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Bar Chat

05/12/2025

NBA Playoffs, MLB, Stanley Cup, Golf, Premier League, Champions League....

Add-on posted early Tues. a.m.

NBA Playoffs

--After I posted Sunday, the Thunder evened their series with the Nuggets in Denver at 2-2, winning 92-87, as they held Nikola Jokic (27 points, 13 rebounds) to just 7 of 22 from the field.  Denver needs more from him in Game 5, Tuesday, back in Oklahoma City.

And the Pacers are a shocking 3-1 up on the Cavaliers, Indiana racing off to an 80-39 halftime lead Sunday in Indianapolis, cruising from there, 129-109.  Game 5 in Cleveland, Tuesday.  And Donovan Mitchell has an ankle injury.

--Monday night we were back at Madison Square Garden. Would the Knicks get off to a needed good start against the Celtics in their Game 4 matchup?

Well, they hung in there in the first half, down 62-51 as Boston hit 12 of 24 from 3, as in more of the same a la Game 3.

But the Knicks stormed back behind Jalen Brunson with a 37-23 third quarter, up 88-85 after three, Brunson with 18 in the quarter, and in a tight fourth, New York prevailed 121-113, thrilling the Garden faithful and Knicks fans throughout the area.

Brunson finished with 39 (and 12 assists), Mikal Bridges had a big 23, OG Anunoby rebounded from a dismal Game 3 effort to score 20, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 11 rebounds.  Throw in the efforts of Mitchell Robinson on the offensive glass and it was a winning formula, New York up 3-1, Game 5 Wednesday in Boston.

But the Celts will be without Jayson Tatum, who after scoring 42 points, went down with a probable Achilles injury late in the fourth. 

--Minnesota took a 3-1 series lead over Golden State with a 117-110 win on the road, the Warriors again without Steph Curry due to his hamstring injury.

And it was Julius Randle who continued to shine for the T’Wolves, 31 points.  Game 5 Wednesday in Minneapolis.

--Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks, despite just a 1.8% chance, won the NBA Draft Lottery and the right to select Cooper Flagg.  Wow.

San Antonio will select second, Philadelphia third, Charlotte fourth, Utah fifth and Washington sixth. [Another depressing hoops moment for the Wizards, who had the second-worst record in the league to Utah.]

Stanley Cup

--Sunday night, the Maple Leafs fell to the defending champion Panthers, 2-0, down in Sunrise, Florida, the series tied at 2-2, Game 5 Wednesday back in Toronto.

--Monday, the Capitals took on the Hurricanes down in Raleigh for Game 4, down 2-1 in the series, and they need some production out of Alex Ovechkin, who had zero goals, zero assists in the first three games.

Well, Ovechkin did tally a goal but the Caps fell 5-2 in Raleigh.

In Edmonton, the Oilers took a 3-1 series lead over Golden Knights, 3-0.

MLB

--After I posted Sunday, the Yankees completed their rout of the A’s in Sacramento, 12-2, Ben Rice with a grand slam, and Aaron Judge 4-for-5, 2 RBIs, his average back up to .409!

The Yanks tagged former teammate Luis Severino for 8 earned in 4 innings, after Severino badmouthed them.  Seve is 1-4, 4.70 ERA, after he signed a 3-year, $67 million contract when the Mets didn’t offer him anything more than a year...smart move thus far by David Stearns...again.

--The Rockies recorded win No. 7, 9-3 over the Padres to move to 7-33.  Colorado then fired manager Bud Black and bench coach Mike Redmond, promoting third base coach Warren Schaefer to interim manager and hitting coach Clint Hurdle to bench coach.

General Manager Bill Schmidt said: “I believe that Warren is the right person to lead us forward for the remainder of this season, develop our young talent at the Major League level and get our club back to playing a better brand of baseball.”

So Schaeffer is OK for the rest of the year and if he stabilizes the situation, he could earn a long-term contract.

Rockies CEO Dick Monfort said: “Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable.  Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better.”

Black went 544-690 in nine seasons leading the Rockies.

