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Bar Chat

04/08/2024

UConn vs. Purdue; Lady Gamecocks Win

Add-on posted early Tuesday a.m.

UConn Wins!

--It was 36-30 UConn at the half of the men’s national title game last night, Purdue’s Zach Edey with 16, and if you were a casual fan you might have thought, ‘huh, this could get interesting.’

But those who follow the sport closely knew otherwise.  Soon the lead was eleven, and then 16 with 9:27 to go and it was game over...twelve consecutive double-digit wins in the NCAA Tournament for UConn, back-to-back titles for Dan Hurley and Co., and there’s little else to say.

There was no drama, just more UConn dominance.

Edey had 37 for Purdue, the Huskies letting him get his points, but just 23 (nine field goals) from the rest of the team.

UConn joins the 2006-07 Florida Gators and the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils as just the third team to repeat since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and ‘70s.

--John Calipari stole some of the spotlight Monday when it was revealed late Sunday night that he was leaving Kentucky after 15 seasons for Arkansas.

Calipari’s recent NCAA Tournament failures had left a sour taste in the mouth of alumni and fans, but it had been announced Coach Cal was returning next season.

But after going 410-123, with a national championship and rosters’ worth of NBA superstars, he’s on to Arkansas, a program certainly a rung or two below Kentucky.

It’s reported Calipari’s contract will be for five years, $8.5 million.

Dan Hurley was asked last night if he was leaving UConn for Kentucky.

“I’m not going in the portal, I’m not,” the former Seton Hall guard and Jersey City native said.

Hurley did say of the portal chaos: “Listen, college basketball, we need a Commissioner.  It’s the greatest sport, we have the greatest sporting event. We’ve got NIL, which is going to keep players in college longer, which is going to allow for a deeper connection for fan bases into the game. We gotta get the portal situation under control.”

Hurley signed a new contract at UConn last year worth nearly $33 million.

Alabama coach Nate Oats said he’s not leaving for the Kentucky job.  We’ll see who takes it.

Caitlin Clark

I posted right after Sunday’s finale and want to get down the comments of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley on Clark’s legacy:

“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a heavy load for our sport. It just is not going to stop here on a collegiate tour but when she is the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, she’s going to lift that league up as well. So Caitlin Clark, if you’re out there, you are one of the GOAT’s of our game. We appreciate you.”

Nancy Armour / USA TODAY

“There are athletes so transcendent, their impact so transformative, their sports forever defined by the before and after.

“There is baseball before and after Babe Ruth.  Golf before and after Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, and then again before and after Tiger Woods.  Basketball before and after Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

“And there will be basketball before and after Caitlin Clark...She has changed both her game and how women’s sports overall are viewed, very much for the better, and neither will ever be the same.

“ ‘I don’t think it’s ever something you take for granted,’ Clark said the first weekend of the tournament.  ‘I hope it’s going to keep growing across the board, especially when I’m done playing here in college.

“ ‘You’re not just seeing it with Iowa, you’re seeing it all across the country.  It’s hard to get in the doors to women’s basketball games, and that’s exactly how it should be,’ she continued.  ‘That’s how it should have been for a really long time.’....

‘The mockery of women’s sports and dismissiveness of female athletes has largely ended.  The Neanderthals who persist are now seen as relics of the past rather than clever comedians.

“That is Clark’s true legacy.

“The scoring record, the Player of the Year awards – all those things are nice. But it is the silencing of the ‘No one cares about women’s sports!’ peanut gallery and the commanding of long-overdue respect for women’s sports and the athletes who play them that will resonate long after Clark is done competing.

“ ‘I hope they remember how we made them fell, how we brought joy to their lives, how we gave their families something to scream about on the TV on the weekends. I hope those are the biggest things people remember,’ Clark said Thursday.  ‘I hope all the young boys and girls remember the joy that we played with and how we took 10 seconds of our time to sign their autograph and that inspired them to be whatever they want to be.’

“There is the time before Caitlin Clark. We are all the better that she’s relegated that dark age to the past, one logo 3 and ratings record at a time.”

Sunday’s game, preliminarily, drew 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN, which would make it the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men’s NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

The audience for the national title game was up 89% over last year, when Clark and Iowa fell to LSU.

NBA

--Knicks had a terrific road win Sunday night in Milwaukee, 122-109, Jalen Brunson with 43.

East standings

2. Milwaukee 47-31
3. Orlando 46-32
4. Knicks 46-32
5 Cleveland 46-33

MLB

--The Mets (4-6) had a great win in Atlanta last night to open up a four-game series, 8-7, barely hanging on late as Brandon Nimmo had a career night, 4-for-4, two homers, 5 RBIs.  The Braves commemorated the 50th anniversary of Hank Aaron’s historic home run No. 715, April 8, 1974.

--The Yankees defeated the lowly, sad Marlins (1-10), 7-0, Nestor Cortes with eight scoreless, Juan Soto with his first Yankee Stadium home run, and the red-hot Anthony Volpe with a 3-run dinger.  Add it all up and the Yanks, 9-2, have tied a franchise record for the best 11-game start in team history.

--The Pirates beat the Tigers yesterday, 7-4, and with that Pittsburgh, also 9-2, is off to its best start in 32 years!

