Digital Sports Desk

Henley Leads with Oosthuizen at Side

June 18, 2021 by PGA Tour Brunch

U.S. Open at Torrey Pines: Round 2 Notebook

Russell Henley carded his sixth career score of (67) or better in a major championship and his first since the 2018 PGA Championship (65/R-2). To date, Henley’s best finish in 26 career major championship appearances was a T-11 at the 2017 Masters Tournament.

Louis Oosthuizen is one of three players to finish in the Top 10 at the U.S. Open in 2019 (T-7) and 2020 (3rd). The others were Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. He is currently T-1 with Henley at (-4) but is only through 16 holes in R-1.

Brooks Koepka shot 2-under (69) and he extended his tournament-record streak of rounds in the 60s to six and now ties Sam Snead for most consecutive sub-par rounds in tournament history (6).

Partial Round 1 Leaderboard

Russell Henley 67 (-4)

Louis Oosthuizen -4 thru 16*

Francesco Molinari 68 (-3)

Rafa Cabrera Bello 68 (-3)

Note: The start of the 1st round was delayed 1 hour, 30 minutes due to fog and began at 8:15am (PDT). The first round was suspended due to darkness with 36 players left on the course and will resume today at 6:50 am (PDT).

NBA All-Rookie Teams

June 17, 2021 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were unanimously selected to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today. Ball, the 2020-21 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, and Edwards received NBA All-Rookie First Team votes on all 99 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Joining Ball and Edwards (198 total points each) on the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team are Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton (197 points; 98 First Team votes), Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bey (162 points; 63 First Team votes) and Houston Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate (154 points; 57 First Team votes).

Ball led first-year NBA players in assists (6.1 apg) and steals (1.59 spg) and ranked second in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). He won the first three Kia NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards. Edwards, the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, averaged a rookie-high 19.3 points per game. He was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month in each of the final three months of the season.

Haliburton, who won the first two Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards, ranked third among rookies in scoring (13.0 ppg) and second in assists (5.3 apg). Bey, the 19^th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, made a rookie-leading 175 three-pointers and was named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 8. Tate, who was not selected in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds with the Rockets after playing last season for the Sydney Kings in Australia’s National Basketball League.

The 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley (148 points), Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (88), Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (71), Cleveland Cavaliers guard-forward Isaac Okoro (53) and Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (50).

The media voting panel selected five players for the NBA All-Rookie First Team and five players for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at any position. Players received two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote.

The voting results for the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie Team are below. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP.

2020-21 NBA ALL-ROOKIE FIRST TEAM

Player (Team)	First Team Votes (2 Points)	Second Team Votes (1 Point)	Total Points

LaMelo Ball (Charlotte)	99	0	198
Anthony Edwards (Minnesota)	99	0	198
Tyrese Haliburton (Sacramento)	98	1	197
Saddiq Bey (Detroit)	63	36	162
Jae’Sean Tate (Houston)	57	40	154

2020-21 NBA ALL-ROOKIE SECOND TEAM

Player (Team)	First Team Votes (2 Points)	Second Team Votes (1 Point)	Total Points

Immanuel Quickley (New York)	51	46	148
Desmond Bane (Memphis)	9	70	88
Isaiah Stewart (Detroit)	8	55	71
Isaac Okoro (Cleveland)	1	51	53
Patrick Williams (Chicago)	2	46	50

Below are the other players who received votes for the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie Team.

OTHER PLAYERS RECEIVING VOTES

Player (Team)	First Team Votes (2 Points)	Second Team Votes (1 Point)	Total Points

Facundo Campazzo (Denver)	3	36	42
Cole Anthony (Orlando)	1	38	40
James Wiseman (Golden State)	3	18	24
Payton Pritchard (Boston)	0	20	20
Jaden McDaniels (Minnesota)	1	13	15
Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia)	0	9	9
Théo Maledon (Oklahoma City)	0	5	5
Xavier Tillman (Memphis)	0	4	4
KJ Martin (Houston)	0	3	3
Chuma Okeke (Orlando)	0	2	2
Devin Vassell (San Antonio)	0	1	1
Aleksej Pokuševski (Oklahoma City)	0	1	1

Red Sox Earn an Off-Day

June 17, 2021 by Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox eased into a single day break Thursday with a three-game winning streak but a (6-4) record over their last 10 games, but claimed a two-game mini-series sweep over the struggling Atlanta Braves and are (9-4) over their last 13 games.

