Get your Sport Maven Dog

There was a lot of action this past week, and a lot going on this upcoming week with playoffs and the such in full swing. Don't forget to put ketchup and mustard on your concession weenie this week, with the post of "ketchup" catching you up on the past weekend madness and the "mustard" to add spice to your weekly conversations on sports.

The Ketchup

A little Lakers and some Nuggets: Two great games this past weekend. The series is tied at 2-2 at the moment and is looking to extend through the full 7 games. Neither team seems at full advantage playing at home, although last nights game in Denver seemed to get and extra boost from the crowd to keep the Lakers at bay the entire time. The big news is that Carmelo Anthony was playing super crappy because of stomach problems and a sprained ankle; but the other players including J.R. Smith, Nene, Billups, Kenyon Martin... actually everyone played phenomenal. Game 5 is back in L.A. and has huge implications on who might take the series.

Add some Cavalier and a pinch of Magic: Tonight the Magic play the Cavaliers at 8:30pm in Orlando. The Magic have been playing well at home and are hoping to take a dominant 3-1 lead over the Cavs. Over the weekend, LeBron James hit a 3-pointer with1.0 seconds left on the clock in Cleveland. If it weren't for that shot, the Cavs, looking championship or broke, could have been staring at a 3-0 Magic series lead. Instead, if the Cavs win tonight, the series will tied at 2 and2 of the last 3 games in King LeBron's court (Cleveland).

Can you add a side of Red Wings and BlackHawks to the order?: Over the weekend, the Red Wings took a dominating 3-1 series lead over Chicago behind the magnificent play by Hossa and Fillpula during the playoffs. The Red Wings hope to finish of the Hawks Wednesday night during game 5 at home.

Hold the Hurricane this time but definitely load on the Pittsburgh: Penguins are dominating the Hurricanes and seem to have had a larger test while playing Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Hurricanes scoring at will and Fleury blocking everything in the net. Canes expected to pack it up tonight at home.

On the side fries, how much would it cost to cake on some of that NBA Lottery?: The LA Clippers have rights to the first pick in the upcoming NBA draft and are most likely going to take Blake Griffin although there might be some changes with Ricky Rubio and his agent trying to land him in L.A. Memphis has the second pick and Oklahoma City the 3rd.

Do you have any Orange slices?: Syracuse University destroyed Duke 17-7 and met Cornell in the National championship game. It took overtime to beat Cornell in 10-9, and claim their 11th National Championship and 5th under coach Jon Desko. Go Cuse!
The Mustard

Can I make the order Rachel Alexandra sized?: The Belmont Stakes is coming up in a few and owners of philly Rachel Alexandra are hesitant to place the female horse in the race citing that she is not ready and also has nothing to prove.

Can I get the secret Cleveland Indians and Ray sauce?: The Cleveland Indians scored 9 in the 8th and 9th innings last night to surprise the Tampa Bay Rays 11-10 last night in Cleveland. The Rays-indians will compete in a 4 game series. The Indians have not won in Cleveland since the 2005 season and have lost 14 in a row. Let me repeat that, 14 in a row in Cleveland.

I need a second order of the same for my friend Serena Williams: Serena Williams in action this week in the French Open as the #2 seed. She was beating Czech player Klara Zakopalova at the time of this posting. On Wednesday she and her sister compete in the first round of doubles in the 2009 french Open.

Good Week to be a Sports Fan

The last few weeks have been good to the sports fan. Almost all sports shared a little bit of the limelight and there has been a lot of action lately between the NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs, the MLB season, horse racing, Euro soccer Boxing, and NASCAR. Lets get you caught up on what is happening right now in each sport.

NBA Playoffs
The Conference Finals have been decided and are about to get underway. The last two teams representing the Eastern Conference are the #1 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and the #3 Orlando Magic. The Cavs and LeBron James have swept two series so far in the playoffs, and look to try the same against the Magic. The Magic may prove a little more difficult for the Cavaliers than the others because the Magic are the only team in the league with a regular season winning record against the Cavs winning 2 of 3. Hedo Turkoglu matches up well against LeBron James and should be able to muscle him around more than others have. The two teams representing the West are the #1 seeded Los Angeles Lakers and the #2 Denver Nuggets. This will be a very physical series and the Nuggets strength is the Lakers weakness. The Nuggets have a point presence and the Lakers have shown this season that they are unable to guard against teams with a strong point. The Rockets took 3 of 7 from the Lakers with the use of Landry and Brooks controlling the point. The Nuggets have a much better point presence in Chauncy Billups and Dahntay Jones. The 4 teams features in the Conference Finals are all plaing their best basketball of the season and the games i will imagine will all carry to game 7's.

NHL Playoffs
The NHL is also down to it's Conference Finals with the East game pairing up The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes; and the West hosting the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Penguins have the playoffs equivilent of "Wayne Gretzsky" in Sidney Crosby and the leagues top goalie and will have it out against the NHL's best defense in the Hurricanes. Should be a great matchup. The Red Wings are playing magnificent hockey right now and won 4 of 6 regular season matches against the Hawks including embarrassing the Hawks during the outdoor Winter Classic at the beginning of the season. The Blackhawks are young, but have a lot of fire and are peaking at the right time. The offense led by Martin Havlot (who has scored 6 goals in the last 5 games), and Andrew Ladd could do some damage to the Red Wings.

MLB Season
The MLB season is beginning to mature and some teams are beginning to show their dominance in the league. There are players that are having a large impact on the teams that they are playing with and trades that have been paying off significantly. Raul Ibanez is playing his best ball for the Phillies and juan Pierre is playing well as Manny Ramirez's replacement. Evan Longoria continues to improve with each game and new stars are emerging in Brandon Inge and kansas City pitcher Zack Greinke who so far has pitched 60 innings and has a .60 ERA. See standing s here: MLB Standings

Horse Racing
The June 6th Belmont Stakes are upon us, the third leg of the Triple Crown. The Kentcky Derby was won by 'Mine that Bird' and the Preakness was won by horse 'Rachel Alexandra'. 'Mine That Bird' placed second in the Preakness Stakes and did not race in the Derby. 'Mine That Bird' is a Medaglia d'Oro filly and was the only female horse to race in the Derby. It is unsure whether 'Rachel Alexandra' will race in the Belmont Stakes; if she does, then there could be a possible exciting showdown.
Euro Soccer
The Championship Euro Final will match up the Manchester United and Barcelona on May 27th at 2:45pm ET. This matchup will pair the two biggest stars right now Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.