Day 445

• Add another incident to the NBA list:  Kyrie Irving was nearly beaned by a water bottle thrown by a Celtics fan at the TD Garden last night after Irving's Nets defeated the Celtics.  The fan was arrested.  The fucking time bomb is ticking:  NBA, sports world, entertainment world...   
• And judging by the photo of him being confronted:  White Boy Punk-Ass BITCH!!!  
• The NHL and Canada are still working out details of if and how American teams are going to be able to cross the border once the Canadian division champion is settled in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  To buy time, there is a slight lag in the playoffs between the Canadian/North Division and the other three.  The deadline the NHL set for a possible solution is tomorrow.
• The Copa America is now completely without ANY hosting country, just two weeks before the tournament is scheduled to start -- Argentina can't host it due to it's COVID situation.
• JUST IN 8:40 AM PDT:  Brazil will be the host.
• Helio Castroneves, at 46, became the 4th Indy driver to win 4 Indianapolis 500's today.  The race had a record low 2 cautions (the old record was 4) -- both for crashes, at least one due to a pit error.
• The Maple Leafs and Canadiens will play Game 7 of their Division Semifinal in Toronto tonight.  The Ontario government, today, has allowed 550 frontline workers to attend that game.  I don't think there's too much which can be said as to how much of an honor that actually is for those people, and they deserve the red carpet.   
• The eight-game suspension for the head check for Colorado's Nazim Kadri has been upheld.  He's lucky he's even eligible to play in any more of these playoffs.   
• And to the surprise of no one paying attention to the situation:  Rather than cave to the rules for meeting the media, Naomi Osaka is going home.  Withdrawing from the French, and probably taking time off for her mental health, meaning Wimbledon is gone too, at a minimum.  The statement making the withdrawl has Osaka revealing she has been dealing with near-crippling depression for nearly three years.
• Several hours before the withdrawl, Piers Morgan blasted her in his column, calling her tennis' "petulant little madam".
• And another NBA fan incident tonight - this one seems to be just "Idiot On The Court" variety in Washington for Game 4 with Philadelphia.

Day 444

• If the Tokyo Olympics take place, the 3-on-3 basketball tournament will NOT have the United States.  DID.  NOT.  QUALIFY.
• The French Open fined Naomi Osaka $15,000 of her $70,000 first-round win purse for not speaking to the media, and they (and the other three Slam tournaments) HAVE put default (and future Grand Slam suspension) on the table.  The order is now clear:  Recant your position, withdraw from the tournament, or face a ban from the Grand Slams.   

Day 443

• Be happy I wasn't in Yankee Stadium last night.  I'd be returning to Riker's Island.  Two white male QAnon pissants brought a "Trump Won  Save America" banner to Yankee Stadium and hung it over the edge of the second deck.  Booed vociferously, flipped off, and eventually escorted out...
• If you want to know why this is such a problem, two facts from a new Reuters/Ipsos poll:  61% of all Republicans in the poll stated the same as the banner.
• One out of four Republicans in the poll are now Q-Anon:  They believe this country is being ran by Satanist pedophiles.
• As of late May, the batting average across Major League Baseball is a paltry .237.
• On last night's special Dynamite, AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida was given a new women's title belt during the show, for one year with the championship.  The Spanish announce team, or at least Willie Urbina, was caught on live mic making fun of Shida trying to speak English.  For this, Urbina has been fired, effective immediately.
• Domestic violence incident for the Braves' Marcel Ozuna - arrested today on felony battery charges -- almost an exact year after his wife had the same thing happen to her...
• Bad Memorial Day Weekend so far for the In Memoriam list:  A bike crash took the life of Utah Jazz legend Mark Eaton.
• And high-profile actor Gavin McLeod and singer BJ Thomas ("Hooked on a Feeling", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head") passed today.
• Schools may wish to reconsider firing their principals and, afterward, letting them be part of the school graduation.  Stagg High School in Stockton, CA fired Ben Nakamura by a 4-3 school-board vote, but let him finish the year and speak at the graduation.  Big mistake.  Nakamura went off on the school board at the first of three ceremonies Thursday and aired his dirty laundry, and, after he stormed off the stage, was met by two men, expelled from the remainder of the ceremonies, and escorted from the premises.
• Today was a massive event in Major League Baseball, and no one knew about it.  Josh Donaldson, by scoring a mundane run in one of the early games, actually scored the two-millionth run in the history of Major League Baseball.  
• Stark contrast to May 4, 1975, when Seiko had a promotion which would award a fan $10,000 for naming the player and the date (50 people actually did, a 10-year-old kid won the drawing), give the team $10,000, and the player himself would get 1,000,000 pieces of Tootsie Roll and a digital watch (something unheard of in 1975).  The promotion worked, as, by the end, Bob Watson had been the first run of a two-run Milt May home run -- at about the exact same instant as Dave Concepcion hit a home run in Cincinnati -- at about the same time the Seiko scoreboards around the league noted Run #999,999 had been scored.  So a race around the basepaths happened in two different ballparks...  Watson won the watch, it was believed by four seconds.  Watson's kids were allergic to candy, the Tootsie Rolls were donated to the Girl Scouts.

