Masters
As we type this, Russell Henley and Daniel Summerhays have made birdie on No. 1 at Augusta National. In the same group Trevor Immelman made bogey.
At that pace Henley and Summerhays are headed toward a playoff at 72 under which would be pretty awesome. Immelman would miss the cut at 36 over. Which begs the question of who - along with Immelman - are the most surprising Masters winners?
Mike Weir, the 2003 winner in a playoff over Len Mattiace, may have a spot on that list. (For what it's worth, Weir also made a bogey 5 on No. 1 early Thursday morning.) The unpredictable and gusting winds will wreak havoc today. That, as a friend said this morning, will make it treacherous and give the Masters some feel of the wind-dictated Open Championship and some of the par-is-a-great-score survival that is the U.S. Open.
Then, if the weekend clears up, the Masters can go back to being the major championship that someone has to go get, which makes it our favorite of the majors.
The biggest news is that Dustin Johnson took a tumble and hurt his back. He is listed as iffy today. If you have DJ and want to trade him out, please let me know ASAP. Thanks. He tees later this afternoon.
We are short on time this morning, but we got about 40 or so Masters entries. We will post them either this afternoon before Press Row or tomorrow, since there are a couple of Masters questions already in the mailbag.
Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) dribbles the ball past Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) NBA hits the final week
With an impressive 114-91 rout at Boston on Wednesday, LeBron James and the Cavs grabbed a one-game lead in the Eastern Conference standings and for home-court advantage to the Finals.
Cleveland is 51-27, Boston 50-28, and each has four games left. Golden State secured home-court throughout the playoffs with a win over Phoenix on Wednesday and has clinched the best record in the league for the third straight season.
In the East, there are four teams assured of making the postseason - Toronto and Washington currently are third and fourth respectively - and there are seven teams in contention for the final four spots. That features three - Chicago, Miami and Indiana - tied at 38-40 in spots 7, 8 and 9 for an eight-team tournament.
Portland (38-40) and Denver (37-41) are vying for the eighth and final spot in the West and the right to be swept by the Warriors in round one. The Warriors have won 13 straight - and remember that's without Kevin Durant - and have a league-best +11.7 per game point differential. (Side note: Let Durant come back and struggle and they drop a game or two, and get ready for a couple of theories: "Are the Warriors better without Durant?" is one and that's a complete falsehood. "Were last year's Warriors better than these Warriors?" and while we do not think so - Durant is one of the five best players on the planet people - that one will generate more discussion.)
In the race to be the MVP, Russell Westbrook continues to sprint toward the finish line and the podium. Wednesday, Westbrook missed setting the regular-season mark for most triple-doubles by a rebound. He finished with 45 points, 10 assists, nine boards and five steals.
Westbrook is within reach of clinching the status of averaging a triple-double for the season - something that has only been done once, by Oscar Robertson in 1961-62, when he finished an amazing third in the MVP voting. (The Big O was behind winner Bill Russell, who somehow got the nod over Wilt, who only averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds a game. Please, someone explain to us how 50.4 and 25.7 is not good enough to be MVP. PUH-lease explain it.)
As for Westbrook, he only needs six more assists over the next four games to secure the averages. He has 831 rebounds on the season and 2,480 points with 814 assists.
Well-played, Russell. Well-played indeed.
Quarterback Mitch Trubisky passes during North Carolina's pro timing football day in Chapel Hill, N.C., Tuesday, March 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) Draft time
We are three weeks from the draft. We love the draft. You know this.
We also are becoming more and more intrigued with the wide range of movement by players and by viewpoints from folks who follow this pretty closely.
Take for example the wide variations between Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. (Quick side note: We originally typed Me Kiper Jr., which we're not sure was accidental, comical, wishful thinking because that would be a sweet gig, or some of each. Good times.) We also think the movement and desires of the teams in the top of the draft are very interesting. Here are some observations and thoughts:
The quarterback projections are all over the place. Most like Mitch Trubisky with a few preferring Deshaun Watson as the first QB off the board. If history has taught us anything, it's the shadow boxing of quarterback indifference will fade the closer we get to the draft. It always has, and this year likely will not be an exception.
It seems completely universal that Myles Garrett will be the first name called. Of course, since the Browns have the first pick, that means they will take a guard from UC-Irvine or somewhere. Solomon Thomas, the Stanford defensive lineman, appears to be the biggest first-round mover of the bunch. He has hurdled his way up drafts boards and by most counts is headed to San Fran with pick two.
After the quarterbacks, the biggest swing players are a couple of former Alabama stars. We have seen O.J. Howard, the electric tight end as high as top-five and as low as potentially going to Tennessee at 18. (If this mock draft happens and the Titans land Jamal Adams, the former LSU safety, and Howard, well, wow. Here's betting Tennessee GM Jon Robinson would take that this morning. Smilingly.)
We also have seen Reuben Foster range from top 10 to mid-20s. The other former Tide player who is all over the place is tackle Cam Robinson, who is the best at his position according to some and not listed in the first round according to others.
Ah, good times. We love the draft. You know this.
This and that
* Here's today's A2 column on local 12-year-old golfer and cancer survivor Peyton Ogle.
* Here's a fun catch-up with caddie Kip Henley, who will tote Vijay Singh's bag this week at Augusta, from TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer.
* This will be interesting to follow for new UTC basketball coach Lamont Paris. TFP UTC beat ace Mean Gene Henley is extremely high on Jalen Crutcher and Terry Nolan - the two UTC signees who want out of their letters of intent after the coaching machinations.
* Braves won in extras last night, beating the Mets 3-1 in 12. Very nice return to NYC for Bartolo Colon, who pitched six innings, allowing two hits while K-ing six and walking only one.
* We love game shows for the unintended comedy of really dumb people. Wheel of Fortune is on the short list with the Family Feud as the all-time home to these folks. (Although the new Match Game with Alec Baldwin also provides some yuks.) Here's our most recent Wheel of Fortune gem. The category was "Living Thing" and the board looked like this:
"_O_EYS_CK_E B_S_"
The contestant's guess: Popsicle Bike. Which among all the awfulness raises the question does this person think a bicycle made of popsicles is a living thing? Oy.
Today's question
Did you know on this date in 1722 Russian Tsar Peter the Great - which is an awesome name for a ruler - ended the tax on beards?
Man, a beard tax. There are a lot of millennial dudes and Eastern European women who would hate that. One hundred years ago today, the U.S. declared war on Germany and entered the first world war. In 1930 on this day, the Hostess Twinkie was invented by James Dewar and fat kids everywhere celebrated.
Seventy years ago today, the first Tony Awards were held.
Yankees Ron Blomberg becomes the first DH - he walked in his first plate appearance in that role - ever on this day in 1973. On this day in 1987, Sugar Ray Leonard upset Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Al Campanis ended his career as a baseball executive when he said that blacks were not equipped to be in baseball management on Nightline with Ted Koppel.
Merle Haggard was born on this day in 1937 and died on this day last year.
As for a Rushmore, well, on this day in 1958, Arnold Palmer won his first Masters. Tuesday night was the first Champions dinner since that win that Palmer was not in attendance.
Who makes the Rushmore of golf all-time? And we can do two - players and contributors to the game - and we think Arnie makes both.