The Minnesota Lynx led by Lindsay Whalen’s 31 points defeated the San Antonio Stars in game 2 to sweep their best of three WNBA first round series. This result ends the playing career of the Stars’ Becky Hammon, a true WNBA great.
Becky will now move on to be an assistant coach with the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, the first woman assistant coach in league history.
It was nice to see the Lynx players congratulate Hammon and there is great appreciation for all Ms. Hammon has done for women’s basketball.
The current weekend series between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins evokes memories of the 1987 ALCS between the two teams.
The Twins upset the Tigers in that best of seven series, winning in five games. They went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games to capture their first world title as the Minnesota Twins. The franchise won the World Series in 1924 when they were the Washington Senators.
The 1987 team featured such players as Gary Gaetti, Frank Viola and the great Kirby Puckett. The team was managed by Tom Kelly, who also guided the Twins to the 1991 crown.
This weekend the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim take a 2 game AL West lead into their series at Oakland vs the second place A’s.
The teams are playing a three game series. Of course there is not so much drama because in all likelihood the second place team in the AL west will qualify for the post season as one of the two American League wild card teams.
The Angels are in first place for the first time in well over three years. They are a viable title threat though they lost a top pitcher, Garrett Richards for the rest of the season due to injury.
Kevin Durant, who has won no championships and only one “finals game” win, will likely get the obscene amount of 26 million dollars per year for a sneaker endorsement.
His basketball salary of 25 million per year is actually less money. I never knew it was this crazy.
If the fans would wise up and stop watching and certainly stop buying basketball sneakers, this might go away.
I will not hold my breath until this happens. I also will not watch the games. If I can do it, after years of sustained watching, so can you.
The WNBA playoffs get underway tomorrow night with two games, one in each conference. There will be two more games on Friday.
These are first round, best of three series with the higher ranked team opening at home and having the potential third and series deciding game at home as well. My predictions on the four series follows.
In one East series which begins tomorrow, I predict the lower seed Washington Mystics to upset the Indiana Fever in 3 games.
The other East series begins Friday night with the Michael Cooper coached Atlanta Dream facing the Chicago Sky. Atlanta to survive, with a close win in game 3.
In the West I predict a shocking upset: the San Antonio Stars, with future San Antonio Spurs assistant coach, Becky Hammon, to win in 3 games, vs the 9 to 1 favorite, Minnesota Lynx.
No upset in the other series as I say it will take just two games for the record breaking Phoenix Mercury to dispatch the Los Angeles Sparks.
In thinking about the one game showdown between the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles for the 1982 A.L. East title, a sickening reality became evident.
As stated yesterday, then Brewers owner, Bud Selig relished the dramatic victory in such an important game.
The current, horrible reality is that the presence of wild card teams in baseball, that precludes the possibility of such games, came about under Bud Selig’s “watch” as baseball commissioner.
Further insult is that Selig strongly supported the wild card presence and considers the regular season finish of 2012 as a great moment in baseball history. That is about 170 degrees (not quite 180, but almost there) from my opinion.
In 1982, the American League East race came down to the 162nd and final game. I recall watching that Sunday afternoon on ABC TV. It was a winner take all game between the Milwaukee Brewers vs the Baltimore Orioles.
The Bewers at that time were owned by the current Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig.
The Brewers jumped to a lead they would hold, but not before some anxious moments for them. As the tension mounted, the ABC cameras focused more than once on owner Selig “chain smoking,” hoping Milwaukee would hold on.
It was a memorable game in a great baseball season which culminated in the St. Louis Cardinals’ seven game triumph over the Brewers in the World Series.
Click for Brewers vs Orioles 1982
Though NFL pre season games mean little, if anything, it is noteworthy that the New York Giants and New York Jets will enter next week’s annual pre season contest vs each other with a combined (5-0) record.
I believe this augurs well for both teams. In my opinion both teams will fight for playoff berths this season.
The Jets with additions Michael Vick and Chris Johnson on the offensive end will win at least 8 games. They might even battle the New England Patriots for the AFC East title but let’s slow down our optimism concerning the Jets just a bit. Let’s say (9-7), good enough to battle for a playoff berth in the not so good AFC, but not enough to take the division title from New England.
I already predicted a (9-7) season for the Giants. They may even win the NFC East.
So far in the pre season, the Detroit Lions, last year’s big disappointment in the NFC North, if not the NFL, have split two games, each decided by one point.
It is in close games that the very talented Lions must improve this season. They seemed headed to the NFC North crown after a dominant performance vs the Green bay Packers last Thanksgiving Day, in the traditional game at Detroit.
However, the team lost some unbelievable games, including one in the snow at Philadelphia (Eagles) and a home game to the New York Giants, who played the spoiler role and eliminated the Lions.
The Giants visit Detroit in the Monday night opener with the latter, an early 4 point favorite.
My early prediction is that the Lions will bounce back this season, win at least 9 games, and perhaps battle for the NFC North crown, that they squandered last season.
Lauren Bacall, One of the greatest American actors, passed on this past week. She was 89 years old.
She was the epitome of charm, grace, and to me, sultry class. I met her once not long ago, and she looked great. I simply said “an honor to meet you.” She said “thank you.”
There were so many great roles including, if you will, being married to Humphrey Bogart and then Jason Robards Jr.
On screen and stage so many, citing one each: “Key Largo,” one of four films with Mr. Bogart, and “Woman of the Year” on Broadway.
My favorite is “To Have and Have Not” where she met and fell in love with Humphrey Bogart. One scene mirrors their “riding the wave toward love,” as Ms. Bacall’s character, in a scene way ahead of its time, instructs Bogart’s character how to get in touch with her.
“Just whistle,” she says, “you know how to whistle, don’t you–just put your lips together and blow.”
Ms. Bacall, 25 years Bogie’s junior, lost her great love on earth and maybe now Mr. Bogart is “whistling” for her return.
Andy B Sports 