A Lot Going On

There's a lot going on this week. The NBA and NHL are both in their Finals. There is Game 7 for the Stanley Cup tonight, and then Game 6 for the NBA the next night.

The fact that there even is a Game 6 in the NBA Finals is a story in and of itself, but the thing everyone's going to be talking about in regard to the series, regardless of how it ends, for as long as we live is what happened to Kevin Durant.

If the Toronto Raptors hang on and win it, everyone will say, "Yeah, but they wouldn't have if Durant been healthy the whole way."

If the Golden State Warriors come from behind and win it, everyone will say, "Durant inspired them to win, even when he wasn't out there on the court."

A champion does not give up. A champion says, "If you wanna beat me, you're gonna have to face everything I got. I'm coming at you with all guns blazing, and with all flags flying. I have passed the test of champions. I'm gonna make you pass it... or fail it."

The Warriors sent that message to the Raptors in Game 5 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, by starting Durant for the 1st time since the Playoffs began.

But 12 minutes into the game, he tore his Achilles tendon, and he is done, most likely for a big chunk of next season, if not all of it.

If the Warriors, who have won 3 of the last 4 NBA Championships, and it should have been 4 out of 4, win this one to make it 4 out of 5, will Durant's role before he got hurt in Game 5 has been worth it?

We are talking about a man's career, after all. Will this change the course of his career? Will he play at all next season? And for whom? His free agency is now thrown into chaos. Knicks fans thought they had a shot at him. Surely, LeBron James was going to make an effort to bring him to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Boston Celtics surely see him as the path to Title 18.

If he never plays another game, which is possible, is he already a guaranteed Hall-of-Famer? That question is assuming that he doesn't do what Pete Rose did, or what O.J. Simpson did 25 years ago tonight, or what Kobe Bryant -- wait, Kobe is almost certainly getting into the Hall of Fame anyway.

And we saw Toronto fans, at first, cheering Durant's injury. This is the sort of thing we rip Philadelphia fans for doing. Do Toronto fans get a pass on this, because they're Canadians, who are nice? Yeah, watch Canadian fans in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and see if they're nice.

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And speaking of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the St. Louis Blues had the chance to win the Cup at home in Game 6, and they got embarrassed. Now, they have to win a Game 7 in Boston.

Is there any chance that Gary Bettman lets Boston lose Game 7 at home? I don't think so: Unlike Major League Baseball, Bettman doesn't love St. Louis. He knows that St. Louis winning does nothing for the League, whereas Boston winning, as we saw in 2011, does a lot for it, much more than it did when it happened in 1970 and 1972.

This Boston team is not like those. There's no good guy to root for. No Bobby Orr, no Phil Esposito. These Bruins are just as much of a bunch of assholes as all the other New England's teams.

As I type this on Wednesday night, the Blues lead the Bruins 2-0 at the end of the 2nd period. Maybe...

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Which brings me to the subject of David Ortiz. Everyone was shocked to find out that the Boston Red Sox legend got shot back home in the Dominican Republic. No one wanted him to die. But then we found out that his shooting was ordered by a drug lord, whose wife is Ortiz's side piece. Or, rather, one of his side pieces.

Lots of people hate Durant for walking out on the Oklahoma City Thunder and signing with the Golden State Warriors, even though the same people love LeBron walking out on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and then on the Miami Heat, and then on the Cavs again, and going to the Lakers. Hypocrites.

Now, we hear so much about how Ortiz is a wonderful man, and he doesn't deserve this. Well, when you schtup a drug lord's wife, nothing good can come of it. This, on top of the fact that he cheated i baseball, he got caught, he lied about it, the fact that he cheated and got caught was revealed to the public, and he still lies about it. Just like Tom Brady. At least Bill Belichick admitted it when he got caught in Spygate.

What a world we live in, where David Ortiz and Tom Brady are considered Heroes, but Kevin Durant and Colin Kaepernick are considered villains.

Oh yes: The Yankees played the Mets. I'm going to have to make that a separate post.

UPDATE: 3-0 Blues with 8 minutes left in regulation!

Final score: St. Louis Blues 4, Boston Bruins 1. The Blues have won the Stanley Cup.