See things others don’t!

I really thought that the Thunder were going to take care of business in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Everything was going according to plan when Oklahoma City jumped out to a 10-2, but after those first four minutes, the Indiana Pacers dominated the game like they have not dominated before in these NBA Finals. Pascal Siakam and company led by three at the end of the first quarter and then outscored OKC by 19 in the second. At halftime I was hoping for a Thunder comeback so I could mock Tyrese Haliburton with the choke sign, but OKC never got close and Mark Daigneault pulled his starters at the start of the fourth quarter with the deficit at 30. The Pacers went on to win 108-91.

The Thunder ended up shooting 8-for-30 from beyond the arc, but most of the makes were from bench guys in the final period. I think OKC only made a single three-point shot while the game was competitive while Indiana got long-range accuracy from Obi Toppin (4-for-7) and Andrew Nimrod (3-for-5). Those guys combined for 37 points on the night and were Indiana top two scorers. That goes to show you how deep of a team the Pacers are and also what an overrated bum Haliburton is. He was probably the fifth-best player on his own team in Game 6. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Indiana would be better off having Haliburton back up T.J. McConnell and not the other way around. McConnell was at it again on Thursday night with 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals in just 24 minutes. He is more than just a pest; he is a difference-maker.

The Thunder has to get its act together in Game 7 and win at home like it did in Game 2 and Game 5. I can’t deal with watching the Pacers win an NBA title after beating the Knicks because of the luckiest shot in league history. I’m having a hard enough time watching the Mets play worse and worse every night while blowing their five-game lead in the National League East in a week’s time.

Thursday night was another horror show in Atlanta with the Mets unable to do anything on offense after the third inning and Clay Holmes losing the strike zone in the fourth and the fifth. Holmes walked Matt Olson to begin the fourth inning and saw him score after singles by Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies. In the fifth Holmes started with a walk of Ronald Acuna Jr. and later walked Olson again to load the bases before walking Drake Baldwin to force in the go-ahead run. Huascar Brazoban relieved Holmes, but he was no better. Brazoban walked Albies to give Atlanta a 3-1 lead and then allowed Olson to hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth to blow the game open. The Braves won 7-1 to sweep the Mets and hand them a sixth straight loss.

Bases clear courtesy of Matty O!

🌟 https://t.co/tF2BPq04Q9 🌟 pic.twitter.com/eQFQQDFdQW

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 20, 2025

The Mets’ offense has been putrid lately with zero or one runs scored in three of the last four games, but it’s also disturbing how their pitching has fallen off since the injuries to Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill. Holmes, Griffin Canning, and Paul Blackburn have disappointed lately, and now the Mets have called up Blade Tidwell to make a spot start in the crucial series opener at Philadelphia. In Tidwell’s lone major league appearance, he allowed six runs in three and two-thirds innings at St. Louis on May 4. Zack Wheeler is on the hill for the Phillies, so they are pretty big favorites with the division lead on the line. Wheeler has been excellent as usual lately with six innings pitched and one earned run allowed in each of his last two starts.

GOOOAAAL FOR THE @USMNT! 🇺🇸

Chris Richards scores off the set piece! 👏 pic.twitter.com/tvQbB6DBkq

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 20, 2025

The USMNT may be playing against inferior competition, but at least it has won two straight matches and punched a ticket to the Gold Cup quarterfinals. Chris Richards broke through in the 63rd minute last night against Saudi Arabia on a brilliant feed from Sebastian Berhalter and the Yanks won 1-0. Over at ESPN, Ryan O’Hanlon wrote an interesting story about why the USMNT is such a mess right now. It has a lot to do with many of the players having full-time soccer jobs overseas and playing in dozens of matches each year before even considering the national team.

There’s a vision of a unified American soccer model… The players add up to something greater than the sum of the parts, and everything makes sense every time they take the field.

This will never happen. How do I know this? Because it hasn’t happened anywhere else. You can’t achieve this when all of your players are spending 75% of their time doing the same job for someone else. Although the situation arose by accident, the current constraints on the international game force it into dysfunction.

O’Hanlon writes about how in the past the national team matches were the most important events for all of the players because they weren’t playing in the Champions League or other important club tournaments. Now that the US has a bunch of talent in Europe, many players have to balance their priorities, and there is not much continuity on the roster. The hope is that all of the best American players come together and form a somewhat cohesive unit at the World Cup next year.

