The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition - Pride & Joy
While it was Pride Night this weekend with the San Diego Padres, a few NBA players had their pride injured over the weekend. Two owners lost their pride and joy horses at the Preakness and James Hinchcliffe is beaming with pride at Indy this week.
Bursting with pride,
The Last Night’s Game Team
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HORSE RACING
- Tough weekend. In the second leg of the Triple Crown, Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist lost to Exaggerator in the Preakness, ending Nyquist’s quest for the Triple Crown. In sad news, two horses from the day’s earlier races died. Homeboykris collapsed after winning the first race of the day (believed to be a heart attack) and another horse, Pramedya, was euthanized on the track after breaking its leg.
INDYCAR RACING
- Courageous comeback. James Hinchcliffe almost died last year in a crash at the Indianapolis 500 and this year he has clinched the pole position (best position to start a race) for the biggest race of the year. Stay tuned for five things to know about the famed Indianapolis 500 on Wednesday.
MLB (MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL)
- An unfamiliar tune. As part of “Pride Night” at the San Diego Padres game on Saturday, 100 members of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus were set to sing the national anthem. But when they started singing a pre-recorded version of the anthem sung by a woman started playing over the loud speakers, not the men's voices. People are not happy about it. The team has since fired the contractor who, whether intentional or not, did not stop the recording and allow the men to sing. Billy Bean, former MLB player and current MLB vice president of social responsibility and inclusion (who is also gay) came out in defense of his former team saying that they love everyone. The team and the San Diego Attorney’s Office are still investigating.
- Watch your step. New York Yankees dugout toilet flooded before their game against the Oakland A’s in the A’s home stadium, the Coliseum. This isn’t the first time sewage has been an issue in the stadium, which was built in 1966. The stadium is shared with Oakland Raiders (NFL) who are considering a move to Las Vegas.
NBA (National Basketball Association)
- First loss. Toronto Raptors beat Cleveland Cavaliers at home to bring the series to 2-1. The Raptors handed the Cavs their first loss of the playoffs. The two will play game four tonight at 8:30 pm (EST) on ESPN.
- Penalties. Raptors coach Dwane Casey received a $25,000 fine for criticizing officials and Cleveland Cavaliers' Dahntay Jones has been suspended for one game for his groin strike of Raptors’ Bismack Biyomb.
- Big win. Oklahoma City Thunder dominated Golden State Warriors at home, winning by 28 points. Thunder are up in the series 2-1 over the defending champions. The two will play game four on Tuesday (9 pm EST on TNT) where we’ll see if the Thunder can pull out another win against a Warriors’ team who have not lost back-to-back games all season.
NHL (National Hockey League)
- Almost there. Tampa Bay Lightning beat Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in triple overtime on Sunday. If the Penguins lose in Tuesday’s game, they will be eliminated from the race for the Stanley Cup.
- Play on. St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks are tied in their series 2-2 and play tonight at 8 pm on NBCSN.
Overtime
- New Orleans Saints (NFL) and Pelicans (NBA) owner Tom Benson revealed he wants his kids and grandkids out of his will. His kids called their attorneys. In a deposition Benson claims his family “tried to kill him” and instead wants to leave everything to his third wife. Let the legal battle commence.
Sideline stat
- Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Boston Red Sox has a 27-game hitting streak going. The Red Sox hit streak record (34 games) is held by Dom DiMaggio while the overall MLB record (56) is held by his brother Joe DiMaggio. Joe’s record is considered unbeatable by many.
Coaches’ Corner
- What is a hitting streak? A hitting streak in baseball refers to the number of consecutive games the player appears in a game and gets a hit. No hit, no streak.
The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up - Brawls and Overalls Edition
In the movie industry this weekend featured the fashion and high class of the Cannes Film Festival. In the sports world, not so much. We cover the grit, the brawls and the sweet taste of victory in today’s Rundown.
Although we do look pretty good in a tuxedo,
The Last Night’s Game Team
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F1 Racing (Formula One)
- Record setting. Max Verstappen, 18, won the Spanish Grand Prix becoming youngest driver to ever win. The real drama of the race came courtesy of the Mercedes team. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who had won the previous four races, crashed on the first lap into his teammate Lewis Hamilton to knock them both out of the race. This didn’t help as the two drivers already had a contemptuous relationship. Oh to be a fly on the wall in their team meeting where they were lectured like misbehaving school boys.
MLB (Major League Baseball)
- Put ‘em up. There was a bench clearing brawl between the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. There has been tension between the teams since the playoffs last year when Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista hit a go ahead home run (means his home run gave his team the lead) and taunted his opponents with an egregious bat flip afterward. Fast forward to yesterday’s game when Bautista slid into second base and into Rangers’ second baseman Rougned Odor. Odor didn’t take to kindly to the slide and punched Bautista in the face. Chaos ensued.
NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
- Finally! Matt Kenseth snapped his 17 race winless streak at Dover International Speedway. On a restart race leader Jimmie Johnson’s transmission failed leading to a huge 18 car crash which caused an unprecedented 11-minute stop in the race while crews cleaned up the carnage.
