THE SPORTS DIVA MAGAZINE

NHL Conference Finals Preview!!

Written by: Bethany

Bethany's Hockey Rants

Unless you have been living under a rock, or are not a hockey fan, you know that the NHL Conference Finals started last night.  In the Western Conference Finals the Detroit Red Wings are facing the Dallas Stars, and in the Eastern Conference, you have a battle of Pennsylvania, with the Philadelphia Flyers facing off against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Let's take a look at the matchups beginning in the West.  Detroit and Dallas, this should be a great series.  Detroit has plowed through the playoffs, since benching the ancient goaltender Dominic Hasek and bringing in Chris Osgood.  The Red Wings were the NHL best this season.  They defeated the Nashville Predators and swept the Colorado Avalanche.  They have strength in every position.  Goaltending, they have a one-two punch, with Hasek and Osgood.  Osgood has been nothing short of outstanding the entire season, he will continue to be outstanding through this round.  On the blue line you have Norris Trophy winners, Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios.  Then with the forwards they have Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg.  So who needs to step up for the Wings?  Really...everyone just needs to keep doing what they're doing.

The Dallas Stars had a tough last round facing the San Jose Sharks.  The deciding game of the series went into FOUR overtimes.  Yes, you read that correctly, FOUR overtimes. 

The Dallas Stars have been getting great goaltending from Marty Turco this post season, and their forwards are really showing up.  Here is where it gets fun, the Dallas Stars are a very defensively minded team, their team also has a very young defense.  That young defense was able to shut down in the first round Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, and all of the other members of the Anaheim Ducks.  The second round, they shutdown Big Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, and the San Jose Sharks.  Who needs to step it up in order for the Stars to beat the Red Wings?  Mike Modano.  He's one of the greatest American born hockey players in the history of the NHL, he has to be great against the Red Wings.  Marty Turco, he has proven himself in the first two rounds, now he just needs to continue playing his game.

What does this series come down to?  Goaltending.  Chris Osgood has the best goals against average (GAA) in the NHL, Marty Turco has the second.  You want a prediction?  Red Wings in 6, I just don't think the Stars have the ability to take down the Wings.

Onto the East.  The Battle of Pennsylvania!!  Philadelphia Flyers vs the Pittsburgh Penguins.  This series is the total opposite of the Wings/Stars series.  Both of these teams rely heavily on their offense, which who can blame them?  The Penguins are fronted by Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, and Evgeni Malkin.  The Flyers?  RJ Umberger has been an absolute horse so far, Daniel Briere, and Scott Hartnell.

The Philadelphia Flyers have made it through a game seven against the Washington Capitals and then were up against the Eastern Conference best, Montreal Canadiens.  The Flyers have made a huge turn around; last season they were the NHL worst, but making a few trades and getting some key free agents has turned this team around.  Marty Biron has been outstanding in his first ever post-season.  R.J. Umberger has come seemingly out of nowhere and has almost carried the Flyers offense.  The defense of the Flyers took a hit yesterday however, it was discovered that Kimmo Timonen would be unavailable for the remainder of the playoffs due to a blood clot.  So, who needs step up for the Flyers?  Daniel Briere.  He can't let R.J. Umberger handle all the offense.  Marty Biron has to be superb in order for the Flyers to beat the Pens.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have surpassed my expectations.  I never seem to give them enough credit.  The Penguins flew by the Senators and then beat up on the New York Rangers, apparently they learned something in those five games last playoffs.  Marc Andre Fleury has been great for them as well.  So who needs to step it up for the Pens?  Gary Roberts, I think his veteran leadership is extremely important to this team.  Sidney Crosby, oh who am I kidding?  He has been outstanding.  Marc Andre Fleury needs to continue to make those key saves.

What does this series come down to?  I'm going to say defense.  Whichever team is able to shutdown the other teams offense, will win.  But, this series is going to be a great series for fans of the new NHL.  There will be a lot of goals, and a lot of up and down action.
My prediction?  Penguins in seven. 

Thursday Night Roundup 5.8.08

I missed yesterday's news roundup so I decided to write one up for tonight. Enjoy.

Dear Cincinnati Bengals: Kiss My Ass! (Juiced Sports Blog)

WTF? Someone please explain this video. (NESW Sports)

Only time I wish I was in Cleveland, Ohio. 23 cents pizza. (And One)

Venus Williams, the face of PowerAde Zero (Sports Business Digest)

A Buckeye fan is against a playoff system. No no, it's not me. (Around The Oval)

Stephen A. Smith's first column in ESPN the Mag. (ESPN the Mag)

OK. That's enough for now. Tomorrow will be the debut of our new contributor Bethany. She'll let you know all about the NHL playoffs.