The Mets face the Braves tonight in the final game of a three-game series in Atlanta. New York is looking to avoid a sweep after blowing a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning of the opener and getting completely shut down by Chris Sale last night. Even if the Mets win tonight, they will be on very little sleep for the series opener in Philadelphia on Friday night because the plane probably won’t even take off until close to midnight. Why don’t the Mets get an afternoon start on getaway day?! The June Swoon continues getting worse.

The Mets will have Clay Holmes on the bump against Spencer Strider tonight. After striking out 281 batters during his sophomore season of 2023, Strider missed almost all of 2024 to a surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. Plus, he has already spent two stint on the injured list this season. Strider hasn’t looked much like a dominant strikeout pitcher this season, but he was more like his old self during his last start against the Rockies. In that one, he pitched six shutout innings with 13 strikeouts and one walk. No doubt Braves fans will be talking themselves into the old Strider being back, in which case he could destroy the Mets like Sale did.

Holmes has been as steady as they come for the Mets. He hasn’t dominated the opposition, but he keeps the Mets in every game. During his last start, he held the Rays to one run in five innings, but then Carlos Mendoza took him out of the game with just 79 pitches thrown because he was apparently tired from pitching in the thin Denver air six days prior. That’s right, not only did Mendoza take out a guy early who had grown accustomed to throwing more than 90 pitches with regularity, but he did so while that pitcher was on FIVE DAYS OF REST. Because of one start in Denver. It’s unbelievable how soft the Mets are. Anyway, of course Paul Blackburn and Max Krannick combined to blow the Mets’ 5-1 lead as soon as Holmes was removed. That was the loss that started this five-game skid.

Series finale. #LGM pic.twitter.com/WI6wTbubBB

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 19, 2025

Francisco Alvarez is back in the lineup after Luis Torrens had a horrible game last night. Ronny Mauricio is still in there hitting below the Mendoza line at third base because of Brett Baty’s injured groin that the Mets still don’t know what to do with. The good news is that Starling Marte has been useful lately with seven hits in his last four games. This lineup goes six deep, but those last three are totally feeble.

We also have the NBA Finals possibly concluding tonight with the Thunder holding a 3-2 series lead over the Pacers. Indiana finally looks like it has met its match after suffering consecutive defeats for the first time in these Playoffs. Plus, Tyrese Haliburton made zero field goals in Game 5. It will be interesting to see how the Pacers respond at home.

Plus, the United States is taking on Saudi Arabia in Gold Cup action. The Yanks are heavily favored after they crushed Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 to end a four-game losing streak. I need the US to keep winning so that the World Cup next year isn’t totally depressing.

How about those Florida Panthers? They crushed the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to claim the Cup for the second straight year. They’re the first back-to-back champs since the Tampa Bay Lightning won in 2020 and 2021. Okay, that wasn’t so long ago, but the more important stat is that a Canadian team hasn’t held the Cup since 1993. Shoutout to my Rangers for starting the streak of American victories by defeating the Canucks in the 1994 Final. I don’t feel so bad about losing the 4 Nations Face-Off anymore.

THE MOMENT THE @FLAPANTHERS BECAME BACK-TO-BACK #STANLEYCUP CHAMPIONS! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oYlia49VYJ

— NHL (@NHL) June 18, 2025

Sam Reinhart scored four goals in the clinching game (with the last two coming with an empty net) and Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t allow a goal until the championship was in hand with five minutes to play. Still, it was Sam Bennett who won the Conn Smythe Trophy with 15 goals and seven assists in the Playoffs.

The Panthers’ victory opens up two big story lines for next season. First, can Florida become the first NHL three-peat since the Oilers dynasty in the 1980s? And second, will Connor McDavid ever win the Stanley Cup? McDavid is the best player in the game today, but after falling short of immortality for the second year in a row, every hockey fan will be focused on his quest for glory going forward.

On the diamond, the Mets and Yankees continued to struggle. The Yankees finally broke a ridiculous 30-inning scoreless streak when Jazz Chisholm homered off of Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the second inning. The Bombers even took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Cody Bellinger hit a solo shot of his own. However, an inexplicable error by Anthony Volpe in the eighth turned an inning-ending double play into a game-winning RBI for Jo Adell.

ok so we have the lead 😅 pic.twitter.com/7Dg8Y5I73I

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) June 19, 2025

The Mets also played boneheaded defense in their 5-0 loss at Atlanta. One night after Francisco Alvarez cost the Mets a chance to escape the 10th inning when he threw to the wrong base with Luke Williams stuck in a pickle, New York’s other catcher Luis Torrens fielded a foul ball with his mask (that’s illegal) to score one run for Atlanta and set up another to score on Marcell Ozuna’s sac fly. The only silver lining is that the Mets didn’t cross the plate for the second time in three games, so Torrens’ error didn’t matter very much.

