Green, Neal help Spurs Thrash Heat

Spurs throttle Heat, up 2-1
- Before the Heat are anointed NBA champions, they actually have to beat the San Antonio Spurs in 4 games, and after last night's thrashing, some are wondering if that will happen. The Spurs won by 36 points, 113-77, hit an NBA Finals record 16 3 pointers, had yet another monster game from Danny Green, aided by backup point guard Gary Neal, and outplayed the Heat in literally every fact of the game.
- Perhaps even more encouraging than their offensive play has been their defense of the thought-to-be unstoppable Lebron James who has scored 18, 17, and 15 points in the three games so far and did not attempt a single free throw last night (the first time that had happened in ANY game since December 2, 2009 against the Suns).
- The NBA Finals format is 2-3-2, meaning that Games 4 and 5 will be in San Antonio before the Heat get to play at home again. Unless they improve drastically in the next two games though, Lebron might not be able to take his talents to South Beach again until next season.

US Beats Panama to Lead Group

- Jozy Altidore scored his third goal in three straight games, and Eddie Johnson added a goal, while the US defense kept the “sheet clean” by holding Panama scoreless for the 90 minutes. This moves the US to 9-1-2 all-time against Panama. The US team will host Honduras next Tuesday in Salt Lake City.

- The win moves the US to the head of their Hexagonal tournament. The win puts the US in a position that should all but guarantee the US a spot in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Tebow on the Move

- The Tim Tebow saga will likely be continuing in the 2013-14 NFL season. Tebow was signed by the New England Patriots, which will combine two of the most annoying story lines in the NFL for at least the next season. Tebow will start the season as the third string quarterback, behind superstar Tom Brady and second year quarterback Ryan Mallet.

- New England has said that Tebow will be playing quarterback, which is a question because other football pundits have suggested Tebow will have to move to another position to continue a career in the NFL. This move reunites Tebow with the coach who drafted him, Josh McDaniels. McDaniels, at the time the head coach of the Denver Broncos, traded up in the 2010 draft to take Tebow.

- It is still unclear how McDaniels and headcoach Bill Belichick will use Tebow, butits highly doubtful that Tom Brady will have to look over his shoulder.

French Open Finishes, NBA Finals Just Starting

Serena, Nadal win French
- In what should come as a shocker to no one, Rafael Nadal was once again victorious at the French Open. Nadal, who had only lost even two sets three times in 59 matches before being taken to the limit by Novak Djokovic in the semifinals this year, breezed by David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 for his 8th French Open Championship.
- No other player has won more titles at any individual major, and Nadal, known as a clay court specialist even put up with outside distractions to finish it off this time. There were multiple rain delays which seemed to mildly affect his focus but much more jarring was the masked man who ran out onto the court (and in Nadal's general direction) with some sort of burning towel. While his intentions were unknown, it certainly could have been precarious if security had not impaired his progress before he made it very far.
- On the Women's side, Serena Williams won her 16th Grand Slam Title overall by defeating Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4. Although it was only
Williams' second win at the French, she is now the 4th woman ever to win all four majors at least twice (She's won the other three at least four times). Williams, thought to be the most physically imposing female player ever has now won 31 combined Grand Slam event when you add in her 13 doubles titles and 2 mixed doubles titles.

Heat Surge Back to Tie Series

- With about 3 minutes to go in the 3^rd quarter, the Miami heat were down by one. A defensive resurgence headlined by Lebron James’ incredible block against Tiago Splitter, and a handful of 3-pointers by Mike Miller and Ray Allen, put Miami on a 33-5 run to a 27-point lead. Miami held on to that lead for a 103-84 win to tie their best of 7 finals series at 1.

- James only scored 17 points, his lowest of the playoffs, but he did add 7 assists, and seemed to be running the offense through him. James was helped by Mario Chalmers who added 19 points. Danny Green, of the Spurs led San Antonio with 17 points, including a perfect 5-5 from the 3-point line.

- The Spurs just fell into a funk where they missed a bunch of shots and couldn’t get a stop on the defensive side. The series now goes back to Texas for Game 3 tomorrow night at 9 eastern.The series now becomes a best of 5, first team with 3 wins will be the 2012-13 NBA Champion.

Stanley Cup and French Open Finals almost set

Stanley Cup Finals almost set

-  Although both conference finals are still going on, it looks as though the NHL champion will be either the Boston Bruins or Chicago Blackhawks.  The Blackhawks rallied on a 3rd period goal by Marian Hossa to beat the L.A. Kings at home for the first time in these playoffs and Boston won a nailbiting 2OT after crushing Pittsburgh in the first two contests. 
- The Blackhawks, who were the regular season's best team, sport a 3-1 series lead while the Bruins lead 3-0 against Pittsburgh who was the East's top seed.
 - The Penguins and Bruins play tonight and the Blackhawks and Kings play tomorrow, each game obviously being a potential elimination game.


