A Bunch of Acronyms

My head is spinning. Not only were there enough great sporting events this weekend to drown the masses in uselessly over-analyzed sports commentary, but none of it had to with baseball! Oh my soul, rejoice!

On top of that, we had a rare sighting of a weekend's most joyous occasion: the Sunday afternoon menage-a-trois! Not the gross kind that will make you popular with guys who wear half-buttoned dress shirts, no undershirt and necklaces, the wonderful sports kind that keeps your trigger finger firing on the "Previous Channel" button on your TV remote.

I was so excited I was standing and flipping back and forth between the NBA Playoffs (Oklahoma City Thunder v. Memphis Grizzlies Game 7) and the final round of the PGA Tour's Player's Championship at TPC Sawgrass. It was me, the NBA Playoffs and the final round of a PGA Major. The three of us were in heaven.

Factor in the NHL Western Conference Finals starting that night and you could say it was the NBA in OKC, the NHL, and the PGA at TPC won by K.J. all watched by AJ in Northern VA!

So now you know why my head is spinning.

I'll give you a thought or two about each to keep things moving.

NBA Playoffs
First of all, much respect is due to the Memphis Grizzlies. Largely for being a team from the city of Memphis, named the Grizzlies, and still existing as a franchise in 2011. Shouldn't they have folded years ago? Are there two things people care less about than the city of Memphis and Grizzly Bears as a sport's mascot? It sounds like a little league team with players who have nicknames like Chubbs, Rinky-Dink and Freckles.

But as sure you know my morning coffee will get two Splenda and two hazelnut creamers (I like to get rid of as much of the coffee taste as possible), you had to know OKC was going to send Zach Randolph, his lethal jab-step jumper, and the Grizz home to a much deserved warm welcome in Memphis. Which is in, of course, Tennessee. Just an enormous basketball state, known for legends like...Bruce Pearl and a women's college basketball team.

Second thought- This Chicago/Miami series is going to be incredible. Don't discount the Heat because of the final score, they were in that game halfway through the 3rd quarter when the the wheels fell off. Chicago stole the momentum and everything, I mean everything, went their way. Luol Deng shot a three-pointer from the corner that hit every part of the rim, bounced out of the basket, took a left turn, made a three-quarters rotation and swan dove back through the hoop it had previously left. That won't happen four games in a row. I can't wait to watch the rest of this series.

Also, you may send me personal checks or cash for telling you that the Spurs, Lakers and Celtics would all be out of the Playoffs by this round. You're welcome!

NHL Playoffs
Two real quick thoughts here: If the Tampa Bay Lightening don't win the Stanley Cup my flabber will officially be ghasted. They came back from being down 3 games to 1 and smoked the Penguins, demolished the Capitals, and they walloped Boston in game one 5-2. The Lightening sure are...streaking! Give me my Pulitzer now please.

Second thought- I wish I cared more about the San Jose Sharks or the Vancouver Canucks. Shouldn't the Canucks beat them by eight goals every game based on the laws of hockey? How can a team from San Jose, named after a predator in the ocean, beat a team from Canada named after Canada in a sport most loved by Canadians played on frozen water?! If the Canucks don't sweep then I'm losing what little respect I had for Canadians to begin with. That is to say, nothing will change.

The Players Championship
This is where I lose most of you, but bear with me for two minutes. Just because Tiger withdrew on Thursday after playing 9 holes because his knee was grinding like the gears in a 1977 Dodge Dart doesn't mean this tournament wasn't exciting.

There was another Sunday afternoon collapse by an Irishman (this time Graeme McDowell not Rory McIlroy), another playoff which means we got to see the iconic 17th again, and a bone-headed mistake by a veteran that gave my boy K.J. Choi his first Major Championship. A much deserved championship for a guy who seems to always finish in the top 10 but never seems to win.

Weekends without the NFL just don't get much better than that! Unless, of course, the Lakers could come back and get swept again by the Heat, then the Celtics, and then again by the Bulls. Who wouldn't love that?

In the end, it was a verifiable alphabet soup of sporting events and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. Savor these times folks. Pretty soon these playoffs will be over and I'm going to have to blog about the pros and cons of Thor, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class and Captain America and which film really captured the character true to the original comic books.

Actually...that sounds like fun. I'll get started now!