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With one wild Suns win over the Blazers, we have beautiful chaos in the NBA playoff picture

DRAMA!

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt today.

The Portland Trail Blazers were all set to be in the playoffs, with not a worry about the play-in games with the team up 117-116 on the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.

But with over four seconds to go, Devin Booker took a wild shot at the game-winner … and in came a whistle. Was he fouled by Norman Powell? Replays showed it appeared to be the case. Two free throws later … and suddenly, there’s chaos in the playoff picture.

If you’ve been rolling your eyes at the NBA’s play-in format this season (LeBron James, I’m looking at you), it’s time to admit it’s awesome given what’s ahead.

The Lakers now have a shot at pulling themselves out of the No. 7 spot and a play-in game or two. If they win their final two contests and the Blazers lose to the Nuggets in their final game of the season, LeBron and the Lake Show will avoid a possible date with the Golden State Warriors.

Not only that! The Suns have a shot at the No. 1 seed and the Nuggets and Clippers will go into the weekend fighting for the 3-4 spots.

There’s also some uncertainty in the East (will the Sixers clinch the No. 1 seed? Who’s going to end up in 4-6 between the Hawks, Heat and Knicks?), but you know everyone’s going to be focused on whether the defending champion Lakers can dig themselves out of the play-in spots.

This kind of drama is exactly why the play-ins are an amazing concept. And thanks to the Suns, we’ve got a weekend filled with nail-biting action ahead.

Quick hits: Tom Brady vs. the Patriots is going to be amazing … McLovin shoes! … the NHL playoffs are here … and more.

— Tom Brady had a fantastic reaction to facing the Patriots later this year, a game in which the former Pat could break the NFL passing yards record against his ex-team. Brady’s dad is pumped!

— Blake Griffin wore custom “McLovin” Jordans that you have to see.

— Our Mary Clarke gives you a comprehensive breakdown of how the NHL playoffs will work.

— Charles McDonald has an in-depth look at how Kyle Pitts could make the Falcons’ offense unstoppable.

If this is the end of Albert Pujols’ career, 1 number proves he’s an elite, all-time talent

Wow.

The Los Angeles Angels released Albert Pujols on Thursday, and although that wasn’t a huge surprise, it was still a bummer.

The Angels have a full-time DH and MVP candidate in Shohei Ohtani who needs to play all the time. Jared Walsh and his 22 RBI can play first base. And despite hitting five dingers this year, Pujols was batting just .198 and had an OPS of .622.

Given that this is a release and not a retirement announcement, it seems obvious that the all-time great still wants to play at age 41, and maybe some team who needs a designated hitter who can occasionally hit lefties will pick him up.

But let’s say no one wants to sign him and he retires. Just how good was his career?

I knew Pujols totaled 667 homes, fifth all time and that his RBI totals (2,112) were third behind Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. But for stacking him up against other talents through the generations, we go to Wins Above Replacement.

Did you know that Pujols has a 99.4 WAR, which is 32nd all time? Better than Cal Ripken Jr., Jimmie Foxx, George Brett, and Chipper Jones. Among first basemen (I know he played some outfield and third base), that’s second behind Lou Gehrig.

And what’s nuts is he totaled a 101.4 WAR from his debut in 2001 through 2016. Since then, he’s actually lost a couple of points in his decline with a -2.0 WAR from 2017 to 2021.

The point? We’re not just talking about an instant first-ballot Hall of Famer. This might be “Hey, he should be in consideration for an all-time 25-man roster” good. Did you realize he was that good? I can safely say no, I didn’t.

And I really hope we get to see him play again, maybe in a bit of a farewell tour. But if this is the end, what a career.

Quick hits: Floyd Mayweather vs. Jake Paul … NHL hypocrisy … what a play by Gleyber Torres … and more.

— Jake Paul snatched a hat off Floyd Mayweather’s head ahead of Logan Paul’s exhibition fight with the boxer.

— Our Mary Clarke wrote about how the NHL’s hypocrisy on player safety has never been more apparent after the Capitals-Rangers mess and its aftermath.

— You have to see this awesome heads-up play by Gleyber Torres to score from first on a ball that didn’t leave the infield.

— Here are four playoff sleepers and four teams who could drop out of the postseason in 2021.

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MLB Opening Day was all sorts of weird (but baseball is back!)

What a weird first day.

A QUICK NOTE: We have a bunch of staffers taking time off next week, so Morning Win is going to do the same. We’ll be back Monday, April 12 with more sports takes in your inbox. Thanks for reading!

