NBA Playoffs: Heat Beat Bulls

The Miami Heat took another step closer to a title defense tonight, by beating and finishing off the Chicago Bulls, 94-91. They won the series 3-2.

Dwyane Wade, who has been hurt for a majority of the season, stepped up and finished off a Bulls team with a ton of heart. He did so with a 4th quarter that showed us why he's still one of the best players in the NBA. And even though he's still hurting, he's looking better and better, which won't look good for their Eastern Conference Final opponent.

Carlos Boozer led all scorers with 26, but even that couldn't stop a very team-oriented Heat game plan.

Miami will now await for the winner of the Pacers/Knicks series to see who they face next.

Check out the highlights:

Europa League: Chelsea defeat SL Benfica

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Current UEFA Champions League title holders Chelsea FC defeated SL Benfica in the Europa League final today, by a score of 2-1.

Both teams were knocked out of the Champions League group stage and had to settle for the Europa League. After navigating through some close contests, both sides managed to meet up in the final with a chance to grab a trophy this season.

In the first half, Chelsea was quiet, while Benfica dominated but couldn't score. The second half was where all of the action began, starting in the 59th minute with a Fernando Torres goal against the run of play. Torres scored on a counter so quick that the television crew almost missed out on it. After rounding the keeper in a goal that looked similar to his effort vs. Barcelona last year in the UCL semi-finals, El Nino put CFC up 1-0.

Less than 10 minutes later, Benfica equalized. They kept pressing for a goal, and were rewarded with a penalty after a Cesar Azpilicueta handball in the box. Oscar Cardozo then beat Cech to tie it up 1-1.

Both teams were battling back and forth for the winner, but it seemed like they were headed for extra time. That was until about 30 seconds left in stoppage time, where Branislav Ivanovic got his head on the end of a corner kick to send CFC fans in Amsterdam into a frenzy.

Soon after that, the final whistle was blown and Chelsea were crowned Europa League champions.

Chelsea became the first team ever to hold the UEFA Champions League title & the Europa League title in the same year, although they'll be giving up their UCL trophy next week when the 2013 final is held.

With a Champions League spot guaranteed and a new trophy to celebrate, the "lost season" for Chelsea seemed to get a little bit better. We don't know what next season will hold with the new manager, but for now, they can just celebrate what's going on for them until then.

Congratulations Chelsea FC!

Check the highlights of this game here:

NBA Playoffs: Spurs crush Warriors

Earlier this evening, the Pacers beat the Knicks to take a 3-1 series lead. Immediately after that game, the Spurs went to work on the Warriors, and are now leading 3-2 in their series after their 109-91 win.

This game really came down to Steph Curry's health. He's been nursing some ankle injuries, and tonight he certainly didn't look very healthy. This allowed Tony Parker and a very experienced San Antonio team to feast and put up big points.

Although Parker led Spurs scoreres, SAS had 5 players in double digits, which showed us they emphasized team ball tonight. When they're rolling on all cylinders like, they're tough to beat. They're even harder to beat if you aren't at full strength like Golden State.

A pivotal game 6 will be held on Thursday at Oracle Arena. And for the Warriors, it's either win or stay home.

Check the highlights:

NBA Playoffs: Pacers defeat the Knicks

The Indiana Pacers handily beat the Knicks tonight, beating them by a score of 93-82. They also take a commanding 3-1 lead to New York, where they will look to finish off the Knicks on Thursday night.

George Hill led all scorers with 26 points on 9/14 shooting. Melo led NY with 24 points, but shot 9 for 23.

The Pacers clearly look like the better team. Their old-school brand of basketball is very effective against the Knicks, who seem to be in crisis mode now.

Check out the highlights below:

Amateur Analysis: Ashworth's Petition

Yesterday morning, golf company Ashworth decided to create a petition and send it to the PGA Tour.

Their petition is about allowing professionals to have the option to wear shorts instead of pants while they are playing in a tournament. They even created a video of their petition, which has Justin Rose, Sean O'Hair, Justin Leonard, and Retief Goosen showing us the benefits of wearing shorts over pants.

As light-hearted as the video seems, there's no doubt in my mind that they're completely serious. The talk of allowing shorts on the PGA Tour has been going on for years, and it finally seems that a company and their players really want to do something about it.

How do you feel about the video and petition? Personally, I'm still on the fence about it. I wear shorts when I golf sometimes, but if I were to see a pro wearing them in the final round of a major, I would feel weird. To me, shorts are meant to be worn casually, and wearing them in some big tournaments wouldn't feel right.

Let us know your opinion in the comments!