5-at-10: Game 3 thoughts, Braves' momentum, soccer and politics, Rushmore of best friends


              Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue speaks at a news conference after Game 2 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, June 5, 2016. The Warriors won 110-77. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue speaks at a news conference after Game 2 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, June 5, 2016. The Warriors won 110-77. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Game 3

LeBron James said tonight is a must-win for Cleveland. You think so doctor?

Cleveland trails Golden State 2-0. The games have not been real close. The Warriors look like unbeatable, a juggernaut that rolled through the regular season with a record-setting 73 wins. They rallied from an improbable 3-1 hole against Oklahoma City. They are justifiably getting compared with the great teams of all-time.

The Cavs? They are wondering if defensive liability Kevin Love can even play after suffering a concussion in the 33-point loss that was Game 2. It's obviously not looking good for Cleveland. In fact, Vegas has the Warriors as a slight favorite tonight despite the Cavs being at home and bringing a sense of desperation that certainly can't be matched.

But does that desperation and the accompanying motivation even matter, considering how one-sided this series has looked so far? And then to make matters more dire for the Cavs and all of us LeBron fans is the knowledge that the Warriors have been overpowering with just above-average showings from the Warriors best two players in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. There's no doubt that James' claim is 100 percent accurate.

This is a must win, but is that even a doable task for these Cavs.

It will be interesting to see the adjustments Cleveland tries. Maybe Richard Jefferson is inserted into the starting lineup. Maybe Channing Frye gets more minutes. Maybe LeBron forgets about trying to get others involved and tries to take over the game. Maybe all three happen, but even if all of those happen and turn up aces for the Cavs, the best they can hope for in a must-win is maybe.

We think Cleveland wins tonight because of a variety of factors. Some we mentioned two paragraphs before. It also is impossible for the team with the 2-0 lead to bring the same level of energy and desperation as the team fighting for its season.

Now that motivation balances out of course Game 4 as each team sees the value.

So, Cleveland, with its season on the line looks for a way to end its skid. The Cavs have lost five Finals games in a row and seven consecutive to Golden State.

Here's a thought that the Cavs save their season tonight, but in reality it's more of a stay of execution than salvation.

photo FILE - In this March 6, 2016, file photo, Atlanta Braves' Hector Olivera bats during a spring training baseball game against the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Olivera was suspended through Aug. 1 for his arrest on domestic violence charges. The suspension, announced Thursday, May 26, by commissioner Rob Manfred, is without pay and covers 82 games, retroactive to April 30. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Braves

Ah yes, the Atlanta Braves. The best team in all of baseball within a two-hour drive of Chattanooga.

(See we're staying positive. And speaking of positive, we are positive that Press Row and ESPN 105.1 the Zone are giving away Braves tickets in the 5 o'clock hour each weekday. Listen during Mike and Mike for the Brave of the Day and when you hear the baseball organ playing, that's your cue to call. The winner gets two tickets, and no the loser does not get four tickets.)

As for these Braves, it's a study in a lot of things.

It's a study in the modern rebuild mode, which is to suck and duck and hope that your fire sale yields enough young prospects that can be a core around which to form a foundation.

It's a study in the current state of rich teams vs. poor teams. The Braves have slashed their payroll. In fact, Atlanta is paying its 25-man roster about $51 million, which ranks 28th among the 30 big league teams. Freddie Freeman (more than $12 million) and Nick Markakis ($11 million) are the highest paid Braves. The next highest paid Braves are Erick Aybar ($8.5 million), who is on the DL and the long-since waived duo of Nick Swisher ($7.5 million) and Michael Bourne ($6.5 million).

It's also a study in the powerful force in sports known as momentum. How many times have we watched a team that has it going find a way to win in tough scenarios? These Braves are at the opposite end of the spectrum. It's still the power of momentum, but it's a negative pull in which Atlanta finds ways to lose in favorable situations.

Last night, hard-throwing Arodys Vizcaino blew only his second save of the season. (Yes, the Braves getting save chances is not unlike Pauly Shore getting an Oscar nomination. They are pretty rare.) Still Vizcaino has been aces through the first third of the season. Even after allowing two runs while recording just one out, his ERA is just 2.25.

Just one of those things. But those things compound when things are going this strong in one direction or the other.

And if we are still looking for ways to be positive, a couple of the bats in the Braves minor league system have really started to find the groove at their current levels. Outfielder Dustin Peterson had three hits for the Mississippi Braves (AA) and is hitting .265 and Ozzie Albies had three hits for Gwinnett (AAA).

