King for a lifetime, fool for a... lifetime...

I'm pretty sure that last night's game 2 between Phoenix and Dallas was the first good -- if not great -- game of the playoffs. Even if it was riddled with fouls. Fantastic 2nd half. Too bad the Suns blew it. They really did outplay Dallas, even without Joe Johnson (The flagrant foul called on Jerry Stackhouse was a joke. Another case, like in football, of refs reacting to the injury, rather than the play), claiming the advantage in rebounding, free throw shooting (huge advantage there), and turnovers. But there's this guy, Michael Finley, who was absolutely unconscious last night. Guy pretty much had the best game of his life and kept the Mavericks in it single-handedly. And boy did they need him because aside from the eventual game-winner, Dirk Nowitzki got lost on the way to the 4th quarter. The big German was pretty much a non-factor with the exception, of course, of that 12 footer with 6.8 seconds to play. Suns really laid an egg in the last two minutes, missing way too many easy buckets. I was actually genuinely upset that Dallas won last night. They stole this one. I just can't root for those guys. Mark Cuban is just so damn unlikable. I respect him as a businessman, yes, but he's such a tool. Not having Joe Johnson's services may put a crimp in my "Suns in 5" prediction. We'll see. I still can't picture Dallas moving on to the conference finals. Brent's got a pretty thorough breakdown on the only good game of the playoffs so far.

Over in England, where basketball is decidely not king, Arsenal beat Everton 7-0!?! Are you fucking kidding me?! ARGH! This just makes me HATE THE LIVING FUCK out of Everton. They wrap up 4th place over rival Liverpool and then just roll over and die -- almost intentionally. Fuck 'em. Arsenal had the possession advantage 81-19!! WHAT!? Ugh. It's incredible that Everton managed so well in the Premiership given that most experts picked them to struggle mightily, especially after the departure of Wayne Rooney to Manchester United.

Speaking of Man U, Malcolm Glazer of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is staging a takeover of the club... by force, if he has to. You can imagine all the fuss this is causing among Brits. They definitely do not like the idea of an American taking the reigns over soccer's most fabled and popular club.