2022 Champions League (final)

Liverpool 0-1 Real Madrid

Dang, what a pass!

Well, not completely unexpected: Liverpool was the better team for 90 minutes, but Real made the right play, got the only goal and they are your 2022 Champions League Champions. Fun match, seems anti-climactic but not at all, there was a lot of good action throughout. Liverpool got desperate in the last 15 minutes or so, felt like Real might get another goal on the counterattack.

Liverpool had way more good chances, hit the post a coupla times, made Thibaut Courtois (man of the match!) make a number of killer saves, dominated possession. But they just never found the net and Real did. 

All the way this year's tourney, Real Madrid just kept finding ways to get by even though they felt overmatched most of the time. Karim Benzema was great, Vinicius Jr balled out consistently, and Courtois was the rock in the goal. But the rest of the squad felt disappointing to me. But, oh well, they are the champs (though I wouldn't be surprised if they're totally different next year).

2022 Champions League (semifinals)

1st Leg

Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid

Sometimes the offense is ready to play before the defense, I guess, because Man City scored in the 2nd minute (nice header from deBruyne on a perfect cross, while Real's defense was still warming up). Then when they scored in the 11th minute (another defensive lapse, felt like), seemed like Real Madrid was not gonna have enough to get back into the match. Well, there was still plenty more action, though Man City pretty well dominated the 1st half. Well before halftime Benzema was able to get Real on the board (Benzema is ballin'). Then Man City got another goal soon after halftime (another good header off another good cross--you would expect Real to shore up their defense at some point!). But Vinicius getting by the defense at midfield, off to the races, and the nice sneaky finish as the keeper was cooked and, well, it was a reminder that Real still has scoring power. Man City countered soon after (killer rip in the box) to put the lead back up to two goals. A weird handball in the box gave Real a free PK and Benzema buried it. The final score makes it look like a close game, but it really wasn't. Real had two beautiful chances that they converted and a fluke handball but for the vast majority of this game, Man City was by far the better squad. You'd expect Man City to finish this off back in Madrid, but this Real squad gets lucky, so it's not over yet. 

Liverpool 2-0 Villareal

Liverpool was the better team, kept up the attack for most of the game, really pretty much dominated the whole 90 minutes. Villareal did well to parry the Liverpool attack for 52 minutes, but once Liverpool got their first goal (bit of a fluky deflection), then quickly added another (sneaky pass from Salah to Mane in the box to poke past the keeper), it was kinda over. Liverpool had two more goals called off for offside (both correct calls), just to highlight the fact that Villareal was never in this match. Villareal needs to find some offense in the return match or this is over. 

2nd Leg

Villareal 2-3 (agg 2-5) Liverpool 

Villareal needed 2 goals to even it up and when they opened the match by scoring on their first possession, felt like we had a for-real barnburner. Villareal pretty well dominated the 1st half as Liverpool stayed sluggish at best (kinda lazy really), and added another goal right before halftime (nice header off a lovely cross) and the 2nd half was set to be must-see entertainment. But, then Liverpool showed up and straight dominated (throw in that Villareal's goalie had a nightmare of a game) and the aggregate score does not look competitive at all. And, on second thought, Villareal had one solid half of soccer but pretty much sucked in the other 3/4 and there you go, Liverpool is moving on. 

Real Madrid 3-1 (agg 6-5) Manchester City

Wow! I thought Man City was generally the better team, had better chances throughout and when they scored early in the 2nd half to give themselves a two goal lead in the aggregate, felt like this one was over. But, no, Real Madrid has been doing it the weird way all through this tournament and they managed to net 2 goals in extra time to send the match into OT. I still thought Man City was better and had better opportunities, but it was Real that got the PK (good call) that sent them on to the Final. 

Final

Well, this probably should be Liverpool-Man City, but Real Madrid prayed to all the right gods and find themselves here instead. On the Madrid side, Benzema is arguably the MVP of this whole tournament and Vinicius has played well, but, honestly, that's pretty much it. This Real side is not that impressive as you get away from the forwards up front. But, they have been lucky as hell and they do have two great forwards and that's not bad. Liverpool is a more complete team: they have the more reliable defense, I'd say better in midfield, too (love ya, Modric, but little past the prime at this point) and, like Real, they have good forwards, too. Obviously soccer is a low scoring game, upsets are certainly possible--and Real Madrid is as good at surprises as anyone!--but Liverpool is clearly the better team and in a 2-game set, I think they'd be a heavy favorite. But there's only one game and this Real Madrid has more lives than a curious car. I'll take Liverpool to pull it out, but I'm no longer shocked by anything Real does. Okay, we'll see.