The pair of 10-8 victories over the Braves indicated some of the symptoms facing the Sox starting rotation. In the opener against the Braves, SP Garrett Richards allowed six runs, four earned. Richards holds a 4.36 ERA, overall, but in his last three starts (14 innings pitched), the right hander has allowed 26 hits and 11 earned runs.

Wednesday night’s starter, Eduardo Rodriguez, began the season 5-0 with a 3.82 ERA and .260 opponent batting average over his first six (33.0 IP, 33-for-127, 14 ER) games. He then went 0-4 with a 8.49 ERA and .331 opponent average over his six starts (29.2 IP, 41- for-124, 28 ER) leading into the Braves game. The Sox posted an early 5-0 lead for Rodriguez but the left hander gave up four runs off six hits and a walk, and allowed Atlanta to erase a five-run deficit to 5-4.

The trend was contagious for Martin Perez as he’s allowed 11 runs in 3.1 innings pitched in his last two starts and Nick Pivetta who coughed-up six runs in his last start.

Starting pitching woes aside, the Sox are currently a season-high 15 games above .500 at (42-27) after concluding a testy 17 consecutive game-day stretch, all against 2020 MLB Playoff teams. They’ll pick it up again Friday night at Kansas City for a three-game series against the Royals.

Nick Pivetta, Martin Perez and Nathan Eovaldi will start for Boston over the weekend before the club earns another rare off-day this Monday.

Let the U.S. Open Begin

June 17, 2021 by PGA Tour Brunch

The 2021 U.S. Open Golf Championship

COURSE: Torrey Pines Golf Course (South), San Diego, CA

ARCHITECT: William Bell/1957, Rees Jones/2002/2019

YARDS/PAR: 7,685 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $12,500,000 /$2,250,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Bryson DeChambeau (2020)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @USOpenGolf

OFFICIAL SITE: (U.S. Open Championship) – PGA Tour site (link)

TV COVERAGE: Today, June 17: 9:45am to 12:30pm (EDT) on Peacock Network. 12:30pm to 7pm (EDT) on Golf Channel and 7:00pm to 10pm (EDT) on NBC. Round 2 coverage, Friday, June 18: 9:45am to 12:30pm (EDT) on Peacock Network, 12:30pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel, and 6:00pm to 9pm (EDT) on NBC.

On Saturday, June 19, Round 3 coverage 11:00am to 9pm (EDT) on NBC. For Sunday, June 20th’s final round, Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 10:00am to 12:00pm Noon (EDT) and NBC takes over from 12:00pm Noon to 9:00pm (EDT) (or conclusion).

STREAMING: Streaming coverage primarily will be provided by Peacock, USOpen.com and the U.S. Open app. Fans can catch exclusive early coverage of Rounds 1 and 2 on Peacock, as well as the final hour of coverage up to the last putt for the two opening days of play. Featured Group and Featured Hole coverage of holes 11-13 can also be found on Peacock, USOpen.com and the U.S. Open.

Round 3 on Saturday: Featured Groups: All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App); Featured Holes (11, 12 and 13): All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App).

Final Round on Sunday: Featured Groups: All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App)’; Featured Holes (11, 12 and 13): All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App)

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM announced its schedule as the exclusive national radio broadcaster for the 121st U.S. Open Championship, played June 17-20 at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Coverage today and Friday begins at 6:45am local/9:45am (EDT) and continues through the completion of play. On the weekend, SiriusXM’s on-course coverage will begin at 10:00am (EDT) and will run through the completion of play both Saturday and Sunday, including possible two-hole aggregate playoff. The U.S. Open Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on USOpen.com, the app and a link through from PGATour.com

How to Watch: In case of changes, see: (PGATourCom)

U.S. Open at Torrey Pines: Notebook

The U.S. Open returns to its traditional month of June after being played in September 2020 due to the pandemic. The U.S. Open marks the third and final tournament to be contested twice in the 2020-21 PGA Tour Season (Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, Masters) and the second-to-last opportunity for a winner to earn 600 FedExCup points before the start of the FedExCup playoffs.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S. Open in September at Winged Foot Golf Club (NY). Entering the week at No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, DeChambeau seeks to become eighth player to successfully defend a U.S. Open title (Most recent: Brooks Koepka, 2018).

