So after about 5 weeks of playoffs, the NBA Finals are set: Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Boston Celtics. And yes, after about 14 days of the finals plus the about 6 pre-Finals days of coverage, the ESPN offices in Bristol, Conneticut, may actually explode from how excited they are. But, I am a non-biased fan, so I will offer a good breakdown of what I think is actually a pretty weak NBA Finals.

    But first, I am really shocked these 2 teams are playing for the title. The Lakers beat a very talented, incredibly experienced Spurs team to reach the finals. Meanwhile, the Celtics beat a phenomonal Pistons team to reach the last round. And I saw big flaws in both teams. The Lakers really haven't had that much time to mesh, and had a lot of good teams to overcome, while the Celtics had 3 stars who had never reached the finals and had struggled for 2 series before that. And yet, instead of seeing the Finals I expected of a Spurs-Pistons rematch became a Lakers-Celts matchup. Oh well, its fun anyway.

    And finally, a quick NBA Finals breakdown. The Celtics are a gerat defensive team, and have three great players in their starting lineup. They also have great offense, but haven't shown that well that they can win on the road in the finals. The Lakers have the "best" player in the NBA, two other solid players in Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, and are great in the clutch. But at times, the offense just becomes the Kobe Show, and that won't win a championship. But I still refuse to believe that the Celtics could possibly win the Finals on the first try with these players, and I'm sticking to that. I say Lakers win Game 1 on the road, Celtics take Game 2, Lakers take 3 and 4, Celtics take Game 5 on the road, and the Lakers win Game 6 at the Staples Center to win their first championship in the post-Shaq era.

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    Tonight, Manny Ramirez slammed the first pitch he saw off of Chad Bradford in the at-bat for his 500th career home run. The home run came in the 5th inning at Camden Yards. Manny became the 24th player in MLB history to hit 500 home runs, and it is still a very exclusive club. But I think we may need to stop taking Manny Ramirez for granted. For a couple of years for the Cleveland Indians in the '90s and a year or two with the Sox in the '00s, Manny put up some legendary numbers. I don't think people realize that Manny won a batting title in '02 with a staggering .344 BA and hit more than 140 RBI 3 times. He has pout upn consistently great numbers every year, and he is a sure-fire Hall-of-Fame. Congrats, to one of baseball's all-time greats.

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    I think we really need to start watching Chipper Jones. If you haven't noticed, since it isn't getting that much attention with the Lakers-Celtics lovefest and the Devil Rays being in first place, Chipper is currently hitting a staggering .413 with a nice 12 home runs and 35 RBI. We haven't had a single .400 hitter since Ted Williams way back in 1941, but Chipper could actually pull this off. Chipper quietly had an awesome season last yaer (he nearly won me a fantasy title last year) and he has just picked up where he left off. And he has put a pretty consistent .415 average all season. Now, not since George Brett have we really seen a player really go after the .400 mark, but I think Chipper could do it. He is an awesome future Hall-of-Famer, and I am officially on the Chipper .400 watch. 

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    And now, for the probably funniest moment in the history of the Scripps National Spelling Bee: eventual champion Shameer Mishra got a little confused with a word he was given, and instead of thinking they said the actual word "numnah" (something about a padding you put under a saddle) he thought they gave him "numnut". He actually asked them if they said "numnut"! After being correct, Mishra gave the awesome line of, "Well that's a relief." What a funny moment from the least athletic sporting event in world history. 

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    And finally, the Red Wings defeated the Penguins tonight 2-1 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. In front a standing-room only crowd at Mellon Arena, the Wings stole one on the road to move within one win of a title. Niklas Lidstrom, Marian Hossa, and Jiri Hudler scored goals. And it looks like my prediction is coming true. The Red Wings have just looked like the more experienced team this whole series. The youngins for the Penguins have all kind of just looked like Noobs to the whole experience. And that's okay. Because one day we'll all look back at the series clincher, which I'm calling, will happen in Game 5, and say, "That was the turning point for hockey in the new millenium". Just wait till next year, when we will see those Penguins hoist the cup.

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    Well, that's all. You've been great, enjoy your exam week, or whatever you may be doing!