Lecce vs. Milan: BOATENG BOATENG BOATENG - 3 times the charm

*Insert Skee-Lo - I wish song here* I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat(REMIX) ... that scored hattricks like Kevin Prince Boateng.

Lecce -- I'd like to call this the "under match." A game hosted by one of the underdogs of Serie A played AC Milan, where an under-rated Kevin Prince Boateng scored an inspiring hattrick. Milan was down by 3 goals and practically prepared for a loss before Max Allegri made the decision to sub the great Robinho(46 minutes) with Kevin Boateng. An attacker for a midfielder when you're down by 3? Leave it to Allegri - Mr. Fullofsurprises. At this time Ambrosini was also subbed for Aquilani; these substitutions could easily be one of the best decisions Allegri could have made and he was about to find out why.

The first half of the game was basically "The Lecce Show." The team played extremely offensively against Milan, who was not playing like the Champions they are. There are many reasons for that, one being the absence of their injured players; but like most things in life, you win some and you lose some - until you sub in Boateng. Second half - 49 minutes, AC Milan back with a vengeance. An assist by Aquilani put Boateng in front of the goal line, left; BAAAAAAM in she goes. Clean and effortless within the first minutes of him being on the field. You'd think at this point Lecce would change their game plan and begin to play defensively but they continued in attack mode and thats where their weakness was; perhaps Boateng observed this while sitting on bench and came onto the field with a fully calculated plan? Hey, anything is possible. 5 minutes later Cassano made a clean pass to the Prince himself who shot it in right away from the edge of the box - 2-3. At this point the cat was in the bag and 14 minutes after his first goal, the rabbit came out of its hat! HATTRICK BOATENG! The midfielder was in the right place at the perfect time as Abate's shot was blocked inside the box which put the ball into the likes of KPB who forced a side-footed obscenity from an acute angle. Poor ol' Benassi basically had a hands length between his leg and the post which is where the ball slid itself through. Big bang Boateng in for the win. At 3-3 with less than 30 minutes left in the game both teams were in a race against time; who was going to walk away as the winners? Or perhaps the game would end with a tie? The 13,300 people in Stadio Comunale Via del Mare and all of us at home were watching intensely as 83 minutes rolled around and Cassano made another executive pass but this time to defender Yepes who banked it in with a thundering header past the far post. Money in the bank, shawty watchu thaaank. Sometimes I get a little musical... 

4-3 and AC MILAN takes the win and Kevin Prince Boateng gets his first Hattrick in the Italian League! Leave it to Milan to score a 14 minute hattrick and then finish it off with a defender. Just brilliant. Kevin Prince Boateng, you inspire us all. 

Until next time, 

Sahar "Princess"Boateng ;)

*insert british accent here* The English Premier League

SBS - in. 

A few things. 

Will David Beckham and Leonardo be reunited again? Former AC Milan and Inter Milan coach Leonardo now coaches France's big money club Paris St. Germain. It is speculated that PSG have their eyes set on David Beckham as his MLS contract is coming to a season end in November. Beckham will apparently make his decision when his contract is officially over but he seems intrigued by the idea. Looks like Victoria Beckham and their 10 kids need to pack up and move to Paris. I smell reality show. Guess which 32 year old defender may be leaving the EPL for MLS? I'll give you a hint, his last name rhymes with Burdinand. What is Burdinand? I have no idea, but you guessed it - I hope - Rio Ferdinand. His contract expires at the end of next season and the Chicago Fire are interested, to say the least. Will he stay or will he go? da da da da. Sorry, got a little musical there. If Ferdinand really wants to follow Beckham's footsteps he needs to tarnish his career at Real Madrid first. What? No, I didn't just say that; my laptop just typed that itself. 

England plays Montenegro on Friday; Captain Terry assures us that Wayne Rooney will be focused with his head in the game. Why wouldn't his head be in the game you ask? Rooney's father was arrested on Thursday for betting irregularities last season; however, he is released on bail until January. Poor lad, Rooney may have that on his mind but at least his dad isn't in prison...yet. 

