Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey and Golf Blog

Although the Lakers’ season ended with a thud, they have Andrew Bynum coming back and youth and Kobe Bryant on their side, so they can say “Wait ‘til next year” and be taken seriously.

Since Shaquille O’Neal left town with three championship rings following the 2003-2004 season, Los Angeles has been vulnerable inside on both ends of the floor. Boston’s big men, exemplified by Kevin Garnett in Game 6, were more than the Lakers could handle.

As the Celtics were romping to a 131-92 victory in their clinching Game 6 Tuesday night, a Boston fan held a sign that read, “Kobe, You Can’t Do Jack Without Shaq.”

Bryant might be able to do that and more with 7-foot, 285-pound Bynum at center and 7-0 Pau Gasol at forward.

Acquiring Gasol in February turned the Lakers’ season around, helping them win the tough Western Conference and come within two games of taking the league title. But Gasol, a 250-pounder, didn’t have the bulk needed to match up against heftier players.

Surely there is something more than just rumour afoot regarding the future of Cristiano Ronaldo. As the rumours continue unabated, and with Ronaldo himself refusing to quell the stories linking him to Real Madrid, speculation inevitably grows and it is still a distinct possibility that the brilliant Portugese striker/winger will join the Spanish giants. Sir Alex Ferguson has said, very loudly, that Ronaldo is simply not for sale and if ‘push came to shove’, then Ronaldo would sit out next season in the stands. That of course will not happen no matter how this ongoing saga is concluded, but it indicates that United do not want to lose their superstar.

Real Madrid themselves, who have a history of shenanigans in the transfer market, say that they are patient, but have also made it very clear that Ronaldo is their number one target and whilst that remains the case then Ronaldo, Sir Alex and the Manchester United fans will not get any rest. The Spaniards are used to getting their man and it seems that sooner or later they will succeed with Ronaldo.

One rumour that has done the rounds is the one where he told friends in confidence that he will do whatever is necessary to engineer a way out of United and make the move to the Bernabau. How true that is no-one really knows but other rumours also persist that he has no desire to play another long season in the Premier League. That is understandable, particularly with UEFA Champions League fixtures to contest as well.

Miguel Arroyo, Managing Director of Real Madrid has said that they will wait for Ronaldo to initiate the necessary move but until he does so they will remain patient. Figures such as £60m have been banded about for Ronaldo’s signature and Sir Alex and his superiors at Old Trafford must weigh up whether £60m outweighs an unhappy player on the books.

Ronaldo says he will make a statement regarding his future after Euro 2008, the very fact that he is doing this suggests that there is still something in the air, surely, if his plans are to stay with United then it would have been easier for him to publicly and unequivocally state that, thus removing the distraction and allowing him to concentrate on his football for his country. Now that Portugal are out of the Tournament he has no further excuses; he must declare his intention. That is of course if he has not sneaked out the back door and gone for a much needed holiday.

The greatest shot in the history of Kansas basketball can be traced, of all places, to Alaska.

Mario Chalmers used to hide behind the couch until his mother, Almarie, sang the national anthem. Then he’d waddle around the corner and onto the “court” he’d constructed on the living room floor of his family’s Anchorage home.

“Three … two … one,” Almarie would count as four-year-old Mario heaved shot after shot at the miniature Nerf rim. “Three … two … one.”

Chalmers’ father, Ronnie, chuckles as he tells the story.

“He won a lot of national championships in that living room,” Ronnie said.

Perhaps that’s why Chalmers felt so at ease at the Alamodome on Monday. Seventeen years after those impromptu games in his den, Chalmers again found himself with the ball in his hands and the clock winding down. Only this time there were 43,257 fans watching – and the national championship really was on the line.

As rookie Michael McDowell barrel-rolled across Texas Motor Speedway, one thing became clear: NASCAR’s latest safety measures are clearly working.

The soft walls and NASCAR’s new car likely saved McDowell’s life following a horrific accident that caught the attention of an industry desensitized to wrecks.