My Apologies To The City Of Cleveland

After watching the Cleveland Cavaliers lose to the Boston Celtics tonight 76-72, all I came away from this was frustration. And I'm not a big Cleveland Cavaliers fan at all. I root for them in the playoffs to show my Ohio pride but that's about it. And if I'm frustrated, God help the actual Cleveland fan right now. Is this what you've had to endure all these years?

I'm from Cincinnati. A Reds fan, they suck now but won a World Series in 1990. A Bengals fan, I can't even explain them now but I did get to watch them in the Super Bowl in 1989. And a Buckeye fan who watched the football team win a title in the 2002 season and the basketball team make the FINAL FOUR  twice (sorry NCAA, still not letting you take that away from me) and become NIT champs this past year. I guess you could say I've had it good compared to a Cleveland fan.

I have to admit that I just thought the Cleveland fans were just whiny, complainers and bad tippers (I worked in a sports bar and that held true there. Even with Cleveland fans who worked with me. Cincy fans were great tippers.) But now I think I understand a little bit. You're watching something that just seems to be within your grasp and then BAM! It's gone. The name of the site WaitingForNextYear.com fits so well with the city of Cleveland and their love of their sports. And wait they will.

Tonight I'm rooting for you Cleveland and I'll continue to root for the Cavs however long they're in this post season. I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy the frustrations I felt after watching the Cavs lose tonight. Now I may not root for you in the future but you can always point back to this post and remind me that I rooted for you once. I'll try not to deny it.

The Red Team that Jordan used to Play For

by Carolyn Hastings
AND ONE

Hard-core NBA fans in Rio?  NBADraft.net would have us believe:

In Rio de Janeiro you will find beach basketball courts laid on top of the sand, and mobile courts on wheels that are driven onto the beach. Brazil has adopted basketball as a rapidly growing subculture.

Stop it.  Or, better yet, explain it.  Say hello to Pedro, a friend of a friend, and a Brazilian NBA fan, who will tell us the real story:

---

Q.  Where in Brazil do you live?

Answer.  Rio de Janeiro, RJ. (No, it's not as dangerous as it probably looks like!)

Q. Are you a Brazilian native?

Answer.  Yes.

Q.  Depending on the answer to the first question, have you been to the US?  If yes, have you seen an NBA game live and in person?

Answer.  I've been to the US twice. In the early 90's I spent a week or so in New York and a couple of years later I went to Florida for a couple of weeks. I think this was around '94. Much to my delight, I did manage to attend an NBA game: it was a regular season game between the Shaq & Penny Magic against the Mookie Blaylock-led Atlanta Hawks. I think Dominique Wilkins was playing for the Hawks too. Anyway, it was a blowout win for the Magic and a great live experience to me.

Q.  Is there a professional basketball league in Brazil?

Answer.  Yes, there is, though it must be said that basketball is somewhat of a fringe sport in Brazil. It was more popular in the 80's, I guess, with the '87 win against the USA for the Pan-Am games gold medal. And Oscar Schmidt is an icon. But since then it's gone downhill.

The Brazilian basketball association is a real mess; I suppose that if they ever have their accounts audited someone will get in real trouble. Oscar tried to create a "parallel league" a few years ago but it went down badly.

Nowadays there's a kind of split, with some ball clubs boycotting the official league and all. Pretty sad, actually. However, it's worth noting that my home team - Flamengo, which is also a football (soccer) club and competes in several other sports - did reach the finals of the South American version of the Euroleague.

Anyway, I must confess that I'm not a huge enthusiast of our domestic leagues so there's not much that can be said about it. They surely need a better business plan - or at least any kind of business plan. The games are hardly ever televised - only on cable, which reaches a very restricted audience - and the majority of the supporters are in fact football (soccer) fans who believe it's their duty to also root for their club's basketball team.

Q. Is there an amateur basketball league?

Answer.  I suppose there is but I don't know much about it.

Q.  Is it possible to watch NBA games on television in Brazil?

Answer.  During the Michael Jordan era it was really easy to watch games; even regular TV channels aired them. Then it became a very restricted cable-only attraction. There were a couple of seasons with hardly any NBA coverage. The past couple of years, however, have been much better: ESPN often airs them and globoesporte.com - which is a sports-only site that belongs to Globo, the largest TV network in the country - broadcasts games on the Web twice a week. It's not free, but the monthly subscription is really cheap (something like US $5 for 8 games).

Q.  Is it possible to purchase NBA apparel other than online?  If so, what are the most popular items?

Answer.  I guess that most sports-wear shops sell them, but probably at prohibitively high prices. Even football (soccer) jerseys are really pricey here. Nike sneakers and the like are also way too expensive, but these are far more popular. It's not that rare to walk past someone wearing a Kobe or Iverson jersey though.

Q.  Who is the most popular NBA player / team?

Answer.  It's kind of hard to gauge that. Most people have no interest in basketball and know nothing about the NBA. Michael Jordan is the obvious exception - he's an icon everywhere. I guess Magic Johnson has some notoriety, too.