This season is all about the underdogs and by underdogs I mean teams that were never expected to win like the EPL's Manchester City or Primera Division's Levante, or Serie A's Napoli. I can't wait to see how it all unfolds...dun dun dun. 

SBS - out. 

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: commentary, thoughts, and you name it.

The Champions, THE CHAMPIONS, la la la la la LAAAAAA *opera voice*

Oh boy did I miss that song. First things first, AC Milan met Barcelona at Camp Nou and left with a 2-2 draw. I have a few things to say to that, ready? *readers all nod implying they are ready* I know, Barcelona usually takes a while to get to be "Barcelona" so thats clearly a factor. However, AC Milan did tie the World's football champions on their own home turf without half their team. Robinho, Ibrahimovic, Inzaghi, Flamini, Mexes, and Gattuso (and then some) were not fit to play and Boateng only survived awhile before being subbed for Ambrosini. What did that leave us...I mean Milan, with? Pato served this game as play maker and striker along side fellow striker Cassano. Barcelona did have most of the ball possession but I think thats because Milan was mostly focused on defending rather than striking due to the lack there of. This isn't anything most of you don't already know, so we'll just leave it at that. Whether you want to believe it or not, if Milan has a full squad by the time Barcelona comes to San Siro then the Spanish Champions and their fans should be worried.

*                                        * << this space is for Barcelona fans to hate on the above comment.

The first two days of the UCL were not that exciting in terms of scores; its as if nerves got the best of every team. Manchester City tied Napoli 1-1 as Manchester United tied Benefica 1-1; I'm surprised Rooney didn't score ATLEAST 2 goals - strange. Luiz and Mata gave Chelsea a two goal advantage in Stamford Bridge when they played Bayer Leverkusen. Once Treble completer, Internazionale Milano(Inter Milan) lost 1-0 to Trabzonspor. Who? Trabzonspor. Oh typing it twice doesn't help you? My bad. Trabzonspor. Third times usually the charm; if not, Trabzonspor is a football club from Turkey. Who knew!? Anyway, Bayern Munchen defeated Villarreal 2-0 as Arsenal tied Borussia Dortmund 1-1 and Di Maria put Real Madrid in the lead 1-0 against Dinamo Zagreb. No high scores and big wins yet, but I'm sure that will all change soon!

Tomorrow I will touch base on EPL, Primera Division, and Serie A: United defeating Chelsea, Barcelona winning 8-0 and then drawing 2-2. Real Madrid's low scores and ties, Milan not winning this season yet, Inter Milan's coaching issues and whatever else you want to know! Feel free to make suggestions. 

For now, SBS - out. 

H8-2 B Arsenal, get it?

Okay can someone please tell me whats going on in the EPL? That question was retorical because secretly - well not that secretly - I'm going to try and tell you whats going on. 8-2 thats whats going on... 

If Wenger had just listened to me when I said he needed more defenders, none of this would have happened. The departure of Nasri and Fabregas has taken quite the toll on the Gunners and this is extremely apparent. To top it all off neither Gervinho nor Wilshere were able to play today. Then we have Manchester United: Welbeck, Young(2), Rooney(3), Nani, Ji-Sung Park. No I didn't just list half the team, those were just the goal scorers of the day. Are you kidding me? What has Ferguson created!?  Thank you Walcott and Van Persie for your efforts but I'm afraid it wasn't enough. I'm afraid to see whats going to happen to Chelsea at Old Trafford on September 18th. Wenger better get his team together before their Champions League showdown. Yikes. Speaking about Manchester; Mancity completely and utterly dominated Tottenham. Seems as though Tottenham is having some troubles this season. However, this is the EPL - anything could happen. That being said, Serie A is on strike and the season start has been postponed. Dear Italian Officials, JUST GIVE THE PLAYERS WHAT THEY WANT! I will brush up on that some more later. 

More on the EPL, La Liga, Serie A and UCL standings coming soon. 

