OK gang we are still out of town with limited online skills.
So let’s roll with this.
We are going to offer limited nominations for weekend winners and losers, a couple of quick view points and some True or False. (It’s Tuesday after all.) Then we are going to beat feet to get back to Chatta-Vegas before Press Row kicks off.
Cue the Smokey and the Bandit music.
Winners
New York Giants owner John Mara. In an interview with MMQB, Mara discussed why his team was not interested in Colin Kaepernick. Simply put, he said his customers had made a stand, and gang, that’s the baseline of business whether it’s the NFL or the NAACP. And kudos for answering the question and telling the truth as opposed to kicking it down the pipeline as some sort of “football decision” which is hogwash and insulting.
Richard Sherman, the controversial Seahawks corner, delivered on his promise to fund a girl’s college education if she raised her grades. She did; he did. Kudos.
This young golf fan and the famous European Tour stars who made his birthday a lifelong memory. The 9-year-old got to hold the Claret Jug for Pete’s sake.
Losers
Tiger Woods said his arrest was not alcohol-related, and that makes sense considering the surgeries and pain killers he likely takes. Still not a good look, and that mug shot, wowser.
Fans of great sports writing, considering that Frank Deford died this weekend. R.I.P. to one of the best to ever do this.
NASCAR. Yes, we discussed the positives of having Austin Dillon and the 3 car in Victory Lane. Still, it did not help awful ratings. The rain that caused an early morning finish compounded the problem, but the numbers from Charlotte — a 2.8 overnight rating is down 13 percent from last year (3.2), down 22 percent from 2015 (3.6) and is the lowest overnight for the race since it moved to FOX in 2001 — were eye-poppingly bad. To make it worse, overnight ratings have declined or stayed flat for every race this season other than Daytona, and the NASCAR numbers were 29 percent off the Indy 500 numbers, the largest gap between the two since 2005.
Indy 500. Yes, they beat NASCAR, but that does not change the fact that the 3.6 overnight was the lowest for the event since the start-to-finish coverage on ABC started in 1986.
Harper fight
Bryce Harper is as good as anyone in baseball. Dude is a monster.
A couple of years ago he hit a couple of homers against some Giants reliever named Hunter Strickland. Hey, Harper’s homered off a lot of guys.
Well, apparently Strickland is still pretty butt-hurt over the whole deal and hit Harper with a 98-mph heater in the hip.
Now Strickland may be a little face-hurt too since Harper charged the mound and popped the blowhard right in the kisser.
Yes, Harper has a way of rubbing some folks the wrong way. But this is just another chapter in the hogwash encyclopedia of baseball’s unwritten rules.
Strickland says he was just trying to pitch inside. Washington manager Dusty Baker said the Nationals’ 2-0 lead in the eighth made it the perfect time to throw at Harper. Even Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he could see how it looked intentional.
And friends, intentional with 98 on it at the hip deserves a punch to the face, especially for a relief pitcher like Strickland who has the history of being a punk and will never have to worry about standing in the batter’s box against any of Harper’s teammates.
Preds fight
Few sports have the true scenario in which you can completely control play and still lose. Hockey and soccer each have this quality in spades.
Ask the Nashville Predators, who, after a sleepy and/or wide-eyed start to their first Stanley Cup Finals game, controlled things and still lost 5-3.
Nashville held Pittsburgh without a shot for the entire second period. Read that again.
It was a monster rally — the Penguins led 3-0 but the Preds tied it at 3 — before the Pens do what they have done a lot over the last two postseasons: Find a way to win.
Still, here’s a thought that the way the Preds imposed their will defensively after the first-quarter blitzkrieg will serve them well for the rest of the series.
Today’s question
True or false, Smokey and the Bandit is Burt Reynolds’ best movie.
True or false, Preds-Pens goes seven games.
On this day in 1896, the first car accident occurred as Henry Wells hit a cyclist in New York City. Somewhere someone is lamenting bike lanes. Alas.
Babe Ruth played his final game on this day, going hitless for the Braves in 1935.
Manny Ramirez is 45 today.
Joan of Arc was burned at the stake today in 1431.
As for a Rushmore, in honor of Finding Nemo, which was released on this day in 2003, what is on the Rushmore of Disney animated movie sidekicks and would Dorey make it?
Go.