The Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns advanced to the NBA finals. The Bucks were without the Greek Freak and still got past the Atlanta Hawks. The Suns advanced past the Clippers.
The Tampa Bay Lightning moved up 3-0 on the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals.
At the start if July 4th, the Mets, Brewers, Giants, Red Sox and Astros were divisional leaders. Nine of those five had winning record last season. The White Sox were the only divisional leader that was over .500 last season.
The NBA playoffs had its Final four going strong. Milwaukee, Atlanta, Phoenix and the LA Clippers provided some new blood for fans. Phoenix took a 3-1 lead over the Clippers.Trae Young had 48 points in the opener vs. the Bucks.
More NBA news as the Pistons won the draft lottery. Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State is the favorite to go #1.
It was an interesting week in baseball. The Cubs used several pitchers in a no-hitter over the Dodgers. Aaron Nola of the Phillies tied a record with 10 consecutive strikeouts. Fernando Tatis hit three home runs vs. Arizona.
The playoff at the Travelers Championship was tied for the second-longest in PGA history. The drama was incredible. Harris English won on the eighth hole.
Wimbledon starts this week. Can Serena finally get to number 24 and tie Margaret Court? Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka are out, improving Serena’s chances.
Jon Rahm shot a 67 in the final round of the US Open , finishing at a winning -6. He joined Jose Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros as Spaniards to win majors. Rahm made two great putts on the 17th and 18th holes.
Devin Booker had a triple-double, scoring 40 points as the Suns beat the Clippers in game one of the Western Conference finals.
The Hawks stunned the Sixers, winning game seven at Philadelphia.
Kevin Durant scored 48 points but it was not enough as the injury-plagued Nets lost to the Bucks.
The NBA playoffs rolled on. The Bucks and Nets are tied 2-2 as Brooklyn has been plagued by injuries. The Suns were impressive eliminating the Nuggets in four straight. The Sixers lead the Hawks while the Jazz is up on the Clippers.
The second major tennis tourney of the year was completed. Novak Djokovic won the men’s title at the French, beating Stefano Tsitsipas in five sets. Djokovic was down two sets before rallying. The best match may have been the semifinal, when Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in over four hours, rallying from a 5-0 first set deficit. Unseeded Barbora Krejcikova won the French Open women’s singles title, her first Grand Slam singles title. She also won a doubles, the first to win both on the women’s side since 2000.
The college baseball tournament had its share of drama. Top-seeded Arkansas scored 21 runs in the first game of the series. NC State won the last two to advance to Omaha. Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Stanford were among others going to the CWS.
Mike Krzyzewski decided this will be his last season at Duke. Jon Scheyer will be the coach-in-waiting.
The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and softball champion UCLA were both eliminated in their playoffs. Anthony Davis’ injury certainly hurt the Lakers.
The Nets and Bucks started their series and Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving starred. James Harden was sidelined with a hamstring injury. The Hawks upset the Sixers in game one of their series. Kahwi Leonard and the Clippers advanced over the Mavericks.
The Aaron Rodgers story remains an issue for Packers fans. Julio Jones is not a mystery as he was traded to the Titans.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking good in the Stanley Cup playoffs. So are the Montreal Canadiens dominating Winnipeg.
Jon Rahm had a big lead in the Memorial but had to withdraw after a positive test. Patrick Cantlay won the tourney.
I’m having a great time in Hawaii celebrating my 50th anniversary.
The Tampa Bay Rays remained on fire, winning 15 of their last 16 games. The Yankees, on the other hand, slipped as they were swept by the Tigers.
The NBA playoffs continued. The Bucks swept the Heat. The Sixers dominated the Wizards. The Nets took a 3-1 lead over Boston. The Lakers and Suns were knotted at 2-2.
Helio Castroneves earned his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500. He is 46 years old, adding to Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady proving older athletes can win.
Congratulations to Phil Mickelson, who at age 50 became the oldest golfer to win a major. He won the PGA Championship by two strokes, his sixth career major championship. He edged Brooks Kopeka and Looie Oosthuizen to win the title.
The Tampa Bay Rays remained on fire, extending its win streak to 10 straight. The San Diego Padres also remained hot, winning its ninth in a row.
The NBA playoffs started. The Mavericks upset the Clippers in game one, while the Blazers upset the Nuggets. The Lakers lost to the Suns in game one as well.
It was a big weekend for the Basketball Hall of Fame. The 2020 class was finally inducted with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan leading the class. The 2021 class was also announced as Villanova’s Jay Wright, Howard Garfinkel, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Ben Wallace and Chris Webber made it to the Hall.