I don’t think anyone is cursing their defense more than Arkansas fans, though. The Hogs led 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth thanks to Justin Thomas Jr.’s two-RBI single in the top of the frame. LSU put two runners on in their half before Steven Milam hit a hard ground ball to shortstop. It looked like Wehiwa Aloy had a chance to start a game-ending double play, but he chose to get the force out at third instead even though the tying run was coming from first base. The next batter Luis Hernandez hit a line drive to left field that Charles Davalan was in position to catch before he slipped and fell, allowing both runners to score. To cap it off, the walk-off single hit by Jared Jones  bounced off the glove of Cam Kozeal, the Arkansas second baseman who grew up in Omaha dreaming of playing in the College World Series. Pour one out for the Razorbacks because that is a heartbreaking way to lose a ballgame.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! 😱#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @LSUbaseball pic.twitter.com/BFKdJ08FkM

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 19, 2025

LSU’s comeback win means it is headed to the CWS championship series vs. Coastal Carolina while Arkansas is eliminated. The Chanticleers punched their ticket with an 11-3 stomping of Louisville on Wednesday afternoon.

Oh boy, what a great day it is to not be a fan of the Indiana Pacers. Not only did they lose 120-109 at Oklahoma City to suffer consecutive defeats for the first time in these NBA Playoffs, but Tyrese Haliburton proved the haters right by missing all six of his field goal attempts! Is this the same guy with the chip on his shoulder who was proving everyone who said he was overrated wrong? There’s no way that guy would have more fouls plus turnovers (six) than points (four) in a pivotal NBA Finals game. What a treat this is.

Meanwhile, the real MVP of the Pacers Pascal Siakam scored 28 points with five assists and three steals to try to keep his team in the game. Indiana trailed for almost the entire game, but it got within two points of Oklahoma City when Siakam hit a three-point shot with 8:30 to go in the fourth quarter. The Thunder weren’t rattled, though. Jalen Williams hit a three of his own and then Andrew Nimrod threw the ball away to get Cason Wallace a breakaway dunk. Suddenly, Oklahoma City was back up by seven and it would not be  one-possession game again. Williams had himself a night with 40 points on 14-for-25 shooting while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to settle for 31 points and 10 assists. Just like in Game 1, the Thunder forced over 20 turnovers, but this time they didn’t let Indiana of the hook. With one more win, Oklahoma City will claim its first NBA title since the franchise moved from Seattle.

All 19 Ks from Wood. Unreal. #MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @RazorbackBSB pic.twitter.com/hOukHeayWi

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 16, 2025

There was also big news at the College World Series as Murray State’s Cinderella story came to an end. The poor Racers were no-hit by Arkansas pitcher Gage Wood, who might have had a perfect game if he didn’t hit a batter with a pitch to start the eighth inning. Wood not only threw the first no-hitter at the CWS since 1960, but he may have had one of the best games ever for a pitcher in a big spot. He struck out 19 batters with no walks while going the distance on 119 pitches. Thank goodness no-hitters still mean something to someone. If this was a big league game, Wood would have been pulled due to a high pitch count while he still had a chance at perfection. The Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory means they’ll face UCLA tonight in another elimination game. The winner of that one will have to defeat LSU twice in a row to get to the championship series.

You know who didn’t throw a no-hitter on Monday? Shohei Ohtani, who pitched in an MLB game for the first time since 2023. He allowed a run on two singles and a sac fly, but then he stepped in the batter’s box and racked up a couple of RBI hits to lead the Dodgers to a 6-3 win over San Diego.

Released today! The all-new 2025 MLB All-Star Game caps and jerseys, separate designs revealed for both the game itself and the Home Run Derby 🌟⚾🧢

Pics, details, and more in my post here: https://t.co/HKl48czClp pic.twitter.com/jzikRsYCEn

— SportsLogos.Net (@sportslogosnet) June 16, 2025

Also in baseball, MLB unveiled the All-Star uniforms and we are finally returning to the players wearing home white and road greys during the Midsummer Classic. There are still special All-Star Game jerseys, but they will be worn during the Home Run Derby instead of the main event. The bad news is that Seattle and Tampa Bay don’t have grey road uniforms, so their players are going to stand out a lot. Even when Rob Manfred gets something right, it’s not totally right.

https://t.co/au4xbTyT0u pic.twitter.com/UMFqpYl05B

— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) June 16, 2025

Finally, Joey Chestnut has decided to stop being a veggie dog wuss and return to the National’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest this year. What a win for America.

