Trash Talk: NBA Finals Games 1+2, French Open Tennis, MLB, NFL
Because there’s just so much bloody sportsing going on right now we’ll have a few more Trash Talk posts over the next week or two to prevent other threads from being trashed.
Please confine your sports chatter to these sports-dedicated posts, thanks.
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NBA FINALS
The 2022 finals are already underway with the Boston Celtics leading the series over Golden State after winning last night’s Game 1, 120 to 108.
The next games in the series:
Sunday evening, June 5 8:00 pm ET at Chase Center in San Francisco, CA.
Wednesday, June 8, 9:00 pm ET at TD Garden, Boston, MA
Friday, June 10, 9:00 pm ET at TD Garden, Boston, MA
The entire series will be carried by ABC.
Thankfully no game is scheduled for June 9 when the House J6 Committee hearings begin, but noted above there’s a game on June 10. A fresh Trash Talk thread will be posted next Friday to prevent finals chatter bleeding into the J6 thread.
If the series isn’t wrapped up on Friday, the next game will be Monday evening and yet another Trash Talk post will be published for sports chatter.
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FRENCH OPEN
On his 36th birthday today, Rafael Nadal (Spain) met 25-year-old Alexander Zverev (Germany) in the semifinals today in Paris, but Zverev was forced to retire after a hideous ankle injury late in the second set.
Nadal will meet the winner of the semi-final between Casper Ruud (Norway) or Marin Cilic (Croatia); the meetup to be held this Sunday will Nadal’s 14th as a French Open finalist.
Iga Swiatek (Poland) and Coco Gauff (U.S.) will meet in the women’s finals tomorrow.
Also in Paris this week is Billie Jean King; she was awarded France’s Legion of Honor:
King, who is in France as the French Open concludes, received the award in recognition of her contributions to women’s sports, gender equality and the rights of LGBTQ people in athletics. She took part in a short ceremony at the presidential Elysee Palace at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
A perfect way to celebrate this year’s LGBT Pride Month.
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MLB and Other Baseball and Softball
These teams are currently leading their divisions:
AL East: NY Yankees
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Houston Astros
NL East: NY Mets
NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers
NL West: LA Dodgers
NY Yankees lead the American League and LA Dodgers lead the National League.
Meh. I can’t get excited about this at all especially since Detroit is third from the bottom of the AL.
However the NCAA DI Baseball Men’s College World Series has started; here’s the schedule:
Regionals: Friday, June 3 through Monday, June 6
Super Regionals: Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 12 OR Saturday, June 11 through Monday, June 13
First day of CWS games — Friday, June 17
CWS Finals — Start Saturday, June 25 (best out of 3)
Final championship game — Monday, June 27
The NCAA Softball Women’s College World Series began last night with eigth-finals or fourth round in Oklahoma City. I’m going to back Oregon State tonight against Arizona State because I really want to know as others have asked if the Beavers can be stopped or not.
Schedule for the WCWS finals:
Game 1: 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8
Game 2: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 9
Game 3: 8:30 p.m. (if necessary), on Friday, June 10
It’s a damned shame there’ll be a conflict on Thursday with the House J6 Committee’s first hearing.
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NFL
What the actual fuck, people? There’s an Oversight Committee hearing this month into the NFL?
Why are elected officials who represent the entire country caught up with the Washington Commanders’ football team’s workforce problems instead of the Department of Labor?
From NBC Sports:
The House Committee on Oversight & Reform has announced that it will hold a hearing on June 22. The Committee has requested the attendance and testimony of two key individuals: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders owner Daniel Snyder.
“The hearing is the next step in the Committee’s months-long investigation into the Commanders’ hostile workplace culture and will also examine the NFL’s handling of allegations of workplace misconduct, the NFL’s role in setting and enforcing standards across the League, and legislative reforms needed to address these issues across the NFL and other workplaces,” the Committee said in a press release.
What really annoys me is the breathless manner in which this hearing and the underlying problems are discussed in sports media while far more important hearings about the near-overthrow of U.S. government have been scheduled and precede the Oversight Committee hearing. NFL fans are far more worked up about Roger Goodell’s invitation to appear before Oversight than whether anyone subpoenaed by the House J6 Committee has made any effort to comply.
It’s no wonder this country is in such a fucking mess — just look at its priorities. Entertainment and its corporate masters über alles.
