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🚨 Headlines
💔 RIP, Jerry: Jerry West, a Hall of Fame player, masterful executive and inspiration for the NBA logo, died peacefully at his home on Wednesday. He was 86.
🏈 No. 12 forever: Tom Brady was inducted into the Patriots’ Hall of Fame in front of a sold out crowd in Foxborough, where his No. 12 jersey was retired. The date (6/12) was no mistake, combining his uniform with the number of rings he won for the franchise.
🏏 India beats USA: Team USA fell short in its upset bid against world No. 1 India. They’ll need to beat Ireland tomorrow to advance.
🎾 Spanish duo: Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will represent Spain in doubles at next month’s Olympics in Paris, where they’ll play on the red clay of Roland Garros.
⛳️ Scheffler’s fame is catching up to his game
The 124th U.S. Open is underway at Pinehurst No. 2, where world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has absurdly low odds to win yet another golf tournament.
From Yahoo Sports’ Jay Busbee:
The kids were packed three and four deep around the back of the 17th tee, momentarily — miraculously — completely silent.
Then the big Texan in the azure golf shirt blasted his tee shot into the Carolina blue sky, and the kids erupted. “Scottie! Scottie! Scottie!”
There was nothing organized whatsoever about the gaggle of kids around Scottie Scheffler. They just wanted to get close to him, however they could.
The kids aren’t alone. Scheffler arrived in Pinehurst for this week’s U.S. Open as the undisputed heavyweight champion of golf, an overwhelming betting favorite and the prevailing storyline.
Here’s the tell: almost every other player is getting questioned about Scottie. Not since Tiger Woods’ highest highs (and lowest lows) has one player been the subject of so many questions to other players.
“You can have a nice little run, but then most of the time you kind of fall back to whatever, a more average week,” Viktor Hovland said. “But his average week is just really, really good.”
“Every week we play,” PGA champion Xander Schauffele said, “he seems to build a bigger lead, and somehow make the mountain even taller for all of us to climb.”
“He is the gold standard right now,” Bryson DeChambeau said, “and we’re all looking up to him going, ‘All right, how do we get to that level?'”
“It’s nice to hear a little bit of good things from my peers because I think we all try to bust each other up at times,” Scheffler said. “I think part of the friendship bond is, you want to mess with your buddies, so to hear some compliments every now and then is definitely nice.”
Thing is, Scottie has earned every bit of this acclaim. In an age where athletes from Caitlin Clark to Travis Kelce ride waves of viral hype right into the nation’s consciousness, Scheffler is stacking fame the old-fashioned way: by getting arrested. Oh, and also by winning.
Scheffler is on an ungodly heater right now. He’s won five tournaments already this year, and it’s only June. He hasn’t missed a cut in any of his 13 tournaments this year. His lowest finish is a T17, and that was back in January. It’s a legitimate shocker at this point when he’s not on a weekend leaderboard.
“Winning the tournaments he’s winning — to win Bay Hill, Players, Masters, RBC and then Memorial,” Jon Rahm said, “you’re basically replicating a Tiger Woods season.”
There it is — the Tiger Woods connection, if not yet comparison. Scheffler isn’t anywhere near Woods’ territory, mostly because Woods’ territory is a freaking continent.
Woods won nine tournaments in 2000, eight in 1999 and 2006, seven in 2007, six in 2005 and 2009, and five each year from 2001 to 2003 and in 2013. (You forgot how good Woods used to be, didn’t you?)
But you can’t create a legendary career without stacking legendary seasons, and Scheffler is well on the way to doing exactly that.
Over his last eight tournaments, he has five wins, two runner-up finishes and a tie for eighth. That low point came at the PGA Championship, where there were, shall we say, mitigating circumstances.
“The only thing that took him from winning a golf tournament,” Rory McIlroy joked, “was going into a jail cell for an hour.”
More from Jay Busbee:
Quick links: Tee times | Leaderboard
🏀 The Mavs are in trouble
The Celtics beat the Mavericks, 106-99, on Wednesday and are now 48 minutes away from winning their record 18th championship.
Dallas needs a miracle: No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series (0-156 all-time, 0-14 in the NBA Finals). If the Mavs hope to make history, they’ll have to win four straight games against a team that hasn’t lost more than two straight all season.
The elephant in the room… Luka Dončić’s defense isn’t good enough to win a title, and his constant complaining to the referees is becoming a real problem.
