Emotion In Sports

  Emotion. The word is defined by Oxford as “a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.”

In sports, emotion is very evident. From the participants. And plenty of emotion comes from those who cheer for and against the teams and its players, or for  just one particular individual. 

Merriam-Webster describes a fan as “an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or performing art) usually as a spectator.” Ergo “an ardent admirer or enthusiast.”

Emotions in sports are ever-present. Whether it is shown on the field of play or in the stands, one can observe a whole range of expressions depending upon what is happening. 

After all, this is a trait which defines a human. Some of the more identifiable emotions include anger, adoration, aesthetic appreciation, amusement, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, craving, disgust, entrancement, envy, excitement, fear, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, romance, sadness, satisfaction, sympathy and triumph. 

Think for a second how many of the aforementioned feelings you experience on a daily basis. The answer is a whole lot. 

Most of all, the emotions we have are situational. They are directly influenced by the factors I described in the opening paragraph.

Now I am not here to teach a class on psychology. Not at all my forte. 

Instead, I am going to discuss emotions which I experienced this week concerning the sports world. For this week covered all four major sports and impacted a ton of people as a result. 

Let’s start with baseball. I watched the New York Yankees play in Tampa then Cleveland before returning to the Bronx to play three games against Toronto. 

After the Yankees ended their four game set versus the Rays at the Bronx Bombers’ Spring Training stadium on a high note with a 4-0 win, there was some controversy. New York pitcher Max Fried thought he had a no-hitter while he pitched. Instead, the official scorer reviewed one play and in the eighth inning changed an error to a base hit. 

Fans and announcers were initially outraged. Fried was unaware he was even working on the no-no until after the game ended; he surrendered a hit in the eighth inning anyway. He was relieved that he didn’t have to face the pressure associated with trying to make history. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was in agreement with the call being reversed, but more surprised that the play hadn’t first been ruled a hit. 

The next night in Cleveland, New York fell behind 6-0 when starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt gave up two home runs en route to the loss. However, the Yankees bats awoke late in the game when Jasson Domínguez delivered a two run home and Jazz Chisholm, Jr. followed up with a bat-tossing two run jolt of his own. The team was disconsolate when they couldn’t add runs against Guardians reliever Cade Smith with a man on in the ninth inning.

On Tuesday night, Ben Rice slugged a first pitch home run off of Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee. Bibee showed resilience, keeping New York mostly in check. 

Those of us who regularly follow the Yankees knew that when Boone opted to remove starter Will Warren upon the first inkling of trouble and replace him with Mark Leiter, Jr., this wasn’t going to work out well. By the end of the inning, New York trailed by a 3-2 score and never recovered. 

Yankees fans were thankful that pitcher Carlos Rodon harnessed his positive emotions on the mound and stayed ahead of Cleveland batters while the Yanks’ bats awoke. Final score was 5-1 in favor of New York. The mini-panic among NYY fans was temporarily quelled. 

Until Friday night. The New York bats managed 10 hits and 2 runs against the Blue Jays. Carlos Carrasco and three relievers had kept the visitors to one run over eight innings. 

Boone called for Devin Williams, his closer, to pitch the final inning. Williams had been struggling mightily with his control since coming over from Milwaukee via trade. Yankees fans were predictably edgy.

What they got was more bad pitching by Williams. He surrendered three runs, leading to a come-from-behind victory by Toronto. 

The fans had seen enough. They serenaded Williams with chants of “We want Weaver,” in reference to the former Yankees closer Luke Weaver, now a set up man for Williams, who hadn’t given up a run in any of his appearances. 

Fans can be vicious. Especially in New York. They are paying top dollar for seats and, with the team coming off a World Series appearance and playing well, expectations are high and there is no room for failure. 

I feel for Williams, who has lost the plate and may have lost his confidence going back to when the Mets’ Pete Alonso crushed a game-winning homer to end the 2024 playoff series with the Brewers. He is now demoted, with Weaver resuming his former role. No amount of money can stop the embarrassment, humility and shame he has faced and which will continue, in the eyes of New York fans, until he is able to prove he can pitch competently. 

