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Senin, 27 Mei 2019
There's 'precedence for an upset' in NBA Finals, don't blame KD for lack of parity | NBA | THE HERD - The Herd with Colin Cowherd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICDD_PGTlWU
2019-05-27 17:31:35Z
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Hochman: Bob Frederic is a lifelong Blues fan. His son is on the Boston Bruins. - STLtoday.com
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- Hochman: Bob Frederic is a lifelong Blues fan. His son is on the Boston Bruins. STLtoday.com
- Who's going to win the Stanley Cup? ESPN
- Why the Boston Bruins absolutely, positively cannot win the Stanley Cup The Washington Post
- Concert, game watch to kick off Stanley Cup Final in Boston Boston.com
- BenFred: Blues will have to beat odds one last time to lift first Stanley Cup STLtoday.com
- View full coverage on Google News
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-bob-frederic-is-a-lifelong-blues-fan-his-son/article_79c9363a-aca0-5945-8fe0-3d0824d2655a.html
2019-05-27 17:20:00Z
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Aston Villa vs. Derby County - Football Match Report - May 27, 2019 - ESPN
Aston Villa returned to the Premier League as goals from Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn earned a 2-1 victory over Frank Lampard's Derby side in the Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium.
El Ghazi made the breakthrough when he diverted in a cross just before the break, and McGinn capitalised on hesitation from keeper Kelle Roos to seal the win for Villa, who held on after Jack Marriott had pulled one back late on.
Villa created the first chance after five minutes when, from a Jack Grealish cross, Axel Tuanzebe scuffed his attempt when the ball fell to him inside the area.
Soon afterward, Grealish, with space to run into after a loose clearance from keeper Roos caused problems, blasted over.
Derby's Jayden Bogle fired in a dangerous low cross that created confusion, but back came Villa, and El Ghazi's run took him into the area before Richard Keogh ended the threat.
McGinn thumped wide after an El Ghazi cross had caused confusion, and El Ghazi was booked for fouling Bogle only for Derby to waste the free kick.
Villa's on-loan Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, who had struggled for chances in the opening stages, worked space but shot over after 33 minutes.
Mason Mount, on loan at Derby from Chelsea, had the first effort on target after 37 minutes when his drive was held by Jed Steer.
But Villa made the breakthrough close to half-time, Albert Adomah's cross from the right diverted in by El Ghazi.
Mount went into the book in the early stages of the second half for a foul on Abraham, Villa annoyed that advantage was not played with a swift counter-attack developing.
Conor Hourihane's free kick forced Roos to punch clear as Tyrone Mings closed in, but Villa doubled their lead after 59 minutes when the Derby keeper wanted too much time to claim El-Ghazi's deflected shot and McGinn jumped to head in.
Lampard responded, taking off Tom Huddlestone and replacing him with Marriott, but it was Villa who threatened again when Grealish shot wide.
Another forward, Martyn Waghorn, came on for Derby as the game headed toward its final 20 minutes, Mount making way, but Lampard's side were showing few signs of finding a way back.
Bogle fired into the side netting from an angle with teammates well placed in the middle, and then Mount miscued after neat buildup play on the edge of the Villa area.
Derby and Lampard had new hope after 81 minutes when Marriott finished from close range following a spell of pressure. But despite seven minutes of stoppage time being added, they could not find an equaliser.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/report?gameId=540137
2019-05-27 16:18:45Z
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The Latest: Italy's 5-Stars have work to do after EU vote - The Associated Press
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on European elections (all times local):
4:45 p.m.
The leader of Italy’s governing 5-Star Movement is blaming abstentions among his voting base for the party’s bad showing in the European parliamentary election.
Luigi Di Maio acknowledged Monday that “for us, the European elections went badly.” The 5-Stars finished third in Italy after being the top vote-getter in a national election just a year ago.
Di Maio said the abstentions mean “there is a lot to do. There are responses to give to these people who are awaiting answers.”
The SWG polling agency said voters who backed the 5-Star Movement last year either were disappointment and stayed home, or voted for Matteo Salvini’s hard-line League party. A full 38% of those who voted 5-Star last year abstained, while another 14% voted for the League.
The 5-Stars took just 17% of the vote, compared with nearly 33% last year.
Salvini’s party captured 34% of Sunday’s European vote and the opposition Democratic Party made a surprise comeback to finish second with 22.7%.
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4:15 p.m.
A senior German official is criticizing the leader of the Brexit Party that trounced traditional political forces in Britain’s vote for the European Parliament.
Michael Roth, Germany’s deputy foreign minister, said Monday that Nigel Farage’s past terms as a lawmaker in the EU parliament hadn’t been marked by work “but rather by demagoguery and laziness.”
Roth told reporters in Berlin this was his personal view of Farage, who was first elected to the assembly in 1999. But he said it also applied to nationalists and populists in general, who he accused of trying to “divide the country and Europe with lies and hate.”
Roth, a member of Germany’s center-left Social Democratic Party, said the Brexit Party’s rise was the result of a failure to complete Britain’s departure from the European Union in recent months.
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3:20 p.m.
A day after the European Parliament elections, Pope Francis issued his annual message on migrants and said the attitude that they are the source of all of society’s ills “is an alarm bell warning of the moral decline” the world faces.
Francis said the presence of migrants in wealthy countries is instead an invitation “to recover some of those essential dimensions of our Christian existence and our humanity.”
Officials stressed that Francis’ message was not political but pastoral and the Vatican did not comment on the European Parliament vote. But some church leaders weighed in.
At a press conference launching the migrant message Monday, the head of the European conference of Catholic bishops, Luxembourg Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich, said the results of the European Parliament vote “would have been worse” if Francis and the Catholic Church hadn’t consistently stood up for migrants.
The leader of Italy’s right-wing populist League party, Matteo Salvini, is firmly anti-migrant and his party came in first in Italy’s EU vote.
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2:55 p.m.
Spain’s caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been reaching out to other European leaders to seek support for his plans to increase Spain’s influence in European institutions.
In addition to having dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Sánchez has another one-on-one meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday afternoon, his office says.
The meetings come after Spain’s Socialists came first in Sunday’s EU election in their country, winning 20 seats in the 751-seat European Parliament, more than any other Social Democrats in the 28-nation bloc.
Sánchez will also have preliminary discussions with other European socialist heads of government before joining the rest of the EU’s leaders in Brussels for a Tuesday night dinner.
Spain is vying for one of the top jobs in the EU, seeking to promote caretaker Foreign Minister Josep Borrell — a former European Parliament president — as a possible replacement for Federica Mogherini as Europe’s top diplomat.
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1:05 p.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says her Conservative Party’s drubbing in EU elections shows the need for Parliament to pass a Brexit deal and take the U.K. out of the European Union.
May’s Conservatives came a humiliating fifth with less than 10% of the vote. The Brexit Party, which backs leaving the EU without a deal, came first.
May — who is stepping down as Conservative leader in June — said it had been a “very disappointing night” for the party.
She said the result “shows the importance of finding a Brexit deal, and I sincerely hope these results focus minds in Parliament.”
The result bolsters those who want Britain to leave the EU with no agreement on departure terms and future relations.
Most economists say that would cause economic turmoil and plunge Britain into recession.
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12:45 p.m.
The Scottish National Party has won three of the six Scottish seats in the European Parliament while the Labour Party came up empty, losing the two seats it had held.