--Shohei Ohtani hit his third home run, had two doubles, and the Dodgers (9-4) defeated the Twins 4-2.

The MVP trio at the top of the lineup...Mookie Betts, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman...is off to a roaring start.  Betts batting .375, Ohtani .345, Freeman .348.

--With the injuries to starting pitchers Shane Bieber and Spencer Strider over the last few days, and the Marlins losing phenom Eury Perez, there is increased talk about why there are so many pitchers going on the shelf.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal weighed, in part:

“I don’t know the answer to the problem. I don’t know if there is an answer to the problem, considering it goes back decades.  But the entire sport should hit the pause button.

“Pause on bowing to the Driveline gods and all of the technology and data that makes pitchers better but not necessarily healthier.

“Pause on rewarding 120 innings of max effort from starting pitchers when 180 from command-control specialists might prove even more valuable.

“And pause on the latest tired bickering between the union and league, this time about the effect of the pitch clock on pitching injuries.

“Union chief Tony Clark seized upon the latest wave of injuries Saturday to issue a statement decrying the league’s decision – over what he called ‘unanimous player opposition’ – to shave two seconds off the clock with runners on base.  Naturally, the league fired back, citing an analysis by Johns Hopkins University that found no evidence that the introduction of the clock last season produced a greater number of injuries.

“Clark, by using the clock as a bogeyman, came off as opportunistic and a little shrill.  Pitchers didn’t just start getting hurt with the inception of the clock. They get hurt even when their teams try to protect them. They get hurt even if they aren’t max-effort types.  They get hurt under the sun, moon, stars and solar eclipses, and the sport has yet to figure out a way to slow down the pace of injuries, much less stop it.

“That said, Clark had a point. The league, before continuing its ‘let’s shave five more minutes off the time of game’ roll, could have spent multiple seasons studying the effect of the clock.  But instead of continuing to gather data and anecdotal information, it waited only one year after making what Clark accurately called ‘the most significant rule change in decades’ to further push down on the accelerator.

“The Hopkins analysis has not been made public. It currently is in the peer-review process.  Yet, the league already is treating it as gospel....

“The league’s search for answers, though, extends beyond the Hopkins analysis. According to a spokesperson, it has interviewed more than 100 people in all phases of the game, including media officials, for a comprehensive research study it is conducting on pitcher injuries.  Once that study is complete, the league expects to form a task force. The league should include the union in that process. And the union should offer solutions instead of just criticisms....

“Club officials will be the first to tell you they do not want pitchers’ hurt.  Of course they don’t.  But injuries are the unintended consequence of their fixation on short-term results....

“Again, there are no simple answers, not when even teenage pitchers are chasing the improvements in velocity and stuff that get rewarded at the professional level, and breaking down in the process.  But this is a full-blown crisis, and has been for some time now.

“Fundamental changes need to take place – changes in mindsets, changes in training methods, changes incentivized by rule, if necessary.  I’m not sure baseball can wait for the recommendations of a task force that has yet to be formed. The best and brightest in the sport need to get busy, and quickly.

“ ‘This is the kind of pitching that wins,’ is not an acceptable answer. Ask the Braves, Guardians and Marlins. Ask the next club to fall victim to the scourge of pitching injuries.  Teams are not ‘winning.’  The sport is not ‘winning.’  Not even close.”

--I have to go back to Sunday night, after I posted, and Houston’s Ronel Blanco, who had a no-hitter in his first start, threw a no-no into the sixth inning against the Rangers before Adolis Garcia broke it up with a two-out single.

According to MLB.com, Blanco’s 14 2/3-inning hitless streak to begin the season is easily the longest in the Expansion Era (since 1961).

Blanco ended up going six innings, one hit, no runs, and is 2-0, 0.00 ERA, after Houston beat Texas 3-1.

--Mets fans lost a beloved a player on Sunday, long-time catcher Jerry Grote, who if it hadn’t been for him playing during the era of Johnny Bench would have won countless Gold Glove Awards.

But Grote, a 2X All-Star, did help lead the Mets to both the 1969 World Series title, as well as the 1973 NL pennant.  He played with the Mets from 1966-1977, before he was traded to the Dodgers.  Grote remains the Mets’ all-time leader in games played at catcher.

He batted .252 for his career and had 404 RBIs.

“We are incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Jerry Grote. The Mets Hall of Famer was the backbone of a young Mets team who captured the heart of New York City in 1969,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a statement.  “Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Cheryl, family and friends.”

Cheryl announced her husband’s death on Facebook: “It’s with great sorrow that I make this post to all of Jerry’s fans.  Today, April 7, 2024, at 4:29 p.m., I lost our beloved catcher,” she wrote in part. ‘He gave a hard fight to the very end as we all expected he would. He is now home with Jesus.  Thank you for all the memories and support.”

Grote died of respiratory failure following a heart procedure.

The catcher was lauded for his work with a super young staff that included Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Nolan Ryan and Tug McGraw.

He was a classic, no-nonsense Texan, as hard-nosed as they came.

