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6338. wabbit - 6/1/2009 1:13:54 AM  There will be no Kobe-LeBron showdown in the NBA finals -- and that could make things tougher for the Lakers. Instead, Los Angeles will face Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic, who swept the Western Conference champions during the regular season. The Lakers will try to prove that means nothing when the finals begin Thursday on their home floor against Orlando, which upset Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers had the NBA's best record, but lost both meetings with the Lakers. Had Cleveland made the finals, it would have set up a highly anticipated duel between Bryant and James, the last two NBA MVPs. The Magic ruined that script, just as they wrecked Boston's hopes of a repeat by ousting the defending champions in the second round. Now they look to deny Phil Jackson his 10th coaching title, which would move him past Red Auerbach for most all-time.
Kobe Bryant stared straight ahead, delivering his answer without emotion. His teammates were out of earshot, though Bryant undoubtedly told them the same thing. Asked what it would take to close out Denver in six games, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar replied, "Be cold-blooded, go out there and execute. We have to stay focused and poised and try to cut them up." Led by Bryant's merciless efficiency, the Lakers sliced and diced the Nuggets to advance to the NBA finals for the second consecutive year. Los Angeles turned what had been a back-and-forth series into a rout Friday night, winning 119-92 on the road.
NBA scores
6339. wabbit - 6/1/2009 1:14:42 AM  For 31 matches, dating to his debut on May 23, 2005, Rafael Nadal was never truly challenged, much less defeated, at the French Open, allowing him to win four consecutive titles and close in on becoming the first player in history with five in a row. Until the fourth round of the 2009 French Open when Robin Soderling, a 24-year-old from Sweden with a bit of an attitude and 6-foot-3 worth of power, transformed Nadal's career mark at Roland Garros from a best-ever 31-0 to 31-1 with 3-1/2 hours of assertive, and sometimes spectacular, play. Soderling's 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over the No. 1-seeded Nadal rates as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Not sure? Set aside all of Nadal's bona fides for a moment -- the dominance on clay, the six Grand Slam titles, including at Wimbledon and Australian Open -- and focus on this: The 23rd-seeded Soderling never had won so much as a third-round match at any major tournament before this one. Soderling finished with 61 winners, 28 more than Nadal, and won the point on 27 of his 35 trips to the net, where he cuts an imposing figure.
It was a weekend for upsets. Defending champion Ana Ivanovic was eliminated at Roland Garros in the fourth round, losing to ninth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-3. Fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic was a semifinalist each of the past two years at Roland Garros, but he bowed out far earlier this time, losing to No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday. Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion, could do little right against Kohlschreiber, who was playing in the third round of the clay-court major for the first time.
Venus and Serena Williams had another tough day on the courts of Roland Garros, wasting a match point in the third set before losing to Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Nadia Petrova of Russia 7-6 (4), 5-7, 7-6 (6) in the third round. The Williams sisters won the French Open in 1999, and have seven other Grand Slam doubles titles in their career. But neither has been particularly impressive in singles at this year's tournament. Venus lost Agnes Szavay of Hungary in the third round, and Serena was twice stretched to three sets in her opening three matches. On Sunday, Venus served for the doubles match at 6-5 in the third set, but she was broken. In the tiebreaker, the sisters held a 6-5 lead, but Mattek-Sands and Petrova saved the match point and then won the next two.
French Open
6340. alistairConnor - 6/1/2009 7:52:31 PM I just started watching the tennis... Andy Roddick is drowning. Gael Monfils is fabulous!
I think I warned you about this lad, a couple of years ago... 6341. alistairConnor - 6/1/2009 7:55:32 PM Think of the pressure on Roger Federer, now that Nadal is out. This is his chance, probably his last, to become the greatest player in history by adding the French Open,which has always eluded him, to his record. 6342. alistairConnor - 6/1/2009 7:57:27 PM Woo, it's getting ugly. Roddick tried to get the umpire to call off the match for bad light? Sounded like that. Also told Monfils off for being cocky. 6343. wabbit - 6/1/2009 8:22:12 PM Just got home to see Roddick hold serve in the 3rd game of the 3rd set. He's never done well at RG — I think this is the first time he's made it into the second week.
Ooh, he just broke back, they're on serve.
Monfils is a very good player and loads of fun to watch.
The Federer match with Haas this morning was something to see. Fed used to play this way years ago, losing a set or two and then getting his legs under him and cruising to victory. I'd like to see him win, finally, but don't know if he'll get past Monfils. I'd be shocked if he didn't beat Roddick, though. 6344. alistairConnor - 6/1/2009 9:10:02 PM Ooh, you think Monfils could take Federer? That would be quite something...
