Tying this series.

That’s the mindset the Penguins should be in coming to Game 4 of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals this Saturday. They are down in this best-of-seven affair, 2-1, against the Red Wings but with Game 4 to be played in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have a good chance of bringing it back to square one.

The Pittsburgh Penguins should be confident too. After all, they did win their first game of the Stanley Cup finals at home, winning Game 3 to improve to a perfect 9-0 at the Mellon Arena in the postseason. Their 3-2 win over Detroit last Wednesday was also their 17th straight win on their home ice, making Pittsburgh a one nasty place to play hockey if you are a visiting team.

After the Detroit Red Wings simply dominated Pittsburgh during the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals, the Penguins fought back in Game 3, fueled by the support of their fans at the Mellon Arena.

The Penguins scored their first goal of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in the very first quarter of Game 3 after suffering shutout losses in games 1 and 2. The Red Wings were playing catch-up all game long since, as Pittsburgh were already in a comfortable 2-0 lead before Detroit got their first goal of the game.

‘’Whether it was me or anybody else, we just wanted to get the first one,'’ Sidney Crosby said. ‘’We wanted to get a goal, find a way. That was the mind-set going in, and it was nice to…'’

Wait, who the hell is this guy anyway?

For all ya’ll who have absolutely no idea who Justin Bonomo is, Justin ‘’ZeeJustin'’ Bonomo is a guy who got introduced to cards with the role playing card game ‘’Magic: The Gathering.'’ We’ll get into why the online poker community won’t be rooting for him at the 2008 World Series of Poker later.

Yes, you read it, he began with that, playing at an early age of 12 and winning in major ‘’Magic: The Gathering‘’ tournaments all over the world. Oh yeah, he sure won a lot of cash at that age too, winning tournaments that has prize pools reaching up to $250,000.

Justin Bonomo started playing poker at the age of 16 after noticing that some ‘’Magic: The Gathering'’ players started taking up the game. He started playing online at Party Poker and soon found himself with $10,000 after an initial deposit of $200. He continued to build his bankroll by joining $200 tournaments.

That’s when his problem with the online poker community started.

After building a fierce reputation as an online poker player, winning hundreds and thousands of dollars, he found himself caught and publicly humiliated for ‘’cheating'’ by using multiple accounts in major online tournaments.

Around $100,000 were confiscated from his…

Here we go again Piston fans, our Pistons have their backs against the wall. Are you ready to go through all that one more time?

Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Eastern Conference Finals is on this Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan. The Pistons are down 3-2 to the Celtics in this best-of-seven affair. If the Pistons lose Game 6, then the Celtics advance to basketball’s biggest stage, making a return to the NBA Finals. And that will just suck wouldn’t it?

The Boston Celtics, after dropping Game 2 to the Pistons in Boston, have come back to regain homecourt advantage after winning their first playoff game on the road in Game 3.

And while the Detroit Pistons bounced back in Game 4 to tie this seven-game affair at two games apiece, the Celtics showed why they are virtually unstoppable at home, leading by as many as 17 points in Game 5 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston before holding on to win 106-102 to take a 3-2 series lead and be a victory away from the world championship series.

Yup, Kevin Garnett and the rest of the Celtics found their groove back after losing the homecourt edge to Detroit back in Game 2. With momentum back with Boston, things definitely does not look good for the boys from 313. Oh yeah, you can bet your ass it’s hard for me to admit that.

And to make matters worse for the…

For all ya’ll who haven’t heard of this one yet, poker fans would have to wait and see how the WSOP Main Event plays out this year.

Yes, they’re changing when will the main event of the biggest poker tournament in the world will be played. Who’d have thought they’d figure out a way to make the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event even more exciting?

The WSOP has announced a change that will make poker players wet their lips with anticipation. The last nine players of the $10,000 buy-in main event at the WSOP will face off on November 9-10 instead of July 16 as originally scheduled.

This change is expected to bring poker closer to home for poker aficionados all over the world. Well, they’re hoping anyway. So what in the hell were these guys thinking? Read on.

‘’Our intent is to provide an even bigger stage for our players,'’ WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said. ‘’Now fans and viewers will ask ‘who will win’ our coveted championship bracelet instead of ‘who won.’ The excitement and interest surrounding our final nine players will be unprecedented.'’

The 39th annual World Series of Poker takes place from May 30 to July 14 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The main event will begin on July 3 and…

Can Big Brown win the Triple Crown title at the 2008 Belmont Stakes?

That is the question many horse racing fans are probably asking themselves heading to the 140th Belmont Stakes, with Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, only a victory away from the Triple Crown title.

Of course, the top thoroughbreds of the nation will be out to challenge Big Brown at Belmont Park and try to win the last leg of this year’s Triple Crown trail. And while this year’s ONLY Triple Crown contender has been dominant during the last two races, a crack on his left front hoof instantaneously created doubts if Big Brown can really capture horse racing’s holy grail.

Big Brown’s challengers at the 2008 Belmont Stakes are expected to include Casino Drive, Denis of Cork, Icabad Crane, Macho Again, Anak Nakal, Tomcito and possibly Ready’s Echo and Spark Candle.

