“I want someone I have had a prior relationship with.” – Phil Jackson on the The NY KNICKS search for a coach.
EL BARIO, BRONX – Another Saturday hangover shaken off and yours truly, the good Deacon Blaber, is back to feeling 100%. There were several events this week that got me fired up and ready to get on my sports bully pulpit and speak to the masses. On the agenda for today are the Stanley Cup, NBA Playoffs and World Cup warm-up matches.
The Stanley Cup: The battle for Lord Stanley’s Cup will begin on Wednesday. It is so awesome that the NHL Championship trophy is called that. No other major sport has a proper name like that, and if they do, no one knows or cares. As for the finals, it is teeing up nicely for the New York Rangers. They vanquished the evil northern enemy, The Montreal Canadians. I can’t believe I was actually rooting for these guys as my second team. Angry Ward was right, I must have had rocks in my head. They were the worst. Cheapshots, diving and talking smack. I want to thank Rene Borque for providing that bulletin board material of knocking King Henrik Lundqvist‘s play after game 5.
Meanwhile in the west, Los Angeles and Chicago are still battling and it will be going to game 7. LA is led by NY Ranger reject Marian Gaborik, who is the scoring leader in the playoffs. Gabo reminds me of my article about NY busts Just another guy that couldn’t hack it in NY, though to be fair to him, we got three very useful players in Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett, John Moore and he had the unfortunate pleasure of playing under John “Torts” Tortorella. Chicago is led by Buffalo‘s own Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Bottom line is both these teams are led by their attack and not their goaltending which New York has. New York also gets some extra rest which was much needed.
NBA – The news coming out of New York is that Phil Jackson , the NY Knicks GM of Basketball Operations, is still looking for a new coach. He wants someone he knows personally or has worked with. After having his overtures spurned by Steve Kerr, he has not been able to find another candidate. Though he has never worked for Phil, it would be great if Mark Jackson came back to NY. Having battled the Bulls for a while, Phil knows how he was like as a player and he should just call around for a reference… The Heat are now in the finals for the fourth straight year and they will face either the San Antonio Spurs again or the team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics, the Oklahoma Thunder. Ah who am I kidding. Do you care!?!? Because I surely don’t. Let’s just move on. Although we should all laugh at Lebron James for only scoring 4 points in game.
World Cup – Speaking of stuff no one cares about, The World Cup!! Well no one on the staff does but that is why I don’t bore you with real soccer talk. Take a look at the list of schedule warm-up matches in the USA.
May 29 in Washington, D.C.
Honduras vs. Turkey
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May 30 in St. Louis
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. Ivory Coast
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May 31 in Arlington, Texas
Mexico vs. Ecuador
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June 1 in Harrison, N.J.
USA vs. Turkey
June 1 in Houston
Honduras vs. Israel
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June 3 in Chester, Pa.
Greece vs. Nigeria
June 3 in Chicago
Mexico vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina
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June 4 in Frisco, Texas
Ivory Coast vs. El Salvador
June 4 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
England-Ecuador
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June 6 in Foxboro, Mass.
Portugal-Mexico
June 6 in Harrison, Calif.
Greece vs. Bolivia
June 6 in Tampa, Fla.
Japan vs. Zambia
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June 7 in Jacksonville, Fla.
USA vs. Nigeria
June 7 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
England-Honduras
June 7 in Landover, Md.
Spain vs. El Salvador
June 7 in Foxboro, Mass.
Costa Rica vs. Ireland
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June 9 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Ghana vs. South Korea
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June 10 in East Rutherford, N.J.
Portugal-Ireland
After not awarding the World Cup to the USA and admitting that giving it to Qatar was a mistake (read we took the money) – apparently the USA is the premier place for warm-up matches. They claim it is the ideal weather to prep. I call B.S! The USA World Cup in 1994 to this day stands as the most well attended World Cup ever. There is a huge enough USA population that will go and watch soccer. These Knutes are just here to wet their beak on American fans and their money. Apparently the look down on American soccer but not on American money.
That is it for now, Hope you enjoyed by article I hope to hear from you soon. Feel free to comment below and come back tomorrow for the one and only Cheesy Bruin
P.s… If you want to read more of my ramblings as a Rugby Guy, you can find them on RugbyWrapUp.com and our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @RugbyWrapUp and @JunoirBlaber, respectively
