NBA Finals Game 6 Live Blog

Game 6: Mavericks @ Heat 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

NBA Finals Game 5 Live Blog

Bill Simmons can't predict the future!

Game 5: Heat @ Mavericks 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

NBA Finals Game 4 Live Blog

Despite being officially hired as the Golden State Warriors head coach yesterday, Mark Jackson will finish up the NBA Finals on ABC, much like Doug Collins did last year with TNT after he got hired by the 76ers.

Game 4: Heat @ Mavericks 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

NBA Finals Game 3 Live Blog

Game 3: Heat @ Mavericks 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

Mavericks Tie The NBA Finals With An Incredible Comeback

Down by 15 with 6:28 left in the 4th quarter, the Dallas Mavericks pulled off an NBA Finals comeback for the ages. Here are the thrilling last 10 seconds of the game, courtesy of bubbaprog.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

NBA Finals Game 2 Live Blog

I'm personally hoping for Dirk to have a big game and for Dallas to win, just so "Dirk NoRingski" can stop trending on Twitter.

Game 2: Mavericks @ Heat 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

NBA Finals Game 1 Live Blog

Game 1: Mavericks @ Heat 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

2011 NBA Finals Schedule

Well the NBA Finals are here and for the first time that I can remember, they are starting before the Stanley Cup Finals. It's the Mavs and the Heat playing for the trophy. Personally, I am rooting for the rapture to happen and to take both of these teams and their fanbases with them, but I also rooted for the 76ers to beat Wade, LeBron,and Bosh. Fortunately, they did that. Unfortunately, they could not beat Joel Anthony, and thus the Heat won. So that goes to show how much my rooting impacts things. Anyways, here is your schedule with announcers. For once the NBA have not gone insane with their schedule. Live blog Tuesday night. Be there or be square. (all times ET)

NBA Finals

#3 Dallas Mavericks vs. #2 Miami Heat

Game 1: May 31: Mavericks @ Heat 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)
Game 2: June 2: Mavericks @ Heat 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)
Game 3: June 5: Heat @ Mavericks 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)
Game 4: June 7: Heat @ Mavericks 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)
Game 5: June 9: Heat @ Mavericks 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)
Game 6: June 12: Mavericks @ Heat 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)
Game 7: June 14: Heat @ Mavericks 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

The Highlight Of The Night....

....is not a video. That game was a massacre and while my congratulations go out to the Lakers and The Pride And Joy Of Lower Merion High School, Kobe Bryant (even though the ensuing ESPN circle jerk will last for the next year), no video or highlight is worthy enough to be put on here. I put this up on the live blog, but for those who missed it or just want to see it again, let's play Find The ESPN Typo!



It must be Jeff Van Gundy's fault. He does not want you to believe that it was his brother's Magic that was losing by 12...

NBA Playoffs Day 43 Live Blog (Finals Game 5)

Tonight's game.....

Game 5: Los Angeles @ Orlando 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

Will the Lakers win the championship tonight or will the Magic stay alive and force a trip back to the Staples Center? Enjoy the game and leave comments in the blog, unless you're Nathan and his 454,543 aliases, in which case if you do show up, I'll expose the video of you from Thursday night. And a little FYI, I may be in and out tonight (get your minds out of the gutter, not like that) and I may miss a good part of the 1st quarter.

NHL Playoffs Day 43 And NBA Playoffs Day 41 Live Blog (Where Gary Bettman is Sitting At Home Getting Drunk And Wearing A Crosby Jersey)

Tonight's games......

Game 6: Detroit @ Pittsburgh 8:00 (NBC - Mike Emrick and Ed Olczyk, ItG: Pierre McGuire) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, SR: Elliotte Friedman and Scott Oake) (RDS)

Game 3: Los Angeles @ Orlando 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

Enjoy the game and leave comments in the blog below. That is unless you're a troll named Nathan and/or a sports reporter from Pittsburgh and/or Orlando and/or you're Tyler and/or Tom and/or one of his other 4,390,901 aliases Nathan Brice employs to try to shut down blogs.

