Professional Sports News

NBA - June 4, 2008: Twenty-one years later, they meet again. The Boston Celtics nodded in destiny's direction a day after the Lakers did, bringing together two of the most relevant sports franchises for the NBA Finals. It will be intriguing, laden with superstars and heavy with symbolism matched only by an expected meteoric rise in TV ratings. Somewhere, David Stern is smiling, along with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, James Worthy and Kevin McHale. Celtics-Lakers, play it again, for an 11th time in Finals history, as Phil Jackson tries to pass Red Auerbach by winning a record-setting 10th NBA championship as a coach.

NFL - June 1, 2008: The Buffalo Bills will face the Pittsburgh Steelers in a preseason game Aug. 14 at Toronto to kick off Buffalo's five-year bid to expand its market north of the border. The game against the Steelers, unveiled Thursday as part of the Bills' preseason schedule, will be one of Buffalo's three preseason games played at Toronto's Rogers Centre -- one every other year through 2012. Buffalo will also play five annual regular-season games, starting this year, at the downtown, retractible-roof facility as part of the team's deal reached in February with a Toronto sports partnership group.

MLB - May 28, 2008: All expectations remain for John Smoltz to come off the disabled list on Monday. When he does, the Braves' overachieving bullpen will immediately gain a much-needed veteran presence. More importantly, if Smoltz's right shoulder remains healthy, there's certainly a chance he could prove to be the dominant closer that he was earlier this decade.

NHL - May 25, 2008: The Detroit Red Wings now have a 3-1 stranglehold on the 2008 Stanley Cup Final thanks to Saturday night’s 2-1 win at Mellon Arena that saw the Wings frustrate the Pittsburgh Penguins at nearly every turn, especially in the third period when the Wings denied a 5-on-3 Penguins power play for 1:26.