Brazil, not giving up

The USA with all the upsets and ubelieveable luck headed into the FIFA Confederation Finals with a mindset of, "We have nothing to lose, all the pressure is on Brazil."

Well it turned out to be that was true, the U..S came out looking to put pressure on Brazil as they striked in the first 10 minutes going up 1-0.

At the 27th minute, the U.S. struck again with a Landon Donovan goal.

Heading into the halftime up 2-0, U.S. finally looked like they were a legit team that you had to give respect to.

Without hesitation Brazil came into the second half and scoring quickly in the first minute of playing.

Up 2-1, the the U.S. looked like they were loosing momentum of the game.

20 minutes later, Luis Fabinano scores his second goal of the game for brazil, tying the game.

With a 2-2 tie, U.S. lost all the momentum and looked very nervous as game continued.

As the game had 15 minutes left, Brazil scored their third goal in the second half off a corner kick.

Overall, U.S. looked so good in the first half, limiting Brazil's shot on goals and keeping Brazil's defense busy with their two goals.

Brazil never gave up at any second of the game, coming in the second half to score a quick one, after that first goal for Brazil, U.S. lost the game. I felt like Brazil regain their confidence and took over the game and played their game.

U.S has surpised many countries now, going into the FIFA World Cup next year, I think U.S. will be recieving respect from these teams like: Italy, Germany, Brazil and Spain.

Congratulations USA, you guys made a great run in the confederation cup even though people gave you guys no chance, including myself. You have gained much respect from the world and of your nation.

Shaq to mess up another franchise

Cleveland just pushed the panic button to land the Shaquille O'Neal.

Now, what in the hell do they think this guy is its missing piece?

I do not believe O'Neal will push this weak Cleveland team over the hump. I still see them having trouble against the Magic, Celtics and Lakers.

This team is no where near being a championship team better yet they set themselves back a few steps by making this trade.

Like what happen to the Phoenix Suns, thinking O'Neal is that dominate/defensive player he was back in his Lakers days are way long gone.

All this guy will be doing is clogging up the paint so that "LeBrick" James cannot drive in and has to be focus to take a outside jumper where he needs major improvement in.

Anyhow I believe this is a really stupid desprate last plea from the Cavaliers to LeBrick to stay a Cav passed next year.

Great soccer playing

Wow! Where should I start.

Crazy day in the FIFA confederation qualifications in group B.

Okay let me set you guys up on the situations, Brazil was undefeated beating U.S. and Egypt so all they need was to play their last game and no matter the result they where in the next round.

Italy, beat the U.S. and lost a shocker to Egypt, so they had to win or tie their game and score one goal to advance.

Egypt, they had a one goal lead against Italy, if Italy lost, all Egypt had to do is hold off U.S even if they lost but if they lost it couldn't be more then two goals.

U.S., with TWO losses! Had ZERO chance of advancing going in today. They needed major help from Brazil and had to win their game against Egypt big time!

So what ended up happening today, Brazil beats Italy 3-0. U.S. beats Egypt 3-0, what does that mean?

U.S. advances with the odds against them!

Breaking down the games, Brazil came out very strong using their quick speed to put in two goals from Luis Fabiano and a own goal from Italy.

The U.S. took a 1-0 lead in the first from Charlie Davies, then two more in the second half.

So now the semifinals are set, Wendesday it will be Spain vs. U.S. at 2:25 p.m. EST and Brazil vs. South Africa on Thursday at 2:25 p.m. EST.

I predict Spain vs. Brazil in the finals, it's hard to pick for either team because I love both but all I know is that it will be an exciting match.

Champions claim history

The Los Angeles Lakers have completed their goal and made history doing it.

They have won their 15th NBA championship and 10th since moving to Los Angeles.

Coach Phil Jackson has won 10 NBA championships as a head coach and has arguably become the greatest coach ever.

Kobe Bryant has FINALLY won without Shaq! YAY! I am so proud of Kobe doing it. Last night when the game hit triple zeros and watching Kobe jumping up and down in joy, it all was a great moment and feeling that all his hard work had paid off.

