Okay. This is my first post here on Newsvine, and I'm kind of unsure about how to write this article. English isn't my mother language, so I hope you readers-- given there's someone that actually reads this thing -- will be kind enough to support my bad-written ramblings. I beforehand apologize for the errors.
Anyway, I'm gonna file this article under the Sports, as I want to talk about the weekend, sports wise.
Italy v USA - At least for me, it all began on Saturday, with the much awaited Italy v USA World Cup match. What a disgusting game that was. Hard fouls, even some stupid ones (talk about De Rossi's) and an embarassing performance by the Azzurri, unable to bring home a game with superiority in numbers.
This year, more than ever, I can't stand my national team: a row of grassy-haired, spoilt, 24/7 moaning, prideless players. There even are some corrupted ones too, this year.
Still, I can't abstain to cheer for Italy, and under that point of view I still have some revenge hopes for our third game against Czech Republic, on Thursday. It's clear that something needs to be done, and fresher and more motivated players absolutely need to get into the game. Only the time will tell us if we'll have the balls to get it done and finish at the top of our group.
US Open - I've absently followed the US Open this year, but I was pretty much into it when the last round came, this Sunday.
What a disappointment it was to see both Phil Mickelson's and Colin Montgomerie's hopes to win the tournament vanish on the very last hole. Especially for Monty, considering that it could have been his first major win in his great career, that this has been arguably his biggest chance to do it, and that even a bogey on 18th at Winged Foot would have got him in a playoff against Ogilvy.
Considering how good he is in 1on1 competitions, this can easily be defined as one of the top 10 cases of nails biting ever.
NBA Finals, Game 5 - Another big disappointment, at least for me that I'm a mild Mavs fan. Losing three straight games it's ok. Losing three straight games on the road, in such an hostile environment as "la Casa Blanca" has been during these Playoffs, is ok and understandable.
Losing three games the way Dallas lost them is far less acceptable.
Miami showed again a superb defense, in my opinion. In several situations, Dallas' offense was totally paralyzed, getting out of trouble only thanks to Terry's or Howard's talent. Nowitzki has been guarded extremely well by Posey and Haslem during this series, forcing him to take less safe shots, most of them missed badly by the german-- perhaps a little bit tired.
But besides that, what impressed me the most-- of course Wade was huge, but I'm talking more about the Mavs than the game -- has been the Dallas' inability to treat the ball properly in several situations. Considering that game five was the kind of game where even a missed free throw could make all the difference in the world, when you hit 21 out of 25 from the line, it's clear that you've got to find out some other explanations for the loss.
With Stackhouse coming back from the suspension, it will be a do or die game for Dallas, and, in my opinion, it will be all about how angry they'll play game 6. In the meanwhile, daring every possible kind of superstition, the Mavs are giving away five hundreds free tickets for the possible game 7.
As a basketball fan, I hope they're gonna be used.