Morning Line Archives: June 4-10

 JUNE 4-JUNE 10

*The biggest news in sports this week is on the ice, as the Los Angeles Kings are in position to win their first Stanley Cup. Already up 2-0 in games, they host the New Jersey Devils on Monday and Wednesday. If the Devils can survive, the series goes back East on Saturday night for Game 5. The weeknight games are on NBCSN, while NBC itself would show a Game 5 if necessary. TheSportsNotebook’s hockey coverage will continue all the way to the end.

*The NBA’s conference finals might not have the same championship stakes, but we’re hitting high drama as both San Antonio-Oklahoma City in the West and Boston-Miami in the East are tied 2-2 in games. The Spurs-Thunder have their Games 5 & 6 on Monday and Wednesday on TNT, while Celtics-Heat go Tuesday and Thursday on ESPN. The every other day schedule on the same networks would continue for potential Game 7s on Friday night in the West and Saturday night in the East. Again, TheSportsNotebook will have daily updates with NBA coverage. Regardless of when these series end, the Finals begin next Tuesday, June 12.

*MLB will hit its extended run of interleague play starting on Friday night. Prior to that, the AL East has a big week, as the tightly packed division has Rays-Yanks and Red Sox Orioles going head-to-head. The Rays-Yanks will be an ESPN2 game on Tuesday night, and the two series will draw split coverage from the MLB Network in Thursday’s finales. Monday night’s ESPN game is Dodgers-Phils. For the weekend, I know you’ll be shocked to know that while Fox will have five games as part of it’s Saturday night coverage, Mets-Yankees will be the featured game. And on Sunday night I think you’ll be genuinely surprised that ESPN has opted for the Tigers-Reds (I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the TV listing). Here at TheSportsNotebook, we’ll have an MLB divison report each day from Monday thru Saturday.

*In the world of racing, TheSportsNotebook will continue its NASCAR coverage with a preview of Sunday’s race at Pocono. But more importantly, on Friday there will be a preview posted for Saturday afternoon’s Belmont Stakes, as I’ll Have Another goes for the Triple Crown. The preview will break down each horse in the race.

*Finally, TheSportsNotebook’s Historical Museum will add two new pieces. We’ll celebrate the tremendous run Florida had in 2006, winning national titles in basketball and football and extend it into the spring of 2007 with another basketball crown. The last two–’06 football and ’07 hoops–both came at the expense of Ohio State. That wasn’t all the people of Ohio had to suffer and we’ll also produce a look at 2007 Cleveland, with its near-misses from the Cavs & Indians for championships and the Browns for the playoffs.