For most Americans, the sport of gymnastics works like Santa Claus, surfacing every four years bringing excitement and joy during the summer Olympics, only to disappear again, leaving everyone wondering where all the toys came from.

This past weekend, those who looked hard enough caught a glimpse into Santa’s workshop. The 2008 Olympic Team Trials came to their conclusion in Philadelphia, the men finishing on Saturday and the women on Sunday. In typical fashion for the USA Gymnastics organization, however, the trials were more likely to confuse viewers than anything else.

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So far the Dodgers have lost two of the three series during their home stand. The Indians won the first two games 4-6 and 2-7, but the Dodgers came back and won the rubber match 4-3. The Dodgers only won the middle game against the White Sox 5-0, but lost the first and last games 1-6 and 0-2. There’s no explanation necessary, the scores speak for themselves. The continuing problem seems to be the offense and Torre can’t seem to find any solutions to fix the offense. If things continue the way they are then it’s assured the Dodgers will head into the break with a losing record and an even bigger gap between them and the Diamondbacks.

The good news is that hot streaks can start at anytime, just ask the 2007 Rockies, it might happen to the Dodgers. They should have plenty of motivation heading into the last series against the Angels. They were beaten bloody when they went to visit Anaheim and the Angels only seem to be getting stronger as the season moves along. The Dodgers won’t have an easy time with the Angels though as they will face two of the Angels best pitchers. The first game will pit them against Joe Saunders who has a MLB tying best eleven wins . They will then face John Lackey in the final game of the series and he has gone 5-1 with a 1.65 era in only eight games this season.

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And then there were four. The quarterfinals were exciting but now the semi-finals are underway with two matches that were not truly expected. Two world powers against two underdogs. Germany vs Turkey and Spain vs Russia. Even though some of the favorites like Portugal and The Netherlands are out, the 2008 Eurocup is still going strong with great play and exciting surprises.Here is what you can expect from the semi-finals…

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So the Lakers just came within two wins of an NBA title and they’re supposed to blow this thing up? Gimme a break. Even though it was more like a 6 game sweep in terms of Boston’s domination, the Lakers still MADE the Finals. Isnt’t that something? Umm yes it is. Especially considering the expectations heading into the season so spare me and everyone else the absurd over-reaction please.

Of course all of their flaws were made painstakingly clear as a result of Boston’s once a decade type defense, but if they want to get back to the Finals and fare better it will take some minor tweaks. Lets not forget Andrew Bynum will be back, though it is unclear just how far along he’ll be coming off his injury. Question marks aside, the Lakers could certainly stand to upgrade at a few positions. Most glaring would have to be in the middle, where the more physical Celtics manhandled them. Pau can shoulder some of that blame, but it was also his talent that allowed for them to be the Westtern Conference champs. The Lakers need some more muscle and should use the lame Radmanovic as bait. You might wonder, “Who would take that soft non factor of a Euro?” I would wonder the same thing except that teams are always looking for shooters and half the GM’s appear to be clueless. Too bad Isiah isn’t in New York anymore.

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After getting swept in Detroit it didn’t look very good for the Dodgers heading into the next series against the Reds. Good thing the Reds were in a funk of their own. The Dodgers ended up sweeping the series 3-1, 6-1 and 7-4, thanks to great pitching. The Dodger pitchers Billingsley, Lowe and Stults gave up only six runs in the three games. The Dodgers offense finally came alive for more than one game and scored sixteen runs.

The series against the Reds ended a nine game road trip for the Dodgers. They are back home in L.A. to start a nine game home stand against three American League teams. They face the struggling Cleveland Indians tonight for the start of a three game series. Then they will host the red hot Chicago White Sox, who lead the AL Central, for a three game series. The last series against the AL is a good one, as the Los Angeles Angels come to the face the real L.A. team. The Angels will be at Dodger Stadium for the last three games series. As expected many Angel fans should be there, but nothing good comes out of visiting fans being in Dodger Stadium. Especially since the Angels are doing so well and the Dodgers continue to struggle. We shall see what happens.

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With the group stage finally over, eight teams remain in the hunt to become the new champion of the Eurocup 2008. The quarterfinals are ready and the excitement is building. Four intense elimination games will decide who advances to the semi-finals and eventually the final.

Here is a preview of what you can expect.

PORTUGAL vs GERMANY

The Portuguese have Cristiano Ronaldo, currently considered the best player on the planet. His surrounding cast isn’t too shabby either. With experienced players like Deco, Pepe and Quaresma, Portugal is considered one of the favorites to take it all. But the Germans are a solid and mature team who are used to playing in big stages. Led by captain Michael Ballack, Germany is a fierce team that should never be taken lightly.