Not this time, though. Not even close.

Drivers and crews standing on pit road during Friday’s qualifying session seemed frozen in place as they watched McDowell’s car lose control entering the first turn and slam nearly straight-on into the outside wall. The vicious impact sent his car flipping eight times around the track, and the most hardened veterans stood silent as they waited for the Toyota to finally come to a stop.

“That was the hardest hit I’ve ever seen anybody take,” said two-time champion Tony Stewart, who stood silent on pit road, arms folded across his chest as he watched the car tumble. “That was a pretty impressive crash.”

It was a horrific accident and a tremendous hit, so violent that many insiders compared it to the impact that killed Dale Earnhardt in 2001. But this time, the driver hopped quickly out of the car and offered a slight wave to the anxious crowd before he was ushered into the care center for a quick checkup.

Fenerbahce will be hoping to reach their first Champions League semi-final and damage England’s hopes of dominating this season’s competition when they face Chelsea on Tuesday.Fenerbahce start the second leg of their quarter-final 2-1 ahead at Stamford Bridge (1845 GMT) after their unexpected win over the London side in Istanbul last week.

If they should finish the evening still holding the upper hand, they would have pulled off a major shock and prevented what looked likely to be the appearance of three English clubs in the last four.

Chelsea are expected to be one, along with either Liverpool or Arsenal who meet at Anfield, and Manchester United, who have a 2-0 first-leg advantage over AS Roma. Barcelona, 1-0 up against Schalke 04, also look destined for the semis.

Even though they are a goal down, Chelsea start as favourites to advance as they have not lost at home in Europe since Barcelona beat them at the Bridge in February 2006 and they rarely fail to win at home in Europe.

Their last 10 home matches in the competition have produced seven victories and three draws.

Fenerbahce, on the other hand, are poor travellers having lost five and drawn two of their last seven away matches in the competition proper.

The day’s other quarter-final is at Anfield between Liverpool and Arsenal, who meet each other for the third time in a week.

Major League Baseball is finally trying to white out its blackout problem – and the restrictions that prevent so many from watching games on television and over the Internet may be lifted as early as the 2009 season.

At the owners’ meetings in May, all 30 teams are expected to deliver reports outlining the territories in which they currently broadcast games or have concrete plans to in the future, according to an MLB source. Based on the information, MLB will redraw its territorial-rights map – the outdated gerrymandering that causes areas such as Las Vegas and Iowa to be blacked out from 40 percent of games on a full schedule – to better reflect the present broadcast landscape.

The catalyst behind MLB’s sudden action is president Bob DuPuy, who at last year’s meetings took a hard-line stance on the blackouts. Aware of the outrage among baseball fans and torrent of letters pouring into MLB offices over an issue with a fairly painless remedy, DuPuy told the owners they had to stake legitimate claims to their territories or risk losing them.

Some owners, another source said, were concerned about existing TV contracts and potential discord among advertisers who were promised certain territories covered. DuPuy understood the conflict and allowed them one year to work out any issues.

The year is nigh, and though the MLB source said it’s too late to implement the changes this season, MLB will try to do so before 2009, when it launches the Baseball Channel, potentially its biggest money-making venture since MLB.com grew into a $2 billion business. The Baseball Channel will be much like the NFL Network.

The Detroit Red Wings can now concentrate on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.Nicklas Lidstrom scored twice to lift Detroit to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, the final day of the regular season.

Detroit won the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the team with the NHL’s best record and ensures home ice throughout the playoffs. The Red Wings accumulated 115 points and will face Nashville in the first round.

“It’s helps that the travel isn’t too far. It helps our team not to have those long flights out to the west coast right away,” said Lidstrom. “We’ve seen them a lot.

“We know their tendencies and I think we know what they’re good at, too.”

Last season the Red Wings reached the Western Conference final and played Calgary, San Jose and eventually Stanley Cup-champion Anaheim.