The results announced Monday gave one seat each to the newly formed Brexit Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.
The SNP, which favors another independence referendum for Scotland, won just over 37% of the votes cast.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that her party won the election “emphatically” in a rejection of Britain’s plan to leave the European Union.
Nonetheless, the Brexit Party that wants an immediate break with Europe came second.
The count was slowed by the wait for results from the remote western isles of Scotland.
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12:30 p.m.
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon says European integration is “dead in its tracks” after European election wins by nationalist and populist parties in Italy, France and Britain.
Bannon told The Associated Press that the results show Europe’s center is imploding and that traditional right-left politics are being replaced by a battle between “nationalist versus globalist” forces.
He said “people are taking their countries back ... it’s just the beginning. It’s going to get more and more powerful over time.”
It’s unclear whether the diverse nationalist, populist and far-right parties across Europe will be able to form a united bloc in the European Parliament. And even if they do, they will be far short of a majority.
Still, Bannon predicted a “supergroup” of euroskeptic parties would block any attempts to deepen integration among EU member states. He said “every day will be like Stalingrad,” a reference to one of the fiercest battles during World War II.
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12:30 p.m.
The leader of Italy’s right-wing populist League, Matteo Salvini, says he is counting on like-minded parties in other parliamentary groups to join his hard-line euroskeptic movement, with the goal of creating a 150-strong bloc.
Salvini told reporters in Milan that he is counting on Britain’s new Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage and Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s Fidesz to leave their current groups and join the Europe of Nations and Freedom group that includes far-right parties in France and Germany, among others.
Salvini said he also hopes to expand the group to at least 100 members, with an ambition to make it as many as 150, by also bringing in parties from the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Spain, “if everyone can overcome jealousies, sympathies and antipathies.”
He said the goal is to create ’an alternative, and to do so, “you play. You don’t do it by turning up your noses.”
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12:25 p.m.
Romania’s election office says the Social Democrat Party, or PSD, the main party in the governing coalition, has been defeated in the European Parliament election.
The Central Electoral Bureau said Monday that the PSD got 23.7% of the votes, while the opposition National Liberal Party, or PNL, got 26.2%.
President Klaus Iohannis, a former PNL leader, said the PSD-led coalition had been punished “for the disastrous way they have governed the country.”
The junior member of the coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, gathered just 4.2% of the votes, below the 5% threshold needed in Romania to gain a seat in the European Parliament.
Despite the coalition’s poor showing, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila declared already late Sunday, when exit polls were showing a dead heat between the PSD and the PNL, that she wouldn’t step down.
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12:15 p.m.
Updated provisional results from the European Parliament elections confirm that mainstream political parties will retain power in the assembly, despite losing significant seats to the far-right and to the Greens.
Fresh results Monday show the center-right European People’s Party would remain the biggest group, with 182 seats, down from 217 in the last polls in 2014. The center-left Socialists and Democrats would secure 147 seats, a drop of 40 seats from five years ago.
The environmentalist Greens are likely to make significant gains, with 69 seats, up from 52, as will the pro-business ALDE group with 109 seats, compared with 68 last time.
The Europe of Nations and Freedom group, uniting the French far-right and Italian populists, looks set to secure 58 seats, up from 37 in 2014.
Turnout was 50.8%, the best in 20 years.
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12:05 p.m.
A senior member of the anti-immigration and euroskeptic Danish People’s Party has expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s poor showing in the European Parliament election.
Kenneth Kristensen Berth says that “this was not what we expected” after the party’s support fell to 10.7% compared to 27% in 2014.
Berth, whose party is Denmark’s second largest in the national parliament, said Monday issues of the climate and the environment were “a bit hysterical” and that his party “is not a climate-denial party” but “we need to keep our heads cool.”
Green parties made big gains in Europe’s 751-seat parliament amid growing concerns over climate change.
The party, founded in 1995, got two seats, down from the four they got in five years ago. Pundits say scandals involving the party’s misuse of European Parliament funds contributed to the loss.
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11:35 a.m.
France’s far-right leader pulled off a narrow victory over President Emmanuel Macron and is now seeking big concessions from the government.
Far-right party leader Marine Le Pen said after Sunday night’s voting that “at a minimum” Macron must dissolve the French parliament and put in place a voting system more favorable to her party at home.
Le Pen’s National Rally defeated Macron’s centrists by a nearly one-point margin and both won 23 seats in the European Parliament.
Macron “put his weight into this battle,” she said, noting his unusual campaigning for his party.
Le Pen swore she wasn’t seeking revenge for her loss to Macron in the 2017 presidential race.
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11:20 a.m.
The nationalist and populist Sweden Democrats party has made the largest gains in the European Parliament elections by grabbing 15.4% percent of the votes in the Scandinavian country.
The 5.7% gain over the last election to the parliament of the 28-member European Union translated, in 2014, gives three seats to Sweden’s third largest party.
The ruling Social Democrats remain Sweden’s largest party in the European assembly, winning 23.6 % of the votes to get five seats. They are followed by the country’s second-largest party, the Moderates, which got four seats.
The Sweden Democrats had earlier pushed for a referendum on leaving the EU, which Sweden joined in 1995. However, the party now says it wants to work with like-minded parties from across the EU to change “the supranational union.”
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10:25 a.m.
The leaders of Germany’s governing parties are discussing possible consequences from their worst post-World War II showing in a nationwide election amid discontent with their stuttering performance over the past year.
Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc and her junior partner, the Social Democrats, met for internal talks Monday morning and were set to meet together later in the afternoon at the chancellery.
Merkel, who stepped aside as head of the Christian Democrats earlier this year, has so far not publicly commented on Sunday’s results.
Her party won 28.9% of the vote and the Social Democrats got 15.8%. Five years ago, Germany’s traditionally biggest parties took 35.4% and 27.3%, respectively. Germany’s Greens surged to second place Sunday amid increasing concern about climate change.
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10:15 a.m.
The chastened Labour Party’s economic spokesman, John McDonnell, says Britain’s main opposition party should now consider taking the Brexit issue “back to the people.”
John McDonnell tweeted Monday that the party “can’t hide from hit we took last night” after Labour’s poor performance in European elections.
He warns that the country now faces the prospect of a “Brexiteer extremist” succeeding Prime Minister Theresa May, with the threat of a “no deal” Brexit looming large.
He says Labour’s response must be to unite the party and the country “by taking issue back to people in a public vote.”
Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticized for not taking a clear position on whether he favors a second referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union.
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10:05 a.m.
While populists have made gains across much of Europe, the trend has not extended to Denmark, where the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party has seen its number of seats in the European Parliament halved and support dropping from nearly 27% in 2014 to 10.7% this time.
The euroskeptic party, founded in 1995, only got two seats. Pundits say scandals involving the misuse of European Parliament funds are a main reason for the loss.
Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen’s pro-EU and pro-business Liberals became the largest Danish party in the 751-seat transnational parliament where Denmark has 13 seats. It grabbed 23.5% of the votes and doubled its number of seats to four.
The People’s Movement Against the European Union, a faction created in 1972 as a cross-party campaign platform for a ‘no’ vote in Denmark’s referendum on joining the bloc then known as the EEC, lost its single seat. In the 1970s and 1980s, the group had four seats.
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10 a.m.