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Got some other sports issue you need to air out? Do it in this thread, thanks.
And now my kind of sports:
Harini Logan wins 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee
Look at all these good little do-bees.
Just heard the lightning round clip on MSNBC. Spelling Bees are sports based off what I heard.
And this one time at band camp ……
Zverev’s injury and subsequent withdrawal happened at just about the 3-hour mark, with the second set still not decided. It had been an incredibly intense, grueling 3 hours for both players.
BTW: did anyone catch what Zverev supposedly said earlier that got him a warning from the chair ref?
Yeah, what a pity. I wonder if the humidity affected the clay surface making the injury more likely. I didn’t get to see them play but the score looked like they were well matched meaning it would have been something to watch as they entered a tie breaker.
The roof was closed, so it “should” have been okay. Nadal had already come back from a deficit in the second set, and was likely to win a tiebreaker in that too.
I read somewhere it had started to rain and then the roof was closed along with an observation about humidity under the roof. Wondered if they didn’t get the roof closed in time. Certainly doesn’t sound like there’s any air conditioning in the stadium.
I’ve found it refreshing they are using real line judges in Paris. There is a noticeable delay with the Hawk Eye systems that causes an odd timing to the game. Players frequently continue playing, as they should, and all the calls seem late. Also, really doesn’t make sense to challenge a Hawk Eye call, as you just get a repeat of the decision it already made, except maybe to eat up a little time and get a change to recover a bit.
Also, go Rafa!
I will NOT obey this unauthorized Trash Talk!
So typically opposition defiant. ~sigh~
Can we *not* discuss the Warriors after that awful 4th quarter? Sheesh, Boston just could not miss from 3 point land.
ooh, turf war?
Nah.
It isn’t a *real* trash talk post if there’s no F1, right bmaz?
I am banning Rayne!
Throwing shades? (Put on your Rayne-bans)
I think you forgot a comma otherwise good fucking luck with that. LOL
What? Azerbaijan next week not interesting enough for you, bmaz.
Someone’s going to be turfed and it’s not going to be me. (I have the keys to the liquor cabinet.)
That’s no idle threat!
I have now changed the locks on the liquor cabinet.
[Nice try. LOL /~Rayne]
(I’m just gonna tip-toe away from this one… )
You’ll be fine, want some tequila?
Oooh, nice. I may have to hold out until beer o’clock .. .’cuz I’m getting sooooo much done here at work.
Well that explains why the cabinet is low on tequila…
I have not watched a game of playoff basketball for years.
Tuned in last night.
The game has changed. I used to enjoy watching the playmaking with drives to the hoop, big men contests, fast breaks….etc.
Noticed the heavy reliance on setting up perimeter shooting and big 3s.
….at one point I saw a player run from mid-court to the hoop without bouncing the ball! (slight exaggeration) and no traveling was called!
Biased observer: was impressed with the Celts’ 4th quarter come back, high percentage shooting and defense making Golden State look hurried, sloppy.
Well, I wasn’t going to talk hoops, but if they Warriors can pick themselves up off the floor after that epic meltdown last night, you may be rewarded in the form of long (I hope) stretches of quick and exhilarating and unselfish ball-movement with that extra pass to find the better shot, while minimizing unforced turnovers. The thing about effective three-point shooting is that it stretches the defense and creates great opportunities for mid-range jumpers, cuts to the hoop, etc.
That said, Boston guards really well, so the Dubs may have met their match.
Love the flow of Warriors movement, tho the C’s D held in check in 2nd half
There seem to be no calls for steps. No calls for palming. And few calls for frequent traveling. It’s all about scoring. Did this begin with Dr. J?
Eh, maybe a little, but blew up with LeBron.
I know it’s June but, NHL playoffs! C’mon guys, wtf?
Let’s go Rangers!
This is why community members are invited to air out their other sports stuff here. What’s up with the NHL playoffs?
Once the Blues got eliminated after Colorado injured the Blues #1 goalie, I lost most interest.
And as with punaise and last night’s Golden State game, the less said about the Blues/Avs series, the better.
Teed that up for you, punaise . . .
la-la-la-la-la I can’t hear you!