College Baseball

--Baseball America’s Top 25 (as of Monday)

1. Arkansas
2. Clemson
3. Texas A&M
4. Tennessee
5. Vanderbilt
6. Duke
7. Florida State
8. Oregon State
9. Virginia
10. Kentucky

14. North Carolina
18. Wake Forest
20. Virginia Tech
22. Coastal Carolina

Wake is back in the poll after a weekend sweep at Virginia Tech, with our slugger Nick Kurtz back on track in a huge way...8 home runs his last five games, five in the three games against the Hokies, including three in Sunday’s finale. This is the guy that many in baseball said preseason would be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming MLB Draft.

But Wake has a huge game Tuesday against J. Mac’s Coastal Carolina, who blitzed us earlier this year.

Golf Balls

--After I posted I learned that Nelly Korda did it again, as she won the T-Mobile Match Play event at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, overpowering Ireland’s Leona Maguire in the final, 4&3.

So here I wrote about Korda winning three in a row.  Make that four!  The first player on the LPGA Tour since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.

Korda now has a chance to tie the record of five straight held by Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam.

--I’m pumped for the Masters, but worried that LIV golfers will do too well, which would frankly suck.  Three in the top ten, and not the winner, is OK.  More than that would blow.

I hope Rory McIlroy is in the hunt on Sunday and if he doesn’t win it, I want Wake Forrest’s Will Zalatoris or Cameron Young to get the green jacket.  But it would be good for the sport if Scottie Scheffler won...to further cement himself as a superstar.  Superstars are good, sports fans.

Scheffler is a strong 4-1 favorite.  Rory 10-1.  Jon Rahm 12-1.  Xander Schauffele 16-1.

I do have to add that Joaquin Niemann out of the LIV group could be right there at the end.  I’d live with that, grudgingly.

As for the weather, it looks good, except for Thursday.  Given the limited field, at least it would appear there are no problems being on schedule for Sunday.  Friday or Saturday could be a bit chaotic before the cut.

Stuff

--William Byron won a two-lap shootout Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in southern Virginia in the NASCAR Cup Series, defeating Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, the organization becoming the first ever to have its car finish 1-2-3 in the 151 Cup Series races at Martinsville.

Byron, 26, picked up his third victory of 2024 and 13th of his booming career.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m. after The Masters...a tradition unlike any other...on CBS....

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[Posted Sunday p.m.]

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.

Masters Quiz: Name the following runner(s)-up finishers.  You get the initials and the tournament winner that year.  1972 (Jack Nicklaus)...B.C., B.M., T.W. ...1982 (Craig Stadler)...D.P. ...2005 (Tiger)...C.D. ...2006 (Phil Mickelson)...T.C. ...2009 (Angel Cabrera)...K.P., C.C. Answers below.

March Madness

--Saturday’s Men’s semifinals had their moments, though in the first game, underdog 11-seed North Carolina State vs. 1 Purdue, the Wolfpack fell 63-50.

It was 21-11 Boilermakers as they dominated on the offensive boards, though it was just 35-29 at the half and the Wolfpack had a pulse.

But it was dullsville in the second half, as NC State never got closer than 39-33 rest of the way, not one Wolfpack player stepping up in this one.

I kept waiting for DJ Horne to explode the entire tournament and he never did.  He had 20 points Saturday, but after a 6 for 11 first half, he was 2 of 10 the rest of the way, 2 of 8 from 3 overall, NC State 5 of 19 from beyond the arc for the game.

DJ Burns proved he’s not ready for the NBA, 8 points.  Mohamed Diarra, who had been a rebounding machine, had 2 points and 5 rebounds.

NC State sucked.  Actually, they played like the 9-11 ACC team they were this year until the conference tournament.

Meanwhile, for Purdue, Zach Edey was solid, 20 points, 12 rebounds, but the Boilermakers got a good game from guard Lance Jones, 14 points, four 3s, as the team shot 10 of 25 from deep, 40%, which is what they’ll need to do in the final on Monday against UConn.

The defending champion Huskies had a tough time against 4 Alabama, and this one was tied at 56-56 with 12:41 to play before UConn scored the next eight points and Bama didn’t get closer than six the rest of the way, the Huskies with their 11th straight NCAA tourney double-digit win, 86-74.

The Crimson Tide were able to stay close because of spectacular 3-point shooting out of the gate, hitting nine of their first 12 attempts, before going just 2 of 11 the rest of the way.

Grant Nelson, who was so spectacular for Bama against North Carolina in the Sweet 16, had another big game, 19 points, 15 rebounds, and guard Mark Sears showed off his NBA-type game with 24 points.

For UConn, freshman Stephon Castle had 21 and looked like the Top 20 draft pick he is projected to be.  And center Donovan Clingan, top ten, or five, had 18 points and 4 blocks.

But once again all five UConn starters were in double-digits.  The Huskies have too many weapons compared to Purdue, and if Edey and Clingan play to a draw as I expect, UConn will once again roll to a second consecutive title by double digits.

--On the Women’s side, Iowa beat UConn 71-69 in a thriller Friday night in a semifinal contest, but it was a very controversial foul call on the Huskies’ Aaliyah Edwards that was all the conversation after.

Edwards was whistled for a highly questionable offensive foul while trying to set a screen on Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall with less than four seconds remaining.

