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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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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The Lakers are back in the Finals against their old rivals, but we have to wait until Thursday so that the TV schedule is optimum for the NBA. The Angels and Dodgers are heading in opposite directions, but both face teams that have fallen flat on their faces this season.

NBA

Lakers

• at Boston, Thursday, 6:00, ABC
• at Boston, Sunday, 6:00, ABC

The Lakers have made it back to the Finals for another edition of their traditional rivalry with the Celtics after a Western Conference Finals that was way easier than many people thought it would be. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Celtics are a much better team than the Spurs this season. Longtime stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are still looking for their first championships, meaning the Celtics will be just as hungry as the Lakers, and more talented. I expect the Lakers to lose a hard-fought series.

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The Dodgers didn’t fair well in the Windy City. They got blown out of town by the Cubs, getting swept in the three game series in Wrigley Field. They lost 1-3 in the first game, 1-3 in the second and 1-2 in the rubber match against the Cubs. The offense has been non-existent in the last six games for the Dodgers. They have scored a total of seven runs in those six games. Not very good and even if they got great pitching, not nearly enough run support to win any games.

After being swept by the Cubs last series the Dodgers we’re looking for some better luck against the Mets on Thursday. They didn’t get it. The Dodgers dropped the first game of the four game series in Queens 4-8 and have lost six of the last seven games. The upside for the Dodgers is that they scored four runs; which is a offensive outburst for them. The bad news is that Brad Penny gave up five earned runs in four innings, so the Dodgers were behind from the start of the game. They still have three more games against the Mets and who knows maybe a win might come out of it.

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You win some you lose some, that’s the nature of the beast. Teams expect to lose games in a 162 game season, that’s a no brainer. They just hope that they win more than they lose. At some point in the season your team is going to have winning streaks and losing streaks there’s nothing much a team can do, but go out and play. Eventually things will square away.

That seems to be the case for the Dodgers right now. They started out great, then they hit a bump in the road, then they went back up winning seven games in a row. Now they seem to be hanging in there, winning and losing evenly. Such was the case with the last two series.

The Dodgers started the weekend facing the Angels having lost 7 of the last eight games against them. They didn’t fare much better this time around. They faced Joe Saunders in game one and lost 4-2. Kuroda actually pitched well enough to win, but things came apart for the Dodgers when Bennett threw the ball all the way to the warning track, on what should have been the last out of the 4th inning, allowing a run to score. The Angels never gave up the lead after that. The second game the Dodgers won 6-3 behind Dewitt’s 2 run home run, four shut out inning by Kuo and Saito saving the game in the 9th. It was only the second win in eleven tries against Angels. The third and final game they lost 10-2, thanks to Lowe giving up seven runs in five innings.

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About 6,000 miles away in Moscow, the biggest soccer game in the world was played on Wednesday. Here in Los Angeles, as well as everywhere else in the world, the game was enjoyed by every true soccer fan.

The UEFA Champions League Final was played between Manchester United and Chelsea. The British teams gave the world a taste of brilliant soccer and an intensity that can only be felt in a game of this magnitude.

In the end, Manchester United won the cup with a final score of 6-5 in dramatic fashion via penalty kicks. Regulation ended with a tied score of 1-1 and was followed by a scoreless extra time.

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The Lakers are now facing their first adversity of the 2008 playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the team responds to losing twice in Utah. The Angels and Dodgers meet in Anaheim for the first of their two yearly series. Both teams are coming off rough weeks.

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Mother’s Day weekend wasn’t too nurturing for any of the local soccer teams. Both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA teams were defeated at the Home Depot Center in Major League Soccer’s Week 7 with an identical score of 2-1.

We begin on Saturday where the Galaxy received an improved New York Red Bulls team. A favorable result could have given Los Angeles the absolute lead in the Western Conference but unfortunately the win never arrived. Danleigh Borman and the Colombian international Juan Pablo Angel scored for the visitors. As for the Angelinos, Alan Gordon was the man in charge of scoring the solitary goal.

With this loss, the Galaxy remains in third place in the Western Conference with 8 points and a record of (2-3-2).

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At last David Beckham is showing his skills on the field rather than outside. In the world of soccer it doesn’t matter what you look like, how much money you make or who are you married to. In the world of soccer what matters is the will and the heart you put in every single game.

There is no doubt that Beckham is starting to do so. For the second time in this young season, the British superstar has been named the Major League Soccer’s “Player of the Week.” This is partly due to his two extraordinary goals that gave the Los Angeles Galaxy a 2-2 tie with Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Fans all over the world are ready to finally see the amazing Beckham, not the mediocre one. So much anticipation has been raised with his arrival and after the disappointing season last year, everyone is hoping to see a positive turnaround.

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The Lakers look like they might be the best team in the NBA right now. They continue their playoff run this week. Both the Dodgers and Angels have been hot lately, and look to build off their recent success.

NBA

Lakers

• vs Utah, Wednesday, 7:30, TNT
• at Utah, Friday, 6:00, ESPN
• at Utah, Sunday, 12:30, ABC

The Lakers rolled over the Jazz 109-98 on Sunday in a game that dragged horribly near the end, with 24 fouls called in the 4^th quarter. The Jazz probably won’t go down that easily in the rest of the series, but the Lakers seem to be peaking right now and may be able to make it through the series without too many issues. Something to look out for is the Jazz’ success at home – they lost only four games at EnergySolutions Arena over the entire regular season, although Houston did win there once in the first round.

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Looks like all the Dodgers needed was a good tongue lashing from me. They straightened up and started to fly right, well at least this week. Hopefully they can keep it up for the rest of the season or at least until the All-Star break.

The Dodgers ended the week off on the right foot, sweeping the series against the Rockies. The Rockies had been struggling going into the series and the Dodgers took advantage of it. They beat them 8-7, 11-3 and 3-2. The first game went a lucky 13 innings with the Dodgers winning it on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Russell Martin. The second game in the series was an easy win for the Dodgers. Brad Penny turned in one of his best pitching performances (7 innings/3 earned runs). He was backed up by 10 runs in the first inning, with four of those runs coming on Matt Kemp’s first career grand slam. The third game in the series needed extra inning , James Loney drove in Rafael Furcal with the winning run in the 10th inning.

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The Lakers continue their march through the first round. Both baseball teams have put together good weeks and look to continue their success. We have one of our last chances to see a Los Angeles sports icon, Oscar de la Hoya, who has found himself an easy fight. Find out about all of this week’s big sporting events in L.A.

NBA

Lakers

• at Denver, Monday, 7:30, TNT
• vs Denver, Wednesday, time TBA, ESPN (if necessary)
• at Denver, Friday, time TBA, ESPN (if necessary)
• vs Denver, Sunday, time TBA, ABC (if necessary)

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