-Wait – you aren’t that person who thought Cleveland had a chance to beat Golden State this year, are you? If so, you do realize all of the reasons why the Warriors will dispatch of the Cavs in 5 games or less:
- Revenge from 2016’s Golden State choke job.
- Kevin Durant is now on the Warriors and he’s easily a top 5 player in the league.
- The Cavs have no credible bench – then again they do have former UofA standouts Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, and Derrick Williams!
- Do I really need to keep going?
-So now that the Finals are over after Game 1, how can I bet that the Warriors and Cavaliers will play again in the 2018 Finals? And this folks, the lack of any unpredictability whatsoever is why I’m not a huge NBA guy…
-Despite being down 0-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals, Nashville will take Pittsburgh to a Game 7 and win. Yes…I know I’m crazy but take the 4.5-1 odds of the Predators winning the series in Vegas.
-If I have any chance of getting the above prediction correct, Pekka Rinne has to be MUCH better in goal for the Preds. Thus far he’s been lousy at best and if his poor play continues, Nashville might get swept.
-The two best sporting “events” to watch in June: Golf’s U.S. Open and the NBA Draft. The Open on Sunday is usually riveting theater and as for the draft, I’m interested to see which NBA teams might contend in 2021.
-Tiger Woods – no I won’t post his mugshot or dash cam video from his arrest on Monday. How sad – that’s all I can say. I would love to see him win another tournament in his career but something tells me that’s far-fetched.
-One thing not to take in Vegas, the Cubs winning a World Series this year. After getting swept by the Dodgers and lowly Padres out West, I’m starting to get bearish on them even making the playoffs. Dare I say “There’s always next year!”
-In 2016, the Cubs went 103-58 in the regular season and 11-6 in the postseason. Of those 178 games, Dexter Fowler did not play at all in 36 of them. The Cubs record when he was not in the lineup was 18-18. Their record with him was 96-46. Any coincidence as to why they might be struggling in 2017 with Fowler on the hated St. Louis Cardinals?
-Hey Arizona Cardinals fans, I have good news for you. Last year I picked your team to make the Super Bowl and obviously I was WAY wrong. This year I won’t even pick them to make the playoffs. If someone can tell me how and why Carson Palmer can win a Super Bowl, I’m all ears. It’s not happening, folks.
-Packers vs. Patriots…I’m still sticking with it as my pre-training camp prediction. If Tom Brady stays healthy, I see no reason why the Pats shouldn’t go 15-1 or 16-0 in the regular season.
-What was I saying above about unpredictability in the non-NBA sports? Whoops!
-I briefly touched on this in Tuesday’s blog, but Arizona softball’s two losses to Baylor last weekend in the NCAA Super Regionals were beyond brutal. That’s nothing against the team themselves who had an excellent season. Coach Mike Candrea, a very good coach and all-around great person, very likely coached the two worst games of his career. Without going into full details, one rock solid lesson for all baseball / softball coaches should’ve been learned last weekend:
- Don’t pull your All-American pitcher / ace with one inning to go in the biggest game of your season.
-Speaking of UofA choke jobs, I really enjoyed hearing from you guys after the Most Painful Losses article series whether on Facebook, Twitter, or via text. It was fun to find out what other games would’ve been on your list.
Cohen's Corner 