That game was the salt in the wound of a bad couple of weeks.
thank you.
terrific comeback w Pittsburgh. Zabanejad & Kreider have finally caught fire which is good since the Kid Line has been holding up the pants on their own til now. Panerin aka The Bread Man: 96 points on the season, more assists than just about anyone in the league, team leader in power play goals before injury — time for him to put a couple pucks behind Vasilevskiy. Shesterkin was a little flaky in Penguins series but picked it up big time during ‘Canes series and is now playing as sharp as ever. Vezina for sure.
Igor, Igor, Igor!
I love the Stanley Cup and being a somewhat neutral lets me root for whom I want and in this series it is Tampa Bay. With that said last nights game was fantastic, but it seemed clear that if something doesn’t change it will be the Rangers taking this series. Tampa Bay was a whisker a way from tying it up and that is why I like watching the Stanley Cup.
I am rooting for the Avs in the other series! We shall see, but its been great hockey.
I had a friend (bassoonist) back in the day who was an over-the-top Flyers fan — ecstatic when they were in the Stanley Cup. Sadly, despite having a gig and a paycheck as musicians, there was a long performance [uncut version of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale], on the same night as the last game. No way around it, seemingly. Not to be defeated, he rigged up a transistor radio in his shirt pocket with an earphone so as to listen to the game from the pit during the performance. However, during a particularly delicate recitativo, the horn player to his rear dropped a mute, reached to retrieve it, bumped the bassoonist’s chair, and ultimately, removed the earphone from the transistor: full blast sports-casting as the Flyers scored! The conductor was beside himself! the soprano stopped mid-phrase, and the male 1/2 of the middle-aged couple in the front row blurted, “Yes!”
One of my more memorable performances.
Can we *not* discuss the Warriors after that awful 4th quarter? Sheesh, Boston just could not miss from 3 point land.
Yes.
For punaise’s sake, let us not mention the 24 point swing in the final quarter. Please don’t bring up Green’s two missed free throws with 3 minutes left, or the fact that Golden State had only one 3 pointer in the 4th quarter. And whatever you do, for the love of all that is holy, don’t mention that in addition to all those 3 point shots, Boston had more points in the paint than Golden State.
Because that would just be cruel.
Thanks for not mentioning that. The sincere magnanimity just oozes! :~)
Always happy to help.
Watching March Madness it became very apparent that, in a close 4th quarter, the team that hit their 3’s during the last two minutes won the game. UNC got to the finals by doing that, then Kansas did it in the final game and won.
I haven’t watched the NBA all year but for some reason was watching at the end of 3rd quarter and beginning of 4th the other night. When Boston started hitting ALL their 3’s at the beginning of the 4th the game was all but over. Golden State would take the ball to their end and run some regular offense, looking like a very regular team, and maybe make a 2 and then Boston hurries the ball downcourt and hits another three. The psychological effect on the team shooting 2’s is devastating when the other team is hitting ALL their 3’s, and 3’s are all they’re taking.
If Boston continues shooting like that the Warriors are gone, but Steve Kerr is a good coach and he’s bound to put more pressure on 3’s…and then maybe the game will move inside.
I say this having grown up a Lakers fan when Boston was unbeatable. Every year Bill Russell and gang would find a way to beat us, way before the the magic line was introduced. I had a serious love/hate relationship with those Celtics.
Wilt may have been the most dominant player in NBA history (and I think he likely is), but Russell and the Celts always had a plan and executed it. Being in the west, I cheered for the Lakers then too. But credit where due to the Celts. And the whole starting team on those Lakers were basically Hall Of Famers.
Celtics and Lakers fan going back to Cousy/Russell era and Mikan/Baylor years. Old fart hoops fan for sure!
Don’t forget Ukraine v Wales in a match on Sunday (noon ET) for the last European spot in the World Cup!
Ukraine had to beat Scotland to get to the game with Wales, and the Scottish fans were as welcoming as you can get. Scottish fan groups had taken the time to learn the Ukrainian national anthem, and when it came time to sing both anthems before the match, they sang as lustily as the Ukrainian fans did. Others helped Ukrainian refugees get tickets and transportation to the match. As one retired Scottish player put it before the match started (paraphrasing here), “Everyone on the planet is rooting against us today. If there are people on other planets, they are probably rooting against us, too.”
yes, this was wonderful.
The match has an added bonus as the winner will be USA’s first World Cup opponent on November 21st. It will be a game we will have to win if we want to get out of the Group.
