Now Cole is leaving Raleigh.

I remember chatting with Cole from time to time during the 2005-06 season in the RBC Center press area. Our brief chats usually came while grabbing a hot dog or a soda or a bag of popcorn, standard snack items in Raleigh. Cole was always a friendly guy, growing out a thick beard while watching his teammates win the Southeast Division and run through the playoffs.

Cole was a nonfactor for most of the playoffs, actually just about all of them, but while watching Game 6 of the finals in Edmonton against the Oilers, I was stunned to see Cole skating on the ice during warmups. Doctors had cleared him to play, determining that he couldn’t do any more damage to his vertebra and that it would never really heal any more than it already had. And seeing him watch from upstairs all those games, Cole jumped at the chance to get his name on the Stanley Cup.

The Canes lost that game 4-0 and Cole took just two shots in 18 minutes on the ice, but his presence seemed huge at the time and became a story within the story. Because with the Game 6 loss, Carolina was headed back to Raleigh for Game 7.

Cole played even less in Game 7, just 12 minutes, and took only one shot, but the Canes won 3-1 and Cole joined his teammates in hoisting the Cup and skating around the RBC Center in victory. That night was by far the coolest day on the job I’ve ever had.

But now, more than two years after that day, the Canes have traded Cole, sending him to Stanley Cup rival Oilers for defenseman Joni Pitkanen.

The Canes were in need of defenseman, but it’s still a sad day. It’s probably more sad for me because I miss covering sports and getting to go to big games like I did back then. Sports are my passion and I often find myself missing those times.

Monday I wrote about the Tampa Bay Rays needing to step things up if they wanted to stay in first place. For anyone that read the paper today or checked online knows that the Rays beat the Red Sox 5-4. I kind of wish I didn’t light a fire under Tampa Bay’s ass. Oh well, it’s a long season.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are wrapping up, but there’s still time to catch the end of the series. The Detroit Red Wings travel to Pittsburgh for Game 6 tonight. The Penguins face elimination down 3-2.

If you missed Game 5, your loss. The Penguins won in three overtimes and what a thrilling finish it was. I’ve said it before, but there’s nothing more exciting to me than a sudden death finish to a game although a walk-off home run is pretty amazing too.

But having been on hand for a few sudden death finishes in the Stanley Cup playoffs myself, I know how exciting it is. The final goal is scored and it’s game over. If it’s a home game for the winning team the site is unbelievable. The cheering is wild and endless with a sea of the team’s color filling the arena.

Pittsburgh has a chance to force Game 7 and I hope they do. Just wanted to get in a little plug for hockey.

I’m sure my blog for the next few weeks will be all about the Celtics vs. Lakers in the NBA Finals so get used to it.

I watched an interview with Boston legend Larry Bird this morning and he is of course pulling for his old team to beat the Lakers. It was great to see Bird again on TV; he often hides in Indiana’s front office. Bird said he wouldn’t miss a minute of any of the games which was cool to hear.

It’s Bird himself that helped rekindle the rivalry in the 1980’s along with Magic Johnson. I know I’m looking forward to watching some ESPN clips of past games between the two teams.

The series does have a different feel to it though with fresh blood and less bad blood. These two teams have been on opposite ends of the success scale in recent years so it’s hard to know who will win.

The Celtics have top talent in the Big Three, but Kobe Bryant is one of if not the best player in the league. I can’t wait for tip-off Thursday night.

I wasn’t as bummed out that the Bruins lost as I thought I’d be. I definitely got excited when they won game 6 to force a deciding game, but the loss didn’t mean all that much to me.

I wasn’t expecting much from the B’s since they were a No. 8 seed and to be honest, I haven’t followed the Bruins as religiously as I do with the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics. But I did watch a few games of the series, whenever they were on, and naturally pulled for my hometown boys in black and yellow.

But I do stand firm in saying that the NHL playoffs are extremely entertaining. I love this time of year. The intensity rises and the hits are ferocious on the ice. I remember just two years ago this month I was on the Carolina Hurricanes beat as they cruised through the playoffs and into the Stanley Cup finals.

The Hurricanes won it all that year and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was so cool to be at a major sporting championship, and yes, hockey is still a major sport.

Alongside the NHL is the NBA’s postseason which I don’t usually care for. I think both leagues drag out their postseasons, but the NBA seems to start off at snail speed. For example, the Celtics crushed the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night in Boston. Game 2 of that series isn’t until Wednesday night and the game is still in Boston. There is no reason they can’t just play the game Tuesday or even Monday. Why do they need at least one day off after every game, it’s ridiculous.

There are also so many teams in the playoffs that I don’t really start paying attention until it gets closer to the end. I mean the Hawks for example are the No. 8 seed and they’re terrible. They have no chance of beating Celtics. Their record is way below .500 and they flat out stink and aren’t worthy of the playoffs. A team like the Golden State Warriors, well above .500, just missed the playoffs.

It’d make more sense to just take the 16 best teams, but that’ll never happen. It just doesn’t make me want to watch the lowly Hawks play instead of a quality team like Golden State. It’s really too bad.

After beating Wake Forest and Virginia Tech back-to-back, the Wolfpack had a chance to sky rocket toward the top of the standings, well below Duke and North Carolina which seem to have the top two spots secured. But the Wolfpack could have been battling with Clemson and Maryland for the third and fourth seed.

Now, N.C. State finds itself in eighth place in the standings, tied with Boston College which just breezed through the Wolfpack after Tyrese Rice ran up and down the court scoring 32.

State has five games left and two are against the Tar Heels and Blue Devils at home. Good luck, the Wolfies don’t stand a chance.

The hype at the beginning of the season was that the big three were back. With three North Carolina teams ranked in the top 25 we were looking at a memorable season. It’s not over yet, but it’s been far from it. State hasn’t been able to compete. It has had some exciting games, but those were against lesser teams. I want the nail-biters to come against the big dogs, but I guess that’s asking for too much.

The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t lose Thursday night, but they lost their best player. Captain Rod Brind’Amour, a warrior on the ice, went down with a knee injury that will have him sidelined for four months. I’m sure it’ll be weird for members of the media to see a bruiser such as Rod getting popcorn and hot dogs upstairs in the RBC Center in a suit and tie. Injured players often watch games from upstairs unlike most other sports where they remain in the bench area.

I think this injury kills the Canes’ season. A rocky season so far still had promise. The Canes are leading the Southeast Division by two points, which makes them the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. But without Brind’Amour they’ll likely drop significantly.

With 62 points, Carolina would miss the playoffs if not for division winners getting an automatic seed. If the Canes drop from the division lead, they’ll likely be out of the playoff picture for the second straight year after winning the Stanley Cup.

Hopefully somehow the Canes can recover and keep playing well, but it seems like a tall task to ask.