The Climate
NFL draft
If you go into the draft's TV coverage with the mind-set that it's purely entertainment, you won't be disappointed. This year's obvious highlights (in no particular order) included: the 47 ESPN analysts trying not to swear/laugh when the Raiders took Darrius Heyward-Bey at No. 7; Brian Cushing's early '90s record executive ponytail; the slow retreat of Mel Kiper's hairline; UConn's Donald Brown being the only one in his living room (like he just happened across the draft); the realization that Alex Mack looks alarmingly different than he did on his old Nickelodeon show; the ESPN touch screen that almost never worked; the Bengals taking two of the more questionable character guys; Trey Wingo losing it somewhere around the middle of the seventh round; and just Keyshawn Johnson in general.
Last week it was Derrick Rose who made it into this category, and this week Rondo has been as good, if not better. It's hard to really place where this battle ranks in the recent history of go-to players topping each other, but I'll put it like this -- if this series goes seven, and they both continue to flirt with or finish with triple-doubles, I'd play their version of this game in a heartbeat.
Mike Leach
Sometimes the Texas Tech football coach is outspoken, interesting and hilarious, and other times people just think he is and give him the benefit of the doubt. This time, it's clearly the former. Leach thinks his star receiver, Michael Crabtree, dropped to the 49ers with the 10th pick because of a rumor that Crabtree is a "diva" -- a rumor Leach angrily believes was started by Browns coach Eric Mangini. In any case, this is easily the best feud between a football coach who did a guest spot as a TV weatherman and a football coach who did a brief guest spot on The Sopranos. Hands down.
Zach Greinke
The Royals' ace has allowed only one run the entire season, and it wasn't even earned. He may not be making ace money yet (the 25-year-old right-hander signed a four-year, $38 million deal before the season), but at this point, it's probably a good idea to just hire a bodyguard as a precautionary measure to keep him far, far away from Alyssa Milano and her not-so-magic touch. You can never be too careful.
Aaron's 499 at Talladega finish
Carl Edwards looked poised to capture Sunday's NASCAR race before being sent spinning and then flying when Brad Keselowskimade his move. After thinking about it for a little while, I feel like my reaction of "YESSSS!! OMIGOD YES!! Is he alive? Ok good ... YESSSS!!" is the only appropriate one here. That Edwards ran away from his wreck and crossed the finish line a la Ricky Bobby was just the icing on the burnt tire cake.
Ohio State spring football game
A record crowd of 95,722 showed up to see the Buckeyes' annual Scarlet and Gray game. The obvious draws here are getting an early look at the defending Big 10 champs, seeing how top underclassmen perform and knowing that this is one newsworthy Ohio State game on the national stage that the team can't possibly lose.
Jeremy Tyler
Tyler, a 6-foot-11 high school junior from San Diego, decided to continue his basketball career professionally in Europe, thus ending his time in school. It remains to be seen whether Tyler will have any regrets, and it may seem like he's thought everything through, but what's going to happen when he realizes he won't ever know how Jay Gatsby made all that new money? Really makes you think.
Red Sox vs. Yankees
After a slow start, the Sox have won 10 in a row, including a sweep of the Yankees over the weekend in Boston. The series really gets more exciting each time they play and demands your constant, undivided attention. From one series to another, heroes become goats, and vice versa. In a way, the rivalry defines not only baseball, but life itsel ... zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
John Tortorella
I may not be the biggest hockey fan, so please excuse my lack of knowledge regarding regulations, but surely there's no subsection or article of the NHL rule book that allows for coaches to start impromptu squirt fights with opposing fans mid-game, as the Rangers' coach did in Washington, D.C., with taunting Capitals fans. Not that many people know this, but it was John Wooden who first toyed with the idea of trying to douse opposing fans as a psychological ploy, but he later dismissed the theory in favor of, you know, coaching.
EA cover reveals
Around this time every year, a big deal is made of which player or players will appear on the upcoming incarnations of EA Sports' extremely popular NCAA Football and Madden franchises. I'm not exactly sure who gets excited to see who'll be on the cases that you look at maybe once in the store, but it seems excessive and pretty nerdy. Now if we can please get down to business, I'd like to know whether the in-season recruiting feature in NCAA Football has been updated to reflect new regulations covering video chatting and Facebook, as well as the effectiveness of the new ability to negatively recruit players away from certain schools. That is all.