Adios readers. 

Saharinho (yep, I just said that)

& so it begins

Hello SBS followers, fans, and readers. It is I, your representative for all things sports. How much did you miss me though? I know I've been M.I.A for awhile - some of you may have found me writing on different websites in my time of absence and some of you may have just been checking back every hour on the hour for a new post ;) - but I'm back now and ready to deliver.

Not only is it the return of Sports By Sahar but it has also been the return of the EPL. Tottenham at Manchester? Old Trafford was packed as the Red Devils met with Tottenham this afternoon. This game, with its unexpected turn of events was not only brilliantly played by both teams but was a reminder of what other teams are up against in this years Champions League. 60 minutes had to go by until something interesting happened but Ferguson and the boys are back and they're in it for the win - although it was not an easy defeat. Tottenham's Bradley Howard Friedel of USA gave a stellar performance as he stopped everything in the first half and half way into the second. He may be an underestimated goaltender now, but after watching him this game I know it won't be long until he's really noticed. I'd say the star of this match was Welbeck; his passing, assists, and one goal? Absolutely beautiful.  Tottenham's defence and goaltending was perfect in the first half as they made it difficult for United to shine. It was as if Welbeck broke that awkward silence with his first goal that did nothing but motivate the devils to score again at 76. A clean tricky pass by Welbeck set Anderson up for the perfect header. BAM 2-0 Manchester United. Cleverley was subbed for Giggs - he had only been on the field for five minutes before he assisted Rooney to his second goal of the season.

Upcoming game for Manchester United: Arsenal at Old Trafford - August 28th @8:00am PT


Upcoming game for Tottenham Hotspur: Manchester City at White Hart Lane London - August 28th @5:30am PT


Until next time. 


Sahar 

The ship has sailed but the fans still hold on.

I had to take a few days to wrap my head around the outcome of Wednesday night. I am now able to talk about it - almost a week later. 

I can tell you right now that if I had written this last week I would have been cursing the Bruins and everything in my way. However, after assessing the situation, I have a much more optimistic view of things. Allow me to share some happy thoughts ;). 

Come on guys, we made it to the finals of the playoffs! We played the Boston Bruins! I could tell you a lot of things that were wrong with this game - like how Thomas' width takes up the entire net or how Chara basically injured every single one of our players or how Marchand is just a big bully. But really, whats the point? If you're a true Canucks fan, you already know all of this. So instead, I'm going to address a few things.

Real fans. I offer you all hugs.

Dearest Bandwagoners, rioters, idiots, and the rest of the world who is looking down upon us,

If I had a nickel for every time a Canucks hater said "who came second in the playoffs last year? NO ONE REMEMBERS!" I'd probably have a small fortune. My response is always something along the lines of "hater, if you were a real hockey fan you would know. Please, when the bandwagon drives by again hop on and hold on tight because I may have slashed the tires." To the rest of the world who thinks  'Vancouver Canucks' fans are ridiculous for starting a riot, it wasn't 'us' who started this. The people who initiated the riot were a small group of people who have started riots in Vancouver in the past and the people who joined in were just idiots who let their intoxication get the best of them. Every city has idiots, don't make me point them out. Apart of me wants to go to the door of every single person who smashed a window or a car or even started a fire and break their windows(if they even own a vehicle) and create a bonfire on their front lawn(if they don't live in a trailer). I know you think what i'm saying is very mean, but what you rioters, idiots, and wanna-be fans did was 50 times worse (assuming that they're reading this)

Take your jerseys off, please.

To the Vancouver Canucks, 

(assuming they are reading this too, fingers crossed :p)

You should be seen as heros not foes. Your efforts out there considering your injuries were commendable. Congratulations on making it so far. I still believe in Blue, Lu, and even Kesler too(SportsbySahar now writing Jingles?)

