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Ray Allen:
Another big scoring night (30 pts) lands him on the
Quickie's NBA All-First Round First-Team (See Big 5)
and pushes his Sonics into the second round.
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
YANKEES. SUCK.
"Yankees Suck!"
It's the feel-good storyline of the year, for
baseball fans everywhere except New
York.
At this point, the team is must-see, if only to see if
they'll lose... again.
"Yankees Suck!"
That over-hyped "revamped" lineup? Moot (and
mute).
Because last night, the 9-18 D-Rays (freakin'
Tampa!) hung 6 on Kevin Clown in the 1st, en route
to an 11-4 stomping.
"Yankees Suck!"
Owners of the 7th-worst record in baseball, the "Bronx
B.M.'s" are closer to dead-last than .500.
"Yankees Suck!"
Looking ahead, Big Unit is scratched tonight,
muttering he's "obviously" disappointed. Fans
nationally are obviously disappointed to miss his
potential shelling.
"Yankees Suck!"
And adding insult to injury, 47,000 Yankees hats for a
weekend Stadium giveaway were stolen
yesterday.
Riiight: "Stolen."
If you believe THAT, I've got some atrophied position
players and worthless big-contract pitchers to sell
you, along with that famous NYC bridge.
Maybe the team just wanted to avoid the awkwardness of
disgruntled fans upchucking the hats onto the field,
along with their lunches.
As for the rest of us? Glee:
Yankees Suck. Savor it now.
NBA Wrap: Sonics Rule
Sizzling Seattle is back: Hot
shooting (56 pct FG) and "good-enough" D: The new
blueprint for playoff success.
Reality-TV-style twist! Credit PG Jamal
Tinsley's surprise start (and 7 assists) for the
Pacers' W in Boston to take a 3-2 lead.
Meanwhile, the Celtics got the opposite
effect from dud Antoine Walker, who returned from
suspension with his brand of brick n' roll.
Champs Close Out Sixers: Will wait for the
Pacers-Celtics winner. Again: Can't we just move
straight to the Detroit-Miami East Finals?
NBA Tonight: Wiz at Bulls in one of those
proverbial "pivotal" Game 5s when it's tied 2-2; the
Spurs can slam the door on Denver in S.A.
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CHECK OUT THE QUICKIE EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING! |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Young 'uns clash: Barmes (.402 BA) vs. Peavy (1.77 ERA)
White Sox: The anti-Yankees? Win 19th with clutch scoring
Brewers: Win 5th straight (and the Yankees still suck!) |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Kellen Winslow 2: Moron may have to pay back bonus (cycle)
John Rocker: Minor-league fool gets in tussle with a fan
Jimmie Johnson: Dale Jr blames an "idiot" for 'Dega wreck |
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NBA Top Rookie
Emeka Okafor, one of the least inspired
ROY picks ever. Ooh, sweet: 7-foot college player
of the year did well on an expansion team.
But if you said "Ben Gordon," pat yourself on
the back for jumping on the bandwagon. He didn't even
start! That's what Sixth Man is for.
Dwight Howard gets my vote, particularly given
the way the doubters came out on last year's draft
night. "NBA age-limit"... what bunk.
MLB Roid Era: 1960?
Let's have no more talk from the
insufferable "Good Ol' Days" posse about MLB's "Roid
Era" being from the mid-1990s through 2004.
Not when ex-MLB pitcher Tom House says he was taking
steroids (among anything and everything else) in those
wacky '60s and '70s.
Get over it: Cheating, greenies, 'roids, HGH. New
flavors of an old dish: The sport's been tainted since
it started.
NBA Draft Pool
No sweeter words will have ever been
heard on NBA Draft Night than the following:
"With the Nth pick, Team Whatever
selects...
Kevin Pittsnogle from West Virginia
University!"
Guaranteed fan favorite! (NCAA Tourney's most popular
player) Who doesn't want a deft-shooting big man with
tatts and the best name ever?
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If big men Walter McCarty or Raef LaFrentz can make a
living chucking 3s, this guy's needs a chance. Take
him for the jersey sales alone!
Favre on Walker
"We can win without him." Yeah, Brett,
but too bad you can't win without a defense. That
horse rides awful high... in May.
Kwame Brown Fallout
Do NOT use Kwame Brown's career
implosion to prop up the NBA's play for that
ill-advised age limit. Kwame was a unique
failure.
Especially because my fave prep in this year's
class, Seattle swingman Martell Webster, just declared
for the draft. A better Joe Johnson!
Quickie Book Club
"The World Is Flat": Non-sports books
with sports applications rule.
If you are fascinated (or frightened) by the way the
rest of the world caught up to USA Basketball, check
out Thomas Friedman's new book for a clear-eyed look
at the larger issues behind 21st century
globalization.
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Antoine Walker:
He's like the anti-Tinsley. He returns from
suspension, only to bring his style of "brick 'n roll"
(5-13 FG) to a C's home loss. Correlation? Yep.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| Quickie live! |
| NBA Daily Dime |
| Ford's NBA travels |
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NBA All-First Round
(Through 5/04) |  Dwyane Wade
| No Shaq? No problem
|  Ray Allen
| Sonics getting hot again
|  Manu Ginobli
| With apologies to Duncan
|  Amare Stoudemire
| Proxy for entire Suns 5
|  Jamal Tinsley
| | Pacers like a new team |
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If you're scoring at home, Barry Bonds had a 3rd
surgery on his knee. No word on how it affects his
timetable. (via SF Chron)
After all the jawing between the Big East and ACC over
the poachings, they settle their problems with a
couple million dollars (via HFD Courant)
Van Gundy Watch: All quiet on the Western Conference
front, and the Rockets owner shows Van some support.
No word from Stern on Tuesday.
MLB Pitching Matchup of the Day: Hudson vs. Burnett.
Keep your ESPN.com scoreboard up, because the game has
a 1 p.m. scheduled start time.
More NBA Draft entries: Prep-to-pro guard Louis
Williams, who fancies himself another AI, will likely
make a misjudgment and enter today.
Today's Must-Read: Check out Chad Ford's report from
his travels to the basketball outpost of Istanbul. See
Q It Up for a link.
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