--The Dodgers beat the D’Backs 8-1, as Freddie Freeman went 4-for-4, 2 doubles, a homer, and 3 RBIs, his batting average up to .376.

--And in the Sunday night game, Mr. Consistency, Zack Wheeler (4-1, 2.95) threw seven shutout innings, the Phillies beating the Guardians in Cleveland, 3-0.

The Phillies are just 1 ½ back of the Mets in the NL East after Sunday’s action.

Mets 26-15
Phillies 24-16...1.5

Actually, in the NL Central, the Cardinals have won eight straight to make a move on the Cubs.

Cubs 23-18
Cardinals 22-19...1

And in the NL West....

Dodgers 27-14
Padres 25-14...1

It’s only one-quarter of the season, but a competitive start.  You want to win the division.  You don’t want to have to play in the wild-card playoffs, though you still need to have one of the top two records in the league to avoid the WC.

--Monday night, the Mets then had a nice walk-off win against the Pirates, 4-3, Paul Skenes with a no-decision, six innings, one earned for Pittsburgh (Livvy Dunne looking amazing), while the Phillies lost to the streaking Cardinals, 3-2, so New York’s lead is 2 ½.

The Cubs beat the Marlins, 5-2, to stay ahead of the Cards.

Aaron Judge went 2-for-3 with his 40th RBI, batting average now .414, after the Yankees’ 11-5 win in Seattle.  But New York lost infielder Oswaldo Cabrera to a gruesome leg injury.

Golf Balls

--On to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, Charlotte, NC, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas big favorites, both having won on the course, Rory four times, JT a PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

The early weather forecast is for clear skies Thursday and Friday which is critical to clear the field, after tons of rain on the course prior.  And maybe more Saturday.  We always want a Sunday finish, come hell or high water.

But to go back to the Truist Championship, some golfers made some important moves in terms of getting into the top 70 for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, like for Wake Forest’s Cameron Young, who with his T7 moved from 84 to 55.  And for Keith Mitchell, also T7, which moved him from 73 to 47.

Stuff

--Kyle Larson won again, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.  Christopher Bell was second.

Larson matched Bell with three wins on the season, Larson’s 32nd win of his career, tying him with Dale Jarrett.

In two weeks, Larson will again attempt to complete “the Double,” running every lap of the Indy 500 and then flying down to Charlotte to attempt to run in the Coca-Cola 600.

Last year, rain impeded his effort on both ends.

--With the New Orleans Saints needing a quarterback, there is talk the Giants could trade Jameis Winston to the Saints, after the announcement of Derek Carr’s retirement.

The Giants now have Russell Wilson, first-round pick Jackson Dart, and Tommy DeVito and there is no need for Winston.

--Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism will run in the Preakness, the 8-5 early favorite.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m., after the PGA.

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Posted Sunday p.m. before late action....

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.

Baseball Quiz: The godawful Colorado Rockies are headed towards their third straight 100-loss season at 6-33.  Name the only six teams, post-1950, to have 100 losses three or more consecutive seasons.  Answer below.  Don’t worry about getting the years exact.  But it is six different franchises.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I know I’ve told this story many times, but for like 6-7 years, we had a family tradition of going to a baseball game on Mother’s Day...which the Mets and Yankees always seemed to rotate...and that is how, amazingly, I got to see Mickey Mantle’s 500th home run, and Willie Mays’ first homer as a Met right after the 1972 trade for him...and you can look it up....

Poor Dad...of course he was the one doing the driving and the drive back then to Shea Stadium really sucked.

The clubs gave out little trinkets to the moms...like really crappy ones, but one day the Mets gave out a tossle cap that actually looked good and lasted in the family a long time.   Great for dog-walking on those cold winter nights when I had lost the daily post-dinner ping-pong match with Dad to see who walked Ralph.  [Named after Ralph Kiner.]

NBA Playoffs

--Friday night, after shockingly losing two at home to the Pacers, the Cavaliers cut the series to 2-1 with a 126-104 win in Game 3 in Indianapolis. 

After missing Game 2 due to various injuries, Cleveland returned Evan Mobley, Darius Garland  and De’Andre Hunter, and then Donovan Mitchell went off for 43 points, a second consecutive 40-point outing.