Kobe had finally shut his haters up, no one can ever use their pathetic excuse of "Kobe can't win without Shaq," "Kobe is not a leader and is a ballhog," "Kobe will never win another title."

It feels good that all the haters can't talk anymore and hate anymore just because we have rubbed it in their faces, it feels good that we completed our mission after coming so close last year.

The future is bright for the Lakers as they had 10 men who got their first rings as Kobe and Derek Fisher got their fourth.

So key issues the team will have this off-season is that they will need to find ways to re-sign both Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza, who are both critical pieces to the Lakers repeating next year!

LA shows heart of a champion

In game four, the Lakers looked horrible in the first quarter with their big men in foul trouble, trailing by 12 points.

Starting the third quarter on a mission to get back into the game with shots being knocked down by Trevor Ariza (personal favorite player), Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom.

The Lakers steamed back to take the lead late in the third and make it a game again.

Early in the game, friends and family were blowing up my phone telling me they have given up on the game and thinking the Lakers will lose the game.

I consistently tell them, "Chill out! They are coming back, don't trip!"

Finally, the Lakers not letting me down come back and be themselves again.

The game was going back and forth in the fourth quarter as it came down to the close minute, Orlando is holding on to a five point lead, leading LA 87-82.

It looked like they had the Lakers frustrated with what looked like a broken play, Kobe took it in and found Pau Gasol running in and made a sweet pass and gives Pau a easy dunk to bring LA within three.

Lakers looking for anything for a stop, comes up with two missed free throws from Dwight Howard.

LA set up their last shot to force overtime, as they took the ball out from the back court.

Ariza passed into Bryant, who drew two defenders then passed it back to Ariza, who then passed it out to a open Fisher, who then had a hustling Jameer Nelson on his heels, then when Fisher had the right amount of space between him and Nelson, Fisher pulled up and splashed a three!

Tying up the game at 87, Orlando couldn't win it and the game goes into overtime.

LA, who was criticized for being inconsistent in the Houston and Denver series' told reporters that those situations will come back and help them when they we're in the finals.

Those words came true as they handled the pressure and played smart, as the Magic struggled and couldn't fix their mistakes.

Lakers take care of their business in overtime, proving that their experience was a benefit and made Orlando pay for their silly defensive mistakes and missed free throws.

Up 3-1, Lakers are not celebrating but some fans who are convinced it's over already, look to end it as early as Sunday night, saying that they know Orlando will be doing everything to not lose on their home floor.

I really think it can go either way, game five is 50/50. Anyone can win that game.

All I have to say is that I enjoyed the wonderful season that I have rode with the Laker team. Watching every single game since the first preseason game, all the way up to this point. The ups and downs, the team that broke the Celtics' 18-game winning streak and 12-game winning streak and handing Cleveland their first home loss.

Kobe dropping 62 points in New York, Gasol and Bryant representing the Lakers in the All-star game, watching Bynum go down with another injury and making his way back to the team healthy.

With Ariza becoming a legitimate three point shooter, so many things that happen this season and for it all to end with a champion is just the icing on the cake.

God, I love these Lakers! Go Lakers!

Favored for magical shooting?

Just because the Magic did what they had to do and win game three as everyone predicted.

Everyone is now panicing and saying they can beat the Lakers now.

Now, now, I believed going into last night that it was going to be a hell of a game.

In the morning, reporters on the radio where saying Kobe had told them he was in a zone so expect something magical to happen later.

Kobe came out on fire shooting every shot he was taking including a four point play.

I was very confrontable with the whole game as we kept seeing the Magic shooting lights out at 75 percent, which will not happen again.

Down by eight in the fourTh and the Lakers made their way back into the game and tied it up at 99 with Pau Gasol's clutch free throws.

After that I knew the Lakers where giving themselves a chance to take the game but after that critical play where Kobe tried to split the double team but turned it over giving the win to Orlando.

So many missed shots and free throws could of made the difference in the Lakers winning but things happen for a reason.

This is the only victory Orlando will get in the finals, as they will go 1-8 in finals history including the 95' sweep they were handed by the Rockets.

