Yes, I am a huge Pistons/Bulls (Pistons from Dad, Bulls from Mommy) fan, but I got to admit this was the NBA Finals match up I was hoping for. I mean, seriously. Who wouldn’t love to see a match up like this? You got Batman (Kobe) and his powerful sidekick, Robin (Pau Gasol) facing off against the C-Men (KG, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce.) So, in the spirit of match ups, let’s look at all the match ups in this intense match up.

Super Star

Boston’s Kevin Garnett vs. LA’s Kobe Bryant

Kevin Garnett can by dominating at times, but in the clutch, sometimes he just fades away. Kobe, on the other hand, can dominate a game from start to finish, or turn it on in the 4th.

Winner: Lakers

Big Man

Boston’s KG vs. LA’s Pau Gasol

Pau Gasol has transformed this Lakers team, but KG made the Celtics. Without him, the Celtics would definitely be sitting at home after a mediocre team.

Winner: Celtics

Coaching Staff

Hmm… A guy with 9 total NBA championships, or a guy a lot of people think the Celtics won in spite of, not because of? This is a no-brainer.

Huge Winner: Lakers

X-Factor

Rajon Rondo vs. Lamar Odom

In my opinion, if Rajon doesn’t play well, then the Celtics don’t do well, because there is no solid backup point. On the other hand, Odom just pushes the team farther ahead. Close match, but Rajon comes up in the end.

Winner: Slight Boston

Home Court Advantage/Fans

Los Angeles fans have been used to the Lakers winning, so even though they’ll be rooting pretty hard, they won’t be as load as the Celtics fans, because they haven’t got a tile since ‘87.

Winner: Boston

Overall Pick

This will be one of the most competitive Finals series in recent memory, but I see Boston winning Game 7, at home, and the series, mostly because of the big three plus Rajon will be playing their hearts out.

Boston in Seven.

The crack of the bat… The instant cheers… The giddy face on the batter… The chants from the crowd…

What in the world of sports is better than a Home Run? Especially when its one of the fan-favorites at Wrigley Field, like in the case I witnessed, who was none other than…

FU-KU-DO-ME!

Yes, on Saturday the Tenth of May of the Year of 2008, I had the pleasure of going to a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley field, and while I was there, I had the time of my life.

Thankfully I took notes during the game and kept score, so this article was made much easier, and for the first time ever, this article will be in diary format. Let’s hope it works!

10:33 AM

I am just heading out from my hotel to the game now… GO CUBS!

10:56 AM

WHAT??? THEY REROUTED THE SUBWAY FOR CONSTRUCTION??? WHO’S IDEA WAS THIS??? rawr.

11:04 AM

Looks like for about 15 minutes we are going to have to be in a bus to get to the nearest Subway system THAT WORKS….

11:15 AM

So finally we got on the brown-line subway train… AND WHAT’S THAT ON THE WALLS OF THE SUBWAY? WHITE SOX ADVERTISING? Is this bad karma heading in to the game or what?

11:32 AM

We arrive on stop early to Wrigley, because we don’t want to mess with changing subway cars and all the crowds, and we get some good exercise in the process, which is good because we’ll be sitting for about three to four hours.

11:48 AM

Do you ever get that feeling whenever you go to your favorite team’s stadium, and you just feel… well… happy? Definently getting that right now. And I’m Lovin’ It.

11:52 AM

Stopping at a souvineer stand right now, and just got one of those Fukudome headbands for ten bucks (which we later find to be a rip-off, as they’re selling them closer to Wrigley for 5), which I imediantly put on. Also at by the souvineer is a Fukudome jersey, and after much begging and pleading from my mom, I put it on. Sweet!

12:00 PM

It’s officialy PM now, and we’re officialy at Wrigley. Every time I go there, three letters: W-O-W. Can you tell I love this place?

12:38 PM

Finally, my Uncle Donald shows up, and since we sit in the bleachers, there aren’t any assigned seats, so he lays down the game plan once we go inside. “Okay, do you guys want to sit behind Fukudome in right?” (collective nodding, and a few “Yeah!”s.) “Then right when we get in,

12:45 PM

After much excited chattering among other fans, the gates finally open and

Believe it or not, I do have an excuse for doing this article late: I wanted to see what happened in the Daytona 500 (more on that tomorrow). Okay, you might call that ‘cheating,’ but I wanted to see if Dale Earnhardt Jr. was for real. And in my opinion, even though he didn’t do as good as earlier this week, he is.
Yes, in my opinion Junior will win the Sprint Cup, narrowly beating out Jimmy Johnson.

How did he go from a very average driver last year to an amazing driver this year? The answer is simple: Hendrick Motor Sports.

• They have the best facility in all of NASCAR, so he has a way better car.
• What’s gonna work? Teamwork! How can you beat Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon for giving you the final push to win a race?
• Thankfully, Junior also won’t have constant disagreements between his Step-Mother.

