Hoops

Or, you know-- maybe not.

(h/t to Josh at the Comics Curmudgeon for pointing out this wonderully Crankshaftian bitter irony.)

I like LeBron a lot, and I utterly despise the Boston Celtics, more than any franchise in sports except the Baltimore Ravens. But the Pistons fan in me is happy to see the younger, more energetic, LeBron-driven Cavs exit the playoffs. Garnett, Pierce and Allen are gifted and tough, but after two seven-game series, I'm hoping their 30-something legs will be worn out, and I think the Pistons' defense can finally break Boston's fabled home court advantage. It was twenty (!) years ago that I really started following pro basketball, when the Pistons faced off in the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston of Bird, McHale and Parrish (and my hatred of those guys began). It was the year the Bad Boys finally got over the hump against their arch-rivals, and they would go on to face the Lakers in a tough and very dramatic seven-game series (I'm still bitter about some of the foul calls that cost us what should've been our first title that year). Will history repeat itself this year (but with, you know, a better ending)? The Lakers are in their conference finals, too, and I suspect they'll beat whoever comes out of the Spurs-Hornets matchup. The similarities of Pistons-Lakers 2.0 wouldn't be exact-- in '88, the Pistons were seen as the young, raw team against Magic and Kareem, whereas now those roles are arguably reversed (Kobe Bryant and Derek Fischer are really the only guys with Finals experience on the current Lakers squad). But the Lakers still have the flashier coach, the more famous players and all that history and mythology backing them up. Could be a good show.