Weekend winners
LeBron James. In a must-have Game 4 on the line, James handled the business before the game – getting the entire team matching suits – and delivered in the Cavs’ 104-100 win over Indiana. Dude dropped 32-13-7, played 46 minutes and had one turnover. That’s delivering big time in a big way on the road in the playoffs. (Side note: Kevin Love was dreadful.)
The Eastern Conference playoffs. Dude, each series is competitive – yes the 76ers are in command over the Heat, but those games have been a fight too – and three are tied at 2.Good times, and the young talent on the 76ers, Celtics, Bucks and even the Wizards has been fun to watch.
James Shaw Jr. The 29-year-old wrestled the rule away from the nutbag who shot up the Waffle House in the Nashville area. Well done sir.
The baby boy born to Kate Middleton and Prince William. Yes the bookies have the odds set that it’s likely his name is going to be Arthur. Not ideal. But dude can you imagine growing up in the Royal Family. That comes with some perks friends.
Shawn Manaea. The A’s pitcher dropped a no-hitter on Boston over the weekend. Kudos, especially considering how the BoSox had been ripping the baseball.
Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt reacts during the Orange and White spring game at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, April 21, 2018 in Knoxville, Tenn.Weekend losers
Jeremy Pruitt. Couple of things here. One, after the first eight-loss season in program history, getting more than 65,000 for your spring game is not too shabby. Two, the Tennessee fan base wants to you succeed more than you could possibly realize. Galvanize that and them around with something along the lines of, “Man, that was a great showing. What was that more than 60,000? After the single worst season in program history? When we get this thing rolling, we’ll have to turn people away. Pruitt’s actual quote, which has been much ballyhooed, was: “The ones that were here, I’m proud they were here. They’re fired up and ready to get going. Then there were some people that wasn’t here that had legitimate reasons they couldn’t be here, all right. Then there were some people that wasn’t here that, why wasn’t they here? It’s kind of like our football team. I think we all need to look in the mirror and see who we want to be.”
Jalen Hurts. After the hubbub caused by his dad last week and all the most wanted free agent in college football history talk, Hurts had the stage to himself in Alabama’s spring game. His numbers were dreadful – 10-of-37 with a pick – and he was outplayed by third-teamer Mac Jones. Also of note, Nick Saban was caught on a hot mic criticizing Hurts’ decision making. (Also of note, whomever was operating that mic likely will get a tongue lashing from the Dark Lord.)
All the haters of the Jay Feely prom photo. Dear Lord we have to be outraged about something, right? Now it’s about former NFL kicker Jay Feely posing for a photo with his daughter and her prom date holding a gun with the caption “Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date a great time at prom #BadBoys” as the dude has a very funny look on his face. (Side note: How strong is the outrage gene? Well, for some reason Shania Twain felt like she needed to apologize for saying she would have voted for Trump.)
So long Mini Me. Verne Troyer died over the weekend. He was 49.
UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen leaves the field after defeating Texas A&M in an NCAA college football game, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. UCLA won 45-44. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok) Draft week
Yep, we love the draft. You know this.
A lot of the chatter has been about the quarterbacks and where they will go and when. That’s understandable. The intrigue is intriguing and the unknowns will shape the path of Thursday’s first-round.
In fact, we think there’s a real chance that six (and potentially more) quarterbacks could go in round one, and that makes sense. If you are thinking about taking a quarterback in round two – the Richmond kid or Mason Rudolph from Oklahoma State or someone else – it makes sense to try to move into the late stages of round 1. The reason is the rookie contract situation for first-rounders and the extra year with team friendly terms (first-rounders are under four-year deals with a team option for year five; second-day picks are three-year contracts with an option for year four) could be especially valuable for teams like New England or Pittsburgh or New Orleans who are looking for long-term quarterback solutions.
That said, today we will cover the five best players in the draft in our view. Yes, the QBs will fill the top five and there could be as many as four in those first five picks, but these are the dudes that down the road have the chance to be Pro Bowl fixtures.
(Here’s the CBSsports look at what they dub 27 first-round locks.)
Minkah Fitzpatrick. when Nick Saban says things about a player like he has said about Fitzpatrick, well, that’s enough for us.
Roquan Smith. Great speed. Simply great sideline-to-sideline skills. In today’s NFL in which quick passes are viewed as running plays, speed like Smith’s is invaluable.
Quinton Nelson. The Notre Dame guard is a monster, and the value of that position in terms of importance and how it is now coveted has never been higher.
Derwin James. Unbelievably athletic. Dude is kind of a mixture between Fitzpatrick and Smith.
Sam Darnold. In this view, he’s clearly the best QB on the board.
This and that
– Speaking of the draft, the adversarial Odd Couple roles Kiper and McShay have taken leading up to the draft has been entertaining in this view.
– Brandon Belt had a 21-pitch – yes 21 pitches – at-bat Sunday. It last a few seconds short of 13 minutes. After all that – and the fact that Angels pitcher Jamie Barria actually threw Belt 18 strikes – Belt flew out harmlessly to right field to end the longest at-bat in MLB history.
– On the other side of the country and the realm of the God-awful unwritten baseball rules, Carlos Gomez hit a walk-off homer for the Rays on Sunday that included a bat flip, a tongue wag and a Ray Lewis-level dance entrance to home plate. Yet, the purists of the game love Belt’s marathon – part of a 28-minute half inning that was without a run – and hate the excitement and energy and enthusiasm of Gomez’ celebration. And in a nutshell that is a lot of the reason young people are looking away from the MLB.
– Congrats to Andrew Landry for his first PGA Tour win.
– Here is the list of early NBA draft entries.
– The Braves-Mets game was washed away on Sunday. Atlanta is 12-8 and plays at Cincinnati tonight.
– The Preds advanced. So there’s that.
Today’s question
Weekend winners and losers please.
As for a Rushmore, and yes, this was quick, did you know Williams Shakespeare was born on this day (1564) and died on this day (1616).
Who makes the Rushmore of William.
Go.