Pushed to the Brink

For the first time this post-season, the Cleveland Cavaliers face elimination. The Cavs need three wins in a row or their magical season will be over. The good news is they get to go back home where they have only lost three times this entire year.

The Cavs are 2-1 against the Magic this season at home, and 44-3 overall in Quicken Loans Arena. The key to getting back into this series will be to take it one game at a time. They need to concentrate on winning game five and nothing else. This is not a seven game series, rather a one game series that the Cavs must win...three times. That has to be the mentality they take into each remaining game. Only eight teams in NBA history have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in seven game series such as the one the Cavaliers face.

The reason the Magic have played so well and have claimed this 3-1 advantage has been because of their impeccable three point shooting. In game four, Orlando shot 44 percent from beyond the arc, sinking a playoff team record 17 of 38 treys, 11 of which came after half-time. In the series, Orlando has shot nearly 42 percent from three, making 42 of 98 shots. It was a three point dagger with 4.6 seconds remaining in regulation of game four that would eventually force overtime and lead to the Orlando win. The Magic are shooting 32.5 percent from three overall in the playoffs, and have a much better record when they shot 30 percent or better from behind the arc. If Cleveland is going to shut down this offense, it will have to start with better defense on the perimeter.

It has been 45 years since a Cleveland team won a title in a major sport, and unless LeBron James and the Cavys step up their game and play to the level they are capable of, we might be kept waiting.

The odds are against them, can the come-back kids pull it off again? Game five is Thursday night.

We are all Witnesses

Scenario: Your team down by two, one second remaining on the clock, who do you want to take the final shot? Everyone in the building last night knew exactly who was gonna take that shot. As Mo Williams said post-game, "Option one was LeBron James, option two was Lebron James, option three was Lebron James...". But still, even without any uncertainty of who was gonna take that shot, James still couldn't be stopped.

This begs the question, how do you stop someone who is unstoppable? We could sit here and pretend to come up with ways to stop LeBron James but none of it would be accurate. The honest truth to that question is you can't. You can't stop him, period. After the game, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy took the blame for the final shot, saying he should have devised a different defensive formation. What Van Gundy failed to realize was that no defensive formation in the world could have stopped him. He could have put all five guys and all his assistant coaches on LeBron and it still wouldn't have made a difference. The only way to even slow him down would be to makes sure he does not have the ball, keep the ball in your team's hands. He is too strong, too fast, and too good, to be stopped any other way.

So who has the momentum heading into game three? On one side, Orlando appears to. They went into Cleveland where only two visiting teams had won the entire year, stole away home court advantage, and were a miracle shot away from sweeping the Cavys out of their own building. On the otherside, the Cavaliers may seem to have the advantage after King James single handedly demoralized the entire city of Orlando. Cleveland has also been very good on the raod all year. Game three will be pivotal in deciding the rest of the series.

The Battle for Ohio

This weekend kicks off the first interleague games of the year in major league baseball, and as every year since 1997, the Reds and the Indians will face off head to head in what is commonly known as "the battle for Ohio", or "the buckeye series". This year, the teams will play six games, three in Cincinnati and three in Cleveland as they have since 1999. This also marks the second year that the in-state rivals will play for the Ohio Cup, a trophy given to the winner of the series. As they did last year, the teams will begin with a three game set in Cincinnati.

The Indians lead the all-time series 30-27, but lost 5 of 6 to the Reds in 2008. The Reds are 77 and 95 all time in interleague play while the Indians are 108 and 103. Although the National League used to dominate, the American League has had the upper hand winning each of the previous five years and taking the all-time interleague lead 1,536 to 1,420. The New York Yankees and the Oakland A's are tied for the lead in all-time interleague wins with 123 a piece.

Starting in 1989, the teams played an exhibition game in Cooper Stadium dubbed as The Ohio Cup, but stopped in 1997 when interleague play began. The teams have never met in the world series, and until 1989, they had never even qualified for the playoffs in the same year.

So far this season, the Redlegs have compiled a 21-19 record while the Indians are a meager 16-26 though the first 42 games. The pitching matchup for the series is as follows:

Friday: Reyes (1-1) vs Arroyo (5-3), Saturday: Huff (0-1) vs Cueto (4-2), Sunday: Lee (2-5) vs Bailey (0-0)

Regardless of Records, this series is sure to pack a lot of excitement, and draw in many fans. Enjoy!

-T17M

Black and Gold

After taking claim to the MLS Cup in 2008, the Crew have gotten off to a bit of a rocky start so far in 2009. It's not that the boys have lost a lot of games, but rather that they have not won many. The team has six ties and one win through their first nine games leaving them with only nine points a spot in the eastern conference cellar.