I support Ukraine but our team is taking shape and I expect the USA to go through…..Black Friday match England Vs USA will be one to watch ….thankfully I will be on PST time when that one kicks off.
Listening to the two anthems sung was quite emotional. The Ukrainian players took off their rain jackets, draped them on the shoulders of the young kids that escorted them onto the field, then draped themselves with Ukrainian flags as they sang with great gusto and power. After the anthem was over, a couple took back their jackets and gave the kids the flags they had used.
And then the Welsh anthem was sung. The PA system played the opening three or four notes, shut off, and the stadium erupted in four part harmony to carry it from there. As the commentator noted when it was over (paraphrasing here), there is no better community choir than any collection of random Welsh. They blew the roof off, in stunning and exquisite harmony.
Good first half . . . can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Trump’s inner circle thought manipulating Susan Collins to vote for Brett Kavanaugh for the Supremes was like taking out a “cheap date.” The Trump teams misogyny is ubiquitous, so the demeaning reference for a sitting US Senator is hardly a surprise. But how much work did that really require, for for any of Trump’s three appointments?
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/abortion-susan-collins-brett-kavanaugh-trump-roe-1357183/
FWIW, Collins almost always votes for a president’s nominee for just about anything. You know, the old school “you won the election, you get to choose the nominees” thing. It takes a real stinker for her to vote against. Does that make her a cheap date? I dunno. Does calling her that prove the coarseness of the people saying it? Yup.
AFT to take out the trash. This place is starting to look like an episode of “Hoarders”.
First managerial firing of the season today: Phillies Joe Girardi. This is a guy who had a lot of success with the Yankees both as a player and manager, yet couldn’t get above .500 with the Phils. To be sure, their front office didn’t do him many favors. Back in the early 90s the Reds’ bullpen were the Nasty Boys. The Phils bullpen have been the Napalm Boys. Can’t hold a lead to save their lives. Thank you, front office. And if you build a team around hitting that works great until people slump, or get hurt.
Loving my Yankees. Best record in the game. This fan smiles.
ESPECIALLY WHEN GOOFING ON THE SAWX, who’ve only started fighting their way out of the paper bag they rode up from spring training, only to find themselves watching the Yankees’ taillights fade into the distance, shrouded by the dust the Sawx must eat.
The Mets are pretty scary. Possible Subway Series this year.
Didn’t watch the Celts last night. Caught the highlights, and highlights they were, especially that comeback. I wish them well.
I have watched some of the USFL and it’s fair to good football.
Now it’s time for beer.
Oh, yeah – pay attention while driving https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/06/03/police-woman-performing-oral-sex-on-driver-causes-vehicle-crash-into-fedex-truck/
Or, as in the old Doors song: “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel”
Yes, it really happened. Just don’t say it out loud – they’ll ban Marcy again.
LMAO the video in that Local10 article at 0:07 mark — the vehicle occupants on the ground bwahahahahah
This:
Wonder if the cops thought nearly losing one’s penis was punishment enough for distracted driving.
Some of the coverage I read indicated his injuries were minor, not permanent. Likely to just be sore….
Hilarious as hell. We need more stories to make us laugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2_X4VTCoEo
“… let it roll all night long …. do it honey, do it…”
I couldn’t tell from the image who was who. The guy propped up next to the utility pole is holding his crotch but the person in the crosswalk appears to be lying face down and the person on their back on the walk all the way to the left appears to be a woman. What a jumble!
cue the hot rod jokes.
am reminded of a scene in a John Irving’s “The World According to Garp”
right: the old “turn off the headlights and the engine to glide discreetly into driveway” trick gone awry.
Reminds me of my parents being in Long Beach at my father’s mother’s house, with their VW truck parked in the driveway next to the bedroom. They wake up in the night to the sounds of people outside, and discover two of my father’s brothers trying to attach a seat to surround the VW emblem, said seat having the motto “God Bless Our Mobile Home” neatly lettered on it.
(Some months later, after the truck had been in for service, my father had to get under it for something, and there was the seat, wired onto it. He asked the service guy, who said he thought we’d wanted it there.)
And a couple of years after that, Granny went back east by car, with a couple of said brothers, late in the year. We got a box postmarked “Dateland, AZ”…and when we opened it, there was the other half of the seat, with “Always Open For A Merry Xmas” in red and green paint, with matching glitter, and a couple of sprigs of holly outlined in paint (with glitter).