If most of you SBS readers had endured such injuries I know you would probably quit and tend to your pain but not these Canucks! They pushed through and they gave it their all. Sure every single goal Luongo let in made me tear up but that doesn't make me hate him. Why? Because he's a Canuck and we're all Canucks. So we lost; we got bruised(first 4 letters of the BRUIns, how ironic), scratched, pummelled, you name it, but we've already got back up and we'll go after Lord Stanley again and this time we'll push even harder.

Thank you to all the people who volunteered to clean up the city after the unfortunate events that followed the game and a great round of applause to the VPD for doing anything they could in regulating the situation. 

See you all soon! I have some interesting things for you all, stay tuned. 

Oh and congrats to the Bruins.

BELIEVE IN BLUE*BELIEVE IN LU

Title inspired by SBS' little sister: GK. 

I'm sitting somewhere far far away from Rogers Arena yet I can feel the heat exude off Luongo body; He will be on fire tonight ladies and gentleman. Sports by Sahar has utmost confidence in LUONGO - seeing as to how TD Garden was cursed and Rogers arena is demon and ghost free. Burrows, the Sedins, and Lapierre will be huge factors in this game with a couple assists by Kesler. I feel this one, I feel it in my blood, my bones, and that organ that people think hosts feelings - my heart. 

Heres what I have to say to the malcontents: the haters: the "negative Nancy's"

Even if we win by 1 its still a win and thats what I want everyone to understand. It doesn't make a difference whether or not people think the Bruins deserve the cup more due to their performance in Boston. Why? Because the Bruins have had troubles getting past our defenders and Luongo every time they stepped foot in Rogers Arena during the 2011 playoffs. In short, it could go both ways could it not? Absolutely. That being said, they lost their away games and we lost ours. Hey mathematicians, do the math - its not that hard to figure out that we're going to win tonight, don't make me draw ya'll a diagram. 

NHL.com --> Boston seems to have no trouble scoring at TD Garden -- the Bruins have tallied 17 goals in their three Stanley Cup Final games there. Rogers Arena is a different story. Boston has recorded only two goals in its three losses there, getting shut out twice. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Game 7 is in Vancouver, and they're going to have to figure out a way to beat Roberto Luongo at his home arena. 

With a 3-3 series tie, lets forget the past for just one second. It all comes down to this one game - whoever wins, wins the entire thing - whoever wins, deserves it. 
GO CANUCKS GO!!!!!!

Side Note: Al Pacino gave a speech in the movie "Any Given Sunday." Since I know the Canucks read my blog(imagine), heres something I know will inspire them. Oh Al. 

Don't know what to say really.Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch, play by play, till we're finished. We are in hell right now, gentlemen believe me and we can stay here and get the shit kicked out of us or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch, at a time. Now I can't do it for you. I'm too old. I look around and I see these young faces and I think I mean I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make. I uh.... I pissed away all my money believe it or not. I chased off anyone who has ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That's, that's part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football [hockey] Because in either game, life or footbal[hockey] the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or to early you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING. I'll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is. The six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him. That's a team, gentlemen and either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals.That's football [hockey] guys. That's all it is. Now, whattaya gonna do?

Oh Canucks. Oh Luongo. Oh My.

Well there you have it. 5-2 and the Bruins bring it back to Vancouver for game 7.

I'm so happy game 7 is at home, I can tell you that much. 

There is no excuse for Roberto Luongo's actions - or lack there of I should say - however, I can tell you right now that the TD Garden Arena in Boston is cursed. They have soft ice and ghosts, you heard it here first! After letting in 3 goals in the first period poor Luongo got replaced with our second goaltender Schneider. Most of you may have noticed that there was a lack of defence while Luongo was in net yet that same defence was present when Schneider came into net. The answer as to why this happened is quite simple. The Canucks have a lot of faith in Roberto Luongo; he's their wonder wall. Sometimes(like in game 6) the Canucks become overly confident in Luongo and they leave him with all the dirty work as they play more offensively. Schneider comes in net and that sense of comfort soon disappears as our defenders linger around the net more to help the Goalie out. Tim Thomas is not only fast but he's good, in fact he's great; he also has an amazing back line in front of him to deflect the puck. 

