Jacob, the intern, reporting for duty. Before the midwest falls victim to Mother Nature’s beauty, I’ll be spending my time at the College World Series this morning. Today’s Weekend Edition will be brief, but I’ll be back tomorrow in a raucous manner.
Starting Five
The Kings celebrate a Stanley Cup victory over the king.
1. Kings win, attain Stanley Cup
The Los Angeles Kings win their second Stanley Cup in three years, defeating the New York Rangers in five games.
Unlike that series in that other sport, the NHL provided a five-game series that was seven-game worthy. The Kings, who were heavy favorites, needed five overtime periods to dethrone the king and his mighty Yanks
The Rangers held the lead in all but one game.
I hope the Dodgers, Lakers, Yankees and Knicks were keeping a keen eye on this series. We need more cross-country rivalry.
2. Can’t Touch the Dutch
Now being coined as the Flying Dutchman, Robin Van Persie delivers this beauty of a goal.
The above spectacle took place in the 44th minute of yesterday’s Netherlands and Spain World Cup match, in which the Dutch asphyxiated the defending World Cup victors, Spain, 5-1.
With the defeat, the Spaniards now look prime for a match with Brazil in the Round of 16.
I can get use to this whole soccer thing.
3. Instability Creates Volatility
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are moving with feverous speed.
As John pointed out yesterday, all of this is bad news — very bad news. I’m always wary to draw connections between the needless slaughter of humans and the global impact it has on the global markets, but the correlation is evident. Iraq is a major supplier of oil, and this political unrest will definitely test the stability of the oil markets in the coming weeks.
Further, this is no one-stop event. ISIS means business, and this is going to get nasty fast. As evidence (not that you need any), this is a portrayal of the inane behavior that the insurgents act with.
4. Shutout City
The most enigmatic of all numbers, zero.
Yesterday, Major League Baseball produced five shutouts – with the losing teams all having a winning record.
Here’s the breakdown:
Blue Jays over the Orioles, 4-0
Twins over the Tigers, 2-0
Yankees over the Athletics, 7-0
Cardinals over the Nationals, 1-0
Rangers over the Mariners, 1-0
In fact, one of the teams above — the St. Louis Cardinals — have shutout their opponent in four out of their last five games. That’s crazy.
Oh, and not to be missed: Felix Hernandez, the man with the least amount of run support this decade, went eight and a third innings last night, giving up one run (in the ninth inning, nonetheless) and still lost, 1-0. Leave Seattle, Felix! Leave!
5. Soap Box
No, not this Jim Carrey!
This is only one of many commencement speeches that have gone viral in the past month. But, as you will find out, I am a man with a great interest in inspiring words.
Early on, Jim Carrey states, “So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality.”
Those are the words that are far from unique, but nonetheless powerful when spoken. I won’t ride too long on my soap box this morning for you, but the idea of banishing irrelevant fear from life is something I take to heart.
Maybe you’ll learn more about me later on this summer, maybe not. We’ll see how it goes.
As the kids say, YOLO (You Only Live Once). It is quite simple; you only live once. Why not kick ass and have some serious fun the one time you are granted?
Remote Patrol
England versus Italy, Group D play
ESPN 6 p.m.
Mario!
It’s England and Italy in soccer. Need I say more?
Maybe…
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!