Game 1 of 162 went down on Thursday as Major League Baseball kicked off its Opening Day festivities … and what a weird day filled with some bizarre moments.

Beyond the Pirates, Tigers and Rockies starting off 1-0 (not that weird!), there was the fact that the ageless Miguel Cabrera hit the first home run of the season while it was snowing like crazy in Detroit … then he slid into second because he wasn’t sure it was a dinger.

Then there was Cody Bellinger hitting a home run against the aforementioned Rockies, but because Justin Turner thought Colorado’s Raimel Tapia caught the ball, the infielder on the basepaths ran back to first PAST Bellinger.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s an RBI single for Bellinger, who was also out.

Like I said. WEIRD.

You can also watch a distraught Cleveland fan getting roasted on a post-game show by the host because said die-hard was ripping Franmil Reyes after exactly one game.

Other oddities: Bryce Harper’s wild Phillie Phanatic cleats. A combined 24 runs scored in the Royals-Rangers game. And I don’t know how weird this is but I think it counts: Athletics fans booing the heck out of the Astros nearly two years after their sign-stealing scandal went public.

Was it the cold weather all over the country? Opening Day nerves for fans and players alike? April Fools’ Day getting in everyone’s heads?

Whatever it was, it was fun. And baseball is back.

Quick hits: Roy Williams retires … Bad timing on a Flyers donation deal … Congrats to Brooks Koepka and Jena Sims!

— Roy Williams — not the ex-NFL safety — retired from college basketball coaching. Who could replace him? Fans on Twitter had ideas.

— Not great timing with this donation deal the Flyers tweeted out as their goaltending woes continue.

— Congrats to golf star Brooks Koepka and Jena Sims, who are now engaged!

There are so many reasons to root for Gonzaga to win the men’s NCAA tournament

Let’s go Zags!

Let me kick this off by saying I’m as casual of a college basketball fan as there could be. I didn’t go to a big Division I school (shoutout to Haverford College). I don’t pay much attention until the NCAA tournament when I rank the mascots and nicknames every year.

But I can safely say that I’m rooting for Gonzaga to win it all, and I’m hoping to convince you of the same.

Yes, there are other good storylines. There’s No. 6 seed USC going to the Elite Eight. This year’s Cinderella is 12th-seeded Oregon State and a there’s UCLA team that won a First Four game in overtime and rode that momentum all the way to here. Baylor is also a No. 1 seed who hasn’t won a national championship. Apologies in advance to Michigan die-hards.

But I’m all in on the Bulldogs.

This was once “THE SLIPPER STILL FITS!” program, who became everyone’s upset favorites as low seeds throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s under Mark Few.

And then, they became a powerhouse, getting No. 1 and 2 seeds getting far — they fell to Duke in the Elite Eight in 2015. They came up just short in the 2017 title game against North Carolina. They lost to Texas Tech in 2019.

Yes, I know. They’re probably the best team in this tournament and rooting for a favorite feels super weird. But this is such a likeable team! There’s Drew Timme and his stache. There’s Corey Kispert hitting from wayyyy deep. There’s the unlimited athleticism from Jalen Suggs, who makes it all look so easy and will likely do so in the NBA in the near future. When any of those stars struggle, the team adjusts.

It would be a truly, er, fairytale ending to see the Bulldogs finally win a national title. We should all root for that to happen.

Quick hits: Kevin Durant tweets again … Jim Boeheim continues to be cranky … a five-overtime hockey game!

— Kevin Durant continues to be the best on Twitter.

— As our Chris Korman writes, Syracuse legend Jim Boeheim continues to be cranky in response to questions.

— Minnesota Duluth reached the Frozen Four by winning in FIVE overtimes!

— P.J. Washington played 44 minutes and didn’t total a single point. Yikes.

Tiger Woods is still with us and that’s all that matters right now

Tiger Woods suffered serious leg injuries in Tuesday’s awful car crash.

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

The past 12 months or so have been really damn hard. For all us. Losing people who we love has seemingly been happening way too often for way too many of us.

It’s been a very heavy time and a very sad time. Death has been hanging over us like a dark cloud for far too long.

We’ve lost family members, friends and colleagues who touched our lives in so many personal and powerful ways over the years.

We’ve also lost people who we’ve never met but have spent countless hours cheering them on so much that they have felt like family, even if we’ve never given them a hug and welcomed them into our homes.

Let’s be honest about the past year — it has sucked.

