However, I do feel obligated to report on the most anti-climactic sports series in recent memory. The Marlins-Yankees match was the equivalent of driving to a five-star restaurant, seeing a "CLOSED" sign on the door and settling for McDonald's instead. You might as well not even bother. The only tiny, tiny, miniscule positive thing that came out of this series was the opportunity for me to catch up on my schoolwork. Watching the Red Sox every night leaves little time for homework, as my professors probably found out!
Anyway, so the Marlins won. Yippee! Yay! Can you sense my sarcasm? I hope they enjoy their parade, but for Josh Beckett's sake, I hope more than a few dozen fans show up for the celebration, although I highly doubt it.
Here's a few highlights, lowlights and remarks about the Series.
Josh Beckett: When did this guy turn into Cy Young? He was far and away the most dominating pitcher in this year's playoffs, and consistently made up for the Marlins' mediocre offense. Beckett, a career .500 pitcher with only 17 career wins and a 3.32 ERA did not even register a complete game in his brief three year career. However in the playoffs, Beckett threw two complete game shutouts, one coming in the clinching game of the World Series and finally proved himself worthy of the No. 2 overall draft pick in 1999.
Alfonso Soriano: When did this guy turn into a cross between Pedro Cerano and Ron Gant? God, Soriano at the plate looked worse than Manute Bol on ice skates, or in the boxing ring or on a horse. (Sorry to ramble, this is no time to express my sorrow over the disgrace of Manute Bol.) Seriously though, Soriano looked terrible at the plate. I've never seen one guy strike out on the same pitch over and over again and have it surprise him every single time. He needs to seriously study his hitting over the offseason or he could become a liability not only in the field, but also at the plate.
Juan Pierre: Give me a break! This guy steals a couple bases, beats out a few bunts down the third base line, and all of a sudden he's one of the toughest guys to get out in the league? No way! Pierre is fast, he plays hard, he hustles, but is he the next coming of Ricky Henderson? Not even close. Look for Pierre to be an all-star next year, and then see his career fizzle into mediocrity.
NBA preview: the year of the Mavericks
East: As usual, the east is weak. There's no argument, there's no discussion. It's just a plain fact; no team from the east has more than a small, small, almost insignificant chance of winning the NBA Championship this season. At this point, I'm so down on the east that I'm not even going to make an outrageous prediction that the Celtics will win the NBA Championship this season.
The Nets are the team to beat, but the Pistons are the team that everyone is afraid of. With Ben Wallace in the middle, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups on the perimeter and the addition of foreign rookie sensation Darko Milicic, the league just has no clue where the ceiling is for this exciting team. If Billups returns to his pre-ankle sprain form of midseason, when he averaged over 21 points per game in the month of March, I can easily see the Pistons winning 55 to 60 games this season and marching to the NBA Finals.
A team that many feel will make a huge splash in the east is the Chicago Bulls. With Scottie Pippen back at the helm, the Bulls have finally recovered from Michael Jordan's second retirement. Eddie Curry and Tyson Chandler could emerge as the most dominant big-men combination since Sampson and Olajuwon, or they could both turn into big stiffs like Raef LaFrentz (sorry, just a little bitterness left over from last week's Celtics trade).
West: The east may be the best geographic region of the United States, but the west is clearly superior when it comes to basketball talent. Any of five teams would wipe out the entire Eastern Conference, and everyone knows it.
Right now, I will declare that the Lakers will not win the NBA Championship this season. With all the hype surrounding four future Hall of Famers in the starting lineup, the distractions of the Kobe Bryant sex scandal, as well Shaq and Kobe's recent old married couple-like bickering, the Lakers will not have enough focus to overcome their old age and their ever-improving rivals.
This has got to be the year for the Mavericks. They have just as good of a lineup as the Lakers (minus Shaq, plus Nash and Jamison) and thus many more weapons and options. The Mavs have such a terrific outside game as well as great athletes on their team that there is no way the Lakers could "run 'n gun" with the Mavericks over the course of a seven game playoff series.
A team with huge question marks is the Kings. They are clearly weaker this year without Hedo Turkolu and injuries to Chris Webber and Vlade Divac, but they still have Peja, Bibby, Christie and great team chemistry. The Kings are probably the most mature and polished team in the league but will not make it out of the second round unless they are completely injury-free.
The Spurs are another interesting team to consider. Coming off their second NBA Championship of the Tim Duncan era, the Spurs will be without their heart and soul, David Robinson, for the first time in over a decade. The loss of the Admiral will be felt on and off the court, as both an impact big man, team leader and inspiration. Expect the Spurs to win the Midwest regular season title but struggle to best the Mavs in the conference finals.