Fun February & March

So the other day I sat down and decided I wanted to do a few things this winter in order to help the cold days go by a little faster. The first thing I had to lock down were my flights to Salt Lake City, UT, in preparation for my ski weekend in Park City with some great friends, and we will be partying away in the house shown below. The 5 day trip will be nice getaway from the flat streets of Chicago, even though there will just be more snow.

Next, I keep seeing all the great tributes to Kobe Bryant on his farewell tour of the NBA. I looked at tickets for the Bulls when the Lakers are in town and then saw that tickets were a third of the price in Milwaukee against the Bucks and I grabbed them up quick. I never got to see Jordan play but now I can add Kobe to the list.

I also am very excited about my sister's curator debut at the C.O.D. Cleve Carney Art Gallery. She selected and design this month's gallery arrangement. Make sure to check it out, it runs until Feb 26, with the reception on Feb. 11th.

Lastly, I saw the Northwestern Wildcat basketball team play a great game against a top ranked Maryland team, so I looked to see when my Gophers. Sure enough they still hadn't made their team down to Evanston yet, so I nabbed those tickets as well. Excited to see them play, even though this is one of the worst basketball seasons in my memory.

So now I have my eyes on a few more upcoming events like the Auto Show and the Flower and Garden show. Let me know if there is anything else worth checking out the in the next month and a half

A Healthy Start to 2016

As this new year starts, we often reflect and look back at what we have accomplished or where we came up short. I have to say I'm happy with the year overall, but I know I was slacking the last couple months of the year and my body took the burden of that by adding a few holiday pounds. Now is the time to get back on the running horse and get back in shape.

Looking at last year, like I said, I'm happy with the overall 306 miles I ran vs. the previous year's total of 211. So with that being said, my goal this year is now 400 miles for 2016. Now I actually have to stay on plan and not get distracted by pumpkin pie.

Good luck to all the runners out there and hopefully you will see me at one of your local races. Also, if you have any recommendations for 5K-10Ks, road races or obstacle courses, please let me know.

I have also been contacted by a few people looking for running coaches, if you too are interested, please feel free to reach out and email me(mr.ronniewest@gmail.com), if you live in the Chicagoland area.

Happy Running!

Warriors are Champions!!

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and take the series 4-2, and are 2015 NBA Champions. It's the first championship in 40 years for the Bay Area basketball team. It's quite an end to Stephen Curry's MVP season and add a ring to his soon to be crowded mantle.

The Warriors were lead by Finals MVP, Andre Iguodala, who tied for the team lead in scoring with 25 points to go with 5 boards and assists. Curry also had 25 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Draymond Green goes into the record books as one of only a few players in history to have a triple double in a closeout game, 16 points, 11 rebounds & 10 assists. 

Cleveland put up a decent fight but never really got the game close enough to scare the Warriors, who put up a run of threes to break the Cavs back every time they thought they had a chance to close the gap. LeBron James had 32 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists in the losing effort. He got more contributions from his teammates but it wasn't enough. Timofey Mosgov added 17 points and 12 rebounds, J.R. Smith had 19 points with 5 rebounds and Tristan Thompson grabbed 13 rebounds and had 15 points.

Steve Kerr's adjust to start Iguodala over Andrew Bogut was the turning point of the Finals and shows how tactful Kerr was with his decision always seemingly to out coached David Platt at every turn. Now the focus turns to, can the Warriors repeat. I guess we will have to wait until next year. Once again, this was an amazing NBA playoffs with many exciting games and shots. can't wait til next year.

Game 6 Recap

Can the Warriors Finish off LeBron?!

photo via espn.com

Tonight all eyes are back in Cleveland to see if Lebron James' unbelievable run in the Finals can continue. He is averaging 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists a game. Doing everything he can to bring a title to his hometown of Cleveland, we all are expecting him to do everything he can to force a game 7 in Oakland.