2021-22 NBA Playoffs (2nd round)

East

Heat over Sixers in 6

Oh, man, the Sixers just suck. Joel Embiid coming in with a (sprained?) thumb ligament and broken orbital bone was a shell of himself, though he still acquitted himself well. James Harden had a coupla good games but more than anything just looked old (and fat) and left Sixer fans petrified that a $150 million-ish deal with him is probably a foregone conclusion (Process RIP). Tyrese Maxey balled out which at least gives the fans something hope for and Tobias Harris did his best but Danny Green tore his ACL in Game Six and is likely out for next season. Frankly the fact that they won two games is kind of amazing in retrospect. They have already announced that Coach Rivers will be back next season (good news or bad?) but figuring out what to do with Harden is going to vex this team for the rest of the summer (and likely beyond) and I just don't see how this squad comes back better next year. 

Celtics over Bucks in 7

This was a weird series, man.  Bucks won Game One in Boston, stealing home court away from the Celics. But the Celtics won Game Four in Milwaukee, stealing home court back. But then the Bucks won Game Five in Boston, then gave away Game Six in Milwaukee. In Game Seven, the Bucks came out strong in the 1st quarter but then just never got that aggressiveness back and this game slowly became a rout by the end with the 4th quarter never getting competitive in the least. The Celtics kinda sucked in 1 and 5, the Bucks kinda sucked in 6 and 7. I still think with Khris Middleton, the Bucks would've won (probably in 6) and they actually did pretty well to get to Game Seven. But considering that they had two shots to finish the series and gacked them both is troubling. I like Jrue Holiday's defense but offensively he has this weird knack of getting to the rim and then just not finishing (it's like he's money 90% of the play but then never delivers that last 10%). Giannis was mostly great but didn't get it done in the last two games and I don't really understand why; the Celtics couldn't really stop him but he let up on the attack too often. I was more impressed with Wesley Matthews on D than I had expected to be (damn, I thought that dude was washed a while ago). But Grayson Allen and George Hill were non-factors and Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton had moments but also kinda disappeared in the big moments. I still feel like with Middleton the Bucks would be good enough to get out of the East, so while this disappointing, it isn't catastrophic. 

West

Mavs over Suns in 7

The series was almost perfectly as I predicted for six games: the home team won each game and the Mavs in particular looked kinda dominant in their wins. But I thought Game Seven would be tight and the home team Suns would pull it out but...uh....nope...they did not. In fact, they played easily their worst game of the year--worst game in many years for most of these guys!--and Game Seven was long over by halftime (which is basically the way the Mavs had to win, right?). Oh, dude....Chis Paul was terrible, Devin Booker was terrible, Deandre Ayton was terrible, Mikal Brides was terrible, and Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, Landry Shamet and Cam Payne contributed not very much. The Suns couldn't buy a basket, couldn't get a stop and early in the 2nd quarter when they desperately needed a run, they had nothing. Wow, a devastating blowout for the Suns. (Okay, I'll be that guy) I never believed in Chris Paul as a playoff performer and this shows exactly why: in series after series against better and better opponents, Paul can be minimized and pushed aside. Last year's trip to the Finals was waaaaaaay further than I ever thought he could go and at no point this year did I think the Suns would be repeating out of the West (though they obviously had a great regular season). Didn't think it would go down like this, but it was gonna go down some time. There's already rumbling that Ayton is not coming back and I don't see how that makes this team better. They'll still have a solid core (and will return Dario Saric) but I don't see them being better next year, so the Suns have probably already set. 

Warriors over Grizzlies in 6

This, too, went the way I thought it would. The Grizzlies are fun to watch, up and coming, a good collection of talent, all that and all that, but they're young, man, and green squads never go deep in the NBA. The fact they've now had a legit playoff run (even scored themselves a 39-point thrashing of the vaunted Warriors) puts them in the top tier in the West (especially considering that the Suns and the Jazz don't seem likely to be better next year). The Grizzlies also have a weird secret weapon: somehow they're better without Ja Morant (don't ask me, man, I don't get it either). They're probably gonna lose Tyus Jones to free agency but they have two 1st round picks (possibly three, if the Lakers/Pelican pick ping pongs their way) and they have drafted well over the years, so I would expect them to fill out their bench on the cheap (does this mean RFA Jarret Culver moves on, too?). The Grizzlies were a legit #2 in the West and I expect them to be back in the top 4 next season, too. 

