by Tom Weppel
Random thoughts from a cluttered mind...
For the longest time, we have all been highly aware of that great aspect of sports known as the 'home court advantage'. For whatever reason, it seems we as human being have the most difficult time playing or competing in a hostile environment where we are considered the enemy! Obviously, most, if not all, of this is 100% psychological…we feel no support, and so our confidence level drops, and, in essence, our physical abilities. I bring this up because if you have followed the NBA playoffs this season, you know that the home court advantage has, without question, been in full effect. A pure, clean example of this has been the play of the Boston Celtics. Here we have a team that had a great record on the road this season. The Celtics were 31-10 in away games! They performed admirably, having garnered the best record in the NBA. That, my friends, is quite an accomplishment, for a team that was so pitiful last season.
But now here we are in the postseason, and the boys from Boston are not doing a good job on the road at all! In the first round, they did not win in Atlanta against the #8 seed Hawks. The series went to seven games, which was about two or three more than we expected. But the Celtics protected their home court, and were able to get past the Hawks. Now we have watched them playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. The Cavs have been a good, but certainly not great, team this season. LeBron James is obviously their superstar. But the rest of the roster is not prominent. However, they certainly have been good enough to handle Boston when they played them in Cleveland. And so, going into Game 6 of their series, the Celtics STILL have not won a playoff game on the road.
In most of the other series so far in these NAB playoffs, winning on the opponents' home court has been almost futile. We saw the Lakers win two games in Denver in the first round, but they didn't beat the Jazz in Games 3 and 4 of their second round series. Other teams have not been successful, either.
And so, when watching these games, especially as they get down to a Game 7, you should realize that the chances of the visiting squad prevailing are almost nonexistent.
I mentioned last week that the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins were playing the best, most consistent hockey during the push to the Stanley Cup Finals. Obviously, I have been proven right as we have seen in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals. Detroit has put the hammer on the Stars, knocking them senseless. The Wings are a lock for the NHL Finals, as they show us what we have witnessed all along…that they are loaded with talent, depth, speed, and great abilities to play and win.
The same can be said for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who, going into Game 4 of their series with the Flyers, had lost only ONE game the whole postseason. The Pens simply are playing damn good hockey, with a great collection of players on their roster.
And so, a Detroit/Pittsburgh series for the Stanley Cup is going to be a great spectacle within itself. It should be a great series which I am totally looking forward to.
Big Brown will be going for his a win in this race, which is the second jewel of the Triple Crown. He is running as a 1-2 favorite, and his post position is right in the middle of the field, which is a much better position than in Kentucky. Add to that the fact that almost no other horses from the Derby are entered in the Preakness, and you have to figure that Big Brown is gonna take care of business. We will then see if he can handle the longest of the Triples….Belmont.
This weekend we will see interleague play once again crank up. The highlight will be in New York, as the Mets cross town to play the Yankees.
The Yankees have not been playing the best baseball in the world, and 'Little George', a/k/a Hank Steinbrenner, has started crying and whining. He feels the boys need to play harder and want it more, for all intents. Hearing this come out of the mouth of some spoiled son is complete crap to me. Maybe someone can find a bar of soap and shove it into Hank's mouth.
Meanwhile, we'll see some other intriguing series, including Indians/Reds and Dodgers/Angels. The only series to me where I have a question will be in South Florida, when the Royals come to visit the Marlins. I am guessing attendance for those games will be in the hundreds….at the MOST!
Tom Weppel talks trash with Greg Larson, Lonnie Marts, Eugene Chung, Artis Gilmore, and Ron Duguay on SportsAvengers.com 24/7.
Article Published in the May 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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