Now on the other side of the ball the Warriors are tying to do everything they can to win tonight and give Golden State its first title since 1978. Stephen Curry finally had a breakout performance in Game 5 with 37 huge points which helped offset Lebron's 40 point game. If the Warriors managed to pull off the win, many believe his performance in Game 5 may have sealed his chance to win Finals MVP. 

I'm looking for another close battle and maybe even overtime. The stars will shine tonight, I'm going out on a limb and saying James will score 50+ points tonight and Curry will have over 35. James will have a few less assists tonight because he is going to want the ball in his hands tonight after seeing some of his teammates struggling to hit shots. I guess what we all hope for is another classic game and maybe even a Game 7, we will see tonight.

Coverage begins at 8et on ABC

Preview of Game 6

Hawks Win 3rd Cup in 6 years!!

Well Game 6 had plenty of thunderous lightning outside in Chicago, but there weren't many bolts of Lightning inside the United Center on Monday night.

The heavy downpour cut off my ability to make it downtown, after driving thru 3-4 flooded streets that I probably shouldn't off. I have to say I'm fairly disappointed I wasn't able to make it down, but I was able to watch and cheer from my couch.

After a stirring national anthem, which gave me goosebumps through the TV, both teams seemed slightly nervous, but the speed of play still made the scoreless first period exciting. Corey Crawford looked great in net and the Chicago rush attack was working in waves.

Once 7 or so minutes pasted in the second period, everyone in the building could tell that something wonderful was about to happen. Eventually late in the period, Patrick Kane found Duncan Keith for an open shot which he took and deflected off of Tampa goalie Ben Bishop and landed right on Keith's stick after following his shot and put the puck in the back of the net. Needless to say the crowd went wild, as did I.

Heading into the 3rd period, everyone was on pins and needles, waiting to see what would happen. There was so much up and down the ice play, both teams were so skilled every rush was heart-stopping for Hawks fans. Finally Mr. Clutch, Patrick Kane, ended up with the puck on his stick after a great pass from Brad Richards, for the first two goal lead in the series and the eventual clincher. What a game! 

Obviously after winning 3 Stanley Cups in 6 years, the dynasty talk has started and probably won't stop for a while, rightfully so. What a team! Blackhawks are Champions!


Highlights of Game 6

Blackhawks look to hoist Cup!

The Blackhawks and Lightning play tonight in Game 6 with Chicago up 3-2 in the series. As you can see the Blackhawks have won 7 straight Game 6s. Look for that again tomorrow. 

I'm predicting a 4-1 Blackhawks victory tonight in front of their home crowd. I plan on heading into downtown Chicago tonight so I will write soon about the feel and pulse of the city tonight. 

Game of Thrones Finale Tonight!

As I'm sure many are aware, our 42 week wait begins tomorrow for a new Game of Thrones season, we get one more episode tonight! The past 2 episodes have really set up for a hopefully amazing end to this fifth season. 

I know some of you haven't caught up completely so I'll refrain from recap the past season, just in case I ruin someone's day with spoilers.  Enjoy Dani and her dragons, and maybe Sansa will finally get some vengence!

Another 2-1 Blackhawks Win!

The Chicago Blackhawks snuck out another win in Game 5 from the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 in Florida. Which now sets the table for Lord Stanley's Cup to be in the Madhouse on Monday night. Coach Quinnville's record now goes to 42-14(.750 win ptg) in playoff games 4-7. So there will be even more a buzz throughout the city of Chicago this weekend, with Kane & Toews jerseys covering the city.

The Blackhawks goals were netted by Patrick Sharp in the first with assists from Tuevo Taravian & Cpt. Johnny Toews. Antione Vermette had the game winner in the third period, which was assisted by Kris Verteeg. The Lightning followed in the second period with a goal by Valtteri Filppula assisted by Jason Garrison & Anton Stralman. Corey Crawford was amazing again in goal collecting saves on 31 of 32 shots on goal.

Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final will be Monday night at pm on NBCSN.