Lakers will be holding up their 15th Larry O'Brien trophy on Sunday.

Laker fans will be celebrating years of patients of getting back to the glory.

Next week a parade down Figueroa Street will take place.

Los Angeles is a special place to be right now.

Favre soap opera continues

Is the former Packer joining their arch rivals this NFL season?

Speculations of Brett Favre joining the Minnesota Vikings still boil as the future hall-of-famer gets surgery done on his shoulder.

Reports say the Vikings have left the ball in his court to decide if he wants to sign with them.

I am personally fed up with Favre since last season when he wanted to come back to the Packers, but they didn't want him back.

Now it happens again, he wants to play again and come out of retirement.

I use to love Favre when he was with the Packers but after he retired and begged and made so much drama to come back and play he has made me dislike him.

What does it have to do to make you hang up the helmet?

Don't get me wrong, I understand that you love your job and it's hard to stop doing it after doing it half of your life but come on, if you're going to continue to play then get a contract done and stop playing around with these desperate teams who are willing to put their chances on a over aged hall-of-famer quarterback.

Sucks for the current quarterbacks the Vikings have, they basically told them that they have no faith in them and would take a person 20 years older than them to run their team.

Brett make your decision soon man, football starts in three more months, we don't want to hear anything from the NFL till then.

Coincidence or what?

Game 1 of Los Angeles vs. Denver, Kobe Bryant puts his team on his back and leads them to victory.

Game 1 of Cleveland vs. Orlando, Lebron James attempts to put his team on his back but comes up short in a Orlando victory.

Game 2 of Los Angeles vs. Denver, the Lakers are down and need a game ending tie to force overtime with the Nuggets. But fail to give it to Kobe Bryant for the last shot.

Game 2 Cleveland vs. Orlando, Cavaliers are down by two points and need a game winning shot. The ball lands in LeBron James hands for the game winner.

Are the two best players in the NBA learning from each others mistakes, because they both had their teams in similar situations and both either succeeded or failed on them.

It has been an unbelievable first two games in both series' as they are both tied at 1-1.

Also both series' are coming down to who's making their free throws.

The NBA must be celebrating their behinds off, because it's just making them more popular and richer with all these scenarios occurring.

It is hard to believe what is next to come in the next games of these series' plus the NBA Finals.

I can't wait.

Clippers finally win something

With a 17 percent chance of winning the overall first round pick, the Los Angeles Clippers over came the odds and won it.


With past picks like, Michael Olawakani, Shawn Livingston, Chris Kamen, Danny Manning, Tyson Chandler, Melvin Ely, and Chris Wilcox, people fear that the Clippers will screw up this important pick that can destroy their team even more.... is that possible?

Many say that Blake Griffin should be the the No. 1 pick but, if it turns out he is a bust like players like Kwame Brown then no one should blame the poor Clippers on this pick.


But either way, this pick should bring excitement to the franchise so the Clippers could have a bright future.

Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals

WOW!

That's all I can say, I was so upset with the way the Lakers were playing all game.

The game was so intense, the Lakers looked like they were continuing the inconsistent play they had in the Houston series. They never really had a grip or control of the game.

LA went down as much as 13 in the first half and Carmelo Anthony had 16 points at the end of the first quarter. It looked like no Laker was going to attempt to stop him but Kobe Bryant took him on in the second quarter and held him to 20 at the half.

Los Angeles finally had a somewhat good effort in the third but then they began relaxing and Denver took the lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, I began getting fed up with the Lakers to the point I even said to myself, "I am done with this team, they are not going to win this way."

But Kobe Bryant did not fold on us and did what he had to do to save the team from losing home court again. He made clutch free throws in the closing minutes of the game to seal the deal for the Lakers.

Once again Andrew Bynum gets lost in la la land, the dude is so big and taller then the Denver big men and still they push him and bully him around like he is nothing but a useless body in the way.

He was so ineffective for us, all he does is pick up silly fouls and just wastes Phil Jackson's time.

I really told myself that we should trade him.

We did not deserve this win but thanks to Kobe who was the only Laker other then Trevor Ariza, who made that steal late to give us the win, they really did the job to give the Lakers the suck out win.

