Matt Youmans
A back injury reduced Josh Beckett from ace to joker last year, so when the right-hander was scratched from a start this week, his health again became a concern for the Boston Red Sox. It’s looking like a minor setback, though.
It was feared a U.S. Open without Tiger Woods might lack star power and wagering appeal, that one of the elite events on the golf calendar could turn into a major disappointment.
In the beginning, when LeBron James announced “The Decision” and relegated all other teams to pretenders for the NBA title, many feared the season would end with a celebration in Miami. And sure enough, we witnessed it Sunday.
Chicken soup and sleep helped Dirk Nowitzki overcome a fever and flu. He still has a torn tendon in his left middle finger, and there’s no fixing it, but he’s playing so well that problem has been forgotten.
In the most crucial game of his career, the one that would most likely determine the eventual winner of the NBA Finals, LeBron James was wise enough to pull over so an ambulance could pass.
Premature celebrations are nothing new to the Miami Heat. Another one erupted Thursday, minus the fireworks and smoke, after Dwyane Wade dropped in a 3-pointer from the corner.
Even with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on their side, the Miami Heat were all but left for dead, cold as a corpse with the odds stacked high against them.
Another 48 minutes of torture for the Chicago Bulls revealed something that is no secret. If Derrick Rose does not take all of his offensive talents to South Beach, the Bulls are in big trouble.
Rarely is the sequel as good as the original. It would have been crazy to expect Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks’ 7-foot shooting stud, to come close to duplicating his near-perfect Game 1 performance.
At the time, the crying and hugging seemed absurd. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade locked up in a tearful embrace as if they had been separated at birth and surprisingly reunited decades later by Oprah.
What else was Kobe Bryant going to say? When he predicted the Los Angeles Lakers would come back to win the series, some listeners took him seriously. Others could smell the skunk coming around the corner.
Overcoming substantial odds, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks rode into Los Angeles and twice beat the Lakers senseless. Even Nowitzki admitted the feat was hard to believe.
Aside from Ray Allen’s sweet shooting stroke, which is as good as ever, there are several reasons to sour on the Boston Celtics as it becomes more apparent their time near the top is expiring.