 |  |  NO FOOLIN'
The Lakers beat the Mavs by 28 points in a game that featured:
- two fights.
(Maybe. "There was no fight," said Phil Jackson. "They were two cock-roosters bumping chests.")
- eight technical fouls.
- five player ejections.
- one half-naked fan ejection.
- one citizenship award nomination for Ron Artest.
|  |  MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH
The Spurs welcomed the Celtics to town by welcoming back Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. They didn't help. Boston got 22 points and 14 assists from Rajon Rondo to send San Antonio to its fifth-straight loss. Incredibly, the Spurs haven't lost five straight in any season since they lost six straight to end the 1996-97 season. You might remember that swan dive as the one that landed them Tim Duncan in the lottery that summer. They still lead the West over the Lakers, but that lead is down to 2.5 games. Alarms are sounding in Texas. Full-blown earth, wind, and fire alarms.
| |  OPENING CLOSERS
The World Series champs from San Francisco opened up at the home of their rivals in Los Angeles, and with closer Brian Wilson already on the DL, there was no beard to fear. (Except maybe this one.) Not they could have used him, because Tim Lincecum was outdueled by Clayton Kershaw and the Giants lost 2-1. And so, for the third straight season, the World Series champs lost the first game in defense of their title (see: 2010 Yankees, 2009 Phillies). And that's not a good defense.
| |  PROS PROS
Nobody had more sacks in college football last season than Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers. And the defensive end's "star athleticism" is a big reason why he's sixth on Mel Kiper's Big Board. Yet the thing that might be limiting him on that Big Board is the right knee injury that might be limiting that athleticism. Which makes today's pro day so important for him. Meanwhile, Texas A&M's Von Miller is second only to LSU's Patrick Peterson on that Big Board. And he said yesterday that he will attend the April draft. That's the same Von Miller who linked up with the veteran players to sue the league. He says he can separate the personal from the business. Of course he can. He's not a machine.
|  | 1st for 2
| So the Canucks went out and clinched the Presidents' Trophy. American fans would point out that the last 2 Presidents' Trophy winners (see: 2008-09 Sharks, 2009-10 Capitals) have both lost their 1st playoff series. (Sometimes, the mighty can fall.)
Except that Canadian fans would point out that all three times a Canadian city has hosted an Olympic games, that city's NHL team has not only won the Presidents' Trophy that next season, but the last 2 teams to do it (see: 1976-77 Canadiens, 1988-89 Flames) both won the Stanley Cup. (Because sometimes the mighty can fall and land on their feet.)
| | 12-0
| The Final Four tips off tomorrow night (see: 11 VCU vs 8 Butler at 6:09 ET, and 4 Kentucky vs 3 Connecticut at 8:49 ET). And while we've been fascinated by the Cinderella runs of VCU (just the third 11-seed in Men's Basketball Championship history to reach the Final Four) and Butler (the first non-Power 6 conference team to reach consecutive Final Fours in two decades), the most fascinating run might just be the one that UConn is running. The Huskies haven't lost any game at any tournament they've played this season (see: 3-0 Maui, 5-0 Big East, 4-0 Men's Basketball Championship). Let's dance. While we can.
| | 32, 36.1
| The Bronx Bombers started their season with a win. Not only that, but they started it with the same four infielders (see: Teixeira, Cano, Jeter and Rodriguez) and the same three outfielders (see: Gardner, Granderson and Swisher) that they started on Opening Day of last season. And it's the first time they've done that in back-to-back seasons since 1926 and 1927 (see: infielders Joe Dugan, Mark Koenig, Tony Lazzeri, Lou Gehrig, and outfielders Bob Meusel, Earle Combs, Babe Ruth). Maybe it's money well-spent. A-Rod himself will make $32 million this season. The entire Opening Day roster of the Kansas City Royals will make $36.1 million.
But don't let all of that distract you from the fact that the deadly poisonous cobra on the loose in Bronx has been captured.
| |  | "I thought it was an April Fools' joke when they called me about it the first time. I was shocked. I don't think I should have my jersey retired because I was probably the fifth most important guy on those teams."
From the cobra to the Worm, who will see his Pistons jersey raised to the rafters tonight when the Bulls come to town. And while Dennis Rodman might be most remembered for his, um, flamboyance with those Bulls, the man began his defensive dominance with their rivals in Detroit. After helping them to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990, Rodman won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards. In 1992, he hauled in 34 rebounds in one game. Five games later, he hauled in 31. Yet he never led Detroit in steals. Not with these guys hanging around.
| "I thought I'd end up being the underdog, but once I got here I kind of realized I wasn't."
5'11" Division III guard Jacob Tucker, the kid who took to YouTube to petition for a berth in the dunk contest, just won it. (Um, some Yumbo Jams right there.)
|  | Which Not Top Play is the Worst of the Worst?
|  | | 9AM ET | Josh Elliott, Linda Cohn | | 12PM ET | John Buccigross, Chris McKendry | | 3PM ET | Steve Bunin, Steve Weissman on ESPNEWS | | 6PM ET | Dari Nowkhah, Bram Weinstein | | 8PM ET | Cindy Brunson, Sara Walsh on ESPNEWS | | 11PM ET | Robert Flores, Kevin Negandhi | | 1AM ET | Neil Everett, Stan Verrett | |  717470 | Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored.
For all other inquiries, click here.
Change My Registration Preference
When you registered with our site, you asked to receive the daily newsletter of SportsCenter TV Show. If you wish to change this registration preference, click here.
Add me to ESPN's Do Not Email list
This email contains an advertisement from: ESPN, 19 East 34th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016. To unsubscribe from all types of future commercial email from ESPN, regarding its products and services, click here.
© 2011 ESPN Internet Ventures. All Rights Reserved.
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment