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“Tension–Everywhere”

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I call it a great sports weekend.

Others would say it was action packed everywhere.

The reality was there was tension reaching unbelievable stages.

Pick a sport, you could cut thru the tension with a knife.

RAPTORS…..The Toronto-Milwaukee Bucks playoff game was a war of attrition. Fouls, collisions, tons of free throws, turnovers, and a lot of contact. Kawhil Leonard and Giannis Antetokoumpo put on an amazing show of skill and toughness in their multi-overtime street fight. Leonard, limping with an ailing quad, stole two passes and scored on length of the court slam dunks, then added a third basket, to incite the Toronto crowd in overtime. It fueled a huge must-win for the Raptors.. That game, that arena, no place for the timid.

PADRES….The wheels are coming off the Kiddie Kar pitching staff the Padres have. Teams catching up with the young pitching. Calvin Quantrill gives up another big inning, in another loss. That a day after Nick Margavicius gets pounded, and then sent to AA-Amsrillo with an ERA of nearly 8.00 over his last 5-starts. Add in the continued poor hitting of Will Myers, the slump of Austin Hedges and the struggles of Ian Kindler and Ty France. The fans are booing, not just because of F-bombs and bad outings, but the losing. has returned. The (11-5) start has been replaced by a (12-19) swoon. Things getting tense at Petco Park.

PGA GOLF….Brooks Koepka did it again, win another major, his 4th in 8-outings at the Grand Slam events. He led by 11-storkes at one point, staggered a bit on Sunday, shooting a 74, but still won. Maybe the next star in the ;making.

TIGER….You could read the body language, you could sense he wanted to scream and curse, but he didn’t. He didn’t make the cut after a lousy Thursday and a poor Friday, and just like that the Tiger Woods comeback story hit another pothole in the road. He was pretty tense, and pretty upset over the weekend.

INDY500….Some two days of unhappiness at the Old Brickyard. The pressure to qualify was everywhere. The stunning story of Fernando Alonso and the McLaren team, with all its resources, failing to make the 33-csr field. He bumped by a new bankrupt team, Juncos, and young driver Kyle Kaiser. His team worked 48-hours straight to rebuild a wrecked car, and ran without sponsors, and got in. He never practiced in it on Sunday, took it out, ran on the edge, and got the 33rd and last starting spot on the grid, taking it from Alonso, the former two time F-1 champion. The tenseness along Pit Row was overwhelming. The story the same for James Hinchcliffe, who wrecked twice, went out in a rebuilt car he never tested, and got in the back row. So full of emotion thru the tough times, he could not even talk. The emotions of those who got it, surprised only by the anger of those, who did not. The scowl of Alonso, the tears from Kaiser told the whole story.

A NEW ACE…Mention Dodgers, and the word ace, and everyone says Clayton Kershaw. Not this week, maybe not this season Hyun Jin-Ryu has now throws 31-straight shutout innings in starts over the last 3-weeks. That’s pretty impressive.

HALOS HERO….Maybe he rescues the season. So far so good. Shohei Ohtani is hitting (.285) with 3-homers in the first week back after a year long rehab from elbow surgery. Now Mike Trout has someone to protect him in the batting order.

GULLS GUYS…..They’ve won 21-games on the road since mid-December, and now they come home for 3-straight games having taken home ice advantage away from the Chicago Wolves in the AHL-Western Conference finals. The key, a roster full of contributors. On any night, a different guy steps up to win a game, a backup goalie, a 4th line winger, or a young winger just showing up from junior hockey. Coming from behind in these road game-no big deal. No panic, just take care of business. It’s been an amazing run.

An amazing weekend of success and failure. Part of a great sports weekend.

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