S. Samek
The PWHL has reached the final round of the playoffs. Minnesota will play Boston for the championship. The series will be best of five games with Boston hosting the first two and game five if necessary. Which team will win the PWHL title? My prediction is Boston wins 3-1.
S. Samek
MSI 2024 has reached the final round. Gen.G will face Bilibili Gaming for the title.
Gen.G went undefeated in their three matches to advance to the finals. The defeated Fnatic, Top Esports and Bilibili gaming to make it to the final round.
Bilibili defeated PSG Talon and T1 before falling to Gen.G in the round four winner’s bracket. Another series win over T1 advanced them to the title match.
Gen.G is looking to end the tournament with the title while not losing a single series. Bilibili is looking for revenge from that round four loss and defeat Gen.G when it matters most the title game. They are also looking to improve on last year’s finish when they lost to JD Gaming in the finals.
My prediction is Gen.G wins 3-2.
S. Samek
Paul Skenes started today against the Chicago Cubs. After a good, but not great MLB debut, what would Skenes have up his sleeve today?
Turns out he had strikes and strikes and strikes. He started out the game striking out seven Cubs hitters in a row. He finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts. 67 of his 100 pitches throw were strikes.
He pitched six innings and didn’t allow a hit. He walked one batter though. The strong performance lowered his era to 2.70. He left the game with the Pirates up 8-0 putting him in line for his first Major League win. Which he would get as the Pirates went on to win 9-3.
He was pulled most likely for pitch count reasons. Which sure don’t ware his arm out in the second start. Though can’t say it isn’t disappointed to not see him get the chance to throw a no-hitter. Which would have been something great to see.
Though they didn’t get the no hitter anyway so moot point.
I think that’s the Skenes everyone’s been expecting. Should excite the fan base a bit. Even if they will be divided about taking him out while throwing a no-hitter.
S. Samek
The ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs have reached the conference final round. Here are my picks for the two teams that will compete for the Kelly Cup. Winners in bold.
Eastern Conference: Adirondack Thunder vs. Florida Everblades
Western Conference: Kansas City Mavericks vs. Toledo Walleye
S. Samek
It’s time for the weekly power ranking for UFL football. Today we look at the standings after seven weeks of play to see who is hot and who is not.
8.MEMPHIS SHOWBOATS (-1)
The slide continues reaching six in a row. After a 24-point loss to the previously winless Renegades this week it just doesn’t look good.
7.HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS (-1)
They have the second worst losing streak in the league and just aren’t playing to0 well currently.
6.ARLINGTON RENEGADES (+2)
They finally get into the win column. With a win over Memphis they jump them in the power rankings.
5.DC DEFENDERS (No Change)
This team is middle of the pack record wise, so they get the middle ranking spot.
4.SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (No Change)
They continue to keep pace with the BattleHawks in the win column and have one of the best records in the league.
3.ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (-1)
A tough loss to the Stallions in a statement game. Though they do still hold first place in the XFL Conference.
2.MICHIGAN PANTHERS ( +1)
The Panthers are on a winning streak and up there with the league’s top teams.
1.BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS (No Change)
The remain undefeated after a quality win over the BattleHawks. Hard to argue they aren’t still the best team in the league at the moment.
S. Samek
Tonight, the WNBA starts it’s 2024 season. Four games are scheduled for opening night. Let’s break them down.
The first game is the New York Liberty vs the Washington Mystics. It’s a rematch of last season’s first round of the playoffs, where the Liberty swept the Mystics 2-0. The Liberty finished as the WNBA runners-up in 2023.
The second game is Indiana Fever vs Connecticut Sun. Caitlin Clark makes her regular season debut after being taken first overall in this year’s draft. Will the Clark era in Indiana start off with a big road win over a 2023 WNBA semifinalist team in the Sun?
The Pheonix Mercury take on the Las Vegas Aces in the third game of the night. The Aces look to start their run at a three-peat at home on opening night.
The final game of the night is Minnesota Lynx vs Seattle Storm.
Happy opening day WNBA fans!
S. Samek
The Golden State WNBA team now has an identity. The Golden State Valkyries are being added to the WNBA in 2025.
I think the name fits well and the purple logo looks good. It’s good to see a new expansion team for the WNBA to build off the hype the league is getting after a great 2024 draft class. Can’t wait to see the Valkyries enter the WNBA in 2025!
S. Samek
The Cleveland Guardians are the next team to reveal their city connect jersey.
The jersey is dark blue with an art-deco font for Cle on the front.
It’s a mixed bag for me. Part of likes it being a bit simpler and pat of me is like it’s a bit too simple. Part of me wants some flash and flare, but there’s part of me that’s doesn’t want them to do something more and make it look horrible just to add something.
It’s I guess average at best. I wouldn’t say it’s the worst one out there, but it isn’t the best. Still haven’t found one yet to top Tampa’s. Though it does look better than the New York Mets. Overall grade for Clevland is a C.
S. Samek
MSI 2024 is in the middle of the main event bracket stage. Two rounds of the winner’s bracket have concluded, while the loser’s bracket moves on to round two starting tomorrow. Let’s see what teams are currently alive for the quest for the title.
In the winner’s bracket two teams are left undefeated and moved onto round four. The winner of this match which takes place on Thursday May 16th,2024 will advance to the MSI finals. Gen.G and Billibilli Gaming will face off in this matchup. The loser will get another chance in the loser’s bracket round four, serving basically as a semifinal, where the winner goes to the championship finals.
Team Liquid and G2 both avoid elimination during round one of the loser’s bracket. They eliminated Fnatic and PSG Talon respectively.
T1 will be Team Liquid’s challenge in the second loser’s bracket round. G2 draws Top Esports in that same round. Winners of those two matches face each other in round three on Friday May 17th, 2024. The losers are eliminated.
I’m predicting Gen.G over Bilibili Gaming, T1 over Team Liquid and Top Esports over G2 for this current round of MSI. Who will move on and who will be eliminated? Stay tuned as the quest for the MSI title continues.
S.Samek
It’s the second week of the MLW season. This week’s video is the Great Lakes Gators and the Midwest Mallards. In this National League clash, who will win? my prediction is Mallards 2-1.
Hammer Down Sports Blog 
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