Sports in USA

Came out of India when the IPL series was in its decisive phase. followed the last few matches on cricinfo. The semi-finals were damp squibs, but the final was total paisa-vasool(value for money), sorely missed watching it on TV.
The sports scene out here in the US was also impressive with the NBA conference finals going on and the local team Detroit Pistons in the fray, watched a couple of matches on TV with few second-generation Indian teenagers who are staying here in Michigan, it was fun to see their passion for the game. Unfortunately Detroit lost to Boston 4-2 in the series. Had planned to watch the finals keenly between LA Lakers and Boston Celtics but couldn't. Deservedly the Celtics won.

Also managed to catch the much anticipated dream French Open final, but Nadal made it look so lop-sided, he played a fabulous game to again thwart the greatest player in the world. My advice to Roger is to not dwell on it too much, Rafa was better on the day. Roger's chance will come again.

Other main sporting event was the Stanley Cup finals, it was the first time that I watched it. My only ice hockey viewing prior to this was watching a few Winter Olympic matches in the 90s. I was fascinated by the game then, played at such a breathtaking speed, non-stop action, and with minimal rules. Unfortunately on Indian TV did not get to view it much. then when i went to Canada in 2006, I saw what a big sport it was, with sports shops stocked with Hockey accessories and merchandise.
So this time it was a treat to watch the best ice-hockey in the world, and to top it the local team Detroit Red Wings was playing the finals, one could see numerous cars on the road flying the flag of the red wings, Detroit is also known as HockeyTown, as it has one of the richest Ice Hockey tradition in the country, the final was with the Pittsburg Penguins, liked the name. One could almost imagine penguins walking in the middle of the cold ice rink, the name of their arena was even better Igloo.

Detroit won a thrilling series of matches 4-2 to be crowned the winners. There was a massive parade organized for the team, it took place right below my office in downtown Detroit, just caught glimpses of it.

What I gather from my experiences is that the most popular sport out here is American Football, so I am also awaiting that season expectantly, supposed to start in Sept. Let us see what the fuss is all about and whether it even compares to my favourite sport the real football(i.e. soccer), where they actually kick the ball rather than mostly throwing or carrying it around.