So when I first saw reports on Tuesday that Tiger Woods had been in a very bad car crash in Los Angeles, the city that I currently call home and on a road I have driven on, I hoped it was just an awful Twitter rumor that would quickly be debunked and we could go on with our regular ol’ Tuesday.

But then I saw the official statement by the LA County Sheriff. And then I saw the pictures of the car and I said out loud:

Not Tiger Woods.

No.

I’ve never met Tiger Woods but I’ve been fortunate to be alive through his whole incredible career and I feel so lucky to have experienced all that he has given golf fans.

Selfishly, he’s given me so many incredible moments that I’ll never forget witnessing from my couch.

He’s also given me so many special moments that led to gleeful phone calls with my dad about a wild shot Tiger pulled off or a tournament he had just won. Those conversations with my pops are things he and I will remember forever.

On Tuesday, I found myself back on the couch again watching coverage about Tiger Woods, coverage that was much more important than any of the golf shots he has hit over the years. While analysts filled the hours between real updates with tone-deaf conversations about possible comebacks from injuries that we didn’t know of yet, I sat there scratching my head while thinking — how could anyone care about that right now?

What I thought about were Tiger’s kids finding out the news about their dad and how they must have been wondering if they would ever see their father again. When I was in high school my mom, who is thankfully still with us, was in a serious car accident and for hours I walked around a hospital wondering if I still had a mom. That memory is as horrible as it sounds. Tiger’s kids experienced that yesterday and I feel so awful for them for having to go through that.

Then I thought about how just a few months ago Tiger and his son Charlie had so much fun playing together in a tournament that was aired on national TV. I thought about the glow Tiger had about him during those rounds, watching his son hit shots just like his famous dad, fist pumps and all. He was so proud of his son and he was so happy and content with his life. It was beautiful.

I also thought about how losing people is still happening at way too fast of a pace and that I wanted it to stop. I wanted some good news. I wanted Tiger Woods to be OK.

Golf didn’t matter at all on Tuesday. And it won’t matter in the coming days. All that will matter is that Tiger, who suffered severe leg injuries in the crash, is still here with us. He’s still here with his kids. He’s still here with his family and friends who love him very much.

I don’t care if Tiger never plays another professional golf tournament again. I don’t care to hear about anyone’s thoughts on how long a comeback could take. And I don’t care about any of the records he now won’t break.

That stuff just doesn’t matter. Not one bit.

Tiger’s recovery is going to be a long, painful one, it sounds like and what happened Tuesday is going to change his life forever.

I’m just grateful that Tiger Woods is still here.

Karl-Anthony Towns’ heartbreaking interview is an important lesson on grief

Towns gave an honest, heartfelt answer when asked about the first game he’s played since his mother passed away due to COVID-19.

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns received the game ball after he scored 22 points with 11 rebounds and 7 assists in his team’s win over the Detroit Pistons on opening night.

It was Towns’ first official NBA game since he lost several members of his family, including his mother, to COVID-19 this year.

After the game, Towns gave a remarkably candid answer when speaking about how his mental approach to the game has played since the loss of his mother on April 13 of this year.

“I don’t even recognize most of my other games and years I’ve played and how I felt those days,” he said. “If I can be honest with y’all for a second, I mean, I don’t really recall or really care.

“I only know what happened from April 13 on. Because you may see me smiling and stuff, but that Karl died on April 13. He’s never coming back. I don’t remember that man. I don’t know that man. You’re talking to the physical me, but my soul has been killed off a long time ago.

“I want to answer your question,” he went on, “but that man you’re talking about from April 13 or before, I don’t know him. I don’t recall any parts of him.”

For many of us, I imagine, Towns’ response is a jarring, if not uncomfortable comment. But it’s also a startling and important reminder on grief — how it’s invisible, how even the most successful among us can carry it with them, always, a permanent weight and despair that can’t be shaken off. Rather, it has to be learned to be lived with.

Towns did his job well on Wednesday night, just as many people can and do who live with grief. We shouldn’t use those comments to cast aspersions about his commitment, or question his game. Rather, we should try to empathize, and admire the man — losing so much of his family changed him, and he’s still learning how to live in this new reality. That’s something we can all aspire to.

We’ll take tomorrow off from The Morning Win. Merry Christmas, everyone.

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Steve Kornacki’s brilliance on ‘SNF’ should start a broadcasting trend

Other networks should do this, too.

