Category: Cue Cards

Cue Cards 6-24-13

stk321064rknCue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Sport: Hockey
Teams: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins
When: Saturday night, 6-22-13
Context: Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The series was tied 2-2.
Result: Blackhawks win 3-1
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • The cup will be in the house. For the first time, the Stanley Cup will be in the building because if Chicago wins, the series is over. There aren’t many more exciting things in sports than knowing the team you root for can win the championship tonight.
  • Important injuries. Two of the top players in the series, Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks and Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins were unable to finish last game. In the grand tradition of hockey (the logic is that if you say what is ailing you, your opponent will target that body part in the next game) neither team is talking about what is wrong with their star player. Rumor has it that Toews has a concussion and Bergeron… something with his spleen.
  • Fallen Giant? Zdeno Chara, Boston’s 6’9″ captain, and one of the best defensive players in the league has been on the ice for eight of the last nine goals scored against the Bruins. If Chicago has really figured out how to beat him, they will probably win. 

What’s Next: Game 6 is Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Sport: Basketball
Teams: Boston Celtics and Los Angeles
When: Sunday, 6-23-13
Context: A trade!
Result: The Boston Celtics trade Coach Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers for a 2015 first round draft pick
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • More change coming for the Celtics? The Celtics have had the same coach and pretty much the same star players since 2007. Last year Ray Allen left for the Miami Heat and now Doc Rivers has left for the Clippers. What will happen to aging (or aged) stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
  • Can you really trade a coach? No, not really — but a team can receive compensation for allowing their coach to sign with another team while under contract. Though people will call this a trade officially it’s not.
  • Most trade conversations follow the pattern of people taking the position “Team A” got the better deal or “Team B” got the better deal. Taking either of those positions (or both if you want to really have fun) will create a good conversation. You can also take the honorable “it’s too soon to tell” position and do quite well. As this trade involves no tangible basketball players, most of these conversations will be about the relative value of a coach and a pick that could potentially fall at the end of the first round, 25-30 picks into the draft.

 

Cue Cards 6-21-13

stk321064rknCue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Sport: Basketball
Teams: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs
When: Thursday night, 6-20-13
Context: Game 7 of the NBA Championships. The seven game series was tied 3-3.
Result: Heat win 95-88
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • Legacy. The word on everyone’s lips will be legacy. Two championships in a row and three straight trips to the finals cements the records and vindicates the choices of many of the Miami Heat players, coaches, and executives. It puts LeBron more firmly on the podium as one of the greatest players of all time and it makes the Heat’s GM Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra look brilliant for embracing his unique talents and building a team around them.
  • Lovable losers — in a way that the Spurs completely failed to do in any of their previous four championships or many playoff runs, this Spurs team in what was probably their last trip to the finals with this group of players was completely admired and appreciated and loved by NBA fans.
  • Big How Many? The storyline of the Miami Heat since 2010 has been about the union of three great stars: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. James had a great game; Wade did his valiant best but was clearly injured as he has been for large parts of the last two years; and Bosh was absolutely wretched. Because looking forward is always interesting, people will be talking about the future make-up of the Heat — will LeBron stay past next year (he’ll be a free-agent) and if he does who will his supporting cast be?
  • Rising star Kawhi Leonard? One of the youngest players on the court in a series of aging stars, Kawhi Leonard played a great game with 16 rebounds and 19 points and a handful of great defensive plays. Could he be the future for the Spurs?

What’s Next: It’s over! No more NBA basketball until the fall.

Cue Cards 6-20-13

stk321064rknCue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Sport: Hockey
Teams: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins
When: Wednesday night, 6-19-13
Context: Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Boston Bruins were leading the seven game series 2-1.
Result: Blackhawks win 6-5
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • Overtime. Oh my gosh so much overtime. Three of the four games in this series have gone to overtime
  • The high score! There had been 12 goals total in the three previous games. This game had 11 goals. Despite the Bruins losing, of the two goalies, Corey Crawford of the Blackhawks is the more concerning goalie. All five of the goals scored against him got past his glove hand. This is suggestive of a weakness the Bruins can continue to exploit.
  • How much confidence does this give the Blackhawks? Everything that had been going wrong for them in the series turned around in this game. Both their star players, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews scored goals and they even got their first power play goal of the series (they hadn’t scored in nine attempts against the Bruins before this game)

What’s Next: Game 5 is Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Cue Cards 6-19-13

stk321064rknCue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Sport: Basketball
Teams: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs
When: Tuesday night, 6-18-13
Context: Game 6 of the NBA Championships. The San Antonio Spurs were leading the seven game series 3-2.
Result: Heat win 103-100
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • Everything went right for the Spurs and they still lost. It was almost as if the Heat were playing one big unintentional rope-a-dope strategy. They took every punch the Spurs had for three quarters and came back roaring in the fourth. Will the older Spurs have anything left for game Seven? The overwhelming feeling will be that the Heat will win game seven at home to win the series on Thursday.
  • The refs. In the first three quarters when the Spurs were playing better, the refs were calling more fouls against the Heat. Then in the fourth quarter it switched around. Of course normally the team that is playing worse commits more fouls so that pattern is generally what you’d expect. Nonetheless people will find a way to be mysteriously indignant about this.
  • LeBron James was great in the fourth quarter and overtime. As the most physically talented player out there, the expectations for LeBron are enormous and he met them. This will be celebrated.