It’s not often that trades between sports teams catch us completely off guard. Usually there are weeks of rumors ahead of the deal because we know that a player is on the trade block or just know that it makes sense for a losing team to trade away its star player who has just a few months left on his contract. That trend might be reversing, though. Not only did we get blindsided by the insane Luka Doncic trade over the winter, but on Sunday the Red Sox shocked the baseball world by trading Rafael Devers to the Giants.

Full trade: The San Francisco Giants are acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox for Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs and Jose Bello, according to sources familiar with the deal.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) June 15, 2025

It had been known that Devers and the Red Sox weren’t on great terms after the team asked him to move to designated hitter upon acquiring Alex Bregman. After the season started, Boston had to ask Devers to change positions again since its regular first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury. Devers never ended up playing first base for Boston, but no one thought the team would go so far as to trade him away. The Red Sox might have been disappointing compared to preseason expectations, but they were still in the thick of a Postseason race and Devers was hitting .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI. The star slugger was also in the second year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract. Surely this little argument about what position to play was just a bump in the road.

Nope. Boston sent Devers to San Francisco on Sunday night. The Giants will take care of the entire contract and send southpaw starter Kyle Harrison to Boston along with flamethrowing swingman Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and Rookie League pitcher Jose Bello. Harrison has a lot of potential, but in 24 starts last year he had a 4.56 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, so he’s far from a finished product. Hicks has been in the majors for six years now, and he’s always been intriguing because he throws harder than almost anyone, but he still doesn’t prevent runs at a high level. I like Tibbs a lot because he was just drafted last season and is already showing a promising strikeout-to-walk ratio in the minors to go with 12 home runs this season. Bello is only 20 years old, but he has 28 strikeouts and just three walks in 18 innings pitched this year.

It’s an underwhelming prospect package, but the Red Sox were clearly eager to get out of the Devers business. They did not want to be stuck with a player for nine years who they clearly saw as being selfish. This is a guy that the Red Sox were building their franchise around, so if he wasn’t going to be a good leader, it was time to get out, no matter where the team was in the standings. The Giants are a big winner if they can get along with their new star player. With Matt Chapman recently going in the injured list, San Francisco was trying to keep pace with the Dodgers while relying on Willy Adames and his .624 OPS in the middle of the lineup. Devers will provide a huge boost to the offense.

Earlier in the day, the Memphis Grizzlies agreed to send Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four first-round draft picks, and a first-round picks swap. The internet’s first reaction seemed to be, “The Magic gave up HOW many first-round picks for Desmond Bane?!” I was thinking that as well, but it’s pretty comparable to what the Knicks gave up for Mikal Bridges, and Bane was better last year than Bridges was in his final year with Brooklyn. He’s not a household name, but Bane is an efficient scorer who can do a little bit of everything. He averaged 19 points, five assists, and six rebounds per game last season while shooting 48 percent from the field, 39 percent from beyond the arc, and 89 percent from the stripe. The Magic were the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA this season, so that skill in particular is a key factor in the Bane acquisition.

Brian Windhorst explains that getting out of KCP’s contract is another benefit for Orlando, while the Grizzlies are looking to push back their window of contention after getting swept by Oklahoma City in the first round of the Playoffs.

"The next question is: What about Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.?"@WindhorstESPN breaks down Desmond Bane being traded to the Magic ✍️ pic.twitter.com/IewXKxwjEj

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 15, 2025

Windhorst suggests that the Bane trade could be the start of a major rebuild in Memphis, but Tim Bontemps believes that the team is still interested in getting extensions done for Jaren Jackson and Ja Morant.

Sources told ESPN that the Grizzlies are not looking to deal either of their two remaining franchise cornerstones. The team has spent the past several months clearing salary cap space to complete a renegotiation and extension of Jackson’s contract this offseason, preventing him from hitting free agency in 2026. The belief is that an extension will get done, sources said. But the Bane trade gives Memphis an avenue to give Jackson even more on that deal and lock him in long term.

Bontemps also says that the Magic sees itself as a major threat to win the East with Jayson Tatum presumably out for the season. Even with Tatum on the court for most of the Eastern Semifinals this year, the conference proved to be more wide open than many people previously thought. It’s not hard to imagine Orlando being next year’s Indiana with Bane joining the young and energetic core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs.