The Pacers had taken Game 2, Tuesday, 120-119 on Tyrese Halliburton’s stepback 3 with 1.1 seconds left.  The Pacers finished the game on an 8-0 run over the final 47.2 seconds.  It was Halliburton’s second game-winner this postseason.  Mitchell had a herculean 48 points in the loss.

Game 4 is Sunday night in Indy.

--Also Friday, the Nuggets took a 2-1 series lead over the best team in the NBA this season, the Thunder, with a 113-104 win in Denver, Nikola Jokic with 20 points and 16 rebounds, though he was 0-for-10 from 3.  Jamal Murray (27 points), Aaron Gordon (22) and Michael Porter Jr. (21) all chipped in with significant contributions.

For OKC, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was only 7-for-22 from the field in scoring 18 points, though he did have 13 rebounds and 7 assists.

Game 4 was today, Sunday.

--In the Warriors-Timberwolves series, Golden State won Game 1 99-88 despite playing largely without Steph Curry, who left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury.

And we then learned Curry would miss a few games, at least a week, and Minnesota evened the series up at 1-1 on Thursday, 117-93, as former Knick Julius Randle had a terrific game, 24 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists.

Minnesota then took a 2-1 lead on Saturday night, 102-97, as Curry continued to sit.  Julius Randle with another big game, a triple-double, 24-10-12, plus 3 steals, Anthony Edwards with 36 points for the T’Wolves.

Game 4 Monday in San Fran.

--So we get to Saturday afternoon at the Garden, the Knicks shockingly up 2-0 on Boston after winning the first two games on the road in dramatic fashion, becoming the first team in NBA playoff history to overcome back-to-back 20-point deficits.

Wednesday’s Game 2 was a virtual carbon copy of Game 1, the Knicks winning 91-90, as Jalen Brunson hit two fouls shots with 12.7 seconds remaining to put the Knicks up 91-90 and then Mikal Bridges, for a second straight game, made the decisive defensive play to ice the game, blocking Jayson Tatum on the other end after Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla opted not to take a timeout.

Knicks fans were simply stunned.  It’s not that New York has played great, they’ve just received clutch play down the stretch from Brunson and Bridges has made spectacular plays on defense.

But the big thing is, Boston, which was 15-of-60 from 3-point land in Game 1, hit only 10-of-40 in Game 2 and was a staggeringly awful 25-of-100 for the two games.

Jayson Tatum, the All-Star and leader, was 5-of-19, 13 points for Boston, while his running mate, Jaylen Brown, was 8-of-23 from the field on Wednesday.

Boston was outscored in the fourth quarter in Games 1 and 2 by a combined 55-33 margin.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 17 rebounds, and Josh Hart led the way with 23 points.

Well, in Game 3, start out with the fact the cheapest ticket to witness the game in person, including fees, was $800, as reported by the New York Post.  Gotham was pumped.

And the Knicks laid an egg of epic proportions.

Boston hit 12 of 19 from 3 in the first half, 20 of 40 for the game, the Knicks looked totally out of it and trailed at the half, 71-46, on the way to a 115-93 loss.

No one really stood out on offense for the Celtics, it was just a total team effort, while for the Knickerbockers, Jalen Brunson was just 9 of 21, and had another poor start to the game, Karl-Anthony Towns was 5 of 18, Mitchell Robinson hit only 4 of 12 free throws, and OG Anunoby disappeared...2 points, 1 of 6 from the field and just two rebounds in 31 minutes.

New York was 5 of 25 from 3.

It’s been shocking how the Knicks haven’t responded at home this season.  It’s not as if they don’t have an adoring crowd behind them.

So we’ll see which Knicks team shows up on Monday for Game 4 back at MSG.

MLB

--The Mets opened a 3-game series against the best-hitting team in baseball, the Cubs at Citi Field, and the Metsies for one night showed who is boss, 7-2, four home runs, including from Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, both hitting their eighth of the season, while starter Clay Holmes moved to 5-1, 2.74, with six innings of one-run ball.  The former closer has been terrific in his new role.

