Hail, Cleveland!

From The Grandstander of June 2, 2016:

Will LeBron James, perhaps a bit miffed over the everyone's season-long love affair with Curry play like a man possessed to let everyone know that he is STILL King James?  I think that you can count on that.  

Me? I can't wait to watch the James-Irving-Love going up against Curry-Thompson-Green.  I think that we are in store for a terrific series, one that will go the distance, and one that will end the 52 year sports championship drought in Cleveland.

THE CAVS TO WIN IN SEVEN GAMES.

As the saying goes, I believe I had that.

I was semi-wrong in one respect when I said that we were "in store for a terrific series."  Yes, the series went seven games, which by definition makes this a great series, but the first six games were, to be truthful, pretty bad games.  All were blowouts, pretty much decided before the fourth quarters even began.  Only the cauldron of a seventh game produced an authentically great game.

But consider this....

• The Cavs overcame a 1-3 deficit to win this series,
• They won two games at Golden State in doing so,
• And the performance of LeBron James was positively phenomenal over those final three victories.

Not enough can be said about James.  No doubt that Steph Curry was the MVP of the league this season, but there is also no doubt - NONE -that LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world right now.  Back-to-back 41 point games and  a triple double in Game Seven.  When the chips were down and his team had no margin for error left, James produced and he produced Big Time to secure the Cavaliers first ever NBA title.  It is impossible to name, say, the five greatest NBA players of all time.  Too many great ones to narrow it down to a mere five.  But it is equally impossible to even have this little bar room discussion without including LeBron James in the discussion.

There is too much talk about this or that player's "Legacy" in a given sport these days, but if such discussions must take place, then I think we no longer need to have one about LeBron James,  His legacy has been secured.

And I cannot close this without saying how glad I am for the City of Cleveland, whose 52 year sports championship drought has come to an end.  I have many friends and some family in Cleveland, and I absolutely could not be happier for them.  I hope that all of them enjoy this victory to the fullest.

Doesn't mean that I will ever root for the Browns, though.

NBA Finals Prediction

A quick-and-dirty Grandstander Preview of the NBA Finals, which begin tonight.

Leading up to these Finals, the following occurred:

• The Golden State Warriors, 73-9 in the regular season, had to overcome injuries to to NBA MVP Steph Curry, and then had to overcome a 1-3 deficit against Oklahoma City to reach the Finals.

This could mean that the Warriors were tough and gritty and resilient enough to overcome such adversity, which means that they are a cinch to Win It All, OR it could mean that that spent all their powder in reaching that record setting 73 wins, and are now pretty much spent going into the Finals.

• The Cleveland Cavaliers breezed throughout the Eastern Conference Playoffs, withe two series sweeps and an overall record of 12-2.

This could mean that while the whole world was watching the Warriors all season in their quest to break the season wins record, the Cavaliers were quietly just doing their thing on their way to a return trip to the Finals, OR it could mean that the entire NBA Eastern Conference stinks, that the Cavs were the one-eyed man in the land of the blind, and are going to be mere cannon fodder for the Warriors in the Finals.

So, what DOES it mean?  Remember, that last year the Cavaliers, due to two key injuries to star players, were essentially a one man team - LeBron -  in the Finals, and it took the Warriors six games to beat them.  Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are healthy and ready to play, and LeBron James is still the best player in basketball.  The Warriors are still that team that won 73 games, and did win three straight over the Thunder, no small task, to get to the Finals.  

Will the Warriors be spent from doing what it took to beat OKC?  Probably not in the long run, but it could be the case in the opener tonight.

Will LeBron James, perhaps a bit miffed over the everyone's season-long love affair with Curry play like a man possessed to let everyone know that he is STILL King James?  I think that you can count on that.  

Me? I can't wait to watch the James-Irving-Love going up against Curry-Thompson-Green.  I think that we are in store for a terrific series, one that will go the distance, and one that will end the 52 year sports championship drought in Cleveland.

THE CAVS TO WIN IN SEVEN GAMES.

There you have it.  As always, watch but don't bet.

