Weekend winners
OK, here's the winner - Sorry Brooks (more on him in a moment) and everyone else - from the weekend. Billionaire Robert F. Smith, speaking at Morehouse College's graduation, told the graduates that his family is forming a grant to eliminate the student loans of the Morehouse class of 2019. Here's more details on Smith, the richest black man in America, according to Forbes. And the total gift - 400 graduates who averaged about $93,000 per in student loans - is between $37 and $40 million.
Chris B. Dude used a strong run from Luke List to post the second-best score all-time in all of our golf contests. Brooks, DJ and Jordan were on a few different entries, but Ted's addition of the former Baylor School star, who finished sixth gave him the staggering score of 12 points. The only better score I can remember was Spy had a Masters entry a few years ago that had the winner, the runner-up and two dudes who tied for fourth, which was 11 points.
Penny Hardaway. As Chas noted earlier this spring, the Memphis coach is putting together an amazing recruiting haul. With a second five-star committing - forward Prince Achiua picking the Tigers over Kansas and UNC - Memphis has the top-ranked class in the country, a smidge ahead of Kentucky with Arizona, Duke and USC rounding out the top five.
Kawhi Leonard. Dude is crafting an all-time postseason heading into his free agency and was awesome in a must-have double-overtime Game 3 win. He played 52 minutes and scored 36 points. It also makes you wonder if Leonard lifts the Raptors to the Finals and - if Kevin Durant and Andre Igoudala are out - a possible title, does the completeness of Leonard's game make him the best dude dribbling anywhere right now?
Stars in L.A. Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu has now pitched 31 consecutive scoreless innings for the Dodgers. Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger has 17 homers. Check these stat lines: Ryu is 6-1, 1.52 and a 0.74 WHiP and in May is 3-1 in four starts with 32 innings pitched, one earned run allowed and a 0.28 ERA and 0.50 WHiP. Berlinger is .405/.485/.791 with a staggering 17 homers, 44 RBIs and seven steals. Granted it's a torrid pace, but we are almost 30 percent through the season and Bellinger is on pace for the best season since WWII for .405, 57 homers, 149 RBIs, 24 steals and 142 runs scored. That's Williamsian. Or is Williamsesque?
Deontay Wilder. After a week of controversy when Wilder spoke the truth about the violence and ultimate intent and baseline goal of boxing in general, Wilder walked into the ring and went all one-punch, Clubber Lang-like and dropped Dominic Breazeale with a single right-hand to the side of the head.
Weekend losers
We will not discuss Game of Thrones until tomorrow, but there was a mother editing error as a water bottle was underneath someone's chair during one of the most important scenes of the entire series.
Tiger and the TV numbers from the PGA Championship. We will talk a little more about the tournament, but Tiger's rotten first two rounds and Brooks Koepka's runaway-until-it-wasn't-then-it-was-again will make this likely a bottom-five rated weekend in PGA Championship history, if I had to guess.
Not to over golf, but Harold Varner showed us the pressure of playing in the final group at a major. After a birdie on the first hole on Sunday, dude had more shapes than geometry class on that scorecard. He played the final 17 holes Sunday at +12 and went form second to T-36. The difference in cash? Dustin Johnson got $1.188 million for second. Varner got $48,200.
The Preakness. Yes, the most interesting thing of the middle leg of the Triple Crown was a riderless horse not finishing last and then taking a victory lap. Seriously, the best thing that could happen to horse racing right now is if the top finishers from the Derby take up the up-to-$20 million offer from Maximum Security's owner to re-run the race.
The Mets. I'm pretty sure the Lookouts would not get swept by the Marlins, since, you know the Marlins actually have closer to a Double-A payroll than most big-league payrolls. But these Mets, don't tell them they can't do anything.
