1. shwoop

2d. This one seems pretty cut and dry to me. San Francisco had the tougher road to the finals having to play last season's champion, Los Angeles in a tough seven game series followed by perennial playoff powerhouse in Winnipeg. Baltimore's toughest test was Philadelphia which also took 7 games, but their other series were against clearly lesser teams. (60 words)

2e. In this battle between land and air supremacy, I'd have to go with the eagle winning due to air superiority. I just can't foresee a scenario where a lion, an ambush and chase predator, could single handed get an eagle out of the air long enough to maul it. Meanwhile, the eagle could just rip away at the lion until it eventually could take out the lion's eyes, rendering it unable to fight. (73 words)

2f. In my original playoff predictions, I took the Baltimore Platoon and I am going to stick with that. They were a buzz saw throughout the entire regular season, and have no let up during the playoffs. While San Francisco presents as the most worthy opponent that they have face on their road to the finals, I still think they are going to be too much to handle for the Pride. (70 words)

13. The San Francisco Pride came out victorious in the finals in a shorter than expected 5 game series over the Baltimore Platoon. While the Pride's offense has been impressive throughout the regular season and playoffs, it was their defense and goaltending that ultimately won them the series by holding the Platoon to two or less goals in two of the five games including one of which was by shutout including the Cup clinching Game 5 win. In games 3 and 4, which were more shootout type games, San Francisco flexed their offensive muscle to outscore Baltimore, proving they were the most deserving. (102 words)