I bring up a former pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates named Steve Blass. He experienced the “yips”, or a sudden and inexplicable loss of control, leading to an inability to throw accurately. It was so bad that the term “Steve Blass Disease” is anathema in baseball. I also reference second baseman Steve Sax, who lost his ability to throw accurately while playing for NYY. 

Hopefully what Williams has developed can be cured. Otherwise, his career could actually be in jeopardy. Yankees fans will see to it. They did it for Sax. 

I also feel badly for the kids on the Franklin and Marshall College baseball team, as they lost three straight to be eliminated from the playoffs. Since I played there, I felt their pain as if it were my own. 

The NBA playoff chase is in full vogue. While I have watched parts of all of the series, I am invested in two: Detroit-New York and Golden State-Houston. 

I am a long suffering Knicks fan, having endured plenty of losing with bad teams; two championships when I was in college and law school, and coming up short against Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller and Akeem Olajuwon. I like this team—it has plenty of character and determination to go with some talent; it is just a question of whether there is enough talent to make it past the survivors in the East. 

With that backdrop, the games between NYK and DET have been close. The swings of emotion have been enormous, as momentum has repeatedly gone up and down like a yo yo. One moment the Knicks are down by a sizable margin to a pretty good Detroit team. Then suddenly, the fight in the Knicks kicks in and a comeback ensues. 

Watching the Knicks battle the Pistons is draining. No more so than on Sunday when the boys from MSG went ahead for good with under a minute to play and had to withstand a nail-biting finish to return to New York ahead 3-1 in this series. 

I felt every move Jalen Brunson made in scoring his 32 points and I agonized when big man Karl-Anthony Towns drank his long three pointer to secure the win. The raw emotion on the court and the histrionics of producer Spike Lee in the front row seeped readily through my TV screen. 

There is no remorse for the Pistons or their fans that the referees blew a foul call in Detroit’s final possession which would have resulted in free throws and possibly a different outcome. The officiating has been mind-boggling in its inconsistency, so what happened on Sunday afternoon is seemingly par for the course. 

Talk about a swing of emotions. When Jimmy Butler III was tangled up with a Houston player contesting a rebound and fell hard to the floor, writhing in pain, I felt the chances of GSW winning the series against a hungry and athletic Rockets team was gone. 

Of course, I forgot that Steph Curry and the home court advantage at the Chase Center in San Francisco might not be denied. Which is exactly what happened on Saturday night when the Warriors clawed their way back into the game en route to a 104-93 victory without Butler, who looked fashionably resplendent on the GSW bench. Now ahead 2-1, there is life in Dubs Nation. Curry is still the shot-creating assassin and partner Draymond Green is the enigma who fuels the team’s passion. 

As much as these two sports tear at me, there is nothing like the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For those games have something which no other playoffs have in terms of drama: sudden death overtime. 

On Friday night I saw the New Jersey Devils need a second OT period to subdue a heavily favored Carolina team in Newark. Then on Saturday, with the Toronto Maple Leafs on the verge of clinching their series with Ottawa, the Senators took the lead, gave up a tying goal and then ripped the hearts out of the Toronto faithful by shocking the Leafs with a game-winning OT shot. 

Having been at Madison Square Garden and witnessing a Saturday night overtime victory by the Rangers over Chicago, I know there is nothing like the euphoria which envelops the home crowd. Which is why I get excited all these years later watching Springtime hockey—the goals which end games are memorable for the joy (and despair) they bring. 

Finally, some comments on the 2025 NFL Draft. I didn’t watch a second of it. I was overall happy with the New York Jets securing a needed offensive lineman and a good tight end, Mason Taylor, from LSU. 

Taylor’s dad, Jason, is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his exploits with the Miami Dolphins, where he terrorized quarterbacks, including those on the Jets. Taylor actually became a member of the Mean Green late in his career and reached the playoffs the only times he played while a member of the Jets. 

The tough, rugged Taylor shed tears of joy upon his son’s selection by the Jets. He showed pictures of Mason dressed in NYJ gear as a child. I felt happy for them both and hope Mason has a fruitful career with the Green and White. 

