Three Most Recent Champions

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I've heard the saying that when things happen, they happen in threes.

In the past 11 days, there have been Three Champions Crowned.

The UCLA Bruins Athletic Department had 108 championships then defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the College Baseball World Series to win their first on the diamond to increase the total to 109 on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. They won the series 2-0, including an 8-0 rout in the finale.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they fell two games short of winning their first title in any sport. It's unbelievable for a university that was established in 1878, to have never won a championship in any sport.

As for UCLA, the majority of their titles have come in Men's Basketball with 11. The Wizard of Westwood John Wooden is responsible for 10 championships.

The Miami Heat just concluded their latest title run by defeating the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win the series 4-3 on Thursday, June 20, 2013. This was the Heat's second straight championship and the team has three in their 25-year history.

Pat Riley has gone on record that the team is going to keep the core together so look for Miami to make a run at a three-peat and fourth in team history. It would be hard to bet against a team that has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh leading the way.

Finally, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated Original Six Rival, the Boston Bruins 3-2 Monday, June 24, 2013, to win their second title in four years and fifth in their 87-year history dating back to 1926. They won the best of seven series 4-2.

With chief rival the Detroit Red Wings moving to the Eastern Conference next season, the road to another Stanley Cup got a little easier for the Blackhawks.

The Red Wings always give the Blackhawks a battle and if they see each other again, they'll be playing for the Stanley Cup.

What makes the Three Most Recent Champions interesting is there were some Major Media Markets getting ready to host parades. Los Angeles is No.2, Chicago is No.3 while Miami-Ft.Lauderdale is No.16. If Boston had beaten Chicago, then the Bruins would be celebrating in the No. 7 market.

Speaking of the nickname Bruins, we have the UCLA Bruins and Boston Bruins.

This is pretty neat to see this nickname reach championship status.

With all of these large markets, you can rest assure that TV Ratings had to be good and that the networks are counting their profits for airtime.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.