04/26/24
May 12, 2023
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
I've updated the NBA pickem and NHL pickem now that each has one series victor. I did not think the Suns would lose with KD.
posted by rcade at 10:26 AM on May 12, 2023
hoping LA takes care of business and we get the matinee game.
For perhaps the first time in my life I will be rooting for the Lakers tonight. The 3:30 game makes a great day for my wife and I. First, a pre-game snack in the Hub Hall (food court at TD Garden). After the game we will have dinner at a restaurant near the arena, or we will hit one of our favorites near home. The 8:00 game is a nightmare scenario. We normally drive a short distance from our home on the NH - MA border to a commuter rail station in Lowell, MA. It's a 45 minute train ride to North Station in Boston, and TD Garden is right upstairs. My wife is somewhat mobility impaired, so our route has no more than a few stairs to negotiate. The problem is that the last train to Lowell departs at 11:00. They will usually hold the train for 15 minutes after the end of the game, but with the crowds emptying from the arena and our route sometimes blocked by TV activity, it often takes extra time to get to the train. Our only alternative is to leave the game early. Are you kidding me? Unless it's a blowout, there's no way that happens. We could also drive down, but that means shelling out about $60 for parking, and even on a Sunday, Boston traffic is not a lot of fun. So reluctantly I will watch the game tonight quietly chanting "Let's go Lakers".
posted by Howard_T at 12:24 PM on May 12, 2023
I haven't thought about this in a while, Howard, but that definitely gave me some flashbacks of dashing through a few gnarly post-game parking lots trying to get back to the DART after playoff games at the AAC early in Dirk's career.
Regardless of how the logistics shake out, hope y'all have a great time!
posted by Ufez Jones at 01:48 PM on May 12, 2023
Problem solved. Actually our son might be taking Mom to the game since I seem to have come down with some sort of gleep. Thank you, Lakers. Now I can go back to normal Boston mode and root for whomever is playing the Lakers. If Celtics can win tomorrow, and get by Miami, and Lakers can get by Denver, the finals might be the most compelling matchup the NBA has seen in years. I actually would love to be part of it.
posted by Howard_T at 04:00 PM on May 13, 2023
Oh yeah, Celtics vs Lakers would be an instant classic, with a bonus heap of "will this be LeBron's last real chance?" narratives. It would also elicit a very specific nostalgia for fans of a certain age:
A solid second option would be Denver vs. Philly. I watched them play each other on the Saturday evening game of MLK weekend or something and Embiid vs. Joker was every bit as good as I'd hoped. I don't even recall who won the game, tbh, but my main takeaway was "that would be an extremely fun finals series".
posted by Ufez Jones at 05:50 PM on May 13, 2023
Was hanging out at a friend's place last night and had him turn to the Warriors/Lakers game and he mentioned that he's out of touch with the NBA these days. I told him that this year's playoffs have been pretty damn good and within five minutes of watching the game, his eyes opened to how much fun the game is to watch these days.
posted by NoMich at 09:39 PM on May 13, 2023
Suns fans having some serious deja vu right now.
Game 7 between the Celtics and Sixers on Sunday has a chance to be one for the ages. I went looking for a start time and it depends on the Lakers/Warriors game tonight. If LA wins and finishes off the series, Boston and Philly tip off at 3:30 Eastern. If there's a game 7 between LA and GSW, they get the 3:30 time and Boston/Philly get bumped to 8:00 Eastern.
No disrespect to Warriors fans, but I have tickets to see Man or Astro-man? that night, so I'm hoping LA takes care of business and we get the matinee game.