2010 Sports Preview

Though Super Bowl XLIV recently put an end to the NFL season, the sports outlook for the rest of the year is not dwindling. Rather, it is poised to be one of the best years in sports in a long time.

Every 4 years, all the stars align for an amazing sequence of sports. Because of the timing of the Winter Olympics and the World Cup, September through July is bursting at the seams with quality athletics. I am still searching for a name for this type of year. If anyone has any ideas, let me hear them.

Here is your guide to the rest of the year in sports.

NBA All-Star Weekend

The stretch of sports begins tonight with the NBA All-Star festivities in Dallas. The NBA All-Star weekend is consistently the best of all the sports. The Dunk Contest is going to be pretty boring, but there are always one or two amazing dunks that legitimize it. Although, it could have been an other level had LeBron James kept his word.

LeBron, last year:

Right now I’m preliminarily putting my name in the 2010 contest Saturday night. LeBron James is saying in 2010, in Dallas Stadium, he will compete.

Instead, he is judging. Classy. Even with that disappointment, the All-Star game itself will be very entertaining. It is the perfect kickoff weekend for the events to follow.

Olympic Hockey

The first major event of the sports saturation is the Winter Olympics, specifically the men’s hockey tournament. I am not too interested in any other Winter events besides hockey (exception: the biathlon), hence it gets singled out as a highlight of the year.

Every team is so deep, and most have recognizable stars from the NHL. The tournament is going to be extremely close, and picking a winner is difficult. I am having trouble getting over my star-crossed glances at the Russian (Malkin, Ovechkin, Datsyuk, Kovalchuk…) and Canadian (Crosby, Toews, Thornton, Nash…) rosters. I know there is going to be an upset from someone like Sweden, but it is just hard to imagine anything but a Russia/Canada final. Even so, I would love to see the United States make a run.

Regardless of the winner, it is going to be a great few weeks of hockey. Because it is being played in Vancouver, the rink will actually be NHL size and not international size (as I thought before looking this up). Other notable rule differences:

• In a tie at the end of regulation, the game goes to a 5,10, or 20 minute sudden-death overtime depending on the round, then a shootout.
• Goalies can play the puck anywhere, not just in the trapezoid.
• There is no touch-up on icing calls (similar to college hockey).
• Any player on the team can take a penalty shot, as opposed to only the player who was the victim of a penalty.
• Fighting results in ejection from the game in addition to a 5 minute major.

Olympic hockey continues the great sports run all the way through the end of February.

March Madness

Two weeks into March, the run continues with the best annual event in sports. March Madness will yet again be upon us. The three weeks of brackets and buzzer-beaters is one of my favorite teams every year. Nothing can top the intensity of March Madness opening weekend, where there is a game on at every point in the day. The staggered finishes mean the end of every close game is viewable (giving me the ability to see my bracket crumble piece by piece). March Madness, unlike every other sport’s postseason, is perfect.

NHL Playoffs

After the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game on April 5, it is only 9 days until the beginning of the NHL playoffs. Of course my rooting interest is for the Penguins, but there are plenty of other teams that can make it interesting as well. The Capitals’ recent dominance (though not as dominant as the 92-93 Penguins) was quite honestly, scary. They have to be considered the best team now, but we have seen them dominate the regular season before. Nothing they do matters until April 14th and forward.

The Penguins have been up and down all year, so I am hoping that in a few months (and after the Olympic break) they can regroup. The team has the talent to repeat, the only challenge will be the mental grind of the playoffs. If the team can gather the same level of desire that they had last season, the Penguins will once again be in the picture for Stanley Cup contention.

NBA Playoffs

On April 18th, 4 days after the NHL postseason, the NBA playoffs begin. There are only a few teams that have a chance to win it all:

• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Boston Celtics
• Atlanta Hawks (seriously)
• Los Angeles Lakers
• Denver Nuggets
• Dallas Mavericks (with that insane trade)

As of today, the Lakers are heavy favorites for the title. If the Cavs get Stoudemire, they instantly become the favorites instead. I picked Boston at the end of last season, so I will stick with that pick even though it is not easy to do so right now. The one thing I know is that we will not see a Cavaliers/Lakers Finals. No matter how many times the puppets suggest it, or how many analysts predict it all season long. It is just not going to happen.

We can also stop all this talk about the Magic being an elite team. Poor team management led to losing Turkoglu and Courtney Lee to get Vince Carter (and resign bench players like Gortat to 30 million dollar contracts). Orlando had a crazy thing going with a Villanova-esque 4 guards and Howard in the middle. Because Lewis and Turkoglu are giant guards, they had no trouble defending against big guys while still blowing by them on the offensive end.

Arguments and opinions such as that will be settled from April to June (This is without even mentioning the potentially jaw-dropping free agency class of 2010). Unfortunately, it seems my chance to gain $10 will have to wait at least one more year.

World Cup

Both the NHL and NBA playoffs will conclude in early June, almost in unison with the start of the World Cup. During the last World Cup I had just graduated from high school, and with no job was able to meet up with friends and watch as many games as I wanted. That ship has sailed, because this time around I will be working full-time. Lucky for me, my birth was timed well enough to put me squarely in the DVR era.

The World Cup is so overwhelming that even non-soccer fans are drawn into its drama. The nail-biting finishes, electrifying displays of athleticism, and the sense of national pride (missing in all major American sports) all combine to make it a consistently amazing event every time it rolls around.

Injuries have made the road for the United States more difficult, but with our extremely favorable draw for group play we still have a chance to make some noise. We also have the chance to once again stick it to England (the first time being when we, you know, claimed our independence). That match will also provide the opportunity to show David Beckham exactly what we think of his attempt to bring soccer to the forefront of America.

In Closing

The World Cup concludes on July 11th, after which we descend into the infamous doldrums of summer baseball until the NFL begins again. But from now until then, sports excellence abounds.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Update: I updated the Olympic rule changes based on this article from the Penguins website.