All of the experts were in agreement, such as ESPN’s Andraya Carter, who said “I hated the call. You’ve got to give Gabbie Marshall credit for trying to fight over the screen.  That’s what drew the refs’ attention in,” Carter said on “SportsCenter” after the game.  “But to me, now that final play it’s not about Iowa defense. It’s about the call the referee made.  There was a slight lean, maybe Aaliyah Edwards’ elbow was slightly out.  But to be honest the calls were even on both sides. There were missed calls for Iowa. There were missed contact calls for UConn.  To make that call at the very end of the game – to me it took away the opportunity for players to make plays. ...To be honest, that call sucked.”

The play was not totally “clean,” as Edwards said she thought it was, but, c’mon...final four seconds?

UConn’s Paige Bueckers took a broader approach.

“Players play.  Players decide the game.

“Everybody can make a big deal out of one single play but one single play doesn’t win or lose a basketball game,” Bueckers said.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after: “There’s’ probably an illegal screen call that you could make on every single possession. I just know that there were three or four of them called on us and I don’t think there were any called on them. So I guess we just gotta get better at not setting illegal screens.”

UConn forced Iowa into back-to-back turnovers and had the ball, trailing 70-69, with 10 seconds left in the game after calling a timeout.

After the call, UConn was forced to foul Caitlin Clark, who hit 1 of 2 free throws before Iowa held on.

UConn led 32-26 at the half, with Clark 0 for 6 from 3, before she got her act together, finishing with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists.

But the real star for Iowa was Hannah Stuelke, who had 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field.

Paige Bueckers, UConn’s star, came up kind of small, 17 points on 7 of 17 shooting. Stars need to step up.

The Hawkeyes then faced the undefeated Lady Gamecocks (37-0), who had their way with the Lady Wolfpack of NC State, 78-59, for the national title Sunday afternoon.

Bad weekend for fans in Raleigh.

--So, in the finale, Caitlin Clark had a record 18 points in the first quarter, Iowa up 27-20, and she sucked after...finishing 10 of 28, 5 of 13 from three, South Carolina winning a third national title for coach Dawn Staley, 87-75.

Clark’s legacy is of course secure, but no national title...and, hey, Pistol Pete didn’t get a title either.

What Clark did is hopefully get millions of little girls outside and playing sports, period, instead of being on their freakin’ phones, which is destroying their lives.

--Friday night’s Iowa-UConn game garnered an average 14.2 million viewers (per a Nielsen estimate), another record (South Carolina-NC State was seen by an average of 7.1 million).

--Going back to last Monday’s Elite Eight game between Iowa and LSU, it attracted an average of 12.3 million viewers on ESPN.  Only one game in the men’s NCAA tournament accounted for more: Duke vs. NC State, with a trip to the Final Four on the line, at 15.1 million.

--The NIT got the final it deserved, Indiana State-Seton Hall at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, so a raucous capacity crowd filled with ISU fans, and The Hall prevailed in a thriller, 79-77.  It was the Pirates’ first NIT title since 1953.

This was the matchup between teams who were probably the first two out for the NCAA Tournament.

Seton Hall’s Al-Amir Daws scored a game-high 24 points, with Kadary Richmond adding 21 and 13 rebounds, but it was Dre Davis with the go-ahead layup with 16 seconds remaining that was the winner, as the Pirates then stopped the Sycamores on the defensive end.

ISU coach Josh Schertz then left to become the next head coach at Saint Louis.

The Sycamores have some attractive portal candidates should they choose to leave, including center Robbie Avila.

The NIT is a good tournament, and having the semifinals and finals at Hinkle is a terrific idea.

But now the assholes at Fox Sports announced they are launching an alternate consolation tournament for high-majors next season, to be played fully in Las Vegas.  Cue Jeff Spicoli.

--The son of LeBron James, Bronny, who made something like $2 million in NIL money while a freshman at USC, entered the draft and also the transfer portal in case he opts to stay in college.

Bronny will work out for and visit a few NBA teams and make a draft decision based on their evaluation.

As for LeBron, he has always talked of wanting to play with his son in the NBA, and there might be some teams that think Bronny is worth a second-round pick to lure LeBron and sell out their arenas in what could be Dad’s final season.

But while he can opt out of his contract with the Lakers this summer and become an unrestricted free agent, LeBron would be leaving more than $51 million on the table.  He’s said in the past, “I’ve done what I’ve had to do in this league and my son is going to take his journey. And whatever his journey, however his journey lays out, he’s going to do what’s best for him. And as his dad, and his mom, Savannah, and his brother and sister, we’re going to support him in whatever he decides to do.  So, just because that’s my aspiration or my goal, doesn’t mean it’s his. And I’m absolutely OK with that.”

There are those, me included, who in looking at Bronny’s stats (4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists) think that this is all ridiculous, but some NBA scouts say he’s got good skills.

One Westen Conference executive told Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, “The things he does well help really good teams.” Those things include displaying good athleticism in transition, a high basketball IQ, strong character and a willingness to be an on-ball defender.

“Mentality wise, he’s a glue guy,” another executive said.

James’ move was precipitated by USC head coach Any Enfield’s departure to coach at SMU.