I hate giving up so many picks for a guy who isn’t a superstar, but it’s clear that the Magic already has some young pieces in place and thinks it can challenge for the East title right away. The move definitely makes me worry about my Knicks’ ability to return to the East Finals.

After four grueling days of golf at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, the U.S. Open named a new champion on Sunday evening, and his name is J.J. Spaun. That’s the same guy who had his heart broken at THE PLAYERS Championship earlier this year when he lost to Rory McIlroy in a Monday playoff. It’s also the same guy who had just one PGA TOUR win to his name before Sunday and the same guy who appeared doomed when he made bogey on five of the first six holes to star the final round.

Oakmont demands grit, though, and Spaun proved that he had it after shooting 40 on the front nine. A birdie on the par-five 12th hole sparked a life-changing rally from Spaun that brought him from two strokes over par to one stroke under and made him a major champion. While Spaun rose to the occasion, Sam Burns and Adam Scott melted down on the back nine with Burns making double bogey on the 11th and 15th to go eight strokes over par for the day and four over for the tournament. Scott was a miserable six strokes over on the back nine with just one birdie on the day, tumbling from second place after three rounds to a 12th place finish.

WHAT A PUTT!!!!

J.J. SPAUN WINS THE U.S. OPEN!!!! pic.twitter.com/EWdYQeDAzF

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2025

The struggles of his peers makes Spaun’s finish all the more impressive, and he clinched the title in style with a 65-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole when he only needed par to win. That brilliant shot made him the only man in the U.S. Open field to shoot under par for the tournament. Even the great Scottie Scheffler finished the U.S. Open four strokes over par after shooting an even-par 70 on Sunday.

There weren’t any NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Final games on Sunday night because Adam Silver is incompetent, but there was still plenty of sports action during the day. Arizona was eliminated from the College World Series despite leading Louisville 3-2 after seven innings. The Cardinals blasted their way past Arizona after trailing all day by scoring six runs in the 8th inning.

Louisville LEADS 😤#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @LouisvilleBSB pic.twitter.com/xaLsptXaRn

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 15, 2025

Zion Rose had the critical hit with an opposite-field single with the bases loaded that gave Louisville the lead. It’s safe to say we don’t need to worry about any anti-Zionist sentiment on the Louisville campus these days. In the nightcap, Coastal Carolina jumped out to any early lead like Arizona did, but the Chanticleers held onto it and won 6-2 thanks to a dominant outing from Jacob Morrison. He set down 16 Oregon State batters in a row after he allowed a solo shot to Easton Talt in the third inning. Morrison ended up allowing just five hits and the one run in seven and two-thirds innings.

Just doing his thing#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @CoastalBaseball pic.twitter.com/qIHKbRQlZv

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 16, 2025

Coastal is now in the driver’s seat of one double elimination bracket with a 2-0 record. Action will heat up in the other bracket on Monday with Arkansas trying to eliminate super Cinderella Murray State in the day game before LSU clashes with UCLA at night. In the pro game, both the Mets and Yankees were shut out on Sunday. The Mets were unable to take advantage of seven walks offered by Tampa Bay pitching while the Rays pounded Griffin Canning for six runs in just four and a third frames. The Yankees’ 2-0 loss in Boston featured a great start by Brayan Bello and a third straight three-strikeout game from Aaron Judge. It’s time to start asking if Judge is happy in the Yankees organization. Just like the Mets, the Yankees were coming off a sweep before getting swept this weekend.

It was another boring day for the Club World Cup with Palmeiras and FC Porto playing to a scoreless draw at MetLife Stadium. The other three matches all appeared to be blowouts with Paris Saint-Germain beating Atletico Madrid 4-0 and Bayern Munich clobbering Auckland City 10-0. However, Seattle Sounders just got on the board against Brazilian side Botafogo to make that score 2-1.

Sounders will hope to represent American better than the USMNT, but even that sorry group couldn’t mess up a game against Trinidad and Tobago in the Gold Cup. The Yanks won their opening match 5-0 after four straight losses split between friendlies and Concacaf Nations League. Maybe the easy win will propel the USMNT to a tournament win and it can start building momentum for next year’s World Cup.

For a minute there, it looked like I might have to be a Thunder in Seven guy. The Pacers led Game 4 of the NBA Finals by 10 points late in the third quarter and it looked like we might be subject to more “ACTUALLY, Tyrese Haliburton is underrated” talk. Thankfully, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City on a 12-1 run in the final three minutes that lifted the team to a 111-104 victory despite the Thunder shooting 3-for-16 from beyond the arc. When you win with those shooting numbers, you know you played with grit, gumption, and heart. OKC only had 11 assists on 37 field goals in this game, with zero coming from SGA for the first time this season. That’s another area where the Thunder can improve in Game 5, but they’re unlikely to get more from Alex Caruso, who poured in 20 points and five steals from the bench. On Indiana’s bench, T.J. McConnell was limited to eight points and zero steals after his stronger performance in Game 3 and Bennedict Mathurin scored eight points while missing some key free throws down the stretch. Maybe these games really are decided by the role players. That would be good news for Indiana since Haliburton is not going to outplay SGA very often, but it’s good to know that OKC can get some scoring help beyond its big three playmakers.

So what else happened in the sports world on Friday and Saturday?

The Panthers are one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions. They tried to repeat their bold strategy of going up three goals. It didn’t work in Game 4, but it sure did in Game 5! The big difference was Florida not adding the third goal until early in the third period, when Brad Marchand scored his second of the night by going through Calvin Pickard’s legs on a breakaway that was sparked by Eetu Luostarinen. Edmonton ended up scoring twice before the game ended, but the Panthers kept adding on with a wrist shot from Sam Reinhart and an empty-netter from Luostarinen to win 5-2.

Opening games are done at the College World Series. Coastal Carolina scored three runs in the eighth inning to defeat underdog Arizona 7-4. Also on Friday, Oregon State bounced back from a 9th inning meltdown to walk off Louisville and win 4-3 on Gavin Turley’s RBI double. On Saturday, Kade Anderson pitched seven innings of one-run ball and LSU’s three-run rally in the second inning stood up as the Tigers defeated Arkansas 4-1. Super Cinderella Murray State scored four answered runs after falling behind UCLA 6-0, but the Racers were shut down by Bruins closer Easton Hawk in the 9th.

The Mets lost twice to Tampa Bay. New York was in great shape through five innings on Friday night, but then Carlos Mendoza pulled Clay Holmes from the game even though he had only thrown 79 pitches. Paul Blackburn and Max Krannick combined to allow six runs in the 6th inning and Juan Soto’s game-tying home run bid in the 8th died on the warning track, allowing Tampa Bay to hold on for a 7-5 win. The Rays exploded for another big inning on Saturday evening, this time scoring five times in the 4th off of Tylor Megill. Three of those runs came with two outs following Megill’s botched attempted to field a bunt. The Mets fell behind 6-2 in that frame and only scored two more runs in the ballgame, losing 8-4.

Two international soccer tournaments got underway. Both the FIFA Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup are being played in the United States at the same time. The Club World Cup got off to a very boring start with Messi and Inter Miami playing to a scoreless draw with Egyptian side Al Ahly. There were some pretty gnarly saves in this game, but nobody likes a 0-0 result. The Gold Cup has been a bit more fun so far with Mexico holding a 3-2 edge over the Dominican Republic in the 80th minute.

Just like Thunder in Five before it, Panthers in Five went down in flames on Thursday night with Florida blowing a 3-0 lead and falling to the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in overtime. The good news is that we are now guaranteed at least two more games in this series and just got to see one of the most thrilling games in the history of the Stanley Cup Final. It started with a dominant first period by Florida with Matthew Tkachuk scoring a pair of power play goals and Anton Lundell adding an even-strength score in the final minute when Edmonton turned over the puck behind its own net.

The second period saw three Edmonton goals with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse flipping the puck over Sergei Bobrovsky’s shoulder and Vasily Podkolzin netting the equalizer on a backhand shot that was set up by Nurse’s wraparound try. Just as important as all the scoring, though, was backup goalie Calvin Pickard stonewalling the Panthers and keeping their total at three while the Oilers caught up. Florida stayed aggressive throughout the game, with one of its best chances coming midway through the second period when Lundell intercepted a pass on the forecheck and skated into the slot with no one but Pickard in front of him. Pickard came up with a monumental stop to keep the score 3-1, and Nurse scored the Oilers’ second goal of the night a minute later.

VASILY PODKOLZIN! TIE GAME! 😱 #StanleyCup

THIS. IS. WILD.

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/2uqU8kA6gX

— NHL (@NHL) June 13, 2025

After Edmonton had tied the game, the Panthers controlled the action and looked to be on the way to scoring the game’s seventh goal, but they were denied over and over. Even with Pickard leaving the net wide open thanks to a brilliant pass from Carter Verhaeghe to Tkachuk, defenseman Mattias Ekholm stepped up and acted as a second goalie to keep the go-ahead goal off the board. Instead, it was the Oilers who broke the tie with Jake Walman slamming home a massive slap shot from the right circle after a Florida own-zone turnover caused by Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark.

