The NBA Finals: Good (Mavs) vs. Evil (Heat)

Of the major professional and college sports leagues on this planet, I have to say the NBA is my least favorite.  This isn't to say I don't appreciate a well played game of basketball, just that I'm a hockey guy first, and in both sports the college game is far more entertaining that it's professional counterpart.

The NHL and NBA regular seasons are too long and drawn out to be entertaining night in and night out.   Not surprisingly, regular season interest usually follows the team that's playing better.  With the Wolves a joke and the Wild merely incompetent, the pendulum swung hockey's way for most of the season, but that didn't change the fact that things get boring over an 82-game schedule. 

You get some great games, but you also get quite a few flat performances delivered by teams on the second night of back-to-backs.  Some nights of sharp execution, and others where the guys left their game on the bus   The playoffs are what happens when good teams give max effort every game, and both sets have been exceptional.  My hockey bias causes me to lean in the NHL's direction, but in looking at the potential Finals matchups for both sports, I have to admit, hoops is creeping up.

Tonight there will be a Game 7 in the NHL, for the 6th time out of this year's 14 playoff series.  If Boston advances to meet Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Finals, it will be one of the more intriguing matchups in recent history.  A Bruins franchise vying for it's first Cup in 40 years facing off against the Canucks, who've never won one, and carry the added pressure of bringing it back to Canada for the first time since 1993.  There will be storylines aplenty if that happens (f**k off Tampa Bay, nobody wants you here), but as a matchup, it will still pale in comparison to the NBA's final round matchup.

In one corner you have the Mavs, and Dirk Nowitzki, who will likely spend his entire career in a Dallas uniform, for better or for worse.  In the other, the Heat, and their newly hired mercenary duo of LeBron James and Chris Bosh.  You may like LeBron, I do not.  You can explain his actions over the past year as being driven by the desire to win, I will point out that the man could've pursued his current course of action without acting like a douchebag.  Frankly I will always consider what he did to the fans of Cleveland as an affront to sports fans everywhere, and will be backing the Mavericks strongly as a result.

Throw in the bad blood simmering from the 2006 Finals, and this matchup could turn into a bona fide rivalry before it's all said and done.  Despite my intense dislike for Miami, I'm happy that they're here, if only because it adds a layer of importance to the series that would otherwise be lacking.  I may not be the biggest NBA fan, but I am a fan of justice, and karma, and both should have King James directly in their crosshairs.

Go Mavericks.