A few quick thoughts:
• I’m going to need a defibrillator to watch the rest of the games in the Stanley Cup Finals. I want the Blackhawks to win so badly I can barely watch.
• Whenever someone dies, I automatically think of the family left behind, especially young children, which makes the sudden and untimely death of James Galdolfini especially striking. Vacationing in Italy, he apparently had a massive heart attack. Many thoughts poured out from all over the entertainment world for the man who will always be best remembered for being HBO’s anti-hero Tony Soprano. But he has a less than one-year-old baby, and also is 51 (two years younger than I) and we both are portly. Very sad.
• Speaking of sad, yesterday was the last day of school and for kids of the 50 closing Chicago Public Schools, it was goodbye to their school world. Kids crave stability, and seeing the sadness of the kids, it makes one think that there should have been a better way to handle this…
• Enough sadness – back to sports. Tonight is game 7 of the NBA Finals and the Miami Heat have to be considered favorites, especially after forcing overtime in Game 6 after being down 5 points with less than 30 seconds left. Some very questionable foul calls once again revive the notion that the NBA will “influence” the outcome of games to at least prolong the series for money, if not have a strong rooting interest in the result. Again, all of the LeBron James haters are hoping and praying that Tim Duncan and the Spurs can pull the upset, but can they overcome the disappointment from Game 6?
• The story of Patriots’ tight end Aaron Hernandez is getting stranger. Hernandez has been linked to the investigation of a homicide of a Boston man. At first, there was talk of Hernandez being linked to a car in the area; now, a source with knowledge of the investigation said that Hernandez’s arrest is likely although it is not known what he would be charged with. Boston’s Fox 25 News, citing an anonymous source, reported that forensic evidence linked a vehicle driven by Hernandez at the crime scene. The television station also reported that Hernandez was with the homicide victim, Odin Lloyd, at a Boston bar the night of his death. A jogger found Lloyd’s body in an industrial park a mile from Hernandez’s North Attleboro, Mass., home on Monday. One would think that Bill Belichick could only handle one distraction at a time (Tim Tebow), but two, especially a murder investigation must be making “Darth Hoodie” nuts.

Unlike so many pundits, I am not surprised that the New England Patriots took a chance on signing Tim Tebow, it’s a calculated risk that costs them very little. No other team was willing to give Tebow a chance – he’s too raw, has too many flaws, and with his outspoken Christianity, he is the constant eye of a media hurricane. Plus, due to his popularity no team’s number one quarterback wants to have Tebow backing him up, one bad game from having people calling for Tebow to take over.
That is, of course, unless you have a future Hall of Famer playing the position. Tom Brady is the quarterback and he never has to look over his shoulder. Tebow can work on his technique, and if Josh McDaniels who drafted Tebow when he was the coach in Denver and Coach Bill Belichick can’t make an NFL QB out of him, they will convince him to play tight end or fullback. The Patriots got him cheap – 2 years with no guaranteed money.
Some people think that I despise Tebow based on what I’ve written, but that is not the case. I think the trade from Denver, and the year in New York has brought him down a few pegs. He does work hard and has worked very hard to get better. And like everyone else in life, he deserves a chance to be given one more shot. Will he develop or will he be the latest Eric Crouch, a running QB in college ill suited for the pro game? I think that the jury is still out.
The worst thing about Tebow of course, were two things – first, his endless Christian comments which made him a poster boy for the fundamentalist, right wing set; and how terribly he plays quarterback. Against prevent defenses, Tebow came up with big victories including a big playoff win while in Denver, but he has the lowest QB ratings and completion percentage of any signal-caller in the league.
Two final points I’d like to make: first, it is fun seeing Belichick facing the media in the light of Tebowmania. He kept saying – he’s smart, he works hard, we’ll see what happens. After repeating that mantra after several questions, the dour head coach said he’s taken enough questions about Tebow. It will be hilarious to see what happens if he ever plays.
Second, fellow NU alum and sportswriter/ESPN personality Michael Wilbon called it right – with Tebow playing so close to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., the station will be all-Tebow, all-the-time. It will be sickening.

