On Wednesday night the Indiana Pacers let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers by losing Game 4 of the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime. If the Pacers owned any hopes of being crowned world champions, that all disappeared in what was the best game of the entire playoffs.
Rather than tying up the series at 2-2, and giving themselves a chance to take a 3-2 lead at home, Indiana now faces the impossible task of winning the final three games, including two in Los Angeles.
No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals, so the only question that remains is how long the series will go. My feeling is that the Lakers got what they wanted by winning one game in Indiana, so a letdown is understandable and a triumphant finish in front of the home fans is certain.
Also, an Indiana home victory in Game 5 would be no surprise, considering the Pacers tied the Lakers for the best home record during the regular season.
Predictions: Game 5 - Indiana and Over. Game 6 - Los Angeles and Over.
- The College World Series comes to a close Saturday from Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. For some reason, whoever is in charge of splitting the eight teams into the two brackets bent over backwards to give Stanford an unfair road to the championship game.
In the Cardinal's bracket was Clemson, a school whose best-ever finish was third in the CWS, in addition to both San Jose State and Louisiana-Lafayette, two schools which had never even reached the final eight before.
In the "glamour' bracket,as ESPN announcers are calling it, you have: LSU, which won four titles in the 1990s; Southern Cal, which won most recently in 1998; Florida State, the runner-up last year with 17 total trips to Omaha; and Texas, a team rich in baseball tradition that swept through its regional and super regional.
Then the people in charge had the nerve to schedule Stanford's bracket championship game for Wednesday, while the other championship wasn't to be decided until at least Thursday, giving the Cardinal possibly an extra day off before Saturday's title game. Luckily, a higher power intervened, as rain washed out Tuesday's games and forced both brackets to play on Thursday.
Still, the rain gave Stanford and LSU an advantage, because they won both of their games and were waiting for teams to fight through the loser's bracket.
Prediction: My pre-tourney pick of LSU looks strong, as the Tigers are still unbeaten in the postseason (before Thursday). Four of the five times that LSU won its first two games of the CWS, it went on to win the championship. Justice would be served if Louisiana-Lafayette reached the final, but the winner of LSU's bracket should come out on top.
- Since this is my last article until football season, I need to make a couple of predictions for the summer. At the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, barring an injury, take Pete Sampras on the men's side, and it's too early to predict a women's winner.
The British Open Golf Tournament is at St. Andrews where John Daly has won, and it favors the length of, you guessed it, Tiger Woods.
I don't advise wagering on preseason football, although I know a few people who think exhibition games are good moneymakers.
Hopefully we will be able to bet on college football games this year, as the United States government continues to take on the shape of Nazi Germany. With its newfound policy of desecration without representation, Nevada Senators were not allowed to testify concerning the issue of wagering on college sports. Maybe Nevada could secede from the Union, but the government would probably put us in gas chambers first.
Come September, Steve Young will not be in a uniform, but who cares? Young reached and won only one Super Bowl, which ranks him right up there with Doug Williams and Jim McMahon.
One of Young's greatest moments his TD pass against Green Bay in the 1999 playoffs, came moments after officials failed to see Jerry Rice fumble away the ball, and a season before instant replay returned.
Best Young moments - Getting routed by Dallas in the 1992 and '93 championship games, and the concussion he suffered against Arizona last season (Didn't anyone tell him you're not supposed to take naps on the field during games?)
Joe Ellison is the Nevada Appeal betting columnist and an unabashed Cowboys fan.