I’m reminded of a plot point from the beginning of Neil Gaiman’s”American Gods”, where the protagonist’s wife is killed in a car accident while “engaged” with her lover just before her husband is paroled from prison.
Life imitating art once again.
The Mets are looking scary? Subway series? It’s barely June! Give ’em time before you start making predictions–these are the NY Mets you’re talking about, scribe. As in “Forget about it, Jake. It’s Queens.”
Well, Steve Vladeck is psyched — says the Mets are > .500.
Exactly.
You seem to have confused the Oregon State women’s softball and men’s baseball teams.
Lady Beavs are in the WCWS tonight, in a must-win game. As an unranked team, their appearance is a surprise.
Men’s team is a tournament favorite, and a regional is being hosted in Corvallis. Note that the College World Series has not yet started; that refers only to the final double elimination tournament held in Omaha involving the eight regional winners.
I didn’t make a mistake. I could give a flying fig about the NCAA D1 Baseball Men’s College World Series; I covered it because the series begins this week.
I’d like to know how Oregon State’s women’s softball team does, though, especially because women’s sports don’t get anywhere near the coverage men’s do except in a few narrow cases. Can the Beavers be kept down?
The link you provided in the article: https://d1baseball.com/postseason/corvallis-regional-can-the-beavers-be-stopped/
refers to the men’s baseball team, not the women’s softball team. The Lady Beavers did not get to host a regional. The OSU men’s baseball team has been a national power over the past two decades, winning 3 CWS champions in that span, though the coach who led them there is now retired.
Both OSU teams are playing tonight. The loser of the women’s game vs
ASUArizona will be out of the tournament; the men’s game vs New Mexico State in the Corvallis Regional is not an elimination game (the loser will move to the loser’s bracket, but have at least one more game to play).It was the question, dude, whether the Beavers can be stopped, not the men’s team.
As for the rest I can read the NCAA D1 Women’s Softball site myself. I doubt you gave a fuck about the Beaver women’s softball team until you felt compelled to mansplain.
As an Oregon State alum, I care very much about all of Beaver athletics, thank you very much. Men and women both.
Many men, of course, are pigs, but not all of us. I will leave it at that.
Did you seriously #NotAllMen? Do you even hear yourself? Fuck all the way off.
What were you expecting?
You essentially accused me of being sexist here, an accusation that to me came out of right field, and I found to be more than a fair bit offensive coming from someone that I do not know and who does not know me, based on a few posts on the Internet. If I was doing any sort of “splaining”, it was Beaversplaining, an alum of the school in question correcting what appears to be an error in coverage of my alma mater. Sex and gender, I assure you, had nothing to do with it. Obviously I cannot prove that to you; whether you choose to believe me or not is outside my control.
Mansplaining is obviously a thing, and I’ve seen and heard lots of it in my life, but accusing others of it can be problematic, as it’s fundamentally an accusation of bad faith, and one that can’t really be falsified. If it is instead intended as a structural accusation rather than a personal one, then I suppose I am guilty as charged, but am not sure what else I can say.
You were belligerently arguing with her for no good reason. Take a chill pill.
The whole argument is a bit bizarre since the Oregon State women’s softball team was already eliminated before this post even appeared
187 word rebuttal? Get your own blog.
I note a glaring omission of reportage concerning the exploits of the Lady Pretzels Softball Team of Freeport, IL.
https://twitter.com/PretzSports/status/1529240554969743361
Wow. That’s Freeport High School’s team name, the Freeport Pretzels? What’s the backstory on that?
Hey, we have a community college here that has the “Fighting Artichokes” as their school mascot.
LOL the logo image is a dang sight better than the mascot furry.
Heh, you gotta love it. They have tried to change it a couple of times, and the students revolted in mass.
My new fave mascot and emblem. Mongo appreciation.
Nothing can top the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs when it comes to great mascot names.
A bit of their backstory:
Click through for the rest.
Not an alum of UCSC, but I have had the pleasure of walking trails in the Berkeley hills with The Kid when he was a wee one, and he was amazed (as only a wee one can be!) at the big yellow slugs we’d see along the way.
Any school with a mascot like this deserves a lot of credit.
We need a Creepy Bowl with the Slugs versus the Artichokes.
And by “large” I mean 7-10 inches.