I'm predicting a 4-1 Blackhawks win

Game 4 goes to Golden State

photo via espn.com

After many questions were raised about the way the Warriors were playing Lebron James, coach Steve Kerr made some adjustments. It began with his starting lineup, he decided to go smaller by replacing Andrew Bogut with Andre Igudala, who had a monster game with 22 points and 8 rebounds. He was the primary defender on LeBron, 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. He held his own with the assistance of lots of double teams, which was another Kerr adjustment. Timofey Mosgov had a career high 28 points with 10 boards, Tristen Thompson chipped in 12 points and 13 rebounds. In the previous 3 games they only double teamed James 15 times on the 270+ touches. It worked, James was "held" 20 points, 12 boards, and 8 assists. 

photo via espn.com

Kerr adjustments were pretty telling. Only playing Bogut for 3 mins, but he got his money's worth in those 3 minutes, with 3 fouls and had a hard foul on James, which lead the whole city of Cleveland to collectively held their breathe for a few minutes after he launched himself into a courtside camera. The resulting damaged was quite a gash, that was eventually glued, on the side of his head. Another key adjustment of Kerr's was just playing 7 guys in this game, minus the subs during garbage time. The key player I thought was David Lee who brings even more offense to a talented Warrior team. He's not the best defender but he held his own. Stephen Curry had a decent game with 22 points and 6 assists, Draymond Green added 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

It now becomes a 3 game series with games 5 & 7 in Oakland. I think everyone has been entertained with this matchup, since this is one of the most watched finals ever, with crazy rating numbers for all the games up to this point. 

Game 4 Highlights

Game 5 is Sunday night at 7pm on ABC.

Hot & Humid Run, June 10th

I'll keep this short and sweet. Wednesday after work and before the Blackhawks game, I got in a 3.6 mile run, up to the Wooddale Forest Preserve. Temps were around 85 degrees and extra humid. My legs didn't seem to want to move as fast as I would have liked, but the heat wasn't going to let them move any faster. Next run should be on Thursday, my body is extra sore and tight from the heat that I had to deal with, so today will be a rest day. Maybe I'll be smart and do yoga to help with the soreness.

Highlights from my run:

Upcoming Game 4's

Courtesy of NHL.com

NHL: Lightning up 2-1

Tonight the Blackhawks attempt to tie up the series at 2. After a stadium deflating loss in Game 3 in the closing minutes, you would expect the stars of Chicago to finally shine and score. So far zero goals from Kane, Toews and Sharp. An injury to Johnny Oduya could mean even more ice time for Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Coach Quinnville has said that Oduya will play Game 4, but we shall see how productive he is on the ice. Speaking of Coach Q, his Blackhawks teams in the playoffs, in Games 4-7 are a remarkable 40-14. Look for the Hawks to jump out to an early lead to keep the Madhouse on Madison rocking all night.

Courtesy of NBA.com

Cavaliers up 2-1

If you are a fan of basketball and yet haven't watched any of the NBA Finals, you are missing out on one of the greatest Finals performances ever. LeBron James has imposed his will and has lead his injury-riddled team, with its band of no-names (pre-playoffs), to two games away from his 3rd Championship. In the Finals he is averaging 41 points, 12 rebounds, & 8.3 assists. He has nearly wrapped up the MVP of the Finals, now just needs to get a couple more wins. 

On the other side, what can the Warriors do to help get more open looks or paths to the basket for Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Neither has looked comfortable until its usually too late.

NHL: Game 4 in Chicago, Wednesday night @7pm

NBA: Game 4 in Cleveland, Thursday @ 8pm 

Men's Soccer Team's Big Wins!

Courtesy of ESPNFC.com

Just  thought I'd drop a quick soccer note. Jurgen Klinsmann has pushed all the right buttons in the last two US Soccer friendlies. First a 4-3 win over the Netherlands and today with a 2-1 win over Germany. Center-mid Michael Bradley lead the US charge as he helped dominate the midfield with Kyle Beckerman. Both players have earned the right to play on the world stage.

 Both are quite impressive since both teams are considered soccer world powers. Could the US somehow keep this momentum the next 3 years till the World Cup. I have no clue, but we will get to see how the US team responds after these wins, in the Gold Cup starting in July. 

