We are in the throes of the NBA and NHL playoffs. Baseball is at a traditional point—Memorial Day weekend. Masks are coming off. COVID numbers are dropping—even in the states which have the most people vaccinated but previously had been reluctant to do do.
Crowds are growing at the arenas and stadiums in the U.S. Not so yet in Canada, where the emptiness of the sites is a not too unfamiliar reminder of what the last cycle of playoffs was like. And there is considerable uneasiness about holding the once-postponed Olympics in Japan, which is in the midst of its own terrible COVID-19 outbreak.
With the return of paying patrons in large numbers comes a fervor to make up for lost time. The loudness of the venues is music to the viewers’ ears and energizes the participants.
However what has arisen is boorishness. Not that it was unexpected. It just is clearly apparent. It is unacceptable.
In the NBA, Knicks fans have spit on Trae Young, the budding star of the Atlanta Hawks, who seemingly thrives on taunting the crowd when he sticks a dagger in the Knicks heart, like he did in Game 1. He must also like the fact that the Madison Square Garden crowd has begun calling him by his first name, F*#k Trae Young. Maybe he should shorten that to the way famed actor F. Murray Abraham did it for his first name.
Another spitting incident occurred in Utah, with another rising star, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, who took apart the Golden State Warriors in the Play-in game then starred in a Game 1 win over the Jazz before scoring 47 points in a Game 2 loss. I guess those Mormons haven’t been on good behavior lately—ask their United States Senator, Mitt Romney, how he’s been treated by his constituents.
Poor Russell Westbrook of the Washington Wizards. He played his heart out in two games versus the top-seeded Sixers in Wells Fargo Arena. Then he was hurt and had to be escorted to the locker room to receive treatment.
Except while he was in the protected area leading to the locker rooms, somehow, an idiot showered Westbrook with popcorn as a goodbye salute. Which understandably set off Westbrook, who wanted a piece of the moron.
New York. Utah. Philadelphia. All sites where sportsmanship by the fans near the court or playing surface is abhorrent. This is not the first instance of troubling behavior at Knicks, Jazz or Sixers home games.
Remember, at the old Veterans Stadium home of the Eagles and Phillies, rowdy fans would be brought to a lockup in the bowels of the stadium. And for Eagles home games, it would regularly be filled.
When I had season tickets for the New York Rangers, the actions of the patrons in the upper tiers, affectionately known as the “Blue Seats,” was unconscionable when it came to the two closest rivals—the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders. I witnessed a young woman, clad in a Flyers orange jersey, stomped and beaten. I have seen a gun pulled on another Flyers fan. And the fights which would break out in the stands during the Islanders games and on the streets surrounding Penn Station after games were as violent and bloodthirsty as the fights on the ice inside the Garden.
I have also seen this lack of decorum at Yankee, Shea and Giants Stadiums, as well as the Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey. Stupidity and mob mentality has no restrictions or boundaries. Exhibit 1 would be the January 6 incursion into the U.S. Capitol.
Sadly, this violence in the stands and the swearing, whether in unison or done individually, will remain. The bozos who did the unfortunate and cowardly acts in those three cities got the boot and had their ticket holding privileges revoked. I wish that this behavior will end, but I worry about retaliation in Atlanta, Memphis and Washington, D.C. where each throng is every bit as capable as its brethren to do the wrong thing in NYC, Salt Lake City and Philly.
I didn’t like the quietness of last year. But it had to be. I particularly disliked the pumped in crowd noise. I don’t have an answer for those who feel the right to express themselves crudely and become part of the action where they don’t belong. It detracts from some brilliant series.
In the NHL, two opening round series remain undecided. Ongoing is the series between Montreal and Toronto, with the Maple Leafs leading 3-2 heading into Game 6 in Montreal. Meanwhile, Vegas has been severely tested by the Minnesota Wild. A winner-take-all Game 7 is in Sin City on Friday night.
