Mike Trout was able to come through on Monday for one of his biggest fans.
In 2019, Trout was shut down by the Angels in September due to a foot injury. Fan Jason Pedigo, who is from Wichita, Kansas, says he took his son to a September game in Anaheim, but Trout didn’t play and was shut down for the year the next day.
That was a real bummer for Pedigo and his son. But Trout made it up to them on Monday.
Pedigo informed Trout over Twitter that he and his son would be in the first row in center field at Kauffman Stadium for the Angels’ game against the Royals.
Trout threw them a ball during the game. After the game, Trout was seen giving Pedigo’s son his batting gloves — ones the slugger used while homering during the game.
That’s so cool. Hopefully it makes it up to the Pedigos for not playing in the 2019 game they attended.
The San Francisco 49ers have moved up to the No. 3 spot in the NFL Draft. Their big trade with Miami indicates they feel strongly about a player — one who they believe is a franchise quarterback.
The 49ers have not tipped their pick, but there are numerous reports indicating they will take former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones. One former scout thinks that would be an “arrogant” pick.
“I think it would be one of the most arrogant picks in NFL history,” John Middlekauff said in an interview with “The Colin Cowherd Podcast.”
“Every single year, there are Mac Joneses in the second and third round.”
Middlekauff obviously does not think too highly of Jones, at least not as a No. 3 overall pick.
Keep in mind that there is no guarantee that the 49ers pick Jones. We are pretty certain San Francisco will take a quarterback. But the 49ers will likely have their choice of Jones, Trey Lance and Justin Fields. All the discussion about a pick being “arrogant” may be moot. But we know of at least one draft analyst who would be a big fan of the Jones pick.
Joe Johnson starred for many years with the Brooklyn Nets. Now he could end up with one of the Nets’ biggest conference rivals.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported on Tuesday that the seven-time All-Star has a workout scheduled later this week with the Milwaukee Bucks. The team currently has one open roster spot to fill.
The 39-year-old Johnson has not played in the NBA since 2018. He recently starred in Ice Cube’s BIG3 league and became the first player to get an NBA contract after playing in the BIG3. Johnson received the contract from the Detroit Pistons in 2019 but was waived before the season began.
Milwaukee would be an intriguing destination for Johnson. He used to be teammates with Bucks center Brook Lopez in Brooklyn, with Bucks forward PJ Tucker in Houston, and with Bucks guard Jeff Teague in Atlanta.
The Bucks have also previously had interest in Iso Joe, who could offer them scoring punch off the bench at best and quality playoff experience at worst.
If the NBA regular season ended today, the Dallas Mavericks would first have to win a play-in tournament before clinching a postseason spot. Something about that does not sit right with Mavs star Luka Doncic.
After Dallas lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, Doncic aired some of his grievances about the NBA having a play-in tournament this season.
“I don’t understand the idea of the play-in,” Doncic said, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “You play 72 games to get in the playoffs, then maybe you lose two in a row and you’re out of the playoffs. I don’t see the point of that.”
On Tuesday, Mavs owner Mark Cuban backed up Doncic’s opinion about the play-in tournament.
“I get why the NBA is doing it,” Cuban told ESPN. “But if we are going to be creative because of COVID, we should go straight up 1-20 and let the bottom 4 play in. This is the year particularly to do it since the 10 games cut [from the normal 82-game schedule] were in conference.
“The worst part of this approach is it doubles the stress of the compressed schedule,” Cuban went on. “Rather than playing for a playoff spot and being able to rest players as the standings become clearer, teams have to approach every game as a playoff game to either get into or stay in the top 6 since the consequences, as Luka said, are enormous. So players are playing more games and more minutes in fewer days.”
The NBA first debuted the play-in tournament last season in response to the unprecedented circumstances created by the COVID-19 season stoppage and subsequent resumption in the Orlando, Fla. bubble. The format last year saw the eighth and ninth seeds in the Western Conference play in a double-elimination tournament. There was no play-in for the Eastern Conference because no team finished within four games back of the eighth seed.
This year, the play-in tournament format is slightly different. The seventh through tenth-seeded teams in each conference will automatically go to tournament play to determine who gets the final two playoff spots.
The Mavs are currently the No. 7 seed in the West and cannot make the playoffs outright from that spot as they did last season. There is still some disruption with having a 72-game season as opposed to the regular 82. But Doncic and Cuban do have a point in that a play-in tournament makes less sense than it did last season and puts an unnecessary strain on the players. Meanwhile, the top six seeds in each conference will get an extra week of rest before the postseason from not having to go to the play-in.
The NBA does like having the play-in to generate more excitement. But the concept clearly is not popular with everyone this season.
The New England Patriots will likely select a quarterback at some point during this year’s NFL Draft, and many believe it will be in the first round. At least one analyst is predicting they will make a big splash at the position by doing something Bill Belichick almost never does.
In his latest mock draft, ESPN’s Mel Kiper has the Patriots selecting former Ohio State star Justin Fields with the 10th overall pick. New England currently has the 15th pick, so moving up to No. 10 would involve a trade with the Dallas Cowboys. Kiper explained his rationale during Tuesday’s edition of “Get Up!”
“When you’re in a division with Josh Allen and Tua (Tagovailoa) and Zach Wilson, you have to go get somebody like Justin Fields, who I think is the second-best quarterback in this draft. … We know the top three are locked in, then it becomes Trey Lance or Justin Fields for the fourth spot,” Kiper said. “If it is Trey Lance, and that’s the consensus I hear when I made calls over the weekend, then Justin Fields is available.”
