Sports Blog

As I was watching the Spurs-Jazz game in the Western Conference Finals, when the camera closed up to Jerry Sloan and image of “The Fugitive” actor Ford Harrison flashed into my mind.

I searched for their images to prove if they have similarities. My mind tells me so. Jerry Sloan still is one of the best coach in the NBA. But history mostly will judge his career by by the number of rings which he has none.

By the way, are they really look a like? For larger image, click here.

If I am betting basketball and following Charles Barkley’s picks, I would have lost a lot of money already.Barkley’s favorite  to win the NBA was the San Antonio Spurs, but “idiotically” or whatever we may call it, he reversed his decision saying that the Utah Jazz will win the series because Tony Parker can’t guard Deron Williams.

I argued immediately within myself saying, “Gregg Popovich won’t put Tony Parker on Deron Williams all the time”. As we have seen in most of the games that these two teams played, the Spurs relied on Bruce Bowen’s defense on Williams.

Williams might be getting his way on Bowen but the Spurs are leading 3-1 in the series.

If Charles is a great analyst, he didn’t look at the court the fact that on the opposite end, Manu Ginobli is being guarded by Derek Fisher most of the time. This I think is a bigger mismatch than the Williams-Parker.

Moreover, Barkley didn’t understand that the spuracios defense of the Spurs can stop any kind of offense around. And that defense is not composed of Bowen alone but a the whole team.

Barkley was right picking the Spurs before the start of the season but when he looked at the mirror and viewed his head like a crystal ball, he saw Deron Williams and afterwards changed his mind.

I was browsing ESPN and in my surprise, it provides the coverage of the French Open. Then It leads me to ESPN360.

ESPN360.com is a first class state of the art website which features live broadcast of major sports events. It includes videos of the past days. Good for those who can’t watch the live broadcast on TV.

Youtube doesn’t offer you this service, ESPN360 does. I have now the opportunity to watch PTI here in my own time. Also the French Open.

Is there a way the Utah Jazz can win Saturday night against the San Antonio Spurs? The first two games were lopsided and both were won in the second quarter.

Here are 5 things the Jazz must do to win.

1. Match Spurs energy. A 48-minute with sustain energy is a must. The Spurs are old enough to get tired easily.

2. Win the first half especially the second quarter. It’s hard to come back when your playing the number 1 defense. Letting go of the game in the second quarter is unforgivable.

3. Contain Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli.  Make them work harder by not giving easy baskets. How about putting Kirilenko on Ginobli everytime?

4. Execute the offense. Create something that will allow the Spurs to adjust on their defense.

5. Stay close until the end. Dallas beat the Spurs last year because every game they had the opportunity to win at the last seconds.

If  the Jazz won’t do these, Charles Barkley would be losing his credibility again by switching his pick.

Michele Wie will play in the John Deere Classic for the third straight year. She will again try to make the cut in a men’s event.

I just can’t love Wie for jumping and testing herself in the world of males. She hasn’t proven herself and shown to the golf fans that she can win in the major tournaments in women’s event and she is again listed herself in the John Deere Classic.

As young as she is, thousands admires here because of the talent and charisma she brings but millions are frustrated and angered on her pursuit of a place in men’s golf.

The attention she is getting adequately convinces her to join though she knows she doesn’t have the capability or the talent that the men’s possess.

There’s no way to stop her. Cameras will be glued on her again instead of those deserving male professionals.

Our eyes are intently focusing all on Barry Bonds’ games and anticipating his momentous milestone of breaking the most sacred record in sports history but in doing so we are overlooking the homeruns of Sammy Sosa.The greatness of Sosa was noticed when he was racing Mark Mcgwire in the famous year breaking single season homerun. Two years after that, Sosa had just disappeared in the hearts of baseball lovers.

His declined level of performance and his infamous and embarassing corked bat incident were just few reasons that those memories of his excellence are now forgotten.

Tuesday afternoon, Sosa hit a 3-2 fastball from left hander and two time Cy Young Johan Santana. The ball traveled 414 feet and landed in the right-center field in the bleachers.

Sosa just needs two more homeruns to become the fifth player in the Major League history to reach 600.

The three-game pivotal series of the New York Yankees against the Boston Redsox series will tell us if Joe Torre will be fired or not. Is that fair to say?

The Yankees’s alarm clock is echoing around the sports talk shows today. A rumor that Torre is going to lose his job if his team will not perform well against the Redsox.

With that millions of dollars spent, enough to build four or five new teams in the Majors, the Yankees are expected to win World Series every year. However, destiny was not on their side in the last six years.

Do we have to blame Joe Torre for the inability of the Yanks to match the Redsox? You be the judge.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Roger Federer had the perfect response to questions about his status as the world’s top-ranked player — he ended Rafael Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay.

Federer beat Nadal 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the Hamburg Masters on Sunday to win his first clay-court title in two years and snap out of a slump during which he failed to win a title in four events. It was his worst run since he became No. 1 in February 2004.–AP

A week from now the eyes of the world will witness these two giants of Tennis in our generation at the French Open.

The San Antonio Spurs are seemingly destined to continue their quest of winning the odd years of the 21st century.

Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli were just ready to elavate their games as the Spurs convincingly defeated the Utah Jazz 108-100 in the series opener of the Western Conference Finals Sunday.

San Antonio’s energy was high not as expected because of their physical and gruelling battle against the Phoenix Suns. The lacked of focus or weariness didn’t bother their sporacious defense to limit Carlos Boozer.

Fabrico Oberto and Francisco were big combining for 20 points and their defense of Boozer was even larger.

Game 2 will be on Tuesday night.

The Detroit Pistons against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The key match-up here is LeBron James being guarded by Tayshaun Prince.

It will be a big mistake if Flip Saunders will let Rip Hamilton guard Lebron James. He made a tragedy on that last year against Dwayne Wade. Prince is a great defender. His agility and length will make Lebron in an uncomfortable position everytime.

We had witnessed in the past how successful Prince in defending Reggie Miller, Tracy McGrady, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant that opened his team to victories.

If Tayshawn Prince neutralizes LeBron’s all around game, Detroit will win.