best supporting actress Academy Award as “Mildred’s” friend, “Ida” and “Anatomy of a Murder,” whose cast included Eve’s husband Brooks West, gave me a more enlightened, yet similar view of Eve Arden’s great talent.
Cementing my views, I happened to see Eve as the mystery guest on “What’s My Line” airing on Buzzer T.V.
So classy, she used a horn type device beeping once for yes and twice for no to hide her distinctive voice. Nothing, however, could hide her class and talent which always shines through.
Eve Arden pictured above.
Andy B Sports 