Day 442

• Southern California, gotta love it!!!  Shihei Ohtani was scratched from his start last night.  Reason?  Southern California traffic!!!
• The Titans' Janoris Jenkins is minus his $250,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith -- stolen from an Atlanta-area airport parking lot while he took a trip to Florida.  And do not be surprised, Mr. Jenkins, at the complete lack of empathy from the parking lot.  They make it clear they have NO RESPONSIBILITIES AT ALL regarding this type of shit.  Good luck.   
• Sounds like the MLS may want to re-examine at least the current ownership in Miami.  $250,000 fine for the managing director and over $2 million in loss of allocated money due to budgetary violations.  There is now some question as to whether Inter Miami can even field a competitive roster.  Violations involving at least five Miami players were involved in the nearly three-month investigation, and probably is a centerpiece as to the owners of Inter Miami saying they wanted to field a competitive club.  The sporting director and COO last year moved to Atlanta, and has been subsequently banned from MLS until at least 2022.  Might want to cut losses here, MLS...  Just saying...  More and more people are seeing that circumventing the financial rules is what gets teams "competitive"...  Isn't that right, Barcelona?  Isn't that right, Manchester City???   
• A second woman has now alleged 2014 sexual misconduct by Roberto Alomar.
• It appears as if there is a rumor that the firing of Patrick Clark (The Velveteen Dream) by WWE was NOT because of underage sex allegations he had been a subject of for at least two years, but an additional incident (of unknown scope) that a top talent in WWE notified the company about.
• Well, if that wasn't obvious enough that Kazuchka Okada is the next IWGP World Heavyweight Champion -- they have to resort to Shingo Takagi for his June 7th title match.  (The card has been moved from next weekend for the purposes of continuing emergency efforts in Japan.)  Uhhh, Japan?  8 weeks now left...   
• The WTA is ordering Naomi Osaka to make herself available to the media for the upcoming French Open, stating that athletes have no less than a "responsibility" to do so.  Osaka has said she will not for her mental health.  Osaka will opt for a $20,000 per match fine instead of the interviews.  This additional statement may indicate the WTA may be prepared to expel the World #2 from the tournament if she does not comply.  Because, according to SportsScriber, even first-round losers get about $70,000.  The champion gets nearly $1.9 million.  

NBA, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER NOW!!!!

• We are now up to at least THREE major fan incidents, involving no fewer than FIVE fans in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, and we're only about halfway through Round One!!!  (They all happened Wednesday night with the fans banned on Thursday.
• The fan who threw popcorn on the Wizards' Russell Westbrook in Philadelphia has been identified, stripped of his season tickets, and banned.
• A Knicks fan spit on Trae Young of the Hawks and has been banned from Madison Square Garden.
• And three Utah Jazz fans have been banned from the Salt Lake City arena after a verbal altercation which appears to have involved Memphis' Ja Morant -- who said, yesterday, it went beyond heckling.

That's FOUR major fan incidents in sports this week (yes, I'm including that debacle at the PGA Championship).

It's time for the NBA and other major sports leagues to get their shit together and understand that there is a subset of the US population which is using the reopening of America with the vaccines as a license to act like abject idiots.

It's rare, really, to even see TWO such incidents.  In a four-day period, we've had FOUR -- including an assault on one injured player, spitting on the opposition's star player, and an incident which may have re-aggravated the knee injury of Brooks Koepka.

The license of the sports fan that Howard Cosell spoke about during his storied life seems to be coming out full-flavor (from his book I Never Played The Game):

"The fan is sacred, even as sports are. He pays the freight, thus he is an entitled being. The media people tell him this every day. Therefore, once within the arena, his emotions whetted by the Sports Syndrome, the fan adopts what John Stewart Mill found to be the classic confusion in the American thought process, the confusion between Liberty and License—a natural and probable consequence of which is fan violence."

This is one of the reasons I damn near went nuclear at that Arena Football League playoff game and the fan interfering in play...

You give these idiots license, or you allow them to TAKE license, and it WILL be on.

You pretty have about 90 days to get this under control and dealt with -- let this seep into football season, and....

Do I even need to tell you?

And if you need a reminder, here's something else I just read:

• The Celtics' Marcus Smart has echoed concerns from Kyrie Irving, who now plays for the Nets, that both heard racist abuse from Boston fans during home games.

Day 440

• The National Anthem is now required BY LAW at all Texas professional sporting events.
• Mickey Callaway has been fired by the Angels and banned from Major League Baseball for at least 18 months for sexual harassment, including the sending of lewd photos to at least five women.
• Major incident in the NBA playoffs.  Russell Westbrook was being led back to the locker room with an ankle injury when an opposing 76er fan dumped popcorn on him.  We nearly had another Ron Artest incident -- at least six men had to hold Westbrook back.
• To the fear of many of his professional wrestling fans, the prognosis for Will Ospreay's neck and back does not look good.  Nor to any of their surprise.   
• Once Real Madrid failed to defend their league title, Zinedine Zidane resigned as manager.
• There is a major brewing incident between Fox Sports and the NFL - a possibly unauthorized airing of a call with Julio Jones (now adding he would not go to the Cowboys) may seriously damage and impair access to the Falcons and to major matchups for Fox in the new TV contract.
• There is increasing speculation that not only did Congress want to get involved in an investigation of Spygate in 2008, but that Donald Trump actually attempted to bribe a US Senator then to stop that investigation.  HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM......  And I'm not necessarily saying that on any ground outside the NFL and it's rigging itself!!!   
• Speaking of the Patriots, their former kicker, Adam Vinateri, retired from the NFL today.
• The spotter for Chase Elliott has been banned by NASCAR for being charged with assault of a pregnant woman (the unborn child carries an additional offense in the state in which the assault occurred).  An additional charge for NASCAR is that the spotter was required, under the rules, to notify NASCAR within 72 hours of the charge or before the next race -- he did not do so.  Hendrick has fired him -- it is unknown at this time whether the additional NASCAR offense will result in penalties to the Elliott team.  
• A legal complaint has been filed over the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves -- and part of that complaint is the possibility that the new owners may attempt to move the team.
• And in continuing Aaron Rodgers IDIOCY...  We have "The Match 3".  July 6th.  Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers...  and THE SHAM BEAU.  FUCK THAT ROIDIE FUCK -- AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, RODGERS....  Burn a few more bridges while you are at it. 