6-4, 6-2, 6-3. Very convincing against Roddick. 6345. wabbit - 6/1/2009 11:50:37 PM A 23-24 year old Federer? Not a chance. Not talking about age so much as the way he was playing then. But I think if Federer plays Monfils the way he did Haas, Monfils has a serious shot at winning. Federer can beat pretty much anyone when he's on his game, but clay has been a problem for him. Monfils grew up playing on clay. That might be enough of a difference if Monfils has a good day and Federer is even a bit off. I think either of them can beat Del Potro.
Whichever one gets to the final will probably end up having to beat Murray, who is playing well. I'm thinking Murray will get past Gonzalez and then Davydenko, who I expect to beat Soderling. "So when one player [plays] bad, he must lose. That's what happened today. I have to accept with the same calm when I win than when I lose. After four years I lose here, and the season continue. When you lose, always everybody starts to analyze if I play too much. If I'm tired. The true, I won four years in a row playing the same. That's the true. This year I play the same and I lost. What happen? I lost. That's it." Nadal, a class act win or lose.6346. wabbit - 6/1/2009 11:52:59 PM Now that I've said that, the upsets continue. Jelena Jankovic was two points from winning, just two points from overcoming a disastrous second set and reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open. It was two points too many. The fifth-seeded Jankovic instead lost to Sorana Cirstea of Romania 3-6, 6-0, 9-7 Monday in the fourth round.
"I should have won that," said Jankovic, who won the first two points on serve while leading 5-4 in the third set. "I had 30-love, and what more can I ask for myself? All of a sudden, point by point, and the game went in her favor and everything got complicated."
Cirstea started her comeback in that game with a forehand winner into the corner. Jankovic stared at the spot for several seconds -- not the first time and not the last time she would do that Monday on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The Romanian, the first woman from her country to reach the quarterfinals at a major tournament since Irina Spirlea made the U.S. Open semifinals in 1997, then took the score to 30-30 with a backhand volley. She eventually broke Jankovic to stay in the match when the Serb first sent a backhand and then a forehand long. 6347. wabbit - 6/2/2009 12:01:36 AM While we're on the French Open, what is it they're saying when they call out the score? I follow it up until deuce, when it sounds like they say "quarante à", but I can't quite make it out, since the play-by-play people are usually yapping. Also, same question on the subsequent deuces, is it "égalité"? 6348. wabbit - 6/2/2009 9:44:12 PM And I'm way wrong already - Soderling beating Nadal wasn't a fluke, he whupped Davydenko! And then Gonzalez kicked Andy Murray's behind. Perhaps things are looking good for Robredo and Monfils?
Maria Sharapova finally lost, to Dominika Cibulkova. Cibulkova will meet Dinara Safina next. Safina rallied to beat Victoria Azarenka after a demoralizing first set. I expect Azarenka to be #1 within a couple years.
6349. wabbit - 6/3/2009 12:15:53 AM Memo to Danica Patrick: you probably can't remember not having the WWW; you've had a cellphone forever; unless you've been under a rock for the last twenty years, you've been hammered by this topic just like the rest of us. You have no excuse for being so completely clueless about playing by the rules.
The 27-year-old driver was asked the following set of questions by SI columnist Dan Patrick: Dan: "If you could take a performance-enhancing drug and not get caught, would you do it if it allowed you to win Indy?
Danica: Well, then it's not cheating, is it? If nobody finds out?
Dan: So you would do it?
Danica: Yeah, it would be like finding a gray area. In motorsports we work in the gray areas a lot. You're trying to find where the holes are in the rule book."
Since then, Danica Patrick's comments were picked up around the Web and been much discussed among racing fans. Well, d'uh.
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart told SI.com, "We're glad she apologized, admitting that she made a terrible mistake, and we accept that. But it's clear that cheating, whether you get caught or not, is wrong. And if left unchecked, the temptations to do it are high, which is why you need to have the most effective policies in place to stop the threat of cheating."
Maybe Ms. Patrick is an argument for the necessity of religion. She seems to have a poor ethical compass. She reminds me of the men who say they might (or would) commit rape if they knew they would not be caught. Sorry, stupid girl, but it doesn't sound very funny.6350. wabbit - 6/3/2009 12:16:10 AM The Stanley Cup Finals are underway. Detroit beat the Penguins 3-1 Sunday night, just as they did the previous night, after shutting them out by a combined score of 7-0 in the first two games of last year's finals. Pittsburgh, though, is undeterred. Game 3 is Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, where the Eastern Conference champions will battle a modern-day dynasty and history.