Long time readers know that I’ve been bored by the NBA for a long time, and don’t usually pay it much attention, but a few things have crossed my mind this week:
• I was watching ESPN and they were publicizing a documentary on the NBA Network: “The Doctor.” Fortunately, the hotel I’m in this week has a large cable package. It was a 90 minute documentary on Julius Erving, and it was worthwhile television. Erving was my personal hero back in the 1970s and 80’s. A rumor while playing in the ABA because they weren’t broadcast especially in an NBA town like Chicago, when the leagues merged, we were finally able to watch Doctor J, and CBS and the NBA made sure his Philadelphia 76ers were on television nearly every week. It still wasn’t enough to keep the league afloat, the coming of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson saved the league, but the Doctor was the coolest, high flying ambassador the league had seen.
But he was pure class, and the special didn’t shy away from the death of Erving’s brother while in school at UMass, and it fully covered the death of his son and the dissolution of his long time marriage. (It did not cover, however, his out of wedlock child Alexandra Stevenson who was a top 20 tennis player several years ago.) But Erving showed that he is still classy, and he remains one of my heroes, even to this day.
• There is a story that the Brooklyn Nets are negotiating with the recently retired Jason Kidd for its open head coaching position (and there are reports that he has already been hired). Kidd was a fine player, maybe one of the top 10 point guards in league history, and I don’t doubt that he’s smart, but to go straight from the court to head coach on a contender is a big stretch. Assistant coach? Sure, but top man? I don’t think so.
• Speaking of coaches, the Nets, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies all made the playoffs, lost, and fired their coaches. The Nets were bounced by the Bulls, but was it a bit premature to fire P. J. Carlesimo? I always wondered if Carlesimo would ever get another job after being strangled by Latrell Sprewell in 1998.
George Karl is one of the better basketball minds in the NBA and he was a fixture in Denver. He helped the team rebuild after the team traded Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks. Karl will find a job elsewhere soon, but you have to wonder, who wants to walk into that situation.
The answer to that may be the Grizzlies former coach, Lionel Hollins. For some reason, Hollins and the team could not see eye to eye despite a long playoff run. Again, he won’t be unemployed long.
• Finally, we are in the middle of the NBA Finals and most of the world is still rooting against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. James is the best player in the world, and will end up being considered one of the best to ever play, but many people still have the bad taste in their mouths with the way he left Cleveland and the teaming of James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. But I don’t have that hatred anymore – I never wanted them to win a title, but now that they had last year, I was pretty much over it – whatever happened, happened.
But I admit that I am slightly rooting for the San Antonio Spurs. They are old, Tim Duncan is also one of the greatest players in league history too, but he is so low-key as to nearly be invisible except on the court. Manu Ginobili is also old, and Tony Parker has been injured a lot, but they have three championship rings and are two wins away from a fourth. Once again, James has pulled a disappearing act in a finals game. Recently, there have been numerous media stories comparing James to Michael Jordan, and while the their games are very different – Jordan was a high flying guard, James is a power/scoring forward, statistically, James is marginally the better player. But Jordan and Bird and Magic had a will to win, and came up big in every big game. Win or lose, these guys did their level best to win. James whines and complains and disappears. He says that he is trying to get other players involved, but Magic did it. Did he have a better supporting cast? I don’t know, but I know for sure that if Jordan or Bird needed to score, points would be flowing. They took the game into their hands and got it done.
All said, it would be interesting to see the fallout in Miami if the Heat loses.

When this story broke yesterday, the first thing I thought of was a line from the neat 1984 action film “Blue Thunder:” Warren Oates, in his last performance, told Roy Scheider “if you’re walking on eggs, don’t hop.”
Apparently, Major League Baseball has gotten Biogenesis director Tony Bosch to implicate about 20 big league players including Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun of using performance enhancing drugs. ESPN has been reporting that Baseball may seek 100 game suspensions of Rodriguez and Braun that would be the penalty for a second offense. Under this reasoning, the “first offence” would be use of PEDs, the second would be that they both lied about dealings with Biogenesis.