Four-time major champion and two-time U.S. Open winner Brooks Koepkais coming off a missed cut in his most recent PGA TOUR start (Palmetto Championship at Congaree), but also missed the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson the week before his runner-up at last month’s PGA Championship.

San Diego native Xander Schauffele finished T-2 at the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open, his best finish in his first six starts. Schauffele has six Top-fives in 16 career major starts.

During his title defense at the Memorial Tournament two weeks ago, Jon Rahm was up by six strokes when he was forced to withdraw after 54 holes due to a positive COVID-19 test. Rahm has been medically cleared to play and will seek his first major win at the site of first PGA Tour victory (2017 Farmers Insurance Open).

PGA Tour: 121st U.S. Open – 1st Look

June 16, 2021 by PGA Tour Brunch

COURSE: Torrey Pines Golf Course (South), San Diego, CA

ARCHITECT: William Bell/1957, Rees Jones/2002/2019

YARDS/PAR: 7,685 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $12,500,000 /$2,250,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Bryson DeChambeau (2020)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @USOpenGolf

OFFICIAL SITE: (U.S. Open Championship) – PGA Tour site (link)

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, June 17: 9:45am to 12:30pm (EDT) on Peacock Network. 12:30pm to 7pm (EDT) on Golf Channel and 7:00pm to 10pm (EDT) on NBC. Round 2 coverage, Friday, June 18: 9:45am to 12:30pm (EDT) on Peacock Network, 12:30pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel, and 6:00pm to 9pm (EDT) on NBC.

Round 3 on Saturday: Featured Groups: All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App); Featured Holes (11, 12 and 13): All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App).

Final Round on Sunday: Featured Groups: All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App)’; Featured Holes (11, 12 and 13): All day (Peacock, USOpen.com, U.S. Open App)

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM announced its schedule as the exclusive national radio broadcaster for the 121st U.S. Open Championship, played June 17-20 at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Coverage on Thursday and Friday begins at 6:45am local/9:45am (EDT) and continues through the completion of play. On the weekend, SiriusXM’s on-course coverage will begin at 10:00am (EDT) and will run through the completion of play both Saturday and Sunday, including possible two-hole aggregate playoff. The U.S. Open Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on USOpen.com, the app and a link through from PGATour.com

How to Watch: In case of changes, see: (PGATourCom)

U.S. Open at Torrey Pines: Notebook

This week the PGA Tour stops in San Diego, California for the 121st United States Open Golf Champion ship. This year marks the second time that Torrey Pines GC will host the U.S. Open. The previous Open was in 2008 and it was Tiger Woods who took the honors in a playoff victory over Rocco Mediate. Torrey Pines regularly plays host on the PGA Tour to the Farmers Insurance Open. Patrick Reed is the defending champ at that tournament which was last held this past January 28-31st.

The 2008 U.S. Open and Woods’ victory over Mediate is one of the most memorable events in history, many comparing it to the 1986 Masters win by Jack Nicklaus. “That U.S. Open was three full days of incredible scenes. It topped ’86, absolutely,” said the esteemed Tommy Roy, longtime Executive Producer and a man on-site for all the big time and weekly tournaments with his role for NBC Sports and The Golf Channel.

The layout for Torrey Pines this week reads 7,685 yards on the Par-71 (35-36) making the “South” course play as one of the longest US Open history. There are some 82 bunkers in play off the tee and on approach, but only one hole – the signature 18th – has water in play.

Jon Rahm of Spain is cleared to play in the U.S. Open after a quarantine because of his COVID-19+ test while he was six strokes ahead at the recent Memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Rahm was forced to withdraw.

Phil Mickelson, coming off a stunning and improbable victory at the PGA Championship last month, needs to win the U.S. Open to complete his career Grand Slam.

All 30 of the Top 30 FedExCup points leaders are in the field this weekend at Torrey Pines.

