▪ And speaking of golf, Xander Schauffele makes a birdie on the 72nd hole Winning a major tournament by one stroke is the most dramatic moment in golf, one that few people have ever experienced.
This year’s PGA Tour will be remembered for the scottie scheffler episodebut the fact is that it was a great tournament. You wouldn’t want every major tournament course to be as easy as this one, but it was definitely fun to watch.
▪ With their record of 64 wins and 18 losses, this group of Celtics became the 14th in franchise history to win 60 games or more. The first group was 1961-62, which took advantage of an expanded NBA schedule to become the first team in the league to achieve 60 victories with a record of 60 wins and 20 losses.
It’s no surprise that the Lakers are next on the list with 11 60-win seasons. The rest of the NBA only has 54 60-win seasons, and the Nuggets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Nets, Pelicans and Raptors have none.
▪ Now that Major League Baseball, like the rest of the sports world, has married itself to the game, I reverse my long-held position and say there is no longer any reason to keep Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame. Baseball has lost its moral standing on this matter. And if he needs someone to pick him up at the airport, my hand is raised.
▪ What strikes me about the NFL’s annual schedule is that in the quest to serve the interests of viewers in Fargo, Ashtabula, Chula Vista and other American communities, the needs and desires of the people who are never considered are the ticket buyers and their families. Night games are logistical nightmares for most people.
▪ I always laugh at these post-draft stories where someone ranks “winners” and “losers.” Really ? Shouldn’t the success of a certain 199th player chosen in a draft remind everyone that there will always be colossal flops and incredible surprises?
When it comes to drafts in all sports, it’s wise to remember what Samuel Johnson said about second marriages. They are, according to him, “the triumph of hope over experience”. The same goes for all sports drafts.
▪ Salute the pitch clock. Now if they would just remove that ridiculous “ghost runner”, or whatever you want to call it.
▪ Gotta love the backcourt Canada will be showcasing to the world at the upcoming Olympics. Say hello to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ont., and Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ont. They’ll go toe-to-toe with anyone. Canada is long overdue for a medal, by the way.
▪ It will be very interesting to see how Baseball Hall of Fame voters rate pitchers over the years. We’ve seen the last of 300 possible wins, as 41-year-old Justin Verlander (260), 39-year-old Max Scherzer (214) and 36-year-old Clayton Kershaw (210) are the current winning leaders. After that, the drop to 33-year-old Gerrit Cole (145) is scary. Two hundred will definitely be the new 300.
Yes, I know victories are devalued now, but still. There was a certain romanticism attached to big numbers.
▪ Don’t get me started on the chaos engulfing college football and basketball. As I have long pointed out, we are the only country in which institutions of higher learning provide significant entertainment to the masses. (Canada? Very quiet compared to us.) But we always claimed that the priority was education. Ha! I would like to know how many of these transfer portal users see a classroom in their new port of call.
It’s important to identify the real villains here. It’s not the coaches. It’s not the sports directors. And it’s definitely not the “student-athletes.” It was the school presidents who were seduced by the dollar sign. None of these insane conference realignments, or any other examples of new nonsense, are happening without their approval.
▪ Bet you’ve never thought of Terre Haute, Indiana as a vacation destination. The new Larry Bird Museum opens May 30 in downtown Terre Haute. There you have it.
You can contact Bob Ryan at [email protected].