Marchand shot one over Luongo's shoulder scoring the first goal of the night for Boston and 35 seconds later Lucic's stick and the puck became well acquainted as he shot one through Lu's legs; after these two goals the Bruins knew they'd meet us in Vancouver for game 7. Before any of us could take a breath and start swearing our heads off, Ference defeated Luongo and a little over 10 minutes later Ryder got one in past Schneider. Before Krejci scored the 5th goal for Boston(against Schneider), Henrik Sedin scored his first point of the finals in the first power play of the 3rd period. Lapierre made the end score 5-2 as he shot one in past Thomas at the end of 3rd. Hey, atleast it wasn't a shutout. 

What does Luongo have to say about all of this? "You can't hang your head and feel sorry for yourself," Luongo said. "That's the worst thing I could do. ... I had a good feeling all day. Before the series started, I said I enjoyed playing in this building. Just got to move on right now. Got to believe in myself, right?" (NHL.com)

Thats right Luongo, you go on and keep believing! As for the rest of us, we'll just get on our knees, look up to the sky and pray. Although we don't need that many prayers, we do pretty well at home against Boston. Its just a matter of how much confidence the Bruins bring to the ice(hard ice, if I do say so myself).

Ladies and Gentleman I got the inside scoop for you. Here are some photos from last nights games in Boston! I can tell you this much, our fans are a lot friendlier than their fans - mostly because we're Canadians. Boston who are you?

You think this guy knows Lucic is from Vancouver?

Oh hello Canucks fans in BOSTON!

This is just rude. 

Until tomorrow Sports By Sahar, Canuck Loving, fans =). 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DALLAS MAVERICKS

First things first:

Dirk Nowitzky gets MVP, LeBron James gets criticized and The Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Playoffs - some may say we live in a twisted world I just call it the NBA finals. How sad are the LeBron James bandwagoners?

Jason Kidd has been in the league for 17 years and this is his first championship win. If thats not well deserved, I don't know what is. 

105-95 

The Dallas Mavericks at the Miami Heat

The Mavericks beat The Heat in Miami by 10. Who would have thought? I personally love it when the underdog takes it home. How badly do Miami fans want James to go back to Cleveland?  The only thing he did in the last couple games was chew animately on his mouth piece. Thats not useful to anyone James.  The difference in scores this entire series has been the ultimate roller coaster, its like "hey welcome to the NBA playoffs hosted at Six Flags." Apparently if you get pushed on the court its against the rules to retaliate; maybe Haslem(but mostly Chalmers) will remember that next time. Udonis Haslem put the Heat up by two after a 3 point shot and as they walked backed the Mavericks' Stephenson gives him a little push(i'd call it more of a nudge). It should have ended there but Mario Chalmers will not sit back while such an event is taking place so he runs off bench and shoves Haslem. This little mini scuff wouldn't have been reviewed if Chalmers just sat his behind down; his actions gave Nowitzki a free throw. Imagine the Heat lost by 1; how mad would Miami be at Chalmers! That would have been entertaining. Regardless, as the commentators mentioned "there are no Mike Tyson's in the NBA so just play basketball." I don't know about you but I just imaged Mike Tyson playing basketball - funny. Sports By Sahar is laughing. Wade played great as usual, James was insignificant, and Bosh was just Bosh. Nowitizki and Kidd put their everything into this game and in my opinion it was a well deserved win!

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DALLAS MAVERICKS!
Sorry Miami Heat. Maybe next time. 

We're off to game 6. 'Canucking' the Bruins

We won't get Bruin'd they'll get Canuck'd.