Utah’s Rudy Gobert, Sixers’ Ben Simmons Lead NBA All-Defensive Team

June 15, 2021 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the 2020-21 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons lead the 2020-21 NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced. Both players received NBA All-Defensive First Team votes on all 100 ballots to finish with 200 points each.

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Joining Gobert and Simmons on the NBA All-Defensive First Team are Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (176 points; 80 First Team votes) and Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday (157 points; 65 First Team votes) and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (135 points; 43 first Team votes).

Gobert, the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in the last four seasons, has been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the fifth season in a row. This marks the second straight First Team selection for Simmons, the runner-up for Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year this season. Simmons helped the 76ers finish with the NBA’s second-best defensive rating in the regular season, one spot ahead of the Gobert-led Jazz.

Green has been selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the fourth time to go with two Second Team honors. Holiday is a First Team honoree for the second time. Antetokounmpo, the 2019-20 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, has earned his third consecutive NBA All-Defensive First Team selection.

The 2020-21 NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo (111 points) and guard Jimmy Butler (111), 76ers center Joel Embiid (87) and guard Matisse Thybulle (63), and LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (43).

Leonard has been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team (First Team and Second Team) for the seventh time. This is the fifth NBA All-Defensive Team selection for Butler, the third for Embiid and the second for Adebayo. Thybulle is making his All-Defensive Team debut in his second NBA season.

The NBA All-Defensive Team was selected by a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. Players were awarded two points for each vote to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and one point for each vote to the Second Team. Voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each team, choosing players at the position they play regularly. Players who received votes at multiple positions were slotted at the position at which they received the most votes.

The voting results for the 2020-21 NBA All-Defensive Team:

(Balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP. Complete ballots for each voter will be posted at PR.NBA.com after the announcement of all end-of-season awards).

2020-21 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM

Position	Player (Team)	1^st Team Votes (2 Points)	2^nd Team Votes (1 Point)	Total Points	Career All-Defensive Team Selections

Center	Rudy Gobert (Utah)	100	0	200	5 (five 1^st)
Guard	Ben Simmons (Philadelphia)	100	0	200	2 (two 1^st)
Forward	Draymond Green (Golden State)	80	16	176	6 (four 1^st, two 2^nd)
Guard	Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee)	65	27	157	3 (two 1^st, one 2^nd)
Forward	Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee)	43	49	135	4 (three 1^st, one 2^nd)

2020-21 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM

Position	Player (Team)	1^st Team Votes (2 Points)	2^nd Team Votes (1 Point)	Total Points	Career All-Defensive Team Selections

Forward	Bam Adebayo (Miami)	37	37	111	2 (two 2^nd)
Guard	Jimmy Butler (Miami)	37	37	111	5 (five 2^nd)
Center	Joel Embiid (Philadelphia)	8	71	87	3 (three 2^nd)
Guard	Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia)	3	57	63	1 (one 2^nd)
Forward	Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)	8	27	43	7 (three 1^st, four 2^nd)

Second Time’s a Charm for Higgo

June 14, 2021 by PGA Tour Brunch

RIDGELAND SC – South Africa’s Garrick Higgo, 22, won the Palmetto Championship at Congaree by one stroke, earning his first PGA Tour title in his second career start. Higgo, a three-time winner on the European Tour, is immediately eligible for PGA Tour membership through the 2022-23 season and the 2021 FedExCup Playoffs.

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According to the PGA Tour Communications department and Elias Sports(h/t), Garrick Higgo’s win at the Palmetto Championship in just his second career PGA Tour start allows him to join Jim Benepe as the only golfers since 1970 to win one of their first two career PGA Tour events.

Chesson Hadley bogeyed the final three holes and finished (in a six-way) T-2, becoming the first player to fail to convert a 54-hole lead of four strokes or more on the Tour since Justin Thomas at the 2019 Genesis Invitational.

With his T-2, Bo Van Pelt earned his best result on Tour since a solo-second at the 2012 Quicken Loans National.