Semifinals

(1) Heat - (2) Celtics

Yeah, I listen to the Celtics guys, too, and I understand their enthusiasm; but I can't help but point out how dismissive they've been of the Heat. The Heat's problem is their spotty offense: when they knock down shots, they win games and when they don't knock down shots, they lose. Since they have the home court advantage, I'm going with the Heat to find their offensive mojo enough to win this series. I'm not that worried about Kyle Lowry potentially being unavailable because, well, honestly I hadn't noticed Lowry being there all year long anyway; so anything they get from Lowry is a bonus and not having him is not really a minus. The Celtics, on the other hand, will likely be without Robert Williams and while in the grand scheme of things Lowry is a Hall of Famer and Williams is the guy who fell asleep on draft night, the Celtics will miss Williams more than the Heat will miss Lowry: the mid-season resurrection of the Celtics is because they finally figured out how to use Williams as that holy grail rim protector which gave DPOY (*) Marcus Smart the room to roam and that's the real secret to the Celtic success this year. Without him, the Celtics are gonna be hard pressed to keep Bam Adebayo from getting to the rim and there you have it, I think the Heat outscore the Celtics in four of the next seven games (1,2,5,7 to be precise). I got the Heat in 7.

(3) Warriors - (4) Mavs

So are the Mavs a fluke or are they really supposed to be here? Are the Warriors really good enough to win it all again or has this season been a mirage? I have no idea about either of those questions and that's why this series is so fun! I thought the Warriors would have a bounce back year, so I'm not shocked that they're here; but, in the last two months or so they haven't really found themselves yet. Draymond Green just does not shoot the ball at all any more, Klay Thompson has good games and terrible games, Andrew Wiggins made the All-Star team but hasn't been a consistent contributor for a while now and Steph Curry has been good but not great. This team is kinda carried for the most part by Jordan Poole (and their best defender was Gary Payton II, who is out with a broken elbow). And their playoff draw so far has been the tough but outmanned Nuggets and the tough but youthful Grizzlies, so it doesn't feel like they've worked as hard to get to this point as the Mavs. The Mavs are a one-man team but when Luka Doncic is on, he's as good as anyone on planet Earth at the game of basketball and the Warriors have no one to guard him. Honestly, I'd ignore Luka, let him get him 50 every night and worry about shutting down everyone else. The Warriors best bet is to rely on their scoring, a mercurial way to live, but since they can't stop Luka anyway, they need to make sure they outscore the rest of the Mavs roster, which--at their best--the Warriors should be able to do with ease. Long story short: the best version of the Warriors is better than the Mavs but the average Mavs are better than the average Warriors, so the Warriors need to be their best to win this series and I think they'll get close enough to get it done. Warriors in 7. 

(*) I did not vote for Marcus Smart. Good perimeter defender, tough guy, good to have on your team but not in my top five for DPOY this season. Yes, I suck at evaluating defense, but since I'm not convinced that anyone is good at evaluating defense (outside of David Thorpe and perhaps a handful of coaches no one has ever heard of), I'll stand by my judgement. Oh, I did have Robert Williams in my top five....but not Marcus Smart.

2022 Kentucky Derby

I love gambling and animals and day drinking and pointless gatherings and Kentucky--seems like I'd love horse racing, right? I don't. Horse racing is fucking gross and we should be ashamed of ourselves for inflicting this torturous life on so many beautiful animals. 

Okay, fine, if these high level thoroughbred competitions were the only horse racing there was, then I'd be cool with it. If a handful of horses were only going to race a handful of times then, hell, I'd even be cool with whipping them and abusing them if it was just a brief taste of how fast they could run and how hard they could compete. 

That's not what horse racing is. Horse racing a grubby business of grubby people in grubby places putting on grubby entertainment that more or less mutilates the lives of thousands of cool ass quadrupeds who deserve more love than they get from us. (Oh, and it manipulates poor, stupid people to waste their money on foolish games of chance....there's that, too)

But then Rich Strike comes along and I am reminded that even horses deserve to wallow in the appreciation of their greatness just like their human counterparts. If this was the only race of Rich Strike's life, I'm cool with it. (And it might be--at his level he's already too expensive to just put on the track....or maybe not, I dunno, maybe he's got a life of getting shipped like an Amazon package to California then Florida then England then Ohio ahead of him) But I can't help feeling that this poor animal has already endured more suffering than he deserves and probably has a lot more ahead of him.  