In contrast was the cruel prank of Jax Ulbrich, son of former Jets coach Jeff Ulbrich, now the defensive coordinator for Atlanta. Jax lifted the private line number for Sheddur Sanders, the Colorado quarterback and son of the legendary Deion Sanders from his father’s computer. He placed a phony call to Sheddur congratulating him on being chosen by New Orleans. Sanders wasn’t and his hopes were dashed repeatedly until Cleveland selected him in the fifth round—way below where the pundits believed Sanders would go. Apologies are meaningless in this instance. 

Emotions all over the place. Nothing like them. Especially in sports. I’m done. Whew!

Rising Outdoor Temperatures And Sports

  Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Passover have come and gone. Which means baseball is going strong and it is time for the NBA and NHL playoffs. The NFL Draft is on Tuesday. Coaches and general managers are being replaced. The transfer portal is alive and well. College gymnastics concluded. And it’s only mid-April. 

The Golden State Warriors atoned for their late season losses by handling Memphis at home to secure the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Memphis then had to play 

Dallas, with the winner securing the eighth and final spot in the West. The Grizzlies won easily. 

So much for the defense-first philosophy of Mavericks’ GM Nico Harrison. Sure, the team was without its best offensive weapon, Kyrie Irving. But the trade of Luka Doncic to Los Angeles ripped the heart and soul out of the team and it floundered, even when oft-injured Anthony Davis returned to the lineup. How long Harrison tenuously holds onto his job is subject to a ton of conjecture. 

In the East, if anybody questions the coaching ability of Eric Spoelstra, they are crazy. Left for dead after the Jimmy Butler fiasco, Coach Spo managed to unite his veterans and win two games on the road to grab the eighth seed and the right to meet top-seed Cleveland. 

Meanwhile, a very underrated Orlando Magic team grabbed the seventh seed in the East. That gives them the opportunity to play the defending champion Boston Celtics, a team with a chip on its shoulder. This series could be a bit more competitive than expected, with the C’s likely to prevail. 

As for the Warriors, they seemingly do not match up well with the athleticism of the young and heady Rockets. Not having home court may be a disadvantage, too. It will take a lot of heroics from Steph Curry and “Playoff” Jimmy Butler—a reference to how he took Miami to the NBA Finals in the COVID year—plus some more firepower along with solid defense to move to the next round. 

The Lakers felt they were the favorite in their series with Minnesota. Game 1 must have been a shock, as the T-Wolves beat up on LAL on the road in a 22 point victory. Maybe LeBron James and Luka will prevail—they appeared to be anything but a title contender, at least in this game. 

In another close matchup involving the #4-5 seeds, it took an overtime comeback fueled by superstar Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and the enigmatic Russell Westbrook—he of the late game gaffes—to manage a win over the Los Angeles Clippers at home. Look for these contests to go the distance.

Indiana put a sledgehammer to the undermanned Milwaukee Bucks in their first game. Even with Damian Lillard cleared to resume play after a serious bout with Deep Vein Thrombosis, I just don’t see the Bucks advancing.

The New York Knicks drew a tough foe in the upstart Detroit Pistons, making their first playoffs in six seasons. Detroit took it hard to the Knicks at MSG, racing to an eight point lead. Then New York, behind smothering defense and the offense of Jalen Brunson at the start of the fourth quarter, which resulted in a 21-0 spurt and awoke the somnambulant Garden faithful, went on to down the inexperienced Detroit squad by 11. I expect the Pistons to be resilient and give the Knicks all they can handle in the remainder of this physical series. 

Firings will be the norm as the playoffs continue. Phoenix let go Mike Budenholzer, who won it all in Milwaukee, after one tumultuous season. The GM’s in Sacramento and New Orleans were received of their duties. I expect more heads to roll, as the dismissals of head coaches in Sacramento, Memphis and Denver before the playoffs were a presage of what might be coming.

Montreal took another two games before it could clinch the one remaining spot in the NHL playoffs. For their hard work, the Canadiens draw Alex Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals. I would be stunned to see this lasting more than 5 games. 

Ditto for the New Jersey Devils. Limping into the playoffs after losing star Jack Hughes, Sheldon Keefe may not be a bad head coach, but he sure is snakebitten. See Toronto’s stunning losses in the playoffs while he coached. Carolina in four or five. 

