Golfing goodness
Yes, Matt Harvey got suspended for playing golf and drinking with his buddies. (And friends, if playing golf and drinking with your buddies is wrong, I don't wanna be right. Yes, Harvey missed curfew and then had a 'migraine' - aka hangover - that caused him to miss work and that's why he was suspended. But still, golf, Co-Colas and friends is a glorious plan.)
Anyhoo.
A pretty interesting golf tournament is shaping up this weekend. And there are several interesting little tidbits to discuss about The Players Championship.
First, before anyone gets all revved up, this is not the fifth major. There is no fifth major. This is simply the best field and the best tournament of the regular season. And that should be enough, especially considering how great a course Sawgrass is. (Third best we've ever played behind sone little joint called Augusta National and The Honors. It's right there with East Lake and a sneaky great The Farm in Dalton. And believe it or not, The Farm may be the most difficult.)
Second, man The Players is very crafty in arranging - and spacing out - groups worth bona fide star power. According to this CBSsports.com chart, the top five groups teeing it up Thursday are loaded.
Third, it's good to be the Rory today. Dude has signed on with TaylorMade to use their clubs, balls and bags. Price tag? A cool 10-year, $100 million deal. With his apparel extension with Nike, McIlroy has signed roughly $300 million in total endorsement deals so far this year. Yeah, that kind of takes the pressure off missing a cut or three.
Fourth, the way his game is spiraling out of control 2016 Masters champ Danny Willett is going to find himself in the corner at the Champions Dinner at a table with Ian Woosnam, Mike Weir and Trevor Immelman. Things are so bad for Willett, that his caddie fired him. Yes, the caddie did the firing.
Fifth, kudos to local star made good Luke List for getting into this year's elite field. List is 25th on the FedEx Cup points list and has made $1,495,503 in golf earnings this year. How good have the last five months been for List? He was ranked 199 in the world at the end of 2016. He's No. 117 worldwide this morning.
Finally, because sports and betting go together like peanut butter and jelly and like Jack Daniels and, well, almost everything, there are of course some prop bets for the famous island green 17th at Sawgrass.
Over/under on tee shots in the water is 38.5. The over/under on final round tee shots in the water is 6.5. You can get odds on the range of tee shots that find the drink: 25 or fewer pays +1800; 26-30 pays +450; 31-35 pays +240; 36-40 pays +150; 41-50 pays +325; 51-60 pays +1600; 61 or more pays +2500.
There are more here if you are interested.
San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) works for an opportunity to the basket as Houston Rockets' James Harden, left, defends during the first half of Game 2 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, May 3, 2017, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) NBA playoffs
Now that was fun.
Spurs-Rockets in a crucial Game 5 in the Western Conference semis.
Spurs win 110-107 in overtime as Manu Ginobili blocked James Harden's 3 in the final seconds. Yes, Manu blocking The Beard to clinch a must-have win for the Spurs. (Side question: Manu Ginobili, Hall of Famer? We say yes, but we're surprised we said yes until we started to think of international players who are better. Dirk, certainly. Hakeem, certainly. Then Manu is right there. We loved Drazen Petrovic's game but his sad and tragic and premature death limited his numbers and impact. And yet, Petrovic is in the Hall. And yes, Patrick Ewing was born in Jamaica if you want to be technical. Still, Manu is right there in the conversation with Steve Nash, Yao Ming as the best non-American players ever behind Nowitzki and Olajuwan.)
Anyhoo, the drama and intensity was excellent last night. The San Antonio crowd was excellent last night. The basketball was not overly efficient - each shot in the low-to-mid 40s and 33.3 percent from 3 - but that was in large part because the defense was excellent.
And all of that excellence aside, the path to the individual outcome only reinforces the undeniable fact that Golden State was the real winner last night. As the Rockets and Spurs battle tooth and nail to get to the conference finals, the Warriors wait. And rest.
Rockets lost Nene in Game 4. Spurs lost Tony Parker for the rest of the playoffs. Kawhi Leonard hurt an ankle last night, an injury that likely will bother him until the postseason is over. So it goes, but thanks for the effort fellows. It was greatly enjoyed.
In this photo taken Wednesday, May 3, 2017, and provided by the Gwinnett Braves, Gwinnett Braves' Ryan Howard watches his two-run home run during the fourth inning of a minor league baseball game against the Durham Bulls in Gwinnett, Ga. Howard is an MVP, a World Series champion and once one of baseball's most feared sluggers. So what's he doing in the minor leagues at age 37? "I've still got something in the tank," he says. (Jim Lacey/Gwinnett Braves via AP)Ouch-standing
Here's the Press Row interview from Tuesday with Braves radio ace Ben Ingram. Loads of good stuff in there for you Johnny Braves Fans.
Let's not mince words here. The Braves stink. Out loud and in stereo. The only thing worse right now than the collection of Braves is the individual efforts of Bartolo Colon.
Dude is old, and that's OK. He was old last year and he was effecting.
Right now, he's getting shelled. Four batters into Tuesday's start at Houston, Colon had allowed four runs and the game was all but over.
The question now - and Ingram covered some of this in the interview on Press Row - is if Colon's time is over as well. He pitched 5.2 innings Tuesday, allowing eight hits and eight runs, all of which were earned.
So far, Big Bartolo has posted a lone that would be fine for a slow-pitch softball or a youth coach-pitch pitcher. Opponents are hitting.301 against Colon and his 7.22 ERA is almost half a run higher than the next worst NL ERA for pitchers with enough innings to qualify.
This and that
- Very sad news that Chris Berman's wife was killed in a car wreck Tuesday. Kathy Berman was 67. As an aside, today is Chris Berman's 62nd birthday.
- We all knew Dale Jr. was headed to TV after hanging up his HANS device, but we're not sure anyone saw this. Dale Jr.'s first TV venture will be a do-it-yourself renovation of beach house in Key West for the DIY Network. It has to be excellent to have a half a billion bucks, right?
- We thought this was an interesting read on Kobe Bryant being willing to help any current NBA player who wants it. Among those who have reached out to Bryant are Isaiah Thomas and Gordon Hayward. Nice interview by ESPN long time hoops ace Jackie MacMullan.
- Excellent story here from TFP all-around college football ace and Press Row cohost David Paschall on the early signing period. We are for the early signing period for a lot of reasons.
- Speaking of Press Row, we in all likelihood will not be on the air today. The stink-pants Braves will spend that three-hour slot losing to the Astros. We'll be back tomorrow with a slew of items to discuss.
Today's question
On this day in 1797 the first US Navy ship was launched. It was named the "United States" because, well, 'Merica.
The first Mother's Day was observed on this day in 1908. And somewhere some bonehead forgot the flowers and was forced to sleep with the horses. (Which is bad, but better than sleeping with the fishes.)
On this day 50 years ago, Hank Aaron hit the only one of his 755 homers that did not go over the fence. His lone inside-the-parker was against Jim Bunning.
On this day 21 years ago, "Twister" premiered. Yes, "Twister" is old enough to buy a Co-Cola.
Paul Revere died today in 1818. Side note: Did you know that it's Revere on the label of Samuel Adams beer? Always thought that was kind of interesting.
Bono is 57 today.
Pat Summerall would have been 87 today. Rushmore of former NFL players who became the best announcers. Go, and remember the mailbag.