Both Thomas and Luongo were on top of it for game 5 in Vancouver a few days ago. "There was something about him before the game," Bieksa said of Luongo. "He just seemed so comfortable, so confident. He was vocal, and usually he's not a vocal guy. We thought it would be something special(NHL.com)." Lu is like a kid that did something naughty, after you yell at him he becomes well behaved again. As a result of game 3 and 4 in Boston, Canucks fans cursed and hated on Roberto Luongo, and now? Well now they love him again alongside Maxim Lapierre, who was in the right spot at the right time. Allow me to paint you a picture: Bieksa was the fisher, the puck was the bait and Thomas was the fish. Kevin Bieksa shot the puck(bait) wide of the net where (like Bieksa calculated) Thomas(the fish) kept his eye on the puck as he leaned more towards his left. But the little bait floated against the back boards and into the likes of Lapierre who shot it into Thomas' right and BAM! 1-0 Canucks. 

Game 6 is tomorrow in Boston. How much of a factor is this ice problem? It has been a big topic in the last few days that the heat and humidity in Boston's Arena is causing the ice to be extremely soft and chippy. Evidently, this has made it difficult for the Canucks to play up to standards. The question of the matter is: is this a real factor or is this an excuse? After watching many replays I noticed that Boston's style is to chip the puck in and force turnovers on the forecheck; soft and chippy ice is perfect for that type of play. Is chippy even a word? Oh well, it should be a word. Chippy chippy chippy. Anyway, if Boston is used to practicing and playing on soft mushy gushy ice that means they're just built slower than the Canucks. However, the Canucks are a fast team and if they're not used to this type of ice then they're forced to play slower and our slow is slower than their slow which is their fast because they play on that ice all the time. Get it? Complicated but interesting. Boston's TD Garden now serving slushies? I'll have a blue and green one please. 


Boston is not going to give this one to us easily thats for sure. Tim Thomas is going to be more than on top of it, he's going to be straddling the ice around him. The Bruins will have a chance if they win this game and meet the Canucks at home for game 7 but if they lose then Lord Stanley will be Vancouver's and the Champagne will be poured all over our boys to mask their tears of happiness. What makes us think that Boston will give up their chance as easy as their virginities? Theres no way boys and girls, there is no way. Every single Bruin is going to be giving this game their all but then again so are the Canucks. NOW the question arises: Do we want to win in Boston or do we want to win at home? We will win the whole thing, I can tell you that much, but where? 


Vancouver's defenseman Hamhuis has missed the last 4 games and did not skate this Sunday afternoon, neither did Ryan Kesler! Don't be alarmed though, Kes will be on the ice come Monday night. Boston's Horton will not be playing due to his concussion given by our very own Rome(I know, I know, its nothing to be proud of; or is it?). 


Please feel free to comment and answer my questions!

GAME 6 MONDAY JUNE 12th 5pm PT. 

See you here after the game. Sports By Sahar - out. 

In LUONGO I believe. Game 4 - fail.

Vancouver at Boston 

Game 4

4-0 Bruins...

First of all, Steve Nash is Manny Malhotra's brother in-law? Weird. But I like it.

Goal scorers:

R. Peverley (11:59 - 1st)

M. Ryder (11:11 - 2nd) 

B. Marchand (13:29 - 2nd)

R. Peverley (03:39 - 3rd

Well. I called that one wrong, didn't I? 

It had been predicted that The Canucks and The Bruins would be in the Stanley cup final and that Vancouver would take it home to game 7. For that reason, I maintain my composure. Although during the game I was quite upset like the rest of ya'll - but not at Luongo. Listen Canuckies, its not a good idea to have Schneider be the goaltender for game 5, why would anyone even suggest that? So Luongo slipped, everyone slips from time to time and the more pressure you put on the guy the more he has to think about and thats not good for anybody. Sure he let in 12 goals but most of them weren't solely his fault. The difference between Thomas and Luongo last night was that we had 1 goalie and all our defenders were spread out while Thomas was in net with basically 3 other guys. Is no one paying attention to the fact that theres basically 4 people standing in net? This makes the puck almost impossible to go in hence 4 - 0.

Daniel Sedin makes a great point "These were the same questions Boston got after they lost two games, and they found a way," he said. "We need to do the same thing."

