With the Stanley Cup Finals slated to begin tonight, sport fans will see something that doesn’t happen frequently in the NHL playoffs. The Los Angeles Kings are only the second team to eliminate the #1, #2, and #3 seeds from the playoffs in the same postseason and make the Finals as an 8 seed. They will face-off against the 6 seed out of the Eastern Conference, New Jersey Devils. So how rare is it that two lower seeds meet for a championship in the NHL? Let’s take a look back at past NHL seasons and find out. Continue reading →
We always hear as a sport fan, you need a great team to win a championship. A sport like basketball requires more than one piece to win it all, and teams have rushed out to assemble all-star like rosters to achieve success. With all of the individual awards being handed out during the NBA Playoffs, I wanted to research how many of these award winners were actually on teams that had success. Continue reading →
The 2012 Slam Dunk contest finds itself once again in Orlando, Florida this Saturday night at 8 p.m. est. In years past the news surrounding the event is usually centered around the participants, but this year it’s about Jeremy Lin not being able to assist Ian Shumpert who withdrew due to injury. It will also not include last year’s champion, Blake Griffin, as he will pass up the opportunity to defend the 2011 title. With the new rule changes, this year’s contest will feature a new single-round format. Each player has to execute three dunks, and only fan voting will determine who is the champion. This year’s participants include four first time participants:
Chase Budinger (Houston) 6 Total Dunks (2011-12)
Paul George (Indiana) 25 Dunks
Jeremy Evans (Utah) 12 Dunks
Derrick Williams (Minnesota) 19 Dunks
Once a fan favorite during the NBA All-Star Break, it’s now on the brink of being cancelled. We won’t compare this year’s contest to some of the all-time greats including Jordan, Wilkins or Webb, but how about taking it back to Orlando, 20 years ago in 1992 (Video). The participants in order of finish that year included:
Cedric Ceballos (Phoenix) Champion
Larry Johnson (Charlotte)
Nick Anderson (Orlando)
John Starks (New York)
Doug West (Minnesota)
Shawn Kemp (Seattle)
Stacey Augmon (Atlanta)
Thoughts/opinions on the state of the Slam Dunk Contest?
