CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS: 5-1 ATS
CONFIDENCE EFFICIENCY RATING (CER): 73/104 or .70
TOP CONFIDENCE PICKS THROUGH DAY 18: 13-5 ATS
If you can think of any other way to analyze our stats, please post them in the comments section and we'll stretch this section out a bit. And add some sarcasm. The skinny version, as Larry David would say,
Unfortunately, I only have half of a post-game analysis for you today, because when four o'clock rolled around I remembered the pact Marco and I had made - after the Rip-Our-Still-Beating-Hearts-Out-of-Our-Chests Loss the Warriors suffered Monday night - never ever EVER to watch sports again.
"You can do this," I told myself, turned off the TV, and went on a mad search for my eternal To Do When There Are No Sports On list I began during the football playoffs - of 1987. As the list grew and expanded to multiple sheets of paper, a small three-ringed notebook, and eventually a hard covered journal, I decided to tuck it away in a drawer lest it taunt me on a daily basis during the unappreciated WNBA pre-season.
When I found the journal, I flipped it open and began a nostalgic stroll down memory lane. Not memories of things I actually did, but the memories of all the sporting events - historic to undeniably mundane - I had the privilege of watching instead of doing something with my life. Page after page after page listed the date, the intention (what I planned to do), the game I was watching when I penciled it in, and a check mark in red when I'd completed it. It read like this.
1. Oct. 14, 1989
Finish studying for geometry
A's/Giants World Series
No Check Mark
2. June 3, 1992
Buy cap/gown for graduation
Bulls/Blazers NBA Finals
No Check Mark
3. January 29, 1995
Ask Yasmina to marry me
Niners/Chargers Super Bowl
My wife's name is Carrie
And she gets me.
Not a single red check mark to be seen anywhere.
Needless to say, many of the To Do's were no longer current, but by 4:05 I was hard at work accomplishing the ones that were. As time passed, I became increasingly aware that it wasn't the cliche fear of failure that was preventing me from succeeding all these years, but rather the inconceivable consumption of time that sports fanaticism sucks from our finite existence. I became exhilarated by the prospects of my future, the untapped, unlimited potential I could finally reach with my new found alchemy of time and motivation.
Great read for new parents
I finished my daughter's baby book. I cleaned out the storage shed and turned it into an in-law unit. I wrote my first novelette, and then I wrote its sequel, and then I converted that into a screen play, sold the rights to Warner Brothers, and made myself the best fresh (home grown) fruit smoothie I've ever had in my life. With the whey protein I extracted by hand from the neighbor's cow, it gave me just the energy I needed to pave the driveway.
When six-thirty rolled around, my journal was full of check marks, our house was immaculate, I had written an apology letter to Yasmina for breaking up with her during the 2002 World Series (I guess there was one red check mark), and my soul felt cleansed and at peace. There was nothing left for me to do at that point but shut myself off from the rest of the world again and watch Game 2 of the Memphis Grizzlies Oklahoma City Thunder series.
And I did just that, taking pride in yet another successful ATS pick while marveling at the athletic talent on both teams. With all that talk about big men on Memphis dominating the game, it was Little Mike Conley who ultimately led the Grizzlies down the stretch to a pivotal road victory over the Thunder. More on Mike Conley when we preview Game 3 back in Memphis.
Today, the 19th consecutive one of our NBA Pick-a-thon, we get to watch or not watch another pair of Game 2's. Once again, we're splitting our home/road allegiance in the two games and hoping the chips continue to fall in the right place as they have been for almost three weeks now.
MIAMI HEAT (-12) over Chicago Bulls: Game 1 of this series brought back memories of Spike Lee hanging on a basketball rim saying, "Air Jordan. Air Jordan. Air Jordan." No wait, it was the other campaign where he said, "It's gotta be the shoes." Apparently, LeBron's James was promoting his new MVP shoe in the first half of Game 1, but ultimately found them uncomfortable and ineffective, switching back to his old pre-MVP shoes at halftime turning a 2 point start into a 24 point game.