 This is true. If Boston can do it, whats makes us think we can't? I know most of you are thinking that we beat the Bruins by a couple goals at home and they basically destroyed us in their home, almost beating the record of most goals scored on in the playoffs. But hey this is what we do, we break records ;). 

When playing against Chicago, Kesler was a non-factor until he got his head together and showed his face in the Nashville series where the Sedin's did not deliver up to standards until their breakout series when The Canucks played The San Jose Sharks. Now here we are up against the Boston Bruins and not only is Kesler M.I.A. so are the Sedins. Attention Ryan, Daniel, and Henrik, I hate to have to put all the pressure on you three but this just happens to be the biggest moment of your careers so if you could please get your heads into the game (literally) that would be greatly appreciated :). I know Seidenara (Seidenberg and Chara) are monsters and hard to get past but let me remind you that WE ARE CANUCKS: this is what we live for. 

Peace. 

http://lertnoshockey.ca Lertno's Hockey Website Directory

Pregame jitters. Canucks and Bruins: Game 4: in Boston

Oh boy. 

Don't you all remember the scores when the Canucks played Chicago? We got passed the Blackhawks and we'll get past the Bruins too. 

Boston's Horton is out with a concussion and Rome is suspended the remainder of the finals for doing that to him. We can do without Rome, but can they do without Horton? Boston proved that they could in game 3, but anything could happen tonight. Anything. 

Like I said, goaltender Thomas has been hot and cold. Sure, he was exuding a lot of heat in game 3 but today is a different day; today is game 4 and he could be feeling a little chilly. Even so, regardless of how Thomas is feeling today we as Canucks need to bring our all into this game. Everyone needs to preform an "oscar worthy" performance especially Luongo. The guy has been absolutely phenomenal up until Monday, so I don't think we should be that hard on him. Look at it this way, he just needed a little break - sure it was a long shot but we're going to be okay. I predict a win tonight for Vancouver; the scores will be tight but we will conquer.

Its the Canucks, they're unpredictable and when we need them the most they deliver. Its just how we do ;).

Cheerup station:

here, this picture will make you all smile =)

Nowitzki should be sick more often? The Heat at The Mavericks: aftermath

Didn't I say something about the Mav's winning tonight? No big deal. 

86-83 leaves us with a 2-2 series tie. 

THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS! Everyone was on top of it tonight. Wade, Nowitzki, Jason Terry and even Bosh(at least until the 2nd half of the 4th quarter). 

I honestly think Dwayne Wade should be bowed down to every time he walks onto the court. The man is a magician; he's like a stop sign - he comes in your way, you stop and then you go. The only difference is that you came with a ball and you leave with nothing because the stop sign stole it. Dirk Nowitzki didn't feel so hot this morning as he woke up with a fever that hit a high of 102 during the game. He started off excellent then began to look a little wonky as he basically moped to the free throw line on the other side of the court to make his shots. After missing 10 of his 11 shots, fourth quarter rolls around and Nowitzki remembered what "Sports by Sahar" wrote about stepping it up ;). No, but in all seriousness with just a few seconds left in the game Dirk Nowitzki put the Mavericks up by 5 with a stellar lay-up. After that there was nothing The Heat could do...

James, James, James. Were you playing hide and seek? The offensive side of the court looked a bit off as LeBron showcased one of his worst performances. Maybe he was sick too? Or maybe all good things must come down once in awhile. James' lack of 'flack' (the word he used to describe himself and the Heat) created an opportunity for his partner Dwayne Wade to not only shine defensively but offensively as well - especially in the fourth quarter.

Well, there you have it. Dallas beat Miami tonight but if they keep following this back and forth pattern then I guess the next game is The Heat's to win. Oh this is going to be good.

Miami in Dallas. YeeeeHaaa

Please excuse the fact that I have neglected Basketball for a few days. The NHL playoffs took over my life for a little bit there ;). Don't be alarmed my NBA loving followers I'll provide you with a little recap and a little preview... bam!

