You’re reading The Morning Mando, a column released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings about four of the most intriguing stories in sports. In today’s edition, the top two stories come from the NBA, where I’ll preview what Oklahoma City must do to take a commanding 2-0 lead over Golden State and give an early NBA mock draft based on last night’s lottery results. I’ll also discuss my vision of…
The East Needs Improvement
As I write this, I am watching the Cavaliers embarrass the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. From the looks of things, this series is going to be nothing but a tiny speed bump in the Cavaliers’ road to the finals. Don’t get me wrong, the Cavaliers are a good team, but not good enough to have the strong possibility of winning every conference playoff game this year. The Toronto Raptors,…
Rapid Fire MLB Predictions- May 17th
After a day off yesterday, I’m hoping to continue my momentum from Sunday. Just to clarify for those who might be new to these articles, the numbers you see in parentheses are moneyline values. So, for instance, if you see -120 in parentheses, that means that in order to win $100, you would need to wager $120. In contrast, +120 would mean you could wager $100 to win $120. Essentially,…
NBA Playoff Predictions- May 17th
*Record 6-5* After what seemed like a year of waiting, the Cavaliers are finally back in action tonight as they host the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Unfortunately, I have the agree with the general consensus in that I don’t expect this to be much of a series. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t believe I will be. The Raptors barely slipped past a…
Could Early Retirement Cost Calvin Johnson a Spot in the Hall of Fame?
The Detroit Lions, as we know, were dealt a major blow this offseason when Calvin Johnson surprisingly announced that he was retiring. Since entering the league in 2007, Megatron was regarded as not just one of the best receivers, but one of the best players in the game. Now, it was clear that Johnson was not quite as dominant over the last year or two, at least compared to how…
Which of the Recent Boston Red Sox Championship Teams was the Best?
I was across the street from Fenway Park the other day, enjoying lunch at Tasty Burger, one of Boston’s hippest and best burger joints. Afterwards, I took a stroll around Fenway’s exterior, where all of the Red Sox championship banners hang along the side of the ballpark. Although I’m a Bostonian and I enjoy attending games at Fenway, I don’t call myself a Red Sox fan. I called it quits…
The Morning Mando- Monday, May 16th
You’re reading The Morning Mando, a column released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings about four of the most intriguing stories in sports. In today’s edition, I’ll recap the Raptors Game 7 win over the Miami Heat and look ahead to the opening game of the Western Conference Finals between Golden State and Oklahoma City. Plus, I’ll breakdown whether the Penguins and Sharks have any cause for concern after Game…
NBA Playoff Predictions- May 16th
*Record 5-5* And just like that, we’re onto the Conference Finals. And what better matchup to start with than the Western Conference Finals featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors. If your counting out Oklahoma City, don’t. I have a strong feeling that this series is going to be a seven game war. But first, let’s start with Game 1. Oklahoma City Thunder @ Golden State Warriors The…
Sit Down Jose Bautista
Rougned Odor connected a punch to Jose Bautista’s jaw that would make the likes of Mike Tyson and Muhammed Ali smile. They don’t come any cleaner than that ladies and gentlemen. A direct hit. And you know you got him good when his sunglasses and helmet come flying off, as if he just ran into a brick wall. I’m all for hard nosed baseball. I love it when a hard slide into…
The Prince of Tottenham
Tottenham was humiliated on Championship Sunday. Not only did they lose to a soon-to-be relegated Newcastle side 5-1, but they lost while Newcastle was forced to play man down for a majority of the second half. To add onto this, Arsenal completed a thrashing of Aston Villa (4-0) that allowed them to jump ahead of Tottenham and into second place. A disappointing end to what was an overall excellent season for…