We're living in turbulent times, things are changing right in front of us and I'd love to suggest that the next disgusting relic of the past we should discard is horse racing. In short, I feel bad for posting this clip because the way these animals are treated is an abomination. But, god damn, what a run!

2021-22 NBA Playoffs (1st round)

East

Heat over Hawks in 5

I bought the Hawks playoff run last year, you know? I finally saw the possibilities of Trae Young and I thought that roster was perfectly constructed for them to rattle off regular season W's without much effort and finish top 4 in the East. Nope. Not at any point in the year were the Hawks particularly impressive. They picked it up in March, felt like they were playing their best ball going into the post-season. But, meh, none of that. The Hawks struggled in all five games, got lucky as hell in the one W they stole. They were outmatched in every way (though Deandre Hunter definitely had a bust out playoff) and the Gentleman's Sweep is frankly better than they deserved. Where do they go from here? I have no idea. Last year I overrated them, next season is the return to underrated, I presume. 

Celtics over Nets in 4

The Nets were the Vegas favorite to represent the East in the Finals this year, as of October 2021. Dang, didn't even get a single playoff win! All the wheeling and dealing, all the gathering of star power, in the end it was pretty much just Kevin Durant with a supporting cast worse than the one he bought into 3 years ago. How weird, man. Kyrie has done nothing since leaving Cleveland and while he clearly still has great offensive capabilities, he don't seem like the money he used to seem like. And he can't carry a team by himself anymore--can't even co-carry one with KD! This team is a mess and in a really bad way and I feel bad for Durant, he's still kinda awesome but he has surrounded himself with idiots (and pour one out for Coach Nash: clearly dedicated to KD but all the rest of the nonsense he's had to put up with is the worst kind of nightmare). Will they be back next year? I don't think so. They are bloated and top heavy and could sink all the way to the better bottom of the East River (to say nothing of the conference). They will re-sign Kyrie and that contract will own this team for the foreseeable future. They can move on Ben Simmons, but does anyone want him any more? And if he wins his case against the Sixers, isn't that just paying him to not play? Who wants this guy? And does Simmons even want to play basketball? This is what Durant and Nash are tethered to from now on. That's gruesome.

Bucks over Bulls in 5

If I told you the Bucks would win in Five, you'd be like, 'yeah probably'. But the Gentleman's Sweep kinda entails the losing team winning either Game Three or Game Four at home. In this case the Bulls won Game Two in Milwaukee--and looked kinda cool doing it!--and for a second, everybody panicked. And then when Khris Middleton got hurt, everybody really panicked....for a second. Then Giannis dusted off the Bulls three straight, just like we knew would happen, and we on to the next round. The Bulls are one of those half-assed dangerous teams, they're a hand grenade with a broken pin: probably useless but could maybe make one really big boom. This team is crafty and savvy, at their best a really fun offense to watch, but they're strictly a regular season juggernaut that will cave to superior teams in series play. They'd be better with a healthy Lonzo Ball and whether they bring back Zach LaVine or replace him, they'll probably just be treading the same water as this season. They have the depth and talent to be pretty good but I don't see them getting any better than that. 

Sixers over Raptors in 6

Sixers went up 3-0, then dropped two games and the fear was palpable. But Embiid was his brilliant self in Game Six and the Raptors just couldn't get their offense right and got rolled. The Raptors are gonna be the same fun, pretty good but probably unreliable squad. They could make changes but my guess is they pretty much are what they are and it'll depend on how much development Paskal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Scottie Barnes have in them (which should last them a few years at least). Their average is better than most teams' average, so one must outplay them every time. That's who the Raptors are and that's who they'll be next year, too. More wins....fewer wins...I dunno. 

West 

Suns over Pelicans in 6

The Pelicans played hard, really made the Suns work and looked pretty damn good in their two wins. Now you see what a good team they could be if they just get Zion back to playing shape. They've got a top 10 pick, I think they're pretty will situated to add some good cheap talent and re-insert their star into this hard working crew and they'll be challenging for top 6 in the West next year. 

Grizzlies over Wolves in 6

The Grizzlies were generally the better team but the Wolves built a lot of leads they couldn't hold, suggesting that the gap between the two teams is close (and that Wolves just kinda suck at "winning"). The Wolves probably don't have a lot of moves to make (does Ben Simmons make them better or worse?), they just need to mature and get better from within. Will that happen? I dunno, but the sooner it happens, the better (Pelicans are coming! And the Grizzlies are already past you!). 