The teams still alive are: the Islanders, who took out top-seeded Pittsburgh; Boston, which handily defeated Washington; Carolina dispatched Nashville on Thursday night in OT; Tampa Bay downed the Panthers in a rugged all-Florida matchup; Colorado swept St.Louis; and Winnipeg also surprisingly swept Edmonton. In the next round, New York tangles with the Bruins; Carolina and Tampa Bay tango; Colorado will host the winner of the Golden Knights-Wild series; and Winnipeg awaits the Montreal-Toronto winner.
There has been the usual thuggery expected in hockey. There have been some suspensions levied for bad actions on the rink. Yet somehow, there is no story about the fans becoming the story. It is all about the hockey. Which is good.
When the next round starts, I like the Islanders chances of beating the Bruins. There is something about the Bruins team which just doesn’t make me confident in them to go on. I see the Hurricanes and Lightning going seven games in the “Weather Series.” No matter which team emerges to play the Avalanche, Colorado is much better. Finally, Winnipeg has surprised so many thus far. Why not make it to the next round with its under appreciated talent?
The NBA has had some really interesting series thus far. The Lakers have forged ahead of the young Phoenix Suns with wins in Game 2 and at home in Game 3. That home win was the first Lakers playoff victory in the Staples Center since 2012. That’s 9 years ago. When Kobe Bryant still wore the Lakers uniform. These are the Lakers we are talking about. One of the NBA glamour teams.
This series is chippy. I saw Anthony Davis kick Jae Crowder in his manhood region, leaving the Suns forward writhing in pain on the floor of the former Talking Stick Resort Arena (the casino started then ended negotiations on an extension of the naming rights) and was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul. Crowder was ejected from the late stages of Game 3 when he came to the defense of teammate Devin Booker, who had received a Flagrant 2 foul and was tossed.
After being relegated to a Play-In for the 7th seed and surviving on that lucky Lebron James heave, the Lakers have suddenly awakened and appear more like the defending champs that they are. But remember this—Phoenix had the second best record in the Western Conference and they only trail 2-1. This series is nowhere near a completion. The reduced effectiveness of point guard Chris Paul, probably known better for the State Farm commercials, will make things tougher for the Suns. It seems that Paul is almost always injured during the Playoffs.
The Grizzlies, led by Ja Morant and company, have sent notice to the Jazz that they are for real. For Utah, getting Donovan Mitchell back from injury was a big lift for the team. While the team bizarrely first said he was playing in Game 1 and then revisited the issue by not letting Mitchell play created some media attention with Mitchell’s apparent dislike of how the matter was handled. He looked good by scoring 25 points in a restricted 26 minutes of game time. How Donovan Mitchell plays will decide this series.
Ah, the Los Angeles Clippers. Always the league’s doormat under former owner Donald Sterling, the co-tenant in the Staples Center seemingly has all of the parts necessary to win the title. Except, they don’t play like that in the playoffs. Plus, it is my feeling that the Clippers’ Paul George is highly overrated.
Last year, the Clips were bounced out early. Head Coach Glenn “Doc’ Rivers bolted from LA La Land, finding greener pastures in Philadelphia with stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. It was time a for a new arising for the Clippers.
Which it is totally understandable that the Clippers find themselves in a 0-2 hole heading to Dallas for Game 3. Luka Doncic has been dominant and I don’t see the Mavs losing this series. Which means another rebuild will be underway in Los Angeles for another one of the Staples Center tenants—I think the NHL Kings are in the midst of one. LA remains a Lakers-Dodgers town.
By the way, Denver and Portland are also playing in the West. Portland drew first blood on the Nuggets in Denver, but Thursday night’s win on the road returned the home court advantage to Denver. Damien Lillard of Portland is so much fun to watch—what a a competitor. He is another talented player with a team that always are comes up short. Besides, Nikola Jokic of Denver is an unstoppable beast. Enough said.
