Talk about a memorable sports weekend! What caught our eye? How about Chris Paul’s game winning shot from Saturday night? Good stuff.

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NBA

A preliminary congrats to this season’s soon to be MVP…  Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors!

Chris Paul’s inspirational Game 7 heroics led the LA Clippers past the defending NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs, 111-109. Paul, who had previously been forced to leave the game with an injury, returned with a vengeance, sinking the game-winning shot with under 10 seconds to go, propelling the Clippers into the next round. It’s too early to tell, but it sounds like Coach Popovich, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili  will come back to the Spurs for at least one more season after all.

The second round of playoff action has begun!  The Washington Wizards continue to impress, after sweeping the Toronto Raptors in the first round by stealing Game 1 against the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks. This week, the Chicago Bulls will face LeBron James and the Kevin Love-less Cleveland Cavaliers. The Western Conference Semi Finals see the Houston Rockets taking on the LA Clippers while NBA MVP  Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors match up against the Memphis Grizzlies.

This week, we’re excited about:

Monday – Chicago Bulls vs Cleveland Cavaliers 7pm EST and LA Clippers vs Houston Rockets 9:30pm EST

Tuesday – Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks 8pm EST and Memphis Grizzlies vs Golden State Warriors 10:30pm EST

NHL

There’s nothing quite like playoff hockey and so far this post season has lived up to the bill.  Round 1 saw two series decided by Game 7, two thrilling all-Canadian match ups, two Western Conference upsets, fights, penalties, goaltender changes, a triple overtime, and no shortage of pretty passes, big hits, and goals galore. Round 2 pits the Chicago Blackhawks against the Minnesota Wild, the Anaheim Ducks take on the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the New York Rangers face off against the Washington Capitals.

Ice Hockey World Championships kicked off this past week, and we were able to watch many of the NHL stars who didn’t make it to the playoffs compete. Meanwhile, the NHL Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the league’s most valuable player, will end up in the deserving hands of Washington Capitals’ forward Alex Ovechkin, Montreal Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price or New York Islanders’ forward John Tavares.

MLB

The Houston Astros won their 10th game in row on Sunday evening against the Seattle Mariners to remain atop the American League thus far in the season.

Josh Hamilton is back with the Texas Rangers and is expected to bat for the team for the first time this season this week.

The Milwaukee Brewers parted ways with Manager Ron Roenicke after their MLB worst start at 7-18. The team is expected to choose a replacement this week.

 

Other

Let’s talk about this past week’s NFL.  The real story was the quarterbacks as Jameis Winston went #1 to the Tampa Bay Bucs followed by Marcus Mariota at #2 to the Tennessee Titans.  Also of note was Todd Gurley going to the St. Louis Rams at #10.

Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao this weekend by unanimous decision to become the welterweight world champion. It was one of the biggest fights in boxing history.

Saturday was the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby, and it did not disappoint. American Pharoah, ridden by Victor Espinoza, beat the crowd and came home victorious. This was Espinoza’s third Kentucky Derby win.

In golf news, Rory McIlroy took home his first WGC Match Play title this weekend with a 4 & 2 win over Gary Woodland.

Lastly, congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his first win of the season at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. He has won at the Alabama track six times in his career, but this is his first win there since 2004.

JUST FOR FUN

What’s in a name?
How the 2015 Kentucky Derby runners were named (and how the winner ended up with his name spelled wrong)

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Patience is a virtue
He’s become more selective as he ages
Bryce Harper’s new take on baseball – and how upping his walk rate is helping him improve

Fight day hype
We can no longer ignore what happens outside the competition
Even though we were all wrapped up in the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight night itself, we had to think about what these men are like outside the ring

A lot left to wonder about
Thinking through the NFL draft
Some teams were looking for the winners, but others were just looking to enrich their communities

And then this weekend got a little busier…
There was tennis, too!
The inaugural Istanbul Open was this weekend, and Roger Federer won his first clay title since 2012

Can you believe it’s the last week of April? We can’t either, but this means that we’re one step closer to the end of the playoffs, so enjoy them while you can! What did we enjoy this past week? Everything about Steph Curry’s game last Thursday was pretty much the best.

