Sunday, April 29, 2012

04/29 (Sunday) Quickie

That Derrick Rose injury is awful -- for him, for Bulls fans, for all fans. I worry about a complete, back-to-the-way-he-was recovery, but I am 100% rooting for it (as everyone is... apparently, except that Nike shoe designer who tweeted out a mocking message to Rose about wearing adidas).

This Kevin Durant game-winning floater to lead the Thunder over the Mavs in Game 1 defines "shooter's touch."

It's hard to tell whether the Heat are great or the Knicks just that over-matched. Let's table that until the Heat get past the Celtics or Bulls (even without Rose).

Bryce Harper's debut: Wow. The laser double? The equally laser throw from the outfield? The heady sac fly? His innate unfazedness about the whole thing? Say this for his being groomed for the Majors since you were 11 or 12 -- at 19, he looks entirely comfortable there.

(The best part was the fan behind home plate who mooned the camera just as Harper was slapping his first MLB hit -- TV producers need to relax and just show it. It's just a tusch, not full-frontal.)

Meanwhile: Matt Kemp. Whew. 11 HRs in April... with a day or two left.

NFL Draft: My favorite pick of the final day was the Pats (of course) taking Ohio State's Nate Ebner, a walk-on special-teams player who was on exactly zero NFL draftnik radars. (Anything that makes the draftniks look silly -- and when Belichick drafts someone they've never heard of, they look silly -- is fine with me, and you get the sense Belichick did it, in part, to tweak the so-called draft "experts.")

Lamest pick of the draft: How could the Redskins pull off making the draft's best pick -- RG3 -- and its worst one, too? The Redskins using a 4th-round pick to take Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins. How dumb was this? Let's count the ways: (1) They already drafted RG3 in the 1st; (2) it causes unnecessary "controversy" distractions; (3) they are so loaded everywhere else they can't find talent they wanted more than an extraneous rookie QB? For all those who mocked the Jaguars for taking a punter in the 3rd round or the Patriots for taking a 6th-round Illinois safety in the 2nd round, this is arguably worse.

NHL: After the exhausting series against the Bruins, you could kind of see the Caps getting drummed out of Game 1 vs. the Rangers coming -- the thing is far from over, but it was an end to the "one-goal-away" momentum that the Caps had held throughout the first round, even in losses.

Congrats to Chandler Harnish, who joins the exclusive fraternity of "Mr. Irrelevant."

Great Sunday read: The New York Times profile of Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. It's awkward timing with the Rose injury, but Thibs' brilliance will be even more on display as Chicago tries to navigate the rest of the playoffs without Rose.

On the radar today: Flyers-Devils, Lakers-Nuggets, Bryce Harper's at-bats.

-- D.S.

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