Weekend Review

There were several times over the weekend when I wanted to get on the old computer and type away, but then I remembered that the weather was amazing and that I needed to get outside. Of course I caught a few events live, but overall, most of my time was spent reading the reviews on the interweb. Here are my somewhat delayed thoughts:

• I have to start off with the NHL where the top seed Vancouver Canucks are two wins away from their first Stanley Cup in 40 years (and Canada's first in 18 years). Both wins were in dramatic fashion - Game 1 won with 19 seconds left; Game 2 won 11 seconds into OT - and should test what the Bruins are made of. Sure they get to go home for two games now, but I have to wonder if their psyche is shot. I mean, those are excruciating ways to lose.
  
• As for the city of Vancouver, I am amazed at the shots of Granville Street (no links, google it yourself) during the game. The street is completely closed of because of people shoulder to shoulder -it almost seems like a scene out of the movies. I know the B's haven't won in like 30 years and are a nice story, but how can you not root for Vancouver?
• Has there ever been a more dominant individual performance than what Rafael Nadal is doing at the French Open? In beating Roger Federer (again) in the final, he has now won 6 of the last 7 French Open's and has lost like 5 sets total during his reign (I don't know the exact number, but I'd be hard pressed to think I was off by that much). I woke up and watched the first set yesterday morning - Federer was up 5-2 and Nadal had just called timeout to get his foot looked at for blisters. I thought maybe he was vulnerable. Then after a brief nap I wokeup and it was 5-5...and then 7-5 Nadal. He had stormed back and at that moment I knew Federer was done. Credit to Roger for forcing a 4th set, but Nadal was never losing. He is 5-0 against Roger at the French and he makes him look like a mere mortal, not a man who has won 16 Grand Slam titles.
• The Mets finished off their series with the Braves with a nice 6-4 win thanks to some brilliant pitching by RA Dickey. They finished their homestand with a 5-5 record, but you would be crazy to feel exactly good about it. In each of their 5 losses, they took the lead into the 7th inning, only to see the bullpen let them down. Some people might be encouraged by this, but at the end of the day, wins are what counts. I will talk about how this season is a wash and that really we should be seeing what we have in the minors (hello, Justin Turner and Dillon Gee!), but man, you have to win those games. Or at least 4 of them. Good teams don't blow 7th inning leads.
• I watched some WNBA over the weekend. During the first quarter, they interviewed the new president (or maybe commissioner, I'm not sure) who was attending her first live WNBA game ever. Apparently this woman grew up watching the Cavs so she is not completely oblivious to basketball. When asked what the NBA lockout means to the WNBA (a legit question if you ask me since fans have to go somewhere else), she said "You know, I'm focused on the WNBA right now. The level of play is great. And my job is to get people to come out and see the game." So let me get this straight, a person who has never been to a game before is now in charge of getting people to come to games. Some might say that this outside the box thinking might be good (afterall, the old regimes didn't work so why not try something new), but to me, it just reeks of minor leagues.
• NBC and Versus had the collegiate Rugby 7's national championship on over the weekend. Overall it was pretty exciting even though I knew 25% of what was going on. I think the final was Notre Dame-LSU...
• The US Men's National Team got absolutely crushed by Spain. I think we all saw this coming, regardless of how much the announcers wanted to plant the seed of doubt in our heads suggesting that the recent Madrid-Barcelona clashes would split the team. I'm a little interesting in why Bradley went with the squad he did. I get that the Gold Cup is right around the corner and that he wants the likes of Dempsey, Donovan, Bocanegra and Bradley ready for those games. I get that a friendly before the Gold Cup is a nice opportunity for other players to get minutes, but I question whether Spain was the right opponent then. If you're gonna try out a new squad, wouldn't an easier opponent be better? I know Lalas opined at halftime that the team would be better as a result of this, but I think that only holds true if the young players are not easily scared. If the performance motivated Ream, Lichaj, and Agudelo, then great. But if it affected their psyche, then that's not good.
• Speaking of the team, I am excited for their match against Canada on Tuesday. I am a bit scared of Chicarito and Mexico though, especially after their 5-0 thrashing of Cuba last night. I don't like that he will be running at our defense for the next 10 years...
  
• Moving over to the women's team, I watched the final 25 minutes of the game against Mexcio on Sunday. It was their final game before the World Cup in 2 weeks and we outshot Mexico something like 30-3. The reports are that even with that advantage, they didn't play all that well. The only thing I know is that I saw the next great one, a 21-year old named Alex Morgan. She came on as a late sub and was just fabulous. She was active, energetic, skilled and not afraid to make a play. I am excited to see hew career unfold.
• There will be no Sounders review from the weekend...really, the game was boring all around. Lamar Neagle had an early opportunity off a header which was saved by Sean Johnson. Kasey Keller made some saves. Fredy Montero sat again. Neither team could score. It's not a terrible result considering it was on the road, but I would have liked to see a full 3 points. This weekend's match against Vancouver has to be a victory though
• The newly relocated Winnipeg NHL franchise (just call them the Jets, ok?) sold 13,000 season tickets in under an hour. Good for them. Now I just hope free agents will want to go there and that their are enough businesses in the city to keep the team competitive.
• Wow, has it been 20 months already since Plaxico Burress wasthrown in jail? I still think it is crazy that Burress went to jail for 20 months for gun possession while other players are involved in domestic violence or are repeat drug offenders get off with community service time. Obviously some team will take a chance on him-it will be interesting to see who though
• Finally I wanted to give a shout out to the Mariners. I know I rip on them a lot, mainly because I'm a Mets fan and I need to focus my angst on some one, but wow they are playing some amazing ball right now. After being 6-13 on April 20, they have now gone 25-15 in their last 40 and sit 2.5 games out of first in a weakened AL West. Ultimately I'm not sure that their offense will hold up, but that pitching (3.32 team ERA)...man, that pitching is solid and should keep them in the race until at least August.

Finally, for those who are jonesing for more hockey coverage, JerseySounder is hoping to have a NHL Draft preview up sometime in the next week, so be on the lookout. tomorrow I will be beating my chest at Bucknell's continued dominance.