Winners

The winter sports season is officially over. On June 12, the Stanley Cup Finals ended in a Game 7 on the ice of TD Garden in Boston. The very next night, Oracle Arena, the oldest venue in the NBA, bid farewell with the gut-wrenching Game 6 which concluded the NBA Finals. The way things finished, Winter went out with a bang. In June. Just about a week before Summer begins. 

As has been chronicled, the St. Louis—Boston series had been a fiercely-fought group of games.  With their backs to the wall, Boston broke open a close Game 6 in St.Louis behind goaltender Tuuka Rask and headed back home, primed for a do-or-die, winner-take-all Game 7 with the Blues. 

Most pundits stayed true to form and picked the Bruins to prevail. It seemed like the wise and prudent choice. But not the correct one.

This was the season for the underdog in the NHL, none more an underdog than the St. Louis Blues. Dead last in the standings, the worst team in the league started an amazing resurrection in early January. That coincided with the arrival of Jordan Binnington, a journeyman goalie who was at one time fourth on the depth chart for St. Louis. Debuting with a shutout in Philadelphia on January 7th, Binnington went on a monstrous tear and his teammates awakened and had his back. 

Binnington went 24-5-1 with a microscopic 1.83 goals-against average and an outstanding .930 save percentage. Unrealistic for a 25 year old with no prior  NHL experience. His saves are not flashy like Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy, two of the game’s greatest goalies. They are, however, similarly important and timely, which are necessary ingredients for a Stanley Cup champion. 

The rest of the team was a gritty, determined bunch who liked to keep the puck in their attack zone, frustrating opponents. This is exactly what happened in Boston. The center ice and offensive zones were dominated by the Blues, whose defensemen would pinch in at the corners of the zone to push the puck forward to the forwards, who would keep possession more than not. 

St. Louis continually capitalized on its opportunities throughout the series, and especially in Game 7. Boston may have recorded more shots on Binnington than Rask faced from the Blues, but Binnington was more than up to the task, surrendering a meaningless third period goal when Boston pulled Rask for an extra attacker. The 4-1 final score was indicative of just how good the Blues were in the entire playoffs. This was a hungry collection of players who thrived in their own environment and persevered when things looked bleakest—if they could come back from last place and make the playoffs, then seemingly no challenge was too great. 

I was happy for the fans of St. Louis. While they have the Cardinals in baseball, a franchise which has won the World Series a number of times in their storied history, the Blues  were the only team in town that had not tasted the champagne of victory. The St. Louis Hawks won the NBA crown in 1958 and the St. Louis Rams collected an NFL title in 1999. The Hawks vacated Missouri for Atlanta and the Rams went back to Los Angeles. Bob Gibson, Bob Petit and Kurt Warner are still in the lore of the citizenry who adores their champions.

Which is why I was rooting for the Blues to beat the big, bad Bruins. 52 years. That is what it took for the Blues to win this first Stanley Cup. Part of the first wave of NHL expansion, the Blues were the only franchise of the original ones that stayed intact (Oakland merged into Cleveland which was morphed into the Minnesota North Stars, who moved to Dallas where they won their Cup). Teams formed after the Blues have won Stanley Cups—the Islanders, New Jersey, Carolina, Colorado, Calgary, Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Washington.  On the other hand, Winnipeg, Arizona, Columbus and the Minnesota Wild have NEVER appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals. That leaves Nashville, newbie Vegas, Ottawa, Buffalo and Florida also searching for their first trophy. And Toronto, one of the regal franchises in the NHL, owns the longest drought—it’s that number again—52 seasons and counting.

What’s next for Conn Smythe winner Ryan O’Reilly, who tallied the most points in the playoffs, and Blues Captain and top tier defenseman Alex Pietrangelo along with teammates Brayden Schenn, Jaden Schwartz and company? First, the celebratory parade and rally under the Gateway Arch. Then private days with the Cup over the summer. With a realization that they have pulled off one of sports more memorable comebacks to become the top dog. 

Will the Blues continue the success or be a one year wonder? Who knows? Will Craig Berube, the former Flyers’ tough guy/winger, have the “acting” removed from his title? Probably. And will the Bruins rebound form this shocking loss? I don’t know and I hardly care.

For my mind resided on the other part of the winter duo that folded its tents on Thursday night—the NBA Finals. A series which will be memorable for a number of reasons that happened in six very contested games.

There is a new champion in pro basketball. The Toronto Raptors are at the top of the heap. They beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors, 4-2 in the best of 7 series. They are the champions and no one can deny that fact. 

Usually, that means they are the best team in the NBA. That argument can be made here. Toronto was the number 2 team in the regular season, and they defeated #1 Milwaukee and #3 Golden State. Both opponents went down in less that seven games. The only series which they were pressed was with Philadelphia, and they won at home in Game 7 on a rolling shot that suspended its finality for what seemed to be an eternity before the ball made it through the net and put the Raptors into the Finals. 

Remember that I come here with a bias towards the Golden State Warriors. I am sure that some of the legion of readers are wondering how I am taking this loss to Toronto. The answer is that I concede the NBA title to Toronto, with an *. 

Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. No team in recent memory has suffered more catastrophic injuries than this Golden State team. Starting center DeMarcus Cousins tore his quad muscle in the first round. He did return to play in the Finals, contributing as best he could, but still a shadow of his former self, as he had been rehabbing from surgery for a significant portion of the season. All-Pro and two time Finals M.V.P. Kevin Durant sustained a calf injury against Houston, which sidelined him until Game 5, when the Warriors medical staff cleared him to play. We all know that turned out to be disastrous for Durant and the Warriors, as KD tore his Achilles tendon and surgery was performed by my ankle doctor, MartIn O’Malley, at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. His 11 points in 12 minutes were heroic.

The Warriors somehow managed to turn a late six point deficit in Toronto into a one point win behind the sharpshooting of Klay Thompson and Steph Curry, along with a critical block by Draymond Green on a shot by the Raptors’ Kyle Lowery at the end of the game. Golden State played its heart out for their fallen comrade. 

That put them in one last home game at the loudest building in the NBA—Oracle Arena. Thompson came out blazing, collecting 28 points into the third quarter. On a fast break when he attempted a dunk and he was fouled by Toronto’s Danny Green, Thompson landed awkwardly, tearing his ACL. While he tried to come back and even made two free throws as a last gasp,  Klay Thompson was finished and so, in effect, were the Warriors. 

Sure, Golden State fought gallantly and had an opportunity to win the game if Curry had sank a three pointer. But it wasn’t to be. Every Warriors thrust was parried and met by the Raptors. Toronto played like a team and they won as a team.

Still, had Cousins and Durant not suffered their injuries before the series and Thompson didn’t hurt his hamstring and then his ACL nor Durant tear his Achilles tendon, I truly believe the this would have been a far different series, one which might not have reached five games, as the Warriors with healthy players of that caliber would have more than matched the Raptors. Who was going to stop Durant? Thompson and Curry would not have had to carry the load like they did. Green and Andre Iguodala would have had different roles and the bench would not have been called in to provide critical minutes. The defense would have shut down the Raptors offense.

But this isn’t what happened and the Raptors emerged as the winners because they did what they had to do against who was on the floor. Nick Nurse coached superbly and his players executed on offense and defense time and time again. The box and one called for by Nurse to smother Curry with coverage provided by Nick Van Vleet was tactically brilliant. Nurse’s only mistake may have been calling a time out in Game 5 to rest his player when M.V.P. Kawhi Leonard and his crew had momentum and seemed headed towards victory.

No, I am not trying to take away the fact that Toronto is the champion. I just know that it would have been a far different scenario had the Warriors been able to play with their core players, with maybe five headed to the Basketball Hall of Fame in the not too distant future. 

Both squads may have entirely different looks and results next season. Durant may opt out of his very rich player option and entertain offers from other interested teams—even if he is unable to play in 2019-20. Thompson too can see what the market can bear. Golden State would like to retain both by offering super max contracts for 5 years. The downside is that the Warriors are restricted in what they can do to provide competent supporting players. Many of them, beginning with center Kevon Looney, are free agents. Shaun Livingston and Iguodala are getting older and the luxury of such role players is not something that the Warriors can afford; Livingston is rumored to be retiring. Cousins is a free agent and not likely to return, even with a small market for his services since he is now injury-prone and not the offensive force he once was and his defense is suspect. What I see is a team that will not necessarily reach the playoffs given the injuries and free agency. 

And they have to be careful to protect Curry, who will try to lead the team back to glory with a different cast. He has logged plenty of time and injuries mount even quicker when he is the sole offensive option. He will face defenses designed to thwart if not stop him because the alternative offensive options are limited. This is not a good scenario, but it is a byproduct of the marketplace, when free agency and injuries occur.

Kawhi Leonard has some hard choices ahead. He is a valuable commodity—the only man win the Finals M.V.P. having played in both conferences. He showed how valuable he was to the Raptors. Can Toronto keep him and does he want to stay? If they lose him, the Raptors fall back in the pack. Keep him, and they are contenders again. For that matter, wherever he lands, that team will be in contention if they have the scoring and defense shown by Leonard.

This Finals was remarkable and set the stage for new teams to emerge. The people of Canada fell in love with their Raptors. The Warriors fans said good bye to Oracle and perhaps to the five great years they witnessed. Starting with the NBA Draft this week and then when free agency begins in July, the stage will be set for a different NBA in 2019-20.

Yankees baseball is in a horrible slump. The Bombers have gone 3-8 in their last 11 games and look tired and are playing like a collective group that needs a lift. The pitching has been woeful—especially C.C. Sabathia, who is either finished or should be a spot reliever. The bullpen is overused and the starters are not living up to their potential. There is very little else coming to their aid pitching wise.

However the big boppers are on their way back. Giancarlo Stanton is ready. He hit a building outside the stadium in Durham, NC with a prodigious rehab homer. He will be back on Monday barring a setback.

Surprisingly and suddenly, Aaron Judge went from limited baseball activity to rehab starts at the Triple A level. Depending on how he does, Judge will be activated at the end of the week.

This means that the patchwork lineups Manager Aaron Boone has cobbled together will be no more. Write in Judge at the 2 spot in the lineup and put Stanton either at number 3 or 4, which will help Gary Sanchez see better pitches. Boone will have the luxury to rest players and insert a hitter like D.J. LeMahieu into the lineup as he sees fit. In turn, the pitching will benefit by having added run support. This is not a minute too soon, as the Red Sox are constantly improving and moving up the standings. 

Baseball is hitting homers at an alarming pace. In a game between Arizona and Philadelphia, 13 balls went over the outfield walls of Citizens’ Bank Field. In one game. Conversely, teams are swinging and missing at an equally unconscionable pace because the batters are trying to reach the seats with every at bat. Milwaukee was struck out 24 times in a 14 inning affair with the Houston Astros, which the Brewers won 6-3. This feast or famine dichotomy results in fans not heading to the stadiums for this kind of inconsistent play. 

I don’t have an answer here—I hope Commissioner Rob Manfred can come up with some ways to get the fans back into the costly seats, which is at the core of the problem. A family cannot reasonable afford to go to a ball game without spending a fortune, which they don’t have to begin with or they choose to spend elsewhere where they can get a big bang for their buck (pun intended).

The Women’s World Cup is under way in France. The top-ranked United States women were vilified for trouncing Thailand 13-0 and for showboating on their goals. I don’t care what the critics say. The goal count is important in a tiebreak situation. Moreover, the women are vastly unpaid in comparison to their male counterparts, whose antics after a score aren’t scrutinized like this. Do I hear gender bias and inequality? I applaud the U.S. team for standing out, being the favorites and for having fun.

The Cleveland Cavaliers made news this week by hiring a woman to their coaching staff. Former University of California women’s Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb signed a four year deal to become an assistant to first year Head Coach John Beilein. She is not the first female assistant in the NBA, but Gottlieb is the first female college head coach to join the NBA ranks. This is a groundbreaking and something which Commissioner Adam Silver is supportive of—getting more women involved within the NBA as coaches or in management. 

Gottlieb comes in with a glowing resume developed at Cal. She also has spent time with Warriors head man Steve Kerr, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. The Cavs and Beilein made an excellent choice  and I hope that it works and more women seek employment in pro basketball beyond the WNBA.

I want to praise the announcers for the NHL and NBA playoffs. I thought that Mike “Doc” Emrick was superb (as usual) and his color commentator Eddie Olcyzk was spot on. I also enjoyed the trio of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy of ESPN/ABC. A bit egotistical and self-serving at times, Van Gundy and Jackson are both funny and astute when it comes to basketball analysis. 

The pre-game and intermission shows were much better on NBC. I have trouble when ex-players cannot properly speak English, which is where Paul Pierce and Chauncey Billups of ESPN/ABC left me cold. 

Finally, there was small article a week or so ago that Amazon is looking to air some of the YES Network shows like Center Stage. This comes as no surprise, as Amazon was part of a group which helped the Yankees buy back the YES Network from Disney in March. You knew that Amazon would come up with a real reason to buy into this venture—to do what they do best—make money, while expanding their reach into the sports television market. So, Yankees fans, you now are on notice to purchase Amazon Prime.

So let’s hear it for all the winners. Golden State may have lost the NBA title, but the fortitude of their players has made a positive, lasting impression. For even if they are on a downward swing like the Yankees are, they have an upside. Begrudgingly, I will give the Bruins credit for making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. This is what makes sports so great.