But Saturday, New York fell to Chicago, 6-5, despite Brett Baty’s two home runs that accounted for all five Mets runs; Baty with three homers in two games after getting called back up from AAA.  Juan Soto came up small in some clutch opportunities.

And then today on the Roku noon game, which really isn’t bad since you can watch it for free, and the production is fine, the Mets (26-15) had an important bounceback win, 6-2, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo breaking open a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth with home runs, the Cubs falling to 23-18.

Consider this...Mets starter Griffin Canning, who they signed to a one-year free agent contract for just $4.25 million after Canning went 6-13, 5.19 ERA with the Angels last season, is now 5-1, 2.36 after going six innings, one run.  That’s why Mets fans love GM David Stearns.

--The Yankees are out in Sacramento playing the A’s and Friday night, Jasson Dominguez busted out with three home runs, 7 RBIs, his best game as a pro and the youngest to homer three times in Yankee history, the Yanks beating the A’s 10-2, Will Warren with seven strong on the mound for New York.

But Saturday, the A’s (21-19) rebounded, 11-7, despite Aaron Judge’s two home runs, giving him 14 on the season, 37 RBIs to go with his .396 batting average.  He was actually slumping, 3-for-19 in his last five games before yesterday.  The Yanks fell to 22-17.

Wake Forest’s Nick Kurtz is off to a solid major-league start, 14-for-49, .286, but with no home runs as the A’s aren’t putting a lot of pressure on him, batting him 7th through 9th in the lineup.  He has struck out 22 times, however.  But all in all, not bad. The homers will come.

Kurtz then was elevated to sixth in the order today, Sunday, but as I go to post, the Yanks are destroying the A’s...Aaron Judge back over .400.

--The Padres beat the Rockies in Colorado on Friday, 13-9, former Demon Deacon Gavin Sheets with two doubles, 4 RBIs for San Diego.

The Rockies, after winning two straight, have now lost 7 in a row.  This is serious.  Baseball can’t have a 30-win team.  Last year’s White Sox (41-121) were as bad as the sport needs to see ever again.

Saturday, San Diego (25-13) destroyed the Rockies (6-33) 21-0!  Colorado’s 39-game record matches the 1988 Orioles for the worst start in the majors in 130 years.  Baltimore finished 54-107 that season.

Gavin Sheets had three more hits and three ribbies, a double and home run for the Padres, who hit five home runs. Stephen Kolek pitched the complete-game shutout.

--The Red Sox (20-20) after a 2-1 loss Friday to Kansas City (24-16) have internal issues, namely Rafael Devers.

Devers, who was moved to DH this season to make room for Alex Bregman at third, refuses to now move to first base after former starter Tristan Casas underwent season-ending knee surgery last week.

“They can’t expect me to play every single position out there,” Devers said. 

Red Sox owner John Henry flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers, but Friday, Rafael was still DH.

And Devers DH’d Saturday, going 4-for-4, 3 RBIs, as Boston mauled K.C. 10-1.

--Shohei Ohtani is back in peak hitting form, 3-for-6 Friday night in the Dodgers’ 14-11 win over the Diamondbacks, two doubles, his 12th homer and 4 RBIs to give him 20 on the season after a very slow start in that category.  Ohtani has five homers and 10 RBIs in his last seven games.

Alas, Arizona’s Corbin Burnes threw seven shutout innings Saturday, the D’Backs (21-19) beating L.A. (26-14) 3-0

--The Pirates fired manager Derek Shelton after a 12-26 start. Shelton coached the Pirates to a 306-440 record during his tenure, with Pittsburgh never topping 76 wins in any campaign.

“The first quarter of the season has been frustrating and painful for all of us. We have to do better...Our coaches know that.  Our players know that.”

Bench coach Don Kelly was promoted to manager and the Pirates won their first under him on Friday night against the Braves, 3-2.  Kelly is a Pittsburgh native and could be what the team needs.

Well, Pittsburgh (14-27) made it 2 out of 3 over Atlanta (19-21) today, 4-3, scoring in the bottom of the ninth off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, who has sucked this year.

