5-at-10: Weekend winners, losers and some Ali thoughts


              Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, kisses the French Open tennis trophy during a photo session at the Place de la Concorde, in Paris, Monday June 6, 2016. Djokovic was the winner against Britain's Andy Murray in four sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, kisses the French Open tennis trophy during a photo session at the Place de la Concorde, in Paris, Monday June 6, 2016. Djokovic was the winner against Britain's Andy Murray in four sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Weekend winners

Novak Djokovic. The world's No. 1 tennis player looked the part Sunday as he completed the career grand slam with a win on the clay at the French Open. He was a super agent with angles and savant with service returns. After dropping the first set, he housed Andy Murray in a way that made the very pro-Joker crowd almost feel sorry for Murray.

Everyone on the Golden State Warriors bench. The production of the reserves has been overwhelming, but how bad is Steve Kerr and Co. destroying Tyrann Lue and his staff? Know this: Golden State is averaging 27 assists in the two games; Cleveland is averaging 16. That means Golden State is working the ball to get better shots and Cleveland simply is pounding the ball into the floor. Wow, this looks very one-sided.

William McGirt. Man we like seeing dudes win on the PGA Tour who are truly changed by the moment. Yes, it was cool watching a Jordan Spieth win or Rory do his thing, but those cats were stars from the word go with sponsorship dollars coming in like no one's business. Guys like McGirt are a different animal entirely. His first career win at Memorial Sunday was awesome. (Side note: He looks like the product if Jason Dufner and Charlie Kaufman had a love child.)

Auburn softball. Two dramatic wins over the weekend and the Tigers are in the championship series against Oklahoma, best of three starts tonight at 8.

Jose Fernandez. Dude is a monster - seven innings, 14 Ks Sunday - a little more than two years removed from Tommy John surgery. He's the best pitcher on the planet not named Kershaw.

photo Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love remains on the floor after a play during the first half of Game 2 of basketball's NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cavaliers in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, June 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Weekend losers

Cleveland. The Cavs look simply inferior, and LeBron James' total of seven turnovers Sunday was simply awfully.

COPA America organizers. The folks that run this renowned kickball tournament played the wrong national anthem for Uruguay. How is that even possible?

Jake Arrieta. Tough to put a starting pitcher with these kind of numbers on the list, but for the first time since last July, the term loser actually applies to Arrieta after a regular-season Cubs game. That's some kind of streak, though.

Big 12. Man, the conference's spring meetings ended and what did we really get as far as leadership and direction from a conference in an undeniable state of flux. Let's review the checklist: They approved a title game, which is a money grab without expansion (remember the 10-team Big 12 has the best conference schedule set-up with everyone playing everyone, and if they don't expand before the 2017 title game, they will have the worst way to determine a champ since the teams in the title game will be playing a rematch of game already played and anything that devalues the college football regular season is not a good idea); they discussed expansion without coming to anything close to a final decision; they made about 12 decisions on the future of Baker Mayfield and the very small scenario of former walk-ons transferring between conference schools; and they announced very little about Baylor. Other than the cocktails, what was that for anyway?

Finals officiating. OK, call me a LeBron homer, but how does a player that by all measures is no worse than the second-best player on the planet get the only two walking calls in a Finals game when the officials likely haven't called two walks against a single team in these playoffs? Not that it matter in the least, but it still was shall we say, an uneven at best performance by the crew, especially in the first half when things were still competitive.

photo FILE - This is an Oct. 9, 1974, file photo showing Muhammad Ali. Ali, the magnificent heavyweight champion whose fast fists and irrepressible personality transcended sports and captivated the world, has died according to a statement released by his family Friday, June 3, 2016. He was 74. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)(AP Photo/FIle)

Ali

Muhammad Ali died Saturday. You may have heard about it.

The tributes were overflowing and overwhelming.

His accomplishments in the ring are unquestioned. He was a three-time heavyweight champion of the world during the time of sporting history when being the heavyweight champion of the world was the coolest thing in sports.

Boxing arguably was at its apex when Ali was in his prime, and that was not by coincidence. He stirred the drink like no athlete before him.

Yes, there have been an army of imitators after Ali, but they pale in comparison. His relationship with the media was a two-way street, with Cosell as the traffic cop and the public a sea of pedestrians wanting to watch the fray.

Today's modern trash-talkers do not have the charm or the poetry or even the presence Ali brought. And they certainly do not have the originality. Nor the gravitas, considering Ali delivered on all of his promises and pledges.

The praise also was lavished on Ali for his conviction. He famously adopted Islam and controversially sacrificed a great deal to not be part of the Vietnam War.

To call him a draft dodger is not accurate. He refused to be drafted and accepted the punishment - famously saying, "just take me to jail" - not running to another country or trying to hide. Yes, Ali hiding seems silly considering his world-wide fame.

He fairly questioned the decisions of the government to wage a war on a foreign land when the civil rights conflicts here left black people fighting for their lives. His sacrifices - in terms of wealth and stature and his championship title - were great, so draft-dodger is not a fair term.

But is hero?

Ali's stance was based on his beliefs and conviction is an admirable quality. So is sacrifice - Ali sacrificed plenty but those sacrifices were primarily personal - and those that dutifully answered the government's call potentially to pay the ultimate sacrifice for all of us are certainly heroes.

And what about those who marched from the vessels 72 years ago Monday into the blood-soaked sea and the body-filled shore? Were they scared? Certainly, but true courage is not lacking fear, it's overcoming it.

Ali's star was made with boxing gloves on his hands. His global status - positively for almost all and negatively to some - though was cemented in his acts outside of the ring. His work for the underprivileged parts of our planet can't be overstated and his charismatic efforts reached far more than we'll ever know.

His decision to say no to the war was as powerful as any punch he ever threw, and has lasting effects even today.

Which makes us wonder how Ali would be viewed today. As controversial as he was then, can you imagine the ripples and splashes he would cause in today's 24/7 news cycle and in our current scream-and-scream-louder approach to national debate?

After he died, the quotes and tributes were everywhere. He was almost universally triumphed across all platforms, something that happens to almost all superstars when death finally wins. It was made even easier after the last couple of decades as Ali's fight with Parkinson's left him crippled.

He was a lot of things to a lot of people and his star power despite his poor health for the last third of his life was undeniable.

This and that

- We think this would be cool. Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who hit a BP pitch into the upper deck at Busch Stadium this weekend, wants to be in the home run derby. It likely won't happen, but that would be different, and different in sports come mid-July is cool.

- Clayton Kershaw is unreal. Unreal. Dude went six innings and fanned four without allowing a run against the Braves on Saturday. Yes, it was against the Braves, so that's grain-of-salt worthy. But here's the lofty bar that Kershaw has set: His pitching line in the middle game of the Dodgers' three-game sweep of Atlanta was 6 innings, 0 runs, 4 Ks; it was his shortest stint of the season and it was his lowest strikeout total since May 17, 2014.

- Denver cornerback Aqib Talib is one of the handful famous athletes with rhyming first and last names. So there's that. He also has a rap sheet longer than his Pro Bowl resume. This is noteworthy because Talib was shot in the leg over the weekend at a Dallas night club and will miss the defending Super Bowl champs' trip to the White House.

Today's question

We have two:

What's the first thing you thought of when you heard that Ali had died?

Secondly, why is D-Day not a national holiday?

Heck fire, why is D-Day not a global holiday considering that it stomped out a true global threat?

Thoughts?

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