5-at-10: Blackburn reaction, U.S. Open contest, Sports on TV, Rushmore of individual rivalries in teams sports

David Blackburn, former senior associate athletic director at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, talks about his years of experience working in the UT system in this file photo.
David Blackburn, former senior associate athletic director at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, talks about his years of experience working in the UT system in this file photo.

Blackburn resigns

We were sad to hear the news Tuesday that David Blackburn resigned. Mean Gene Henley doing work all day yesterday on the story.

He did a lot of great things for UTC athletics, and the narratives that are being floated leave the uneducated ear puzzled.

Blackburn was the Nick Saban of mid-major hires. He prided himself on that, and he delivered on each. While the jury is still out on some of the new names - and count us among the folks that believe Lamont Paris and Tom Arth will be crowning achievements for his hiring legacy - Blackburn was great at finding and luring talent.

In fact, there are some who believe his understandable confidence in that skill started the divide that emerged among the university's leadership.

Yes, we believe Weeds has a strong point in his column this morning that points out that after publicly being denied his dream job, that Blackburn could understandably need a break.

We also know that there has been some personal things Blackburn has had to deal with. (None of them scandalous, gutter brain. At least not the item I know of.)

But we also have heard too often that there was unrest between the leadership of the school and Blackburn from the fall out - especially among some of the big-money boosters - after former UTC football coach Russ Huesman left for Richmond.

Blackburn certainly is not the first highly successful athletic administrator to get caught in a power struggle with his boss and the boosters. He certainly won't be the last. But UTC fans better hope those that wanted Blackburn to resign are as good at the hiring process as the man they are glad to see go.

photo FILE - In this Friday, April 7, 2017 file photo, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, hits to the 18th green during the second round of the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga. McIlroy won the first of his four majors in the U.S. Open six years ago at Congressional, a course so softened by rain that he shattered the scoring record (268) and won by eight shots. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

US Open contest

OK, here's the formal entry into this thing.

The Open for Business Open Opening starts tomorrow.

Want to win a prize package that includes lunch downtown and some other trinkets? (Take a chance and win some crap Ah, it's a profit deal. That takes the pressure off. God bless you Navin R. Johnson.)

Here's the deal, send in five golfers in the field for this year's U.S. Open and the top four scores count. We will score places. For instance if you have the winner (1 point), the runner-up (2) and the fifth- and sixth-place finishers (5 and 6), you would have a boss score of 14. That was the score of Jason T. when he won the Masters contest last April. So whatcha' got. After all, it don't cost nuttin' to enter.

5-at-10: Day, DJ, Koepka, Matsuyama, Justin Thomas

Mrs. 5-at-10: D. Johnson, Day, Rory, Speith, Fowler (Yes, the Mrs. is out there on that limb with five of the top nine players in the world)

Todd C. - Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Fowler, Rahm

Spy - Rose, Rory, Charl, Lucas Glover, Rahm

Mark W. - Fowler Speith, D. Johnson, McIlroy, Rose.

War Eagle '17 - Dufner, DJ, Sergio, Rory, Day

Jason T. (wearing his green tank top not really, but next year we will get a traditional green tank top to be given to the winner of the Masters event) -Stenson, Rahm, Fowler, DJ, Sergio

Ted P. - DJ, Rory, Rickie, Jordan, Koooooochhhh

Mike R. -Cabrera Bello, Reed, Day, DJ, Rahm

We have several more already that we'll update the list this afternoon and finalize Thursday morning.

photo Pittsburgh Penguins' Patric Hornqvist (72), of Sweden, celebrates as he leaves the ice after defeating the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Monday, June 12, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Late spring TV viewing

The talks of dynasties and the what not have been somewhat intriguing and somewhat misleading.

Despite the magical run by the Nashville Predators, did you know that the NHL has been more top heavy in the last decade than the NBA.

NHL champs since 2008: Pittsburgh three times, Chicago three times, Kings twice, Boston and Detroit.

NBA champs since 2008: Golden State twice, Heat twice, Lakers twice, San Antonio, Dallas, Cleveland, Boston.

So there's that, and we have not heard anyone toss out the 'Super Team' claim against the NHL. And to be fair here, the TV numbers for the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Final were off the charts.

The just-completed NBA Finals ranked as the most-watched title series that did not include Jordan or Magic of the last 30 years. (And those guys were on dysnaty-like teams, too.) With an average of 20.4 million viewers this Finals was the most-watched series that lasted five or fewer games since the Bulls-Lakers in 1991 averaged 23.9 as Jordan won his first title.

The Stanley Cup numbers (4.7 million viewers on average) were up 17 percent from last year, and here's a testament to the power of the Preds and their wonderful rise-up story: This was the largest audience on record for a Stanley Cup Final that did not include one of the game's "Original Six" power franchises. (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York Rangers, and Toronto are considered the Original Six NHL franchises.)

This and that

* Speaking of TV viewing. We are hearing rave reviews of the "Best of Enemies" 30-for-30 on the Lakers-Celtics in the 1980s. Good times.

* Speaking of the NBA Finals, we were remiss not to mention this on Tuesday because we notice things like this. The Golden State Warriors were a 9- or a 9.5-favorite in sports books around the world. J.R. Smith's drained 3 with 15 seconds left and the Warriors running the clock out allowed the Cavs a painful back-door cover.

* That fact did not slow down the Warriors' celebration, considering almost the entire team went to the bar and ran up a $150,000 tab. The missing Warriors star was Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who allegedly was already too drunk to go out to the club.

* Here's an interesting recap of the first day of the MLB draft. Hey, we love the draft, but if you what the ultimate definition of how big a crap shoot the MLB draft is, know this: Exactly one No. 1 overall pick has gone on to the Hall of Fame, and that's Ken Griffey Jr.

Today's question

Happy birthday to POTUS, Donald Trump.

Happy Flag Day, and yes, the Continental Congress adopted the Stars & Stripes to replace the Grand Union flag on this day in 1777.

Also of note, Boy George (56) and Steffi Graf (48) celebrate birthdays today.

Pat Summitt would have been 65 today. You are missed, Coach.

In honor of the Lakers-Celtics 30-for-30, let's do the Rushmore of individual rivalries in teams sports. We'll start with Bird-Magic and who gets the other three spots?

Go and remember the mailbag and the Open contest.

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