And the Oscar goes too..

“It happens…We would have no NBA possibly if they got rid of all the flopping.”

Such a ridiculous comment was made by none other than Dwayne Wade. Finals MVP. 9x All-Star. 2x Champion. Scoring champion and 3x all NBA defensive team. Yea…that Dwayne Wade.

Defending flopping as an essential and integral part of the NBA. So much so that eliminating it would mean the end of the league.

And he said this with a straight face. He was totally serious.

Continue reading →

And then there were 4.

Well I missed Ottawa in the first round, and I missed LA in the second round. But I’m not the first person to underestimate the Kings the last few years. But what a semifinal round it was.

This is just a sampling. Mike Rice getting fired from Rutgers didn’t stir up this kind of emotion from ex-players…and he threw stuff at people.

The dissection of Ottawa at the hands of Pittsburgh was cold and surgical. After pouring in 23 goals in 5 games behind the best defense in the Eastern conference they emphatically put everyone else on notice.

The Bruins pounding the hapless Rangers cost John Tortorella his job, and no one was surprised. No one seemed to miss him either. In fact I’ve never seen so many players and ex-players publicly applaud a coach being fired before.

LA and San Jose played the greatest series of roller derby ever played on ice. Take that statement however you like. Continue reading →

SBM Exclusive Feature: Sports Doppelgangers, Volume 34

In the aftermath of Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich in this past weekend’s UEFA Champions League Final, there have been all sorts of rumors about the club; ranging from players who will be leaving to players supporters wishing they could get. Despite that, there’s one thing that is true…author  and fellow University of North Dakota alum Chuck Klosterman is simply a more “ginger-ized” version of Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins preview

I came to terms with the Penguins place in the NHL a few years ago.

They are the Yankees, LA Lakers and the Patriots.

They are the team that die-hard fans outside of Pittsburgh loathe with a visceral hatred usually reserved for Nazi’s,  root canals and tofu. Continue reading →

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In the end it was simply to much for the Senators.

To much Neal. To much Crosby. To much Malkin. Iginla. Letang. Hell, even to much Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke.

The Senators didn’t just crack, they shattered. In an elimination game and down by 3 Sergei Gonchar, their most seasoned and accomplished defensemen, had a terrible giveaway to James Neal.And just like that they were down by 4. It was that kind of game for the only remaining Canadian team in these playoffs. Continue reading →

Bayern Munich The 5 Time Champions

jsportsblogger

Winning the UEFA Champions League is akin to conquering Mount Everest. Winning Europe’s top prize in club football 5 times is an extraordinary accomplishment that puts a club into legendary status. If they weren’t already, Bayern Munich have now cemented their status as a legendary club.

The Bavarians won their fifth European trophy with a thrilling 2-1 victory over German rivals Borussia Dortmund before a spellbound crowd at London’s Wembley Stadium. This is Bayern’s first Champions League title since 2001. They also won three straight titles in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

The match itself started somewhat slowly for Die Roten. Possession was in favour of Borussia Dortmund as they dictated the pace and flow in the first 20 minutes. Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer was brilliant between the sticks for Bayern, making critical saves on Jakub Blaszczykowski and Sven Bender.

Bayern’s first scoring opportunity happened in the 26th minute as Mario…

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THE DEEP SIX: IT’S HIGH TIME FOR SOUTH FLORIDA TO SHUT THE HELL UP

Sunlife Stadium on a busy Sunday afternoon

by Ryan Meehan

On Tuesday, the NFL selected the cities that will host Super Bowls 50 and 51. (Or for those of you in Italy, L and LI since they love American football so much)

On Monday night, I had read a link on the NFL Network’s Facebook page regarding how Miami was doing a bit of complaining with regards to whether or not they would get to host one of these games. Here’s a link to the article…

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000204524/article/miami-left-behind-by-shifting-realities-facing-super-bowl-hosts?campaign=Facebook_writers_darlington

There are several issues that I have with this, and I’m not really sure where to even start. So these will not be in any particular order and this piece is going to be in a bit of a rant format. The main point here is that Miami has no business complaining about any of this at all. Miami has had more than enough opportunities to host the Super Bowl, so let’s begin there.

SBM Exclusive Feature: The BLAST-CAST – Volume 10: The Champions League Final

Today’s installment of the SportsBlogMovement Blast-Cast is a history maker for several reasons. First, it’s our tenth episode, which may not seem like a lot, but that means we’ve already outlived about 96% of the internet podcasts out there. Secondly, we are going international, not just in terms of content, but with our guest podcaster.

The topic is a preview UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Helping us to break down this pinnacle of European soccer is SportsBlogMovement’s own resident expert on “the beautiful game,” Jeremy Wiebe. Not only is Jeremy “our man on soccer,” he’s also the blogging pride of Canada. Why else would his profile picture be an action shot of Pierre Hamel?

If you are a soccer fan, and you want to hear a couple of North Americans who actually follow the game, click here to listen to or download the Blast-Cast (MP3 format)…The Blast-Cast is also available on Itunes; just search “SportsBlogMovement.”

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Admit it Penguins fans: You were worried.

For a moment.

For 20 or so minutes you were wringing your hands and washing down Thursday’s Xanax with a Coors light. After Kyle Turris jumped on a ugly Vokoun rebound and buried his fifth of the playoffs with nary a Penguin in sight, you were worried.

For 20 minutes you mentally cursed the names of Martin….Fluery….Letang…Malkin….all of the usual suspects we hang the collar on after a disappointing loss.

But barely 2 minutes into the 2nd period Kunitz and Iginla reminded us why Las Vegas pegged the Penguins as the odds on favorite to win the Stanley Cup. And it isn’t because Mr. Burkle has a diamond studded player’s club card from the Bellagio and a 7 figure bar tab. Continue reading →

The Rules: Addendum 7

Addendum to the Rules for being a Pittsburgh sports fan:

Rule #7- This past weekend I made the trip to see the Pirates play the Astros at PNC Park. It was a wonderful spring night in Pittsburgh: low 80’s at first pitch and cooled to a perfect 73 by game’s end. AJ Burnett pitched well, giving up only one run over 7 innings. It was even AJ bobble head night, and around here those are like free Christmas presents. They lost 4-2 in 11 innings, but other than the final score it was a perfect night for baseball.

Except for one small problem:

In the 8^th inning, with the score tied at 2 runs apiece and the Pirates within a half game of the Reds for first place in the division, flocks of Pittsburgh “fans” were seen headed for the parking lot. Continue reading →