Author: Tom Lynch

The Spotlight Sports Pick Of The Day- 4/22/2015

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Spotlight Sports Pick Of The Day- Brooklyn Nets (+10.5)

I have nothing but respect for what the Atlanta Hawks have done this season.  Going undefeated for an entire month and coming from, seemingly, out of nowhere to finish first place in the East.  The Nets, on the hand, limped into the playoffs and have underachieved all season.  Thus, this pick may be a bit puzzling but I feel that once you get to the playoffs it’s an entirely different ballgame.  The Nets have been to the playoffs over the past three seasons with the same core of payers and have had some success.  Before game 1 on Sunday, the Hawks hadn’t even played a competitive game in over a month.  I’m not saying that the Nets are going to win but I do expect them to keep it close and if they do push the Hawks it’ll be interesting to see how the Hawks respond.  Regardless, more than 10 points is something I’m willing to jump on and pick Brooklyn and their veterans in this one.

Record (1-1)

The Spotlight On Today’s Sports- 4/22/2015

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Hello everyone and welcome to the Spotlight on Sports for Wednesday, April the 23rd, 2015. Yesterday, our spotlight ended up living up to the hype, at least two thirds of it, as the Isles & Capitals went into Overtime again and the Rockets & Mavs also lived up to its billing as it seems like the Mavericks are fading fast in that series. Let’s jump into what’s in store for later this evening.

1) Ace’s Wild- It’s the battle of bitter rivals tonight as the San Francisco Giants play host to the LA Dodgers and to make things even better Clayton Kershaw will be opposed by Madison Bumgarner. It’s the reigning Cy Young Award winner vs the Reigning World Series MVP for the first time this season.  While both men are off to less than stellar starts, if you’re a fan of old fashioned pitching duels, this one is sure to fit your fancy.

 

2) Will “They Let A Spaniard Beat Them Again?”- One of the biggest headlines to come out of any NBA playoff series thus far were that the Portland Trail Blazers had posted anti Spanish signs in their vistors locker room prior to game one of their first round series with the Memphis Grizzlies. Obviously this is in reference to Grizzlies star forward Marc Gasol. If game one was any indication, however, the Trail Blazers should not be concerned with one player’s heritage but rather how one sided game one was. If this revelation about the signs provides any more motivation for the Grizzlies, Id expect a quick series and an ugly Game 2 for Portland.

3) 10 Straight?!?!- Quickly, can anyone tell me the three teams tied for the best record in baseball? Well, one is the defending American League champion Kansas City Royals, second is the high powered Detroit Tigers and the third is the…New York Mets?!?! Yep the New York Mets are sitting pretty atop the National League East with an 11-3 record and have done so after losing Stud pitcher Zack Wheeler for the season, Captain David Wright and Catcher Travis D’Arnaud to injury. How good have the Mets been? Well not only have the Mets won 9 straight games but they’ve all been in division. The Mets will try to keep this feel good start to the season going as they host the Braves tomorrow night and look for their tenth straight win!

That’s going to do it for me today but Id encourage everyone to check out the Spotlight Sports Pick Of The Day if you’re looking to make your sports day a little more interesting. If you don’t agree with my three highlights of the day, feel free to leave your choices in the comments section.

The Spotlight On WWE Raw Albany- 4/20/2015

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Hello Everyone and welcome to the spotlight on WWE Raw where every Tuesday we’ll have your highights and lowlights from the previous night’s episode.  Now I shoud make it clear that highlights include anything that I personally enjoyed and that I feel like you should go out of your way to see.  Lowlights, on the other hand, can either be something on the show that didn’t work for me whether it be a bad match or bad booking, something you won’t miss much of if you decided to skip that portion of show or maybe just something that all around left an overall bad feeling for whatever the reason.  With that out of the way let’s get into Raw.

The highlights 

1) RKO Outta Nowhere- I loved the use of Randy Orton last night as I felt that by delviering a promise in the beginning of the show that Rany would RKO everyone before finally getting to Rollins, then hitting people with an RKO throughout the course of the night before finally delivering an RKO to Rollins at the end of the night was all great.  It gave fans tuning in at 8 pm that hook, then kept them engaged throughout the show wondering where he would show up next (the highlight for me being catering) and then delivering that payoff at the end of the show was a great way to lay out Raw and get everyone ready for Extreme Rules on Sunday.

2) The Big Red Machine–  I really enjoyed the Kane stuff last night especially his passionate promo against Seth Rollins.  I felt this was the best thing Kane has done since he feuded with Bray Wyatt.  Say what you will about Kane but it seems like the people really want to see him in a babyface role.  I even thought his match with Cena was pretty good and I like that Cena acted very serious for his match with Kane as he had with every US title open challenge.  I’m just hoping like anything that this is not some kind of Authority setup because we just went through that with Rollins a weeks before Wrestlemania.

3) Ambrose and Harper– These guys are just a joy to watch and they remind me to the days of the hardcore division that has been missing from WWE over the last several years.  Ambrose and Harper are both so good and fearless in some of the things they do.  I liked that they brawled around the arena and appreciate the sacrifices both of them take seemingly every time out. 

