THE MARCH OF THE "BIG THREE"

Last night was the start of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.  An important series, not so much because it's the championship series of the NBA, but a possible culmination of a year long journey for "The Big Three": Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James.

It all started around this time last year, when "The Big Three", on the cusp of free agency, hatched a master plan to ultimately play with each other on the same team in the quest of a championship ring.  While there were some controversy that came with this plan ("The Decision" most notable), they were able to pull it off, to the benefit of the Miami Heat and to the disdain of the rest of the league.  This immediately put a bullseye on their backs and they now had the pressure of living up to the task of being the best team of the league.

After a bumpy start, "The Big Three" finally found their grove and more or less became the team that everyone expected them to be.  Now that they are in the NBA Finals, this is their opportunity to seize the ring that they set out to get when they hatched their master plan last summer.

Game 1 started out as a chess match between the two teams (who ironically enough, met for the championship in 2006), with Dallas actually leading at the half.  However, the Heat were able to connect on their shots and smother Dallas with a stepped-up defense in the second half, and were able to pull away in the 4th quarter in route to a 92-84 win much to the delight of the bandwagon Heat fans in attendance at the bar.

Game 2 takes place on Thursday.  Will the Heat hold serve?  Stay tuned.

The long-awaited Stanley Cup Final begins tonight as the Vancouver Canucks hosts the Boston Bruins (8pm). This is a much-anticipated series as neither team has been to the Cup Final in over 15 years.  The Canucks are favored to win the series but I suspect that the Bruins will make this a tough series that should go 6-7 games. I am going to give the edge to the Canucks simply based on home ice advantage.  But once again, the way I've been predicting games lately, you may as well take your life savings and put it on the Bruins.

You can catch every game of the Stanley Cup here!

PUB TRIVIA TONIGHT (8pm)!  Enjoy a fun night of Pub Trivia with great drink specials on tap and cool prizes up for grabs. It's free to play and open to everyone (team size 1-6 players)!  Get there early and snag a good spot.  It will be a fun time.  Tonight's theme:  SUMMER


JUNE BEER of the MONTH: Wolavers Organic IPA ($5/pint)

AND FINALLY: If you haven't done so yet, you can follow me (@swandad) or the bar (@thirdandlongnyc) on Twitter!  Catch instant updates and secret deals and witty banter/observations via cyberspace!


Stay cool!  It's a hot one out there!


Cheers!