Catching Up - Spieth, Pirates, and Warriors

The finish of the US Open at Chambers Bay yesterday certainly was one for the ages.  A four way tie to begin the fourth round, Dustin Johnson (my predicted winner) holds the lead for most of front nine, Rory McIlroy makes a charge and folds, Louis Oosthuizen makes six birdies on the back nine and is tied for the lead in the club house, Jordan Spieth takes a three shot lead with a spectacular birdie putt on sixteen, gives the lead away with a double on seventeen, makes another great birdie on eighteen, only to see Johnson birdie seventeen and have a putt for an eagle to win on eighteen, and a for-sure two putt birdie to force a playoff.  Amazingly, heartbreakingly, Johnson misses a two footer for birdie, and Spieth wins.

What is the fallout from this Open?

• Spieth now holds the first two legs of golf's Grand Slam.  This hasn't happened since 2002.  The hype leading to the British Open next month at St. Andrews for Spieth and his Grand Slam chances will be incredible.
• No doubt about it, Jordan Spieth is now THE pre-eminent golfer in America, if not the world, and he doesn't turn 22 until after the British Open.
• He is the youngest winner of the US Open since 1923, when an amateur of some note named Bob Jones won it.
• For Johnson, it was a heartbreaking defeat.  As much as I like Spieth, as Johnson stood over that birdie putt, I said to Marilyn, "I hope he makes it because no one should have to live with what will happen if he misses."  He has had close calls in Majors before, but this one is going to be a hard one to overcome mentally.  I hope that he does and gets his Major sooner rather than later.

I am going to forgo commenting on the Chambers Bay golf course and the TV coverage by Fox Sports.  Enough has been said about those two things already.

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The disastrous weekend in Washington DC for the Pirates takes away a bit of the luster from what has been a pretty special streak for the Pirates.  Prior to that Nats series, the Bucs had won eight in a row and, I believe, twenty-one of their prior twenty-six games, and had been doing it with pitching that was nothing short of spectacular.  While you hated seeing them get swept, perhaps what happened this week was inevitable.  As well as the Pirates had been playing, that's how poorly the Nats, a good team, had been doing, so some "market corrections" were due.  Next on the docket are three games with the division rival Reds, a team that the Pirates have had trouble beating.  Win two of three against them, and spirits will be lifted, no doubt.

By the way, I am stunned, although maybe I shouldn't be, at the over the top coverage of the Jose Tabata's HBP that broke up Max Scherzer's perfect game on Saturday with two outs in the ninth.  You'd have thought Tabata was responsible for snatching the Lindbergh Baby.  That is the ESPN-24 Hour Media culture in which we live, I suppose, but really...

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A final comment on the NBA Playoffs that concluded last week with the Golden State Warriors defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.  (I believe that I had that, although I did say it would go the full seven.)  The Warriors are deserving champions, and Steph Curry and Finals MVP Andre Iguodala were phenomenal in the Series, so Congratulations and Hail to the Champion Warriors.

Congratulations also to LeBron James who, essentially, dragged the injury riddled Cavs through six games in this series.  When he was doing TV announcing back in the '70s, I once remember the great Bill Russell saying that "Injuries are a much a part of this game as free throws."  He was right, of course, and the Cavs chances were severely hurt when Kevin Love went down early in the Playoffs, and whatever chances they had left were pretty much submarined when Kyrie Irving went down and out after the first game of the Finals.  What was left was a team consisting of LeBron James and four guys named Joe.  Minus James, that Cleveland team that took the court against the Warriors after Irving's injury was one that would have trouble winning 35 games in an NBA season.

NBA Prediction - Warriors vs. Cavaliers

The NBA Finals begin tonight, to much ennui here in my hometown, but I, for one, am anxiously anticipating this series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.  More importantly, I anticipate the match-up between the star players of each team, Stephen Curry and LeBron James.

Personally, I will be rooting for the Cavaliers, and for the following reasons:

1. I really like LeBron James.  He may well be the greatest player ever so sometimes you just root for sheer greatness, or at least I do.
2. I once lived in the greater Cleveland area (1974-78) and rooted for the Cavs back in those days.
3. I have a lot of friends who live in the Cleveland area (you know who you are).
4. I once owned a Chevy Cavalier.
5. It's not like you're rooting for the Browns!

As for my prediction, while the Cavs have the best PLAYER in the NBA  in James, I believe that the Warriors are a better TEAM than the Cavs, so, despite my rooting interest, I am going to predict the Warriors will prevail in this series, and that it will go the full seven games.  Despite my rooting interest, the Warriors, and Steph Curry and coach Steve Kerr in particular, seem to be a likable group, so it won't be a huge disappointment if they win what I am sure will be an entertaining Series.

As with all Grandstander predictions, watch, but don't bet!