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NBA

The NBA Playoffs…where do we begin? Let’s start with the East. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon to move on to the next round, but there was plenty of drama along the way. The game was quite physical and resulted in Kevin Love dislocating his shoulder and JR Smith getting involved in an altercation on the court. We hope that both will be back on the court soon. For those of you worried about what this means for the Cavs, remember that they have LeBron James, and that counts for a lot. As for the rest of the East? The Washington Wizards swept the Toronto Raptors, the Chicago Bulls  have a chance to finish their series with the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, and the Atlanta Hawks are up 2-1 on the Brooklyn Nets going into their next game.

Now onto the wild, wild West. The Golden State Warriors  completed a 4-game sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night to advance to the western conference semis. Spoiler alert: The Dubs look good and seem ready to take on whoever comes their way.The LA Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs are all-tied up at 2-2  after a very competitive series thus far, and the Memphis Grizzlies are 1 game away from sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers and moving onward to the next round. However, there’s been some bad news for the Grizzlies, as star guard Mike Conley will need to have surgery  after suffering a facial fracture. Oh, and the Houston Rockets swept the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night to advance to the next round — meaning we have probably seen the last of Rajon Rondo  in a Mav’s uniform.

What happens now? More games! See the schedule here. Important ones to know about now include:

• Bucks vs. Bulls – Monday night
• Grizzlies vs. Trail Blazers – Monday night
• Spurs vs. Clippers – Tuesday night

MLB

Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals is expected to be out for the season  after suffering an Achilles injury.

New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez hit his 659th home run on Sunday night.  He’s now one home run behind Willie Mays for 4th all-time. A-Rod has had a strong start to the season thus far after sitting out last season on a suspension from the league.

For the first time in his young career, Yasiel Puig of the LA Dodgers has been placed on the DL. Puig has been suffering from a hamstring injury and is hopeful to be back in 15 days.

NHL

The NFL playoffs are on (ice) and popping. On Sunday, the Minnesota Wild defeated the St. Louis Blues to move onto the next round. The Montreal Canadiens closed out the Ottawa Senators on the same day as well. Earlier this weekend, the Calgary Flames ended their series with the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators to advance. Teams that have already advanced to the next round include the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks.

Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that he will compete for Canada at the hockey world championships.

Games to watch this week include:

• Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings – Monday
• NY Islanders vs. Washington Capitals – Monday

Other

The NFL Draft  kicks off this Thursday, April 30th and will continue through Saturday, May 2nd.

JUST FOR FUN

Full Court Shot
You might’ve seen LeBron’s – here’s Dwight Howard’s!

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

A study in introspection
Danny Shelton’s story
How Washington’s NFL draft prospect recovered from tragedy and channeled his energy towards football

Deep dive
They’re always on the field, but don’t seem to get much credit
What’s it like to be a NCAA Division I cheerleader?

Obscurity
Joe Linta finds phenomenal players that would’ve otherwise remained hidden
The agent scouts football players that nobody in the NFL noticed… yet

You better shape up
1 in 4 Americans didn’t exercise at all this year (not even once)
Exercise is trending down among younger Americans, and our culture is getting more and more sedentary

Good Morning! This was a crazy weekend, and we know it’s tough to remember all of the great basketball you witnessed during the start of the NBA playoffs. To help jog your memory, here are some of our favorite plays, featuring Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans:

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NBA

The NBA playoffs are here, the NBA playoffs are here, the NBA PLAYOFFS are here! What you need to know so far:

• The playoffs kicked off on Saturday and will go throughout May and early August
• Eastern Conference:
  • #1 Atlanta Hawks vs. #8 Brooklyn Nets
  • #2 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #7 Boston Celtics
  • #3 Chicago Bulls vs. #6 Milwaukee Bucks
  • #4 Toronto Raptors vs. #5 Washington Wizards
• Western Conference:
  • #1 Golden State Warriors vs. #8 New Orleans Pelicans
  • #2 Houston Rockets vs. #7 Dallas Mavericks
  • #3 LA Clippers vs. #6 San Antonio Spurs
  • #4 Portland Trail Blazers vs. #5 Memphis Grizzlies
• Series is the best of 7, and the winner will advance to the next round

Of note from this weekend, the Wizards defeated the Raptors in OT, while the Cavs looked strong in their win over the Celtics – the first post-season win for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

This week, check out all of the games but especially:

• New Orleans Pelicans vs. Golden State Warriors – Monday and Thursday
• Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – Tuesday and Thursday
• San Antonio Spurs vs. LA Clippers – Wednesday and Friday

MLB

The Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals series ended on Sunday with 5 Royals players getting ejected from the game. The Royals would go on to win the 4-2.

