Cavs roll
Man, Toronto hates going to Cleveland. Like really, Really, REALLY hates going to Cleveland.
The Raptors lost at Cleveland by 22 during the regular season. The Raptors' three playoff losses at Cleveland have come by a total of 88 points, including Wednesday night's 116-78 laugher that was not as close as the 38-point spread considering the halftime lead was 31 points.
Cleveland was electric and pure. It was efficient and overpowering. And Toronto was consumed by it.
So the series goes back to the North for Game 6 on Friday, with the home team carrying a plus-109 margin of victory, and really only Game 4 on Monday has been remotely close and competitive in the fourth quarter.
The Cavs appear the far superior team, but Game 7s are a tricky endeavor, regardless of where they are played. Here's betting the Cavs will end the Raptors misery Friday night.
As for the other series, Oklahoma City could end the Golden State Warriors historic season tonight. Yes, the game is at Golden State, but the way the Thunder have played, especially in Game 4, this one could be close.
(If we were into placing some wagers - for entertainment purposes only of course - we'd be on the Thunder plus-7.5 and under the 220.)
Ooltewah High School assistant basketball coach assistant coach Karl Williams, head coach Andre "Tank" Montgomery and Athletic Director Allard "Jesse" Nayadley during (front to back) appear before Judge Robert Philyaw during a preliminary in Hamilton County Juvenile Court on February 25, 2016. Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston charged the three with failing to report child abuse or suspected child sexual abuse in connection with the rape of an Ooltewah High School freshman by his basketball teammates Dec. 22, 2015.Ooltewah update
It's been a while since we have reconvened about the horrors that happened last December involving the Ooltewah High School basketball team.
You know the details. Four freshman players were sexually assaulted with pool cues, and one was hurt so bad that he needed surgery.
Three men involved with the program were charged in failing to report child abuse, and their cases have had strikingly different results. (Side note here: TFP education ace Kendi Anderson has covered this story like kudzu. Here's her latest and if you are interested in any and all happenings in our education system, she is a great follow on Twitter, too.)
Sitting here on the last day of school for Hamilton County, the Ooltewah case is still very much real, and open and for a lack of a better word, confusing.
Jesse Nadayley, the school's athletic director who was at the tournament and coached the team the day after the final assault because head coach Andre "Tank" Montgomery and assistant Karl Williams were tending to the injured and the fallout after the attack, has accepted pretrial diversion. Williams had his charges dropped by DA Neal Pinkston; Montgomery has chosen to fight the charges and will face the grand jury June 3.
The goofball detective who originally investigated the case before making outlandish and differing statements in Judge Rob Philyaw's courtroom earlier this spring has been charged with perjury.
The charges against the players who held down their teammates and violated them are still pending. It is being handled in juvenile court, according to Miss Anderson, so the outcomes will be sealed. The civil suits, especially from the victim who needed surgery to fix his insides, will be large and expensive.
Beyond that, what do we know:
We know that the Owls season was cancelled after the details came to light.
We know that this was the emotional lightning rod that jumpstarted a firestorm that toppled superintendent Rick Smith's time leading the HCDE.
What else? Not much, since the legal wheels will spin at their own speed.
But we will learn much more Friday, as interim superintendent Dr. Kirk Kelly will make the leadership assignments at each school. It strains the imagination to think there will not be a complete overhaul at Ooltewah, and that principal Jim Jarvis and assistant principal Nadayley will no longer be there. But who knows anymore.
Confusing. And sad.
Brooks Koepka watches his shot from the 10th tee as Ben Crane, left, and Jordan Spieth head down the fairway during the third round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Irving, Texas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP) Airy Jordan
Jordan Spieth is far from a sympathetic character.
Dude is in his early 20s, plays golf for a living has a net worth of more than $40 million (a total that will only grow and add digits as endorsements and winnings continue to roll in) and pretty much is winning at life.
Still, professionally, Spieth has hit a little bit of a funk considering his lofty standards and expectations. He gagged at Augusta National in his attempt to repeat as the Masters champion with a brain-cramped quad 7 on No. 12 in the final round. After some time off he missed the cut at The Players before blowing a 36-hole lead with a 74 last Sunday.
It's perplexing to be sure, and something that could spin into an ordeal if not contained and countered.
So, in an effort to lighten the mood - Spieth when asked about missing the weekend at The Players, he said he's too hard on himself and he needs to smile more - Spieth played a pro-am round with golf's champion clown prince.
If laughter is the best medicine, playing a round with Carl Spackler (aka Bill Murray) of "Caddyshack" fame certainly qualifies as a five-star prescription.
In fact, it's pretty hard to imagine playing 18 holes with Murray and being able to focus on anything other than the fact that you're playing with Spackler.
Spieth said he tried as hard as could not to overflow the actor with Caddyshack lines, but man that would be tough to avoid. It's hard to remember playing a round of golf in which there were fewer than a half-dozen Caddyshack lines.
And to play with Spackler, we just couldn't do it.
It will be interesting to see if enjoying the week before the tournament - and how could you not enjoy playing with Murray - will help Spieth this weekend in Fort Worth.
Atlanta Braves pinch-hitter Gordon Beckham celebrates with A.J. Pierzynski (15) after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) This and that
- The Braves played at home. The Braves lost. Rinse, lather, repeat.
- Man, talk about life imitating art. Did you see the story in the excellent Weekend Magazine the TFP puts out every Thursday about the wrestling this weekend at the Colonade? Some very familiar names from the golden era of pro 'ratlin' will be in Dalton tonight. Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, Buff Bagwell. Hey, great that they are still doing what they love, but in a lot of ways that just makes me feel sad, you know?
- The actress who played Vera, the spacey waitress that worked with "Alice" at Mel's Diner, has died. She was 74. Her husband - actor Charles Kimbrough - said she died Dec. 31 of lung cancer and there was no announcement because that's what she wanted.
- Boston outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. has now hit in 29 consecutive games. He has passed the halfway mark toward Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game streak. Man, that's an awfully tough record to break.
Today's question
OK, there are a ton of noteworthy birthdays today.
John Wayne would have been 109. Jay Silverheels (Tonto from the glorious "Lone Ranger" TV series) would have been 104. Add in James Arnett (born in 1923), Miles Davis (1926), Brent Musburger (who turns 77 today), Stevie Nicks (68), Hank Williams Jr. (67), Phillip Michael Thomas (Tubbs from "Miami Vice" who is also 67), Joe Dumars (53), Lenny Kravitz (52) and the supremely underrated Helena Bonham-Carter (50). And who could possibly leave out Bobcat Goldthwait (54).
We could certainly do a Rushmore of TV sidekicks with Tonto being a no-brainer and Tubbs making a push. So let's start there.
And with Arnett and The Duke also with birthdays today, let's do the Rushmore of TV and movie cowboys, since Arnett's Marshal Matt Dillon certainly is a finalist and Wayne has several characters who would be contenders.
Whatcha got? (And remember Friday's mailbag folks.)