Pau Gasol had a decent game but he is such a great free throw shooter, he almost lost the game when he missed two straight free throws that let the Nuggets take the lead 99-97.

But another thing, the referees did a bad job, they consistently called one bad call after another.

They called so many bad calls that put both teams into the line and it really didn't give either team a chance to get into a grove but it favored us tonight that we win the game.

The Lakers lead the series 1-0, don't expect to Kobe to repeat that performance again to carry us, Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Ariza need to make plays and complete them on their own.

Gasol needs to front his man on the block and use his quickness to move to the rim and make something of it.

Lakers wake up please! This is a totally different road to the finals from last year, the team lacks the effort and heart, they show the heart and effort in pregame but during the game they lose it.

They cannot think they can turn it on whenever they want to because it is going to come back and bite us in the butt.

Lets go Lakers!

WWE vs. the NBA

Today a funny but unbelievable story developed in the sports world. It turns out that on May 25, the Pepsi Arena in Denver is scheduled to host both WWE Monday Night Raw and Game 4 of the Lakers vs. Nuggets best-of-seven playoff series.

World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon has come out with a public statement humiliating the Nuggets owner in a harsh but well deserved comment.

"Even though the Denver Nuggets had a strong team this year and were projected to make the playoffs, obviously Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke did not have enough faith in his own team to hold the May 25th date for a potential playoff game," McMahon said.

Now that was a pretty well delivered blow to Kroenke and as a former WWE fan I know Mr. McMahon is a well played character and harsh owner who doesn't put up with anyone and will fight for what he wants no matter what it takes.

I really believe that there is no way to cancel the WWE event because its under contract and so there is no way for them to make a deal because McMahon would sue the Nuggets owner because WWE would be losing money since they are a soap opera show on wheels.

Even on a recent interview on ESPNEWS, McMahon said that his trucks and wrestlers are already heading to Denver. I don't think the NBA would delay the Game 4 either because they want their ratings to stay up by having Lebron James play one night, then having Kobe Bryant play the next night.

The only way I would solve this issue is by punishing the owner of the Nuggets and let the Lakers host game four in Los Angeles. I mean it's no one's fault but the Nuggets and there is no other way.

Even if you wanted to host both events the same day, it's impossible because if you played the basketball game in the afternoon it's not enough time to change the court to the WWE ring.

So yeah the owner of the Nuggets was not thinking of anything but the money and didn't think that his team could be this far into the playoffs.

Play the game in LA because either way in game 5 the Nuggets will be going back home alone since I predict the Lakers will win in 5 games easily.

Lakers vs Nuggets: Western Conference Finals

This is a series where people really don't know what will happen, as the Lakers have been playing inconsistent and the Nuggets have been taking care of business to make people second guess them.

But, yesterday in Game 7 against Houston, I finally saw Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum play the way everyone has been waiting for them to play and that made me think, if they would put up this performance for the remainder of the playoffs then why bother picking against the Lakers.

I really believe that LA will take that Game 7 and improve on it in the Denver series which will lead them into the finals where they will take care of business and capture their 15th championship.

The Houston series I have several explanations for, first I think Houston really used the fact that they are useless without Yao Ming so why bother trying to win, "just go out and play and see what happens." And what happened was that the Lakers took them too soft and let them gain momentum to win games on their home floor.

Also I believe the tag team duel of Artest and Battier guarding Kobe had a huge effect on the series. Because when you limit Kobe's touches with the ball, he is taken out of his game and everytime he gets the ball he tries "saving the team on his own," which would lead to the rest of the team looking on and forgetting that they are playing too which results in the whole team struggling.

I have been a Lakers fan for over 10 years and I have never seen a Laker team consistent under coach Phil Jackson, so seeing how they've been performing in these playoffs doesn't surprise me because I know even though they are playing like that, they find ways to win at the end.

It doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the finals, this whole thing that they went seven games with the Rockets is just a bunch of bull, and Cleveland sweeping their two series doesn't mean that they are winning a title.

LA has the complete team and they will be holding that NBA trophy at the end of this NBA season.