--Cincinnati’s star hurler Hunter Greene (4-2, 2.36) was put on the IL with a right groin strain, so he’ll probably miss a month, six weeks.

--Thursday, when Chicago native and American cardinal Robert Prevost was elected to succeed Pope Francis, Prevost selecting the name Leo XIV, there was one big question...was he a Cubs or White Sox fan. 

Initially a report from ABC News had Leo being a Cubs fan, the Cubs immediately putting a message on their famous signage outside Wrigley Field: “Hey, Chicago.  He’s a Cubs fan!”

But then Pope Leo’s brother told WGN that he was actually a White Sox fan, and a photo of Leo at a White Sox 2005 World Series game emerged.

The pope holds his first press conference on Monday and no doubt this will come up.

--We note the passing of three-time All-Star outfielder and member of the 1984 Detroit Tigers World Series champions, Chet Lemon, 70.

Lemon’s wife told the Detroit Free Press, “He was sleeping on his reclining sofa. He just wasn’t responsive.”

Lemon had battled a rare blood disease for the past three decades and had suffered a series of strokes, leaving him unable to walk or talk.

Lemon played seven seasons with the White Sox from 1975-81, and then nine with the Tigers, 1982-90.

He hit 215 home runs, drove in 884, batted .273 and had a solid .797 career OPS.

Lemon set a still-standing American League record for outfielders with 512 putouts during the 1977 season.

He led the A.L. in doubles with 44 in ’79 and made the All-Star team in 1978, ‘79 and 1984.

It’s amazing to think that last year was the 40th anniversary of the Tigers’ great title run in 1984 (the team starting the season 35-5) with Lemon a key cog, 20 homers, 76 RBIs, .852 OPS.

Lemon was able to return to Detroit last September for the reunion, sitting in a wheelchair and enjoying the time with his teammates.

“Chet was a cherished teammate and friend,” former teammate and Hall of Famer Alan Trammell said in a statement. “I’m so thankful we spent time together last summer when the 1984 team had it 40th reunion at Comerica Park.  Today is a sad day for us.  He will be dearly missed.”

Former teammate Lance Parrish remembered Lemon for being a “fierce competitor.”

“Chet was the kindest of men and always had that great smile on his face,” Parrish said in a statement.  “He was also a fierce competitor on the baseball field and a great teammate.  I loved him like a brother.”

RIP, Chet Lemon.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

--Going back to Thursday, the Capitals tied their series with the Hurricanes at 1-1, taking Game 2, 3-1.

The Oilers beat the Golden Knights 5-4 in overtime, Leon Draisaitl with the game-winner, Edmonton up 2-0.

--Friday, the defending champion Panthers cut the Maple Leafs’ series lead to 2-1 with a 5-4 win in Florida.

--Saturday, the Hurricanes then took a 2-1 lead over the Capitals with a 4-0 win, while in Edmonton, the Golden Knights cut the Oilers’ series lead to 2-1 with a stunning buzzer-beater 4-3 win on Reilly Smith’s goal, literally with just 0.4 left on the clock in regulation.  When you watch the play, it’s just amazing.

Golf Balls

--We had a Signature Event this week as the lead-in to next week’s PGA Championship, this being the Truist Championship at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, Flourtown, PA, and after two rounds we had a cool leaderboard.

Keith Mitchell -12
Shane Lowry -11
Sepp Straka -10

And a big group at -7, including Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, and Patrick Cantlay.  Which of these would make a big move Saturday?

Well, JT made a move and after three rounds, Saturday incredibly windy in the Philadelphia area, and throughout much of the northeast....

Straka -14
Lowry -14
JT -11
Mitchell -11
Hideki Matsuyama -10 ...after a superb 63 in the conditions....

T6 Rory -8

And so today, Justin Thomas, playing in front of the leaders, finished solo 3rd it seemed, -14...with Lowry and Straka at -15, -16, respectively, both in trouble off the fairway on the concluding par-4.

And Straka hits a great shot out of the bunker, right at the pin, but it goes way past.

Lowry has a drop off the grandstands in the rough, but a decent lie....and Shane hits a terrific shot, better than Straka, who will be putting first....and they both hit shitty putts, leaving themselves stress tests for pars....