Through the first nine games, the team has managed to score more than one goal only twice, and has allowed at least one goal every game. Furthermore, only two players (Schelotto & Epko) have recorded more than one goal this season. Guys other than Schelotto will certainly need to step it up for the team to get back on track.

The good news is they have been tying these games and not losing them. With all the same firepower back from last year, we can only expect the boys to get back on track and start putting some goals in the net. Don't worry boys its a long season, there's still time to turn things around. But as for now, if they're gonna turn those T's into W's, they're gonna have to do like their motto and "play harder".

California Dreamin?

Once again the Reds travel to California near the top of the division, once again play lots of extra innings, and once again come away winless. What is it with California that makes the bats go cold? Is it time change difference? Maybe the different style of play? The warm weather? Whatever it is, it isn't good.

Since 2006, the Reds have won just one series on the west coast, and have compiled a 1-10-1 series record over the past 12 series with an 11-28 record overall. In this time, the Redlegs are winless against the Dodgers, 4-9 against the Padres, and 5-6 against the Giants. The Reds played two inter-league series in 2007 against the Mariners and A's and finished 2-6.

It seems like every year the team heads out to the coast at or near the top of the central, return a few slots lower, and are never able to make up the lost ground. If the Reds are gonna compete for the central, they're gonna have to win on the road.

-T17M

The Off-Season

With the off-season in full effect for the Columbus Blue Jackets, it's time to start looking at draft prospects. The Jackets will draft 16th in this June's draft, which is the latest the team has drafted in its ten year existence. (The latest the club had ever drafted perviously was eighth in '01 and '04).

At first glance, this appears to be a very deep draft. Guys that would go in the top ten in a normal year, may fall to the second half of the first round because of the plethora of talent. This bodes well for the Jackets since they will be picking outside the top ten for the first time ever.

Here are the Jackets previous first round picks

2000 - 4th, Rusty Klesla, D
2001 - 8th, Pascal Leclaire, G *
2002 - 1st, Rick Nash, W (traded up)
2003 - 4th, Nik Zherdev, W *
2004 - 8th, Alexandre Picard, W (traded down)
2005 - 6th, Gilbert Brule, C *
2006 - 6th, Derek Brassard, C
2007 - 7th, Jakub Voracek, W
2008 - 6th, Nkita Filatov, C/W

* No longer with the club.

Now looking ahead to this year, here is The Hockey News' list of prospects 10-18:

10 - David Runblad (CAN), C
"He sees the ice well both offensively and defensively and he moves the puck well"

11 - Dmitri Kukikov (RUS), D
"Kukilov has proved to be a dynamic offensive defensemen. He scored more than a point per game during the season and was averaging two per game early on in the playoffs". Also there is no worry about him wanting to return to Russia.

12 - Simon Despres (CAN), D
"On the positive side of the ledger, Despres is a good skater for a big man and plays a steady game. And while he leaves scouts wanting more, he may deliver on his promise."

13 - O. Ekman-Larsson (SWE), D
"His skating and his offensive instincts are just out of this world."

14 - Scott Glennie (CAN), C
"He has great hockey sense. He competes hard and has good offensive instincts."

15 - Jacob Josefson (SWE), C
"He didn't get a chance to show too much at the WJC, but he has made strides. He's a smart offensive Swedish player and pretty good at both ends of the ice."

16 - Zack Kassian (CAN), RW
"A lot of observers are throwing Milan Lucic's name around when they speak of Zach Kassian, right down to the fact Kassian's point and penalty minute totals this season are almost identical to Lucic's in his draft year."

17 - Ryan Ellis (CAN), D
"He looks like he'd be able to play the game sitting in a rocking chair. He's so calm that he almost looks bored out there. He always has the puck and nobody is able to get it away from him."

18 - John Moore (USA), D
"His skill level is off the charts in the USHL, but it's his skating ability that will give him the best chance to play in the NHL."

Three big area's the CBJ will need to address this offseason include the power play, the center position, and getting a scoring defenseman.

The Jackets power play ranked dead last in the league lsat year so that will obviously be an area of need going into next season. Expect the team to look for a proven forward who has the ability to create chances and throw the puck at the net on the pp. Acording to Light the Lamp, some possible UFAs (unrestricted free agents) the Jackets could be interested in include Beauchemin, Spacek, Leopold, Aucoin, Zubov, Oduya, or Ohlund.

Another concern heading into next season is the center position. With only Vermette and Brassard guaranteed back next year, the Jackets will most likely need to find a reliable centerman to run the 3rd or 4th line.

Also on the wish list is a scoring defenseman who can get pucks to the net and create opportunities from the point, especially on the pp.

Expect most of these areas to be addressed through UFAs but it is possible we could see some draft day trades again like we did last year in attempt to fill the holes.

Until then, enjoy watching the conference finals!

- T17M

References: The Hockey News, Light the Lamp.

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