A triumphant Nigel Farage says his newly founded Brexit Party plans to “change the shape of British politics” after its victory in the European elections.
Farage said Monday the new party will “stun everybody” in the next British general election if the country still hasn’t left the European Union.
The party Farage started after Britain failed to leave the EU on its planned exit date in March has won 28 of the 73 British EU seats up for grabs and almost a third of the votes in results announced early Monday. More results are expected later in the day.
“We’re not just here to leave the European Union but to try and fundamentally change the shape of British politics, bring it into the 21st century and get a Parliament that better reflects the country,” Farage said.
The Brexit Party’s strength and strong performances by the Liberal Democrats and Greens doomed the mainstream Conservative and Labour parties to dreadfully poor results.
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9:45 a.m.
Poland’s electoral authorities say the ruling Law and Justice party has won more than 45% of the votes in the European elections, a very strong showing after an aggressive campaign against a united opposition that mobilized the divided nation.
The preliminary results announced Monday by the State Electoral Commission suggest that the right-wing ruling party has a good chance of winning crucial elections to the national parliament in the fall and continuing its policy of social conservatism and euroskepticism. The EU has put Poland under scrutiny for its attack on rule of law.
Analysts said the intensive campaign with the participation of party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and quick containment of crises contributed to its good showing.
Poland has 52 seats in the 751-seat European Parliament, of which Law and Justice will take at least 24. The turnout figure was an unusually high 45%.
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9:35 a.m.
Green parties in Germany, France, Britain and elsewhere in the European Union are celebrating big gains in elections for the bloc’s 751-seat parliament amid growing voter concerns over climate change.
Provisional results early Monday showed the Greens’ bloc coming fourth in the election with 70 seats, an increase of 18 compared with 2014.
If confirmed, the results could put the Greens in a position to tip the scales when it comes to choosing the next head of the EU’s executive Commission.
In Germany, the Greens came second with over 20%, gaining more than a million votes from each of the two governing centrist parties.
Armin Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state and a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc, called the results “a wake-up call for politics.”
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9:05 a.m.
The office of the caretaker Spanish prime minister says that Pedro Sánchez is traveling to Paris on Monday to analyze the results of the European Parliamentary election with French President Emmanuel Macron over a working dinner.
The meeting at the Elysee Palace signals the first talks for possible alliances as European politicians vie for control of the bloc’s chamber and top EU jobs. Sánchez’s Socialists won 20 of Spain’s 54 seats, making them the strongest national group among the European social democrats, who are second only to the conservatives.
Meanwhile, with 23 seats expected — the same as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally — Macron’s Republic on the Move party is a defining voice in the pro-business liberals.
Both leaders were already set to meet Tuesday during a dinner of all European leaders in Brussels but have scheduled an earlier private meeting that will allow Sánchez and Macron to discuss the renewal of top jobs in European institutions as well as the EU’s strategic agenda for the new five year term, says a statement from Spain’s Moncloa Palace.
Sánchez won a national election late last month but his Socialists need support from other parties to keep him in power.
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9 a.m.
French government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye says president Emmanuel Macron won’t dissolve the lower house of the French parliament after the far-right National Rally won the most of votes at the European Parliament elections.
Official results in France showed Marine Le Pen’s party had 5.3 million votes overall, compared with 5.1 million for Macron’s movement.
Speaking on French channel BFM TV on Monday, Ndiaye said the results did not trigger “a political crisis,” adding that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe “has all the confidence of the president.”
Le Pen said the result “confirms the new nationalist-globalist division” in France, adding that Macron “has no other choice but, at the very least, to dissolve the National Assembly.”
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8:10 a.m.
The League party of Italy’s hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, was one of the biggest winners in the European elections, with soaring support that bolsters his role as the flagbearer of the nationalist and far-right forces in Europe and could also shake up politics at home.
With one-third of the Italian vote, the League is poised to become one of the biggest parties in the European Parliament with 28 seats, according to provisional results.
Meanwhile, Salvini’s coalition partner in Italy, the populist 5-Star Movement, got only 17 percent, shifting the balance of power from last year’s Italian election.
Salvini said before the European vote that a strong result for his party wouldn’t change the coalition agreement, but it strengthens his hand in tense negotiations over government policies.
___
7:25 a.m.
The parties of France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist President Emmanuel Macron will have the same number of seats in the European Parliament — for now.
Official overall results Monday from France’s European voting show the parties were so close that they will both have 23 seats in the European Union legislature.
However Le Pen’s nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally party is set to gain one seat when Britain leaves the EU and the Parliament reapportions its seats. Macron’s pro-EU Republic on the Move party would stay at 23 seats.
Le Pen’s party had 5.3 million votes overall, compared to 5.1 million for Macron’s party, according to results from the Interior Ministry.
France’s Greens party will have 13 seats after placing a surprisingly strong third, followed by eight seats for the conservative Republicans and six seats each for the far-left Defiant France and the Socialist group.
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6 a.m.
The traditional centrist leaders of Europe have been assailed from the nationalist, anti-immigration far-right and the environmental activist left in polarized, continentwide elections that will force pro-European moderates into forging new alliances.
The main issue uniting those occupying Europe’s center ground is their refusal to work with far-right groups whose ranks are made up of nationalist parties led by the likes of Matteo Salvini in Italy and Marine Le Pen in France, whose parties celebrated landmark triumphs from four days of voting for the 751-seat European Parliament.
Manfred Weber is leader of the center-right EPP, which lost 36 seats but remains the largest group in the legislature. He says that “from now on those who want to have a strong European Union have to join forces.”
https://www.apnews.com/06ce72717bb846c5b2044856fefd3d00
2019-05-27 14:48:45Z
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2019 Stanley Cup Final: Picks on the winner, Conn Smythe - ESPN
NHL InsidersESPN
The Stanley Cup Final opens with Game 1 on Monday night. Will the Boston Bruins add another chapter to their city's book of epic sports dominance since 2000? Or will the St. Louis Blues win the first Cup in franchise history? Who will win the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs? Our experts weigh in.
Sean Allen: While the Blues have the feel of a team of destiny here, I don't think they can hang with the playoff-tested Bruins veterans. Tuukka Rask has been phenomenal throughout the playoffs, and the long layoff between rounds should have Boston rested and ready to roll.
Ben Arledge: Nearly every statistical category points to the Bruins; they have the hottest goalie on the planet and the power play is scoring a third of the time.
Aimee Crawford: The Blues already defied the odds by rocketing from the basement in January to Western Conference champs. They've won seven of nine road games this postseason, while the Bruins must shake 11 days of rust. Plus, St. Louis' best player -- Vladimir Tarasenko, who went on a tear during the conference finals -- is peaking at the perfect time. It'll be a Vlad, Vlad world as St. Louis sheds 49 years of Stanley Cup futility and becomes the toast(ed ravioli) of the NHL.
Dimitri Filipovic: Rask is the reason the Bruins have gotten this far, standing on his head and posting video-game-esque numbers. He's currently sporting a .942 save percentage through the first three rounds, which is a better mark than the .940 he had the last time the Bruins made it to the Cup Final in 2013, and also betters what Boston's goaltending did the last time the B's won it all (Tim Thomas had a .940 in 2011).
