The Miami Heat’s loss in Chicago on Wednesday was their first defeat in nearly two months and snapped a 27-game win streak.

Miami had needed just seven more wins to beat the all-time NBA mark of 33 consecutive wins held by the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers.

Despite falling short in their history bid, Miami should be praised and respected by basketball fans around the world.

The NBA has long been criticized for teams not taking the regular season seriously enough, and only kicking into gear come the post-season. Even casual basketball fans often admit to bypassing most of the mid-season games and tuning in once the play-offs begin. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport •World Sport Analysis

The Los Angeles Lakers' management baffled their own fans when they decided to look past former coach Phil Jackson and instead hire Mike D’Antoni as the new team coach.

After all, Jackson has won a record eleven titles as coach (five with the Lakers) while D’Antoni has reached the playoffs just five times in his 10 seasons as a head coach.

The argument should be over here. Jackson wins over D’Antoni 11-0. Period.

But for argument’s sake, let’s see what possibly would have led Jerry and son Jim Buss to go with the latter. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

Back during his unveiling with Miami in July 2010, LeBron James promised Heat fans he would bring them “not two, not three… not seven” but maybe even more NBA championships.

While seven or eight may be a stretch, “King James” delivered at least one after the Heat ousted the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the NBA Finals. After all, you need to win one to get to eight, right?

It took James until his ninth season to claim his maiden title. But this victory could open the floodgates. It’s not just that he won, it is how he won. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

The Super Bowl long ago became another holiday in the USA, bringing people together to enjoy the super-hyped finale to the NFL season. While families gather for Christmas and Thanksgiving, the Super Bowl gives Americans a chance to party with friends.

To gauge how highly Americans think of this event, it’s important to note that each Super Bowl is numbered by Roman numerals. In Sunday’s XLVI edition (that’s Super Bowl 46 for you non-history majors), the New England Patriots clash with the New York Giants in what is called one of the best matchups in recent memory.

The game is a rematch of Super Bowl XLII (42), when Eli Manning and the Giants spoiled the 18-0 Patriots’ quest for a perfect season. Manning threw the winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds left in the game to give Tom Brady his only loss in four Super Bowl appearances. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

The Miami Heat chose to remain in their locker room while the Dallas Mavericks celebrated their championship at mid-court before Sunday's season-opener for both teams.

Miami then came out and burned hotter than a pine forest in mid-August, building a 35-point lead in the third quarter en route to a more than comfortable opening-day win over the team that beat them in last season’s Finals. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

There is no shortage of storylines heading into the final game of the Fall Classic.

On Friday night, the Texas Rangers will either hoist their first ever World Series trophy, or the St. Louis Cardinals will triumph for the 11th time in their storied history – good enough for second most all-time. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: Baseball

After watching what was arguably the most exciting day in Major League Baseball history on Wednesday, one may come to expect more of the same drama in the upcoming playoffs. Sadly, that won’t be the case.

On the final day of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals completed their remarkable September comebacks to claim baseball’s final two playoff spots at the expense of the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves respectively. Or you can also say the Red Sox and Braves completed their epic collapses, it really doesn’t matter. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: Baseball

Dirk Nowitzki can’t catch a break. After taking the bulk of the blame for the Mavericks’ Finals loss to the Heat in 2006, the big German produced a brilliant performance as Dallas won their first NBA championship in 2011.

Nowitzki won the Finals "Most Valuable Player" award despite battling injury problems and illness midway through the series. But despite such efforts much of the U.S. media outside of Dallas, decided the biggest story remained LeBron James’ latest failure on the big stage. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

When a reporter asked Derrick Rose last September what his personal expectations were for the upcoming season, the young Chicago Bulls point guard posed a couple of questions right back: “Why can’t I be the MVP of the league? Why can’t I be the best player in the league?”

It was an audacious response, no doubt, but Rose was not being cocky. He is known for being one of the most humble stars in the league. It seemed as if the question genuinely got Rose to ask himself – why not me?
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

The Green Bay Packers will clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Super Bowl XLV. For those of you not familiar with Roman numerals, it will be the 45th edition of the marquee U.S. sporting event.

The Super Bowl has become so big, that a 30 second commercial spot during the upcoming game will cost $3 million. Just compare that with $40,000 per spot in the inaugural Super Bowl back in 1967.

U.S. interest is also at an all-time high. Last year’s Super Bowl surpassed the final episode of the series M*A*S*H as the most-watched U.S. TV broadcast ever, pulling in an average of 106.5 million viewers. According to futuressport.com, the global television audience for that same Super Bowl was 121 million.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport