Jim Brown | NBA Conference Finals | NHL Conference Finals | PGA Championship ‘23 | Where Are You Going
James Nathaniel Brown was born in St. Simons Island, Georgia, USA. The son of a professional boxer and homemaker, the Brown family would move to Manhasset, New York, on Long Island when he was just a boy at 8 years old. He attended Manhasset High School and was a star athlete excelling in basketball, baseball, track, lacrosse, and of course football. As a basketball player, he averaged 38 points per game in high school, a Long Island record that would not be broken until Carl Yastremski did so. Once his high school days were over, he went to college in upstate New York attending Syracuse University. At Syracuse, Brown earned All-America honors in both lacrosse and football. He was so good at lacrosse that many at the time believed lax was his best sport, they even inducted him into the U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame.
After graduating from Syracuse, Jim Brown was commissioned as a second lieutenant through Army ROTC. He was also drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 6th Overall Pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. Throughout his time in the NFL, Brown continued his military training commitment at Ft. Benning, Ga., as an Army Reserve officer. During the offseasons, he would also continue his military service for four more years and was eventually honorably discharged from the Army Reserve with the rank of captain.
From 1957 to 1965, Jim Brown played for the Cleveland Browns and led the NFL in rushing yardage every year with the exception of 1962 when he finished in 4th. A superb athlete who could run like the wind or run opponents over at 6’2”, Jim Brown is considered to be one of the greatest football players to have ever lived. Despite being from Boston, Bill Belichick is a football historian in his own regard and the Patriots’ HC once said, “I think honestly any person, football player or otherwise, can learn a lot from Jim Brown and what he represents and what he stands for. Jim Brown’s in, my opinion, the greatest player that ever played.” During Jim Brown’s rookie season, he set an NFL record by rushing for 237 yards in a single game. In 9 seasons in the NFL, he scored 126 touchdowns. His 14,811 combined yardage (rushing + receiving) would not be surpassed until Walter Payton came along in 1984.
The astonishing part about the statistics and records that Jim Brown held was that he retired from the NFL at the age of 30. He still had plenty left in the tank, but decided he would pursue a career in acting instead. Jim Brown would go on to be a part of 50+ movies, documentaries, and TV shows from 1964 to ‘19. Outside of the gridiron and big screen, Jim Brown also played a massive part in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Brown, along with Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Carl Stokes met Muhammad Ali at the Cleveland Summit. Jim Brown founded the Black Economic Union in an effort to promote Black-owned businesses. He was also responsible for the Amer-I-Can Foundation, which purpose is to help rehabilitate gang members. Rest in peace to Jim Brown, an American Icon both on and off the gridiron.
NBA Conference Finals
Western Conference
Nuggets
In Game 2, Jamal Murray scored 23 of his 37 points in the 4th quarter. Bubble boy Murray hit a 3 and gave Mike Breen his own signature “bang.” “He was special. He won us the game”, said Nikola Jokic after he himself scored 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists in the same game. Michael Porter Jr. at one point was on the sideline with a laptop watching the foul called against him, something you don’t see every day. Aaron Gordon has been matched up with LeBron a ton so far and has worn LBJ down so far. Bruce Brown has put up double-digit points in both games 1 and 2 off the bench. KCP in game 1 scored 21 points, when Denver gets 20 or more points out of Caldwell-Pope they are 5-0 this year - regular season and playoffs included. Jeff Green is collecting the veteran minimum and putting in the dirty work, have to respect it.
Lakers
LeBron in the 4th quarter of these playoffs is averaging 4.5 points, shooting 34.6% from the floor and a hideous 5% from behind the arc. He has missed 19 straight 3s in the 4th quarter and that is the longest streak of any player in the past 25 years. After scoring 40 in Game 1, Anthony Davis fell back down to Earth in Game 2 and put up 18. Austin Reaves has shot 10 for 18 from 3 in Western Conference Finals. D’Angelo Russell has gone quiet shooting 37% from the floor and averaging only 9 points against the Nuggets. The Lakers may have found something in Rui Hachimura who is shooting 61% from the floor and 55% from 3, he is about to get paid as a free agent this offseason. Dennis Schroder was seen on TV getting yelled at by LeBron to “pass the ball and run the right plays.” The Lakers could really use another Lonnie Walker IV game.
Prediction: Still Lakers in 6.
Eastern Conference
Celtics
All these guys below are putting up nice stats and all. It’s too bad Grant Williams decided to poke the bear and wake up Playoff Jimmy Butler last night. Now all the Boston sports guys are turning on Williams and questioning if the C’s can make a comeback. Very sad to see!
Heat
In playoff games in ‘23 where Jimmy Butler has scored over 27 or more points, the Miami Heat are 8-0. Jimmy Buckets has been the formula and thus far it’s worked.
Prediction: Celtics in 6. Clearly, they’re the much better team and the refs will start to dictate the series in Boston’s favor because they are the far superior team.