The Lowlights

1) The Battle For “The Miz”- I’m not sure what I was expecting but it was more than this. Miz & Mizdow had been, what I thought, a great feud with tons of momentum behind them following their breakup at the Royal Rumble. Fast forward just a little more than three weeks & their first blow off match doesn’t even happen on a pay per view and is given just a little more than five minutes here. The ending was also predictable as I don’t think anyone believed Summer Rae was going to be featured against her Marine 4 co star. Then in the end the Miz (who I really feel can be a main event heel for WWE) became a bit player in Randy Orton’s onslaught & did quite possibly the silliest face after taking an RKO. In the end, I just hope these two don’t get lost in the shuffle now that their feud is done, especially Sandow who I thought was on the verge of something good. 

2) Bo Dallas- I liked his promo, I always have, but to me it’s just a shame that their isn’t more to be done with Bo Dallas. I’m in no way suggesting he should have gotten one over on Roman Reigns but to me there’s more to Bo than a comedy heel. Prior to NXT’s rise on the Network, Dallas was a focal point of the brand and I hope he gets a little more juice moving forward. It’s especially sad that while Sheamus got months of build for his return, that Dallas got nothing at all. He’s young, he’s great on the mic & solid in the ring. I hope WWE notices all of this as well. 

3) “Kiss Me Arse”- Sheamus has been on fire since his return to the company as a badass heel. Likewise, Dolph Ziggler has also looked like a cranked up a notch star since the two have been feuding over the last several weeks. I’m sure that the two of them will have a great match on Sunday but that “Kiss Me Arse” stipulation is rubbing me the wrong way. That is a stipulation that should be reserved for the likes of Santino Marella or Henry Godwin, not two former world champions. 

That’s going to do it for me this week but before I go I would like to wish a speedy recovery to Daniel Bryan. I hope that the injury is minor as I would hate to see Bryan go through anymore turmoil in his life. 

Spotlight Sports Pick of The Day- 4/21/2015

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Spotlight Sports Pick of the Day- Cleveland Cavaliers (-11)

The Cleveland Cavaliers came out of the gate on Sunday afternoon looking pretty sluggish to say the least.  It looked like they were running through mud as their shots weren’t falling and for the first quarter and a half of the game it looked like we were gettng set for a nice series between the Cavs and the Upstart Boston Celtics.  Then reality set in and it looked like the Cavs started to take there team a lot more seriously and stopped messing around.  The Reality here is that the Cavs are way too much for the Celtics.  They’re not just Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love but rather they are stacked with so much depth and can beat you so many ways.  Even after their slow start on Sunday, the Cavs still won going away and will do so again tonight.  I don’t like big spreads (I picked the Nets and won on them simply going against that big spread) but I willing to roll with it tonight.

The Spotlight On Today’s Sports- 4/21/2015

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It is now time to shine the spotlight brightly on the world of Sports on Tuesday, April 21st, 2015. Let’s get into the highlights of the day that you’ll want to make sure you’ll want to watch live or at the very least set your DVR’s or Sports Update Apps

Highlights

1) All Hail King Russell–  Yesterday evening it was announced that the Cubs plan on calling up uber prospect Addison Russell to immediately become the clubs everyday second baseman.  If it wasn’t clear before that the Cubs are ready to contend, this should be that indication.  Addison Russell now joins Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and fellow prospects Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler to make up an impressive roster which is more than the Cubs could’ve said it about the last decade.  Russell came over in the Jeff Samardzija trade to Oakland last year and immediately created excitement for the future throughout the city of Chicago.  This is a debut baseball won’t want to miss.

2) Passing of The Torch?-  Tonight is game two in the best of seven series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets and if Saturday night was any indication, this series could be halfway over before tonight.  Over the past 15 years if there has been one constant in the NBA, other than the San Antonio Spurs, it’s been the Dallas Mavericks.  Unfortunately for the Mavs, on Saturday it really looks like time has caught up to the them as they were outplayed at every phase of the game by the younger Houston Rockets, Tonight will determine if the Mavericks can lean on their veterans, they’ll likely be without their best young player Chandler Parsons, or if they’ll back home looking for answers

3) YES! YES! YES!- The Washington Capitols have one of the best players in all of hockey in Alexander Ovechkin and one of the premier goaltenders in the league in Braden Holtby.  That said, this series has been all about the New York Islanders, who limped into the layoffs in their own right.  The Islanders are a game two epic collapse away from having a chance to close out the series at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum tonight. Led by great inspired play by goaltender Jaroslav Halak, unprecedented defense by Johnny Boychuk and the leadership of John Tavares, the Islanders look ready to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the Caps and ready themselves for a date with the Rangers.

That’s going to do it for today.  Feel free to drop a line and let me know what you think are the biggest sports stories of the day.  Also be sure to take a look at our Spotlight Sports Pick of the Day if you’re someone who likes to make their sports a little more interesting.