While Rodriguez and Braun are the big fish MLB is after, Melky Cabrera, who has already tested positive for PEDs and served a 50-game suspension, is on the Biogenesis list among others. A Rod, of course, admitted to having used drugs a few years ago when his drug test results from the early 2000s were coming to light. Braun of course, tested positive in 2011 after having been the 2010 National League MVP, was suspended 50 games, but the suspension was overturned by an independent arbitrator.
There are so many angles to this story. If they’re caught on the basis of Bosch’s evidence, can it be believed? Bosch is described as a low-life drug dealer who will do anything to save his own skin. Bosch’s cooperation is an attempt to reduce his potential liability on the suit baseball filed against Biogenesis, Bosch and six other company officials for intentionally interfering with players’ contracts. The hypothesis behind the suit is unusual: the suit alleges that the clinic and its employees induced players into buying prohibited PEDs, thereby breaching their employment contracts. Of course, that’s like suing a motorcycle maker for making a bike too powerful.
Regarding Rodriguez, the Yankees are stuck with his $250 million contract and would love to dump it. A Rod has been injured much of the last 2 seasons (weakness from PED use, perhaps?), and the on-the-field return on investment is low. Plus, Rodriguez will be 38 years old this summer and the Yankees are getting older in general. Derek Jeter is 39; Mariano Rivera is 44 and will be retiring at the end of the season.
On the other hand, Ryan Braun is 30 and, in my eyes and those of many others, lost credibility with his previous test failure and the aftermath. I tended to think that he was guilty, but took advantage of a technicality to save his own skin. That he is turning up again really tarnishes all of his achievements.
Most important, it seems like all of these guys, if true, are living in a fantasy world. Rodriguez admitted to using PEDs; Braun got caught but got away; Cabrera tested positive already. In Rodriguez’s and Cabrera’s cases, they both said that they had learned and would not do it again.
And where will the Players’ Union end up on this? In the past, the union has stood steadfast behind the players no matter what, but with over 20 years of union/management peace, and a realization that the two sides need to work together for the good of the game, how far will the union support cheats?
The only thing we know for certain is that this story is long from over. Baseball’s investigation is ongoing; penalties are only rumors at this point and nowhere close to being final. As we go forward, more lawyers will get into the mix and lawsuits will fly. All we do know is that this is yet another black eye for the national pastime and that many fans won’t care, but for some of us, the stink on the national pastime is becoming nearly unbearable.

There is a cover story on Sports Illustrated this week about the Stanley Cup Playoffs being the best tournament in sports. I haven’t read the article, and I am not going to compare and contrast the NHL Playoffs with the other major sports, Wimbledon, the World Cup, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the Olympics, and other sports events. But I will say that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are amongst the best events on the planet,
The hockey is top notch since every game is vital. Gone are the goon tactics of the regular season since no one wants to take stupid penalties. Also gone to a great extent is the open hockey of the regular season. In the playoffs, everything is contested; every play could extend or end a season.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have my Blackhawks still alive and doing well. The Hawks, President’s Trophy winners for having the most points in the regular season almost saw the season end after dropping behind 3-games-to-1 to the dreaded, hated Red Wings, but the Hawks played inspired hockey to tie and win the series in seven games.
I had the good fortune to be able to attend Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Kings and they played very well. After giving up an early fluke goal, they settled down and shut out L.A. for the rest of the night.
Game 2 was more wide open and the Hawks won Game 2. The Kings, seemingly undefeatable at home won last night 3-1 (with an empty net goal in the late stages). The Kings are defending champions and the Hawks know they have to work hard to finish them off.
Also, I have the good fortune to attend Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight. Work brings me to Boston and I’m staying 5 blocks from the TD Center. A quick visit to StubHub, and I have a ticket. The Bruins have made the Penguins look weak and feeble in games 1 and 2, and with the Bruins coming home, the Pens are in deep trouble. But it should be a lot of fun.
So, are the Stanley Cup Playoffs “the best?” I don’t know, but if not, they are damn close.

