While We’re Young (Ideas) Celebrates Cinco de Mayo with General Notes

Neil Patrick Harris – clutching the ‘bigger’ than life TONY (File: Getty Images)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Everyone has their own Basketball Hall of Fame except the NBA. College Basketball opened its Hall of Fame & Experience in Kansas City while the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame opened in Knoxville. The International game has its hall in Switzerland. Only the NBA and WNBA have remained loyal to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the birthplace of basketball, Springfield, Massachusetts.

The BHofF in Springfield proudly claims to represent all levels of the sport, and it regularly honors high school, collegiate, professional, wheelchair, international and contributors to the game at all levels – both men and women.

FIBA (Federation for International Basketball) recently announced their Class of 2024 and its a good one with the USA’s Reggie Miller and Serbian favorite Predrag Stojakovic the two standout names rightfully honored for induction.

The Class will be feted during the enshrinement ceremony, scheduled to be in Singapore in September. A total of seven players and one coach are being formally recognized for their outstanding contributions to the sport.

Said the official FIBA announcement: “Miller is a former Olympic and FIBA Basketball World Cup winner with USA who was especially revered for his NBA contributions across an amazing 18 seasons in the league. He tallied a spectacular 25,000 points, helped by 2560 three-pointers and that contributed to an eye-catching five NBA All-Star appearances.

“The Serbian, often referred to simply as ‘Peja’ won the FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medal in 2002 with Yugoslavia, as well as a FIBA EuroBasket title in 2001 when he was crowned MVP. Also an Olympian, Stojakovic attained plenty of success at club level, most notably winning an NBA Championship in 2011 with Dallas Mavericks. A three-time NBA All-Star, he also won the NBA Three-Point Contest twice.

“Latvian Skaidrite Smildzina-Budovska conquered the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup three times and the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket five times with Soviet Union. China’s three-time Olympian Miao Lijie starred at four editions of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup and Croatian ace Danira Nakic-Bilic lit it up with Yugoslavia, competing in title games at the Olympics, the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup and FIBA Women’s EuroBasket.

Other inductees include Kirk Penney, who is being honored for serving New Zealand with distinction at two Olympic Games and four FIBA Basketball World Cups, while African basketball can celebrate Central African Republic colossus Romain Sato being on the list. The guard attained huge success at club level, including titles in Euroleague, Eurocup, the Spanish League and also four Italian championships.

Finally, American (turned Italian) play-caller Dan Peterson flies the flag for coaches in the 2024 Class. He masterminded the European Cup for Champion Clubs silverware in 1987 with Olimpia Milano, just two years after delivering the FIBA Korac Cup. Peterson also amassed five Italian titles and a host of individual coaching accolades.

Created in 2007, the FIBA BASKETBALL Hall of Fame has enshrined 184 outstanding Hall of Famers from 45 countries and all five continents to date. Its home is the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland.

Class of 2024: Players

Miao Lijie (China)

Reggie Miller (USA)-(UCLA-Indiana Pacers)

Danira Nakic-Bilic (Croatia)

Kirk Samuel Penney (New Zealand)

Romain Sato (Central African Republic)

Skaidrite Smildzina-Budovska (Latvia)

Predrag “Peja” Stojakovic (Serbia)-(Sacramento Kings)

Class of 2024: Coach

Daniel “Dan” Peterson (USA)-(Italy)-(Milan)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: For the first time in history, the Keeper of the Stanley Cup is a woman. Miragh Bitove, archivist at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto has been tabbed as the caretaker of the greatest trophy in sports. An art history and museum management major in college, Bitove went on to work as a Hall of Fame intern in 2003 before parlaying that into a job as an archivist at the venue. Now, 11 years later, she is the first woman in the role of the guardian of the Stanley Cup and general overseer on its annual celebration tour. … Each summer, the winners of the Cup, who have their name inscribed on the trophy, are able to take the Cup for a day – usually bringing it to their hometown – no matter how far away it might be. “Nothing like it,” she said to the AP. “There’s a glow.” … Phil Pritchard, the Hall of Fame’s vice president and the “Keeper of the Cup,” remembers when Bitove first arrived in the building. … “She had all the interest, all the background, everything that we’re looking for,” he said. “When you get someone like that, you don’t want to lose them.” … Bitove also has the game in her blood. While never a hockey player herself, the family tree includes great uncle Ted Kennedy, who won the Cup five times with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1945 and 1951.