As for the current crop of players, as I've said, it's not that rare to bump into someone wearing a Kobe or Iverson jersey. I suppose that those are the most popular ones there.

I guess that Shaq's pretty well-known, too. As for teams, there's no doubt that the Chicago Bulls are the most well-known. Everyone who learns that I love the NBA immediately asks me, "so, how are the Bulls doing?". Others simply wonder about that "red team that Jordan used to play for."

Q.  Are you personally interested in basketball?

Answer. Watching basketball? Sure. I love the NBA and try to watch as many games as possible. I also check the box scores daily and play in fantasy leagues. And NBA video games on the Playstation 2, I should add.

Q.  Do you or did you play basketball?

Answer. Well, not really. Only in gym class back in high school. I'm not exactly a high-flyer and, at 6 feet, I'm hardly Yao Ming material.

Q.  Do March Madness (NCAA) and/or the NBA Playoffs generate excitement?

Answer.  I don't care much for March Madness, but the NBA Playoffs surely get me excited. The rest of the country?... Not so much. It hardly ever makes the news.. at best we can find some three-line notes regarding the Brazilian players buried deep in the newspapers.

And it's even worse when it's a World Cup year - in 2006, for instance, the football World Cup had already started when the NBA finals began which made it all but impossible to find any NBA news in the mainstream media.

Q.  Do you know of any Americans playing basketball in Brazil?

Answer.  Er, actually, no. I know there was an American player who was murdered up in the north a few months back. I do not really follow local basketball, that's the problem. But I know for a fact that there are quite a few Americans over here.

Q.  What is the most popular sport in Brazil today?

Answer.  Football (soccer), definitely. It's always been and will always be the country's #1 passion. No other sport comes even close.

I mean, sure, in the 90's, as Ayrton Senna ruled the Formula One world and as Gustavo Kuerten won a couple of Grand Slam tourneys, auto racing and tennis became a lot more popular, but now they've receded to the background once again. (I'm being kind of unfair - Formula One and auto racing in general is somewhat popular, but it could never even come close to rivalling football's hegemony. Also, it's worth noting that the F1 audience consists mostly of upper-class folks).

Lately, the second most popular sport over here is volleyball. Our national team won several important titles, which always helps to boost popularity. But still the passion and devotion connected to football is unparalleled.

Q.  Open ended - please tell us about your basketball experiences in Brazil (and elsewhere)

Answer.  Well, my basketball experiences are pretty much...nil. So I guess I should tell why the heck I'm a Boston Celtics fan. It's really simple: the first game I watched was in the late 80s...and a Celtics game. And they had an aging Larry Bird. And I thought three-pointers were way cooler than dunks (yeah, I don't think I have any street-cred).

When Michael Jordan came to rule to the world, well, it's not that I was unimpressed but I did like the idea of rooting for some sort of underdog. And there was something about Bird's great passes and the Celtics' reverence for their tradition - and for the city's Irish tradition - that just made them look more "real" to me.

I mean...I grew up cheering for Flamengo. I find it terribly disturbing to think of ballclubs as pure business, as franchises that can move to and fro. The Celtics seemed to be the perfect fit for my needs. Then I just kept building on that....

It's not like I'm a hardcore Boston fan but I do cherish their wins. I endured a lot of losing seasons and always tried to keep up-to-date with them... so that's it.

Cheers!

---

Thank you, Pedro, even though you're not rooting for my Cavs.

More Brailizan basketball names:

Wild Thing

Nene and Leandro Barbosa

Marquinhos (Marcus Vinicius Viera De Souza)

Rafael Araujo

Seriously, I Can't Escape Him

I went to the bookstore yesterday. Needed a break from NBA playoffs. That Boston game versus the J.V. team they were playing just felt like a waste of my time. I could of washed the dishes. Who am I kidding. I would of not washed the dishes. Anyway, at the bookstore as I was walking out the door I came across this:

FAVRE: THE MAN, THE LEGEND; WITH CD. I missed it as I walked in the door but I definitely did not miss it walking out. And no I will not be adding the book to the TSD Book Club.

He's on Letterman, He's on ESPN every other day, and now he's invading the FRONT of the bookstore. HE HAD HIS OWN DISPLAY! Please Brett, give me a week without any mention of you. I'm on Brett overload.

Greek Basketball - You've Got Some Great Players - Period.

by Carolyn Hastings
AND ONE

When Diana Ross turned the world “Upside Down” it’s a safe bet she wasn’t thinking of Greek basketball.  That is, however, exactly what her success did in the land of Socrates; basketball would never the same.

