Warriors On Cusp Of Finals. An Ugly Heat-Celtics Series. NHL's Panthers: Frauds? Oilers In Driver's Seat? Donaldson Dustup Fuels Yanks-White Sox. Thomas's Epic Comeback Wins PGA. French Open Preview
Here to deliver all that the sports world has to offer, you’ve come to the right place to get my opinions and analysis as we kick off the week with a loaded podcast. On deck:
(4:15) The NBA postseason has been anything but great, even good, for that matter. As evidenced by two Conference Finals that has one on the brink of conclusion (the Warriors taking a 3-0 series lead) and the ugliness of Games 2 & 3 between Miami & Boston. Game 3 did get interesting in the final few minutes, but I'll tell you why that game was tough to take if you're a Celtic fan? With both series potentially over by Wednesday night, there may be a case where you'll have EIGHT days between then and the start of the NBA Finals on June 2nd, which the league is privately holding their collective breaths.
(19:45) What happened to the Florida Panthers? The President's Trophy winner of the regular season could be out of the playoffs as early as tonight, as the Lightning have a commanding 3-0 lead in their best of seven series. Will they have any fight, or show some pride to avoid a sweep? The Battle of Alberta has the Edmonton Oilers in favor with a 2-1 series advantage. Are they in the driver's seat to win over their hated rival Flames? The Avalanche have a leg up on the Blues as they won Game 3 in St. Louis, which has led to a little controversy regarding Avs center, Nazem Kadri. He ran into Blues goaltender, Jordan Binnington, who is now lost for the remainder of the series. Kadri has received death threats from people out in social media because of this incident. How will this impact the Avalanche remains to be seen? And the Rangers have gotten themselves back in the series as the scene shifts to Madison Square Garden with a win over the Hurricanes.
(32:33) The White Sox and Yankees went at it over the weekend, where sparks flew between Yankees 3B Josh Donaldson and White Sox SS Tim Anderson. Donaldson's remark toward Anderson caused an uproar on the field and in the postgame of alleged racist undertones toward the shortstop, where Donaldson was pleading his case. Did Donaldson cross the line? Was it offensive? Should Donaldson be suspended for his actions? Albert Pujols hit two home runs yesterday to bring his all time number to 683. Will he catch or surpass Alex Rodriguez for fourth place in his quest to hit 700 for his career? I'll revisit the Max Scherzer injury as the Mets try to hold down the fort until his return, which could also coincide the return of Jacob deGrom in late June/early July. The Padres have played very well without Fernando Tatis Jr. and Blake Snell. They come off of a sweep of the Giants in San Francisco as they're just a half game back in the NL West behind the Dodgers. I'll take a trip throughout the major leagues and assess what's happening as we're starting to see some separation between the haves and have nots.
(47:41) The second golf major (PGA Championship) of 2022 was completed over the weekend. In dramatic fashion, Justin Thomas wins in a playoff vs. Will Zalatoris. The toughest loss of all was Mito Pereira who had the competition won, but double bogeyed on the 18th hole nullifying him of winning the PGA. Combine that with a furious comeback by Thomas. It was a not so great tournament but it did deliver a thrilling end as he wins his second PGA in his career.
(51:54) There's already been an upset at the French Open as Naomi Osaka was ousted in the first round. I'll preview both the men's and women's side as to who has a run in them to make it to a final. Although the men's bracket is puzzling as you have Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and young upstart, Carlos Alcaraz all on the same side to where one of those three could potentially not make it to a semifinal match, let alone a final.
(56:21) In closing, my Hero and Zero of the Week.
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Intro/outro music by Cyklonus.