finals Page 65 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Your NBA Finals Game One Open Thread
Tonight, we all forget that dumb lockout. Tonight, we all forget whether LeBron James is or isn't a cocksucker. Tonight, from 9 p.m. until the moment ESPN takes us into that too-bright studio with Stu Scott and Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon, we focus only on NBA basketball at its highest level. ...

The Thunder Are A Matchup Nightmare For Copy Editors. So Is The Heat.
Tonight's tipoff between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat is a milestone for American pro sports. For the first time, a major championship is pitting two teams whose names are mass nouns rather than ordinary plurals. The naming fad that gave us the Heat and the Orlando Magic at the end o...

Lil Wayne Will Be Courtside At The Thunder Game Tonight
Remember the uproar over Lil Wayne's Thunder seats during the Western Conference Finals? Weezy said he was banned from sitting courtside at Game 3 because he was black. The Thunder said they merely ran out of acceptable tickets. The internet said Wayne was banned, but that James Harden orchestrated ...

Why The Heat Should Be Afraid Of Russell Westbrook
The Thunder won four straight last week against the unstoppable Spurs to earn a spot in the NBA Finals, which begin tonight on ABC. They'd tantalized us with potential for the last three years, but they've arrived now. They're grown-up. Scary, even—and not just because Kevin Durant has unlimited ran...

L.A. Kings Win Stanley Cup; "Mavs Win!" Proclaims NBC Sports
The L.A. Kings are the best team in the NHL, but those poor souls just can't catch a break when it comes to people actually knowing who the hell they are. First there was the case of the mistaken logo, an abysmal highlight package, and then a misidentification of the team's mascot....

L.A. Kings PR Staff Plans To Withhold Stats From The Devils, Accidentally Tells Every Reporter About It
It's the responsibility of the home team's PR staff to compile statistics after each period, then rush print-outs down to both teams' locker rooms. It's not vital information, but it's nice for a coach to be able to quantify things like ice time and shots taken. During Saturday's game 5 in Newark, D...

LeBron James Is Finally Good At Basketball
Now that LeBron has finally won a game people think is important, maybe we can talk about how good the guy has been. We've talked some in these parts about Rajon Rondo and his Fuck You brand of basketball. LeBron James, with that one three point shot late in the game and follow through pose, ushere...

Tonight No One Will Remember Hockey, Not Just Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Kings have had a pretty strange post season. They have completely dominated their opponents throughout each round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and endeared themselves to an increasingly Twitterized public all the while California has no idea who they are. The Devils meanwhile, are ha...

Why Is No One Watching The Stanley Cup Finals?
It's not news that Stanley Cup Finals ratings are utterly abysmal, but here we are talking about them again because it's another year and the NHL has decided to hold another annual round of playoffs. Hooray for us, because the hockey has been really great! But not so good for NBC, which saw Games 1 ...

Rajon Rondo Was Surly And Surgical Last Night
Last night the Celtics tied the Heat at 2-2 in the Eastern Conference finals, which is good news if you want to watch a competitive series. It's even better news if you want to watch Rajon Rondo play incredible basketball....

How The Kings Toughened Up And Conquered The NHL
There are two central oddities in the New Jersey Devils-Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup final, which the Kings lead 2-0 after two overtime wins. One is that the Kings were an eight seed with a meager plus-15 goal differential during the regular season, an eight seed that went 5-2-3 in its last 10 game...

Don Cherry Picks The Kings To Win The Cup Because They Have Fewer European Players
Last year, an academic study tapped Don Cherry as the new face of Canadian Nationalism. The world recoiled in horror, not least of all Canadians themselves. (I know. I asked them all.) But Grapes's geographical jingoism is something you kind of have to tune out, because at least it doesn't affect hi...

Rex Ryan: New Jersey Devils Fan
New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and family took in last night's opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals, garbed in Devils jerseys and ready for action. Alas, the Kings took Game One 2-1 in overtime, but we're not entirely sure how much Ryan's behind the Devils anyway—he grew up a Maple Leafs fan in Tor...

Tonight LeBron Needs To Eat Some Old Irish Hearts
Bumblederping around the Web today it's surprising to see how many people expect the Celtics to curl up and die quiet in their series against the Heat, which begins tonight. David Steele over at the Sporting News is among the rare authors who believe three future Hall of Famers plus a tripler of dou...

Your Gold Cup Finals Open Thread
At stake in tonight's Gold Cup final between the soccer teams of the United States of America and Mexico is a berth in the 2013 Confederation Cup. And bragging rights. And all that. Granted, the USA pretty much dominates El Tri in the land of the free, but Mexico's got itself a worthy side. Then a...

A Thrashers Fan Surrounded By Winnipeg Jets Fans At The Draft Tries To Mask His Pain With Smiles, Beers
Your morning roundup for June 25, the day Wade Boggs introduces you to Deputy Stanley, a dimwitted yokel who does battle with Swamp Shark....

Your Gold Cup Semifinals Open Thread
It's Miércoles Gigante for los aficionados al fútbol in Houston tonight. First up, at 7 p.m., are the Americans who will try to avenge their June 11 upset loss to Panama. (They will.) Then, around 10 p.m., Mexico and Honduras will do battle for the right to advance to Saturday's Gold Cup finals ma...

Why We Shouldn't Blame Roberto "LeBrongo"
More people than ever before watched game seven of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday night, and that's a good thing for hockey. Both the league and fans hoping for growth should delight that the NHL had its best American TV rating in 38 years even though one of the teams came from Canada....

DeShawn Stevenson Sounded Vaguely Sober At The Mavericks Parade Today
DeShawn's first public appearance since his first public intoxication arrest on Tuesday night was perfect: he stepped to his interview with a Soulja Boy song as backdrop (his partner in the forgettable DeShawn/Soulja vs. LeBron/Hova beef), threw up a three-goggles sign, smiled dazedly out at the c...

A Terrible Beauty Is Born
Your morning roundup for June 16. Happy Comp-Lit-Major Christmas, everyone! Amazing photo via Getty Images....