The NCAA. Yes, putting the NCAA here is like putting NASCAR here, if you know, NASCAR still existed. Wait?!?! What?!?!? NASCAR is still around? Cool. That said, the NCAA, which is trying to rework its rules to cover it's shamateurism and let athletes collect on their likenesses. Well, I am 100 percent in on this: Ted Ginn, the NFL speedster and former first-rounder from THE Ohio State, told ProFootballTalk he would race anyone for $10,000 or more. Well, Mr., Ginn, got a response that simply said "Bet" from Matthew Boling, the soon to be UGA freshman who is the fastest high school sprinter ever. Giddy-up
PGA Championship
Well, in truth, that was no that much fun.
Yes, Brooks Koepka's is in one of the most rarified places in sports - being compared to Tiger - and has restarted the "Golfer or the Field" conversation for the foreseeable future at the majors. He's won three of the last five and four of the last eight, and who knows what would have happened if he had not three-jacked 18 at Augusta.
Yes, Luke List's finish was awesome for those of us around these parts. List cashed a $380,000 check for his sixth-place finish at the PGA Championship. Kudos. But his rocky start meant the crescendo of pressure and excitement never developed.
The course looked amazing hard, but the greens looked like they were hitting tee shots and approaches on the greatest course in the world and putting on your local muni.
The fans were more Phoenix than major championship.
And the lack of intrigue - a big part of that due to Koepka's amazing play and persistence on the first 63 holes - made this feel like a huge letdown.
Thoughts?
This and that
- Maine will be the first state to ban Native American mascots for school teams. OK. And Maine likely will not be the last. But, for a lot of us who are puzzled by the amount of energy and effort put into political correctness when we have so many real problems to address - is Maine is such a perfect place that this deserves long of finger-wagging and back-slapping from state legislators and leaders? - this is par for the course. And, know this, it is also political grandstanding - another national plague that is eating at the core of our country - at its worst. Maine had exactly one high school that still had a Native American mascot, and that school voted to change from "Indians" earlier this year. So Maine is outlawing something that moving forward is not anywhere to be found? Perfect.
- Game of Thrones is over. More tomorrow. Oh boy.
- Braves lost Sunday, but not all results are the same on face value in a season as long as baseball's. First, Mike Foltynewicz allowed only three hits - yes two left the building - in six innings. Also, while the bullpen did get the loss, four pitchers went four innings and allowed only one run. And those five dudes walked no one. Yes, it's a loss, but there was a bright side. And to be honest, taking two of three from the Cardinals and then the Brewers is strong.
- Kudos and good bye to Chris Long, Howie's son and a former No. 2 overall pick, who retired from the NFL over the weekend. Dude had a much better career than most realize - 70 sacks in 11 years - won two Super Bowls and was NFL Man of the Year. And in a time when we rightly point fingers at the scumbags in the NFL who generate headlines for all the wrong reasons, Long's work with charities - from inner-city schools in St. Louis to working toward clean drinking water around the globe - is noble and praise-worthy. Here's his almost perfect good-bye Tweet: "Cheers. Been a hell of a journey. Eleven years and I can honestly say I put my soul into every minute of it. Highs and lows. I've seen them both and I appreciate the perspective. Gratitude and love to those who lifted me up."
- One of the coolest things in soccer is happening right now. Two kickball teams are playing for the chance to move from the minors to the Premier League. The relegation process - where the worst team of the top league swap spots with the best team of the lower league, when applicable - is a cool wrinkle and the ultimate trump card to end tanking. Last year, the difference between being in the Premier League and not was almost $200 million. And if Adam Silver wants to end NBA tanking, let teams that win fewer than 20 games in back-to-back seasons swap spots with a team in the D-League for a year.
- We love the draft. You know this. Here's a mock draft that has Jake Fromm going No. 1 overall next year. Seriously.
Today's question
Weekend winners and losers. Please share.
Have we reached a place where it's Koepka or the Field?
Every Breath You Take was released by The Police on this day in 1983, which is a song a whole lot about stalking, no?
Blue jeans with copper rivets patented by Levi Strauss.
Jimmy Stewart would have been 111 today. Cher is 73.
In honor of Chris Long, best father-son NFL combos. Go.