Emily Kaplan: I have no doubt this series is going to be a slugfest. I'm picking Boston because as good as Jordan Binnington has been, Tuukka Rask has been better. The Bruins' power play is historically good this spring. They have all four lines clicking (similar to St. Louis) but Boston's top line, in my opinion, is more potent and can steal a game or two. No Bruins player has been as consistent -- or frankly, as spectacular -- as Rask this spring. The Finn has been especially impressive in games in which Boston has had a chance to clinch, going 3-0 and stopping 95 of 96 shots (a .990 save percentage).
Tim Kavanagh: Like every other sport, the NHL is a copycat league, and GMs are going to be examining these two clubs as they build for 2019-20 and beyond. Finding a goalie who can play like Rask or Binnington certainly has a big impact, but building out forward depth is just as important to getting over the hump. As tight as this series will certainly be thanks to the goalies, I give the edge to the Blues because of what the Tyler Bozak-Patrick Maroon-Robert Thomas line (the BMT line, for Subway fans out there) can bring. And I think Jaden Schwartz has a few more big goals in him, too.
Steve Levy: Bruins in 7 in an absolutely bruising series that will go down as the best Stanley Cup Final in recent memory. I've got Patrice Bergeron for Conn Smythe, after he shuts down Vladimir Tarasenko and scores at least two critical goals, including one short-handed.
Vince Masi: I'm going with the Blues in six games, and Jaden Schwartz is my selection for Conn Smythe:
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Schwartz is one of three players who scored at least 10 goals in the regular season and then outscored their regular-season total in the playoffs that year (Marian Gaborik in 2014 and Claude Lemieux in 1997 are the others).
Schwartz has scored four goals this postseason that gave his team the lead -- three of them came within the first three minutes of the first period, and the other came with 15 seconds left in Game 5 against the Jets.
He's fifth in 5-on-5 possession percentage among players with at least 10 games this postseason, both in tied situations and in games within one goal.
Victoria Matiash: While a well-rested Tuukka Rask has been nearly impenetrable this postseason (1.84 goals-against average, .942 save percentage), he also benefits from having fought through a full regular season's worth of action (82 total games) in his NHL playoff career. Such invaluable experience projects as the difference maker in what should be a hard-fought series otherwise. I don't anticipate the Blues will score as early, or as often, as they have done thus far this spring.
Chris Peters: This is going to be a tight series with the style these two teams play and the quality of the two goaltenders. Though the Bruins have played excellent hockey as a group, especially over the past two series, Tuukka Rask is the biggest reason I'm going with Boston. He's playing some of the best hockey of his career.
Greg Wyshynski: The biggest advantage in this series, on paper, is home ice for the Bruins. But the Blues have won two of their three series without it, going 7-2 with a plus-9 goal differential on the road. Both of these teams are peaking at the right time, but I like this matchup for the Blues, who will generate enough offense against Rask and have Binnington do the rest.
ESPN experts panel: Sean Allen, NHL fantasy columnist; Ben Arledge, associate editor; Pierre Becquey, deputy editor; John Buccigross, SportsCenter anchor, "In the Crease" host; Matthew Coller, NHL writer; Linda Cohn, SportsCenter anchor, "In the Crease" host; Aimee Crawford, senior editor; Dimitri Filipovic, NHL writer; Emily Kaplan, national NHL reporter; Tim Kavanagh, general editor; Don La Greca, ESPN Radio host; Steve Levy, SportsCenter anchor; Vince Masi, Sports & Information research specialist; Victoria Matiash, NHL fantasy columnist; Barry Melrose, SportsCenter and "In the Crease" analyst; Greg Wyshynski, senior NHL writer
http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/26830423/2019-stanley-cup-final-picks-winner-conn-smythe
2019-05-27 12:53:07Z
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BenFred: Blues can do this, and beating Boston would make Stanley Cup even sweeter - STLtoday.com
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- BenFred: Blues can do this, and beating Boston would make Stanley Cup even sweeter STLtoday.com
- Who's going to win the Stanley Cup? ESPN
- Why the Boston Bruins absolutely, positively cannot win the Stanley Cup The Washington Post
- Bruins Fans Invited To Concert, Watch Party At City Hall Plaza CBS Boston
- Concert, game watch to kick off Stanley Cup Final in Boston Boston.com
- View full coverage on Google News
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ben-frederickson/benfred-blues-can-do-this-and-beating-boston-would-make/article_c2b73501-d84a-55de-bfd0-47af7aec0636.html
2019-05-27 11:40:00Z
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Stanley Cup Today: A party, then, at last, the puck will drop - The Boston Globe
After 11 days between games, the Bruins will finally get back to work Monday night when they host the Blues in Game 1 of the Cup finals at TD Garden. As we did with the Patriots during Super Bowl week in Atlanta, we will give readers each morning an inside, behind-the scenes look at the daily plan for the Globe sports team, and the sports page of the Globe’s website will continue to be your go-to destination for end-to-end coverage of the Bruins and the Stanley Cup.
To kick things off for fans on this Memorial Day, the NHL and the city of Boston will host a free outdoor concert and viewing party a City Hall Plaza, featuring rap artist Lil Nas X and country music star Chase Rice. The event is free, no ticket required, and will open at 4:30 p.m., with the musical acts beginning at 6. Food trucks and beverage options, including beer and wine, will be available. Fans will be able to watch the game on large video screens beginning at 8.
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Today’s schedule
10:30 a.m. – Bruins morning skate followed by media availability (TD Garden)
11:30 a.m. – Blues morning skate followed by media availability (TD Garden)
6 p.m. – NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks to the media
8 p.m. – 2019 Stanley Cup Final Game 1 (NBC)
Coverage plan
■ During tonight’s game, look for a special package of live stats and game updates plus commentary from Globe reporters and columnists at Game 1 on BostonGlobe.com’s homepage and sports page.
■ The Globe is sending five reporters/columnists, three photographers, and one editor to Game 1 tonight.
■ The latest content about the Stanley Cup:
– Matt Porter’s look at Game 1
– Tara Sullivan on Patrice Bergeron
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– Porter on the dynamics of the Bruins’ locker room
Things you need to know
If you’re still looking for a ticket for Game 1, be prepared for sticker shock: prices on Ace ticket range from $499 apiece in the upper balcony to $9,500 each in Loge 2 . . . Fans from five countries and 37 states have purchased tickets on StubHub . . .The Bruins have opened as a prohibitive favorite (-150) to win the Cup . . .Bruins are 11-0 in the playoffs when leading after two periods . . .the Bruins are also 11-2 when they score the first goal . . in the victory song matchup, it’ll be the old school rocker “Dirty Water” (longtime Bruins anthem) vs. the late Laura Branigan’s pop hit “Gloria” (recently adopted by the Blues) . . . You will see the video of Bobby Orr flying through the air after scoring in overtime to sweep the Blues in the 1970 Cup final approximately 612 times before a potential Game 7 June 12 . . . You will also hear once or twice that a Bruins win would be the 13th championship in 18 years for the city . . . The Blues not only haven’t played for the Stanley Cup since that fateful day 49 years ago, but they are the only team to have appeared in multiple Cup finals (three) and not win a game,
Notable quotables
Patriots coach Bill Belichick, before OTAs: “Obviously, want to wish the Bruins well in their Stanley Cup Final, proud of what they’re doing and wish them the very best in this next series. I know they’ve played great, but this will be a great opportunity for them and we’ll be cheering them om.”
