While you were nursing a hangover or perhaps at your local farmer’s market (*cough*), the most exciting finish in sports in a very long time was unfolding across the pond.

Manchester City entered yesterday’s final day of the Barclay’s Premier League (soccer…the one with the feet) in a tie with cross-town rival Manchester United for the League championship. City held the tiebreaker, but needed to match whatever United was able to do in Sunderland.

City led their opponent (Queens Park Rangers, themselves fighting to stave off relegation) 1-0 at halftime (just about the time some of us decided to go buy some locally grown, organic bok choy). However, a terrible mental lapse and an unmarked man in the 18-yard box led to two QPR goals. Meanwhile, up north, United was finishing off a 1-0 victory against Sunderland. City was assumed dead.

Just as the last scoop of dirt was to be poured upon City, though, the presumed corpse shot from its grave and buried a header into the back of the net. That goal drew the match even, but with United already having won, City needed to score another goal. The problem? Only about 1 minute of extra time remaining. The solution? Score.

City’s Sergio Aguero emerged from a muddled mess, about 15 yards from the QPR goal, dribbled to his right, and fired a laser into the back of the net. 3-2 City. At the buzzer. Game over. Season over. Years of torment and torture over.

(As the NHL and NBA playoffs get more interesting, I’ll update each daily here.)

The Washington Capitals stormed into Madison Square Garden on Saturday night and did what no team had done before them: they beat the New York Rangers, on the road, in a Game 7. 

That is what I would write if we lived in bizarro world. We do not. Accordingly, the New York Rangers will begin their Eastern Conference Finals series tonight with their cross-river rivals, the New Jersey Devils.

Last night, in the Desert Southwest (where hockey was invented by Eli Whitney in 1974) the LA Kings took a 1-0 series lead over the Phoenix Coyotes, winning 3-2. The Kings were led by their captain and the next American star in hockey (not a joke), Dustin Brown, who had a goal and an assist. The Kings are now 9-1 in this year’s NHL playoffs. Not bad for the 8^thseed in the Western Conference.

It’s good to be in LA. That holds true no matter what time of year it is. Beautiful people. In N’ Out Burger. Lovely weather. The beach (for some). A short drive to the desert (for others…me). Palm trees. Channing Tatum sightings. Yes, SoCal is the place to be.

You can now add sports to that list. The Clippers and Lakers both won deciding Game 7s this weekend (over the Grizzlies and Nuggets, respectively) to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. The Lakers will face the Thunder while the Clippers will draw the Spurs.  They’ll of course join the Kings in the NHL, who are on a collision course toward the Stanley Cup Finals and the MLB’s best team (according to win pct.), the Los Angeles Dodgers. Finally, something good is happening in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, in places that are not Southern California, the Boston Celtics squeaked out a one-point victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.  Down in Flop City, the Heat beat the Pacers to go up 1-0 in their series. If you’re not already certain that we’ll get a Heat/Celtics Eastern Conference Finals, you’re fooling.

For about the 1039^th time this season, the Washington Nationals were unable to complete a series sweep, this time in spectacular fashion.

Leading 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth in Cincinnati, the Nats were 3 outs away from sweeping the Reds on the road. Closer Henry Rodriguez had to face the murderer’s row of Ryan Hanigan, Wilson Valdez, and Miguel Cairo.

Needless to say, things didn’t go so well. After a few walks, base hits, errant pitches, visits to the mound to check out the dirt situation, and two outs, in stepped Reds slugger Joey Votto, At that point in the game, Votto had already hit 2 home runs. With the bases loaded, Votto decided to make it 3, as he scorched a ball to deep CF, for the walk-off grand slam.

Oh, and Nationals Catcher Wilson Ramos tore his ACL on Saturday and is out for the season.

The Nats will (barring a likely rainout) begin a two-game set with the San Diego Padres tonight in DC. Ross Detwiler and Tim Stauffer will take the hill. Game time is 7:05, but I’m predicting a postponement.

I’m going to get a ribbing from my fellow Celtics fans (Game 2 against the 76ers is tonight at 7:00 p.m. on TNT),but I’m going to have to go with Game 1 between the Lakers and Thunder at 9:30 on TNT. Metta World Peace returns from suspension after elbowing James Harden in the head. Hmm…what team does James Harden play for again?