The Fives: April 7th, 2010

Five observations from Tuesday in sports…

1.    I said that the only team to beat the UCONN women this could be themselves.  Well, that almost happened as they played their worst half in a long time.  But, the one constant, the great defense kept them in the game and they were able to make the comeback for 78 in a row.

2.    Tiger’s late afternoon tee time on Thurs. will be interesting because of the factor of his first competitive round in a while and now he has to sit around for most of the day before he can get out there.  It’ll be interesting to see where his energy level will be at that time of day.     

3.    If a team ever had everything break right for them, the Flyers got that gift last night.  Losses by the Rangers and Thrashers combined with getting a shutout from Brian Boucher has Philadelphia feeling a lot better about their chances.   

4.    Tough break (no pun intended) for the Raptors last night with Chris Bosh getting facial injuries.  They’ll probably still make the playoffs, but they can’t put up much of a fight without their best player in there.

5.    Is there any doubt that Lionel Messi is the best soccer player in the world right now?  4 goals as he bounced Arsenal for the UEFA Champions League all by myself.  Barcelona looking very strong for a Champions League title right now.

Five top performances from Tuesday…

1.    Maya Moore, Connecticut G:   23 pts, 11 reb in Connecticut’s 53-47 National Championship win over Stanford

2.    Martin Brodeur, Devils G:  19 svs for his 600th career win and 110th SHO in NJ’s 3-0 win over ATL

3.    Deron Williams, Jazz G:   42 pts, 10 ast in UTA’s 140-139 OT win over OKC

4.    Dallas Braden, Athletics SP:   1 run on 4 hits with 10 strikeouts over 7 IP in OAK’s 2-1 10 inning win over SEA

5.    Brian Boucher, Flyers G:   23 svs and the SHO in PHI’s 2-0 win over TOR

Five games to watch on Wednesday…

1.    MLB:   Giants at Astros, 2:00 PM (Matt Cain tries to lead SF to the sweep)

2.    NBA:   Celtics at Raptors, 7:00 PM (Must win for TOR to make the playoffs)

3.    NHL:   Maple Leafs at Rangers, 7:00 PM (Must win for NYR if they want to make the postseason)

4.    MLB:   Yankees at Red Sox, 7:00 PM (Another good matchup: Pettitte (NYY) vs. Lackey (BOS)

5.    MLB:   Twins at Angels, 10:00 PM (Pavano (MIN) vs. Santana (LAA) in the rubber match)

Have a good day.