Thirty-two teams have lost the first two Stanley Cup finals games on the road and only the 1971 Montreal Canadiens rallied to win it all. Even though the odds favor the Red Wings being the first to repeat since they did it in 1998, goaltender Chris Osgood isn't getting cocky about their chances against the Penguins. "We're up 2-0, but I think we can play better." 6351. wabbit - 6/3/2009 12:16:47 AM The NBA Finals will be between Los Angeles and Orlando. The Lakers have home-court advantage this year. Games 1 and 2 are Thursday and next Sunday at Staples Center before the best-of-7 series moves to Orlando for up to three games. LA is taking advantage of the six-day break before making one last push at a 16th NBA championship.
Orlando Magic players say Jameer Nelson will play in the NBA finals, even though the All-Star point guard and his coach remain publicly pessimistic. Nelson participated in a full team practice Tuesday for the first time since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder Feb. 2. While Nelson and coach Stan Van Gundy still said the point guard's status won't be determined until game day, players said Nelson looked "terrific" and expect him to be on the court against the Lakers.
In the end, the greatest season in Cleveland Cavaliers' history, the one supposed to end in a title triumph, was like all the others. LeBron James and his teammates came up short. James was selected as the league MVP. Mike Brown, coach of the year. The Cavs won 66 games in the regular season. They were nearly unbeatable at home and won their second Central Division crown in 33 years -- by 25 games. They earned the top seed in the NBA playoffs. They coasted through two rounds, winning eight straight games by double digits. They had the look of a champion. They had the King. The Cavs had it all. It all went for naught. And did you catch LeBron's post-loss interview? Oh right, he didn't give one. Cue up the Rafa tape for him. 6352. wabbit - 6/3/2009 12:36:41 AM Calvin Borel has been all tangled up in the drama involving the possibility of Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird meeting in the Belmont Stakes. And now that it won't happen, he has a chance to make history: the first jockey to capture the three legs of the Triple Crown on two horses. Borel won the Kentucky Derby on 50-1 long shot Mine That Bird. When Rachel Alexandra entered the Preakness, Borel switched horses to the filly he had ridden to five straight victories. Rachel Alexandra then edged Mine That Bird to thwart the gelding's shot at a Triple Crown. Now Rachel Alexandra is skipping the Belmont, and Borel is back aboard Mine That Bird. Those twists and turns created the possibility of another kind of Triple Crown. Personally, I'm rooting for Mine That Bird. He's a plucky little horse and the distance should suit him, but out of the corner of my eye, I'm looking at Mr. Hot Stuff.
Vincent O'Brien, one of horse racing's great European trainers during a career that lasted more than a half century, died Monday. He was 92. O'Brien, an Irishman, died at his home in Straffan in County Kildare, his family said. He retired from training in 1994 and had been spending his winters in Australia. He won 16 English and 27 Irish classics in addition to 25 victories at Royal Ascot and 23 at the Cheltenham Festival. He began training in 1943 and masterminded the career of three-time Champion Hurdle winner Hatton's Grace. He won straight Grand National steeplechases with Early Mist, Royal Tan and Quare Times. O'Brien later switched to thoroughbred racing and trained Nijinsky, Sir Ivor, Alleged, Sadler's Wells, Golden Fleece, The Minstrel, El Gran Senor, Ballymoss and Roberto. 6353. wabbit - 6/3/2009 9:02:19 PM The field is set for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, and unsurprisingly, Mine That Bird is the 2-1 morning-line favorite. Calvin Borel will attempt to become the first jockey to win all three Triple Crown races with different horses.
A field of 10 3-year-olds was entered Wednesday, with Mine That Bird drawing the No. 7 post position. Charitable Man, who missed the Derby and the Preakness, was the second choice at 3-1. He drew the No. 6 post. Also entered, from the rail out, are: Chocolate Candy (10-1), Dunkirk (4-1), Mr. Hot Stuff (15-1), Summer Bird (12-1), Luv Gov (20-1), Flying Private (12-1), Miner's Escape (15-1) and Brave Victory (15-1).
