Wednesday Quick Hits

Party like a Fin

Finland’s head coach, Pasi Nurminen (you may remember him as the goalie for the Atlanta Thrashers from 2001-2004), was feeling no pain after he took a Gerald Ford like spill while deplaning after his team won the IHF world championship. He face planted onto the tarmac and into the IHF trophy denting it. He walked away only embarrassed and not injured. I guess a little celebration on the plane never hurt anybody, only a trophy?

NBA Playoffs

My pre-post season NBA picks are still alive (kind of), which is good and bad. If you’ve been following my articles for any length of time, you know I’m not a fan of the Miami Heat but I reluctantly had them going to the Eastern Conference Finals. If game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals is a foreshadowing of events, HogManInLA will be a happy man after 4-5 more Eastern Conference games and the Bulls continuing on to the NBA Finals.

Before the playoffs started I didn’t give the Dallas Mavericks much of a chance to make the Western Conference Finals. In fact I had them losing in the first round. I picked the Thunder vs. Lakers with the Lakers winning. Who knew Gasol would wind up on a milk carton before their second round series was over?

Dirk showed up big last night scoring 48 points. He shot 12-15 from the field and set an NBA playoff record from the charity stripe hitting 24-24 while leading the Mavs over the Thunder 121-112. The Mavs played near perfect basketball last night. Their home court advantage will be the difference in this series. I now see the Mavs taking the series in 6.

Poster for dad

Taking it like a good sport, Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade Twitted that his oldest son Zaire dunked on him on his Nerf rim and yelled “Gibson”! That had to hurt his pride just a little at first. If you haven't seen Gibson's dunk on Wade during game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, YouTube it!

Whose town is Chicago?

It’s Oprah’s town. The Bulls had to practice at the University of Illinois-Chicago on Monday because Oprah’s last shows are being taped at the United Center.