Differences

There were two sweeps in the NHL Playoffs opening round. Both were surprises to many. But if you look at the series, you would not be so surprised.

First, the New York Islanders downed the Pittsburgh Penguins with a display of goaltending, defense and scoring worthy of a Stanley Cup contender. To many, this is a surprise, for this is a veteran Pittsburgh team, two years removed from its last Cup win and led by Crosby and Malkin. 

Let that sink in—two years removed from its last Cup win.  A lot happens in a period of two years. Crosby and Malkin are two years older. The roster has had significant changes, including Marc-Andre Fleury going to Las Vegas in the expansion draft and leading the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup finals last season. This is a vastly different Penguins squad, a group that had to struggle to make the playoffs.

They were defeated by an Islanders team that lost its superstar, John Tavares, who elected to sign with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs. There were numerous changes to the roster. But most importantly, the new coach was Barry Trotz, who guided the Washington 

Capitals to last season’s Stanley Cup and who coached quite well when he was in Nashville. He coached the hell out of his team from the start, pressing the right buttons and that has continued into the playoffs. 

And one more thing—the Islanders gave Washington a run for is money for the Atlantic Division crown. Plus they finished ahead of the Penguins. So even a sweep of the Penguins should have not been that much of a surprise.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning tied the NHL regular season record with 128 points. They were strong in every position and seemed to be a lock for a trip to the Finals, opening at home. Except their opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets, were universally discounted even when outside of the state of Ohio, or for that matter, the Columbus area. 

What Columbus had done to secure the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs was merely go 9-1 to finish the regular season. They were red hot. Coach John Tortorella had lit a fire under his team and the players responded. CBJ shut down and frustrated the Lightning repeatedly, but that was only after Tampa Bay went ahead 3-0 on the first game. CBJ’s epic comeback fueled the charge and it was lights out for the team that so many thought would win the Stanley Cup. 

Tampa Bay Coach John Cooper’s hollow statement that his team didn’t rise to the occasion because the team faced very few challenges in this nearly record setting season was exactly that—vacuous. There are plenty of people who want a scapegoat, and Cooper certainly fits the bill.

Calgary secured the top seed in the Western Conference. That didn’t matter to the Colorado Avalanche, who took down the Flames in five games, finishing off the trouncing in Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night. It was the superior goaltending of the Avalanche coupled with the so-so net minding of Calgary which made the difference. 

A resurgent St. Louis team eliminated Winnipeg on Saturday night. In the remaining series, which are Boston-Toronto, Washington-Carolina, Nashville-Dallas and San Jose-Vegas, they all are far more competitive. With the losses by the two top seeds, this is a wide open chase for the Cup.

Looking at the NBA, the big story has been the gargantuan collapse by the defending champion Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of their series, allowing the Los Angeles Clippers to get into the minds of the supposedly sturdy Warriors team. Patrick Beverley has been a big pain in the rear for Kevin Durant, even getting himself tossed from a game with Durant. 

Steve Kerr had to challenge his team and particularly Durant to meet the challenge when Game 3 was played in Los Angeles on Thursday night. The team and Durant responded in a big way, rolling over the undermanned Clippers behind Durant’s 38 points in 29 minutes—he didn’t have to play at all in the fourth quarter. 

The question is this—was this a momentary lapse by Golden State and was it enough of a wake up call, or will the Clippers get back into the series? Moreover, will the loss of DeMarcus Cousins in the post after he suffered a torn quad injury in Game 1, hurt the Warriors in the short and long run?

The only small surprise in the NBA Playoffs was how easily San Antonio is handling Denver. The Nuggets chased the Warriors for the top spot in the West, losing out by just a few games. The team’s performance has been shoddy thus far, while Greg Popovich has his players right where he wants them to be. Still, Denver evened the series on Saturday.

Eastern Conference giants Boston and Milwaukee are imposing their way on their opponents. Philadelphia has  the upper hand on Brooklyn, but star big man Joel Embiid has been hobbled with a balky knee, which could be troublesome for the 76’ers prospects this series and beyond. Orlando upset Toronto in Game 1 and has been pesky for the Raptors.

Houston behind James Harden has been magnificent and looking invincible thus far. Portland dominated Oklahoma City at home, shutting down Russell Westbrook; in Game 3 at home, Westbrook elevated his play to lead the Thunder. That series might be one of the few series which goes the full seven games.

The Yankees lost first baseman Greg Byrd to a leg injury. Byrd has been injury-riddled  his entire stay with New York. The Yankees have muddled through the schedule thus far, although in their first meeting with Boston, the Yanks swept the equally foundering Red Sox. Gary Sanchez is close to returning to the lineup. Clint Frazier has been the best player so far, but the big guns are far from ready to return to playing. Which is why New York is about a .500 team 20 plus games into the campaign.

Then it happened. So quick and unexpected. En route to a 9-2 thrashing of the Royals, on a routine swing which resulted in a single, Aaron Judge hurt his left side and barely was able to run to first. He was removed from the game and taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital for an MRI on what looks to be an oblique injury. 