Shane needs to make first to put pressure on Straka and he bogeys it.  Straka now zero pressure, and it’s win No. 4 in his PGA Tour career...Lowry T2 with Thomas.

On to the PGA Championship, boys and girls.  It’s going to be good.

--Until Jim Nantz announced it today during the CBS coverage, I didn’t realize J.C. Snead died, 84.

J.C. was the nephew of Sam Snead, and J.C. won 8 times on the PGA Tour, including back-to-back Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitationals in 1975-76, which was a big deal back then.  That was a marquee event...and much watched on television as the rest of the country was in the dead of winter.

Snead also beat Seve Ballesteros in a playoff in the Westchester Classic, 1987, for his last win, and that was also a big tournament in those days.

And he had three top 3s at major tournaments, one each at the Masters (2 / 1973), U.S. Open (T2 / 1978), and the PGA Championship (T3 / 1973).

Today he would have made a $zillion with that resume.

Premier League

--Saturday, in games impacting Champions League status for some, relegated Southampton held Manchester City to a 0-0 draw, the single point ensuring that Southampton, with just 12 points on the season, won’t be sharing the league worst mark of 11 points set by Derby County in the 2007-08 season.

Aston Villa had a big 1-0 win at Bournemouth.

Sunday, Newcastle had a huge 2-0 win over Chelsea, but Nottingham Forest could manage only a 2-2 draw, and point, against relegated Leicester...which could prove deadly for Forest’s Champions League quest.  With a win (and Leicester got a late goal to tie it), Nottingham would have been all alone in fifth.

Lastly, Liverpool and Arsenal played to a 2-2 draw, an important point for the Gunners as they seek to secure second place.

The Table...just two games left (36 of 38 played) – Points

1. Liverpool...36 – 83
2. Arsenal...36 – 68
3. Newcastle...36 – 66
4. Man City...36 – 65
5. Chelsea...36 – 63 ...big lead over AV on goal differential
6. Aston Villa...36 – 63
7. Nottingham...36 – 62

All about finishing fifth or higher to secure Champions League status for the 2025-26 season.

--Speaking of which, in the Champions League this week, we had an all-time classic, as Inter Milan topped FC Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate Tuesday, despite blowing two separate 2-0 leads over both legs of this semifinal matchup.

Barca had a 6-5 aggregate lead with mere minutes to play when Inter’s Francesco Acerbi tied it in the 93rd to force extra time, where Davide Frattesi ended it in the 99th minute.

Then Wednesday, PSG defeated Arsenal 3-1 aggregate.

So it’s PSG vs. Inter for the CL championship, Sat., May 31, in Munich.  Inter lost the 2023 final to Manchester City.  PSG lost the 2020 final to Bayern Munchen.

Stuff

--After I posted my Add-on last Tuesday morning, we learned Sovereignty will not race in next week’s Preakness Stakes.  Trainer Bill Mott said they are targeting the Belmont Stakes next.

Preakness entries are posted Monday, but at least as of today, Derby runner-up Journalism is a go, but this can change.

Yes, the leaders of the horse racing industry have to add a week between the Derby and the Preakness.

--In the NFL, it’s still rather stunning Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers haven’t reached an agreement.  Pittsburgh is the only landing spot left for Rodgers and if he wants to retire instead, well freakin’ say so out of respect not only for Pittsburgh, but the NFL.

But the Steelers and coach Mike Tomlin insist they are in no rush: “You’d like to have settled circumstances. But, you know, deadlines don’t often bring that to a head,” Tomlin said over a month ago, and if the position has changed, Pittsburgh hasn’t acted like it.

The thing is, Pittsburgh currently has a quarterback room of Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson, and Will Howard, the sixth-round rookie out of Ohio State.  Kind of crappy.

--And in New Orleans, while the situation with starting quarterback Derek Carr’s shoulder was questionable, after the team revealed in April he was in pain following his first offseason throwing session, it was still a surprise when he said in a statement Saturday he was retiring at age 34, and after 11 years.

