Finals are set
The Warriors and the Cavs will start a week from today in the NBA Finals.
In other news Steph Curry’s daughter continues to turn the postgame news conference into her personal late-night act
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25197884/watch-riley-curry-steals-the-show-again.
There will be plenty of time for breakdown and analysis – we have a week after all, one more day than the Big Guy needed to create everything – but this is likely how it should be.
It’s the best team in basketball against the best player on the planet, a similar formula that led us to the Spurs beating the LeBron-led Heat this time last year.
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High-water day
Big props to the Wednesday of celebration that was for the UTC athletic program.
As astute ace TFP columnist Mark Wiedmer details herehttps://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/columns/story/2015/may/28/utc-athletics-roll-never-before/306588/, the success level on the field and in the classroom for UTC athletics is at all-time high.
(Side note: There seems to be a familiar tone in the voice of a particular Mocs fan whom Weeds quotes in his column. Can’t put our finger on it but it seems somewhat recognizable. Alas.)
There are lots of areas to place blame and give credit when things go bad or when they turn out good. More times than not, the credit/blame current lands at the top, and as impressed as we were at the time with Rick Hart, who did a lot of fine things, we’ve been even more impressed with David Blackburn, who has aced every test so far.
And with the risk of irritating some of the Blue-and-Gold followers around these parts, if we were a decision-maker in Knoxville, David Blackburn would have another chance to replace a Hart.
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Speaking of college sports
Not every storyline was as positive as the high-water day UTC had.
In Michigan, former five-star recruit and projected starter Jabrill Peppers took to Twitter to say he can’t afford to eat right on the stipend the NCAA gives himhttp://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/25196964/michigan-db-jabrill-peppers-says-he-cant-eat-right-on-ncaas-checks.
Peppers said dinner around 8 p.m. on Tuesday was his first meal of the day and that he should have stayed in the dorm. Peppers also Tweeted that his first meal was going to be Ramen Noodles.
This is not the first time food has been an issue for athletes; remember when Shabazz Napier said he didn’t get enough to eat. It also plays to the single most common – and over blown – refrain for those that support paying college athletes: “They can’t afford to buy their girlfriend a pizza.”
Regardless of which side of the stipend/cost of attendance argument you fall, this looks terrible for the NCAA and the Power 5. Seriously.
And yes, there are college students everywhere who struggle with meals and eat Ramen Noodles daily. And those kids will get out of school with five- or six-figures of college debt.
But those kids aren’t doing their thing in front of 100,000 in The Big House. And feeding the fundamental claim – cue the “They can’t afford to buy their girlfriend a pizza” tape – hurts in reality and in perception.
In other news, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney had to say thanks but no a religious group that wanted to honor him for his AllIn Foundation’s charity work.
Here’s the story http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article22442100.html, and this will get more stickier before it goes away.
And know this, we thought writing columns about sports generated passion. Now we know there are some lightning rail topics like this that really get people fired up. (And this isn’t even in the SEC. That was for you Jomo.)
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This and that
– The stabbing trial for Saved by the Bell alum Dustin Diamond started yesterday and came to a screeching halt because his attorney had “Good Luck Dustin and Amanda” written on his car http://www.people.com/article/dustin-diamond-trial-begins-lawyer-misstep?xid=rss-topheadlines. The judge was less than pleased. No way this is not a circus right?
– Interesting take here http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-fifas-structure-lends-itself-to-corruption/ from Grantland on the FIFA corruption. And while we’re far, Far, FAR from a soccer expert, on the surface a lot of the bribery charges levied, while warranted and certainly vetted through years of hard police seem in a lot of ways like the cost of doing business. Be them tax breaks or financial windfalls, there are bid packages put together for events of all sizes all the time.
– This just in: The sun came up this morning. Our 7-year-old son had a glass of chocolate milk. And Ray McDonald was arrested on a domestic issuehttp://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12965180/ray-mcdonald-arrested-protective-order-violation. Any other breaking news?
– Are we prepared for a world where most of the records in the National League are held by Barry Bonds and most of the records in the American League are held by A-Rod. It’s here and it’s happeninghttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25197241/a-rod-moves-into-third-place-on-all-time-list-with-1995th-rbi. Thank you Hank Aaron for being the name that does not make us need a shower atop the RBI charts.
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Today’s question
Have you sent in a mailbag question?
Have you?
May 28 is a big day. It’s Volkswagen’s 82nd birthday. It’s our daughter Madeline Ray’s 5th birthday.
And five years ago Gary Coleman died.
Who is on the Rushmore of child stars?
Go.