The NBA playoffs are set with the LakersWarriors play-in game drawing attention. Stephen Curry won the NBA scoring title and now he goes against LeBron.
The NHL playoffs started and the first three games went overtime.
We were so excited about our ANNUAL GALA to benefit THE V FOUNDATION at the beautiful RITZ CARLTON in Sarasota! The event raised over $6.5 million in cancer research. The honorees did a great job with their speeches. You can still help raise more in the fight against the dreaded disease: Donate at http://V.org/vitalegala #awesomebaby
We need to do more to help kids. Next year, we will honor Baylor coach Scott Drew, tennis legend Chris Evert, ESPN’s Rodney Gilmore and more.
The NFL Draft provided a lot of excitement.
Trevor Lawrence of Clemson was the top pick, going to Jacksonville. Five quarterbacks went in the top 15. The Niners revealed their love of Trey Lance and picked him third. The Bears were aggressive in trading up to choose Ohio State’s Justin Fields. The Patriots saw Alabama’s Mac Jones fall t them at 15.
I liked the Steelers adding Alabama running back Najeh Harris. I was also impressed by the Dolphins, Jets and Chargers picks. Overall the Tide matched a record with six players taken in round one.
Congrats to Bob Baffert on his record-breaking seventh Kentucky Derby win.
I’m excited as my Dickie V gala is Friday. We will raise money for the V Foundation for cancer research.
There were a number of teams on fire.
The New York Knicks have won nine in a row. The Washington Wizards have captured eight straight.
The Oakland Athletics won 13 out of 14 games.
The NFL Draft is this week. Trevor Lawrence will headline a talented class of QBs. Will five go in the top 10?
The college basketball transfer world continues to go wild. Brady Manek went from Oklahoma to North Carolina. Mississippi State landed Garrison Brooks from the Tar Heels. Tanner Groves went from Eastern Washington to Oklahoma. The list has grown to just under 1400.
The New York Knicks have won six straight games and look like a playoff team. Tom Thibeadoux has done a tremendous job.
Congrats to former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd, who was hired as head coach at Arizona.
Congrats to Stewart Cink, who won on the PGA Tour in a surprise, winning the RBC Heritage title.
Congratulations to Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama. He held on to win by one stroke to become the first Japanese player to win a golf major.
It was a great week for Baylor, cutting downtime nets in Indianapolis, beating Gonzaga in the college basketball championship. The Bears raced out to a 29-10 lead by raining threes. The 86-70 was led by Jerald Butler’s 22 points. The Bears finished with 10 trifectas.
There were a number of great NBA performances this week. Jason Tatum of the Celtics scored 53 in a game. Zach LaVine put up 50 points, while Enes Kanter had a 30-rebound performance.
Gonzaga and Baylor were ranked 1-2 in the preseason and they made the title game The Zags edged UCLA on Jalen Suggs incredible game-winner. UCLA fought to the very end.
Stanford edged Arizona by one to win the women’s title.
The Phillies and Orioles got off to fast starts.
Yermin Mercedes became the first player in the modern era to go 5-for-5 in his first career start.
The Elite Eight is set in men’s hoops. UCLA as an 11th seed and Oregon State as a 12 are surprises still playing. Gonzaga, Michigan and Baylor are 1-seeds still going.
The Women’s tourney has a nice Elite 8 matchup featuring Baylor and UConn.
MLB is coming and I am excited to see the Rays!
The big dance got underway and there were plenty of upsets. Oral Roberts stunned Ohio State behind Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas. Abilene Christian forced 23 turnovers in a stunner over Texas. North Texas sent Purdue packing while Jason Preston just missed a triple-double as Ohio shocked Virginia.
The Pac-12 got off to a good start, while the ACC struggled.
The NFL had a very busy week with more player signings. Patrick Peterson, Kenny Golladay, AJ Green and Mitch Trubisky were among the players on the move.
The field of 68 for the big dance was announced. Gonzaga is trying to be the first team since Indiana in 1976 to finish a perfect season.
Louisville, Colorado State, Belmont and Saint Louis fell short of the dance. I felt for them.
There was lots of NFL off-season news. Veterans being cut, others re-signing. Cam Newton decided to return to the Patriots.
The Brooklyn Nets remained on fire, going 12-1 in their last 13 games.
We pushed tickets to the big dance. Morehead State, Liberty, Loyola-Chicago and Winthrop will be in the field of 68.
Michigan State improved its chances with a win over Michigan.
There was lots of NFL news with several veterans cut. Ben Roethlisberger re-signed with the Steelers.