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

A few weeks ago NBC announced that MSNBC’s political dude who stood in front of a big screen and broke down all the votes and whatnot during the election was going to go on “Sunday Night Football” to break down the NFL playoff picture in similar fashion. I thought it would be a stupid bit and that the political fella, Steve Kornacki, had jumped the shark.

And you know what? I was wrong! He’s been great with these things and NBC was smart to bring him on.

Last night Kornacki was back on SNF pregame and halftime shows for a second straight week and once again he crushed his segment as he battled through a few tech issues while perfectly breaking down all the playoff chances for all the teams.

Kornacki uses his big screen and his engaging personality and his math to show viewers where teams started the day, where they stand at the moment, and where they will stand if certain things in Sunday night’s game happens. There are lots of percentage points, which are good. Which are necessary. Which are there to help us know exactly where things stand.

It might seem like a small thing but this segment should become “a thing” that the other networks start copying, much like they did when Fox Sports brought on Mike Pereira to be their NFL rules expert. Now all the networks have their own Mike Pereira and their roles on the broadcast feel like they’ve been there forever.

Without Kornacki, most networks put their NFL playoff pictures up on a screen and talk about it they best they can while telling us who’s in and who’s in the hunt. It’s an OK way to do it but it’s not great. It’s like watching TV in standard definition. We got used to that until we got high definition and then that’s what we all wanted and needed.

Well, Kornacki and his way of breaking the playoff picture down is the new high definition we need in our lives.

If I’m CNN’s John King, I’d have my agent making some calls for some Sunday work late in the the NFL season, because he would crush it, too.

In this day and age it’s easy to sit back and rip networks for giving us annoying announcers to listen to and boring segments to watch.

Now we need to do the opposite and applaud NBC’s vision to raise the game to a new level.

And other networks would be smart to do the same.

Quick hits: Metcalf becomes cameraman… Jacobs throws fantasy owners for a loop… Mahomes’ ridiculous sack… And more.

– Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf took over one of the TV cameras behind the end zone after scoring a TD and his footage… wasn’t great.

– Raiders running back Josh Jacobs threw fantasy owners for a loop with his pregame Instagram stories.

– Patrick Mahomes took a 30-yard sack during Sunday’s win over the Dolphins. 30 yards!

– An LSU staffer shared a picture of the shoe that could keep the Florida Gators out of the college football playoffs.

– MLB fans have decided what Cleveland’s new nickname should be.

The NFL potentially forcing the Ravens to forfeit is a bad idea

Don’t do it, NFL.

The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers were supposed to be the Thanksgiving dessert after a day of mediocre NFL teams playing during the day, a matchup of two AFC North rivals vying for playoff spots.

Instead, due to a COVID-19 outbreak with the Ravens, it was moved to Sunday. And the bad news kept coming on Thursday — Lamar Jackson was reportedly among another group of players and staff members who tested positive. If there are more new positives on Friday, a game on Sunday that’s already in doubt could be done for.

If you were on Twitter Thanksgiving day, you saw the word “forfeit” trending, with NFL fans wondering if the the league would declare a loss for the Ravens instead of having to move the schedule around to make sure this game gets played.

It’s a bad idea, an extreme action that isn’t even close to necessary.

In a memo that was obtained by USA TODAY Sports in October, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell warned that violating league protocols would result in discipline, from lost draft picks — the Raiders lost a 2021 sixth-rounder for this very reason — to forfeiting games. We know a Ravens staff member was “disciplined” (per the franchise) for “conduct surrounding the recent COVID-19 cases.”

If the NFL finds, as it did with the Raiders, that there were blatant violations of protocol, it can strip the team of draft picks. But a forfeit opens up a Pandora’s box the NFL doesn’t want, especially when the league itself has mishandled COVID-19 in 2020. Both the Ravens AND the Steelers wouldn’t get game checks, which doesn’t seem fair to Pittsburgh (players were furious about the postponement on Wednesday). That would set a precedent if there are other team outbreaks over the next month.

So what’s the solution? There have to be some schedule hoops the NFL can jump through and move games around, which is what the league has done in the past. Or there’s the “Week 18” idea that’s been talked about all year — move the game to after Week 17 and bump the playoffs and Super Bowl a week. That opens up scheduling flexibility for other teams should outbreaks happen with them as well.

It’s an unprecedented solution, but it’s an unprecedented year.

Quick hits: A really bad-looking turkey … An NFL Fumblerooski! … Picks against the spread … and more

– Gordon Hayward’s Thanksgiving turkey didn’t come out looking so good.

– Washington Football Team ran a Fumblerooski play!!