Looking at Big Brown’s competitors, Casino Drive looks to be the one to give the 2008 Triple Crown series contender a lot of problems at Belmont Park. The colt is the winner of two lifetime starts with his debut taking place at the Kyoto Racecourse with 1 1/8 miles stretching…

On Thursday night, they have to.

Because Game 5 of the 2008 NBA Western Conference Finals gives these Lakers the best opportunity to do just that. Lose this one and you’re looking at another game against the Spurs with their backs against the wall in Texas for Game 6. Surely, these Lakers no longer want to come to that point.

Besides, clinching this series at home is easier than trying to clinch it in a hostile environment back in Texas. The Los Angeles Lakers have to win Game 5. Lose that and they’ll keep the window of opportunity for the defending champions to steal this series OPEN.

And giving the Spurs with any kind of momentum is like flirting with danger. The New Orleans Hornets did just that and where are those guys now? They’re at home watching the rest of the 2008 NBA playoffs.

Of course, for the San Antonio Spurs, in order to win Game 5, they have to stop whining about that no-call on Brent Barry first.

We probably saw travesty in action back in Game 4, when Brent Barry was clearly fouled by Derek Fisher in the dying seconds of the game. It didn’t matter too if Barry was in the shooting motion or not as…

With Los Angeles already on the verge of advancing to the NBA Finals, I guess we could see a retro series between L.A. and Boston after all.

You read it folks, much to the dismay of my man J.J. Jack, the Pistons are on the verge of taking an exit in the 2008 NBA Eastern Conference Finals after losing 106-102 to the Celtics in Boston.

After struggling so much in the playoffs, the Boston Celtics now have the opportunity to clinch this series and advance to the 2008 NBA Finals when this best-of-seven affair resumes at the Palace of Auburn Hills for Game 6.

The Detroit Pistons did put a valiant effort in the fourth quarter, giving themselves a chance to still steal Game 5 in Boston. Unfortunately for them, the fat lady was just singing for the other team.

Ray Allen came up with his best performance of the 2008 NBA playoffs, putting up 29 points in 5-6 shooting from the field. And while Allen was shooting the lights out, Kevin Garnett was even better.

Kevin Garnett, signed by Boston in the offseason to win a championship, scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Celtics past Detroit. And as if that wasn’t enough to spoil the Pistons’ plans for a title, Kendrick Perkins (of all people…) came up with career-highs of 18 points and…

I guess homecourt DOES mean something in sports eh?

While home teams in the NBA playoffs, more often than not, win everything, the same can now be said of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals after Pittsburgh finally won one, beating Detroit 3-2, to cut the Red Wings’ series lead to 2-1.

After two empty games in Detroit Red Wings territory, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned to their home turf Tuesday facing a 0-2 hole, trying to find answers for the stifling defense of Detroit.

‘’We need to find a way to hate that team,'’ Pittsburgh Penguins star Gary Roberts said after losing Game 2. ‘’We haven’t played any hockey against them the last few years. They play a game that they’re not really in your face. They just play a puck-control game. They don’t really make you that mad at them.'’

The Red Wings outscored the Penguins 7-0 in taking the first two games of the series on home ice. The Red Wings knew things will be a lot different in Pittsburgh since the Penguins are 8-0 at the Igloo in the playoffs and have won 16 straight on that very ice since February 24.

‘’This is a big one,'’ Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said before…

Yep, it seems losing in the first round won’t ruin the way tennis fans look at the young, 23-year-old, tennis player.

After Serena Williams quickly took care of business, eliminating young Ashley Harkleroad from the 2008 French Open at Roland Garros with a 6-2, 6-1 annihilation, it turns out that Harkleroad already has other stuff to keep her preoccupied.

Apparently, Ashley Harkleroad, ranked no.61 in the world, will be appearing in the August edition of Playboy magazine. Yep, you read it people, you’ll see that 23-year-old American ass in its full glory on Playboy. Whew! We can’t wait to see it.

And while I’ll probably curse the day I see Serena Williams on a two-page spread in the said magazine, (eww…) Harkleroad on Playboy makes sense. After all, she does have one of the hottest asses to ever run around the clay courts of this year’s French Open tournament.

The only question now is, is her ass hotter than the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova?

Harkleroad, after other female athletes like Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard and former volleyball star Gabrielle Reese also posed for Playboy, is excited about the fact that it’s now…

The Pistons, the Celtics, the Lakers and the Spurs.

Those teams are your FINAL FOUR in what has been an intriguing 2008 NBA playoffs. Two teams in Boston and L.A. have rediscovered the winning form from their past while two teams in Detroit and San Antonio will look to continue their dominance of the present era.

Let’s start with the 2008 NBA Eastern Conference Finals series between Detroit and Boston. The Celtics came into this series still perfect at home in the playoffs. And while that is impressive, their dominance at home is being overshadowed by their poor performance on the road.

When the Boston Celtics lost Game 2 to the Pistons, their once indestructible homestand, all of a sudden, was destroyed after Detroit won a playoff game in a place where many have failed. The Celtics just dropped a game at home.

The Detroit Pistons, all of a sudden, pushed the Celtics to do something they’ve never done in the postseason, win a game away from Boston. After Game 3’s convincing win for the Celtics, KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce silenced their critics and finally won their first road game of the 2008 NBA playoffs.

As of press time, this best-of-seven series has been reduced to a best-of-three after Detroit tied it by winning…