NBA Playoffs Day 40 Live Blog (Finals Game 2)

Tonight's game.....

Game 2: Orlando @ Los Angeles 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

Let's hope this game is closer than Game 1 was! Enjoy the game and feel free to leave comments in the blog as long as you're not Nathan using one of his 2,098,501 aliases!

NHL Playoffs Day 41 (Finals Game 4) And NBA Playoffs Day 39 (Finals Game 1) Live Blog

Thanks to the Idicoy That Is Gary Bettman, we have The Great Confliction! So join me as I go back and forth and back and forth between games, trying to cover all of the action for you. It should be a great time!

Tonight's games....

Game 4: Detroit @ Pittsburgh 8:00 (Versus - Mike Emrick and Ed Olczyk, SR: Bob Harwood and Christine Simpson) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, SR: Elliotte Friedman and Scott Oake) (RDS)

Game 1: Orlando @ Los Angeles 9:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Doris Burke)

Enjoy the game and the blog and leave comments! Oh, and if you're a troll named Nathan Brice operating under some weird analyst, don't even bother showing up!

The Commander-In-Swish Is At It Again

We all know how publicized it was when President Obama made his predictions and filled out a bracket for the NCAA Tournament. Not only that, but he also correctly predicted North Carolina winning the whole sha-bang, which they ended up doing. And while it certainly was not a remarkable feat as the Tar Heels were one of the tourney favorites, but it certainly gives him some credibility when it comes to this sort of stuff. Which is why special attention should be made to his prediction of the NBA Finals between the Magic and the Lakers. The prediction: Lakers in 6. Via Yahoo! News

[President Obama] was on his way to the Marine One helicopter on the South Lawn on Tuesday when a reporter shouted a question. The topic: Who is going to win the NBA championship, the Los Angeles Lakers or the Orlando Magic?

Said the smiling president: "Lakers in six, I think." In sports terms, that means the Lakers will win the best-of-seven series in six games. The series begins Thursday.

That settles it, then! The Lakers will take the title in 6 games. Hey, wait a minute, that's my prediction as well! Oh no....something's gotta give here. When it comes to predictions I'm never right and apparently President Obama is never wrong. This could get interesting....

And do join us for the live blog of The Great Confliction (right next to the Great Schism in terms of pivotal moments in history) on Thursday night right here beginning with Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals starting at 8 and eventually running into Game 1 of the NBA Finals starting at 9. Unless one game is a blowout, I'll be channel switching like crazy throughout the night. Even though Gary Bettman is a complete ass for allowing this to happen (Bettman being an ass is old news, but you get my point), it should still be a whole lotta fun.

Can Jeff Van Gundy Be Impartial?

As we all know, Jeff Van Gundy is going to work along side Mike Breen and Mark Jackson calling the NBA Finals. And also as we all know, Jeff Van Gundy is the brother of Orlando Magic head coach, Stan Van Gundy. But the question is, can Van Gundy be a fair and impartial broadcaster with his brother on the other side of the court, coaching his team in an NBA Championship? It also adds fuel to the fire that no Van Gundy has an NBA Finals championship to their name. Michael Hiestand in the USA Today has a very interesting column on this matter.

Jeff Van Gundy says he last week asked his producer, who then talked to ESPN/ABC higher-ups, if he should be dropped from the on-air team — with analyst Mark Jackson and play-by-play announcer Mike Breen — scheduled to call ABC's NBA Finals. "I had absolutely no problems if they wanted to take me off games and put me in the studio or take me off altogether. It was right to discuss it. I'd be fine with anything. They're going to get criticized either way."

Undoubtedly. But Sunday, Van Gundy says he still has his assignment even after his sole sibling Stan coached Orlando to a win over Cleveland Saturday night and a berth against the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals.

Not that Jeff could watch that win. He couldn't bring himself to watch any of Orlando's playoff games live — "I take long walks and hope for the best" — and Saturday night went to a college baseball game "to kill time." He was ambling outside his house when he checked the score with 1:49 to play and felt Orlando's win was secure and thus the end was watchable.