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David Backes on returning to St. Louis and playing against one of his best friends, Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo: “I told him I’m going to love him now, I’m going to love him afterward, but I’m going to hate him for the next three weeks. That’s a mutual decision. We’ll patch up whatever we need to patch up afterward, but it’s all about what’s in this room, what our goal is what we need to do to win these games.”
Bruins president and Hall of Fame right wing Cam Neely, on not winning the Cup as a player: “Well, if you can’t win it wearing skates, it’s okay in a suit. You know, obviously, as a player that’s what you want to do. You want to win a Stanley Cup, and we had a couple of opportunities. Unfortunately, we fell short. So, you learn from those experiences and hopefully we can take some of that experience and apply it in the jobs we have now.”
Scott Thurston can be reached at sthurston@globe.com.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/bruins/2019/05/27/stanley-cup-today-party-then-last-puck-will-drop/1UNVygWW2mKlE6dytHFwEI/story.html
2019-05-27 11:34:52Z
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Rossi, Sato left wondering 'what if' | Sports | Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
INDIANAPOLIS – Simon Pagenaud ran a perfect race. There is no questioning that the best car won the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Alexander Rossi's and Takuma Sato's second- and third-place finishes left them wondering “what if” they had been able to execute the dream day that Pagenaud had.
Rossi left everything he had on the oval, but an extended pit stop and a lack of straight-line speed put him at a disadvantage. Sato suffered issues in his second pit stop, forcing him to fall behind a lap and into 31st place.
Still, the two had miraculous comebacks, nearly taking he checkered flag.
“Our team did a great job to stretch the field and then get back to the pack. I think it took more than 100 laps. But I think it was brilliant and after the restart, it was very exciting,” Sato said.
“It's a little bit of a pity that we couldn't challenge for the win, but we got third under some very difficult circumstance. Huge credit to the team.”
The 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner started 14th for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. At times in the final 14 laps of the restart, Sato looked like he might sneak by Pagenaud and Rossi, who were busy battling each other.
“There's always a scenario,” Sato said about whether he thought that might happen. “If something happened between the two – of course I was thinking just make sure you're not involved.
“But then of course if you have little cushion then end of story. You have to grab every opportunity, just never give up, and just try to challenge. ... I think it was a great race for the Indy 500, and I'm sure fans really enjoyed it.”
Nobody was more upset after – and during the race – than Rossi. His No. 27 NAPA Autoparts car started ninth and proved quickly it was fast. But that faulty pit stop had him playing catch up, and Pagenaud held him off for what could have been a much different race had there been one more lap.
“When you come here four times and three of the times you can't get fuel in the car, I think you can understand why I was upset,” Rossi said. “It can't happen. It wasn't a human error, it was a mechanical problem, but still it's not something that we can have here.”
Rossi won the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016 as a rookie in somewhat of a surprise. But he was expecting to win Sunday, and he was more than willing to share some of his frustrations with IndyCar and other drivers after the race.
He made a number of daring passes in the 200 laps and was visibly frustrated with Oriol Servia, who was a lap down and blocked Rossi from passing. Rossi shook his fist in the air as he passed Servia moments later.
“I think it was one of the most disrespectful things I've ever seen in a race car, to be honest,” Rossi said. “He's a lap down and defending, putting me to the wall at 230 mph. It's unacceptable. It's unacceptable for him, and it's unacceptable that IndyCar allowed it to happen as long as they did.”
During the final restart, the drivers who were running a lap behind but still in the field were removed form the track, giving drivers in contention more room.
While he didn't show it, Rossi, who led 22 laps, did admit he was proud knowing that he left it all out there.
“The car was by far the best in the field in terms of what we could do and pass pass at will when I needed to,” he said. I didn't see anyone else doing that, so a huge testament to the whole Andretti Autosport organization for really my fourth year here giving me a car that was capable of winning.”
ewyman@jg.net
http://www.journalgazette.net/sports/20190527/rossi-sato-left-wondering-what-if
2019-05-27 05:01:49Z
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Europe at crossroads as far right makes big gains in vote - The Associated Press
BRUSSELS (AP) — Europeans woke Monday to a new political reality after European Parliament elections ended the domination of the EU’s main center-right and center-left parties and revealed a changed political landscape where the far-right, pro-business groups and environmentalists will be forces to be reckoned with.
Turning out in numbers not seen for 20 years, voters took their concerns about immigration and security to the ballot box, making parties led by the likes of Italy’s populist Matteo Salvini and France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen among the biggest in the 28-nation bloc’s assembly.
“The rules are changing in Europe,” Salvini, Italy’s hard-line interior minister, said at his League party headquarters in Milan early Monday. “A new Europe is born.”
Voter projections showed the League won 33% of the vote, up from just 6% at the last European vote in 2014.
The lion’s share of Britain’s seats went to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, as citizens punished the governing conservatives and opposition Labour party for their embarrassing failure to manage the divided country’s delayed departure from the EU.
Riding what they called Europe’s “green wave” backed by Europe-wide rallies urging climate action, environmentalist parties made strong gains, notably in Germany, one of the continent’s main forces for EU integration.
The free-market liberals saw their stake in the 751-seat parliament rise to 107 seats, from 68 in 2014.
The picture of a fractured assembly for the next five years was complete as many citizens turned their backs on the center-right European People’s Party — one of its key figures, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saw her party lose ground — and the center-left Socialists.
“We are facing a shrinking center of the European Union parliament,” a subdued EPP lead candidate Manfred Weber said, after just over 50 percent of the EU’s more than 400 million voters had turned out over four days in the world’s biggest transnational elections. “From now on, those who want to have a strong European Union have to join forces.”
The Socialist lead candidate, Frans Timmermans, essentially conceded defeat, even though the two groups remain the assembly’s biggest by some margin.
“If you lose an election, if you lose seats, you have to be modest,” the former Dutch foreign minister said. “We have lost seats and this means that we have to be humble.”
Spanish caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was a notable exception, as his victorious Socialists looked set to win 20 of the country’s 54 seats in the European Parliament.
Although still trickling in, results show that the EPP is set to secure 179 seats, down from 217 five years ago. The Socialists are slated to win 150, down from 187.
The two parties have dominated the parliament with a combined majority since elections were first held in 1979. Senior figures from the EPP hold the top posts in the EU’s three main institutions: parliament president, head of the EU’s powerful executive commission and European Council president, who chairs summits of European presidents and prime ministers.
While real power in Europe remains in the hands of the 28 member states, the assembly’s influence has grown. It’s helped improve air flight safety in Europe, cut down on plastics use, end mobile telephone roaming charges inside the bloc, boost data privacy, and cut carbon dioxide emissions from cars.
The parliament also has an important say in international treaties ranging from trade talks to Brexit.
But now new, uncomfortable alliances must be forged. The pro-business liberals, or ALDE, backed by French President Emmanuel Macron — whose Republic on the Move party is set to win 23 seats, the same number as Le Pen’s National Rally — insist that Europe’s traditional political certainties are a thing of the past.
“The monopoly of power has been broken,” said ALDE lead candidate Margrethe Vestager, currently the EU’s competition commissioner, describing Sunday’s polls as “a signal for change.”
