Climate-controlled entertainment
One of the great things about Rose Festival weather is how perfect it is for watching the final throes of the winter indoor sports seasons on the tube. If we were sweltering in 90-degree heat somewhere, it might be hard to get psyched to watch guys play ice hockey and air-conditioned hoops. But when a great day is mostly-dry-might-break-70, settling down in front of the NBA or NHL finals seems pretty natural, even if there is daylight blasting through the window during the first half of a night game.
We recall the NBA playoffs in the early '80s, when matters dragged out into late June, and even Portlanders gave up and went out in the yard rather than watch the season's denouement. The league eventually wised up and moved to the schedule we have now.
This year, both sports have produced entertaining final rounds, with 2-2 ties heading into this evening's action. In basketball, Dallas won tonight at home over Miami, sending that series back for a game or two in Florida starting on Sunday. Each team has won one game on its opponent's court, and so Dallas has the advantage. But it's one game at a time at this point, and there seems no chance that one or more of the Miami Big Three isn't going to play out of his mind this weekend. The series seems likely to head to a single-game showdown on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, on the ice, the real Vancouver won the first two games at home, then dropped two to Boston back in Beantown. The way the hockey playoffs work, the venue shifts back and forth for each game from here on out. So they'll play in Vancouver tomorrow night, Boston on Monday, and if there is a Game 7, in Vancouver on Wednesday. By then, June will be half over, but the games that have entertained us through the darkest months will finally have been brought to a close for another year.
We're definitely rooting for the Canucks, although they looked pretty anemic the last couple of games. In hoops, either outcome is o.k., but tonight we noticed that we're pulling slightly for the Mavericks. We still don't hate Miami, but they aren't exactly lovable, either.
| Posted at 9:39 PM | Permalink |
|
Comments (7)
The Canucks will erupt offensively like a hungry orca on the Bruins -- though goalie Thomas has been playing huge for Boston. Canucks in 7, I say. Let loose The Green Men!
NBA? (yawn) I don't know what would be worse: seeing King James and his Court triumph or having Mark Cuban capture it. I liked Cuban better when he was working in that Dairy Queen. I admire Nowitzki's career accomplishments and his display in these playoffs, for sure. Good for him. I was pulling for OKC, though.
Posted by Mojo | June 9, 2011 10:09 PM
That Canucks/Bruins series has been fantastic! Go Nucks!
Posted by Rich | June 10, 2011 9:33 AM
Go Canucks Go!
Basically, the Canucks played like the Canucks in games 1 & 2. Then, after the Aaron Rome hit in Game 3, Boston started to goon it up... which, for a team like Vancouver and the Sedin twins, is like kryptonite.
They need to settle back in and realize hey, we have these skill players like the Swedish twins, Keslord, "watch out or I'll bite ya" Burrows and instead of focusing on TRYING to hit, rely on skill.
Posted by Christian | June 10, 2011 9:53 AM
Dirk Noweakside is amazing.
Posted by Ben | June 10, 2011 9:57 AM
Not to nitpick – it only comes to mind because I was a sportswriter and covered several NBA Finals during the ‘80s – but in the early ‘80s the finals generally took place way, way before they do now. In 1981, they ran May 5-14. In 1983, from May 22-31. The latest any series ended in the early ‘80s was in 1984, when the Celtics and Lakers went seven and wrapped up on June 12. The playoffs didn’t really drift into late June until 1988, when the Lakers and Pistons started on June 7 and ended a seven-game series on June 21. I believe the latest-starting (and finishing) series was in 1999, when the Spurs and Knicks tipped off on June 16 and ended on June 25. It was a five-game series, but if it had gone seven would have ended on the last day of June! Anyway, you’re right that they have been drifting back in the other direction lately. Since 2005, the starting date has gone from June 9 to June 8 to June 5 to June 4 to June 3 and then to May 31 this year. Agree with you: A good trend!
Posted by Pete | June 10, 2011 10:19 AM
Thanks for helping me with the timeline. I distinctly remember abandoning some of the early '80s series, but it might have been because the Portland weather broke early. And I do definitely recall a series or two that almost made it to Fourth of July.
Posted by Jack Bog | June 10, 2011 10:35 AM
Nowitzki leads Mavs to brink of title
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=dw-wetzel_dirk_nowitzki_mavericks_nba_finals_game5_061011
Posted by Mojo | June 10, 2011 11:50 AM