French Open Finals this weekend

- The French Open Women’s finals will showcase two opponents very familiar with each other. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have played each other 15 times, with Williams coming out victorious in all but two of those matches. Williams has won 30 straight matches, the longest such streak of her long decorated career. The two women will play on Saturday morning.
- On the Men’s side, the four remaining players are all ranked in the top 6. #1 overall seed Novak Djokovic will take on Rafael Nadal while David Ferrer (the #4 player in the tournament) will take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (#6). The winner of these matches (played today) will face each other on Sunday for the men’s finals championship.  Nadal is known as a clay court specialist so it may be considered an upset, strangely enough, if the #1 overall seed defeats him.
- In the men’s double’s championship, the American Bryan brothers will face Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil. If the brothers win, it will be their 14th doubles championship, a record.

MLB Suspensions and NBA Finals Tip Off

MLB Looks to Suspend Many

- ESPN reported yesterday that Major League Baseball  is looking to suspend about 20 players, with superstars Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez for alleged steroid use. According to ESPN, MLB will look to suspend 100-games, the punishment for a second violation of the league’s performance enhancing drug policy.

- MLB struck a deal with Tony Bosch the founder of Biogenesis of America, giving the league the needed ammunition to suspend those players. It was rumored that Braun and Rodriguez’s names were linked to Biogenesis prior to the season, when both players denied the rumors. Bosch’s agreement will give the MLB the opportunity to say that the use of Biogenesis was the first violation, and the later lying of the connection to Bosch would count as the second violation, leading to the 100-game suspension.

- These suspensions would effectively end the seasons for all the players. The Yankees (Rodriguez’s team) have played 58 games ,and the Brewers (Braun’s team) have played 57, after the suspensions there will be 5 or fewer games left for the players in the regular season. Braun was the NL MVP in 2011 and Rodriguez is a 3-time AL MVP in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Heat-Spurs set for Finals
- After an anticlimactic Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat will play the San Antonio Spurs for the 2013 NBA Title. The Spurs easily dispatched their Western Conference Finals opponent, the Memphis Grizzlies via a 4-0 sweep.
- It will be the first trip to the Finals for the Spurs since 2007 when, ironically, they went up against a 22 year old Lebron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers team and swept them. We're willing to go out on a limb and say that Lebron will not be swept this time around and he may be looking for some measure of revenge against the Spurs.
- Additionally, we're willing to bet that Greg Popovich will not hold multiple starters (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Danny Green) out of any of these games as he did earlier this season against the Heat. That maneuver, which he used to rest them for a tough upcoming stretch, was punished by a huge fine, even though Popovich was simply looking at the long term well-being of his team.
- Game 1 is Thursday night in Miami.

Game 7 and Big Win for USA Soccer

Game 7 tonight
- The winner take all game 7 of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals is tonight at 8:30 back in Miami and all the pressure is on the presumed NBA champions, the Miami Heat.
- Of the 20 ESPN pundits who picked the winner of the series, only 5 picked the Heat to win in 7 games. The rest picked the Heat to win in 5 or 6 games, which will give you an idea of how big an upset it would be if the Pacers, who are playing so well as a team with big man Roy Hibbert and all around player Paul George contributing so much. On the Heat's side it's turned into the "Big One" instead of the "Big Three" as Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade have all but disappeared (except in the media where Wade is complaining about not getting enough shots).
- The Heat get big man Chris Andersen back tonight after he was suspended for shoving Pacers F Tyler Hansbrough.
- Hibbert was fined $75,000 after Game 6 for cursing and using the phrase "no homo" to complete a response to a question. Hibbert had arguable his best game of the series in game 6 without Andersen playing to guard him.

US Defeats Germany

- Three Soccer stories in three weeks?! The US National Team defeated Germany 4-3 in an exhibition game on Sunday. Clint Dempsey lead the US with two goals, within 5 minutes, mid-way through the second half.

- Jozy Altidore scored his first international goal in almost two years, and then German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen misplayed a pass that ended up in his own goal three minutes later giving the US a 2-0 lead. After Germany scored a goal in the 51^st minute to cut the deficit in half, Dempsey struck. First from a cross by Altidore, the second just a short while later he struck from about 5 yards outside of the box giving the US a 4-1 lead. The two goals for Dempsey moved him to 2^nd all-time in the US National scoring list.

- Though the Germans mounted a furious comeback, they fell just short. The German team was only playing one player from its A-team that won a world cup in 2010 and a Euro Cup in 2012. Altidore looks to take the reigns from Dempsey and teammate Landon Donovan as the best US front line player. He just scored 31 goals while playing for a team in the Netherlands, a record for a US Player in a European season.