By now, everyone knows that my Chicago Blackhawks came from a 3-games-to-1-deficit to win three straight games and eliminate the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference semi-finals. There are lots of chants of “Detroit Sucks” even from me early in the series, but let’s face it – this was a series and a game 7 for the ages.
Detroit, the seventh seed, got past the second seed Anaheim in seven games, which on the face of it appeared to be an upset, but it really wasn’t. The Ducks had a great regular season, but did not perform that way against Detroit. And the Red Wings, the Blackhawks dreaded enemy, plainly beat us in game two, edged us in game three, and their playoff MVP Jimmy Howard shut us out in Game 4.
But we clawed and scratched our way back into the series, winning games 5 and 6, the latter being particularly impressive, leading 4-2 at Joe Lewis Arena until a last minute goal made the finish 4-3.
Last night, the Hawks took the lead on a pretty goal by Patrick Sharp with nifty assists from Marion Hossa and Michael Handzus. One of the Red Wings’ big guns, Zetterberg got them even early in the third period and the United Center nearly exploded when a goal by Niklas Hjalmarsson was disallowed with 1:47 left in the final period. But the Hawks prevailed in OT on Brent Seabrook’s wrist shot past Howard.
Some say the Red Wings should be playing the Kings Saturday, and they certainly gave the number 1 seeded Blackhawks all they could handle. Perhaps it will be the kick in the pants that the Hawks need.
I think back to 2010 when the Hawks won Lord Stanley’s Cup. In the same round, the Hawks were tied at 2 games each with Nashville, but Nashville had the lead late in Game 5. But Kane scored with less than a minute left in regulation; Marion Hossa took a questionable double minor in OT, but came out of the sin bin to score the winner. After that, we never fell behind in any series. Perhaps the same may happen this year (I hope).
But we will miss the Red Wings in our division and conference. Besides being neighbors 450 miles apart, and members of the Original Six; once we returned to prominence, they were a measuring stick for us, and over the past few years, a measuring stick for them as well. The jeers of “Detroit Sucks” may not be as lusty with only one home appearance per year at the United Center, but we have to tip our hats to a premiere franchise and rival.

Well, they’ve threatened it for a long time, but this week Joe Paterno’s family will file suit against the NCAA. The lawsuit is filed by the family along with several members of the Penn State Board of Trustees, faculty, former players and coaches. The suit claims that the report issued by former FBI director Louis Freeh was “fundamentally wrong, incomplete and inaccurate. The consent decree with Penn State was hastily imposed on the University, completely disregarding the rights of the affected parties.”
In summary, Joe Paterno led the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 seasons and was the winningest coach in college football history until the child molestation scandal involving his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky came to light. The report along with other evidence alleged that Paterno played a role in concealing it. As a result, the NCAA vacated 111 of his wins over a 14-year period, fined the school $60 million, reduced scholarships and banned it from bowl games for four years.
The suit is the second filed against the college sports governing body. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett filed an anti-trust lawsuit in January against the NCAA on the grounds that its punishments for the university are “overreaching and unlawful.”
This is the problem with the whole Penn State mess: the suing parties are all attacking the NCAA for punishing the football program. While the Paterno lawsuit may seek to discredit the Freeh report, the fact that Sandusky was found guilty and there seems to be little evidence to refute anything found in the report in open court says to me that this is sour grapes for the punishment. Even Sandusky in prison interviews seems saddest about the punishment the football program has been dealt. What about those abuse boys?
Don’t they get it? Perhaps the NCAA should have rules about punishment, but then again, we have never seen a scandal like this before. Kids were violated by a pedophile seemingly protected by the powers that be in the university to protect the football program. Doesn’t anyone see this as the tail wagging the dog?
Penn State’s former president and athletic director will be tried soon on obstruction of justice charges, and I’m sure that more of what Joe Paterno knew or didn’t know and when will come out. Will all of this legal activity exonerate Paterno? I don’t see how, but it is possible. The criminal trials are much more important than whether the NCAA can punish Penn State.