Day 439

• I'll start this one a shade on the early side.  Personal reasons.
• Not a great sign for the Tokyo Olympics.  With just two months before the Opening Ceremony, the United States has now placed the country of Japan under the Do Not Travel List for COVID considerations.
• The head of the PGA has been forced to apologize for the crowd mob on 18 with Phil Mickelson's victory.
• And no, Deadspin, I don't think this was the creation of a picture moment.  I think it was something far worse -- I think this might be the very beginnings of America deciding that all reasonable conduct is basically out the door.  There is NO WAY IN HELL that should've been even remotely allowed on Sunday, and the crowd was out of control, to state it best.  I don't think this was a "Made For TV" moment or anything of that ilk.  I think this is an indication that, as America opens up, there is going to be a lot of this kind of out of control behavior.   
• Julio Jones has all but said he's gone from the Atlanta Falcons.  Preferred destination:  The building superteam in New England.
• Three-time Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Sun Yang from China is at the Council for the Arbitration of Sport, trying to get reinstated in time for Tokyo from a second circumstantial WADA ban for doping.  The CAS is being forced to reconsider an eight-year ban for Yang on the basis of impartiality.  If the CAS is having that degree of a problem, I'm not sure there's anywhere, sans a relevant court, to go -- Yang has already gone there once in Switzerland to reverse the eight-year ban, but...   
• It really appears as if the collectible card-gaming industry is going to have to re-examine policies.  Scalpers overwhelmed a WalMart in Pennsylvania, with the accompanying fight, for Pokemon cards (and, apparently, there is a shortage of these).  And, noting the pictures and video I saw on Kotaku, they weren't players.  No chance in Hell...   
• Aaron Rodgers has spoken up, saying his gripe is with franchise philosophy, not that they drafted Jordan Love specifically.  I think this is a veiled way of saying he wants to go to a team the NFL is going to push to a Super Bowl.  Of course, that would basically limit him to a couple of POSSIBLES, and that's about it!  (And Denver is NOT one of them -- if he's willing to do 2-3 years in Las Vegas, that MIGHT BE, but not next year!)  
• (But if the shocking word gets out he's headed to replace Cam Newton...)
• Iowa college basketball player Jordan Bohannon was beaten up in Iowa City Sunday morning.  Blind-sided, serious head injury.  Recovering at this time, however.  Bohannon, a redshirt fifth-year senior, will take a sixth year at Iowa next year, due to COVID allowances.
• In what could be the end of high-school athletics as you know it (if it takes flight), at least six national-powerhouse high-school boys basketball teams are launching a national superconference this Fall and Winter.  Living in a general area of a couple of the "athletic factories" of national note, I've always wondered when the day would come they would just shed the local conferences and do the games which mean anything to them...   
• It appears as if only two teams will not have full capacities in the NFL by September.  It is not immediately clear which two.
• It appears as if any punishment for DeSean Watson -- criminal, civil, or otherwise (NFL, etc.) -- will wait until at least 2022.  He will probably not be deposed on the civil suits until then.

Day 437

• Terunofuji needed a playoff match with rival Takakeisho to win the May sumo tournament, but he has won his second consecutive tournament.  However, since the first was not at the second rank of Ozeki (this one was), he does not qualify yet for consideration for Yokozuna.  (A victory in July, however...)
• Phil Mickelson did it.  No one knows how, but he successfully completed the oldest major win (and became the second-oldest golfer in history to win any PGA event and only the eighth over 50 to do so) to win the 2021 PGA Championship.
• The 18th hole, however, was marred by the excitement of the mass gallery.  I am not necessarily talking COVID concerns here, but the crowd mobbed toward the green after Mickelson and final-pairing partner Brooks Koepka made their second shots.  In doing so, both had to wrestle their way through the mob, and, it is now reported, Koepka had his injured knee bonked on the way through.
• Former Michigan State and Orlando Magic basketball player Keith Appling, now 29, is the prime suspect in the shooting murder of a 66 year old man.  It is at least his third major brush with the law since failing in the NBA.

Day 436

• An early report this morning that LeBron James violated NBA protocols before the play-in game with the Warriors by attending an event for one of the brands he supports.  It is unclear whether James is vaccinated or wants to be -- or what happens now with respect to the series the Lakers are about to start!  One other unvaccinated Laker player claims LeBron has not, and the question of NBA protocols indicates there may be at least a third Laker unvaccinated.

Day 435

• Unrest in Colombia will probably mean that Argentina will host the Copa America alone -- that is, if their COVID situation allows for that!!!
• Several scandals in the world of sumo during the May tournament.  The top-ranked fighter in the tournament in the absence of the sole Yokozuna Hakuho, Ozeki West Asanoyama, was expelled from the tournament due to violations of COVID protocols stemming from a hostess club visit during the tournament, and lying to officials because of it.  He faces, at best, multiple demotions and multiple tournaments suspended (a similar offense, at least with respect to restaurants, cost a rikishi three tournaments last year) -- and deserves no less than expulsion from the sport of sumo.
• And then there's probably the new #1 hopeful for Yokozuna, Terunofuji, who will win his third tournament in 12 months with one more win.  The problem for him?  A hair-pulling foul which is his sole blemish on his May tournament record.  Even if he wins this tournament and July, that foul will have to be considered when a layman group would consider Terunofuji for Yokozuna.
• Fears of COVID with the Seattle Mariners now.  Traveling party person tested positive, most of the team...  unvaccinated.
• Three stories of the probable future, or lack thereof, of college sports in this country:  Scoot Henderson has finished high school in three years and will go directly to the NBA G-League rather than even risk college.  Because of NBA Draft rules, he actually must now spend two years with the Ignite (the G-League's team for prospects), and is the first high school "junior" to choose the G-League.  
• Henderson is the #7 2022 prospect for college.  The #2 prospect for 2021 has said he plans to join the Ignite, but has not committed yet.
• And Jaydon Blue, a Houston, TX high-schooler, has committed to Texas already as a junior in high school.  Because he wants not to be injured for his senior high-school season, he's forgoing it completely to prepare for college.  And this, unlike some people this year, is NOT a spring-season-change decision.
• Bryson DeChambeau, for the second day in a row, just hit a pitching wedge onto the 17th at the PGA Championship.  That 17th is playing 194 with a 20 MPH wind in his face!  So this fucker, FLIES THE PIN on the short side, gets the ball to stop, and basically hits a pitching wedge the equivalent of about 235!!!!  NO FUCKING STEROIDS HERE, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
• Colorado Avalanche have probably lost Nazem Kadri until the conference finals -- eight game suspension for a head check.  It's his sixth NHL suspension and his third in the playoffs.
• Current NBA prediction:  Nets from the #2 in the East vs. the winner of Lakers/Clippers in the West -- no, not rigging FOR, rigging against Utah and Dallas....
• Historic moment in MLB today:  May not know the name, Jose Godoy, 10 years in the minors with St. Louis and Seattle, debuted in the majors tonight -- becoming the 20,000th Major League Baseball player.

