NBA playoffs
As we approach travel days in the first round of these NBA playoffs, let's take stock.
Cavs and Spurs have built commanding 2-0 leads. Those could end in sweeps.
Bucks-Raptors and Clippers-Jazz are tied at 1 each. Those could go the distance.
Game 2 is tonight for the Warriors-Blazers, Thunder-Rockets and the Hawks-Wizards.
Which leaves us with easily the most surprising series so far. Top-seeded Boston has surrendered two home losses to eighth-seeded Chicago, and last night's 111-97 Bulls win was very comfortable.
The Celtics are in legit trouble, and it goes beyond the time machine that Rajon Rondo found and used to turn back the clock last night. (Rondo is 31 - yes it's his 10th NBA season, which makes us feel old - and was a rebound shy of a triple-double last night, added five steals and hounded Boston star Isaiah Thomas.)
The Celtics are hollow inside, and when the only player on your side who can create his own shot is 5-foot-9 Thomas, well, that can be side-tracked come playoff time.
Now, remember that Chicago has the best player in the series with Jimmy Butler, the most experienced player in the series in Dwyane Wade and now the most difficult match-up with a throwback Rondo in the mix.
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, left, is pulled after the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners by manager Don Mattingly, right, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) No-hitter a no-go
Wei-Yin Chen, Miami starting pitcher, had a no-hitter through seven innings last night.
A no-hitter. Every kid's dream. One of those truly special, drama-building moments that make a regular-season baseball game feel like more and can turn the tension calendar from April to October in a matter of moments.
So Chen, a 31-year-old lefty was in the moment. And then he wasn't.
Miami manager Don Mattingly pulled Chen because of a pitch count.
Welcome to the modern day and age of baseball, and it's understandable. Chen was on a pitch count and that number was determined to keep him healthy long-term rather than join a forever club on Tuesday in the first 15 games of the year.
But, it's hard to imagine the look on say, Nolan Ryan's face, if any manager tried to have the "Good game guy, let's turn it over to the bullpen to finish this one" conversation. We feel pretty sure Ryan would make a gesture, that shall we say, could be viewed as asking for one more chance.
New England Patriots' Martellus Bennett eyes the ball under pressure from Atlanta Falcons' Keanu Neal, during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Patriots day
The New England Patriots are visiting the White House today.
Well, most of them.
Six Patriots are not making the trip, and four of them - Martellus Bennett, LaGarrette Blount, Devin McCourty and Chris Long - have stated they are not going because of their views on President Donald Trump. (Side note: Dont'a Hightower is not going either, but he said he's just tired of going to the White House. So it goes when you go to college Alabama and play for the Patriots.)
This is not a new thing. Matt Birk protested Obama when the Ravens went a few years ago.
Most famously, in 1992 Craig Hodges wore a dashiki and handed President George H.W. Bush a letter that requested he do more to end injustice toward blacks. Hodges was 32 at the time, and one of the league's top 3-point shooters. He was not resigned by the Bulls and did not play another NBA game.
So we'll hear about it more today - and more going forward. Rest assured, whomever wins the NBA title - coaches Popovich and Kerr have been vocal critics of the President - and we doubt that many of the high-profile NBA players would go.
In fact, here's a bet that the system gets altered sooner rather than later, and this tradition is overhauled. Instead of teams, it likely will be selected representatives.
But today, it will be the Patriots in the news. Well, a few of them anyway.
This and that
* Speaking of the Patriots, former New England tight end Aaron Hernandez was found dead in his jail cell Wednesday morning. It's a sad end to a sad tale of wasted opportunity. Also, as we watched the wall-to-wall coverage of the breaking news on the ESPN platforms, amid all the words such as tragedy and sadness and such, well, we wondered what the family of Odin Lloyd, you know the man Hernandez was convicted of killing, was thinking.
* Kentucky is getting some social media grief for giving out bowl rings after last season's 33-18 TaxSlayer Bowl loss to Georgia Tech. To put it in simpler terms for UK folks to better understand the backlash, Johnny Cats Fans, it would be like you guys hanging a banner for an NCAA tournament first-round loss.
* The Braves lost for the first time in their new ballpark with a 3-1 set back to Washington. At this pace, the Braves will head into their home finale this year with a 64-16 record at Sun Trust. That would be pretty sweet.
* Speaking of the Braves, uh Freddie Freeman is seeing it pretty well right now. He went 2-for-2. He's got six hits in his last six at-bats, and is hitting .426 with a .518 on-base percentage. Add in walks, and Freeman has reached base in his last 10 plate appearances dating back to Sunday afternoon.
* Shaq O'Neal's son Shareef - the No. 31-ranked player in the class of 2018 - committed to Arizona. So there's that.
* Here's a Tiger Woods update if you are interested.
Today's question
Let's do some one-word Wednesday. Deal? Deal.
The Boston Celtics are _________. Kentucky giving players rings after a TaxSlayer Bowl loss is ___________. Players not going to the White House is __________. Pulling a pitcher in a no-hitter because of a pitch count is _________.
If you need a Rushmore, Kate Hudson is 38 today. Who would make the Hollywood mom-daughter Rushmore, because she and Goldie Hawn could make an argument for a spot?
Go and remember the mailbag.