Mavericks Win in Six

Last night, the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat in Game 6 with a defining 105-95 victory over the "Big Three" and company.

This is a first time championship for a majority of the team, including Dirk Nowitzki (who finished the first half with only 2 points), Jason Terry (led the team in scoring in Game 6 with 27 points), Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Peja Stojakovic, as well as a few others. Who knows? Maybe now Mark Cuban will shut his mouth, but probably not.

Prank Calling the Corporate World

As stated above, this is not only a sports blog, but also a SHENANIGAN blog. Myself and my friend Zach took it upon ourselves to get back at Wal-Mart's high prices and consumerism buy prank calling them with a semi-true story. Enjoy!

Brad Friedel Set For White Hart Lane

40 year-old American keeper Brad Friedel is set for a free transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. This comes after rumors of Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes was linked with a move to AC Milan. In my opinion, Gomes had perfomed quite admirably for the London club, but is probably seeking a different direction. Friedel is the third most capped American goalkeeper of all time with 82 caps, and has been heralded by many as the best keeper America has ever produced. He retired from international duty in 2005.

Friedel currently has a very impressive streak of 275 straight appearances in Premier League play, with an overall count of 428 appearances. A stat worth noting, Brad Friedel is only the second keeper to score a goal during a Premier League match, as he scored on February 21, 2004 against Charlton during his stint with Blackburn. The first keeper to do so was the legendary Peter Schmeichel. Now in my personal opinion, I believe this is a good move for the keeper, as this will probably be his curtain call to an illustrious career. If Gomes does transfer to Milan, and it is looking like that is going to happen, that would make Friedel the number one choice for Harry Redknapp. With several solid strikers and a fluid midfield, if Tottenham signs maybe one or two more defenders alongside Ledley King and William Gallas, we could see a legitimate threat to the title. Of course, I always think Arsenal has it in them. See you at the Derby Friedel!

Manchester United Legend Retires

Today, 36 year old midfielder Paul Scholes announced his retirement. He was a one-club man who started his career with Manchester United in 1994. In 466 appearances for the club, he scored 102 goals. In recent months, Scholes was losing playing time which put his future in question. He won 10 Premier League titles with the Red Devils, along with 14 other honours for the club.

Paul Scholes made 66 appearances for the England national team, but retired from international play in 2004 to focus on club football. Scholes was renowned for his defensive prowess and dominance in the midfield by players like Zinedine Zidane. A legend indeed, Paul Scholes, retired, at 36.

Movin' On Up

Today, Swansea City was finally able to gain promotion back into the Premier League after being stuck in relegation zone for 28 years. The Swans completed a successfull season with a 4-2 victory over Reading, compliments to Scott Sinclair with a nery nice hat trick. Swansea's promotion to top flight is said to end in $148 million in revenue for the Swans. Congratulations!

UEFA Champions League Final

After celebrating my high school graduation Friday with some profanity-laced bowling and some "wholesome" Chatroulette with some friends, I fell fast asleep Saturday morning. Thankfully, I was able to wake up in time to enjoy the highly anticipated Champions League Final between Manchester United and FC Barcelona. As an Arsenal supporter first, I wanted Barcelona to win, but my emotions were split coming into this contest. I am always involved in the La Liga vs EPL debate so I decided to root for Premier League bragging rights, which I thought was pretty neutral.

I was growing tired of the match early on until Xavi delivered an excellent pass to Pedro who finished with ease in the 27th minute. A mere seven minutes later, Wayne Rooney equalised with an excellent, well-placed shot. Now the match was getting interesting and was starting to look ALOT better than last years boring Final between Internazionale and Bayern Munich.

Not even ten minutes into the second half, Lionel Messi crushed the dreams of Red Devils all over the world with an excellent strike from just outside the 18. The dagger came in 69th minute with, quite possibly the goal of the match from David Villa. The match finished 3-1 in favor of the Catalans just as I figured. I mean, its pretty hard to beat a team that is essentially the World Cup champions, right? A valiant effort indeed from Manchester United, but not good enough. This poses an excellent question, though. How long will Barcelona's dominance continue?

Lionel Messi is in his prime, and will be in his prime for at least another six years. Xavi and Puyol are aging, but Barcelona should still fare well in there stead. A question that many people have raised is, how long will Barcelona keep champion manager Pep Guardiola? Hopefully, the executives at the Catalans will have realized by now that this man knows what he is doing, and will continue to lead this superclub to several domestic titles.