– The Cowboys ran a ridiculously bad fake punt attempt in the blowout loss to Washington Football Team.

– Here are Steven Ruiz and Charles Curtis’s NFL picks against the spread for Week 12.

Antonio Brown’s suspension is over, but should the NFL welcome him back in?

While some will wonder where Antonio Brown will sign, it’s worth asking if the league should even want to be in business with him.

This is the Morning Win. Nate Scott is filling in for Andy Nesbitt today.

Antonio Brown’s 8-game suspension from the NFL is over, and fans and writers around the league have taken to wondering where, exactly, he could fit in. The Seahawks? Somewhere else?

After Brown shocked the football world by signing with the New England Patriots last year, we can’t help but wonder: What team will make the headline-grabbing signing this time?

This isn’t the same situation, however. The question we should be asking ourselves is not: What team will Antonio Brown be signing for? It’s: Should the NFL want to be in the business of Antonio Brown?

It’s easy to forget what with every other thing happening in the nightmare of a world we live in right now, but Brown was cut by the Patriots and suspended by the league in the midst of an investigation into accusations of sexual assault made by an artist who was working in his home in 2017.

Brown was also charged with felony burglary with a battery charged, to which he pleaded no contest, after an incident with a moving company at his home in Florida.

Brown completed his punishment, and the league (I imagine) considers the matter finished. Brown is most likely still a talented wide receiver who could perhaps be a game-changer for a team looking to make a run at a Super Bowl. He still has friends in the league — even after everything, Tom Brady, for example, still defended Brown publicly.

Maybe it’s as simple as that. Maybe Brown has learned his lessons, served his punishment, and should be allowed back into the league. I can’t speak to the man’s heart.

What I do know is true is that the thing that matters above all else in the NFL is optics. If Brown can sign without a public outcry, he’ll play. If there is a public outcry, he won’t. That’s the only thing, most likely, that matters here to the NFL.

Quick hits: Chris Pratt, Trevor Lawrence, and more

– Our own Hemal Jhaveri explained why the internet has finally turned on Chris Pratt.

– We looked at the future of Trevor Lawrence, and concluded that even the terrible Jets won’t convince him to stay in college.

– This delightful World Series fan caught a home run, then threw his glove onto the field. Why? We have no idea.

The Los Angeles Dodgers just can’t catch a break

The nightmare continues.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is replacing Andy Nesbitt for today’s edition.

The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to be snake-bit.

This is the franchise that’s won its division eight straight times and fallen short of a title — and huge expectations — in each of those years. They’ve kept tinkering with trades and signings that seem to make each team better than the next … and then they falter in soul-crushing ways.

All hope isn’t lost yet in 2020, but after Tuesday night’s 8-7 loss to the Atlanta Braves, it isn’t looking great. That was a game in which Clayton Kershaw — who’s had his share of postseason struggles compared to stellar regular seasons — was scratched due to back spasms. Tony Gonsolin made the start and gave up five earned runs. Then, down 8-3 in the ninth, the Dodgers bats came alive for four runs … and Mark Melancon got A.J. Pollock to hit into a groundout with Cody Bellinger — who’s had himself quite a playoffs — on third. Atlanta has a 2-0 lead in the NLCS.

Credit absolutely goes to the Braves, who have a balanced lineup and a young pitching staff that’s been lights-out the entire playoffs.

But this nightmare keeps happening to L.A. There was losing to the Nationals last year in extra innings in Game 5 of the NLDS thanks to a Washington comeback from a 3-0 lead early. In 2018, the Red Sox were a buzz-saw that kept the Dodgers’ bats mostly quiet. You know what happened in 2017 — the Astros won in seven World Series games and then everyone found out their sign-stealing tactics a couple of years later. The year before, it was the NLCS loss to the eventual champion Cubs. It goes on and on.

I get that you’re probably making the Joe Kelly face right now, that maybe you don’t feel so bad for a team that’s second in payroll (per Spotrac) and can afford to give Mookie Betts a huge contract extension. But I completely understand the frustration that this team just can’t live up to the hype.

Quick hits: Snoop Dogg’s new ink … What’s next for Dak Prescott … The Bachelorette is back … and more.

— Snoop Dogg got an incredible new Lakers tattoo with a Kobe Bryant tribute.

— Our Henry McKenna breaks down how the Cowboys could approach Dak Prescott’s deal in the offseason.

— If you’re a fan of The Bachelorette, you must read Nick Schwartz’s breakdown of the 2020 cast.

— LeBron James got his daughter a miniature house!