Final Leaderboard at The Palmetto

Garrick Higgo 68-69-68-68—273 (-11)

Hudson Swafford 68-70-70-66—274 (-10)

Doc Redman 65-72-70-67—274 (-10)

Jhonattan Vegas 66-72-69-67—274 (-10)

Tyrrell Hatton 71-68-67-68—274 (-10)

Bo Van Pelt 69-71-66-68—274 (-10)

Chesson Hadley 65-66-68-75—274 (-10)

NFL Releases Preseason Sked

June 13, 2021 by Digital Sports Desk

CANTON – A new normal for the NFL and its preseason will return this summer, beginning with the Hall of Fame Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 5. The annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game kicks-off a schedule of three preseason games for each team, down from four in previous seasons. The extra game has been tacked on to the regular season, with each team playing 17 games instead of 16.

In another Week 1 preseason game of interest, fans will get their first glance at the revamped Jaguars, led by new coach Urban Meyer and No. 1 overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence at quarterback, when the Cleveland Browns visit Jacksonville on Aug. 14.

The preseason wraps up Aug. 29.

The Cowboys will be featured in the regular-season opener, as well, when they visit the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 9.

The 2021 preseason week-by-week schedule, with all times Eastern:

WEEK 1
Thursday, Aug. 5
Pittsburgh and Dallas (Canton, Ohio), 8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 12
Washington at New England, 7:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 13
Tennessee at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Arizona, 10 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 14
Miami at Chicago, 1 p.m.
Denver at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
New Orleans at Baltimore, 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.

New York Jets at NY Giants, 7:30 pm

Cincinnati at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Houston at Green Bay, 8 p.m.
Kansas City at San Francisco, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.

Los Angeles Chargers at LA Rams, 10 pm

Sunday, Aug. 15
Carolina at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.

WEEK 2
Thursday, Aug. 19
New England at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 20
Kansas City at Arizona, 8 p.m.
Cincinnati at Washington, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 21
Buffalo at Chicago, 1 p.m.
New York Jets at Green Bay, 4:25 p.m.
Baltimore at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Miami, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Tennessee at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Houston at Dallas, 8 p.m.
Indianapolis at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Las Vegas at Los Angeles Rams, 10 p.m.
Denver at Seattle, 10 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 22
New York Giants at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
San Francisco at Los Angeles Chargers, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 23
Jacksonville at New Orleans, 8 p.m.

WEEK 3
Friday, Aug. 27
Indianapolis at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at New York Jets, 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 28
Green Bay at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Baltimore at Washington, 6 p.m.
Chicago at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Houston, 8 p.m.
Arizona at New Orleans, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles Rams at Denver, 9:05 p.m.
Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle, 10 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 29
Jacksonville at Dallas, 1 p.m.
Miami at Cincinnati, 4 p.m.
Las Vegas at San Francisco, 4 p.m.
New England at New York Giants, 6 p.m.
Cleveland at Atlanta, 8 p.m.

While We’re Young (Ideas) & Notes

June 13, 2021 by Terry Lyons

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The most telling “official” sponsorship package in all of sports might be the “official window” company for every sports franchise. The official window might determine the “window of opportunity” and just when the windows open and close for your local professional club.

Maybe you can blame it on the quick-changing New England weather, but here in Boston, the windows seem to be closing all too often these days. When quarterback and team leader Tom Brady departed from the New England Patriots and tight end Rob Gronkowski soon followed him to Tampa Bay, the window of opportunity closed on the Patriots, like a guillotine at Marie Antoinette’s execution.

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This spring, the double-hung windows at TD Garden were shuttered quite abruptly, as both the Boston Celtics of the NBA and the Boston Bruins of the NHL took early exits from their respective league playoffs.

After winning their 17th NBA Championship in 2007-08, the Celtics have remained (mostly) competitive with the exception of missing the NBA Playoffs in 2013-14. Boston made NBA Eastern Conference Finals appearances in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2019-20 (in the NBA Bubble).

This season, they advanced through a first-ever NBA Play-In game but lost to the Brooklyn Nets, 4-games-to-1, in the first round of the playoffs. Soon after, the Celtics accepted the retirement papers from their head of basketball, Danny Ainge, and decided to move their talented head coach, Brad Stevens, up the ladder to head-up basketball ops as GM.