Speaking of the Maple Leafs, in an all-Ontario clash, they meet the Ottawa Senators. This should go the distance—both are very strong offensive teams.  

Colorado took it to Dallas on Saturday night—it hasn’t been a very good two days for the residents of American Airlines Arena. I feel that the Avalanche will advance here. 

St. Louis finished strong this year. For their efforts, they face Winnipeg, the Presidents’ Trophy winner. Winning the Trophy isn’t a guarantee of surviving even the first round; the Jets should make it into the next round, but then the road will be much harder. 

Edmonton and Los Angeles meet again in the playoffs—four years in a row, Familiarity breeds contempt? Hard to predict which team wins—I am going with the Kings. 

The final pairing in the East involves two teams which would have produced perhaps an epochal Eastern Conference final. Instead, one team goes home early. It might be the Panthers. 

Sadly, for the first time in NHL history, the four American teams of the Original Six—Boston, New York Rangers, Chicago and Detroit did not make the playoffs. It has already cost the New York head coach his job. 

It is different seeing the Tampa Bay Rays hosting the New York Yankees at 

George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Spring Training home of the Bronx Bombers. New York wearing road grays looks out of place. 

Until Saturday’s meltdown loss in extra innings, the Yankees had some swagger in a five game winning streak. While Aaron Judge is performing like only he can, there is a big drop-off in production from the remainder of the offense, save first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The pitching is spotty—Max Fried looks to be the best starter and Luke Weaver is lights out in the bullpen. Still in first place early, expect this to be a very bumpy road for NYY to navigate to the playoffs. 

The teams which have done well at the start of the season in the National League are the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and the NL West minus the woeful Colorado Rockies, which fired its hitting coach and brought back former manager Clint Hurdle to assume that role; expect Hurdle to be managing the team soon.

In the American League, Texas looks to be strong this season. Detroit and Cleveland have established themselves as the teams to beat in the AL Central. Everyone in the AL East is in hailing distance of the Yankees right now. This is the most changeable division in baseball—what you see now might not be what you see in June as to who rules the roost. 

Thankfully, the NFL Draft happens this Tuesday and Wednesday in Green Bay. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. What was speculation as to which team will do what will turn into full-fledged second-guessing after the teams make their picks. 

Aaron Rodgers didn’t clarify a lot with his remarks on The Pat McAfee Show earlier in the week. I truly hope that Pittsburgh and Minnesota come to their senses and move on from him like new New York Jets Head Coach Aaron Glenn dismissively did, much to the chagrin of the future Hall of Fame quarterback. 

The saga of Nico Iamaleava and NIL is a warning to those who cherish sanity in college football that Name-Image-Likeness isn’t going away, nor is absurd money associated with it.  Evidently Tennessee’s high offer of payment wasn’t enough to retain him. Instead, the kid is seeking upwards of $4 million to play this season. UCLA might give it to him. This is crazy.  

This is not limited to football. College basketball has too many kids in the transfer portal seeking to cash in. Literally so. 

Oklahoma sought redemption this year in the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships. Having been upset last year, the Sooners acted like they deserved to win. Which is exactly what they did, despite a strong bid by UCLA to derail them once more. Surprising Missouri finish third, with Utah fourth. 

I will delve deeper into college sports another time. There is a lot to discuss which could lead to two more blogs, if not more. 

We experienced our first 80 degree day in New Jersey on Saturday. More nice weather is forecast. Rising outdoor temperatures (even if it snowed in Denver on Friday, postponing the Nationals and Rockies) means the sports world is afire. Which is, for the most part, good. 

Dreams Were Meant To Be Fulfilled This Weekend

  When you are a child, you have dreams. Many of them are realistic, many just are fantasies that you wouldn’t wildly believe that you could ever accomplish. 

In my seventy-four plus years on this planet, I have dreamed aplenty. I thought that I would be a major league baseball player and play for the New York Yankees. I repeatedly dreamed I would play in the Stanley Cup Finals for the New York Rangers and score a goal and be penalized. 

When Hawaii and Alaska became states, I dreamed those were places I’d like to visit. Along with the other 48 states. Done.