USC then hired Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, a proven program builder.  He led Nevada to three consecutive NCAA tournament trips before turning Arkansas, a program that languished for two decades in the cellar of the SEC, into a regular contender, including an Elite Eight appearance in his second season, 2021, followed by another Elite Eight in 2022 and a Sweet 16 berth in 2023, before skidding to a 16-17 mark in 2024.

--Yippee...Wake Forest picked up a good one in the portal...App State forward Trevon Spillers.  We’ve lost some to the portal, like guard Boopie Miller, but we were desperately in need of a rebounding forward and Spillers fits the bill...averaging 12.8 points and 8.9 rebounds.

As for Hunter Sallis, he’s going through the NBA evaluation process and could still return to Wake. If he doesn’t...we’re screwed.

NBA

--The Knicks suffered a brutal loss this week when it was announced that Julius Randle will be having season-ending surgery to repair his dislocated shoulder that has kept him out since Jan. 27. He was averaging 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

The hope had been that rehab would be enough to get him ready for the playoffs.  Now, it’s about being ready for next season.

The day the Knicks got the news, though, they had a terrific 120-109 win over Sacramento at the Garden, the Villanova Boys – Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo – combining for 87 points.

But playing back-to-back in Chicago Friday night, New York was tired, and Josh Hart was ejected for a flagrant foul in the first quarter, Knicks falling 108-100.

O.G. Anunoby, however, did finally return from his second elbow issue and played 29 minutes, 12 points, 2 steals.  So at least he should be able to get in playoff shape.

But this team isn’t going beyond the first round, if that, without Randle.  Coach Tom Thibodeau has gotten all he can out of this group of over-achievers.  And now it’s a struggle just to avoid the play-in round.

New York plays at Milwaukee tonight after I post.

Saturday, Cleveland lost to the Lakers, 116-97, helping the Knicks, but Philadelphia won, 116-96 over Memphis, as the 76ers have won four straight, Joel Embiid having returned for the last three, Embiid with 30 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes last night.  So Mark R. and Sixers fans have renewed hope.

Eastern Conference through Saturday

1. Boston 61-16...--
2. Milwaukee 47-30...14
3. Cleveland 46-32...15.5
4. Orlando 45-32...16
5. Knicks 45-32...16
6. Indiana 44-34...17.5
7. Miami 43-34...18
8. Philadelphia 43-35...18.5

The Knicks cannot fall to seven.  On the other hand, us fans know that finishing sixth isn’t all bad, because if we beat the 3-seed in the first round, we wouldn’t face Boston.

Out West, it got interesting heading to the last 4-5 games of the regular season.  Houston, after an 11-game winning streak, has lost its last four, sayonara Rockets, while the Lakers have a shot at avoiding the play-in round, which you know the NBA and its television partners want in the worst way...and, heck, so do I if I’m forced to watch an NBA game not involving the Knicks because there’s nothing else on (though the Stanley Cup Playoffs are about to start...Let’s Go Ran-gers!)

Western Conference

6. Phoenix 46-31...7.5
7. New Orleans 45-32...8.5
8. Lakers 45-33...9
9. Sacramento 44-33...9.5
10. Golden State 42-35...11.5
11. Houston 38-39...15.5...see ya

--I have to go back to last Wednesday and the performance of the Pistons’ Malachi Flynn, who scored 50 points off the bench in simply one of the most surprising single-game performances in league history.

Fifty points in 34 minutes on 18 of 25 shooting, 5 of 9 from 3, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.  But Detroit lost the game, 121-113, to the Hawks.

It was the second-most points off the bench in NBA history, behind only Jamal Crawford’s 51 points on April 9, 2019, but Crawford was an established player, a 3-time Sixth Man Award winner.

Flynn, on the other hand, has been averaging 12.3 minutes a game for three teams this season, including the Knicks.

MLB

--The Oakland A’s announced they will play in Sacramento from 2025-27, filling the gap between their current Oakland Coliseum home and their future Las Vegas stadium, which won’t be ready until 2028.

The Athletics chose Sacramento over several other options, including extending their lease in Oakland and going to Salt Lake City.  The ability to retain local broadcast revenue was apparently a major factor.

Sutter Health Park in Sacramento holds about 14,000 fans, with the A’s sharing the stadium with the Sacramento River Cats, the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

The A’s will simply be that – the “A’s” or “Athletics.”  They will not include “Sacramento” in their team name.

Owner John Fisher, one of the truly awful people on the planet, who ran the franchise into the ground, said in a statement, “We understand the disappointment this news brings to our fans.”

Fisher thanked Sacramento for being “so welcoming” to his team and called Sutter Health Park “the most intimate park in all of Major League baseball” before leaving without taking questions from reporters.

Construction on the Vegas stadium hasn’t even started. The Nevada Supreme Court will hear an argument from the political action committee Schools Over Stadiums on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, this is an opportunity for Sacramento to make its pitch for an expansion franchise down the road.

--Mets fans had a rough first seven days of the season, 0-4, three rainouts.

So Thursday, after two consecutive washouts, the Mets had to play the Tigers for two at Citi Field.

New York lost the first game, 6-3 in 11 innings, being no-hit the last six innings and falling to 0-5.

I was watching the nightcap and Detroit’s Matt Manning (5 2/3) and Tyler Holton (1 1/3) were tossing a no-hitter through seven, 1-0.

