NBA

Big time bad news for the NBA’s reigning champion, the Boston Celtics.  This morning they got word that their superstar player, Kevin Garnett, will not be available for the playoffs.  They’re gonna have to do it without him.  Unfortunately, this puts a real damper on their plans.  The Celtics were expected to lose to Cleveland in the Conference Finals WITH Garnett.  Now, without him, they are sure to lose.  That is, unless they rally around the whole underdog card.  This puts a lot of pressure on Paul Pierce, as he will have to guard LeBron and handle a bulk of the offense too.  That’s very taxing on a player, and it is most likely unsustainable.  This, however, implies that the Celtics will even REACH the Conference Finals.  They might exit earlier than we expected.

NFL

A legend has decided to retire from football.  This time though it’s not a player — it’s the immortal John Madden.  Madden will put down the mic next season, and his voice will surely be missed on Sunday Night Football.  Arguably, Madden has done more for the game of football in the last 15 years than anybody else — primarily because of his video game franchise MADDEN FOOTBALL, which continues to get fans excited about the NFL.  Also, he did his best to try and educate casual fans to the strategy of the game.  Football is a complicated sport to completely comprehend, and it was important to Madden to do so.  As of right now, there is no one that will be able to fill his shoes.

MLB

In baseball, it was the grand opening of the NEW YANKEE STADIUM.  This is a momentous event not only in sports, but in American culture, as the old Yankee Stadium was a true fixture of Americana.  Yankee fans showed up in droves to be a part of this historic event, but… they didn’t exactly like what they saw.  The Cleveland Indians came in and absolutely destroyed the Yanks.  It was murderous.  The Indians Grady Sizemore hit a Home Run blast that pulled in 4 RBIs, and the Indians completely spoiled the Yanks new palace.  Cleveland 10, NY Yankees 2.

NHL

It appears that the Chicago Blackhawks are finally back on the map.  The Blackhawks were dominant in the early 90s, but have been rather absent this decade.  But last night, the Blackhawks grabbed their first playoff win in SEVEN YEARS.  That’s quite a while.  It all came in Overtime, when Martin Havlat scored his second goal of the game to cinch the win, and give Chicago a 1-0 lead in their series against Calgary. Is Chicago hockey really back?  We’ll just have to wait and see.  Chicago 3, Calgary 2.