Phillies: World Series Champs

The Philadelphia Phillies are the World Series Champions for the first time in 25 years! They showed their skills all throughout the playoffs and trampled the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in the final series. They simply overpowered the Rays and dominated the entire playoffs.
Living in Philly, I know how crazy it went on Wednesday night; cars honking, people screaming, monuments being thrown around. It was complete bliss for every Philadelphian. The key to this series was the lockdown pitching. From old timers to established stars, the Phillies threw their way to a championship ring. Now the thing we'll have to wait to see is if the Phillies have enough strength to come back next year and be as explosive as they were this year.

2008 World Series

An unlikely World Series, to say the least, this years MLB championship is shaping up to be a great series. Two underdogs are now both on top of the league looking down at the so called "power houses." I don't think anyone, other than the Phillies and Rays die hard fans, would have predicted this series at the beginning of the season, but here it is. A series that can be defined by its up and comers, it is fair to say that those up and comers are now here and have arrived at the biggest stage of their lives. Only time will tell who will come out on top, but no matter who wins, this series has definetly shook up the power players of the MLB and with it will be born the new top stars of the league.

Lance Armstrong

Comeback is now starting to apply to Lance Armstrong; the word greatness has always been there. What is something that always comes with greatness? Skepticism. Armstrong is one of the greatest athletes to ever live, and what he did by winning 7 Tour de France's is a feat of physical and mental strength and perserverance that few human beings have ever come close to. However, now that he is on the comeback trail, questions begin to arise. Was he doping during those 7 championships? The answer, 7 times in a row, was and is no. Armstrong was tested in every which way possible and the results were always the same, he was drug free.
The all too familiar sports great comeback is under way and people are, like always, trying to bring forth doubt that the athlete was ever great. The people who say that Lance Armstrong has embarrassed the sport because they think that he might have been doping while cycling are ridiculous and full of jealousy.
The fact is that Lance Armstrong doesn't need any drugs because he has his own internal "drugs." His heart is one and a half times bigger than the average human heart, which means that he can pump far more blood, much faster than many other cyclists. Combine that with his cardiovascular strength and experience and you've got the greatest cyclist in history. There will always be "haters," but there will not always be Lance Armstrong, so lets enjoy his rare talent while we still can and stop insulting him based on unproven theories.

Lakers: 2009 NBA Champs?

Last season the Lakers were beaten by a better team, plain and simple. The inside presence of Perkins and Garnett was too much for the Lakers' defense to handle. With that said, would the Celtics have been able to beat the Lakers with a healthy Bynum? That's a tough question, but now let me ask another; can the Celtics beat the Lakers this coming season with a bigger, stronger Bynum?
Although the Bynum injury hurt the Lakers in a big way, it might end up being beneficial to them in the long run. Injuries are good for only a few things: rest, recuperation and rebuilding. Bynum took advantage of all of these things by hitting the weight room hard to give the Lakers a much needed presence down low. Having said that, the question is can all the Lakers players work together to create a winning team? Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol have already proven that they can be deadly together. Also Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum have showed some glimmers of greatness together before the injury. The BIG question is how will Gasol, Bynum and Odom work together, if they can? Will Odom be too big of a presence to fit in the puzzle? Although the Lakers have to take some time to figure each other out, it's a problem that most teams would be willing to have. There is a lot of talent on the Lakers team and proven leadership in Kobe Bryant, so only time will tell if Kobe can bring together a championship team and start a dynasty of his own; without Shaq.