Borel guided Mine That Bird to a breathtaking last-to-first run along the rail to win the Derby by 6-3/4 lengths on May 2, and the gelding finished a diminishing length behind Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness two weeks later under Mike Smith with another come-from-behind run. In the Belmont, the longest and most grueling of the Triple Crown races, Mine That Bird may be closer to the leaders because the early pace is not as fast as in shorter races. 6354. wabbit - 6/3/2009 9:02:53 PM Getting into a groove at the French Open, Roger Federer is two victories from completing a career Grand Slam and tying Pete Sampras' record for major titles. After three consecutive so-so performances, Federer was challenged only fleetingly in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Roland Garros before beating 11th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-4. Federer reached the semifinals for the 20th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, extending his own record. He will play No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro for a berth in the final. The 6-foot-6 Argentine advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal by beating No. 16 Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
One shot by Serena Williams sent Svetlana Kuznetsova to the court in a messy spill that left her covered with clay. The Russian was down but not out. Showing newfound resilience, she squandered a big lead in the second set Wednesday but ended Williams' 18-match Grand Slam winning streak in the French Open quarterfinals, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5. Williams, seeded second, was seeking her third successive major title and the 11th of her career. Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, seeks her second major title. Her opponent Thursday will be Samantha Stosur of Australia, who reached her first major semifinal by beating Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-1, 6-3. Stosur, 25, has never won a tour title. 6355. wabbit - 6/6/2009 3:52:15 PM Svetlana Kuznetsova has won her second Grand Slam title, beating top-ranked Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 in an all-Russian final at the French Open.
The seventh-seeded Kuznetsova was broken in the first game Saturday, but she broke right back and then held serve until breaking again for a 5-3 lead. Safina managed to break back, but Kuznetsova broke for the third time to take the set.
In the second, both players held serve until the sixth game, when Kuznetsova broke for a 4-2 lead. She then held and broke again for the title when Safina double-faulted for the seventh time of the match. It was a sad and disappointing end to the match.
Kuznetsova also won the 2004 U.S. Open. She lost in the 2006 French Open final and the 2007 U.S. Open final. 6356. wabbit - 6/8/2009 2:15:08 PM  The Detroit Red Wings got exactly what they needed: a big win and long break. After hearing how tired and beat up they were through four games of the Stanley Cup finals, the defending champions busted out with a devastating display of offense and defense and rolled to a 5-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night that put them a win away from another championship. The veteran-laden Red Wings lead the series 3-2 and are closing in on their 12th Stanley Cup title and fifth in 12 seasons. Detroit can wrap this one up Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
Detroit's two-game losing streak in Pittsburgh quickly became a distant memory as the Red Wings returned to the friendly confines of Joe Louis Arena and blew away the supposedly fresher Penguins.
The home team is 5-0 in the rematch of last year's finals, so the Penguins still have that going for them.
NHL scores
6357. wabbit - 6/8/2009 2:23:52 PM 
A son of Belmont winner Birdstone won the Belmont — just not the son most people expected would win. Summer Bird won the Belmont Stakes, rallying past Mine That Bird to spoil jockey Calvin Borel's attempt at winning all three legs of the Triple Crown. Mine That Bird, with Borel aboard, came from last to take the lead right before the final turn. But Summer Bird galloped to the front and pulled away Saturday.
For a brief moment on the turn for home, Borel looked like a winner. His tough little gelding took the lead, and even Borel believed his victory guarantee was assured. With the crowd of 52,861 cheering on the leaders in the stretch, Mine That Bird passed Dunkirk. But it was Summer Bird who pulled away from them both for a 2-3/4 length victory, with Dunkirk second and Mine That Bird a neck back in third in the field of 10 3-year-olds. The winning time for the 1 1/2 miles was 2:27.54. Charitable Man finished fourth, followed by Luv Gov, Flying Private, Brave Victory, Mr. Hot Stuff, Chocolate Candy and Miner’s Escape.
Summer Bird, sent off at 11-1 odds, gave jockey Kent Desormeaux a Belmont victory he desperately wanted. Last year, he won the Derby and Preakness aboard Big Brown, only to have to pull up the colt in the Belmont. And in 1998, he brought Real Quiet into the Belmont for a Triple try only to get beat by Victory Gallop by a nose in a heartbreaking defeat.
Summer Bird, trained by the recently licensed Tim Ice, returned $25.80. $9.30 and $4.70. Dunkirk paid $5.40 and $3.60, and Mine That Bird returned $2.60 to show.
Across the pond, Sea The Stars won the English Derby on Saturday, becoming the first horse in 20 years to win the Epsom classic after capturing the 2,000 Guineas. Mick Kinane rode the 11-4 shot to a 1 3/4-length victory over Fame And Glory to emulate the double last achieved by Nashwan in 1989. Masterofthehorse was a neck behind in third.
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