exhausted

It's only Wednesday, and I'm beat. I'm on my 4th cup of coffee. I've slept like crap the last two nights. And why? A multitude of things. They're all good reasons, too.

Mostly it's due to the phone and me answering it. Sometimes I wish I didn't, but most of the time I'm happy to talk to my friends.

Also, I've finished a book I was reading, however I decided to read the last chapter again, because it makes so much sense to me. It boils down to this-"Resign your role as General Manager of the Universe". Simple, yet really brilliant. I can't fix everyone's problems. I can only sometimes relate. I can definitely listen to my friends, some way more than others. Mostly because I've heard some of their inane crap over and over and over again. That whole definition of insanity thing. Some people choose not to grow or evolve, and that's their prerogative. In doing so, they also open themselves up to the chance of stagnation. Just doesn't seem all that appealing to me.

But lastly and the main reason? Sports. Sports has me thinking about certain things, and how there's such a weird gap in teams. And fans, too. What the heck am I talking about?

Easy, I've been watching a lot of hockey, and if you don't love playoff hockey, quite frankly you can't be a fan of sport. I've made up my mind that of the 4 major sports, teamwork goes as follows-Football, Hockey, Basketball, and then Baseball. Football has to be first, ever seen a running back go anywhere without a block? Well, other than by Barry Sanders? Didn't think so. Ever see a hockey team go from behind their own net and just hit the tape on every pass? It's a beautiful thing. Basketball can get quite a bit bogged down by the playoffs and grinding out every possession, but most teams can't cover the simplest play we've been running since kids, the pick and roll. Baseball? Please, the only thing less team oriented is singles tennis.

So why am I a bit restless? Easy, it seems as if the NBA has already set up their Finals while the NHL we have no clue. And if you don't believe me, raise your hand if you had Cleveland and the Fakers in the Finals (that's right I called them the Fakers, I can't stand them, and there is only one guy I'd want on that team, Pau Gasol)? The 4 best TEAMS in the NBA still alive right now are Cleveland, Boston, Houston and Denver. There is no joy in LA. Watch a game, you'll see it. Watch a Cavs game and how they all respond as a team to LeBron. Then watch the Fakers and Kobe. It's astonishing.
I know 3 Fakers fans, and of those 3, only one is a sports fan. The other two have blinders on. I'd like to think as a sports fan I know when my favorite teams get outplayed. It happens. I also remember my favorite teams, ever. My favorite football team was the 2nd Patriots SuperBowl winning team. They dominated and had fun, just a fun bunch of guys. My favorite Syracuse hoops team? Easy, Gerry McNamara's last year, or Derrick Coleman's last year, or David Johnson's senior year. They didn't win a thing (well, except McNamara-who literally willed them to the Big East Tourney championship). It wasn't the team that won it all, that's for certain.
My point about the Fakers is this, they don't play with a whole bunch of joy and fun. Which doesn't bode well the deeper they get into the playoffs. Yes, they beat Houston by 40 last night, but that was only after they got soundly whooped in game 4.

Now, to hockey...I get this strange feeling that the Blackhawks are going to be in the Stanley Cup Finals. I can't put my finger on it, but Detroit doesn't seem to want it bad enough, and Anaheim is too sloppy with the puck. Oh, and Chicago can score in bunches.
Best part about hockey? We get to watch 3 game 7's in the next two nights!!! Now that is fun. First up is tonight, Penguins and Capitals. I don't expect goaltending to be at a premium, so this should be all sorts of amusing.
Tomorrow night we get Carolina/B's and Ducks/Wings. Oh the joy. Guess I'm not doing anything these next two nights. Oh, and the B's kicked ass last night, in case you missed it. They did a great job getting traffic in front of the net, and not messing around too much with the puck. I think after Carolina started to be in their zone a ton at the end of the first period something clicked and the B's ramped it up.

Lastly, Starbury paid off!!! I've been waiting for over 2 months for this to happen, but it finally came through. Thank you Stephon Marbury. The kid from Coney Island came through, and huge last night. If he can show that kind of efficiency moving forward, the Celtics have yet another scoring weapon off the bench. Thanks to Orlando for showing that you don't have what it takes to move on to the next level. Ray Allen and Rondo may not be playing great, but I think game 6 tomorrow night will be a close-out, Ray going for 30. No more Magic!