Sorry Jimmy, but you won’t be getting a three-peat this year.

Sadly, The 11 Year Old Sports Guy has fallen in a pitfall for more than two and a half weeks, and for a while it looked like it was impossible for it to get out. Even the Super Bowl was left untouched. Not a single thing was covered. Until now.

As I booted up ESPN’s Page Two this morning, I started to read the TMQ article as I always do. I didn’t finish though, because I had school at 8:15. But still, while I was reading I had an idea for Eleven Year Old Sports Guy that could possibly save it. Not Monday Morning Quarterback, or Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Tuesday Night Sports Fan, or TNSF. To keep the blog going, I’ll write one each week, with a recap of the past week in sports. And boy, do I have a lot to talk about.

The Big One: Super Bowl XLII

Big one? That’s a tiny name for a game so huge. And this one was monstrous. Think about it: 18-0. Going for perfection. Spygate. Eli Manning. Plaxico’s prediction. Could anybody really stop the Patriots? Well, according the song I made way back in December, the Giants had to cover Randy Moss when he goes deep (which they did until New England’s final real drive), Eli Manning had to be good (He was MVP), and the Giants had to get to Brady (five sacks, pressured tons). They did all of that, but still one thing needed to happen. Third down. Under three minutes left. Swarms of New England defenders all over Eli. But then, the beginning of the greatest play in super bowl history came to life. Eli somehow gets away, even with someone even having his jersey. Throws up a bomb. And somehow, David Tyree stuck the ball to his head, kept it away from the savage Rodney Harrison. First Down!

Fast Forward a bit, Giants on the thirteen yard line, and Plaxico Burres, a.k.a. 23-17, wide open in the end-zone. Touchdown. Game over. Eighteen and One. Biggest upset in Super Bowl history is in the books. And guess who’s watching from a press box? Peyton Manning, last years super bowl winner. And he’s going nuts for his little bro.

Bob Knight Retires

In quite possibly one of the most surprising resignations in the sports world, the all-time winningest coach called it quits on Monday, and now he is somewhere fishing. I honestly can’t blame him for retiring, he was getting old, but why now? Texas Tech was in contention  for a NCAA playoff berth, so why not finish out the season and see what happens? You never really know, there’s even a tiny chance that they could make it to the Final Four. I’ll really miss the chair thrower.

I’m on a bus right now, using an iPhone, so this post can’t be that long.
On a day with 6 bowls, a lot of people will forget about the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. Well, it’s my responsibility being in Pasadena, to remind you to watch it on ABC at 4:30 ET. So how could the game be close at all? Three reasons; 1. The illini are one of the rare teams in the Big Ten who can compete with the speed of the Pac-10. 2. The Illini have a pretty darn good D. 3. If Stanford and Oregon can beat USC, them why not Illinois?
I’m picking one more upset in this crazy season, ILL 25, USC 24.

I guess the Boston-New York rivalry doesn’t want to stop when the season ends. It just has to always find a way to keep on pumping all year ’round, and that includes the Winter meetings, where Minnesota is in trouble, and opportunities abound for both teams.

Minnesota superstar Johan Santana is one of the best pitchers around, and the Twins can’t afford him much longer, because after his contract has expired, he’ll probably ask for about a fourth of what Minnesota can spend on players. So, the logical choice is to trade him now, so they can get something for him. Both teams are offering a whole lot of ’something’. The ‘Sox are offering some combination of Coco Crisp, John Lester, Jacoby Ellsberry, and two highly regarded prospects. The Yanks, however, aren’t offering as much, just the likes of Ian Kennedy, righty Phil Hugues, and outfielder Melky Cabrera. But, he Yankees are apparently out of the deal, because Hank Steinbrenner said that they had to make the trade  by Monday Night. The Red Sox are going to be even more dominant this year, with an All-Star lineup of Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, maybe even Johan Santana. As of now, they’re my pick to repeat as MLB champs. Wait till the year after next year, Cubbies!

Everyone knows that the Patriots are most likely going to go to the Super Bowl, and probably even win it. So, the real question is: who’s going to face them? The Cowboys, or the Packers? Both teams this season weren’t expected to win much at all, maybe 8 games at most, with Brett Farve, the Packers QB, aging and could have easily retired last year, and the Cowboys having an entirely new coaching staff. What are the teams records now? Ten and One, and they’re tied for first place, sadly only in the NFC. Brett Farve is having the time of his life, with 3356 passing yards and completing 67.5% of his passes, and 22 TD passes. They are the ultimate “good guys” in the NFL this year. The Cowboys on the other hand have played amazingly well, with the lone loss coming to the Pats. Tony Romo has silenced his critics from last year when he muffed the hold in the playoffs against Seattle, with twenty-nine TD passes, 13 of them to T.O., who is being talked about not for his mouth, but his hands. This is going to be a real tight game, but Tony Romo and the Cowboys are going to come out in the end. My pick: Cowboys 42, Packers 39.