It was setting up to be a supremely frustrating night for Florida, but after 40 scoreless minutes, it finally broke through when Sam Reinhart scored with just 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Reinhart tried to feed Tkachuk in the slot, but the puck trickled back to him on the left side of the net, where he slid the puck past Pickard’s pad for the cathartic equalizer. Reinhart’s score was the second latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history with the latest coming just days ago when Corey Perry tied Game 2 with just 18 seconds on the clock. This series is going down in the books one or way or the other.

LEON DOES IT AGAIN!!!! 🤩

HIS @ENERGIZER OVERTIME WINNER EVENS THE SERIES AT 2-2! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/ZtXXQzYge3

— NHL (@NHL) June 13, 2025

Just like how Edmonton lost after Perry’s dramatic goal in Game 2, Florida would fall in this one when Leon Draisaitl attempted a one-handed backhand pass to Corey Perry on the edge of the crease. Instead of finding Perry, though, the puck deflected off of Florida’s sliding Niko Mikkola and got by Bobrovksy, who could not close the five hole in time. It was Draisaitl’s fourth overtime winner of these Playoffs and his second of the series. He is mega clutch, but so was Pickard, who made another incredible save minutes earlier when Mikkola fed Sam Bennett for a one-timer from the right circle. Pickard got just enough of the puck with his glove to deflect it off of the crossbar and keep Edmonton alive. That is just torture for Florida fans.

THIS! GAME! 😱🔥 pic.twitter.com/Xc19vXLPHh

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 13, 2025

Just like that, we are set up for an incredible weekend of sports with Oklahoma City trying to even the NBA Finals against Indiana on Friday night before the Stanley Cup Final shifts to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday night. Plus, we’ve got the U.S. Open during the day, and Oakmont is already making fools of all of the players out there.

Rough start for Rory on Friday.

It's an opening double bogey. He's now +6 for the championship. pic.twitter.com/WJWKSrr7Nm

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2025

As a New York Rangers fan, I’m often left feeling like a fool, but on Thursday the franchise did the responsible thing and traded Chris Kreider to Anaheim in order to create some cap space for a veteran squad that missed the Playoffs this season. Kreider has been an amazing player for the Rangers during his 13-year career and he is the team’s all-time leader in postseason goals with 48, but he is also 34 years old and carries a cap hit of $6.5 million for each of the next two seasons. New York didn’t get back much in mediocre prospect Carey Terrance and a pick swap that exchanges the Ducks’ third-rounder for the Rangers’ fourth-rounder this year. This is all about dumping salary and getting younger to speed up the rebuild process. Soooooo exciting.

I may have lost with Florida and lost a franchise player with Kreider, but at least the Mets won. They beat Washington 4-3 to complete a second straight series sweep, but Kodai Senga injured his hamstring and Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz nearly blew a four-run lead in the ninth, so it was pretty maddening as far as wins go. This is why the phrase “I’ll take it” was invented. My day could have been a lot worse had Diaz not recovered in time to get a pair of ground outs after the Nationals put the go-ahead run in scoring position.

I just knew the Pacers were going to make the NBA Finals as painful as possible. I just knew it and I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. Everyone basketball mind I talked to said that the Pacers would not be dominated by Oklahoma City like the sportsbooks expected. Indiana was going to continue to defy the odds, and that is what has happened. I thought this series would be different because of how well the Thunder bounced back from their Game 1 loss, but Indiana took back control in Game 3 with a 116-107 victory despite trailing by four early in the fourth quarter.

Tyrese Haliburton came one rebound short of a triple-double with 22 points and 11 assists, but the real heroes for Indiana were Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell. While Oklahoma City only got 18 points from its entire bench, Mathurin scored 27 himself on 9-for-12 shooting while McConnell was a pest who looked like he wanted this game more than anyone else in the arena. He scored 10 points in just 15 minutes with five assists and five steals. Three times McConnell caught the Thunder napping and turned a typical inbounds play after an Indiana bucket into additional points for the Pacers. Those types of steals should not happen once in a game that means everything, let alone three times.

"It's hard not to root for a guy like that."

Tyrese Haliburton on T.J. McConnell 👏 https://t.co/NO7ZbuZuIG pic.twitter.com/UNcz2d3DNH

— NBA (@NBA) June 12, 2025

Listen to Haliburton talk about how scrappy and gritty McConnell is. This is a guy who should be happy to have a couple of minutes in garbage time, and yet he is having a major impact off the bench.