What’s Next: Game 7 is Thursday night at 9 p.m.

— — —

Sport: Soccer
Teams: United States vs. Honduras
When: Tuesday night, 6-18-13
Context: A 2014 World Cup Qualifying game.
Result: The United States wins 1-0.
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • Coach Jurgen Klinsmann. For some reason he seems to get all the credit for wins and blame for losses.
  • Jozy Altidore a US Striker (dude who is supposed to score goals) has now done just that in four straight games which is pretty impressive.
  • This win makes it almost definite that the United States will qualify for the 2014 World Cup. A few weeks ago that was absolutely not a sure thing.

What’s Next: The United States doesn’t have another qualifying match until September but play in the Gold Cup on Tuesday, July 9.

Cue Cards 6-18-13

stk321064rkn

Cue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Sport: Hockey
Teams: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins
When: Monday night, 6-17-13
Context: Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The seven game series was tied 1-1.
Result: The Boston Bruins win 2-0.
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • The Boston Bruins goalie, Tuukka Rask, who hasn’t let in a goal since the first period of game 2.
  • Blackhawks player Marian Hossa who injured himself in the warm-ups and missed the game. Given what injuries players regularly play through, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him miss the rest of the series.
  • The series got a little rough in the third period once it was clear the Blackhawks were going to lose. How will that effect the next game?
  • Is a Bruins victory inevitable? It’s starting to feel that way after two straight victories, particularly because the Bruins have now won seven of the last eight games. Can the Blackhawks raise their game to match the level of their opponents?

What’s Next: Game 4 is Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

Cue Cards 6-17-13

stk321064rkn

Cue Cards is a series designed to assist with the common small talk about high-profile recent sporting events that is so omnipresent in the workplace, the bar, and other social settings.

Sport: Hockey
Teams: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins
When: Saturday night, 6-15-13
Context: Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Chicago won game 1 in triple over-time and had the 1-0 series lead.
Result: The Boston Bruins win 2-1 in overtime.
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • The Boston Bruins goalie, Tuukka Rask, played superbly in the first period to keep the Bruins in the game.
  • This was the second game in a seven game series and both games have gone to overtime. In two games the teams have played the equivalent of three games because of all the overtime needed.
  • In a seven game series, the team with the better regular season record gets four of the seven games at home. Chicago was at home for the first two games and with the series tied at 1-1, the Bruins now have three of the remaining five games at home. They have captured the home ice advantage.

What’s Next: Game 3 is Monday night at 8 p.m.

— — —

Sport: Basketball
Teams: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs
When: Sunday night, 6-16-13
Context: Game 5 of the NBA Championships. The seven game series is tied at two games apiece.
Result: Spurs win 114-104
Sports Fans will be Talking About:

  • What’s wrong with the Miami Heat. The Heat were favorites because of their “big three” star players Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Now they are one more loss away from losing the championship.
  • Alternating blow-outs. After a close game one, the teams have traded off winning games by at least ten points.
  • Spur Danny Green who was a highly regarded player in college but before this season a complete flop as a professional has been playing incredibly well. He had 24 points in the game and now has the record for most three-pointers made in the NBA finals in history.
  • Continuity (the Spurs best players and coach have been playing together for more than a decade) and coaching have the Spurs one victory away from winning the championship.

What’s Next: Game 6 is Tuesday night at 9 p.m.

— — —

Sport: Golf
Tournament: U.S. Open
When: Thursday-Sunday,June 13-16
Context: Second of four major golf championships of the year – the four most high profile, prestigious tournaments in golf
Result: England’s Justin Rose won with a score of 1 over par – kind of like being valedictorian with a GPA of 2.5
Sports Fans will be Talking About:
  • The course won. It’s rare when you gather the best players in golf and none of them break par cumulatively over four rounds – but that’s what happened at this and last year’s U.S. Open. Both Opens were won by a player who shot one stroke over par, a pretty mediocre score for professional golfers and an indication of the traditional difficulty of the U.S. Open courses.
  • Tiger comes up short in another major. Tiger Woods is the best golfer of his generation but to be the best golfer of all time he has to break Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors won – he’s currently 4 behind and hasn’t won one since he was caught setting the record for most females slept with by a golfer in the history of one of the world’s most ancient sports.
  • Lefty comes up short again. Phil Mickelson (aka Lefty cause…uh…he’s left-handed) is perhaps the second most well-known American golfer active today. Unlike Tiger he’s best known for his tragic shortcomings in big tournaments, which include 5 previous runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open, several of which occurred in heartbreaking fashion. True to form he started the day leading the tournament but wasn’t able to close and lost by 2 strokes.
What’s Next: The next major golf tournament is the Open Championships, which are played in the UK – this year it will be hosted at Muirfield, in Scotland, July 18-21.