Understand, this was supposed to be an off day, the weather sucked, like 40 degrees, windy and there were about 42 fans in the stands.

So at the top of the eighth, the Mets great announcer Gary Cohen said, as the cameras panned the empty stands, and us Mets fans were ready to commit hari-kari... “No one in the ballpark, hitless through 7 [at this point 13 innings combined]...feels like rock bottom.”

But then miracle of miracles, the Mets pulled it out in the bottom of the ninth, 2-1, first win for rookie manager Carlos Mendoza, and we all put our swords away (for now) and breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this team is capable of going 39-123.

And whaddya know, the Mets then beat the Reds in Cincinnati, 3-2, Friday night, on only four hits.

Here’s the thing, after the first seven games, the 2-5 Mets had some rather fascinating statistics.

They were hitting an MLB worst .167, as Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil, three critical components in the lineup, were batting a combined 4-for-66...FOUR-for SIXTY-SIX!  That’s .060, sports fans.

And yet at the same time, the Mets were second in baseball in ERA, 2.18 (Boston a surprising first at 1.60).

So, Saturday, the Mets built a 5-2 lead as Luis Severino had a solid bounce back effort, one earned in five innings, but then the bullpen imploded and the Mets lost 9-6. The trio of Lindor, Nimmo and McNeil went 2-for-12, so they are 6-for-78.

Lindor is now 1-for-31 and is facing a vicious backlash on social media that has been way over the top, to the point that his wife, Katia has lashed back, criticizing the “cowardly social media hate” that “crosses the line” by mentioning the death of the shortstop and their kids.

Just lock these people up.  I’ll be as hard as any fan on underperforming athletes, but there is a line that can’t be crossed.

Mets owner Steve Cohen had to publicly come out and endorse an idea of giving Lindor a standing ovation when the Mets come home, Cohen alluding to Phillies fans last year and their ovation for a struggling Trea Turner.

Well, Lindor doubled and homered today and the Metsies beat the Reds, 3-1, to move to 3-6, Edwin Diaz the save in relief of Sean Manaea, who picks up his first win in a New York uniform.  Good stuff.

--The Yankees are 8-2 after an 8-3 over Toronto today at the Stadium, Giancarlo Stanton with a grand slam, his third homer of the season. He is the only Yankee that I want to do well, seriously.

The guy has not lived up to the contract, to say the least, but he has always handled everything with class and now he seems pretty healthy and he’s still capable of posting big numbers.

--The Cleveland Guardians were off to a 7-2 start through Saturday, but they suffered a huge blow when it was announced that ace Shane Bieber will have Tommy John surgery.

Bieber, 28, the 2020 Cy Young Award winner, has had injury issues the last few seasons, but he had started 2024 in fine fashion, 12 scoreless innings, 20 strikeouts.  But he was pitching despite the elbow getting progressively worse.

For his career, he’s a stud...62-32, 3.22 ERA, 958 strikeouts in 843 innings.

And also this weekend, the Braves announced that All-Star starter Spencer Strider has damage to the ulnar ligament in the righty’s pitching elbow.  Strider is undergoing further examination, but he could be under the knife.

Strider, 25, was 20-5 last season, with a MLB-leading 281 strikeouts in just 186 2/3.

He’s already had Tommy John surgery once before in 2019.

--The Washington Nationals formally announced that Stephen Strasburg, the MVP of the 2019 World Series who spent his entire career with the franchise, was retiring from baseball.

The decision by Strasburg, 35, to walk away caps a 13-year career that, in many ways, mirrored the rise of the franchise, from bottom-dweller to World Series champion – and now back to a rebuild.

Strasburg inked a seven-year, $245 million extension in December 2019, but he pitched just 31 1/3 innings since his spectacular 2019 campaign, 18-6, 3.32, 209 innings, and then a perfect 5-0 in the postseason.

Strasburg had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2021 in an attempt to come back but pitched only 4 1/3 innings after that.

He is expected to be paid the remainder of his contract, $35 million per, 2024-26, but is reportedly deferring some of it.

Strasburg leaves with a career mark of 113-62, 3.24, 1723 strikeouts in 1470 innings.  But in a career that started in spectacular fashion in 2010 with a 14-strikeout debut, he only had 30 starts in three seasons.

This is one case, where despite the team taking a major hit on that big extension, Nationals fans will always welcome Strasburg back to the stadium, because more than anyone that magical year, he delivered a title.

NFL

--In a big trade, the Bills sent disgruntled star wide receiver Stefon Diggs and a pair of late-round picks to Houston for a 2025 second-round selection.

Diggs, 30, had grown increasingly disgruntled, with cryptic tweets and quotes this offseason after a quiet close to the 2023 campaign. He had 834 yards receiving and seven touchdowns through the first nine games last season, but just 349 yards and one score in eight regular-season games thereafter.  He had 73 yards combined in two postseason games, including just 21 in the season-ending loss to the Chiefs.

But Diggs has 1,000+ yards receiving in six straight seasons and 100+ receptions in four straight.  Houston now has a legitimate No. 1 receiver to go along with Nico Collins and Tank Dell for quarterback C.J. Stroud.

