FanNation

    So, the Preakness was today. Now, I am EXACTLY one of those casual horse racing fans: I watch the Triple Crown races, and only when a horse has a shot at the Triple Crown. So you know how excited I was when Big Brown took the Preakness Stakes today. After being an absolutely ridiculous 1-5 favorite, Big Brown destroyed the field, winning by 5 1/4 lengths over Macho Again and Icabad Crane. He was right with the pack going into the final stretch, and then he just took it to the next level. Now, I've only really watched horse racing for about 5 years, but in this time, I've never seen a horse this dominant. Not Smarty Jones, not Funny Cide, not Barbaro. For the first time in my life, I really think this horse has a good shot at the triple crown. He is just such a good horse with a great jockey. And there would be nothing better for horse racing than Big Brown taking all three races. It would bring in more casual fans like me to a sport that could really use some more fans. I can tell you one thing: I'm rooting for Big Brown in 3 weeks at the Belmont Stakes.

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     Well, I think we've really found a problem with this years Cleveland Indians: the closer. Now, last year, in the closers role, Joe Borowski led the league in saves, even if many of them were shaky. You thought the bullpen would not be an issue this year for the Tribe. Well, now it is. Borowski's been hurt, and before that he was not looking good, ultra reliable Rafael Betancourt has not looked good, and they Indians have had to resort to Masa Kobayashi to close for them. Kobayashi is in his rookie season after coming over from Japan, and if we learned anything from Fausto Carmona, its not always a good idea to have a rookie closer. Today, Kobayashi blew a 2-1 9th inning lead when he let up a 3 run jack to Adam Dunn. Now, I don't blame Masa, its really not his place to be closing for this team anyways. But with the offense struggling, the Indians can't afford to not have a solid bullpen. And they need to think of something soon, because the Tigers are lurking.

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    And so we come to the Subway series. Yankees v. Mets, what more could you want? Well, today, Johan Santana pitched against the team that just didn't want to give up too much for him. How's that working out? The Yanks starting pitching is terrible, and they could definitely use him. Anyway, the Mets won 7-4, Santana got the win, and the Yanks are still falling back behind the Rays for the AL East title. And the Mets have a manager on the hot seat and are falling back in a brutal division. I'd feel sorry for these teams, but then I remember, they're pretty spoiled sports wise. I think I'll live.

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    So what's with the scheduling for the MLB this weekend? At one end of the spectrum, you have Yankees-Mets, Orioles-Nats, and Indians-Reds, good rivalry series. On the other hand, you have Cardinals-Rays, Marlins-Royals, and A's-Braves. I think MLB used to put all the rivalry series on the same weekend. What happened to tha? Did I miss a memo? And Interleague starts too early. It should be a June only affair. This mid-May stuff is crap. Oh well, this is my pontificating for the day. Sorry 'bout that.

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     Finally, lets talk about tomorrow's Celtics-Cavs Game 7. Can the Cavs FINALLY hold on to win a game on the road? Will LeBron put up another monster game? Will Ray Allen ever score? All these questions will be answered tomorrow at the Garden. Personally, I think LeBron is long overdue for an absolutely monster game. Just like Game 5 last year against the Pistons, when LeBron put up insane numbers, I think he will break out again. The Cavs could have won alll 3 road losses this series, and I just don't see "a LeBron James team" losing like that again. This series has been one of the best defensive series I've ever seen, and I'm sad to see it end. But my prediction: Cavaliers win by 4, go to face Detroit yet again.

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    Well, that's all for today, enjoy your Sunday, and GO CAVS!