NHL Conference Finals
Eastern Conference
The quadruple OT Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals deserves a bit of a recap. For starters, it was the 6th longest game in NHL history. Matthew Tkachuk scored on Frederik Andersen in the final seconds of that 4th OT period with 12.7 seconds left. Panthers forward, Ryan Lomberg, “We didn’t even know what overtime we were in.” I guess when you’re that lasered in on an intense game of ‘Chel it is easy to lose sight of these things. During the 1st OT, it looked like the Panthers were going to send everybody home in early OT when Lomberg put the puck on net and Andersen was interfered with by Colin White. Carolina won the challenge that overturned the original call on the ice. The longest game in NHL history is still held between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Maroons who played 6 OTs culminating in 116 minutes and 30 seconds of play - that game took place on March 24, 1936, with the Red Wings winning 1-0.
Mid-Series Prediction: Panthers in 5.
Western Conference
The Golden Knights Brett Howden threw one at the net and what do you know it ended OT in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals out in Las Vegas. Howden afterward, “I just tried throwing it in there. I got lucky that it went in. I think Oettinger (Stars Goalie) put it in himself.” Willliam Karlsson also put two in for the Knights, which gives him 7 points in the playoffs and extends his point streak to 3 games. Dallas Stars Center, Roope Hintz, scored once and had 2 assists so he played in part in all of Dallas’ goals last night. These two teams went into overtime in 2 of the 3 games they played in the regular season, the only difference is the outcome in that Dallas won those shootouts.
Mid-Series Prediction: Knights in 7.
PGA Championship ‘23
Leaderboard After Round 2
Scottie Scheffler
Scottie sure does know how to start off Day 2 of the PGA Championship. He shot back to back birdies to kick off his Friday in Rochester. He quickly found himself at the top of the leaderboard and will enter the weekend as the favorite to win the tournament.
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland also birdied holes 1 & 2 on Friday on his way to shoot 3 under par on the day while looking like a creamsicle. When asked about his attire choice, Hovland responded unfazed, “They pay me to do it.” @YouTheReader wait they pay people who look like creamsicles? Where’s my check?!?
Corey Conners
Oh, Canada’s Corey Conners couldn’t have asked for a better shot out the fairway beach. Here is a cool stat from @JustinRayGolf - Jason Dufner entering the ‘13 PGA at Oak Hill had 2 PGA Tour Wins, was ranked 21st in the world, had a Top-10 previous start, and was Top-25 in strokes gained approached and greens hit in regulation. Dufner would win the ‘13 PGA Championship. Conhead from Canada has 2 PGA Tour Wins, is ranked 29th in the world, just had a Top-10 previous start, and is Top-25 in strokes gained approached and greens hit in regulation.
Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson DeChambeau impressively cleared a Par 4 without using a Driver on the 14th Hole. DeChambeau appears to have fixed his swing and is back to hitting bombs. It’s too bad nobody watched this development because nobody watches LIV Golf.
Brooks Koepka
When asked earlier this week how golf could fix the pace of play, Brooks Koepka stated, “I’d start stroking guys,” meaning if they take over a certain time frame, the golfer would be penalized with a shot added to the scorecard. Interesting concept. Koepka and his nemesis Bryson DeChambeau will be paired up in the 3rd to last group to go out on Saturday.
Rory McIlroy
Rory got caught on a hot mic calling himself a bad word. Other than that, McIlroy’s play has been quite quiet. Nothing really too much to report on other than he’s hanging around. After a Round 1 where he struggled to finish off his Back 9, McIlroy’s final 10 holes yesterday were 3 under Par.
Michael Block
Michael Block is a PGA professional, but not one on Tour. Michael Block qualified for the PGA Championship by being one of the 20 lowest scorers in the PGA Professional Championship. PGA professionals work at courses and are an expert in the game of golf. They provide a range of services related to golf instruction, coaching, and promoting the sport. Block is the head pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in California — a public course. He charges $125 for a 45-minute lesson. After the second round, he had lunch and an IPA while watching the rest of the coverage on TV. He is now just the 2nd Professional in the last 20 years to be in the top 20 heading into the weekend through 36 holes at the PGA Championship.
Patrick Cantlay
Patrick Cantlay would for sure be Brooks Koepka’s #1 target for guys he’d stroke. While I’m all about trying to improve the pace of play, my alternative suggestion would be fining the golfers. I should preface this by saying, not that there is anything wrong with stroking guys but hitting their wallet instead of their scorecard should do the trick.
Jon Rahm
The #1 Ranked Golfer in the world was caught on a hot mic saying “Great hole, PGA. Great f***** hole.” Great job by Oak Hill Country Club to truly test the best of the best. Rham barely made the cut for the weekend.
JT Thomas
JT Thomas’ +5 score barely gets him into the weekend mix. JT Thomas will have to have a large moving day if he wants to be in contention. JT Thomas could use some more GIRs like the one GIF’d he had on 12 yesterday.
I had no idea this song had a connection with Adam Sandler and I’m now thrilled to get to do a Critiquing Critics of Mr. Deeds.
Look, I drink Guinness nearly every day and I’ll never claim to be perfect in any way. I also have to be critical of athletes, artists, pop culture, and Guinness - it comes with the territory. To some, I'm sure I can come across as an arsehole, but I’m really just trying my best to build something I enjoy doing while hopefully providing much more good than bad along the way.
Sorry @Dave I’ll start doing some annotating for your song… Where Are You Going is a love song that never mentions love and only alludes to a special someone.
Aww, good for Dave. Anyway, I’m going into the City to drink some pints of Guinness in the rain and maybe Stumble Along to the New York Public Library.