Many in the sports world may expect the next few days to showcase three dominant performances: the Lakers in the NBA Finals, Rafael Nadal at the French Open and Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes.
I expect the Lakers to win the title in six games, though I will be rooting, begrudgingly, for the Celtics. I like KG too much to let my feelings for Boston sports fans turn me against this team, and I genuinely feel that Kobe Bryant is one of the most unlikeable athletes in all of sports. This notion that he has changed in the last year from a brat to a team player is laughable. I'll leave it at that. Unfortunately, I still expect L.A. to close the deal at home in less than two weeks. Hope I'm wrong.
As for Nadal, the man is a beast on the red stuff. Not only do people not beat him at Roland Garros, it's usually not even close. I think he beats Federer on Sunday for his third consecutive title in Paris. Again, I hope I'm wrong.
Finally we come to the anticipated dominance that I think will not happen. As much as I would like to see Big Brown the horse (not the connections, I don't care much for them) win the first Triple Crown in 30 years, I think that the rail and the bad hoof and the karma are going against him. It does surprise me that everyone is talking about this race in such absolutes. Do I think he has a shot? Of course, I won't be shocked if he wins. But I think that he's going to be forced into a bad position early on the rail, and that the hoof problem and running a grueling race against fresher, better horses than he saw in the Preakness are going to catch up with him. He's still an outstanding horse, but I just don't think it's in the stars on Saturday. 1. Casino Drive 2. Denis of Cork 3. Big Brown
Back to the topic at hand soon....
