the week in sports – 5/14 – 5/21 (2012)
Sorry for the late post. We updated it through Monday this week too.
The Staples Center survived the weekend. The NBA and NHL playoffs were in full force, giving us a lot to talk about. We saw a player retire in MLB, Chelsea winning a title, and even some extra hilarious videos.
Hit the jump for the breakdown of this week’s biggest sports news.
-grizzly and vish bhatt (@thevhb)
NBA News:
The San Antonio Spurs swept the LA Clippers Sunday night. The Spurs are undefeated in the playoffs and have won 18 straight dating back to the regular season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder knocked out the Lakers on Sunday night, taking the series 4-1, despite a 42 point effort from reigning GOAT Kobe Bryant. Kobe wasn’t excited, but had some big words. OKC will face the Spurs in what promises to be an incredible Western Conference Finals. Oh, and Westbrook achieved beast mode.
- Tracy McGrady is bored.
Other tidbits:
- Kyrie Irving , aka Uncle Drew, received 117 of 120 1st place votes to win the Rookie of the Year Award. Check him out posing as an old man for a pickup game.
- Rick Carlisle signed a 4-year extension to remain with the Mavs.
- Larry Bird won this year’s Executive of the Year award. He’s the first to ever win a MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year (oh yea, in college he won the Naismith College Player of the Year).
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Brandon Prust of the New York Rangers was suspended for one game following a blatant elbow to Devils’ Anton Volchenkov on Saturday. The series is currently 2-2.
The Phoenix Coyotes avoided the sweep on Sunday against the LA Kings . The Series is currently 3-1 in favor of the Kings.
Other Tidbits:
Before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, this offer was available for Rangers’ fans.
-Russia wins the Gold in the 2012 IIHF World Championship beating Slovakia 6-2 on Sunday.
MLB News:
Kerry Wood officially retires. On Friday, Wood faced one batter and struck him out, completing a great career even though it was plagued by injuries as of late. As an Astros fan, no one here forgets his MLB debut.
Round 2 of “Chicago vs Chicago” with Nick Offerman and Craig Robinson. Awesome.
Other Tidbits:
Brett Lawrie of the Toronto Blue Jays was suspended for four games following his tantrum that he threw after he slammed his helmet on the ground that hit an umpire.
Lance Berkman (Cardinals)will be out 6-8 weeks after having suffered a knee injury.
NFL News:
Wes Welker signed the franchise tender for the Patriots. He didn’t want to miss any time holding out for a long term deal. But it looks as though things aren’t improving one bit. Ray Rice, Matt Forte, Drew Brees. know the feeling all too well.
Soccer News:
Chelsea defeated Bayern Munich on penalty kicks, 4-3, to win its first Champions League title.
Horse Racing:
I’ll Have Another won the 137th Preakness on Saturday. It’ll have a chance to win the Triple Crown if it wins in Belmont Stakes in about 3 weeks.
What to Watch this Week:
30 for 30 is coming back. ESPN is bringing back the award-winning documentary which was one of the best a few years back. We did it a post on it, in case you missed it.
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Conference Finals: Kings vs Coyotes (3-1) and Devils vs Rangers (2-2)
NBA Playoffs:
The Eastern Conference will be finishing up Round 2 of the playoffs: Heat vs Pacers (2-2); Celtics vs 76ers (3-2)
Look for the Western Conference finals (Spurs/Thunder) to begin later this week, with the first game on Sunday, 5/27.
MLB:
4 games: Atlanta Braves @ Cincinnati Reds
3 games: Detroit TIgers @ Cleveland Indians
4 games: San Francisco Giants @ Miami Marlins
4 games: Philadelphia Phillies @ St. Louis Cardinals
Till next week!
-grizzly and vish