This weeks Sports Talk

Rarely do Championships live up to the hype. Take for example Super bowl XLVIII between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, a game in which a prolific offense was to take on a mean defense that to its opponents showed no mercy all season and in the games biggest stage demonstrated it once again in a lopsided uninspiring victory. Then take the 2014 NBA Finals, we have a fundamentally sound well oiled machine in the San Antonio Spurs who met again with their Eastern Conference foes the star driven Miami Heat, in what could have been in my opinion the worst Finals contest I've ever seen. Simply put one team showed up to play and win, the other just showed up to collect a paycheck.
One Championship Series however exceeded all expectations and served its league and fans well was the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings. Though a couple of weeks out already, talk about a battle royal…still fresh and hot in my head, that's how good it was. The LA Kings appeared to be dead leading up to the series several different times…first being down 3 games to the San Jose Sharks, ultimately winning that series. Then taking on their cross town enemies the Anaheim Ducks cutting them out of the picture, and lastly slaying the World Champion Chicago Blackhawks which was by no means a cakewalk. Certainly the New York Rangers were no push over either as they powered through tons of adversity in the Eastern Conference as well. The Kings won the Stanley Cup Series 4 games to 1 in the best of 7, which doesn't sound intriguing but hear me out. This series was played with grit and abandon, at no time did we ever feel that we were being cheated from the entertaining and competitive aspect. I was on the edge of my seat the entire series. Both teams played 3 overtime games and all down to the final tenths of seconds on the game clock. That was a Championship for the ages. I so appreciated that effort and will always hold that series in high regard. I ask the other leagues and players in said leagues to refer to that series as the standard in which to deliver. Look in the mirror and remind themselves who they are, that they are professionals among professionals…that the youth look up to and try to emulate, that hard working folks after a crushing day go home to turn on the telly and escape for awhile in fun and competition. I ask and demand bring me fine performance, drama, intrigue and give me my moneys worth. Don’t just take the money and run because you can!