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So the Lakers are trying to make history and overcome a 3-1 deficit. After struggling to win a Game 5 home game they are now two wins away from an NBA title as they head to Boston. If you’re a Lakers fan you like what you’re hearing from the players. Translation, the Lakers are a 12 man cliche spewing machine right now.

Derek Fisher asserts that they must take it one game at a time. True, but hardly a revelation. Even the P.A. announcer got into the banality act after Game 5. “This is not over yet!” Phil Jackson’s advice to his team? “keep forcing the games and making plays, keep making one play at a time, one quarter at a time. Don’t think anything past this next opportunity on Tuesday to play this team again.”

Kobe Bryant put his own spin on the situation by explaining if someone had said the Lakers have to win two road games to win an NBA Championship at the outset of the season they would’ve taken that in a heartbeat. Was he talking about the beginning of the season when the Lakers were in total disarray and Kobe was wholly unhappy with management AND the personnel on the team? So again, no surprises there.

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For all the Los Angeles fans out there that are feeling down thanks to the Lakers, I’ve got just the recipe to cheer you up. It’s called the Eurocup. It is simply the biggest sporting event in the world happening right now. Yes, it is soccer people, but probably the best soccer you’ll watch in a while.

With the basketball season practically over, you should tune in and enjoy the rest of the tournament. It is still on its early stage, but in case you’ve missed it, here’s a quick recap to keep you up to date. The group stage is almost over and the last set of games will define the quarterfinals.

To make things short….

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By now you’ve heard that no team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in NBA Finals history. The Lakers now find themselves on the wrong end of that 3-1. It doesn’t look good for Kobe and crew. It would be a monumental task for any team to come back from 3-1, but it would be damn near miraculous for the Lakers to bounce back from the greatest comeback in Finals history. The Celtics have controlled this series from Game 1 with their workhorse defense. The Lakers vaunted offense has been no match for the physicality displayed by Boston throughout this series. Want proof? How about arguably the games best offensive player since MJ going 6 for 19 against the relentless Paul Pierce. Who ever though that would happen? The answer is no one except the Celtics.

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The Dodger started a nine game road trip on Tuesday against the last place Padres. The Padres have done better going into the three game series, but still not enough to really worry the Dodgers.

The Dodgers started the series well, winning 7-2 led by Russell Martin driving in three runs, including the game winner. Kershaw pitched decent, but earned a no decision in the game. The next two games the Dodgers lost 1-4 and 0-9, as the trend continued and the offense disappeared. I guess you can say that the Dodgers offense is like Big Foot, coming out once in awhile and then never heard from again for awhile. The Dodgers pitching has been pretty consistent, it’s the offense that is killing them. The only run the Dodgers scored in the last two games was off a DeWitt homer and then they were shut down in the last game by Peavy.

The Dodgers head to Detroit next to face the Tigers in a three game series. The Tigers are coming off a series sweep of the White Sox and are going into the series pumping on all cylinders, more than can be said for the Dodgers. After Detroit they get an off day and head into Cincinnati to face the Reds in the last three game series of the road trip.

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The Lakers are in the finals again and we all know what that means: Lakers car flags are once again out in full flutter.

It’s a very curious thing these car flags. Despite a first-place season and an easy run through the playoffs, I’d never seen them before in my life. Granted, I only moved to L.A. about nine months ago, but this was well before the start of basketball season. Since then, the Lakers managed win more games than anyone in their conference, hold on to Kobe Bryant and basically steal All-Star Pau Gasol away from the Grizzlies. All these bouts of good fortune and nary a car flag on display.

So what is it with these flags? Are they some sort of automotive botanical curiosity that only bloom at the end of May? No, the answer is quite simple. These car flags are the embodiment of a city’s collective bandwagon spirit. Nobody feels a need to support the home team until they’ve proven themselves worthy with a spot in the finals.

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While in Los Angeles all there is nowadays are the Lakers and their NBA Finals match-up with Boston, in Europe they couldn’t care less. Actually the rest of the world right now is focused in Austria and Switzerland, the co-hosts of the 2008 edition of the Eurocup.

The Eurocup consists of 16 European soccer teams that have made it to this tournament through some arduous qualifying. Such star-filled teams like Italy, France, Portugal and Germany will battle it out to get to the final and eventually be crowned as the champions of Europe. It is basically a “mini” World Cup as some experts call it.

The best soccer in the world is being played right now. With incredible games such as France vs Italy, which is a rematch from the final in the World Cup in 2006, is hard to even blink an eye.

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