Albies has crushed at each level before struggling with the adjustment to AAA. His 3-for-4 showing last night raised his average to .241. But his track record shows he's very capable at the plate. His averages at his four previous stops were .381, .356, .310 and .369. So expecting Albies to hit is the baseline; the more important adjustment for the 19-year-old from Curacao is playing second base.

The long-time shortstop moving to second gives the clear sign that Dansby Swanson is settling in at short with Albies at the other spot in the middle infield.

Progress, Braves fans, progress.

photo U.S. defender John Brooks (6) controls the ball as Ecuador midfielder Enner Valencia pressures during the first half of an exhibition soccer match, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Soccer

It was an interesting day in soccer, and yes, that felt funny even typing that sentence.

Locally, the Chattanooga FC rolled to a nice victory. Here's TFP all-around ace Mean Gene Henley's report.

Nationally, the U.S. men's national team dominated Costa Rico 4-0 to better position themselves to advance in the Copa America.Then we also saw this tidbit.

According to the U.S. Soccer Federation chief Sunil Gulati, the future of the U.S. potentially hosting a World Cup in coming years depends on who is elected as our next president.

During a round-table discussion with reporters Tuesday, Gulati said "I think the world's perception of the U.S. is affected by who is in the White House, yes, so it has some bearing, sure."
Gulati did not mention a name, but he didn't have to. Of course he's referring to Donald Trump and his at times controversial view on global issues and immigration.

Say what?

The world soccer community is run by FIFA, which is without comparison in terms of underhanded and dirty and corrupt. The details are staggering to the levels in which FIFA has lied and cheated and basically stole from countries and individuals.

And that group has a negative opinion about the bombastic Trump?

Heck, Trump should embrace that condemnation and should consider adding that on his campaign brochure.

A phrase like, "A vote for Trump is vote against global corruption - ask FIFA."

This and that

- Next week the U.S. Open golf tournament will be on Fox. Here are some details courtesy of Cynopsis Sports of what Fox is planning on its broadcast technically: FOX Sports officially detailed its tech plans for the US Open with an "expanded offering of in-broadcast innovations and enhancements designed to maximize the viewing experience." This year's telecast will now include four full holes in virtual reality, the continued use of aerial drones for course-mapping, tee box shot tracers, radio-frequency fairway rangefinders, microphones in all 18 holes (we detailed some of this in Monday's issue) and patented green-shading graphic overlays. The four-hole multi-camera offering will be sponsored by Lexus and offers 360-degree views of the tee boxes and greens at Holes 9, 17 and 18, in addition to roving capability between neighboring Holes 10 and 12. NextVR's platform also includes live look-ins at Oakmont's driving range and video on-demand U.S. Open themed features. Overall, there will be 202 microphones, 156 channels recording simultaneously, 99 cameras and 2 4K servers for the tournament.

- Tiger Woods announced that he will not play in the U.S. Open. That makes sense, and considering how hard Oakmont may play, we're very happy to hear that. The last thing we want to see is Woods card 83-81 in a return. Please Tiger, take your time and do not rush the comeback.

- Auburn rallied from an early touchdown deficit and got two monastery huge plays late in an 11-7 extra inning win over Oklahoma in Game 2 of the best of three College Softball World Series. Left-fielder Tiffany Howard robbed a two-run homer with a leaping catch to end the sixth and Emily Carosone hit a walk-off grand slam in the eighth. It was highly entertaining. Game 3 is tonight. (And yes, we are torn between which Game 3 we're going to watch tonight.)

- The last one is a rotten Sun Belt. The Sun Belt becomes the last of the 10 FBS conferences to add a conference title game. It will start in 2018, and here's betting there will plenty of good seats available.

- Sorry for the political aside, but we thought this was quite hilarious. Hillary Clinton all but clinched the Democrat nomination fro the November election. No, that's not the funny part. That's the sad part considering her role in the email deletion and Benghazi as Secretary of State in all likelihood should have led to her prosecution. No the funny part is this story from the New York Post. Is it the ultimate definition of irony that Clinton gave a speech about closing the wage gap, she was wearing an Armani jacket that costs $12,495. Wowsers. The only way it could have been more perfect would have been if she had closed the speech with "Let them eat cake."

Today's question

According to the Twitter, today is national best friend day.

Take a moment sometime today and reach out to your best friend from childhood. You'll be glad you did.

Who's on the Rushmore of all-time best friends? We think Al Cowlings - the dude who drove O.J. in the Bronco - gets serious consideration.

Whactha' got? (And remember the mailbag folks.)

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