The Saints now have recently drafted Tyler Shough as their potential starting QB, with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener.  Uh oh.  Yet another team that might wish it had drafted Shedeur Sanders, New Orleans actually thought to be the destination for the kid’s talents.

--Wake Forest’s top-seeded men’s tennis team is heading to the NCAA championship quarterfinals after a 4-0 win over 16-seed Texas A&M on Friday at the Wake Tennis Center before 400 fans, which is a great crowd for this stuff.

The scene now shifts to Waco, TX, for the remainder of the action.

--Notre Dame and Clemson have agreed to play a 12-year series from 2027-38. The Tigers will count as one of five ACC schools that the Fighting Irish play on an annual basis, and Notre Dame also intends on playing Florida State and Miami more often.

The agreement means Clemson will play 10 Power Four opponents each year of the series with Notre Dame, since rival South Carolina is also an annual fixture on the Tigers’ schedule.  The deal also provides Notre Dame an opportunity to beef up its independent schedule with a consistent College Football Playoff competitor.

--Staying in the ACC, the conference announced it was moving back to an 18-game conference schedule for basketball after six years of a 20-game schedule.

The ACC sent just four of its 18 teams to the last NCAA Tournament, including North Carolina, a controversial entrant.

So this is an attempt to have schools upgrade their nonconference schedule some, but it’s more important that the ACC develop better teams, not just play better opponents.  The league had the worst nonconference winning percentage of the five high-major conferences last season, and in fact was sub .500 against top-100 teams for the fourth year in a row.

--Monday, in a British Supersport Championship motorcycle race, a first-lap incident involving 11 riders resulted in the deaths of two of them, Owen Jenner, 21, and Shane Richardson, 29.  Another racer was in the hospital with significant back and abdominal injuries.

The race took place at the Quilton Park circuit in Cheshire, England.  [There are some clips of the accident on YouTube that are horrific.  Just an awful tragedy.  Our thoughts and prayers for the racers’ friends and family.]

--The Riverside (Calif.) Sheriff’s Coroner has ruled that the cause of Jeff Sperbeck’s death was blunt head trauma after Sperbeck fell from a moving golf cart on April 26 in La Quinta, California.

Sperbeck was the longtime agent and close friend of NFL legend John Elway, who was reportedly driving the cart.

“The cause of death is ‘blunt head trauma,’ and the manner of death is ‘accident’ and the mode of death (how the injury occurred) is ‘passenger fell from golf cart,’” the office said in a statement Friday.

Authorities found no evidence of criminal activity or mechanical failure in the death of the 62-year-old.

Hits That Never Made My Top 10 (1960s/1970s)...peaked Nos. 11-30:

The Animals...#15 Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, #13 We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, #23 It’s My Life
Atlanta Rhythm Section...#19 Do It Or Die [Good tune when I was at Wake]
Bachman-Turner Overdrive...#23 Let It Ride, #12 Takin’ Care Of Business, #14 Roll On Down The Highway
The Beach Boys...#15 Little Deuce Coupe, #23 In My Room, #24 Don’t Worry Baby, #12 Do You Wanna Dance, #20 The Little Girl I Once Knew, #12 Heroes and Villains, #19 Darlin’
The Beatles...#12 And I Love Her, #11 Eleanor Rigby, #12 Revolution
Stephen Bishop...#11 On And On
Blue Oyster Cult...#12 (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
Beverly Bremers...#15 Don’t Say You Don’t Remember... [YouTube it]
Jerry Butler...#11 For Your Precious Love (1958), #11 Moon River
The Byrds...#14 Eight Miles High
Glen Campbell...#26 By The Time I Get To Phoenix...and I have to mention some others of his...#32 Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife, #39 Gentle On My Mind...stunning these weren’t at least Top 20....

I’ll continue this for a few weeks....

Baseball Quiz Answer: Six teams to have three or more consecutive 100-loss seasons since post-1950.

1962-65 New York Mets (four)
1961-64 Washington Senators (four)
2011-13 Houston Astros (three)
2004-06 Kansas City Royals (three)
1977-79 Toronto Blue Jays (three)
1952-54 Pittsburgh Pirates (three)

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.

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