Baily's Sports & Stuff

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Florida Marlins (brief) After struggling, Roy Halladay just wanted to leave the game with a win for his team. However, he got much more. Halladay threw a perfect game Saturday, striking out 11 in a 1-0 win. Although Halladay did get some good outfield plays, none were superb, like in Ubaldo Jiminez's no-hitter. Josh Johnson of Florida pitched well, and Philly only scored on an error. But Halladay was superb, throwing pitches in the right place. He became just the 20th perfect pitcher in Major League history, and the second in 20 days. Halladay is now 7-3 with a 1.99 ERA, and now he has something else to add to his resume. LA Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns While Kobe Bryant had had big performances vs. Phoenix, he had never exactly come up clutch. Make that end tonight. Kobe Bryant scored 14 of LA's 16 points (in 2 different streaks), and he picked apart Phoenix with his tough jumpers. With LA up 5 late, Kobe nailed a fadeaway jumper over Gr...

MLB Update Matt Cain throws complete game, 1-hitter in Giants' 5-0 win over D-Backs. Miguel Cabrera's 3 homers aren't enough as Landon Powell's homer helps Oakland beat Detroit 5-4. Manny Ramirez caps 5 run rally with 2 run 6th inning homer to help the LA Dodgers beat the Rockies. 3 run homer helps Washington beat San Diego 5-3, improve to 25-24. San Diego is losing their lead on the NL West. Celtics vs. Magic After Orlando gained the momentum back, and once they had everything going, many people thought history was going to be made. But 1 team kept believing. Who? The Boston Celtics. Paul Pierce scored 31 and grabbed 13 boards, Nate Robinson scored 13 second quarter points, and the Boston Celtics finished off the Orlando Magic 96-84. Pierce was key for Boston to hold their big lead, and after Rajon Rondo got injured in the first (he finished the game) Nate Robinson stepped in to score 13 in the second. The C's led 55-42 at halftime. Ray Allen hit som...

The championship that we have here may have been predcited by 0.1 percent of the world, or maybe even less. Maybe a lot of us had the Chicago Blackhawks stationed here, but almost no one had the Phialdelphia Flyers making the Cup Finals. The Flyers needed to win their last game of the season against the New York Rangers to make the playoffs. The seventh seeded Flyers breezed through New Jersey in 5, then outstanding goalie play by Michael Leighton and clutch goal-scoring by Simon Gagne helped Phialdelphia rally from down 3-0 to beat the Boston Bruins in 7. They beat Montreal in 5, and here they are now. The Chicago Blackhawks had more trouble in the first round. The Blackhawks were even with the Nashville Predators after 4 games, and they were down 4-3 with :30 in Game 5. But Patrick Kane scored with :14, and Chicago won the game in OT and the series. Chicago went 3-0 on the road to beat Vancouver in 6, and Antti Neimi allowed only 7 goals in 4 games of a sweep of the San...

Once the Orlando Magic fell behind 3-0 to Boston with a road game coming up, most people thought Boston would grab the broom. But they couldn't do it, thanks to 32 points and 16 boards from Dwight Howard. Jameer Nelson scored 24 and had 5 boards and dimes, and now Orlando is down 3-2. Let's see how Orlando could complete the improbable comeback. 1 Momentum: When Orlando took Game 4 in OT to send the series back to Orlando, Orlando racked up the momentum. After the Game 5 blowout, they have enough momentum to win by 10 in Boston. Jameer Nelson is averaging 23.5 PPG in Orlando's wins this series, and Dwight Howard is averaging 26.5 PPG and 13 RPG in Orlando wins. Now that Orlando has their groove, they could easily handle the C's in Game 6. 2 Belief: Even when they fell behind 3-0, Dwight Howard had Orlando believing. It helped him and his teammates (especially Jameer Nelson) perform better to squeeze out an OT win. Belief carried over to Game 5, where the Magic easil...

Baily Deeter’s Newspaper May 24, 2010 Chicago Blackhawks make the Stanley Cup! Well, it’s just about time. 1 team has booked their ticket to the Cup and they did it easily. After winning in 6 games over Nashville and Vancouver, Chicago held San Jose to 7 goals in a 4 game sweep to book their ticket to the Cup. Jonathan Toews scored at least 1 point for the 13th straight game (a franchise record) and Anti-Neimi, the goalie, continued to play well. Let’s break down Chicago’s 16 game road to the final stage. Chicago vs. Nashville The Hawks didn’t look like the team that had scored 112 points in the regular season. In Game 1, they were sloppy. Nashville scored 4 third period goals to take Game 1, but Anti-Neimi shut out Nashville in Game 2 to tie the series. Chicago lost Game 3, but they took Game 4 to even the series. After Patrick Kane’s goal with :14 left in regulation to send Game 5 into OT, Chicago knew they had the momentum and they won 5-4 on Marian Hossa’s goal. Chicago ca...

NHL, NBA Conference Final Previews (Note: NHL post was written 5/16) Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers Both teams barely made the playoffs (by 1 point), and now both teams are playing for a Stanley Cup bid. The Canadiens rallied from 3-1 and 3-2 deficits to knock out the Presidents Cup winner and the defending champ, while Philadelphia rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to beat Boston in 7 games. Road To The Playoffs Montreal Canadiens The Canadiens were the last team in the playoffs, and they were rewarded with the top-seeded Capitals, who had scored 33 more points in the regular season. Tomas Plekanec scored the GW goal in Game 1 for Montreal, but Washington took the next 3 games. Montreal won on the road, and Jaroslav Halak staved off a rally by Washington in a 4-1 Game 6 win to tie the series, then Halak stopped every single shot for the first 57:44, and Montreal won 2-1. In the second round Montreal lost Game 1, but Halak returned to form and helped Montreal...

So, it's time. It's time for the NHL and NBA Playoffs. They are all in full swing, and in around a month a champion will be crowned. Let's predict the champions. NHL Remaining teams: Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks San Jose has finally broken the playoff jinx. They scored with :31 left in Game 2 in Colorado, changing the momentum for a 4-2 series win. They came back from down 3-1 in the 3rd to beat Detroit in OT in Game 3, and they won that in 5. Chicago scored with :14 in regulation to beat Nashville in Game 5, and they won the series in 6. They went 3-0 on the road in Vancouver to win the series in 6, and now they are here. Montreal rallied from a 3-1 deficit against Washington and a 3-2 deficit against Pittsburgh to be here. Boston and Philadelphia's series is still on, and Philadelphia tied the series at 3 by winning the last 3. Boston won close games 1 and 2 to stay in the series. Game 7 is ...