📸 In photos: Tasers in the outfield
19-year-old Reds fan William Hendon let his youthful impulses get the best of him on Tuesday, running onto the field during the ninth inning of Cincinnati’s 5-3 loss to the Guardians.
The Ohio State sophomore tried to fist-bump Guardians centerfielder Tyler Freeman before sprinting away and doing a backflip, but his fun was short-lived.
He was tased by a police officer moments after landing the flip, providing the Louvre-worthy photos above and below.
Hendon pleaded not guilty to criminal trespassing on Wednesday, was released on bond and is banned from the stadium indefinitely. Just another day at the ballpark.
⚽️ USA 1, Brazil 1
The USMNT played Brazil to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday in their final tune-up friendly before Copa América 2024 kicks off in two weeks.
Highlight: Christian Pulisic’s free kick goal
From Yahoo Sports’ Henry Bushnell…
The USMNT arrived in Orlando on the brink of crisis. It will leave with its chest puffed and pride intact, on stable ground as it strides toward Copa América.
It arrived amid outcry, and pressure, in the wake of a 5-1 trouncing by Colombia. It responded with a statement: “a huge bounce-back performance,” as goalkeeper Matt Turner said postgame.
It was not, of course, the signature win they’ve craved. It was far from perfect, and if not for Turner’s 11 saves, interpretations and narratives might be different. Brazil had twice as many shots (25) and nearly twice the quality chances. Brazil was better; Brazil is better. That hasn’t changed.
But the U.S. battled. It proved — to itself and the world — that the post-Colombia freak-out was perhaps a bit excessive. “What we did today,” Turner said on TNT, “can sort of put that [Colombia game] to bed.”
It proved, yet again, that it can compete with the very best teams in international soccer. What it still hasn’t done, in five years under head coach Gregg Berhalter, is beat one of them.
But, like against England at the World Cup, it crept close to a win, close enough to maintain confidence that, someday, it will. “We feel like we made a little step,” Berhalter said. “It’s not a huge step, but it’s a little step.”
Looking ahead: The USMNT is in Group C at Copa América and plays Bolivia on June 23 (Dallas), Panama on June 27 (Atlanta) and Uruguay on July 1 (Kansas City).
📆 June 13, 2016: LeBron and Kyrie go off
Eight years ago today, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving became the first duo to eclipse 40 points in the same NBA Finals game, dropping 41 apiece against the Warriors, who they went on to beat in seven games.
Rare feat: In addition to this being the only time teammates scored 40+ points in the Finals, it’s also one of just six occurrences* in any playoff game.
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⚾️ 1948: The Yankees held a jersey retirement and farewell ceremony for Babe Ruth. It would be the last time he set foot in Yankee Stadium, as he passed away from cancer two months later at age 53.
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⚽️ 1956: Real Madrid beat Reims, 4-3, to win the inaugural European Cup (now called Champions League). They’ve won 14 more titles since, including this year.
*The other five: Elgin Baylor and Jerry West for the Lakers (1962); Sleepy Floyd and Hakeem Olajuwon for the Rockets (1988); Clyde Drexler and Olajuwon for the Rockets (1995); Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller for the Pacers (2000); Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday for the Pelicans (2018)
📺 Watchlist: Game 3 in Edmonton
The Oilers host the Panthers tonight in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final (8pm ET, ABC), and Edmonton is in desperate need of an offensive spark to avoid going down 3-0.
Scoring drought: After averaging 3.5 goals per game and scoring on 37.3% of their power plays through the first three rounds, the Oilers have managed just one goal* in the Final, and they’re 0-7 on power plays.
More to watch:
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⛳️ PGA: U.S. Open (6:30am, USA)
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🏀 WNBA: Dream at Fever (7pm, ESPN app); Storm at Wings (7pm, ESPN); Aces at Mercury (10pm, Prime)
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⚾️ MLB: Angels at Diamondbacks (9:40pm, FS1)
*Disappearing duo: Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have taken 15 shots but have yet to score. Panthers journeyman Evan Rodrigues, meanwhile, has scored three goals on three shots. Hockey!
🏀 NBA trivia
Jerry West is one of seven players in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring (31.2 ppg in 1970) and assists (9.7 apg in 1972).
Answer at the bottom.
⚾️ City Connect jerseys, ranked
Every MLB team except the Yankees and A’s now has a city-inspired alternate home uniform. Where does your team’s rank?
Trivia answer: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, Nate Archibald, Wilt Chamberlain
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