NUGGETS AND TIDBITS: The United Football League was formed this spring after the merger of the XFL and USFL. The new spring league operates under the combined ownership of RedBird Capital Partners, FOX (FOX Sports), Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson. The UFL currently has eight teams based in eight US cities, including: Arlington (TX), Birmingham (AL), Detroit (MI), Houston (TX), San Antonio (TX), Memphis (TN), St. Louis (MO), and Washington (DC).

The UFL is entering its sixth week of play and has yet to crack the code of success enjoyed by the NFL and the other traditional leagues and the spring football concept always seems far out of place, especially with the NBA and NHL Playoffs heating up and MLB in full swing.

Add to challenge for the rest of the summer and you’ll note the WNBA is opening training camps this weekend and everyone’s favorite superstar, Kaitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, opening with a road game in Frisco, Texas. That game was streamed on the WNBA App and the Fever’s first home preseason game was postponed due to an Indiana Pacers playoff game.

If the UFL goes up in flames, the concept of spring football will have run the gamut of the entire alphabet from the WLAF (World League) in Europe, and rapid-fire through (Donald’s Trump’s very own) USFL to the publicity strong XFL where “He Hate Me” – aka Rod Smart – started with the Las Vegas Outlaws and bounced around to five other pro franchises before taking his degree in kinesiology and setting sail.

The UFL uses up the final life of the cat called spring football. If this entity goes under, the NFL and its remote affiliates will need to re-think their approach to player development.The league is opening offices and shopping TV all across the globe. The NFL has strongholds in Germany and to a lesser extent in England/Scotland/Ireland.

Yet, unlike soccer and basketball, American football, as a participation sport, is not played very much outside of the United States and Canada.

If the current reiteration of the sport doesn’t translate to sales and TV eyeballs, the UFL might stand for and add to the Unemployment Fookin’ Line.

NBA’s BEST, TAKE 1ST ROUND EXIT: Sixty percent of the very best and most productive NBA scorers from the 2023-24 regular season have been eliminated from the ‘24 NBA Playoffs. Using the proven formula of adding the positive stats and subtracting missed shots shows that only four of the Top 10 in the league have advanced to the NBA Conference Semi-Finals.

Player, Team, Formula (Positive/Efficiency per game)

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee, 41.192
2. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia, 41.105
3. Luka Doncic, Dallas, 40.786
4. Nikola Jokic, Denver, 40.416
5. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento, 36.000
6. Anthony Davis, LA Lakers, 33.095
7. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City, 32.986
8. LeBron James, LA Lakers, 32.667
9. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns, 29.877
10. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics, 29.703

LAX SELECTION SHOW TIDBIT: The NCAA brackets for the 2024 Men’s Lacrosse Tournament will be announced today, May 5, at 9:30 pm on ESPN2. … No. 2 Johns Hopkins was upset by Michigan in the BIG 10 semifinals on Thursday. Notre Dame, the unanimous No. 1 in the USA, will play in its fourth straight ACC Championship title game when the Irish take on No. 6 Duke at Noon ET on today, May 5 in Charlotte at American Legion Memorial Stadium. The Fighting Irish have advanced to the title game in five of the last seven ACC Tournaments. The game will air on ACC Network.

KENTUCKY DERBY: It seems like just weeks ago that the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby took place and the favorite, Cannonade, rode to victory. Saturday, it was Mint Juleps for everyone as the 150th Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in Louisville and Mystik Dan (18-1) was the winner in a three horse photo finish, one of the tightest in the history of the horse race. Mystik Dan paid $39.22, $16.32 and $10. Sierra Leone returned $6.54 and $4.64. Forever Young was another nose back in third and paid $5.58 to show.

Need the official recipe for the Official Mint Julep?

• 2 cups sugar (for Simple Syrup)
• 2 cups water (for Simple Syrup)
• Sprigs of fresh mint (Flavor Simple Syrup overnight)
• Fill Glass with Crushed ice
• 1 Tablespoon Simple Syrup
• 2 ounces of Kentucky Bourbon Whisky of Choice

Make simple or complicated syrup by boiling sugar and water together for five minutes. Cool and place in a covered container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint, then refrigerate overnight.

Make one julep at a time by filling a julep glass with crushed ice, adding one tablespoon mint syrup and two ounces of the Kentucky Whisky.

Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

PODCASTING: Your favorite columnist participated in a special podcast which originated across the pond. Listen in.

Terry Lyons: NBA Growth & Navigating The Sports World

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-3y8aq-15d5f41

The post TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | May 5 appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Let’s have a Super Day. First and foremost, let’s hope for a great NFL championship game between the San Francisco 49ers (representing the National Football Conference) and the Kansas City Chiefs (representing the American Football Conference). Let’s hope for game played at the highest level, a game that is close to the final minutes and one that goes from kickoff to the final seconds without any player being seriously injured.

After that? We can get a little greedy in the things we’d like to see.

Back on September 3, 2023, I went with the favorites and predicted a San Fran vs KC Super Bowl with the Niners winning and RB Christian McCaffrey taking home the Most Valuable Player award. Aside from just about every pundit predicting a Kansas City victory and a Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes MVP performance, I see no reason to change my preseason prediction.

Throughout this week’s game analysis, much of the focus on the Niners’ success was placed upon the shoulders of young Brock Purdy, the third team quarterback now starting and proving he belongs amongst the elite QBs in the NFL. Remember, Purdy suffered torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in January 2023 but rehabbed after an “InternalBrace” surgery was performed, saving him the lengthy rehab after undergoing a more involved “Tommy John” surgery needed by so many MLB pitchers.

The successful surgery allowed the 2022 seventh round draft choice (No. 262) out of Iowa State to return to action. Keep in mind, the 49ers were 7-1 with Purdy before his injury occurred and they went 12-5 this season, good enough for the NFC West division title and victories in the two NFC playoff games, thus earning this trip to Las Vegas and Super Bowl LVIII. By the way, that Roman numeral stands for 58, not Las Vegas 3.

Combining McCaffrey, Purdy, an elite receiving corp, a Pro Bowl Tight End (George Kittle) and one of the NFL’s best defensive units (top three in holding opponents in rushing yards and points, but middle of the pack vs the pass), should be enough to outlast the Chiefs, although KC can boast much of the same.

Yes, QB Patrick Mahomes, RB Isiah Pacheco and all everything TE Travis Kelce provide the power numbers in passing rushing and receiving, but the KC defense ranks slightly ahead of SF in most categories.

Here are some fun facts to consider as you watch the Super Bowl Sunday night:

• The two teams are a combined 5-0 at Allegiant Stadium since it opened in 2020.
• It’s tough to pick against KC QB Patrick Mahomes as the 28 year old will become the youngest QB in NFL history to start a fourth Super Bowl. Previously, at age 30, New England’s Tom Brady held the honor. With a win, Mahomes would join Brady and Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboys QB Troy Aikman as the only quarterbacks to win three Super Bowl rings prior to their 30th birthdays.
• KC TE Travis Kelce is likely to work the middle of the field vs. the 49ers as Kelce led all NFL tight ends in yards receiving (393) when the closest defender is a linebacker.
• Since head coach Andy Reid was hired by Kansas City on January 7, 2013, (11 seasons), the Chiefs have not experienced a losing season. No other NFL team can say they have more than five consecutive winning seasons. KC has been to the Super Bowl in four of the last five years. That impressive mark comes after the Chiefs went 49 years without a trip to the Super Bowl.
• There is some (unfounded) speculation that Reid might “go out on top” and retire if KC is victorious. Further logic would place – now head coaching free agent – Bill Belichick as a possible replacement for KC to consider.
• As previously noted, SF QB Brock Purdy entered the NFL as the final choice of the 2022 NFL Draft which “just happened to be held” in Las Vegas. Since his draft day, Purdy has an .808 winning percentage as a starter, is passing at 9.2 yards per attempt, and owns an 111.2 pass rating – all top marks for NFL quarterbacks with a minimum of 20 starts.
• Niners RB Christian McCaffrey (yes, the son of former Denver Broncos’ receiver Ed) has joined Hall of Famer and Denver RB Terrell Davis as the only players in league history to average 110 scrimmage yards per game in both the regular season and postseason.
• To tie a bow on the stats and factoids/nuggets section of your Super Notebook, this year’s game features the best defensive matchup in Super Bowl history. During the regular season, Kansas City allowed 17.3 points per game while San Francisco allowed 17.5 ppg. Only Baltimore, at 16.5 ppg, had a better “D” and you saw what KC did to them.