Expect raw on-air emotion from Jeff if Stan's team clinches the title. In 2001, Fox's DarrellWaltrip choked up as brother Michael bore in on a Daytona 500 win. ABC's Bob Griese, who initially didn't call his son Brian's Michigan football games, was teary as Brian quarterbacked his team to a 1998 Rose Bowl win.

Van Gundy has hinted how he might react to an Orlando title, saying he might "cower" in a "fetal position." Don't laugh. "People take that as a joke. That's not a joke."

Jeff, who coached New York to the NBA Finals in 1999, says he won't be hard on Stan. Not because the coach is his brother. As an ex-coach open to returning to coaching — but not, says Jeff, "in the near future" — he's always easy on coaches on-air. "To think I'd sit there and go at my brother, that's just not happening. I was talking about this with Mark (Jackson). He said, 'You don't criticize coaches anyway.' And that's true."

Van Gundy will skip pregame talks with the Lakers — "I don't want them to be uncomfortable" — and isn't talking much during the playoff grind with Orlando's coach: Jeff and Stan usually talk every other day, but only about once per week during the postseason.

Van Gundy isn't promising on-air objectivity. "The myth of objectivity is just that. Everybody has their biases and prejudices. … I'm going to try to be objective, but I want my brother's team to win." Jeff, who says he and Stan figured they'd go into coaching "as soon as we hit high school," sounds almost protective: "The media has taken liberties with Stan. … They've taken shots at how he looks."

ESPN/ABC might have handled Finals coverage more creatively. Van Gundy works well with Jackson, whom he coached at New York and Houston. But Jackson could have moved to the studio to swap roles with Magic Johnson, the ex-Laker star who's now a team executive. Van Gundy and Johnson, on games, could then spar like two passionate fans — albeit ones with expertise. (Memo to ESPN/ABC: It's not too late.)

I would guess that not many people are giddy over JVG calling a championship series with his brother in it, but from the perspective of a sports fan who is borderline obsessed with announcers and not the biggest basketball fan in the world, I think this is interesting stuff and I am eager to hear Van Gundy on the call of the championship. It certainly won't be the most objectively called champinship there has ever been, and while that at some points could get irritating, the highs and lows and the emotions that Jeff Van Gundy will go through as he nervously and anxiously watches his brother could make for some rather compelling television and interesting moments in the broadcast booth. In a championship series that does not necessarily scream compelling at you, assuming Jeff Van Gundy stays with his assignments and calls the series throughout, this is definitley the type of thing that can keep me interested in the series throughout its duration and eagerly anticipating game days and the live blogs as this should make for some fun discussions.

2009 NBA Finals Schedule

It's the all Mickey Mouse NBA Finals! And Disney/ABC/ESPN probably could not be happier with the fact that people will be flocking to their neck of the woods during for the next couple weeks during the NBA Finals. With that being said, here's your official schedule for the 2009 NBA finals between the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers!

#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #3 Orlando Magic
Game 1: Lakers 100-75
Game 2: Lakers 101-96 F/OT
Game 3: Magic 108-104
Game 4: Lakers 99-91 F/OT
Game 5: Lakers 99-86
Los Angeles wins the series 4-1.

Now that's more of how a finals schedule is supposed to look like! Not that emergency catastrophe of a schedule that Bettman and NBC thew together at the last minute because NBC is way too protective of their May sweeps and Bettman is a complete moron and a complete ass. And I will no longer make "it's been a long day and I'm tired" as an excuse to not live blog games. Sure there will be days when I am tired but I won't let that stop the live blogging fun. And we've got Jeff Van Gundy calling the finals of a series that his brother, Stan Van Gundy, is coaching. This should be very interesting to watch and very fun to live blog...

And yes, I am also live blogging Game 2 of the Stanley Cup tonight. I'll be sending the email out shortly and I hope to see you there.