Weekend winners
Justin Thomas. Want to see the importance of experience in moments that matter the most? Rewatch the final 45 minutes of the final round of the PGA. JT - a bona fide superstar and a major champion - withstood the pressure as the young, hopeful-to-be-superstars withered down the stretch. JT won in a playoff - and if you're curious, yes, you could have landed a nice payday of plus-900 for Thomas to win when he was four back of Mito Pereira last Sunday.
The Warriors. We'll have more on the other side of that series in a second, but, dang, to score 109 playoff points - on the road - when the other team turns the ball over a grand total of seven times is pretty impressive. The emergence of Andrew Wiggins as a poor man's Jimmy Butler is a huge asset for a team that is one win away from the NBA Finals and has to be viewed as the favorite at this point, right?
Man City. Granted, I know little about soccer. But by all accounts, the late Sunday comeback for the Man City side that turned into a Premier League Championship is historic stuff. Sure, I'll play along.
City of Chattanooga. Man we host a pretty stout Ironman, you know?
The Ukraine soldiers in this social media lip-synch music video. Simply great, Great, GREAT stuff - even if I have no idea what they are singing.
Weekend losers
Horse racing in general and The Preakness in particular. We all know the Belmont is at the mercy of having a Triple Crown contender as the third and final leg of horse racing's biggest prize. But when the not-exactly-ethically-pristine realm of horse racing called out Rich Strike, its owner and its jockey, and they decided to pull the Kentucky Derby winner from the Preakness, well, that might as well have been a stakes race at the Ringgold polo fields.
Dallas. In a gotta-have Game 3 at home down 2-0, you can't wilt. Dallas wilted. And as much as I love Luka - 40-11-3 in 40 minutes - his minus-19 +/- is the stuff that would get LeBron crucified in the postgame. Still, kind of hard to blame Luka when he posts 40 in 40 and Dallas starter Reggie Bullock posted 0 points in 40 minutes. That's hard to comprehend to be quite honest. (Side question: Do you think you could, if on the floor for 40 NBA minutes, find yourself in a spot to make a bucket? I say yes.) Regardless, Dallas has a once-in-a-generation star and it's season will end short of the Finals because of the cast. Which means they have one or two options before them: Get Luka some help ASAP or watch as Luka leaves for less money in a few years for a chance to play with a better cast.
Boston. Yes, I know more NBA today than normal. Hey, it's the calendar's fault. But how does a Celtics bunch, at home, with its full roster, let a critical Game 3 slip away when Miami's best player misses a majority of the game? I guess we'll call it 'Growing Pains,' right Mr. Seaver?
This entire scene. Apparently Manchester City is having a big-time year in European kickball. Bully for them. Well, they won a big match on the pitch - check out the lingo, right? - over the weekend and the fans celebrated by storming the field and assaulting the other team's goalkeeper. Great. Beautiful game, huh?
Tiger. Yowser. Yes, he made the cut. But wow, Saturday's career-worst round at a PGA Championship caused him to WD. Seriously, how much does he have left at this point?
Conflict and controversy
So, amid a scorching hot and sunny weekend - spent most of it at a softball tournament if I'm being completely forthcoming - and with a major golf championship, NBA playoffs, the Ironman and a slew of other options, there was a baseball dust-up in NYC over the weekend between the Yankees and the White Sox.
First, those are two of the most talented teams in the sport.
Well, the limelight just got brighter on each, especially when they square off.
So, Saturday, the benches cleared between the two clubs, and, yes, there are more bench-clearing-nothing-happens baseball moments than most sports. Unless Draymond Green is involved that is.
Yankees slugger Josh Donaldson called White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, who is Black, "Jackie" as in Jackie Robinson. Anderson took offense to the remark and said it was racist. OK.
The backstory is important here. Anderson called himself in this 2019 interview with SI the modern-day Jackie Robinson, which he admitted was a bold assumption to be sure. Well, Donaldson claims since then he has called him Jackie, which none of us really knew about because how often do we know what players say to other players.
Well, somehow while this has transpired over the course of years - rightly or wrongly - and after the two had a run-in earlier this month, Anderson and Donaldson keyed a bench-clearing brawl Saturday because of something that has apparently been around for a few years.
Anderson did get the last laugh as the Yankees fans were chanting "Jackie" at him in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheaders, Anderson launched a three-run homer that sealed a 5-0 win and got to do the finger in front of the mouth 'Shhhhh' gesture.
Thoughts?
This and that
- Side note from the PGA Championship: Apparently the organizers added an extra $3 million to the purse. Which comes after the Masters prize money earlier this year went from more than $11 million in 2021 to $15 million this year. And the total prize money on tour in 2022 is up to $427 million from $367 million last season. Uh, the PGA's disdain for the Saudi-backed LIV Tour is clear, but the impact on the players' wallets is too.
- So Nicklaus Companies is suing Jack Nicklaus. Here's the story, and this one truly feels like we're on the other side of the looking glass, you know?
- You know the rules. Here's Hargis on the staggering realization that the Spring Fling has been gone from Chattanooga for 20 years. Wow.
- Here's Saturday's A2 column from a round-faced lad, and it includes one of the most "I'm gonna have the last word" obituaries I have ever seen. Enjoy.
- Let the games begin. Arch Manning's first three visits are, in order, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. What's the over/under on NIL for Arch - $10 Million?
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
Multiple choice Monday will flow like this.
OK, for people under the age of, say 25, which would be more foreign to their modern brains:
Fax Machine;
Rotary telephone (or call waiting for that matter);
An iron;
Recording a show on VCR?
As for today, May 23, let's review.
Drew Carey is 64 today. Rushmore of 'Carey' - with multiple spellings and usages allowed - and be creative.Enjoy the rain friends. We needed it.