Day 434

• Two MASSIVE wrestling stories to start:  First, the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is now vacant.  Will Ospreay has been injured.  Neck injury in his May 4 title defense -- he's headed back to the UK.  His style is very reckless on his neck, and it's not a surprise.  It appears as if the title is headed "back" to Kazuchka Okada.   
• Though the WWE is not reporting it, the Velveteen Dream, Patrick Clark (accused all over the place of underage sex), has FINALLY been fired from the company.

Day 433

• Uh oh.  At least two NHL teams are among situations being retested today after the lab the NHL is using may have released a high number of false positives in COVID testing.
  
• They were St. Louis and Las Vegas, and have both been cleared due to "errors".
• Drake Wuertz has been fired by WWE -- the referee has become a noted anti-mask QAnon type. Although McMahon almost-certainly politically agrees with him, he can't risk the number of outbreaks he's already had in his company.   
• Now word coming out that a large part of his firing was large-scale discomfort and not feeling safe with him refereeing matches -- and there was an incident about inclusiveness in WWE (you can insert your scoff here), and when religions were mentioned, Wuertz abruptly got his stuff and left the meeting!
• Less than 24 hours after no-hitter number 5*...  Corey Kluber continues the dominance -- the SEVENTH ACTUAL NO-HITTER, and it's only May 19th -- no hits the Rangers about 22 hours after the last no-hitter!!!
• A committee of Japanese doctors in Tokyo has urged the cancellation of the 2021 Summer Olympic Games.  At the same time, NBC is openly advertising, on their playoff hockey, US Olympic Trials for June and the July 23rd Opening Ceremonies.   

Day 432

• Mike Trout is out through about the All-Star break with a calf strain.
• Boston is the 7 seed in the East for the NBA playoffs.  Charlotte is eliminated with the 9-10 loss to Indiana.  Washington and Indiana will play for the 8 seed.
• The main event of the play-in -- a 7-8 between the Lakers and Warriors -- is tomorrow.
• Stanford has reconsidered eliminating 11 sports in light of new financial realities.
• Another night of baseball near-no-hitters.  Juan Urias gave up only one hit through 6 against the Diamondbacks.
• Didn't compare to what Spencer Turnbull did to the Mariners tonight for his Tigers.  Turnbill no-hit the Mariners for the sixth actual and fifth recognized no-hitter of the season...  It's May 18th.
• The MLB record for the modern era is 7, three times (1990, 1991, and 2012).  1884 had eight.  I have a feeling there will be far more than that by the time we reach October at this rate!  Thank you to my anonymous baseball-historian friend for that statistic.   
• And to MLB.com for not making us have to subscribe to see the final two innings.   

Day 431

• International human-rights groups are increasing pressure on nations to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics next year.
• Marv Albert is finally hanging up the microphone after these NBA playoffs at age 80.
• With a pre-pandemic change in the major schedule, this week is the PGA Championship.
• Speaking of "setting the business back 30 years" and Vince McMahon's hypocrisy:  A match between Damien Priest and The Miz last night on the WWE's monthly Peacock special was a lumberzombie match, with low-level trainee talent dressed up as zombies to promote Batista's new Netflix picture...
• New York Racing Association has banned Bob Baffert -- none of his horses will be allowed at the Belmont.  I wonder if this decision would've been made if Medina Spirit had won the Preakness...  Just saying...
• Nashville's Sam Bennett will likely be suspended a significant portion of the Tampa Bay series for a predatory boarding hit on Tampa's Blake Coleman.  A hearing has been scheduled for today.
• That's right -- I forgot...  In the playoffs, one game is "significant".  One-game suspension for Bennett.

Day 430

• Video game legend Daigo Umehara is the latest high-profile Japanese person announced as to ending up in the hospital with COVID.  He is doing better, however.
• Also hospitalized in the last year or so, Final Fantasy XIV lead composer Masayoshi Soken announced today he had been diagnosed with cancer and was in a Japanese hospital for much of 2020.  For now, it appears in remission.
• First round of the NHL playoffs is in full swing.
• Today is the last day of the NBA regular season -- play-in tournament (7 v 8 for the 7 seed, loser plays the winner of the 9 v 10 for the 8 seed) starts Tuesday.

Day 429

• Ja'Wuan James was fired by the Broncos yesterday for suffering an Achilles injury off-site.  Former 2014 Titan first-rounder.
• And they probably are going to also fire DaeSean Hamilton for the same thing -- and the fact the team was trying to trade him isn't going to help his situation.
• No Triple Crown, regardless, now:  Rombauer won the Preakness today.
• And in a move which might send some heads reeling:  It's in the "Sources Say" phase, but Albert Pujols, after making an offer for a reduced role with the Cardinals, may be staying in Los Angeles -- as a Dodger!

Day 428

• One of the most controversial pro wrestlers of the world, Jerome Young -- known as New Jack -- passed away today of a heart attack.  Surprised it wasn't something more major...
• To what should be no surprise, they're allowing Medina Spirit to race tomorrow.
• Antonio Brown has been sued for an incident last year with a moving truck driver.

Day 427

• It's official.  The lack of assurance of corporates, etc., has moved the all-English UEFA Champions League Final not to Wembley, but to Portugal...  12000 fans will be allowed to attend, if they enter and leave in an enforced bubble the day of the match.
• Police are already barricading Old Trafford, as protests are planned to disrupt today's rescheduled Liverpool match.  Cops from all over England are barricading the stadium to ensure the match takes place.
• An effort to get the match abandoned again has begun.  The Liverpool team bus has been blocked and, if I'm reading correctly, it's tires cut.
• But it was a decoy bus -- Liverpool entered the stadium about 75 minutes before kickoff.  Manchester United actually had it's players and the like drive themselves in several hours beforehand.  So both teams are now in the stadium.
• The match finally did take place:  Liverpool won 4-2.
• Gleyber Torres of the Yankees is COVID-positive -- the first player in the Yankee outbreak.