Kiper said New England would then become “front and center” in the Fields discussion. Washington and the Chicago Bears are two other teams that could look to trade up, but they are scheduled to pick after the Patriots at the moment.
If you look at the draft board as it currently stands, the Denver Broncos at No. 9 are the only team between the Patriots and the fourth overall pick that would consider drafting a QB. That means it is legitimately possible that New England will have a shot at either Lance or Fields, assuming first three QBs taken are Trevor Lawrence, Wilson and Mac Jones. Either way, Belichick has some paths to a top-four or top-five QB if he chooses to take them.
The Patriots still reportedly have their eye on a trade for one veteran quarterback, but addressing the position in the draft may be their best option.
The NFL recently informed teams that they are clear to begin the first phase of their voluntary workout programs on April 19, but many players and teams are not planning to train at their respective facilities.
In statements released through the NFL Players Association, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks players announced on Tuesday that they will not take part in the start of voluntary workouts next week. They cited the COVID-19 pandemic and said they will not report for in-person activities “without adequate protocols in place.”
It should be noted that the Broncos have already had players working out at their team facility this offseason. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports that 22 Broncos players have worked out at the team facility since last season ended, which is second only to the Dallas Cowboys and their 25 players.
The NFLPA has been urging players to only take part in virtual workouts for the time being. NFLPA president JC Tretter said the latest proposal from the NFL called for the first two weeks of offseason workouts to be virtual before switching to in-person. The union wants everything prior to training camp — including mandatory minicamp — to be virtual.
Not having in-person workouts is a huge issue for team development. Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians recently shared why veteran players might prefer virtual workouts, and the reasons go beyond fearing for their safety. Rob Gronkowski basically tried to cheat his way through virtual workouts last year, though it obviously didn’t hurt the Bucs in the long run.
Bryson DeChambeau has such a monstrous drive that tournament organizers now have to make custom changes to accommodate him. Unfortunately, DeChambeau will not be playing in the RBC Heritage this week after event officials did just that.
Unconfirmed reports on Twitter have claimed the RBC Heritage paid for two cranes to hold up a higher net at the driving range at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head specifically for DeChambeau. The 8th green is located behind the range, so there was apparently concern that DeChambeau would pose a danger to golfers.
DeChambeau is by far the longest hitter on the PGA Tour, but it’s possible the net was put in place for other golfers as well. He’s not the only person in the field who can demolish a golf ball. Plus, DeChambeau is no longer in the field.
After his rough weekend at the Masters, DeChambeau decided to withdraw from the RBC Heritage. No reason was given, but perhaps he needs time to recover after he was ruthlessly trolled on Twitter. If the net comes down now, we’ll know it was there just for Bryson.
H/T Barstool Sports
Kevin Durant called out Shannon Sharpe on Monday for lying about him on TV, and the former NFL star does not want to hear anymore about it — at least on social media.
During Monday’s edition of “The Undisputed” on FS1, Sharpe mistakenly attributed a quote to Durant. The quote supposedly had Durant saying if he beat LeBron James in the NBA Finals, and James is considered the “GOAT,” what does that make KD?
The problem is Sharpe was alluding to a fake quote. Durant ripped Sharpe for it by calling him a “drunk uncle” in a tweet on Monday, and he kept chirping at Sharpe on Tuesday morning in an attempt to get him to respond.
Sharpe eventually responded and said he’s happy to talk to Durant but refuses to go back and forth with him on social media. K.D. didn’t accept that and said he has no problem hashing things out publicly since Sharpe used his TV platform to attribute a fake quote to Durant.
“We can talk in front of everybody, it ain’t that serious Shannon, u go on tv in front of everybody pushing fake s— but now u wanna talk in private??? Why u lying on tv Shannon???” Durant responded (edited by LBS for profanity).
Eventually, Sharpe blocked Durant.
Durant has a reputation for being thin-skinned, and deservedly so. He has been known to defend himself against trolls using fake Twitter accounts, but you can’t blame him for being annoyed this time. It’s convenient for Sharpe to use a fake quote to publicly bash K.D. and then run and hide. Even if Sharpe stands by his narrative, he should acknowledge that he was duped.
The Arizona Cardinals lost a top running back this offseason when Kenyan Drake signed with the Las Vegas Raiders, but they have found a viable replacement.
James Conner has agreed to a deal with the Cardinals, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reports.
Conner looked like he was going to become the Pittsburgh Steelers’ workhorse back when Le’Veon Bell left, but he never really lived up to that hype. Injuries played a role in that, as he has missed a total of 12 games over the past three seasons.
Despite never having a 1,000-yard season, Conner has averaged 4.3 yards per carry during his four-year career and made the Pro Bowl in 2018. He should have a manageable workload in Arizona with Chase Edmunds also rotating in, which could benefit him.
Conner, 25, has scored 26 total touchdowns in his career. There were some questions last season about whether he would opt out due to his history with cancer, but he chose to play. He could prove to be a value pickup for the Cardinals if he can stay on the field.
Photo: Erik Drost/Flickr via cc by SA-2.0
The Denver Nuggets’ chances of making a deep postseason run took a huge hit on Tuesday, as Jamal Murray will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Murray has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his left knee, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Murray limped off the court during Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors late in the fourth quarter. There was initially some optimism that the injury might not be serious after he refused a wheelchair, but unfortunately an MRI has confirmed the bad news. You can see a video of the play here.
The Nuggets entered Tuesday with a record of 34-20 and in fourth place in the Western Conference. Murray has averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. He had been dealing with right knee soreness prior to Monday, which led him to miss the previous four games.