Recap of 4-3 win over the Netherlands

Recap of 2-1 win over Germany

My runs the last few days

6/6/15 Run

So I have managed to get a few decent runs in, in the last few days. Neither of them felt great, my legs have felt sluggish. All that tells me is that I need to get out a little more often and to be drinking more water throughout the day rather then right before my run. I have enjoyed making friends with all the wildlife along the trail in the forest preserve.

As you can see my mile times aren't as good as they have been in the past. Let's hope the next few runs start seeing some improvement. I'm planning on trying to get out one of these morning before work. My thought is that my legs might be a little fresher in the morning without having the long work day wear down my legs before I go. 

I have been lacking at doing other workouts besides running. I haven't done any yoga for awhile, which I know will help my flexibility and soreness in my hips and hamstrings. 

With lots of possibilities this summer, I have to make sure I stay focused and put time aside for my runs. I'm also hoping to try to rework my nutrition. I don't nearly watch what I eat, when I know I should. Still looking for a race to do soon, I'll post as soon as I sign up. Happy Running!

6/8/15 Run

So far this month:

LeBron wills a Win

Photo via ESPN.com

It was another legacy making night for LeBron James. He racked up another triple-double for his postseason career, as well as getting the 95-93 OT win over the Golden State Warriors. The series is now knotted up at 1-1 and headed to Cleveland, where we are all sure the fans will be rocking the Quicken Loans Arena. 

James had a game high 39 points, to go with 16 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Overall, just an unbelievable artsy of basketball. LeBron has dominated both games and inflicts is will on the Golden State defense and keeps taking what they give him and trying to create the rest with his remaining healthy teammates. The only other players for the Cavs to reach double digits were Timofey Mosgov with 17 points and 11 boards, and J.R. Smith who chipped in 13 points. As most people are saying, if James can carry this team of nobodies to the promised land, it could easily be one of the greatest playoff performances ever!

Photo via ESPN.com

The Warriors live and die by the jump shot. Many could be claiming that Stephen Curry is choking here in the finals, going 5-for-23 in Game 2 with only 19 points to go with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. My gut says he will have much better games on the road without feeling the pressure from his home crowd. On the flip side of that Klay Thompson lead the Warriors with 34 points on 14-for-28 shooting. This team will not go down without a fight, that's for sure. Just look at what Draymond Green did yesterday, 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks. He is without questions an defensive star.Luckily for all of us, with both games going to overtime, my wish of a 7 game series is looking more and more realistic!










Read the Game 2 review here

Irving with Broken Knee Cap

The Cleveland Cavaliers have announced that Kyrie Irving has a broken left knee cap and will be out 3-4 months. More info will be coming down later over the weekend or next week. 

Check Twitter for more updates

Warriors Take Game 1 in OT!!

Game 1 lived up to all the hype that had proceeded the game. The Warriors did managed to dominate the overtime session and take a 1-0 over Cleveland. Game 2 is Sunday at 7pm cdt on ABC.

The game started with Cleveland taking early control of the game. You could tell LeBron James (44 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast) was going to try to dominate on the offensive end of the floor to get the Cavs started. You could tell that the Golden State side of the floor was dealing with some nerves. Which they eventually got over.  They benefited from some instant offense from Mo Speights, (8 pts in 8 min), when he entered the game you could feel the momentum swing toward Golden State's side.

The second and third quarters were back and forth. James continued to work the Golden State defense, but they refused to let him try to find any open teammates, they were going to make him take as many shots as he wanted. James and Stephen Curry (26 pts, 4 reb, 8 ast) exchanged shots in the 4th and the tight battle continued until the end, and James had the ball in his hands with a chance to win and couldn't make the shot.

 Kryie Irving (23 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast) He looked like his old self, being very active in transition and creating plays when he could. He didn't look like someone suffering from knee tendinitis. That all changed in overtime after attempting to cut his knee buckled and he was helped off the court and didn't return. Irving is having an MRI on Friday which will tell if there's been any damage inside the knee.