Day 426

• Looks like we may have an outbreak with the Padres.  Wil Myers has tested positive (and he was NOT in yesterday's moves), so has Fernando Tatis Jr. (so the moves yesterday appear to be direct-COVID related and not contact tracing)....
• Kris Bryant took ill yesterday and was removed from the Cubs game.
• Should we make it to September in one piece, the NFL is going with tried and true for it's first game:  The Thursday opener will be the banner-raising for the Bucs, against the one team which can draw consistent ratings for the league -- the Cowboys.
• Entire Week 1 schedule has been announced, ahead of tonight's full-schedule reveal.  Highlights:  Pretty dry early Sunday block.  Best there is probably Seattle traveling to Indianapolis.  Late block does have a good headliner, if Rodgers stays:  Green Bay at New Orleans.  Prime-timers appear to be the fan debuts of the new stadiums:  Chicago to debut for fans at SoFi against the Rams Sunday night, and Baltimore heading to Allegiant Stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders' fan opener.  
• CONFIRMED:  Only one Monday Night game to open this year -- but, in exchange, ABC and ESPN get a doubleheader on Saturday in the new Week 18 -- and it's two playoff-implication games which will be slotted in there.
• Ajax just won the Eredivisie (the Dutch league) championship.  In a gesture toward their many fans, they requested a second trophy -- they melted down the first one to create 42,000 stars to represent the season-ticket holding fans who were unable to see the team win the championship this year.
• The owner of Leicester City sent a banner, a medal, a ribbon, and face crayons (jokes on Reddit were saying a taser  :) ) to every season-ticker holder and official member of the fan club, in front of their first FA Cup Final since 1969.
• And it appears an outbreak has actually made it through the vaccinations for the Yankees -- three positives on the team staff, the first and third-base coaches and an unnamed third...  To this point, neither any games with San Diego or the Yankees are, as yet, postponed.  Ruh roh...   
• The International Olympic Committee still insists the Tokyo Olympics will be held as (re)scheduled.
• Late afternoon report from manager Boone -- 7 Yankee staffers now infected with COVID.
• Blake Bortles is now rumored to be headed to Green Bay.
• All sportsbooks have taken Green Bay off the board for win total.  William Hill is hinting the Packers would finish third in the NFC North without Rodgers.  Lower.   
• 16-1 on New England winning the AFC, however???  Call me if I can safely make Vegas in three months.  Brady vs. Belichick I Week 4 in Foxboro.

Day 425

• First time in the history of the English Premier League that the relegation decision has been made with three full rounds to go:  WWE will be happy that Fulham became the third relegated team for the season.
• And now the Khans will have a circus in American football too -- Tim Tebow is back, as a tight end for the Jaguars.
• Bob Baffert is actually thinking he can blame "cancel culture" for the doping controversy.  Maybe someone needs to look into the other six Derby winners he's had.   
• No protests today for the Manchester United match home to Leicester City.  Thursday's reschedulement with Liverpool, on the other hand....
• Continuing decline of ESPN:  Kenny Mayne is out of the network after 27 years.
• Russell Westbrook has manipulated his way to the NBA record for most triple-doubles in a career.
• Rapper J.Cole will be playing professional basketball...  in Africa.
• No word as of yet as to whether Medina Spirit will be allowed to enter this week's Preakness Stakes.
• And, almost predictably, the gypsy homophobe Tyson Fury is headed back to Saudi Arabia, this time to defend the heavyweight championship of the world against Anthony Joshua.
• Derby winner-presumptive Mandaloun will not run in the Preakness Stakes -- so if the DQ of Medina Spirit stands, that's it for the 2021 Triple Crown.
• It appears that if Aaron Rodgers leaves Green Bay, so will Davante Adams.  And they won't be alone...   
• The Olympic torch relay will not pass through Hiroshima due to Japanese lockdowns.
• 24 hours from an announcement, it appears the all-England Champions League final will be played...  in Portugal.
• All but certain "sacrifice to football":  Colt Brennan, former star quarterback of Hawaii -- gone at 37.  Never got to play in the NFL, substance abuse littered his later life -- passed at a rehab facility he'd been in for five months.
• Major League Baseball has approved that Oakland can begin to explore relocation if a new stadium is not approved Real Soon Now...
• Manchester City have officially won the English Premier League with Leicester City's 2-1 victory at Manchester United.
• If Medina Spirit is allowed to run on Saturday, he will go from Post Position 3, and is the 9-5 favorite with the opening odds for the Preakness.
• Not sure whether this is illness or contacts, but three members of the Padres are now on the Injured List due to COVID protocols, including Fernando Tatis Jr.
• Mr. Helmkamp, the only action you can take is the termination of the sport of football.  Period-end.

Day 424

• Poll released today from Japan has 60% of those polled wanting the Tokyo Olympics called off.
• Apparent policies may make the Tokyo Olympic ceremonies interesting:  Athletes will all but certainly be there only for the duration of their events -- get there a few days before, leave as soon as they are done.
• And my anonymous friend has figured you fuckers out again.  When discussing the 73,000 who saw the fight Saturday night in Dallas, my friend was very clear:  That had nothing to do with the boxing...  It was all an anti-mask, anti-social distancing event.  The world is watching, kiddos.   
• Look for an NBA suspension of Luke Doncic of the Mavericks early this week.  Tossed for the second time in five games, one technical from triggering the Rasheed Wallace Rule.  Few days ago it was two technicals -- last night was a shot to the nuts.  Four games to go in the regular season.  NBA must either suspend him for them all or penalize the Mavericks more fully by tossing him for Game 1 and/or 2 of the playoffs.   
• Juventus will be EXPELLED from Serie A if they don't drop the Super League boondoggle.
• FP Santangelo has been accused of sexual misconduct.  Former Expo, former Giant, was broadcasting for the Nationals.  The Nationals have pulled their permission.
• David Griffin has been fined $50,000 by the NBA for comments the EVP of basketball operations for the Pelicans made insinuating that the officiating has allowed players to repeatedly strike Zion Williamson's hands, leading to a thumb injury which now has Williamson out, and probably for the rest of the season.  The Pelicans, with four games left, are two games out of the play-in tournament in the West.

Day 423

• In another example of that I'm not sure when these "Numbered Posts" are going to end:  Leave it to combat sports to try the luck against the coronavirus.  Dallas, TX just broke a record for the largest ever boxing crowd for an indoor venue in the United States, as over 73,000 people say Canelo Alvarez continue his unbeatable streak in unifying most of the super-middleweight belts.
• It now appears the UEFA Champions League final will take place fanless in Turkey -- if it takes place at all!  The only stadium UEFA is willing to consider (and this is with removal of restrictions the Brits might not agree with) for the Final is Wembley.
• The Mirror in England has actually slammed this all-England final between two of the Super Six as the first "European Super League Final".
• And we may now have the SECOND Kentucky Derby winner DQ'ed.   Medina Spirit has failed the post-race drug test, popping for betamethasone, which was also found in another Bob Baffert horse which finished third in last year's Kentucky Oaks.
• Later in the morning, Churchill Downs has banned Baffert and has provisionally disqualified Medina Spirit in favor of second-place finisher Mandaloun -- Medina Spirit would be second horse disqualified from winning the Derby for medications, and the third overall (two in the last three years).
• Baffert appears to be drugging his horses well outside the rules -- in the last 12 months, five Baffert horses have failed state drug tests.  Baffert won an appeal off a 15-day drug suspension last year in Arkansas.
• Medina Spirit was the seventh Baffert horse to win the Derby, including American Pharoah, who won the Triple Crown.
• And, as I pointed out, 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify was also illegally drugged.
• Sounds like the situation with New Japan Pro Wrestling is far more serious than just the lockdowns.  A total of nine NJPW wrestlers have tested positive for the coronavirus.  They will shut down for at least the remainder of the month -- and given the current state of matters in Japan...
• Kenoh from NOAH has also been hospitalized with the coronavirus.

Day 422

• Calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics again are at a fever pitch with the new Japanese restrictions in mind -- 240,000 signatures to call off the Games have been received in two days.
• The May sumo tournament is still on.
• Wigan Athletic last year, Sheffield Wednesday this year.  Points deductions have sent another team to League One from the Championship, as a late Cardiff goal and a late Derby County penalty mean Derby County is up, Sheffield Wednesday is down.
  
• Speaking of Wigan Athletic, they have survived and will stay in League One next season.
• Speaking of Sheffield, Sheffield United will replace Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, demoted from the Premier League.  In 34 matches, they have only 17 points.  First time in history that both Sheffield teams take the drop.
• They will all but be joined by the Khans' Fulham side, going to be demoted as well from the Premier League.
• One of MTV's biggest 1980's sex kittens - Tawny Kitaen - has passed away at 59.

Day 421

• Two asshole Republican states, Montana and South Carolina, have ended their involvement with Federal unemployment benefits to try to force people back to work.  You know, dumbshits on the Right, since we don't have slavery in this country anymore -- if you want people to work, you gotta make it worth it.  It's one of the main reasons that hard work is a zero in this country anymore...   
• The Aaron Rodgers saga is continuing -- it appears latest word is Denver is the destination.  If he actually thinks he can win a Super Bowl before he is forced from the league by age in Denver, he's a bigger idiot than many Packer fans are...   
• I still have a couple major stories I've been having in the tank for some months now -- but permissions and energy are holding them up at this point.  Stay tuned.
• Japan, in a last-ditch effort to save the 2021 Summer Olympics in a country only 2% vaccinated (in comparison, the US is over 1/3 vaccinated!!), has extended the lockdown through the end of the month, with the Olympics six weeks away at the end of the month.
• This means New Japan Pro Wrestling is shut down again, now looking at two stadium shows they had planned for May now scrapped.
• Major League Baseball, in trying to continue to cover up and defend the Astros, has been trying to force fans to tone back the rhetoric against the team.  One Yankee fan got his costume for the game confiscated as a result, according to Yahoo!  Another day at the office for a new nickname my anonymous friend came up with:  The Houston WAAAAAHstros...
• With the Champions League now an all-England affair, there is a move to move the Champions League finals to the UK, since no supporters can go to the original site in Turkey.  Cardiff, Wales and Tottenham are the two potential offered neutral sites.
• Villereal of Spain kept both major UEFA club championships from being English-only, ousting Arsenal after Manchester United won their two-legged tie over Roma.  That final is in Gdansk.
• First UEFA punishment for the Super League breakaway is out:  5% loss of revenue for UEFA competition and a 15 million euro donation to grassroots soccer initiatives.  Any further attempt costs them a hundred million euros.  I still like the two-year UCL ban.   
• Three teams:  Juventus, Barcelona, and Real Madrid...  Are still not renouncing the situation, and they probably WILL be banned at least two years.
• Barcelona and Real Madrid have just been named to a list of the 10 most valuable sports franchises in the world.  Only one other soccer team is on the list published by Forbes.  
• The Cowboys are #1 at $5.7 billion.  The Yankees #2 at $5.25 million  The Knicks, somehow, are #3 at $5 billion (probably includes Madison Square Garden in that valuation!).  The Warriors and Lakers are #6 and #7 after Barcelona and Real Madrid.  $4.7 billion with the new arena for the Warriors, $4.6 billion for the Lakers.    The Patriots and Giants are #8 and #9 at $4.4 and $4.3 billion.  Bayern Munich is #10.
• Make that FIVE actual no hitters this season so far.  Wade Miley of the Reds no-hit the Indians tonight.
• Only one other time has baseball had five no-hitters this early in the year, according to Elias Sports Bureau (through the Botball Discord):  1917!

