... the Stanley Cup. As my boss at the New Britain Herald so correctly put it Friday night, "it's the only trophy that has its own introduction." The Stanley Cup, however, needs no introduction to a hockey fan. I think it's by far the best championship trophy in any sport. And it's in the hands of a deserving champion right now.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won their third Stanley Cup Friday night, which proved to just be a preview of the Los Angeles Lakers winning their 15th NBA title tonight. Championship weekend? It appears so.

If we go back in time just a few months, say, to February, the Lakers would have seemed a much safer bet to win it all than the Penguins. Pittsburgh, battling injuries and overall inconsistency, was floundering. For a while, it even looked like they might miss the playoffs entirely. But a late-season coaching change and good fortunes in the injury department (including the return of Sergei Gonchar) helped propel them into the playoffs on a high note. From there, they were carried by the two-horse carriage of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. As my boss and I watched the Stanley Cup presentation Friday, we talked about who would take the MVP honors. "Flip a coin for Crosby or Malkin," I said. Sure enough, Malkin was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Certainly the NHL final was more competitive and entertaining than the NBA Finals were. The Detroit Red Wings, from top to bottom, are more talented in terms of overall depth. I don't think there's any arguing that. Pittsburgh simply was willed to victory by, arguably, the two best all-around players in the game today. I dare anyone to argue a better all-around player than Crosby and/or Malkin. Alex Ovechkin is the logical choice, as my brother argued. And while I acknowledge he's the best pure goal scorer playing hockey today, Malkin and Crosby offer the Penguins so much more. But I digress.

On the hardwood, the Lakers, much to my surprise, dominated the Magic. The series really wasn't very close. In terms of pure player-by-player talent, I think the Lakers and Magic match up almost identically. Unfortunately – and I say unfortunately because I like the guy – I believe the difference in this series was Phil Jackson's out-coaching of Stan Van Gundy.

Van Gundy is a funny guy and no slouch when it comes to coaching. But he made some questionable decisions in the series. There's no need to rehash all of them here. You all watched the series. Regardless of how this series went, however, I think both the Magic and Lakers are here to stay.

The Lakers have to address the pending free agency of Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom (Ariza taking precedent there), while the Magic will have to try to resign Hedo Turkoglu and Rafer Alston (Turkoglu being the No. 1 priority). Even if the worst-case scenario plays out for both teams, and they lose both of their key free agents, there's little doubt that both will return to the playoffs in 2010.

The Magic will feature a lineup of Rashard Lewis, Courtney Lee, Jameer Nelson and a still-improving Dwight Howard. In the East, that's good enough to guarantee 50 wins a year for the next few seasons. In fact, I definitely see a budding Orlando-Cleveland rivalry in the next few years. Boston is probably on the way down. After that there's a huge talent dropoff in the East anyway. So Magic fans can take comfort in that.

The Lakers should also be good for 50 wins again next season, but they will be pushed for home-court advantage. Houston, Denver, Portland and possibly San Antonio will all be in the mix.

Going back to the NHL, there's no reason to expect the Penguins or Red Wings to drop off. They should both be right there in the mix at the end again.

So, congratulations to the Lakers and Penguins players, organization members and fans, as well as the media that covers them. Championship celebrations are always exciting for me to watch. I can't wait until I can celebrate a title for one of my favorite teams.

That's it for now. I figured I'd at least wrap up what happened this weekend. In the next week or so I'll try to take preview looks at the NBA and NHL offseasons, and hopefully get to another NBA Mock Draft. Anything else you guys want to see, let me know. Comments are always welcome.