Yasiel Puig is struggling with injuries early this season. The LA Dodgers star was out of the lineup on Sunday afternoon after a big game on Saturday night against the Colorado Rockies. Here’s to hoping his hamstring is just sore and will heal quickly.

Jon Daniels, the GM of the Texas Rangers, said that while he thinks that Russell Wilson would be successful at baseball in the Major Leagues, he would not interfere with his career as the quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks.

NHL

In all things hockey, the NHL playoffs are also here!

In the East, first round match-ups include:

• #1 Montreal Canadiens vs. # 4 Ottawa Senators – MTL leads 2-0
• #2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #3 Detroit Red Wings – Series tied 2-1
• #1 NY Rangers vs. #4 Pittsburgh Penguins – Series tied 1-1
• #2 Washington Capitals vs. # NY Islanders – NYI leads 2-1

In the West, first round match-ups include:

• #1 St. Louis Blues vs. #4 Minnesota Wild – Series tied 1-1
• #2 Nashville Predators vs. #3 Chicago Blackhawks – Chicago leads 2-1
• #1 Anaheim Ducks vs. Winnipeg Jets – Anaheim leads 2-0
• #2 Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames – Series tied 1-1

Check out all of the great hockey games as the playoffs continue this week!

The likelihood of a hockey team in Vegas may take a little longer than expected. Rumor has it that if a team were to move toLas Vegas, it would be closer to the 2017-2018 season.

Other

The NFL remains interesting even in the off-season. See: The Philadelphia Eagles will sign quarterback Tim Tebow to a 1-year deal.

JUST FOR FUN

Iced Out
The NBA Championship rings are some serious bling

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Mark Cuban
Business tycoon, parent, “Shark Tank guy,” and the owner of the Mavericks
Finding new ways to change his team, the league, and the game

Learning from the best
Those who can’t play coach instead
USD can’t send players to the league, but they’ve created some rock star NBA coaches

Remember the Orlando Magic?
They had Shaq and Penny… they thought they had it all
The team was unstoppable until it fell apart – but they made their mark on basketball history

All I do is win
Serena
She stayed positive, fought hard, and won the Fed Cup playoff for the United States

Good Morning! Remember when Duke won the National Championship last week? We didn’t get to talk about it with you yet… so check out this video of game highlights to start your day feeling like a champion:

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

Golf

Congrats to Jordan Spieth, the newest winner of the 2015 Masters Tournament! Speith, who is 21, is the second youngest golfer (behind Tiger Woods) to win the Masters. He put on an impressive performance in the opening rounds and ended up winning the whole tournament by 4 shots. Watch out world, this kid is good.

NBA

The NBA regular season ends on Wednesday and some of the best in the West are still racing to make the playoffs. The Oklahoma City Thunder may be down a star as Kevin Durant is out for the season, but Russell Westbrook is giving his all to get them into that 8th spot. On Sunday, he had 54 points in a tough loss to the Indiana Pacers. More importantly, he also got a technical that will force him to miss a crucial next game against the Portland Trail Blazers. This could be significant as the Thunder are currently close behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the final playoff spot in the West.

In other playoff news, the the Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors have the 1 seeds locked up in the East and West, respectfully. Behind them, the Cleveland Cavaliers hold the 2 seed in the East while the San Antonio Spurs moved back into the West’s 2 seed with recent strong play (aka 11 straight wins). As the final week winds down, expect the majority of teams to rest their players as they prepare for post-season play.

This week, check out:

• Oklahoma City vs. Portland Trail Blazers – Monday
• Memphis Grizzlies vs. Golden State Warriors – Monday
• New Orleans Pelicans vs. San Antonio Spurs – Monday

As for all the other teams that won’t make the playoffs, the NBA draft is coming up and there are lots of up-and-coming young players for them (and us) to get excited about!

College Basketball

As we mentioned in our intro — there were some awesome National Championship games last week. Duke beat Wisconsin to win the title in men’s college hoops while UConn defeated Notre Dame to win their third straight title in women’s college hoops and their coach’s 10th title overall. Talk about a great end to the 2015 season.

Every college basketball season ends with an influx of student-athletes declaring for the NBA Draft. There have been a few notable announcements so far, including Jahlil Okafor of Duke and all seven of Kentucky’s stars. Stay tuned for more declarations this week!

In coaching news, Bobby Hurley is the newest coach at Arizona State. He was previously the head coach at Buffalo.