GAME 4 of the NBA PLAYOFFS

THE MIAMI HEAT VS THE DALLAS MAVERICKS 

in Dallas

After game 1, LeBron James and the Heat let one slip as they lost to the Mavs 93-95 in game 2. Can these scores be any tighter? Game three rolled around this passed Sunday and the Heat made a come back beating the Mavericks 88-86. Coming into game four Miami has a 2-1 lead on Dallas - but would I really call this a lead? Miami did beat Dallas in 2 games, but not by much. The Mavericks are going to play some serious ball tonight; the last thing they want is to fall into a 3-1 puddle of yucky mud and LeBron James' footprints. Both teams have their own ups, downs and super star players, I'd call them almost even(although Miami has most of the leeway). What are the odds of Dallas winning tonights game at home? I would say its doable but someone other than Nowitzki needs to figure out how to do a two point shot. Hey maybe LeBron can teach them? Imagine? 

Heres what I think:

Dwayne Wade is clearly the best guard playing for the Heat, so why would the Mavs always let him get in their way? Thats just silly. GO FOR THEIR WEAK SPOTS, you cowboys! There  were plenty, and I really mean plenty of opportunities for the Mavs to attack Bibby, Chalmers, and Miller. Wade is like a very hard math equation that you just can't solve for the life of you because you don't have the mental capacity. Dallas, you don't have the formula to solve Wade so just let it go and find another equation - such as the other guards. You feel me? I really hope they read this blog post before they play - it could really help them :p. Sports by Sahar, now read by Nowitzki? That would be a first. 

I have a feeling Dallas is going to win this one. I'm probably wrong - but its a good feeling. 

Kesler, get your stick out of the way - thats what she said.

Boston: 
00:11, 2nd - Ferrence
04:22, 2nd - Rechi
11:30, 2nd - Marchand
15:47, 2nd - Krejci
11:38, 3rd - Paille
17:39, 3rd - Recchi
18:06, 3rd - Kelly
18:06, 3rd - Ryder
The Bruins had so many goals, I had to count to
make sure I got them all in. 

Vancouver:

this is going to be fast... 

13:53, 3rd - Hansen 

I know what you're all thinking. Lets keep all the cursing in our heads, okay?

The Tension was unbelievable in Bostons arena tonight. Fights were breaking out all over the ice, no one really showed any emotion after Hansen scored, and people wanted to kill Kesler for deflecting the puck off his stick. Its okay Kes, you made it up by straddling Seidenberg and punching him in the face. 

This loss was almost inevitable, its in human nature - whip out the Psychology text books boys and girls.  You know when you're about to write an exam and you know it doesn't make that big of a difference whether or not you pass since your overall grade will still be significant? Most sports work the same way. The Canucks already won the first two games at home(their GPA was high) and so they simply slacked off(didn't study), knowing that OVERALL they would win(pass the class). This is all good to me(mostly because I never study), my only issue is EIGHT-ONE; like ate one; as in they ate us. 

Okay, when Horton took a drastic fall to the ice after a collision with Rome, I'm sure you breathed a sigh of relief. Don't deny it; Horton is one of those players you'd like to not have to worry about. It looks like his absence didn't make a difference at all. Let me remind you: 8-1 Boston. 

This is what I feel:

First of all, people need to stop saying "Terrific Tim Thomas" because he wasn't ALL that terrific. We just kind of sucked. Where was our offence? Where was our defence? Where were the Canucks? Losing wasn't the factor here. Losing 8-1 however, was absolutely !@#$!@#$, absurd.

This is what is real:

Listen folks, I'm going to shed some light onto the dark cloud thats floating atop your heads; we, as Canucks are still leading the series. Sure, we lost 8-1 but it doesn't matter because most of you predicted a loss on our part anyway; And you know what you green and blue jersey wearing hooligans, a loss is a loss - this isn't soccer, its not aggregate(THANK GOD!!) So let us be positive and KNOW in our hearts that the Stanley Cup is OURS Vancouver, it is ours. 

Until Next time. 
Sports By Sahar is sending you consoling hugs.