Party group leaders begin their horse-trading Monday to see what kind of stable alliance can be established and who might secure the EU’s top jobs. Their decisions will set the stage for EU leaders, who meet over dinner Tuesday to see where the political pieces lie and discuss potential candidates.
___
AP writers Lori Hinnant and Raf Casert in Brussels and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
For more news from The Associated Press on the European Parliament elections go to https://www.apnews.com/EuropeanParliament
https://www.apnews.com/6152801851684d879999dbcdc62c1e0f
2019-05-27 04:27:05Z
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Memorial service announced for 'Voice of the Auburn Tigers' Rod Bramblett and wife Paula - The Auburn Plainsman
A service celebrating the lives of Rod and Paula Bramblett will be held Thursday, May 30, at 2 p.m. in Auburn Arena, according an announcement from Auburn Athletics Sunday night.
Visitation will take place prior to the memorial service from noon to 2 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Dr. George Mathison will officiate. A private burial service for the family will follow.
Rod Bramblett, the "Voice of the Auburn Tigers," and his wife Paula both died from injuries sustained in a two-vehicle accident Saturday evening in Auburn.
The accident occurred on Shug Jordan Parkway at the intersection of West Samford Avenue Saturday evening shortly after 6 p.m., police said.
A 16-year-old's Jeep Grand Cherokee struck the rear of the Bramblett's Highlander, according to police.
"Paula Bramblett died at 7:50 PM in the emergency room of East Alabama Medical Center from multiple internal injuries and Rod Bramblett, known as the 'Voice of the Auburn Tigers,' died at UAB Hospital in Birmingham from a severe closed head injury," read a statement from Lee County Coroner Bill Harris.
Bramblett broadcasted Auburn games since 1993, and he was the lead Auburn broadcaster since 2003. Bramblett was named Alabama Sportscaster of the Year in 2006, 2010 and 2013.
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He was named Sports Illustrated’s Sports Broadcaster of the Year in 2013, which was the year of his unforgettable call during Auburn's “Kick Six” win against Alabama.
He graduated from Auburn in 1988. The Brambletts have two children, daughter Shelby and son Joshua.
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https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2019/05/memorial-service-announced-for-voice-of-the-auburn-tigers-rod-bramblett-and-wife-paula
2019-05-27 02:13:44Z
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Kawhi Leonard: Lakers fans CONVINCED Raptors star will join in free agency if this happens - Express
The Lakers have been watching from afar in the postseason while the the best in the NBA have been battling it out for an NBA title.
They have been busy re-building their front office following Magic Johnson's controversial resignation.
Frank Vogel has now been drafted in as the new head coach, after failing to agree terms with Tyronn Lue.
But most of their attention will be on this offseason, with the biggest aim being able to attract a marquee free agent.
Top of their list will likely be Kawhi Leonard, who the Lakers tried trading for last summer.
The San Antonio Spurs ultimately rejected an approach from the Lakers, but their intent was clear.
Multiple reports have suggested the 27-year-old still favours a move back home to Los Angeles, with the LA Clippers also in with a shot.
The Raptors meanwhile can offer the three-time All-Star a bigger contract than any other franchise, and are on the cusp of reaching their first NBA Finals.
They hold a 3-2 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks heading into Game 6.
But some Lakers fans are convinced Toronto will have no chance of keeping Leonard if they fail to make the most of their current position.
One fan posted: "Bucks need to win so Kawhi comes to the Lakers."
Another said: "Kawhi straight leaving for the Lakers if Raptors lose.
A third wrote: "Bucks in 7! Kawhi to Lakers!"
A fourth tweeted: "I want the Bucks to win so Kawhi can come to the Lakers."
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/othersport/1132167/Kawhi-Leonard-Los-Angeles-Lakers-NBA-free-agency-Toronto-Raptors-gossip-rumours
2019-05-27 00:57:00Z
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Minggu, 26 Mei 2019
2019 Indianapolis 500 live updates, results, stream online: Simon Pagenaud starts from pole - CBS Sports
Memorial Day weekend is set to bring us three of the biggest events in motorsports: The Indianapolis 500 in IndyCar, the Coca-Cola 600 in NASCAR and the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton won the first event of the day in F1, so now our attention shifts to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Simon Pagenaud won pole for the Indy 500, starting on the front row ahead of last year's winner, and Vegas favorite Will Power in the sixth position. The race is 200 laps and 500 miles long as drivers will look to drink the milk and kiss the bricks at the start-finish line. It is the 103rd running of the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing' at the Brickyard.
How to watch the 2019 Indianapolis 500
- Date: Sunday, May 26th
- Start time: 12:45 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC
- Streaming: fuboTV (Try for free)
- Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, Indiana
2019 Indianapolis 500 Starting Grid
| ROW 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
1. Simon Pagenaud | 2. Ed Carpenter | 3. Spencer Pigot |
| ROW 2 | ||
4. Ed Jones | 5. Colton Herta | 6. Will Power |
| ROW 3 | ||
7. Sebastian Bourdais | 8. Josef Newgarden | 9. Alexander Rossi |
| ROW 4 | ||
10. Marco Andretti | 11. Conor Daly | 12. Helio Castroneves |
| ROW 5 | ||
13. Marcus Ericsson | 14. Takuma Sato | 15. James Davison |
| ROW 6 | ||
16. Tony Kanaan | 17. Graham Rahal | 18. Scott Dixon |
| ROW 7 | ||
19. Oriol Servia | 20. Charlie Kimball | 21. JR Hildebrand |
| ROW 8 | ||
22. Ryan Hunter-Reay | 23. Santino Ferrucci | 24. Matheus Leist |
| ROW 9 | ||
25. Jack Harvey | 26. Jordan King | 27. Ben Hanley |
| ROW 10 | ||
28. Zach Veach | 29. Felix Rosenqvist | 30. Pippa Mann |
| ROW 11 | ||
31. Sage Karam | 32. James Hinchcliffe | 33. Kyle Kaiser |
| BUMPED | ||
| Fernando Alonso | Max Chilton | Patricio O'Ward |
Indianapolis 500 live updates
Follow along for live updates from the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/2019-indianapolis-500-live-updates-results-stream-online-simon-pagenaud-starts-from-pole/
2019-05-26 19:07:00Z
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What Can The Raptors Possibly Do To Make People Believe The Lie? - Deadspin
The Raptors took down the Bucks on Saturday, 100-94, to clinch an NBA Finals berth for the first time in franchise history. With that series victory, Toronto seemingly vanquished the infamous Drake curse, exorcised the demons of past postseason failures and even vindicated Kawhi Leonard’s place as one of the top-5 players in the league.
In most years, this accomplishment would likely have been “enough” for a fan base whose team used have to sell tickets at drug stores to get people to come to games. The reason being that the Raptors’ next task is to face off against this generation’s greatest NBA dynasty: the Golden State Warriors. The fact that Toronto eventually found and exploited the kryptonite of every team they faced, adjusted game plans well enough to come back against the league’s best team by record and featured one of the greatest individual postseason performances with Kawhi Leonard emulating players like LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would mean absolutely nothing. Golden State would enter the finals and just destroy Toronto’s will to live under a barrage of threes and high-paced transition buckets, just like they do nearly every year.