Diana’s agent, Bill Manon, is a hero to Greek Bball worshipers:

In the spring of 1979 Galis [Nick Galis or Gallis or Νίκος Γκάλης] realized that the time had come for him to try and play in the NBA . . . . his manager, Bill Manon, . . . was the agent of a few basketball players but mostly actors and artists . . . Among those was the famous Diana Ross who had just launched her solo career away from her band ‘The Supremes’. 'Upside Down' became a big hit and the agent started making money hand over fist, neglecting his then 22 year old Greek basketball player.

So, from the first round of drafts, Galis found himself in the fourth with the number 68 and was picked by the Boston Celtics who had already chosen Larry Bird and wanted Galis just to make up the numbers. Galis tried to stay in the NBA but at the worst possible moment an injury left him out for 2 weeks and on his return, he found his place had been taken by Gerald Henderson.

Playing ball for Seton Hall on a scholarship, Nick dreamed of the NBA.  In his junior year (1977-78) he averaged 17.3 points per game;  as a senior he led the nation in scoring (Indiana State forward Larry Bird was second) at 27.5 points per game, with a career high 48 points against the University of Santa Clara.

 

Why Ahmad Brooks, Why?

Usually when a team kicks a certain player off of that said team, the players on said team would not do anything to maybe get themselves kicked of said team. Well Ahmad Brooks must have never received that memo.

Smart boy is being charged with punching a woman in the face. His court date is set for June 6.

I would just like to know if this is going to continue. If the Cincinnati Bengals' players are going to continue to get arrested and do nothing but stupidity, I can no longer root for them. I started rooting for them in the first place because of my dad. And then they started to hold a special place in my heart on their own. But seriously, how can I be fans of a team with players who just don't seem to care? I understand that they all aren't like that but it seems like every other week something else negative is going on with them. Just let me know Bengals. I tucked my Jets jersey (yes, a Jets fan since I was little) away for you. I can always take it back out.

Wednesday News Roundup 4.30.08

How would you like it if your blog wound up missing? Not good huh? If you know the whereabouts of Five Tool Tool, please contact the certain parties. (Epic Carnival)

Did you know that Steve Nash has a production company? Well he obviously needs something to do in May while playing with the Suns. (NESW Sports)

Poor Cueto. 7 runs in 2 innings? Your a Redleg so I still love you. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Someone else hates bloggers. Shocker. But do they really know what they hate? (EDSBS)

A Wizards fan writes a letter to them about the series against the Cavs. (Mind Pinball)

Larry Brown Sports on Larry Brown's new job. (Larry Brown Sports)

DeShawn Stevenson. My oh my. PLEASE fire your people. (DC Sports Bog)

Top 25 NBA blogs. (Le Basketbawl)

Someone not happy bout where they stand in the top 25 NBA blogs. (Celtics Blog)

Things Have Changed

Obviously things look different around here. I went with a different look. I do love the pink and purple but decided to celebrate some other colors that are dear to me. Red, Gray, Black and White. I hope you like :)

Divas Guide To Sports: Don't Know Sports, Find Someone Who Does.

I love sports. I really do. I have spent the whole weekend watching the NFL draft and NBA playoffs and I didn't watch any of it because of my boyfriend. He didn't even come over this weekend. I had the whole place, and TV, to myself and yes I love him but it was nice. But I'm sure there were probably some females out there that did not spend their whole weekend watching sports. You know, sometimes I forget that there are some females who don't actually like sports. And this post is for all those females who hated that their boyfriends sat on the couch all weekend instead of taking them out. Or if they did take them out, they ended up at a sports bar.

The next time your boyfriend mentions something about a game or a draft that is about to come on, mention something about that said game or draft to throw him for a loop. After you mention that something, go on about your business without him and let him sit there wondering how you knew that. It's a win win situation for you. You will get things done without him moping that he's missing sports and he will be sitting at home still wondering how his girl knew something that he may not have. His confusion could possibly even distract him from what he stayed home for in the first place.

Now you may be wondering, "if I know nothing about sports, where do I learn?" Why from Blogs of course. But with so many sports blogs, where do you even begin? Yes you could begin with the big ones like Deadspin and The Big Lead. But maybe you are one who would feel more comfortable reading a sports blog from another female. You can obviously find some things that you need here at The Sports Diva Magazine. But I'm not going to lie to you and say that we cover everything. We don't. So here is a list of some other female sports bloggers to help you out. And this is just the beginning. I'm sure I left some blogs off. But please feel free to leave a link in the comments to those blogs. Enjoy!

Ladies...

Babes Love Baseball

Black Tennis Pro's

Strike Zones And End Zones

Center Field

Chicks In The Huddle

GRIDIRON GODDESS

Girls Gone Sports

SNARKASTIC

Black And Gold Tchotchkes

And One

Fantoo Girls

Kickette

Just A Nats Fan

Athlebrities

Lady At The Bat

Lipgloss & Baseball

Metsgrrl.com

Yankees Chick

Leave The Man Alone

Need 4 Sheed

Red Hot Mama