HONOR ROLL: This week, the National Football League recognized its award-winning players in the annual NFL HONORS ceremony, traditionally held the Thursday evening before Super Bowl Sunday. Here are a few of the top honorees:

• Most Valuable Player: Lamar Jackson (Baltimore)
• Coach of the Year: Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland)
• Offensive Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco)
• Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett (Cleveland)
• Comeback Player of the Year: Joe Flacco (Cleveland)
• Offensive Rookie of the Year: C. J. Stroud (Houston)
• Defensive Rookie of the Year: Will Anderson (Houston)
• Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh)
• Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Bobby Wagner (Seattle)
• Deacon Jones (Sack Leader): T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh)
• Jim Brown Award: Christian McCaffrey (SF 49ers)

WALTER PAYTON MAN of the YEAR: Here’s an award that deserves further ,mention, as it is named for one of the greatest players in NFL history. In the late Walter Payton, running back for the Chicago Bears, the NFL honors “a player who excels on the field but demonstrates a passion for creating a lasting positive impact beyond the game.” … Pittsburgh defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, the 2023-24 honoree, has played 13 seasons in the NFL and is known as a leading voice in the Steelers’ locker room. Heyward’s 78.5 career sacks are the most for a Pittsburgh defensive lineman since 1982. Heyward is a six-time Pro Bowl player, a three-time first team All Pro. Heyward’s contributions off the field are far too numerous to list in this column. Suffice to say, he’s done it all in the Pittsburgh community. He’s helped fun libraries, school systems, worked and donated to food banks and works to assist the patients and families of those suffering from brain tumors and cancer. This year was the sixth time he was nominated as the Pittsburgh Steelers contender for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

SALUTE TO SERVICE AWARD: Believe it or not, there’s a New England connection to Super Bowl LVIII. The NFL and sponsor USAA named Joe Cardona, the long snapper for the New England Patriots as recipient of the Salute to Service Award. It is presented annually to a member of the NFL for “exceptional efforts to honor and support the military community.” Cardona graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served the United States when stationed at the Naval Academy Prep School in Rhode Island. He has dedicated his time and support to the military serving on the Korean Peninsula.

THE WWYI SUPER BOWL MENU – With the weather unsettled – up and down, meaning NO GRILLING – we went for the sure fire specialties which are all set and ready to go. Here’s the Super Sunday menu:

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: While we must applaud New England’s Joe Cardona for his award, I always thought a long snapper was something caught off the Florida coast. … All indication thus far has Las Vegas as the all-time greatest site for the Super Bowl. By contrast, the 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend was duly noted as the worst All-Star event since the league went to a full weekend of activities (1984). Why?

IT WAS 60 YEARS AGO: This week, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of The Beatles landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and their subsequent appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (two days after thier Pan American Flight 101 from London). The good folks of Pan American public relations staff pulled off – possibly – the greatest PR Photo Op of all-time, complete with backdrop and product placement – the Pan Am Boeing 707 Clipper Ship. … Everyone seems to agree, Rock ‘n Roll was never the same after the lads played “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on the Ed Sullivan Show.

CLIPPED: Just when you thought it was safe to re-enter the sports docuseries waters after “Winning Time” was rightfully cancelled, the general public learned about a new documentary series today, entitled, CLIPPED.

The press release goes something like this: “If you pay even the slightest attention to professional basketball, you’ve heard about former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling — and the scandal that led to his lifetime ban from the NBA.

In 2014, during the Clippers’ playoff run, Sterling was caught on tape spewing racist remarks. The news blew open his marriage, drew attention to his personal assistant V. Stiviano, and revealed deep problems within the Clippers organization. In 2019, the scandal became the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 podcast titled The Sterling Affairs, reported and hosted by Ramona Shelburne. This summer, 10 years after the tapes were released, The Sterling Affairs gets the small screen treatment, coming to FX on Hulu as the six-episode miniseries Clipped. … Ramona Shelburne is a fabulous reporter and has contributed mightily to the world of sports journalism, BUT, why on Earth do we need to revisit Donald Sterling and the Clippers debacle of 2014? … Give us a mini-series on the life of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his new impact as a gifted writer. Give us a mini-series on Elgin Baylor and Julius Erving, two of the greatest skywalkers who ever touched a basketball. Remember, if there were no Elgin and Doc, there’s no chance we would’ve had Michael and Kobe.

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