Warriors over Nuggets in 6

The Warriors were the better team from start to finish but the Nuggets (re: Nikola Jokic) played with a lot of toughness, a lot of creativity and they made the Warriors work for it every night (probably exactly what the Warriors needed to get themselves going). The Nuggets just need to get healthy. Its not hard to see how much much much better this squad is when Jamal Murray and Michael Porter are healthy. Are there upgrades to make? Maybe, but just getting what they got together would return them to the a top 6 in the West. 

Mavs over Jazz in 6

Man, the Jazz kinda sucked in this series; not as bad as the Knicks sucked last year, but I'd put them up for the sucked-est performance in this year's post-season (yeah, worse than the Hawks and Nets). Luka Doncic was out for the first three games and Utah only managed 1 win...I mean...how do you expect to win if you're gonna get outplayed by the non-Luka version of the Mavs? The Jazz have descended deep into blow-it-up mode, I expect the Jazz to be wildly different next season (I think I still expect Donovan Mitchell but not necessarily). This tepid performance just shows that this team has run its course. 

Quarterfinals

(1) Heat - (4) Sixers

With Embiid the Sixers can hang, maybe even steal a Game Seven in Miami; without Embiid the Heat are vastly better than the Sixers and should win in 7 (maybe 6). Embiid suffered a fractured orbital bone--which strikes me as very big deal, you gotta figure he's out at least two games (and you should probably expect one totally shit game when he comes back). I don't see how the Sixers overcome that. If James Harden becomes old timey Harden, I think that's good for 2-3 wins, but I don't think that alone wins the series for the Sixers. I think Tobias Harris is criminally underappreciated (*) and Tyrese Maxey is in full blossom right now, but Harden would have to be full-on badass Harden again--I think he still has that in him but not right now, not in this playoff, not against this Heat team. Even still, I don't think that wins. I think the Heat are the better team, the deeper team, the more reliable team on offense and defense, the better coach, the better "culture", and they have home court. The Heat are the better team with or without Embiid or Harden. Just too many "ifs" with this Sixer team, whereas the Heat are kinda rolling. I think the Heat are up 3-2 after Game Five, I think Game Six is tossup, I think the Heat crush in Game Seven. Heat in 7 (maybe 6). 

(2) Celtics - (3) Bucks

The Bucks have been my pick to come out of the East pretty much all year long. But going into Boston without Khris Middleton could be too much to overcome. Giannis is absolutely at bestest, peakest Giannis yet and he's gonna be tough to beat, but I think the Celtics as a team are better than the Bucks (without Middleton). If/when Middleton comes back, I think the Celtics advantage diminishes but probably still holds. I think Jaysun Tatum is ready to blow up, the rest of the Celtics are a well-oiled machine, the Celtics are gonna be tough to beat, too. I got Celtics in 7.  

(1) Suns - (4) Mavs

The Suns have mowed people all year long but looked as weak as they have in a while against the Pelicans in the 1st round (**) and Devin Booker is nursing a hammy. The Mavs are a weird team but I kinda like them and they go as Luka goes. You'd think the Suns could bowl over a one-man band but in the playoffs sometimes putting all the power in one guy works beautifully. The Suns are better but hot Luka on the right night is tough to stop. So I'm going full neutral: home team wins every game, Mavs look crazy dominant in their W's, while the Suns just look kinda okay in their wins. But in Game Seven with 2 minutes to go, who ya got: Chris Paul or Luka Doncic? I'll take CP and the Suns crew at home. Suns in 7.

(2) Grizzlies - (3) Warriors

Yeah, the Grizzlies are a fun team, great story, but they're green, baby. The Warriors are just better and when they get their offense cranked up, the Grizzlies won't be able to hang. No way the Grizzlies win four of the next seven games (inconceivable!). Taking two off the Warriors will be impressive enough. Quick prediction: I think we see a lot of Jonathon Kuminga in this series (as opposed to the Denver series, where he was never gonna get even mop up minutes). I'll say Warriors up 3-1 returning to Memphis for Game Five (Grizzlies W). Warriors in 6. 

(*) Why do we rag so hard on Tobias Harris? He's the only one that actually shows up and plays games any more! Maybe his overall effect on the court would be improved if he didn't spend his entire career surrounded by jughead divas!

(**) Or perhaps it's the opposite: perhaps the Pelicans are really much better than we thought they were and it took superior Suns effort to brush them aside so casually.