While the Celtics’ core is young, strong and capable, team chemistry, size and frequent injuries remain as obstacles in front of the Celtics in order to advance in future NBA Playoffs. The window of opportunity for the current team seems to be closing before they could make it to the NBA Finals.

On the ice rink along Causeway Street, the Boston Bruins are realizing a similar fate.

Last season, the Bruins finished the “normal” season leading the NHL and in prime position for the approaching 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Then, the Coronavirus hit, and the Bruins lost momentum, and re-started by going 0-3 in the NHL bubble ‘seeding round.” The Bruins regained some confidence with a strong showing in the 2020 first round with a 4-1 series win over the Carolina Hurricanes but fell flat and dropped their second-round series to eventual champion Tampa Bay, 4-1.

This season, the Bruins finished third in a re-configured “East,” then won a competitive first-round series against the tough Washington Capitals before being eliminated, 4-games-to-2, against the upstart New York Islanders.

Suffice to say, the core of the Boston Bruins team is aging from the Stanley Cup Championship of 2011 and Stanley Cup Finals appearance and losses to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and St. Louis Blues in the spring of 2019.

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“Every year, as you don’t achieve your goal and the further you go in your career, you get to realize it’s a year closer to retirement,” said veteran center and team captain Patrice Bergeron after the Bruins were eliminated. “So, obviously, it’s tough. From one year to the next, it’s always a missed opportunity and you want to keep going at it. It’s hard. As you get older, you know that you don’t have that many chances to achieve your goal and have a team that can actually compete for a Stanley Cup, so it’s always disappointing. About changes, I’m not sure. It’s not up to me. You always want to keep the same group and I feel like we have a great group here. We’ll see what happens.”

Unfortunately, in the world of sports, we all know what happens.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: For the Boston Bruins, the status of starting goalkeeper Tuukka Rask will be a key factor. Rask will soon have surgery for a torn labrum in his hip. The surgery will be scheduled within a month and recovery time could take five or six months from there. While some have speculated that Rask might test the free agent market upon return, much like former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara (now with the Washington Caps), Rask confirmed this week that it’s the Bruins or retirement. … “I’m not going to play for anyone else than the Bruins,” said Rask. “This is our home. We have three kids. The kids enjoy it here. They have friends in school. We have friends. At this point of my life and my career, I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else, especially with the health I’m looking at now and a recovery time of five or six months. Hopefully it works out that I recover well and we can talk about contracts when the time is right for that,” he concluded.

TRACK & FIELD AND TRACK SOME MORE? – According to The Japan Times, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee plans to use GPS as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The GPS tracking devices are not intended to monitor the real-time whereabouts of people from overseas, but to trace and confirm their movements retroactively in the event infections are confirmed, Toshiro Muto, the Olympic Organizing Committee CEO said. … He told reporters that everyone entering Japan from abroad, including athletes, officials and members of the media, will be required to submit plans for their first 14 days in the country and turn on the GPS function on their smartphones. … “We’re not going to be tracking every single movement,” he told a news conference. “I want to trust they will follow the rules first.” … The system for possible COVID-19 contact tracing came at a high cost. Japan’s digital transformation minister Takuya Hirai said the development cost for the app was $35 million, according to the Tokyo-based newspaper Nikkei.

For the full collection of while we’re Young (Ideas), sent right to your inbox, click HERE.

PGA Tour: Final Round at Palmetto

June 13, 2021 by PGA Tour Brunch

PGA Tour Brunch: Sunday at The Palmetto

*Play was suspended at 8:00pm EDT with only two groups who completed their 17th hole. Round 3 will resume at 7:30am (EDT) today and final round tee times will range from 8:05am – 1:50pm (EDT) off the first tee..

Chesson Hadley is closing in on second title on the PGA Tour but has to wait to complete his third round as play was suspended with the final two groups on the 18th hole at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree.

Hadley (-14) was (-3) through 17 holes, four shots ahead of playing partner Harris English (-4 through 17) with a partial score of (-10 – 136). Hadley had missed nine cuts in his last 11 outings.

Bo Van Pelt shot a third round five under (66) to move into a tie for fifth place with Tyrrell Hatton who carded four under (67).