It’s frustrating enough to watch Indiana continuing to have success after the Knicks came so close to beating them, but what’s also frustrating is how this team is winning. The Pacers didn’t make a big move in the offseason to try and move up in the Eastern Conference pecking order. For the most part, they stuck with their guys from last year’s run to the Conference Finals and hung out in the middle of the standings all season. The front office didn’t panic after a slow start and when the Playoffs rolled around, the Pacers were a cohesive unit on which everyone knew their roles and was willing to sacrifice for the team. That makes me think that the Knicks would have been better off sticking with Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo instead of trading them for the flashy Karl-Anthony Towns. There are not many things more frustrating than thinking you were better off just doing nothing.

Then, after the season the Knicks doubled down on change and fired Tom Thibodeau without having a plan for a new head coach. While the Pacers embraced continuity and toughness following their win over the Knicks in the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Knicks have twice swung for the fences with big moves. The first one just resulted in another heartbreaking loss to Indiana, and it’s hard to imagine the second one landing the Knicks a coach who was better suited to the franchise than Thibodeau.

The only thing to do now if hope that the Knicks come to their senses and hire Mike Malone while rooting for the Thunder to win the Finals in six games. Neither of those things will get the Knicks closer to a championship, but it’s what we have. We also have a Stanley Cup Final game tonight with the Panthers trying to take a 3-1 lead over Edmonton. I have been going pretty hard for Florida in this series, so hopefully it works out better than the basketball has so far.

In other good news, the College World Series starts on Friday and that means one thing: Jell-O Shots!

Not every school can say they made the CWS on their fourth postseason appearance but @RacersBaseball is coming to Omaha! Fun fact: Omaha's CBA team mascot was the Racers so some old heads probably already have gear! #roadtoroccos #cws2025 pic.twitter.com/R83QP4VxhM

— CWS Jello Shot Challenge (@CWSShotBoard) June 10, 2025

Imagine Penn State getting its name written on this board one day? If Murray State can do it, anyone can!

I really thought that the Knicks had a plan when they fired Tom Thibodeau after their loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals. Mike Malone had been let go by the Nuggets in April, and he was someone who knew how to win a championship with a versatile big man. However, in the past few days, it has become apparent that the Knicks have no idea who their next head coach will be. They’ve reportedly been shut down from interviewing a bunch of guys who already hold NBA jobs.

On Wednesday morning, the Mavs firmly rejected the Knicks’ request to speak with Jason Kidd, sources told ESPN.

Kidd joins Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka and Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch as those whose teams have denied permission to interview with New York, sources confirmed.

Since the Knicks brought Thibodeau aboard in 2020, they’ve made the Playoffs in four out of five seasons and won 50 games in each of the last two seasons. This year, the Knicks defeated the defending champion Celtics to reach their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. But Thibodeau wasn’t good enough because of the Knicks’ collapse in Game 1 against the Pacers that featured Aaron Nesmith becoming automatic from three-point range and OG Anunoby fumbling away an open layup that could have put the game away.

I wasn’t totally shocked when the Knicks dismissed Thibodeau because I’ve become desensitized to bizarre NBA firings. It would be nice if the Knicks were different, though. Now instead of just having to tweak a roster that was a couple of games away from a Finals berth, the Knicks must replace a head coach who was a perfect fit for New York with his defense-first mindset and his experience as an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy.

It’s easy to see the Knicks spiraling from here if they don’t hire the right coach, don’t improve their defense, and see themselves passed by Indiana and Detroit in the Eastern Conference pecking order. Maybe the front office will settle on Malone after Jay Wright and Dan Hurley say no.

The good news is that my baseball team is thriving. The Mets just won their fifth straight game and got a complete game shutout from David Peterson. I think that’s just as impressive as a no-hitter these days considering that most of those feature multiple pitchers without one guy having to go the distance. I love to criticize Carlos Mendoza for treating his pitchers with kid gloves, but he did a great job letting Peterson pitch through some trouble in the seventh and eighth innings before having him finish the job in the ninth.

First career complete game shutout for @_David_Peterson! 👏 #LGM pic.twitter.com/Km3ZN3Slid

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 12, 2025

Peterson and the leap he’s taken this year have been very important to the Mets’ surprisingly effective starting rotation. It doesn’t feel so much like a fluke when guys like Kodai Senga and Peterson are delivering strong outings every fifth or sixth day.