But—as you probably have already guessed by the set up used earlier—this postseason doesn’t seem to be following the scripts that have been used these past few years. Sure, the Warriors are coming off a conference finals sweep against the Blazers that served more as a collection of inconveniences than an actual challenge, and the Raptors just finished a much more competitive and exhausting series, but there are so many compensatory factors that seem to balance the competitive scale. Toronto has home court advantage, Golden State is missing a whole-ass Kevin Durant, and Leonard has been consistently God-like in every game, whereas Steph Curry has actually disappeared a couple times. The fact that these teams have not faced off in a seven-game series makes these points open-ended enough that it’s not unreasonable to believe in the lie that the Warriors could actually lose this year.
This isn’t to say that the Raptors are guaranteed to do it as they have problems of their own: Leonard is hurt, Fred VanVleet’s recent success from three is unsustainable and Kyle Lowry is probably due for another seven-point performance. But Leonard did everything he did this postseason through that injury, and regressive performances can be fixed with teammates stepping up—an easier ask when up to four of the seven games could be played in a kinder home environment.
In other words, the issues that the Raptors are concerned with pale in comparison to what the Warriors have to deal with. Toronto also carries a heavier realistic hypothetical threat with it than Golden State does. Imagine Leonard becoming healthy enough defend Curry from full court. If he’s able to be even 80 percent as good against Steph as he was against Giannis, that forces someone else to take the scoring load for the Warriors. But no one really qualifies for that role on that team—consistently, at least. Klay Thompson could maybe have one breakout game against Lowry before the amount of times he’s forced to dribble catches up to him, Draymond isn’t dropping 45 on Pascal Siakim and if Marc Gasol was able to frustrate Brook Lopez, I can’t imagine Kevon Looney having more success. The only counter Golden State has to that is hoping their old guys can be mildly more successful on offense or that Curry, who has yet to have a standout performance in a finals series, breaks some personal postseason records.
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All of that obviously isn’t as easy as I’m making it sound, but that’s part of the point of trying to convince yourself to believe a lie like this. There are so many unknowns that won’t begin to make themselves clear until Thursday that almost anything could be possible right at this moment. And the more you think about it, the more likely you’ll be able to actually think of ways that a team best known for being LeBron’s pre-finals meal could take out the goddamn Warriors.
https://deadspin.com/what-can-the-raptors-possibly-do-to-make-people-believe-1835035854
2019-05-26 18:55:00Z
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With Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors Find Success That Endures - The New York Times
TORONTO — Twenty-four seasons, 1,920 regular-season games, 18 playoff series, 99 playoff games.
It took until the 100th postseason game in franchise history, but the Toronto Raptors clinched their first N.B.A. finals appearance with a 100-96 victory on their home floor against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, winning the Eastern Conference finals in six games.
Success has been fleeting for the only remaining N.B.A. franchise in Canada. Toronto’s first draft pick, Damon Stoudamire in 1995, won the Rookie of the Year Award but demanded a trade and was in Portland before the end of his third season.
Vince Carter gave the Raptors their first taste of national attention, with his jaw-dropping performance at the 2000 slam dunk contest during All-Star weekend and a playoff duel with Allen Iverson a year later. But in 2004, he, too, demanded a trade and ended a golden era before it even started.
Chris Bosh was the next superstar in line, but he managed just two first-round exits in his seven seasons with the Raptors, before he left in free agency in 2010 to join LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami.
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DeMar DeRozan blossomed into a star during his nine years with the team, but Masai Ujiri, the president of the Raptors, grew tired of the team’s annual playoff flameouts, and last summer traded DeRozan, the one player who had declared his desire to remain a Toronto Raptor for life.
That trade sent a stunned DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs for the quiet and talented Kawhi Leonard, who was one year away from free agency.
He was a considerable risk for Toronto. But he also gave the Raptors exactly what they needed in an Eastern Conference finally freed from the dominance of James, who had joined the Los Angeles Lakers: a two-way superstar capable of being the best player in any playoff series.
The trade has been validated in every way during Leonard’s historic postseason run, which gave the N.B.A. its first Game 7 series-clinching buzzer beater, against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. He is already third among the franchise’s career postseason scorers, trailing only DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. Leonard has 11 games of at least 30 points in this postseason.
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He is a dominant scorer, but his all-around game has also been on display. The Raptors won the last four games of their series against the Bucks after Toronto Coach Nick Nurse made Leonard the primary defender against Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 3. In Game 5 on Thursday, Leonard notched a career-high nine assists to go with 35 points in a road victory. On Saturday, with an N.B.A. finals berth at stake, Leonard grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and added 27 points, punctuating his claim for best player in the playoffs with a thunderous one-handed slam over Antetokounmpo in the fourth quarter.
After Game 2, the Bucks were two wins away from an Eastern Conference championship, and were 10-1 in the postseason following 60 wins in the regular season. In four games, Leonard erased Milwaukee’s magical season by being the best player on both ends of the floor. In a single playoff run, Leonard has delivered more memorable moments for the Raptors than anyone in the 24-year history of the franchise.
On media day in September at the start of the season, after the formal introduction of Leonard in a Raptors uniform, Ujiri became frustrated with reporters who kept wondering whether Toronto was perceived in N.B.A. circles as a team and a city capable of persuading a superstar of Leonard’s caliber to stay long term.
“We have nothing to apologize about,” Ujiri said. “This is a beautiful city. We are blessed to be one of the N.B.A. teams, one that’s not in America. I can’t believe a beautiful city like this would not believe in itself.”
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On Saturday, eight months after their partnership officially started, Ujiri stood next to Leonard as they accepted the Eastern Conference championship trophy in front of their home fans.
“Kawhi is the best player in the world, and we are happy that he is in Toronto,” Ujiri said.
Shortly after the trophy presentation, Leonard said: “I don’t care about being the best player. I want to be the best team.”
After years of trying to break through, the Raptors can now call themselves the best team in the Eastern Conference. They are four wins away from a championship, and on Thursday the N.B.A. finals will start in Canada for the first time in league history.
Saturday’s win was an unburdening of two and a half decades of frustration for a fan base that has continued to grow as the popularity of basketball in Canada has risen. Two other major sports franchises in the city are in the midst of championship droughts. The Toronto Blue Jays haven’t won the World Series since 1993. The Toronto Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup in 1967.
The Raptors have a chance to make history for not just the franchise, but for the city of Toronto. For the first time, the fan base doesn’t have to wallow in the past or wonder about the uncertain future of Leonard’s free agency decision. It can live in the present, rooting for a team that has shown what can be.
Leonard’s postseason run will be talked about in Toronto for decades to come. Perhaps there’s still one more chapter left to be written, starting Thursday at home against the Golden State Warriors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/sports/toronto-raptors-kawhi-leonard-finals.html
2019-05-26 17:28:52Z
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Murray and Cabbie on the impact of Kawhi's dunk over Giannis - TSN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIRdrLu0UT4
2019-05-26 16:22:17Z
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Federer wins in 1st French Open match since '15 - ESPN
Playing his first match at Roland Garros since 2015, Roger Federer had no problem reaching the second round of the French Open.
Back on the refurbished Court Philippe Chatrier on the opening day of the clay-court event, the 20-time Grand Slam champion defeated French Open debutant Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
Federer missed the French Open in 2016 because of a back injury and then skipped the event in 2017 and 2018 to focus on Wimbledon. He won the title in Paris 10 years ago to complete a career Grand Slam.
