Two new champions, Redick goes Hollywood and baseball shenanigans in the sports moments of the week
The Florida Panthers and Tennessee baseball team won it all in dramatic fashion on Monday. Plus, the USMNT and NC Courage grab big wins on the pitch and more!
Posted — UpdatedThe internet is a big place. Unless you're 100% plugged in all the time (and let's be clear, that is NOT recommended), you're going to miss some stuff.
Let us do that work. You can be a well-adjusted human being and still catch all the best sports moments of the week, with a quick review ...
Championship Monday x2
The Vols' title ended a surprising drought; they are the first No. 1 overall seed to win it all since 1999.
It was also the school's first championship in any sport since 2009 and they needed a pretty spectacular highlight to get them across the finish line.
It turned out to be the winning run for Tennessee, who were up 6-1 lead at the time, but had to hang on for a one-run victory.
Things were just as dramatic on the ice as former Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice finally won it all with the Florida Panthers after 26 years of coaching.
It was pandemonium in Sunrise, Florida as the final seconds ticked down toward the Panthers' first championship in their 30-year history ... but there were a couple things that ever-so-slightly dampened the mood.
McDavid is just the sixth player ever to win the Conn Smythe on a team that did not win the cup and the first non-goalie to do it since 1976.
When you really dig into the numbers, and take a moment to think about what this award is, it really shouldn't be a surprise that McDavid got this award.
He broke Wayne Gretzky's all-time record with 34 assists in these playoffs, and delivered back-to-back four point games in Game 4 and 5 (also an NHL record -- nobody's ever done that).
Is it awkward? Yes.
But deserved? Also yes.
I don't know where McDavid is going to keep that trophy... did he even take it home, I wonder?
JJ Redick hired as Lakers head coach
Former Duke star JJ Redick is back in the spotlight.
Redick certainly carried himself with a lot more swagger and sarcasm than you'd expect from a first-time coach stepping into one of the biggest jobs in the sport.
We're still four months away from his first game on the bench!
Redick has always been someone who elicits strong emotions on the basketball court. He was a big-time villain at Duke and, even though he's obviously very smart, that carried over a bit into his ESPN career.
Redick is a great basketball mind, but he can come off as condescending at times. Mix that with the Lakers and LeBron James media hype train, and we're likely going to get some fireworks.
Side note: Speaking of the NBA, did you know the draft is Wednesday night? Like, this Wednesday! Am I crazy, or did it really sneak up on us this year?
Courage finally back in the win column
After a strong start to the year, it's been a struggle for the North Carolina Courage recently.
The squad entered Sunday having lost five of their last seven games, with just one win and one draw.
At long last, they found a breakthrough at home, scoring a 3-1 win at home on Pride Night against the Chicago Red Stars.
With just two games left until the seven-week Olympic break, the Courage are still in playoff position as the No. 6 seed.
This Saturday's game against the Washington Spirit (who are unbeaten in their last six) will be one to watch as North Carolina tries to build some momentum and confidence with their young squad.
USMNT blanks Bolivia to open Copa America
The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team is already hard at work going for some pre-Olympic hardware.
Team USA is hosting this year's Copa America tournament, and opened with a bang Sunday against Bolivia.
It wasn't the sharpest performance, especially in the 2nd half as Team USA missed a couple of great chances, but as Brazil taught us on Monday night (they drew 0-0 with Costa Rica), you can never take a win for granted.
Especially on the international stage.
Next up is another should-be win against Panama on Thursday in Atlanta.
Then on Monday, it will be a showdown with Uruguay in Kansas City that will likely decide the group winner.
Clark vs. Reese III: Angel's revenge
Lakers legend Magic Johnson is notoriously bad at social media, but his latest post could prove to be spot on:
Obviously, there's a long way to go before Clark/Reese can live up to the Bird/Magic rivalry, but the foundation is certainly there.
Sunday was the third time that Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese met on the WNBA stage and, just like the other two times, it was appointment viewing.
Angel Reese simply refused to let that happen.
Just like you can't manufacture this kind of rivalry.
The Sky and Fever have had their three games decided by a combined 10 points this year, and every single one has produced a storyline that entered the mainstream.
I wasn't around when Johnson and Bird were rookies, but I do know that national interest in the two of them elevated the NBA to a new level of popularity that it had never seen before.
Sure feels like that's what's happening with these two rookies in the WNBA.
Magic got this one right.
Major League silliness
With so many games in each baseball season, there's lots of chances to see something strange and we had several this week. Some good, some bad and some ugly.
We start with the good on Monday night, as the Philadelphia Phillies turned a triple play in their win over Detroit.
(Special shoutout to Tigers infielder Zach McKinstry for making this happen because he had no idea what was going on.)
Now to the bad, which gave us a historic moment late Saturday night.
It was close, but Nats closer Kyle Finnegan did take too long before a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.
It's not like he hadn't been warned.
Finally, the ugly. And for the Chicago White Sox, that's been happening a lot this season.
The Sox are worst in the majors with a 21-59 record because they simply cannot get out of their own way.
Our latest example comes from Friday's game against the Tigers.
Down by one, with a man on in the bottom of the ninth , Andrew Benintendi hit a fly out to left-center field.
The Tigers threw it back to the infield for a game-ending 8-6-3 double play.
It's going to be a long summer on the South Side.
We'll see you next week.
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