Picture a slow-moving banana with little eye stalks gliding across the forest floor, and you’d get a good idea of what we’re talking about here.
These Artichokes look friendly and all, but are tougher that the bunny rabbit in Python.
A little steam and a lot of butter makes them quite tender and delicious.
Especially with a crisp pinot grigio.
I raise you some Banana Slug stew. It’s exquisite!
How ’bout them The Evergreen State College Geoducks?
Omnia Extares y’all.
https://www.evergreen.edu/geoduck/speedy-evergreens-geoduck-mascot
Also, too, Go Beavers!
They’d be delicious, too.
It is almost dinnertime here, you guys got anything?
UC Davis just changed their official mascot from a racehorse to a cow.
Is it a DevinCow?
From SFGate, last month:
More at the link.
Take that, Mitch McConnell!
Mooooo…. So, it IS a DevinCow!
https://www.pretzelchronicles.com/post/pretzel-city-usa
also home of 2nd Lincoln-Douglas debate in 1858.
The dew point is somewhere in the 40s which means it’s like a holiday (run and open all the windows!) and that it’s perfect baseball weather (I can feel that sharp bat crack in my hands).
Bottom of the 6th, 2 outs, Phils lead Angels 9-0. In other words, THIS MEANS NOTHING. Maybe the bullpen will get a lift from today’s excitement — Mike Trout’s come home and all that.
Make that 10-0… cf. said dry air; and/but again, this game can go anywhere
Also, since Carson Wentz is now kind of my problem again (until he isn’t) (also thanks SO MUCH to Irsay and Ballard for giving him all that bulletin board material; at least the Eagles were peaceable and pleasant — beyond so, all things considered — upon his departure), clicked through to some reconnaissance film. TL;DR going into year 7 I am astounded at how shit his footwork is — watching a simple drill clip I’m thinking man, that must be awful repetitive strain on his back and knees. It was supposed to be some positive PR but I don’t think they watched it prior to posting.
Then I *reenacted* the drill for my honey and felt ankles / feet at risk of busting, biomechanics being of premium importance to bipedal hominids. [Note Wentz’ significant injuries, incl foot & back fxs, to each of those areas.]
The clip poster also perhaps assumed, correctly, that no “viewers” would actually watch it, either, and would instead simply fawn over CW “working with a HOF QB who’d critiqued him [note: which one?], that’s so great: we’re [WFT] making a deep playoff run” — which was the context in which I encountered said clip.
CW was doing drills with Kurt Warner, who’d broken down his play on many occasions but most recently on the Colts’ no-more-playoffs-for-you! loss to Jags. For whatever reasons, that slew of negative publicity was enough to prompt CW to take Warner up on his years-long offer to teach him.
While initially miffed (wHY Did’NT yOu DO tHis yearZ aGo), I was comforted to see the old familiar persist [he’s also locked in on one receiver at OTAs — the rookie — continuing his serially-monogamous virgin-chasing ways].
All of which is to say that my primary concern is that Eagles’ boy-wonder DC Gannon actually puts on a defense this year. As always with hypercritical Philly sports fan comments — of which some take advantage (side-eye…) — on paper it wasn’t quite so bad as I’m making out but not the top line play one would have expected (besides the HOF stats-padding gifted to opposing QBs) (and the prolonged mysterious torture of every down with the safeties out on I-95, or as I called it, Cover Too-Far-Away / Prevent [the Eagles from Winning]) (But that’s all past us now, right, the Eagles have the linebackers/edge/Jordan Davis et al. essential for his 11-D Chess exotic “non-scheme”).
Cheers! #youwilllivetherebuildwithme #Howie’sBack
The only thing the Prevent defense prevents is winning. Always has been that way, always will.
I want to hear from some Ducks (watchers) about Devon Allen. College WR (Oregon) hasn’t played football in six years (well, besides now at Eagles OTAs) — instead pursued his track career: 2x Olympian who, through end April at least, held the year’s world best in the 100mH (also broke that meet record at the Penn Relays in the Men’s Developmental. That, too, was a nice dry day for MidAtlantic sports).
So I see him as a mature (positive sense: devoted, well-trained, grown-up, properly assured) athlete and think he could do well enough on those merits alone. I’m very intrigued and hope he has enough to make the 53/ST role in a crowded field. Does (did) he have good hands with the ball?