Yikes. Now I'm even more impressed by the Bulls ability to stay focused on defense. Even more shocking than Miami's Game 1 loss is the fact that people pay in excess for $200 for LBJ high tops when you can still get Jimmy Butler knock offs for $20 at Payless.
As for Game 2, you bet Miami is going to come out and try to make a statement. No lead will feel safe, comfortable, or large enough to erase the humiliation of Monday's loss on MVP Night. Joakim Noah and company will do their darndest as they always do, but this time Miami finds a way to stretch the lead when they have it and force Chicago into catch-up mode, which they unfortunately don't have the offensive fire power for with Luol Deng, Kirk Heinrich, and Derrick Rose still sidelined. Give up the points and wait for an exciting game back in Chicago when the Bulls get some help from their injured reserves. Confidence Rating: 2 (more confident)
Golden State Warriors (+7.5) over SAN ANTONIO SPURS: According to Alias Sports Bureau or an interview with Warriors coach Mark Jackson on ESPN last night, four teams in NBA playoff basketball history have blown 18 point second half leads and lost. Besides the Warriors on Monday night, the other three all won the next game. I don't know or have the time to find out which teams those were, but unlike many sports analysts who have fallen prey to the moment, I still trust Mark Jackson. There was a lot of good to take away from that game, and unlike the Eastern Conference game above, the Warriors have both the offense and defensive capabilities to keep up with the Spurs. Mark (Jackson) my words - they will not let that sort of ending happen again. My prediction: with the Spurs loading up on Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson will get redemption for fouling out of Game 1 by leading all scorers in tonight's Warriors victory. Confidence Rating: 1
Good luck, dear readers. Enjoy the games, your bucket lists, or both.
Vinny and Marco
BONUS COVERAGE FROM KYLE'S CORNER IN CANADA
Our handicapper from north of the border has been fairing quite well in the NHL and MLB the past few days. Here are some more thoughts on today's line up from Kyle.
Mediocre'ish night for me:
MLB: 6-6-1 (The 1 was a no action because they changed starting pitchers which voids bets in baseball)
NHL: 4-1-1 * technically 4-2 but the goalie I said would get 30+ saves went down after 6 shots cause someone ran him, not cool to injure the one goalie ever with multiple sclerosis, poor guy :(
Of course I was in the green overall but I'm not happy unless I'm positive in both sports. Marco and Vinny did a great job again, another sweep! Well done!
My 3 day total:
MLB: 17-11-2
NHL: 9-4
So Wednesday!
I apologize for my mediocre MLB picks yesterday. To be fair, all my loses were absurdly close and could have, with a gust of wind, gone the other way. Funny how of the 4 bets on Pittsburgh v NYI the only one that didn't cash was Pittsburgh winning the game. As Alanis once wrote, "Isn't it ironic?"
Chicago did exactly what I thought they would do, dominate, and now with their first, and second string goalies injured, Minnesota is one more game away from finished, and trust me, they are finished without their goalies.
So enough with the recap and preamble that's the Vinster's and Marcus' job. On to Wednesday's Winrars:
NHL:
This is by far the hardest day of the NHL playoffs to pick, so with trepidation here are my Moneyline selections based on confidence:
1. Anaheim Ducks to beat Detroit.
2. Boston Bruins to beat Toronto.
3. Washington Capitals to beat New York.
The only pick here I really like is Anaheim, my 2/3 could go either way, they are both the superior teams but they are on the road. If there are any hockey fans here, St. Louis v Los Angeles is an absolute no-play. They are so evenly matched it's scary.
MLB:
Hot pitcher follow, M/L:
LAD: Kershaw (3-2, 1.66 ERA)
TB: Moore (5-0, 1.95 ERA)
STL: Westbrook (2-1, 1.07 ERA)
SEA: Hernandez (4-2, 1.60 ERA)
My favorites, the overs!
ATL: Minor (3-2, 3.26 ERA) @ CIN: Leake (2-1, 4.15 ERA) over 8
3-0 so far now that the early games are over, lets keep at it!
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