Why not see the Redwoods in California, those majestic trees showed repeatedly in my National Geographic? Or go to all of the Great Lakes—how cool that would be?

Why be limited—what about seeing the canals in Venice? Or stare at Big Ben? Ot even head to Ottawa, Canada’s capital—after all, I dreamed of seeing Congress and the Supreme Court one day, too. 

How about Europe and South Africa, including the Cape of Good Hope? The Louisiana Delta? Key West? A Caribbean island?

I dreamed I would meet a President—best I have done is have Gerald Ford shake my hand while he mistakenly entered my car under the House of Representative portico. Just as much as I wanted to date a cheerleader—did that twice. I was not overwhelmed by either one. 

So many thoughts and so many places I have been to. Which led to creating a bucket list a number of years ago, just before I retired from defending juveniles accused of what would be crimes if they were adults. And becoming a lawyer and arguing in a Supreme Court (New Jersey’s) was another dream come true. 

Look, I’m not going to get to everything on the list. It isn’t feasible and I am not getting any younger. I have had the great fortune to do so much because that’s been my lot since childhood when my family routinely traveled cross-country by car—even before the Interstate Highway Network was completed and you had to turn off your car radios in blast areas in the Rockies where I-70 now runs. 

This travel lust also became sports-oriented by where we went. From watching every kind of imaginable sporting event, I have gone to so many venues and colleges. All of which are indelibly etched in my mind. 

Name a place and I’ve driven by it, poked my head inside of it or saw an actual event at. It. Old Boston Garden to see the Celtics? Sure. Every New York stadium or arena I have entered or rode past. Ditto multiple stadiums and arenas in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C.; heck I have seen the Sixers play in the Convention Center, Spectrum and Wells Fargo Center. 

I don’t have many colleges left to see, although I still harbor the idea of seeing a game at one of them. I still haven’t seen the New York Jets play an away game. Just Fenway Park in Boston and I will have seen at least one baseball game in a franchise’s stadium. 

Many make it a point of living out their dreams. I know I’m one of those people. 

This weekend was about dreamers. Rory Mc Ilroy fulfilled his dream on Sunday when he won the Masters on the first playoff hole. He did it on his eleventh try on the most beautiful golf course in the land. All the sacrifices and hard work he and his parents endured paid off. 

Now Mc Ilroy is just the sixth ever to have won the US Open, PGA, British Open and the Masters during a career. He joins an illustrious group: Gene Sarazen (who for many years hosted Shell’s Wide World of Golf); Ben Hogan (who came back from a horrific car accident to win titles again); Arnold Palmer (the Latrobe, PA youngster who captivated the nation); Gary Player (the dynamic South African); Jack Nicklaus (the lad from Ohio State who started out heat but became maybe the greatest golfer ever); and Tiger Woods (the golfing prodigy who gave us so many thrills). That’s some company. All of them had big dreams.

There were dreamers at the Frozen Four. The blue bloods were ably represented by Boston University and the University of Denver—the latter went into the weekend as the favorite to repeat as national champion. Then there were the upstarts—Penn State and Western Michigan. Not too many expected the newbies to advance let alone win it all.

In the semi-finals, Penn State held its own, although BU prevailed. Denver was throttled by the WMU Broncos in double overtime.

Boston University was a six time winner. WMU never had won. When the smoke cleared in St. Louis on Saturday night, BU’s title drought is now 16 years and counting while WMU continued to accumulate firsts in its program by winning the National Championship—the first in any sport since the men won in Cross Country in 1964 & 1965. The final score was 6-2. The memories will be that much more special. 

But this weekend was also about me fulfilling a dream, too. No, not in golf; the closest I come to golf is watching the Masters, associating with those who play at Brooklake Country Club and having an annoying case of Golfer’s Elbow. 

Since my wife could not go to Canada to see the final installment of the Father-Son New Jersey Devils hockey trips when the Devils played in Montreal this past January, my son broached a crazy idea. How about seeing the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs play on a Saturday Night—Hockey Night in Canada.

Knowing that I would not leave my wife alone as she recuperated from hip replacement surgery, we made the arrangements for the trip. With her blessing. A trip to Montreal will have to come another time. 

