JT the Brick

June has been an amazing month for sports fans around the country. We kicked off the month watching the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games and helping the sport get some much needed positive publicity. The NHL needed a great hockey franchise to win the Cup and drive up lagging television ratings as the sport looks for continued growth.

Next, Big Brown choked away the Belmont Stakes on June 7 and missed the opportunity to win the Triple Crown. No one anticipated Da’Tara to win while also witnessing the complete collapse by a horse that was supposed to transcend thoroughbred racing and give sports fans another great moment to pass down to generations to come.

Perhaps I was the only syndicated sports talk host in America that had the pleasure of walking 19 holes with Tiger Woods as he captured the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on Monday, June 16. That entire playoff and eventual win by Woods will be remembered as one of the greatest moments in sports history.

Moments like that always remind me that you can never take for granted an opportunity to watch a top athlete compete in their sport’s most prestigious championship. Anyone who sold their tickets or decided to leave San Diego on Sunday night should hang their heads in shame for blowing the chance to watch Tiger win as he fought through a major knee injury.

The following evening, the Boston Celtics buried the Los Angeles Lakers by 39 points in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win their 17th championship in the history of their proud franchise. No one can argue the fact that Boston is currently the best sports city in America. But I do not believe that the 2007-2008 Celtics will be remembered as one of the great teams in NBA history. They don't even crack my all-time top 30 championship teams, but they did stop Kobe Bryant from winning his fourth ring and prevented Phil Jackson from winning his 10th championship as a head coach.

The "Big Three" of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen delivered when it counted in the NBA Finals after almost losing in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks. Danny Ainge will be forever thankful to his good friend Kevin McHale for dealing him Garnett for Al Jefferson, a few draft picks and scrubs who will most likely never win in Minnesota.

As a resident of L.A., I’ve never seen a team and their fan base disappear so quickly after such an embarrassing defeat. I will never forget the statement my son made as we drove around L.A. the day after Game 6 as he said to me "Dad, where did all of the Lakers flags go"? Until the Lakers win another championship they should be remembered as a franchise that laid down when their back was up against the wall.

The letdown from the Lakers is the perfect lead-in to the “Dead Zone” of Sports. I came up with the term over a decade ago for the time immediately following the NBA Finals until sports fans get ready to talk seriously about NFL football on sports talk radio. There is no escaping the Dead Zone so I would like to prepare you for what you are about to read and hear from the media for the next three to four weeks.

Some sports writers take their families on vacation and try to mail in a few columns on the road about their own personal sports related stories. Look for stories from writers who went white water rafting or rediscovered their love for baseball after visiting a minor league stadium.

During the “Dead Zone” try to count how many times a sports talk host reviews movies or local restaurants to fill time. This happens because over the next several weeks there shouldn’t be many relevant issues to talk about concerning the NBA other than the upcoming draft on June 26 or a news breaking sports scandal.

Fans of the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat will nervously look on to see if their team selects either Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley as the top overall selection. The only guarantee is that the New York Knicks will blow their No. 6 pick on a player who will eventually pay dividends when his contract expires in 2011.

Tennis needs to take advantage of the absence of Tiger Woods and hopefully Roger Federer will be pushed to his limits as Wimbledon just got underway. If Rafael Nadal can win the most prestigious tournament in tennis, his legacy will be set as a great champion who could win a major other than the French Open.

Boxing fans can only look forward to watching Manny Pacquiao fight on June 28 in Las Vegas and Wladimir Klitschko flight in Hamburg, Germany on July 12. This was not the time for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to announce his retirement with such a void of big name fighters being showcased this summer.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

Try watching the rest of the EURO 2008 soccer tournament as the semi-finals are set for June 25-26 and the Final will take place on June 29. No sport in the world has a more passionate following from a global fan base than European soccer and this tournament has been exciting to watch with several great highlights to keep your attention.

NASCAR needs a new storyline heading into the chase for the championship after a season that so far has been dominated by Kyle Busch. Many of the top drivers seem to be going through the motions and waiting for a chance to get hot before the chase begins.

College football has the most rabid fans in America, but the summer months add nothing to a sport that hits the ground running in late August.

That brings me to the NFL and the first preseason game that will be played at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio between the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins on Aug. 3. Training camp can be interesting for die-hard fans who want to see how their team’s rosters develop, but nothing is more boring than a preseason filled with meaningless games between teams that rest their starting players after the first quarter.

The Beijing Olympics begins on 8.08.08 and I’m sure that we have our new crop of American heroes who will make us proud on the world’s biggest stage. I can’t wait to read and hear from the best journalists in their field who will have the opportunity to tell us about many of the controversial issues that they see up close and personal inside a communist country.

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