Congrats to the LA Kings...

Hey there sports fans! Remember when I had a blog and was actually posting once a week?

Yeah, I know, I know. I've been a slacker. To my credit, I've been working a lot and traveled out of town twice in the past month so have been a bit busy/distracted. If writing for sports was my day job I'd be posting every day. Multiple times a day. Every time something major happened.

But alas, that is not my life so my random little posts and thoughts about the world of sports will just have to suffice.

A lot has happened in the past month+ so I'm going to sum up my thoughts on a few things:

NHL:

Congratulations to the LA Kings on receiving their first Stanley Cup. This is a team that has definitely fought hard all season to get here. When my Blues went down in the 2nd round to the Kings, I knew the Kings were going to win it all. This team just had a fire, a tenacity, a drive to win. Jonathan Quick was stellar. No one could really score off of him. Vancouver? Nope. St. Louis? Nope. Phoenix? Not really. New Jersey? Except for one game, they were very limited.

I don't know if I posted it here, but I said at the beginning of the NHL/NBA playoff madness that of all the teams that made the finals (Lakers, Clippers, Kings) the only one I saw making the final and potentially winning was the Kings.

So, congrats to the Kings and the LA Kings fans (and bandwagon fans, you know who you are. I've watched you pop up around town over the playoff series). It's nice to have a champion in town.

NBA:


The Lakers and the Clippers didn't advance, which really wasn't a surprise. Oklahoma City is a younger and faster team that was just too much for the Lakers, and the Spurs had a lot of talent and experience over the Clippers. Still, LA had 2 teams in the playoffs. Ask Charlotte fans how they feel. Or New Orleans. They may respond, "we have an NBA team?"

Anyway, the rest of the playoffs turned out to be somewhat exciting. For a moment there it looked like the Pacers might upset the Heat. Until Lebron did what Lebron does, which was pretty much everything. He had some help from Wade, but there's no mistaking that Lebron was a HUGE factor in the Heat's success in the playoffs. I specifically remember watching a game against eh Pacers where it seemed like every rebound was Lebron. Every turnover seemed to be caused by Lebron. He may not be the best at freethrows but when it comes to defense Lebron delivers.

On the OKC-Spurs side it seemed like a pretty even series until Oklahoma just started to run with it in the end. The Spurs certainly have a lot of talent but OKC is young and fast and they have some amazing players - Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook continue to amaze me.

It's hard for me to not like the Thunder. Derek Fisher is on the Thunder and he's a former Laker and I really enjoyed watching him when he was on the Lakers and it would be nice to see him win another title.

And it's also because the final is down to the Thunder and the Heat. As much as I respect Lebron's talent, I just don't really care for him as a person and have zero reason to like the Heat. The Thunder just seem to give me more reason to root for them. Not that I'm about to go out and buy Thunder gear and jump on the bandwagon. It's simply that between the two teams left, I like the Thunder and hope they end up winning the championship. So far, they've got 1 game under their belt. 1 down, 3 more to go!

MLB:

What a turn of events since my last post. It's always good to remember when getting excited about the beginning of baseball that it's a) a long season and b) you really can't predict playoff contenders until mid to late July.

The Cardinals started off the season great, so great in fact, most Cardinals fans were saying "Albert who?" But it's been a tough last month for the Redbirds. Injuries have been a big factor. Carpenter still is not back, Wainwright has been slow to regain elite status post Tommy John surgery and while the rest of the starting pitching started out strong, there have been some issues with the bullpen and hitters seem to have found out how to hit off of the Cards.

That said Cards aren't in bad shape. They are in the NL Central one of the most easiest divisions to be in. So they remain within spitting distance of regaining first place status. If they can remain there and gain momentum at the right time, they'll win the division. At least, that's the hope.

Oh, and it's okay the Cardinals don't have Albert. They have Carlos Beltran. Who currently leads the NL with most home runs. Not a bad off season pick for the Cards. We'll see how things progress throughout the season. After all, the 2011 Cardinals were thought completely out in early August. Then the cardiac Cards found ways to keep winning to barely make the playoffs. Then they won the World Series. So you just never know. That's the great thing about baseball. Things can change at any moment.

P DIDDY'S SON/UCLA SCHOLARSHIP:

So, for those who may not have heard P Diddy's (or Puff Daddy, or Sean Combs, or Sean "Puffy" Combs) son Justin Combs, received a $54,000 scholarship to play football at UCLA next season. The university claims that giving Combs this scholarship will not affect need-based scholarships given out.

This has caused some controversy over whether the young Combs should accept the scholarship, as his father, P Diddy, can more than afford his college tuition.

Here's my thoughts on this. If Justin Combs is that good of a player then yes, he should be eligible for the applicable sports scholarships. He should be able to receive the honor.

However even if this scholarship doesn't affect need-based students, he doesn't need it. P Diddy can afford it. So my thought is this. So Justin accepts the scholarship, fine. But P Diddy donates money to UCLA to use to assist future athletes at UCLA. Justin gets his scholarship. Diddy gets a tax deduction off of his donation. And some future athlete(s) out there receive help to be able to attend UCLA. Sounds fair to me. So what say you, P Diddy?

What else is there to talk about? The NFL hasn't started yet but training camps will start next month. Apparently Chad Ochocinco just signed with the Miami Dolphins, who were chosen as this year's team for HBO's Hard Knocks. Coincidence? Just add a little T.O. and that should make for tons of drama.

I know there is more to talk about. More updates to follow, I promise!