Ramblings

 The NBA Conference Finals have been amazing....Watching my boy Kevin Durant take over the Spurs has been thrilling....Durant has shown that he is the best player in the NBA with his play in the Western Conference Finals....Unlike certain players, Durant gets better in tight games.....James Harden has been clutch as well.....his step back three to ice game 5 in San Antonio was cold blooded.....The way the Thunder and Celtics have come back to take 3-2 series leads after being behind 2-0, is what the NBA needs....unpredictability.....Kevin Garnett appears to have found the fountain of youth.... he looked washed up at the beginning of this season, but has played some of the best basketball of his career in these playoffs....His competitiveness and fierce determination to win have led the Celtics within one game of the NBA Finals....He just wants to win more than Lebron and Wade.....It is that simple.....If Lebron had KG's tenacity and will to win, he would have at least three NBA titles, and would be gunning for a fourth.....Instead Lebron is still looking for his first title, and is still shying away from the big moment in close games......The Heat's struggles are not all Lebron's fault though......Wade has been hit or miss in this series.....his play depends on the referees calling fouls when he barrels into the lane....when they do he puts up good numbers....when the refs don't call the ticky tack fouls his numbers are not good.....The rest of the Heat are terrible......Without Lebron carrying them, this is a lottery team........Battier and Mike Miller are just cadavers at this point in their respective careers.....When Udonis Haslem is your third best player, you can not win an NBA title.......Also working against Miami in this series is their coach......Erik Spoelstra is getting schooled by Celtics coach Doc Rivers.......The Celtics seem to score a basket after every time-out, while the Heat only run isolation plays for Wade, or Lebron.....The Celtics are just a better TEAM than the Heat.......The LA Kings have been the most dominant team in the NHL playoffs that I can remember....they don't score as many goals as Gretzky's Oilers or Lemieux's Penguins, but they score enough and they dominate teams with their defense and puck control.....The King's are 10-0 on the road in the playoffs this year....That's an NHL record.....LA is also 15-2 in the playoffs overall....With a win tonight they will equal the 1988 Edmonton Oilers for the best record ever in the NHL Playoffs(16-2)..... Kings goaltender, Jonathon Quick, has got to be the Conn Smyth winner(MVP of the playoffs) his play has been ridiculous.......he has 15 wins......he has saved 95% of the shots he has faced.....he also has a 1.36 goals against average.....Quick and the Kings have allowed just 24 goals in 17 playoff games.......The confidence Quick gives the Kings in front of him is incalculable.....LA's forwards and defenseman can just go out and play and take chances, because they know their goalie will make stops at the other end of the ice....The Twins have played much better lately.....They actually look like an MLB team, and not a glorified AAA team anymore.....The team has been much improved at the plate and in the field......The teams pitching has improved somewhat thanks to Scott Diamond and PJ Walters(huh), but still is the worst in the league.....Getting rid of the human rain delay Jason Marquis was helpful......at least I don't have to watch him labor through 3 innings at an hour per inning pace.....The Twins are still along way from respectability though......Finding a way to get rid of Joe Mauer's contract should be GM Terry Ryan's top priority.....Mauer's contract is just too expensive for this team to afford....If he can turn it around and hit like he did in 2009 then I could see keeping him, but you can not pay a guy 25 million plus a year to hit 300 with 10 HRs and 80 RBI.....even if he is from St. Paul......This is a guy that will most likely be playing first base exclusively two years from now(when he is not hurt that is).....You need a power hitting first baseman to win in the MLB....You do not win with a slap hitter at first base.....At this point if some team offered to pick up Mauer's whole contract(unlikely), I would take a washing machine back for him, or a bag of baseballs.......How dumb is Jaguars WR Justin Blackmon??? How do you get a DUI before you sign your multimillion dollar rookie contract???? At least wait till after you sign the dotted line, before you get behind the wheel hammered......He cost himself a lot of money......The best part is this is the second DUI he has gotten......Some peoples kids......It pains me to say this, because I loved Reggie Miller as a NBA player, but he is a terrible announcer....TNT needs to demote him and let Kerr and Marv(kinky)Albert do the games......They are the best announce team in the world for any sport.....TNT's Inside the NBA is the best show on TV......I almost like listening to Chuck, Kenny and Ernie bicker and talk basketball more than I like watching the games.....Shaq has got to go though.....He mumbles way too much.....The ESPN version of Inside the NBA is garbage.....Magic is terrible at TV work, Jon Barry is a moron and Mike Wilbon is not comfortable as the host of the show.....The fact this is on ESPN at all is pathetic.....the guys have no chemistry and look like public access analysts, because they are so nervous and out of their elements.....