While there had been hope in the lineup with the emergence of Frazier, Gleybar Torres, Brett Gardner and Luke Voit among others holding down the fort unit the starts started to return, this is a gut punch to the Yankees hopes. I have been uneasy since the injury occurred. It is a Yankee fan’s nightmare. I hope it is not a portend of more bad things this year when the team has so much promise. No matter the severity of the injury, the time lost with the cumulative loss of manpower is near devastating. This season has dramatically become almost unbearable. 

Milwaukee and the Dodgers are meeting again this weekend, this time in Wisconsin. They appear to be the two strongest NL teams in the early going. Each has a 10 homer hitter—Cody Bellinger for the Dodgers and Christian Yelich for Milwaukee, who hit his 11th off of the Dodgers Ross Stripling on Friday night.  Yelich leads the NL in R.B.I. while Bellinger leads in runs scored—are we looking at the front runners for 2019 NL M.V.P.? And it was great to see a strong performance by Clayton Kershaw in his first start of 2019 against the Reds on Monday night in LA; the Dodgers need him to win.

Jacob deGrom of the Mets has elbow discomfort. He started out well this season, but his last two starts have been disastrous. His elbow pain is alarming yet not surprising given his strenuous pitching last season en route to the Cy Young Award. This injury comes after his large contract extension, again showing why paying big bucks to a pitcher is a tough thing to do with the fragility of the arm.

An interesting note— Saturday night Albert Pujols of the Angels passed Babe Ruth for fifth place on the all time R.B.I. list. While he is no Babe Ruth, Pujols has been a superb hitter in the clutch for years, both in St.Louis and with the Angels. Could this be his last year?

And MLB history was made on Friday night at Yankee Stadium when Yankees reliever Adam Ottavino faced Kansas City outfielder Terrance Gore in the seventh inning. This was the first matchup of a pitcher wearing the number 0 facing a batter wearing number 0. Ottavino struck out Gore on a 2-2- pitch. 

Resulting from the Tiger Woods Masters win, commentators tried to give perspective to this achievement so many years removed form his last win in a major tournament. Two names were mentioned—MIchael Jordan and Muhammad Ali. 

Jordan took off a few years to pursue a career in baseball after winning three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. When he returned to the Bulls, Jordan won three more.

Ali was the heavyweight champion when he refused to enter the military when drafted for the Vietnam War. He stayed true to his core beliefs despite major impediments. Eventually, after a number of years away from boxing, he returned to the ring and re-captured the heavyweight championship.

George Foreman was another name some people brought up. Once a heavy weight champion until dethroned by Ali, Foreman later retired, returned and retired again before he re-emerged in his 40’s to fight Evander Holyfield for the heavyweight title, going the full 12 rounds against the younger champion. At age 45 he defeated 26 year old Michael Moore for a share of the crown.

On Pardon The Interruption, the name of Rick Ankiel was brought up. Ankiel had been a star pitcher with the Cardinals before succumbing to a streak of wildness which rendered him ineffective. For two and a half years, Ankiel reinvented himself as an outfielder in the St. Louis farm system. He ultimately was the only player besides Babe Ruth (another Babe Ruth reference!) to have won 10 games as a pitcher and hit 50 homers as a player.

Another individual who had experienced success then failure, only to come completely back, was Andre Agassi. Agassi was ranked number one in the world in 1995. Taking drugs and falling into a deep depression took its toll on his superb game. By 2002 with a dedication to reversing his misfortunes, Agassi was the oldest person in history to reach the number two ranking.

Magic Johnson, once the great leader of the Los Angeles Lakers, tested positive for HIV. He left basketball, returning in 1995-96 after four years away from the game to play credibly for the Lakers.

Monica Seles was the top-ranked women’s tennis player when a deranged man stabbed her in the middle of a match in Germany. She returned over two years later to win the Australian Open.

Add Serena Williams to the list. After winning the Australian Open while 8 weeks pregnant, she survived life-threatening complications in association with the birth of her daughter. In 2018, she made it back to the U.S. Open finals.

While not the length of time experienced by Tiger Woods, golfing legend Ben Hogan was the king of his sport until he was gruesomely injured in 1949 in a car-bus accident. Not given the chance to walk again, Hogan not only walked again but returned to golf, winning the U.S.Open in 1950 and 1951 along with the Masters in 1951before becoming the first player in 1953 to win three majors in a year, until Tiger Woods came along.

I would have mentioned Lance Armstrong in this group of incredible athletes. He survived cancer and became an unbeatable cyclist. Until it was discovered that he used drugs to enhance his competitive status and left the sport in disgrace.

These are iconic names in professional sports, even Ankiel, whose name is known by those who follow the game. Their courage and determination in the face of injury, illness and uncertainty are incomparable. 

Which is why what Tiger Woods did captivated the world—and for good reason.