The Blue Jays bats are heating up, people. Be afraid.
Yanks have won five straight and hold the best percentage in the majors at .717 which will be tough to stay at.
Also a lot of excitement and storylines at the Women’s Open at Pine Needles NC. Those interested can read about it on LPGA.com.
Bottom of the sixth at the Women’s College softball game with Cowgirls leading 2 zip over the Gators. Back to the game.
The 98 Yankees went 114-48 in the regular season and 11-2 in the postseason. Their winning percentage was .704 in the regular and .714 (125-50) for the entire season.
Actually, that’s the second-highest winning percentage in the expansion era, after the 2001 Mariners. They went 116-46 in the regular, won the ALDS 3-2 and lost the ALCS to the Yankees 1-4. (I recall Pinella talking smack about the Yankees prior to that ALCS. Bad idea.) Those Ms’ regular season winning percentage was .716 and for the entire season .698 (120-52).
What about Cleveland, you might ask? Well, I said “expansion era” and 1954 was prior to expansion.
The 1954 Indians went 111-43-2, the two ties being late-July games at Fenway. The first of those two games was a Tuesday night game that went 4:26 and ended tied at 5 after 16 innings. The second was the next day, a Wednesday afternoon game that ended tied at 7 after 8 innings. Baseball-Reference.com notes Wednesday’s field conditions as “wet” at the beginning and the weather “overcast, showers”. No one bothered to record the field condition and weather of Tuesday night’s game. My guess is a blue law shut them down as midnight Tuesday approached, and then Wednesday they got rained on.
Doesn’t matter, as ties don’t count in the W-L and winning percentages and haven’t for over 100 years. OTOH, ties do count in individual statistics, if it’s an official game. Both the tied games were official, so they have to be noted. I’ll speculate the tied games were replayed – this was before MLB brought in the concept of the “suspended game”, thus Cleveland shows stats for 156 games in a 154-game season.
So, the ’54 Indians went on to lose the Series 0-4 to Willie Mays and the Giants. Their percentages were .721 (111/154) for the regular season and .703 including the Series loss (111/158).
I like that my Yankees are partying like it’s 1998.
And, this morning I saw the Baseball Gods clearing their collective throat about the Mets, having Scherzer’s dog bite his pitching hand. This is how it starts.
Actually, going back to look at 1998, this year’s Yankees are behind the ’98 team’s pace.
At the All-star break in 1998, the Yankees were 61-20, a .753 winning percentage. (I’ll never forget that, as I was in a fishing lodge with Yankee-fan friends and the operator a grumpy Sawx fan. It almost went badly.) They continued their winning ways, getting to 67-21 (.761) in mid-July. They lost 4 of the next 5 and, as best I can tell, never got above .750 again. But they had a couple long winning streaks in the second half of the season that led them into the post-season winning their last 7, going from 107-48 (.690) to 114-48 (.704). You can look it up. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1998.shtml
Thanks for all that you’re far more into it then I am. When the Yanks won five straight back when that was enough for me. Growing up in the fifties my friends were either Brooklyn Dodgers NY Giants or Yankee fans. A lot of disappointment when the two clubs moved west.
Yanks up to .722 and six straight as of today. Still early though.
And in the football of the rest of the world: Ukraine lost to Wales, 0-1. So Wales is going to the World Cup for the first time since 1958! (Much sympathy for Ukraine, as it must have been a really fine game, with that score.)
I’m calling it now. The Rams signing of Aaron Donald will go down as the second-worst contract ever. At this point, I don’t think anything will ever overtake the stupidity of the Browns trading assets to overpay a QB with 22 pending lawsuits.
But Aaron Donald is 31. The article put him on a list with Derrick Thomas and Lawrence Taylor for a number of pro bowls at this point in their careers. But to be clear, Derrick Thomas had two seasons past 30, and neither got him a pro bowl. His career was tragically cut short by an auto accident, not injury or lack of production, but he had obviously lost a step.
Lawrence Taylor never got double-digit sacks again, nor another Pro Bowl after 30.
How on earth can the Rams make Aaron Donald the highest-paid non-QB right now? In a sport with a cap, the is a loser’s bet every time. It’s why as sad as I was to see Tyeek Hill leave the Chiefs, there is no way I would pay him that contract NOW. This is when you let a player go find a team desperate enough to give him that one last massive contract that you don’t have to pay.