"I missed you; thanks very much for the welcome," Federer said to the crowd after concluding his match. "I was quite tense at the start."
In other news, French Open organizers said American player Sam Querrey has withdrawn from the tournament. Querrey, who was set to take on Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez in the first round, has been replaced in the main draw by lucky loser Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland. A Wimbledon semifinalist in 2017, the 62nd-ranked Querrey cited an abdominal problem as the reason for his withdrawal
Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime also pulled out of the French Open because of an injury. Organizers said the No. 25-seeded player has pain in his left abductor muscle and will be replaced in the main draw by Spanish lucky loser Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Auger-Aliassime is ranked a career-high 28th and reached the Lyon Open final this week.
Among other seeded players in action Sunday, No. 11-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia defeated Thomas Fabbiano of Italy 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
A year after upsetting Novak Djokovic in a stunning run to the semifinals, Marco Cecchinato is out after the first round. French wild card Nicolas Mahut came back from two sets down in a 2-6, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over the 16th-seeded Italian.
It was the first men's match on the new Court Simonne Mathieu, and Mahut seemed to thrive off the support from the home fans.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/26825441/federer-wins-1st-french-open-match-15
2019-05-26 15:49:59Z
CBMiVGh0dHA6Ly93d3cuZXNwbi5jb20vdGVubmlzL3N0b3J5L18vaWQvMjY4MjU0NDEvZmVkZXJlci13aW5zLTFzdC1mcmVuY2gtb3Blbi1tYXRjaC0xNdIBYWh0dHA6Ly93d3cuZXNwbi5jb20vdGVubmlzL3N0b3J5L18vaWQvMjY4MjU0NDEvZmVkZXJlci13aW5zLTFzdC1mcmVuY2gtb3Blbi1tYXRjaC0xNT9wbGF0Zm9ybT1hbXA
NBA's Jeremy Lin stopped from boarding team bus by Bucks security guard demanding pass - Fox News
Jeremy Lin has been in the NBA for nine years, but arena security guards still want to see his bus pass.
The Toronto Raptor reserve said it happened Tuesday in Milwaukee during the Eastern Conference finals.
“After Game 2 in Milwaukee, I was trying to get to the team bus and one of the dudes in the Milwaukee Arena just screams at me,” Lin said on the Bill Michaels Sports Talk Network, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday. “He’s like, ‘Where do you think you’re going?!’ And I’m like, ‘Uh, I’m trying to get to the team bus.’ He’s like, ‘What? Where’s your pass?
MALLORY EDENS, DAUGHTER OF MILWAUKEE BUCKS CO-OWNER, TROLLS DRAKE WITH SHIRT; RAPPER FIRES BACK
Lin continued, “I was like, ‘I don’t have a pass. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have a pass.’ This happens in a lot of arenas, so I just kind of go with the flow.”
Jeremy Lin before a game in April. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
The radio interview aired Wednesday.
The paper reported that Lin had a similar encounter with a security guard in 2015 after signing with the Charlotte Hornets.
DRAKE'S SIDELINE ANTICS DRAW IRE OF MILWAUKEE BUCKS COACH, RAPPER RESPONDS TO CRITICISM
“Went to the Hornets arena for 1st time and tried convincing security im a player,” he tweeted at the time. “She said, "what team?!?" lollll.”
In any event, Lin was delighted the Raptors defeated the Bucks Saturday to advance to the NBA finals against the Warriors even though he didn’t get into the game.
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“WE. THE. NORTHHHH!!! Grateful to God, all the prayer warriors and the crazyyyyy fans! This squads full of soldiers! #Finals #history,” he said in a post-game Instagram post.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/nbas-jeremy-lin-stopped-from-boarding-team-bus-by-bucks-security-guard-demanding-pass
2019-05-26 14:42:09Z
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Kawhi Leonard NBA Playoff highlights show nobody impacts a game like him - SB Nation
Kawhi Leonard has long been in the conversation for the best two-way player in the NBA. More rarely has he been mentioned as the best player in the league.
That is starting to change a little bit, and rightfully so. I made this case two years ago, before his injury in the 2017 Western Conference finals.
My argument back then was that, by definition, every NBA player is a two-way player. Every single one plays on both ends, so a player’s impact — positive or negative — on each end really matters. As such, Kawhi being the best two-way player in the league should mean that he is the best player in the league. That would be the definitional case provided we are defining “best two-way player in the league” properly.
We haven’t been.
Again, as I noted in the prior piece, we give the moniker of two-way player largely to elite defenders who can do stuff on offense. We usually don’t give the moniker to even really good or great defenders who are elite offensive players. For example, Scottie Pippen is dubbed a two-way player (elite defense, really good offense and playmaking) but Michael Jordan (elite defense, greatest scorer ever) isn’t. Draymond Green is considered a two-way player (elite defense, really good playmaking and adequate scoring) but Kevin Durant isn’t (really good defense, incredible scorer and creator). Once you hit a certain offensive level, we stop considering you a “two-way player.”
No one can seem to break the mold and wake up NBA fans to the fact that if you’re one of the best three defenders in the league and a top-10 offensive star (or vice versa, a top-3 scorer and a top-10 defender), you should be a leading contender for best player status.
Until Kawhi.
Consider what Kawhi just did through three rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs. He was the Raptors’ best offensive player in every series, and the Raptors’ best defender in every series. He stopped likely 2019 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for four straight games to win a trip to the NBA Finals. He hit an absurd number of big shots, made a ridiculous number of big stops, grabbed critical rebounds — he did it all. He impacted every facet of the game in a positive way for the Raptors.
Durant is an incredible defender when engaged and healthy. LeBron James has moments of defensive excellence, but those are coming less frequently over time. (It’s nice that his most famous moment of all is a defensive play to remind us of what he was capable of at his peak.) Kawhi, though, is the best defender in the world when healthy. If we’re talking about the best players in the world, that superlative level is worth extra consideration.
Personally, I’d put Durant as the best player in the world, with Kawhi No. 2, LeBron No. 3, Stephen Curry No. 4, and either Giannis or James Harden next, with Anthony Davis following at No. 7. But these rankings are fluid: we could have been talking about Giannis in the way we’re talking about Kawhi had that series turned differently and it had been Antetokounmpo putting the cuffs on Leonard instead of vice versa.
In these Finals, though, Kawhi has a chance to unseat Durant, provided the latter recovers from his calf injury. While the Warriors have never beat a Spurs team with a healthy Kawhi in the playoffs, Durant has ... twice. The Thunder went 2-1 in series vs. the Kawhi era Spurs, winning in 2012 (Kawhi’s rookie season) and 2016, and losing in 2014. Durant did outplay Kawhi head-to-head in that 2016 series. That San Antonio team had won 67 games in the regular season, so it’s hard to say that these Raptors are better. These Warriors are certainly better than that Thunder team. So perhaps, if Durant is healthy enough to play starting around Game 3 (a big if), the result will be similar.
But maybe not. Kawhi has never looked quite this powerful, and his impact has never been greater. Leonard is on an incredible roll, and Durant is injured enough to be missing playoff games. This might be the moment Kawhi gets more than a smattering of support for best player status.
It also might be the moment we truly understand what being a two-way player means.
https://www.sbnation.com/2019/5/26/18640421/kawhi-leonard-highlights-nba-playoffs-2019-rankings
2019-05-26 14:10:51Z
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