In the East, the Nets are rolling over the injured and outclassed Boston Celtics. Typical Kyrie Irving to bring in extra distractions when he comes back to TD Garden for Game 3. His statements about race will only fire up the rabid Celtics fan base. He was so beloved by those fans only 2 years ago when he played there.
Philadelphia will ultimately win their series with the Wizards. Still, I look for Washington to snag a victory or even two.
Milwaukee is having its way with the Miami Heat. Rolling to a 29 point win on Thursday, Milwaukee looks to close out the series on Saturday afternoon. Much to Pat Riley’s displeasure.
The final Eastern Conference matchup involves those Knicks and Hawks. Trae Young has been the story as much as the Knicks offensive woes in Game 1. If New York plays like it did in the second half of Game 2, then the Knicks could win the series. Play like they did for much of Game 1 and the first half of Game 2, then the Knicks are doomed. It is up to Julius Randle to return to form for New York to advance.
The Yankees have decided to match the Mets—with so many players on the IL. The difference is that the Mets are in first place in a weak division, while the Yankees were losers of two of the last three games at home to nomadic Toronto, which ended a 6 game win streak and Toronto stopped a 6 game losing skid, and remained in third place with a 29-20 record.
DH Giancarlo Stanton is ready to come off of the IL. However, Luke Voit is on the IL with an oblique strain, which kept Aaron Judge on the shelf for 54 games when he suffered a similar injury. No hit pitcher Corey Kluber suffered a significant shoulder injury and is lost to the team for an indeterminate time. Closer Aroldis Chapman has been out with a cold/bug—it doesn’t seem like it is COVID-19. If it is, the Yankees are in serious trouble.
With ace Gerrit Cole opening the three game series in Detroit, the Yankees have to call up Deivi Garcia to pitch on Saturday and it is the familiar TBD as to who will pitch on Sunday. Then the Rays are in town for an important early June series, with the Red Sox finally playing the Bombers next weekend at the Stadium.
Michael Kay made an interesting point when the team batting averages were shown from the Stadium scoreboard. Way too many are below .200. Plus defending AL Batting Champion D.J. LeMahieu is hitting only in the .260 range, way below what he has been performing for New York. (Perhaps the birth of a child was weighing on his mind?)
The hot bats of Gleyber Torres and Judge, along with the steadiness of Gio Urshela have been the main offensive threats. With the season-ending loss of Aaron Hicks and Voit being out, Stanton and the others must step up to give the Yankees a realistic chance to contend, now that the starting pitching has become a bit murkier.
The Dodgers seem to be a streaky team. They were red hot to open the season. Then the team went cold. Now LAD is hot again. With the current 9-1 record in the last 10 games, the Dodgers trail the first place Padres by 0.5, since San Diego was 8-2 in it last 10 games. San Francisco is beginning to fade.
Also of note are the Cubs. Kris Bryant its hitting over .300. They have feasted on the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates.
So much so, that in Thursday’s game, infielder Javier Baez, nicknamed El Mago (the Magician), hit a weak infield grounder to third that was thrown to the Pittsburgh first baseman Will Craig. Instead of running to first, Baez stopped, then retreated, with a man on second base. Instead of stepping on the bag for the routine out, Craig ran at Baez. Willson Contreras, the Cubs runner on second, steamed home, ahead of a tag by Pirates catcher Michael Perez. Baez took off for first, not only beating the throw by Perez, but ending up on second base when the throw sailed over the second baseman’s head as he covered first. Baez scored on an Ian Happ single, to the delight of his teammates.
Pittsburgh is a bad team again. This was embarrassing. It epitomized the weakness in baseball—the rich get richer and the bad teams like the Pirates, Orioles, Rockies continue to play horribly.
Yet in the news on Thursday was a picture of Aaron Rodgers and his fiancé, Shailene Woodley, cavorting in bathing suits in Hawaii while Organized Team Activities were going on in Green Bay.
With all that is going on in sports, why do we care so much about Aaron Rodgers?
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