The Warriors tight defense in overtime was the difference, Cleveland didn't score the first 4 minutes of the 5 minute overtime session. This sets up for another exciting game on Sunday, I know where I'll be. Enjoy the game!

Catch the wrap-up of Game 1 Here

Champions League Final: Barca vs. Juventus

 This year's battle lines up the Spanish machine of Barcelona vs. the mighty Italian side of Juventus. Anything could happen, but the Barcelona side is very potent offensively with Messi, Neymar and Suarez. Juventus counters with a strong defense and skill players like Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata and hoping they can create something out of nothing. I'm sure we are all hoping for an exciting final, but I feel we might have a let down. I hope I eat my words. 

I'm predicting a 3-1 Barcelona victory

Game begins at 1:45pm CDT on FOX

Here's the match-ups preview: Barcelona vs. Juventus

My 6/3/15 Run

This run was a little tougher then my more recent runs. I haven't done a run the day after one on the previous day for awhile. I was sluggish to start, but started to move a little quicker the second mile, but just never really felt race ready. Take a look at my splits. 

These are no where near some of my best times. I guess I have something to work on going into the summer and race season! Here's a map and another look at my run. Start to finish. 

So a decent start to the month, Still have some work to do but hanging in there on the leaderboard with the ladies. Happy Running!

NBA Finals Preview

Courtesy of NBA.com via Instagram

We have quite a match-up for the NBA Finals, Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors. The best player of the era, LeBron James vs the best player of the year, Stephen Curry. Both players can dominate a game in their own way. LeBron can force double teams and looks to find the open man, while Curry forces you to step a few steps farther away from the basket since you have to respect his deep shot, which then opens up the lane and other alleyways for teammates.

This is also about the coaches. This is the first time in Finals history that 2 first year head coaches are facing each other. As for how the public sees both coaches is about as different as it gets. Steve Kerr was the most wanted coach going into the off-season last year and everyone thought he was going to follow Phil Jackson to New York. Instead he took his 5 championship rings as a player, multiple years of experience in the front office and his exposure to the public as a TNT basketball color commentator. It also helped hitting a few jumpers for MJ, help make it easier to remember. Now going into the Finals, everyone has been singing his praises for molding this team and getting way more out of it then his predecessor, Mark Jackson, did.

As for David Platt on the other hand, has been fighting criticism ever since he was hired. Widely an unknown going into this year, since he coached the 2013-2014 season in Israel. Other than that, the only other way anyone knew him was from coaching the Russian national team in the 2012 London Olympics. After some bonehead coaching moves and dumb sound bites during interviews with the press, many believe he will be fired even if they win the championship.

No matter won eventually wins this series, we all I'm sure are hoping for an exciting challenge for both superstars and teams. I don't think anyone is expecting a quick series like what we got in both conference finals, but at least we all got the match-up, most of us wanted.

My prediction: Cavs in 7 games

Coverage begins at 8pm on ABC

NBA Finals Preview

Hawks with Comeback Win!!

Courtesy of ESPN.com

The Chicago Blackhawks managed to overcome their Power Play ineptness, to prevail to a 2-1 Game 1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Scoring 2 goals within 1:58 of ice time in the 3rd period to give Chicago fans more stress, just like they always do.

The youngster, Teuvo Teravainen, was the star of Game 1. He shot a laser to the top left corner for the game tying goal with help from one of his teammates, Marcus Kruger, shielding Tampa Bay goalie, Ben Bishop. Within 100 seconds he was poking away the puck from Lightning defender, J.T. Brown, and got it to the stick of Antoine Vermette for the game winner.

It was an exciting game to watch live, Tampa Bay got the lead early with an amazing deflection off Alex Killorn's stick. The rest of the game was catch up for Chicago, who's rushes, kept making you think there was a comeback looming. Both teams managed to kill the opposing teams Power play opportunities (CHI 0-3, TB 0-2)

Game 2 is Saturday night at 6:15 CDT on NBC

NHL Stanley Cup Game 1 Highlights

Game 1 Box Score