Day 420

• A national day of reckoning is growing closer, where millions could end up on the streets.  The national eviction ban has been nullified because the CDC had no authority to impose it.  (State bans, like California's, probably still stand.)  ETA:  A stay has been granted so the government can appeal the ruling.
• The Tom Wilson incident had consequences this time -- the rematch the next night between the Rangers and Capitals had a number of fights, including a line brawl at the open with six players going to the box.  The moment Wilson got on the ice, he got nailed in a fight and went to the box too.
• Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets have been fined $35,000 each for Irving's refusal to speak to the media.  Second time Irving and the team have been fined for his refusals, $60K total.  In before:  "I'm only here so I don't get fined."   
• If you want an indication of how far the pendulum has swung this year in Major League Baseball:  We are five weeks into this season.  The THIRD official (and FOURTH actual) no-hitter of the season has already been recorded.  John Means of Baltimore no-hit Seattle last night, and came within a wild pitch on a third strike of a perfect game!
• There were three no-hitters in about a seven-week period in 2019, and a fourth earlier in the season.
• In 2015, there were four in five weeks, and three in 18 days (not dissimilar to this year).
• In 2012, there were seven in the season, and three in 13 days.
• Manchester United will now play league matches on May 9th, 11th (moved back a day), 13th (the rescheduled match) and 19th.  The question now is the three latter matches, all at Old Trafford.
• Champions League final is all-English:  Chelsea vs. Premier League Champions (and they should already be such, due to the protests) Manchester City
• Yep, there's the NHL I know and "love":  The New York Rangers have been fined $250,000 for criticizing the lack of a real penalty for Tom Wilson.
• And a 5+ game suspension for Pavel Buchnevich of the Rangers for a high-sticking incident during the game.
• End of an era:  Albert Pujols has been released from the Anaheim Angels.
• Apparently, there is now a report claiming that the number of people killed due to the coronavirus may be twice the admitted number worldwide -- meaning a potential US death toll of about 1.18 million, if that were the case.
• Willie Mays turns 90 today.
• State of the country:  CNN reports 1 out of every 3 new stores opening is a Dollar General store -- so not just a dollar store, one particular chain of one.
• Sacrifice to football, and a story to keep an eye on:  Jake Ehlinger, a Texas linebacker whose brother quarterbacked the Longhorns, died off-campus today.  No word why -- yet.  Father died of a heart attack at 46, and Jake's death is not believed suspicious, so a congenital heart condition is possible.
• In a move which might hearken more later on, Hartford University, who made the Division I men's basketball tournament this year, will transition all the way to Division III in 2025.

Day 419

• Possible one in New Orleans last night.  Second of a back-to-back between the Warriors and Pelicans, and the Warriors won the first one and led the second one by six with Steph Curry on 35 points with four minutes to go in the third quarter.  Then the lights went out for a minute, and Curry scored two more points the entire game and the Pelicans won by 5.  That sounds AWFULLY familiar...   
• The New York Rangers, after Tom Wilson skated with a $5,000 instigation fine for his role in a fight the night before, yesterday called for the immediate termination of the head of the Department of Player Safety.
• Yankees fans gave the Astros the business last night.  So did the Yankees -- they won 7-3.
• At least four of the 12 Super League clubs will probably be banned from the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League for two years.
• Another extra-inning loss, and, yes, it's the first week of May, but that 12-2 start or whatever it was for the Dodgers is fading quickly.
• Chris Jericho took a top of the cage spot for the Pinnacle to defeat the Inner Circle in the Wargames-style Blood and Guts match tonight on AEW Dynamite.  Word is this is to get Jericho off the show for a little while.
• An agent for the Department of Homeland Security says the images discovered in the Josh Duggar child porn case are among the "top five" worst he's ever seen.  Someone needs to shoot that fucker.  Yeah, I said it.

Day 418

• Not very good in Washington Capitals land right now.  Two players, Ilya Samsonov and Evgeny Kuznetskov were technically suspended by the team for last night's game with the Rangers for being late to a team function.
• And, during that game, Tom Wilson struck again -- apparent cheap-shot punch instigating a fight.  Fined $5,000 by the league, no further action.  League's playing favorites with this piece of shit.   
• Big game tonight in the Houston Fuck Off Tour -- they're going to Yankee Stadium...
• One ESPN analyst now says that it will take a miracle for Rodgers to return to Green Bay, and one highlight piece has literally been beating the war drums as to what the Packers can get for him.  They lose Rodgers, they go from probably #2 in the NFC to probably #2 to #3 in their division -- he's the only reason they are RELEVANT.  And it's clear and I'll say it:  Goodell wants him gone because they've already had to job Green Bay, now, THREE TIMES without any more justification than that the other team was being pushed.   \
• And, as such, I'm not sure Terry Bradshaw got the memo -- who no less than called Rodgers "weak" and told the Packers to let Rodgers retire.

Day 417

Starting with odds and sods:

• You may have never heard of the golfer Cameron Tringale.  I certainly hadn't before this morning.  But he is one of the greatest golfers in the history of the PGA Tour.  Seriously, the guy, with a third-place finish at the just-completed Valspar Championship, has won over $13,700,000 on the PGA Tour.
• That's a record.  No, not the one you think unless you read the same MSN article I did!  That is the largest amount of money ever won on tour without ever winning a single PGA event.  He broke the record, this weekend, of Brian Davis.
• According to ESPN, 100th place on the all-time list is just over $18,500,000.  So he's not that far!
• Three-time Indy 500 champion Bobby Unser passed away this morning.
• Boxer Felix Verdejo has been charged with killing a woman whose body was found on his property.
• Fourth-round Titans draft pick Rashad Weaver, arrested for assaulting a woman two weeks before the Draft.

Day 416

• And in karmic fashion, Essential Quality finished fourth to 12-1 shot Medina Spirit.
• And "Mattress Mack" ate a $2,400,000 gambling loss as a result.
• Gambling handle on the race was down about 4% from the last regular-scheduled Derby 2 years ago.  
• Face it, people...  Sports, as you knew them, are probably never getting back to 100%.  Better retrain your expectations accordingly.   
• Want some more examples?  Due to French COVID restrictions, the European Rugby League championships have been moved to Twickenham Stadium in London -- and they're hoping, in about three weeks, for about 10,000 fans for each of two days.
• The West Australian derby match for Aussie Rules tonight was played without fans due to an outbreak in Australia.  There is talk there are now variants of the virus which may have mutated upwards of four times.

MAJOR anti-Glaser protest incident in Manchester today:

• Stadium invasion and hotel protest in Manchester this morning -- continuing protests attempting to oust the Glazers as Manchester United's owners and institute "50+1" to English soccer, where no real action could be taken such as a Super League without the consent of 50%+1 of an organization of supporters.  Old Trafford was breached, but the game with Liverpool is probably still going to happen, especially because, if it doesn't, Manchester City wins the English Premier League today.
• And now a possible second stadium breach within 90 minutes of the scheduled kickoff.
• Reports of major infrastructural damage to at least the ability to broadcast today's Manchester United-Liverpool match.  70 minutes to kickoff and no word as to if the match takes place at all.
• Referee is being prevented from leaving his car.
• And now word the kickoff will be delayed either into the evening or that the game will be off for tonight.
• Police are blockading the stadium to try to get the teams in.
• And the protesters have won today:  GAME CALLED.

From yesterday:

• The University of Houston's Grant Stuard is this year's Mr. Irrelevant.  The GM actually believes there's a chance he can make the team on special teams.

Some "Mr. Irrelevant" stuff, because I'm bored:

• Last year's, Tae Crowder, actually made the Giants and played in seven games.
• 2019's, Caleb Wilson, may finally just have found a landing spot in Philadelphia after being waived by both the Cardinals (who drafted him) and the Football Team.  But he has work to do.  He is listed currently as the fourth tight-end on the roster.
• 2018:  Trey Quinn made The Football Team for a couple games, but has struggled with injury and is now a reserve contract on the Raiders organization, his third team.
• 2017:  Chad Kelly is out of the league, and part of it was a trespassing charge in 2018.  He's been released three times and played only one down in the NFL.  A large part of why Kelly was made Mr. Irrelevant was his misconduct record in college.
• 2016:  Kalan Reed, out of the league with a broken neck.  Had stints with the Titans and Seahawks, did make the main roster a couple times.
• 2015:  Gerald Christian, never played in two stints with the Cardinals, who drafted him.  Got three games and one catch with Buffalo.  Tried to relaunch his career in the AAF.
• 2014:  Lonnie Ballantine, out of the league after two stints on IR with the Texans.  Did play a couple games in the 2014 season before his first such stint.
• 2013:  Justice Cunningham, one game and one catch with Indianapolis.  Practice squad fodder otherwise -- was on Indy's once and the Rams' three times.
• 2012:  Chandler Harnish, practice squad QB with the Colts for two years and one year with the Vikings.  Out of the league.

So, as one might expect, the last pick of the NFL Draft doesn't usually do very well.  In fact, one can say that Crowder's first year probably eclipses the careers of the last eight before him combined!!

• The most successful Mr. Irrelevant:  It's not close, and you probably recognize the name from February.  2009's Ryan Succop, now the starting kicker for the Tampa Bay Tom Bradys Buccaneers.  Only the second player to go from Mr. Irrelevant to play in a Super Bowl (1994's Marty Moore, special-teamer with the Patriots for XXXI), and the second to be on the roster to win a Super Bowl title (1999's Jim Finn, injured with the Giants for their Super Bowl win in XLII), and the first to be a starter on a Super Bowl champion.
• He is the third, however, to win a league title from the Mr. Irrelevant position.  1980's Tyrone McGriff Sr. played three years for the Steelers, made the All-Rookie Team, and then jumped to the USFL in 1983 with Michigan, winning a title and becoming an All-Star in the fledgling league.

Those facts courtesy of Wikipedia.

• And if anyone wants to continue to ask me why the Cowboys, even though they are the team most people would probably like to see pushed to a Super Bpwl, haven't been:  The Cowboys, this weekend, drafted no fewer than THREE potential criminal or character cases:

1. Micah Parsons, the #12 draft pick in the first round, accused of hazing while at...  *sigh*  PEDOPHILE STATE...  A civil suit was filed, Parsons not a defendant -- however, that incident led to Parsons transferring to California-Berkeley.
2. Second round:  Kelvin Joseph, basically terminated from LSU for violating team rules before the 2019 Fiesta Bowl.  At which point he transferred to Kentucky, to try to save making the NFL.
3. But neither hold a candle to fourth-round pick Josh Ball.  2018:  Ex-girlfriend filed a police report delineating 11 separate violent incidents of domestic violence with Ball.  No charges were ever filed, because "Tallahassee is a football town, ma'am."  Yep, Ball attended Florida State!  He was suspended from Florida State and drummed out after the police report, spent a year in JuCo and finished at Marshall before being drafted.

Jerry Jones, ladies and gentlemen!!  As big a fucking thug as the players he drafts.   

Day 415

• The Kentucky Derby is today -- and Shiekh Mohammed's undefeated horse is the 2-1 favorite.
• And more coming out on the Roberto Alomar/AIDS angle:  Settled a lawsuit in 2009 with an ex-girlfriend over having the disease and having unprotected sex with her.
• Then, the ex-wife sues him in 2010 for the same thing!  Hat-tip to my anonymous baseball-historian friend.  Something is BAD WRONG here.   
  
• Two years in a row now:  An EFL points deduction will result in the probable demotion of a Championship team to League One (third-highest tier).  The apparent victim this year:  Sheffield Wednesday, docked 12 points to start the year, is now three points behind Derby County, the lowest team safe, with only one match to play (at Derby County!).  And there's a team one point behind them with now two matches in hand!  Wednesday's points-deduction came as a result of Sustainability Rules violations -- gee, does this not sound familiar??  To stay up, Swansea must beat Derby County, then Sheffield Wednesday must beat Derby County, and Rotherham United cannot get five points in their final three matches themselves.
• And another reason to root against the undefeated favorite today:  Essential Quality's jockey -- Luis Saez.  THAT Luis Saez, who was disqualified for almost taking out half the field with Maximum Security two years ago!!!