5-at-10: Weekend winners and losers, LeBron and MJ, Rushmore singing father-and-sons


              Kentucky Derby champion Always Dreaming watches all the activity outside his Barn 40 stall at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., Sunday, May 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Garry Jones)
Kentucky Derby champion Always Dreaming watches all the activity outside his Barn 40 stall at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., Sunday, May 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Garry Jones)

Weekend winners

Always Dreaming, Todd Pletcher and the entire crew. AD, a big horse who closed as the favorite, cruised to the win in the Kentucky Derby. For Pletcher, he had exactly one winner in his previous 45 Derby entries. He now has two. Overnight numbers had NBC's coverage up 12 percent from last year with 10.5 ratings share. As for our contest, several of you - including Dawg747 and Andrew A. - had the victor, but only Michael P. had the winner and the loser with Thunder Snow, which did not finish the race.

LeBron James. Dude is simply crushing it right now, and he and his Cavs will get a sizable amount of rest until the Eastern Conference Finals. Since Game 5 of the NBA Finals last June, James and Co. is 11-0 in the postseason, and his averages - 34.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game - are staggering.

The finishing hole. Golf had two fun finishes this weekend. On the PGA Tour, Brian Harmon drained a long birdie on the 72nd hole to win the Wells Fargo. On the Champions Tour, John Daly and his buds celebrated his first win on that circuit with a champagne bath. Good times.

Cardale Jones. One of the many scholarship stars to walk this weekend, Jones officially flipped his designation from student-athlete to graduate-athlete. And in tribute of his famous one-liner when he said he was not at THE Ohio State "to play school" Jones put that quote on his graduation cap.

New York Yankees. The Yanks have won five straight and swept the world champion Cubs in Wrigley. They have the best record in baseball at 20-9 and arguably the best young line-up in the American League led by Starlin Castro (.355) and powerful Aaron Judge (13 homers), each of whom are top five in the AL in WAR.

photo San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Monday, May 1, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Weekend losers

NBA drama. Going into Sunday's games, the average margin of victory in NBA conference semifinals was 17.18 points per game. Cleveland won by seven in the closest game of this round before Washington won by 19 and Houston won by 21. The previous record for most one-sided semifinal round was in 1947 with a 17.17 margin of victory. To make matters worse, the far-and-away favorites - Cleveland and Golden State - are going to get a ton of rest as the other semifinals appear to be headed to seven games.

San Francisco Giants. Wow, the Giants were swept by the Red. They were out-scored 31-5. Their best player - Madison Bumgarner, who is easily their best pitcher and may be their best hitter considering that he's hitting .286 with two homers in seven ABs - is on the shelf for a couple of months after a dirt bike accident. To make matters worse, the Giants' bus broke down after Sunday's loss. Bad times.

Fans of summer Tigers. Yes, Detroit's bullpen is scuffling. But the main part of this is the story released this weekend after Jack Nicklaus spoke about Tiger Woods. The outlook does not look promising.

K.D. Cannon. Wow, been a wild ride down the slide for Mr. Cannon. Dude was a freshman All-American after a breakout 2014 season. He finished his three years at Baylor - a tumultuous time for sure all things considered - with 27 TD catches, 195 receptions and more than 3,100 receiving yards. He was pegged as a third-day draft pick and had his name on the "Kiper's Best Available" scroll for a while. He went undrafted but got a deal with the 49ers that paid him a $5,000 signing bonus and $40,000 guaranteed. He was cut less than a weekend into his NFL career.

Arizona athletic department. Excellent story from ESPN here about the threats and torture from an assistant track coach to one of the athletes there. Staggering stuff and if it is determined that the university could have stopped the coach, well, then maybe we've reached a place where the NCAA "death penalty" should be reconsidered.

photo Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) argues over a call with referee Tony Brothers during the second half of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Toronto Raptors in Toronto, Sunday, May 7, 2017. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

LeBron raising questions

What would it take?

What would it take for LeBron to pass Michael Jordan as the GOAT? Is it even possible in some people's view? Would the rings be the all-timer, if so, why is Jordan viewed more highly than Bill Russell?

It's not points, or stats or simply titles. We know this. It's the package, and in a lot of ways the packaging.

Jordan was an ever-popular cultural shooting star. He's on the short list of the most liked and globally known athletes of not only his generation but of all time. Nike helped a great deal with that, and as much as Jordan initially made Nike, Nike continues to introduce Jordan to each generation.

That said, the discussion for us is so much closer between Jordan and LeBron than most. LeBron is physically the best basketball player we've ever seen, including Jordan. He does things, and affects the game in every facet, more than any player we've ever watched.

We did not see Wilt, and that conversation and comparison seems fair considering the amazing numbers Wilt posted with a church-league team around him for most of his career.

To be fair, Michael is the greatest competitor we've ever watched in team sports. (Tiger in his day was pretty lethal too, but it's a different beast in an individual sport.) And that certainly and rightly counts for so, So, SO much when weighing these things.

Maybe it's like QBs in a sense.

Rings are huge, but are they the end all be all?

We don't know, but we do know this: Watching LeBron play like he is right now - he scored 35 or more in each game of the sweep of a Toronto team that a lot of folks thought was going to challenge the Cavs - the conversation of James or Jordan deserves consideration.

This and that

- Not sure if you knew this or not, but the erstwhile "Sports Reporters" signed off with its final episode on Sunday. SR had been around for 27 years and really kind of started the format that has been emulated and morphed into a lot of ESPN's current programming.

- Also of note, here's a story on protestors being upset that Miss Black University of Texas was not black enough. Yep, you read that correctly.

- Fun take on the Titans caravan here from TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer.

- Interesting look here from Mean Gene Henley, TFP UTC ace, on whether the Mocs are looking to move in football terms.

- Speaking of the Mocs, huge tip of the visor to an aggressive and early recruiting attack from Tom Arth and the football program. A good number of well-calculated offers to very accomplished rising senior prospects gives UTC the distinction of being first with a whole lot of kids who will assuredly get loftier D-I offers. Plus, with the early signing period starting in December, that could potentially lead to a steal or three.

- Rapper Nikki Minaj became an ATM over the weekend, sending loads of cash to folks asking for help with tuition.

- Man, where's the creativity of new TV? Word came this weekend that American Idol may return to the airwaves. Buckets people, if it's not a Dick Wolf show or a hyped-up version of the Gong Show, what else do we have?

- How big are the staffs at college football's big powers? Here's a story that during his time at Alabama, Lane Kiffin says the number of analysts and assistants was so big he didn't even know everyone's name. Cheers.

Today's question

Got a weekend winner or loser?

Share with the group.

As for May 8, well on this day in 1886, a little shop in Atlanta known as Jacob's Pharmacy sold the first glass of a little drink known as Coca-Cola. The name, of course, came from one of the ingredients in the elixir, a little powder known as cocaine.

As for birthdays, well Enrique Iglesias is 42. Considering his old man is Julio Iglesias, do they have enough to get on the father-son singing Rushmore?

Would would make that one.

Go and remember to be joyful.

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