The genesis of this idea was my telling my son about the importance of Hockey Night in Canada—a staple on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s radio and TV broadcasts. In my youth, the two Canadian franchises of the Original Six—Montreal and Toronto would be home, hosting an American team for the majority of the time. 

We would every once in a while be exposed to bonus coverage from Canada. That would come from the CBC. Sometimes it would be regular season games; other times, the feeds involved the playoffs. Listening to Bill Hewitt, the son of the great Foster Hewitt (first to say (he shoots, he scores!) describe the action on the screen was incredible. I was mesmerized. 

My history as a hockey fan goes back to the late 1950’s when I watched the Game of the Week on CBS. I also was exposed to Saturday night New York Rangers telecasts on WOR-TV. It seemed so incredible to see the legends of hockey for the Canadian teams—Richard, Believe, Lafleur, Dryden, Robinson in Montreal and Mahovlich, Horton, Keon, Armstrong, Pulford and Bower in Toronto. 

Toronto was formidable in the 1960’s. So was Montreal. Detroit, too, with Gordie Howe. The Rangers, Chicago and Boston took turns getting into playoffs with the Canadiens and Leafs when there were only six teams. 

Things changed when expansion occurred. More teams. Less centralized in the two powerful Canadian teams. 

I became a Rangers season ticket holder in 1977, 18 years after my first in-person game at Madison Square Garden, when I saw the Black Hawks lose to the Rangers in a rare Saturday afternoon matinee (televised on CBS). I came to dislike Montreal, Toronto to a lesser extent and Boston because they had become good. 

This animus continued when I became a New Jersey Devils fan. I hated (with awe) the Habs (a nickname for Montreal) and Leafs. Even while the Devils were winning three Stanley Cups.

When I accepted my son’s invitation and secured tickets to Scotiabank Arena, it was to see what this hated rivalry was about. I knew that in the 1950’s and 60’s, a lot of blood was spilled when they got together. It was Anglo Canada versus French Canada. Plus the influence the CBC gave a nation for its beloved sport.

While on the train from Pearson International Airport, we overheard a group of older individuals who were in town for the game. They were from Nova Scotia and one woman of the four conversing was a Habs fan. 

Throughout Toronto, interspersed within the fabric of so many Leafs jerseys and hats were the red, whit and blue jerseys for the Canadiens. Maybe plenty more people bought tickets on the secondary market like we did. Moreover, the night before in Ottawa, we saw on TV that there was a throaty contingent of Hats fans cheering on their team. Loyalty abounded. 

Canadian sports TV made mention that this was a huge game for playoff contention for Montreal and playoff seeding for the Leafs. No fewer than five networks would be covering the game. After all, it was Hockey Night in Canada with the top participants going at it. 

Walking to the arena, the city was awash with jerseys for both teams, representing so many eras. It was a joyous, buoyant group—unlike the hostility accompanying an Islanders-Rangers game at MSG. 

Inside the arena, the electricity was apparent from the outset. The in-house hosts on the big screen hyped how specials this night was—an Original Six matchup between Montreal and Toronto. 

Given the political climate in Canada with elections upcoming and the sudden trade wars and remarks by President Donald J. Trump about making Canada the 51st state, the singing of “O’ Canada” was especially stirring. The noise at the start of the game was deafening. 

The contest chugged along slowly at first. When the Leafs’ star John Tavares was hit hard and no penalty was called, the only fight in the game took place, with the crowd roaring its approval. 

I felt partial for the Leafs because they hadn’t won a Cup since 1967 and their goalie was from New Jersey, born in Edison and raised in Jackson. For much of the game, Toronto outshot and outplayed Montreal. Yet early on I had a hunch this would be a scoreless tie. Which is how it ended in in regulation. 

Then boom—the game was over 36 seconds into overtime when Leafs star Mitch Marner wristed the game winner into the net. Out into the night went dejected Canadiens fans and jovial Leafs partisans. 

I was euphoric. It was a classic late season game pitting two ancient rivals. I completed a long-standing bucket list item.

Just like the inner child in me, or with Rory Mc Ilroy or on Western Michigan’s men’s hockey team, dreams were meant to be fulfilled this weekend.