NBA (National Basketball Association)
- Slam dunk. Toronto Raptors beat Miami Heat in seven games to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against Cleveland Cavaliers. Game one of their best-of seven-series will be on Tuesday.
- Here we go. Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder compete for the title of Western Conference Champions. Game one in a best-of-seven series is tonight at 9 pm (EST) on TNT.
PGA (Professional Golfers' Association)
- Day-oh. Jason Day (ranked #1) went “wire-to-wire” (i.e. he held the lead all four days of the tournament) to win the Players Championship.
UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
- Sweet taste of victory. Cleveland's last sports championship was in 1964 but that streak is over. Cleveland native Stipe Miocic went into enemy territory in Brazil and won the heavyweight championship with a knockout of a Brazilian fighter, Fabricio Werdum, in front of 45,000 stunned fans. Miocic received support from the Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), Browns (NFL) and Indians (MLB) for giving the city of Cleveland a taste of victory.
Overtime
- Blue Jays' starting pitcher Marcus Stroman was out last season with a torn ACL. He used his time off from the game to finish up his sociology degree from Duke University. He walked in the graduation ceremony on Sunday, missing the bench clearing brawl at the game.
Sideline stat
- $1.6 million - that’s how much was raised by Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt during his annual charity softball game. His teammate Vince Wilfork, who weighs 325 pounds, stole the show by wearing nothing but overalls. You can’t erase this image from your mind.
Coaches’ Corner
- The NBA draft lottery for the first draft pick is Tuesday night. The 14 teams that do not make it into the NBA playoffs go into a lottery to determine picks for draft. The worse your record, the more balls you have in the Powerball-style lottery; therefore, the odds are in your favorite to get the top pick. The Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have the highest likelihood (i.e. they had a terrible season) to receive the first draft pick. The NBA Draft is June 23rd. Want to read more? Click here.
The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition - Monumental Moms
Happy belated Mother’s Day to all of our readers who are the unsung heroes we call mom. While your mom might not pick favorites, the Derby does. See how the favorite faired this weekend (we’re not talking about you).
We love our mamas,
The Last Night’s Game Team
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The Kentucky Derby
- Running for the roses. The 146th Kentucky Derby was won by the favorite Nyquist, the fourth consecutive favorite to win. Over 167,000 people attended the race at Churchill Downs, the second highest attendance ever. That’s a lot of mint juleps.
- Peaked too early. Danzing Candy, who was picked by our horse racing expert Case, led through the majority of the race but couldn’t hang on for the win.
- The next race on the road to the Triple Crown is the Preakness Stakes on May 21st.
MLB (Major League Baseball)
- Happy Mother’s Day. In an annual tradition, players and umpires honored their moms and raised awareness for the fight against breast cancer by wearing pink uniforms and using pink gear during Sunday’s games.
NBA (National Basketball Association)
- Pay your respects. Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade violated NBA rules and caused an uproar when he continued to take pregame warm-up shots during the Canadian national anthem.
- Rolling on through the playoffs. Cleveland Cavaliers sweep Atlanta Hawks to advance to the conference semifinals, staying undefeated in the postseason. They will now await the winner of Heat/Raptors series.
- Making his mama proud. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant tied his career record of 41 points as he led his team to a big victory over the San Antonio Spurs to tie the series 2-2. In case you were wondering, his mom there in the stands blowing her baby boy kisses during the game.
NHL (National Hockey League)
- Lightning strike. Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated the New York Islanders this weekend and will play the winner of Penguins/Capitals for Eastern Conference semifinals.
Boxing
- Put ‘em up. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez knocked out Amir Khan in the sixth round of the title fight on Saturday in Las Vegas. The Alvarez win sets up a fight with superstar Gennady Golovkin or “GGG” in the fall. This fight could be the best match up in the last decade.
Overtime
- NASCAR’s Kyle Busch won the Sprint Cup race in Kansas City making it his third win of season. In other news, his brother and fellow NASCAR driver, Kurt Busch’s ex-girlfriend is under investigation for mishandling funds from a non-profit she runs. Patricia Driscoll, who previously accused Busch of assault, used funds to pay off her personal credit card and for vacations to Paris. During a previous court testimony Busch accused Driscoll of being a “trained assassin dispatched on covert missions around the world who once returned to him in a blood-splattered gown.” We can’t make this stuff up.
Sideline stat
- New York Mets’ 42-year-old pitcher Bartolo Colon proved that the impossible is possible when he hit his first career home run. Social media blew up with kudos to Colon and Topps has already put this monumental occasion on a baseball card.
Coaches’ corner
- The 2016 Invictus Games started yesterday in Orlando, FL. This is the first time the games have taken place in the U.S. The Invictus Games are a worldwide sporting competition involving wounded, ill or injured military athletes. Prince Harry of England, who served in the British Army, is considered the founder of the event that features almost 500 athletes from 14 countries competing in 10 different sports. The competitions can be viewed on ESPN3 and for an Invictus Game rundown, click here.