The Texans, interestingly, opted to knock off years on Diggs’ original contract from the Bills as he’ll play the 2024 season on a one-year deal, per league sources, making him a free agent after the season.

According to ESPN, the Texans also took $3.5 million guaranteed to Diggs for the 2025 season and moved it up into this season, giving him a raise and assuring him of $22.52 million in guaranteed money in 2024.

--The NFL Draft is just around the corner, April 25, and the Bears met with supposed No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, this week.

--Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was the driver of a Lamborghini involved in a multi-vehicle crash in northeast Dallas last Saturday night that captured a few national headlines, mainly because those in the two cars that were speeding, which caused the crash, the other a Corvette, left the scene of the accident.

In a Thursday news conference, Rice’s attorney said, “Mr. Rice acknowledged that he was driving the Lamborghini, that was the question that was asked,” Royce West said about the police’s investigation into the crash. “He responded to that. That he was driving the Lamborghini.”

When asked why Rice left the scene Saturday, West said that’s “a good question that’s still being investigated.”

The dirtball, who caught 79 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season, with 26 catches in the postseason, needs to be suspended for at least half the upcoming season.  The NFL will definitely come down hard on him.

--Meanwhile, Kansas City’s most prominent sports franchises, the Chiefs and Royals, face an uncertain future in the region after Jackson County, Mo., voters rejected a sales-tax measure Tuesday that would have provided public funding to partially pay for renovations to Arrowhead Stadium and the construction of a new downtown baseball stadium for the Royals.

The defeat was decisive, as just more than 58 percent of voters declined to support an initiative that would have provided about $2 billion in stadium funding for the two teams by replacing an existing tax with a similar sales tax of three-eighths of a cent for 40 years.

The teams play side by side at the Truman Sports Complex, with a lease through January 2031. The Royals are seeking a new ballpark as an alternative to Kauffman Stadium.

The Chiefs had committed $300 million toward a proposed $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium, the NFL’s third-oldest stadium. The Royals would pay at least $1 billion toward a new stadium projected to cost around $2 billion.  Kauffman Stadium is MLB’s sixth-oldest.

The Royals are now a good candidate to relocate, and this wouldn’t be their fault.  Maybe Sacramento.

Frankly, the proposal seemed reasonable.

Golf Balls

--As we headed into the final round of the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, 22-year-old Akshay Bhatia, who has as much raw talent as anyone on tour, was four shots clear of Denny McCarthy.

Bhatia -15
McCarthy -11

And then all the way down to Brendon Todd at -8.  Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Henley -7.

Rory McIlroy, opting to play the week before the Masters, was T7 at -5.

Well, in the fourth round, Bhatia continued to play well, getting it to -19, but Denny McCarthy, always known as a great putter, birdied Nos. 12-17 to also get to -19, out of nowhere, heading to the final hole.

Could McCarthy get his first win, Bhatia looking for win No. 2?

McCarthy birdies 18, seven straight, eight of nine! Could Akshay respond?  He does!  Playoff!

McCarthy then puts his third on the par-5 18th in the water. Bhatia, after an injury delay, puts his third on the green, game over.  Win No 2 for Akshay, and he’s a sleeper Masters winner, if his shoulder is OK.

Rory finished solo third at -11 after a fine six-under 66...so he picked up some confidence heading into next week.

Astounding that McCarthy and Bhatia were eight clear of third.

--Justin Thomas split with caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay ahead of the Masters.

Thomas took to social media to explain the decision:

“While incredibly difficult for me to say, Bones and I have parted ways.  I’m going to be forever thankful for Jim joining me on the bag in 2021.  The things we’ve been able to accomplish together – the PGA Championship in 2022, the Presidents Cup, the Ryder Cups were all unforgettable experiences. His wisdom on and off the course has been a blessing during a tough stretch of my career and he was there every step of the way.

“I know there are great things coming for both of us down the road. I wish him the best of luck and will always count him and his family amongst my friends.”

The highlight of their work together was the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, in which Thomas defeated Will Zalatoris in a playoff to capture his second Wanamaker Trophy. After the victory, Thomas credited Mackay for a pep talk he delivered over the weekend.

But J.T. struggled in 2023 and failed to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Matt Minister, who previously worked with Patrick Cantlay, will be on Thomas’ bag at the Masters next week.

--Speaking of Augusta, it still looks like Tiger Woods is teeing it up.  He named a new caddie, Lance Bennett.

Former Stanford teammate and longtime friend Notah Begay III said this week that Tiger has “zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have.”

At a junior golf tournament Begay hosts (and Charlie Woods played), Woods told Begay, “my ankle doesn’t move.  So something’s going to take the stress.  I mean, the stress is going to transfer somewhere else.”

--LIV Golf played in Miami this weekend at Trump National Doral, and as I go to post, Sergio Garcia and Dean Burmester are in a playoff.  Six people care.

But prior to the event, Bryson DeChambeau and other LIV players echoed the thoughts of Rory McIlroy and other PGA Tour players that the sport needs to be reunited before too many golf fans turn away for good.

“The fans are what drive this sport,” DeChambeau said.  “If we don’t have fans, we don’t have golf. We are not up here entertaining. That’s the most important thing as of right now – the low-hanging fruit. There’s got to be a way to come together.

“And it needs to happen fast.  It’s not a two-year thing.  Like it needs to happen quicker rather than later just for the good of the sport. Too many people are losing interest.”

“The only answer is for us to somehow come together in some sort of terms where it makes sense and for us to be playing all again in somewhat of the same boat,” DeChambeau said.  “It’s great to have the majors where we come together, but we want to be competing – at least I want to be competing – every week with all of the best players in the world.”

But, Bryson, you should have thought of all this before you took the money and left the tour, ditto your cohorts!

Yes, this needs to be resolved, like last December.  LIV golfers want to be able to come back, in any agreement with the PGA Tour and PIF, without penalty, and while there are many PGA Tour players who would accept that, just wanting to move on, for good reason many do not want LIV to return sans sanctions of some kind.

But dammit, resolve this!  The problem is, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is a weakling.  He needs to be replaced with someone from SSG, or Tiger Woods, cut a deal and start fresh with as little animosity as possible in 2025.

And you can’t forget the DP World (European) Tour.  Golf needs this to be successful as well.

But this is all you’re going to hear about next week at the Masters...a tradition unlike any other...on CBS...

--Major apology when it comes to the LPGA’s Nelly Korda.  I totally missed last week that she had won her third straight tournament (three straight starts) in winning the Ford Championship.

Korda became the first LPGA Tour player in eight years to win three straight.  She’s the first American to accomplish this since Nancy Lopez won five straight in 1978.

The 25-year-old Korda has 11 career wins now on the LPGA Tour.

Premier League

--As the Premier League rushes to finish its season, we had midweek and weekend action, and for Tottenham, things tightened up further in the battle for the fourth Champions League slot, as current No. 4, Aston Villa, lost to Manchester City 4-1 and had a 3-3 draw with Brentford.

Tottenham had a 1-1 tie at West Ham, and then hosting Nottingham today, the Spurs got a 3-1 win and are suddenly tied with Villa for the fourth spot, but are ahead on goal differential...and have a game in hand!  They are partying tonight in the pubs in Tottenham.

As for the top three, Arsenal, Liverpool and City won their midweek matches, and then Arsenal and City won on Saturday, the Gunners 3-0 over Brighton, and City 4-2 at Crystal Palace.

Today, Liverpool was at Manchester United and, unlike last Sunday’s dreadful Arsenal-City 0-0 draw, the worst match of the year, Liverpool and United played an exciting, spirited 2-2 match, a huge disappointment and missed opportunity for the Reds, who needed a win to get back on top and instead now trail on goal differential.

For United, they took a 2-1 lead at Old Trafford on a brilliant curling kick by 18-year-old phenom Kobbie Mainoo.  But Liverpool got an equalizer on a penalty kick from Mohamed Salah.

Standings...31/32 of 38 played...MP – Points

1. Arsenal...31 – 71 (51 GD)
2. Liverpool...31 – 71 (42 GD)
3. Man City...31 – 70 (40 GD)
4. Tottenham...31 – 60 (20 GD)
5. Aston Villa...32 – 60 (17 GD)
6. Man U...31 – 49

Stuff

--Max Verstappen, after a shocking early exit at the Australian Grand Prix, resumed his dominance of the circuit by taking the Japanese Grand Prix Sunday, leading from pole to flag. The Red Bull driver comfortably beat teammate Sergio Perez, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third.

Since last year’s Miami GP, Verstappen has only been beaten twice, both times by Sainz.  He now 57 career victories

--An American tourist, a 79-year-old woman who was visiting from Minnesota, was killed by a charging bull elephant that flipped over their safari vehicle in Zambia last weekend.  The day she died she was pictured on the vehicle holding a flower.

She was one of six tourists with the group Wilderness Zambia who were out on a game drive in Kafue National Park when they came under attack by the incensed animal. The video is horrifying, the elephant chasing after the vehicle moments before it charged the group, tipping the truck over as the guide repeatedly yelled at the creature.

One other guest was hurt and taken to a private medical facility.

Elephant remains No. 2 on the All-Species List, behind ‘Dog.’  ‘Man’ has plummeted to No. 491 and that’s being generous.

Top 3 songs for the week of 4/7/79: “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor)  #2 “What A Fool Believes” (The Doobie Brothers)  #3 “Tragedy” (Bee Gees)...and...#4 “Sultans Of Swing” (Dire Straits)  #5 “Shake Your Groove Thing” (Peaches & Herb)  #6 “Music Box Dancer” (Frank Mills...ugh...)  #7 “Knock On Wood” (Amii Stewart)  #8 “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (Rod Stewart)  #9 “Heart Of Glass” (Blondie....double ugh...) #10 “Lady” (Little River Band...the music scene was on the verge of major crapola, as Archie Bunker would have said...D+...)

Masters Quiz Answers: Runners-up...1972: Bruce Crampton, Bobby Mitchell, Tom Weiskopf; 1982: Dan Pohl; 2005: Chris DiMarco; 2006: Tim Clark; 2009: Kenny Perry, Chad Campbell

If you got Bobby Mitchell, you’re good.  He won twice on the PGA Tour, in 1971 and ’72, and I just can’t place the guy at all.  Guess I killed that brain cell in a gin mill in Reno.

Very brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.

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