Other

Congratulations to the New York Rangers, who took home the Presidents’ Trophy this year. For all of the hockey fans out there, the NHL Playoffs kick off this week! Get excited for all the first round match-ups.

In all things futbol, Manchester United dominated Manchester City in a huge 4-2 victory on Sunday.

After a slow start to the series, the New York Yankees crushed the Boston Red Sox 14-4 in the Bronx on Sunday night.

Russell Wilson is already an Super Bowl winning NFL quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, but he’s also still interested in pursuing his other dream of playing professional baseball. He’s set to talk about this in an interview on HBO Real Sports that will air on April 21.

 

JUST FOR FUN

When NBA = NFL
The character crossovers — who matches up across the two leagues?

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Lauren Hill
She made the first NCAA basket of the season
Rest in peace to the Mount St. Joseph University basketball player that was an inspiration to us all

How often do you think about Tiger Woods?
He’s got a great record, but time is working against him
Take a look at how he compares to Jack Nicklaus, the only golfer with a better record

What’s going on in Dallas?
Is Rajon Rondo worth it? Ask Kevin Garnett
He grew up wanting to set the curve, but can he still do that and win when the stakes are much higher?

Bad to the bone
Draymond Green sticks out like a sore thumb
In comparison to the other players on the Warriors, he’s loud, proud and full of trash talk

This year’s March Madness is wilder than we ever would have believed it to be! Now that we’re nearing the end, it’s more important than ever to hold on tight to our dreams. Dream big, and then dream a little bigger, because only the real believers will become the champions.

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

College Basketball

Duke and Wisconsin meet tonight to see who will become college basketball’s new NCAA Tournament champion. How did we get here? Duke beat Michigan State convincingly in the first semifinal match-up on Saturday evening in Indianapolis. In the second semifinal, Wisconsin upset and ruined Kentucky’s perfect season (they finished at 38-1) in a close game to move on the championship.

The Championship game tip-offs in Indy at 9:18pm. This will be a rematch from an earlier game this season where Duke beat Wisconsin on the road in December. Regardless, both teams are different and much improved and this game should be a really really good one.

The Women’s NCAA Final Four kicked off in Tampa on Sunday night with Notre Dame defeated South Carolina and UConn crushed Maryland, which means familiar rivals Notre Dame and UConn will face off for the rights to this year’s championship on Tuesday evening.

NBA

Paul George is back. After suffering a bad leg injury last summer in a USA Basketball scrimmage, PG13 is finally back on the court for the Indiana Pacers. He returned to action in a game where the Pacers defeated the Miami Heat at home. In other injury news, Derrick Rose is hoping to return to the Chicago Bulls this weekend.

Speaking of the Bulls, they looked strong but not strong enough in their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. JR Smith put up some good numbers for the Cavs but the real star of the show was LeBron James who posted a casual triple double. Seriously, this weekend was all about the triple double as Russell Westbrook collected his 11th of the season in a loss to the Houston Rockets. That game also featured an impressive performance by MVP candidate James Harden.

Finally, the San Antonio Spurs stopped the Golden State Warriors’ 12 game winning streak on Sunday afternoon in a game where Kawhi Leonard played in star form at home.

This week, make sure to check out:

• San Antonio at Oklahoma City – Tuesday
• Portland at Golden State – Thursday
• San Antonio at Houston – Friday

MLB

Major League Baseball is back! The season opened on Sunday night with a St. Louis Cardinals victory over the Chicago Cubs.

In other baseball news, the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves pulled off a multi-player trade that will shake up both squads. Key moves included: Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr. heading to San Diego while the Braves picked up draft picks along with Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin.

Finally, it looks like the MLB All-Star game is headed to Washington D.C. in 2018.

JUST FOR FUN

Who do you love?
What NBA team should you adopt as your very own next season? Get on the Bandwagon.

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Enormity
Making a basketball court out of Lucas Oil Stadium
Think about it… 80,000 fans watching basketball in a stadium that’s large enough to be part of the city skyline

Keeping it in the family
The worst season ever for the Lakers
Jeanie Buss says the league is only as strong as its weakest team – but when the team is her family business, can she make the decisions necessary to improve it and improve the league?

Heartwarming
The rare moment when an ad makes you tear up
Nike’s Rory McIlroy spot reminds us of how important it is to have a hero

Running is like breathing
Usain Bolt and the success of Jamaican sprinters
Young athletes compete in Champs – a five day long event where world records are broken and a love for running is fostered