Durzblog

What I'll be watching

Euro
The UEFA European Football Championship, the most competitive and toughest national competition in the world, begins on Saturday. The action kicks off with co-host Switzerland taking on the Czech republic in Basel and will continue until the final 2 clubs square off for the Euro 2008 crown in Vienna on June the 29th. Poland and Austria are making their debuts in the Euro and the unlikely champions of 2004, Greece, will start the defense of their title on Tuesday against Sweden. Italy and Germany are widely considered the favorites and the biggest absence would have to be England (a true testament to how hard it is to qualify for the big tournaments in UEFA).

Two first round group games should prove to be very good ones with Italy facing Holland on Monday and Spain meeting Russia on Tuesday. Group play will finish with a bang as a World Cup final rematch will take place in Zurich on June 17th. Click here for the list of groups, group C is clearly the "group of death."

All of these intense battles can be watched on one of the ever growing members of the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ABC)

Despite a tradition of underachieving and a poor effort vs the US this week, my pick to win is Spain and I will take Romania as my surprise pick to get out of the groups


Court Central'
Sunday looks to be set for what is likely the biggest tennis match of the year. There will be other slams played but no match will have the impact of the French final. Will this be the year that Feds is officially crowned as the best player to ever live or is this the year we all give up on his quest for a career grand slam? Nadal is presently destroying, world number three, Novak Djokovic in his semifinal match and he looks ripe to pull of a four-peat at Roland Garros. Feds will take on 59th-ranked Frenchman Gael Monfils in the other semi. Will Sunday be his day? How is this for stats, Roger has made a slam semi for the 16th time in a row and Rafa is 26-0 lifetime at the French.

NBA Final
Boston did what they needed to do in game 1 and took control of the series. Can they take a firm grip in game 2 or will the Lakers get what they come to Boston for, a split? The big three appear to be back for the Celts and Los Angeles will need more than a shaky Kobe to take home the title. The series can change in a hurry, but last night Boston was the best team on the floor without a doubt. Gasol and Odom must become factors. Still like LA, maybe not in 5 though.