I’m not much of a golf fan. I do admire the skill required to play at a high level. As a spectator sport, given a choice between watching a golf game and watching grass grow, I'll set up a lawn chair in my front yard. I’m however very much aware of the Tiger Woods saga which recently added another chapter.
 
Until the other day, recently Tiger was a new and improved human being since his extramarital sex scandal from hell, a better father and on his way back from back surgery. That all changed  when Woods was found asleep in his damaged Mercedes at 3am, with his brake lights on, his right blinker flashing, his bumpers banged up, and his two driver-side tires flat. He could have accidentally killed himself. He could have accidentally killed a perfectly innocent motorist or pedestrian who happened to be on the wrong street at the wrong time.
 
Instead of the four more majors’ wins he needed to tie Jack Nicklaus at 18, he has had four back surgeries instead. Now he is arrested on suspicion of DUI at 3am. Now what was the face of golf and the smiling face of American sports for more than a decade after he won the Masters at 21 in 1997, is the face the world saw in the mug shot.
 
Nothing good happens for Tiger Woods after three in the morning, certainly not in his car. As it turned out he wasn’t drinking at all. He blew a 0.00 on his breath test. It was a combination of prescription drugs. Drugs he took to dull the pain from his recent back surgery 4 months ago. Now comes this arrest.
 
There have been other falls for other great athletes, for all sorts of reasons. The one Woods takes with the cops doesn’t make him a drunk, druggie or bum or irredeemable, doesn’t mean he can’t come back again if his back ever heals, but it is a sad story for the man who was  golf's most recognizable personality . I wish him well and golf fans wish he would come back and win a major just one more time. 

​Not three hours after  NHL commissioner Gary Bettman sat at a table in PPG Paints Arena, praising the efficacy of the coach’s challenge rule for offside calls while skirting around the issue that makes people hate it in the first place, Game 1 of the Stanly Cup turned on that exact rule. It was the sporting equivalent of stepping on a rake and hitting yourself in the face.
 
Predators defenseman P.K. Subban seemed to score the first goal of the series at 7:31 of the first period, until he didn’t. Teammate Filip Forsberg’s skate was in the air above the ice beyond the blue line before he controlled the puck. It may have been. It probably was — though, throughout the four-minute video replay, nothing looked definitive. The blue line camera had been, apparently, replaced by one that came off an old Motorola Razr cell phone.
 
No goal. The ruling was the ruling. Debate it if you want. The bigger issue is that the rule is the rule  and it’s a very stupid one, just like the balk rule in baseball. When you come across a stupid rule — one with loopholes or unintended consequences — you change it. It should be that simple for the NHL, but for whatever reason, it isn’t. The biggest reason: The league likes that a player’s skate can be offside when it isn’t on the ice, say what!?  Just like it’s ok for a runner to attempt to steal a base and the pitcher better not deceive him.
 
So, instead, it was Pittsburgh going up 1-0 at 15:32 of the first period on a power play. Talk about a momentum swing. Next thing I know, it’s 3-0. It almost appeared the Pens stopped playing after the 3 goal lead, but give Nashville's defense credit for shutting down the Pens for over 37 plus minutes with no shots on net. How does a team with Crosby ,Malkin, Kessel not get a shot in 37 minutes?? 
 
In the end, Pittsburg gets the 5-3 win, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Matt Murray earned the win in goal with 22 saves. And it all started on a stupid rule.

​Our Darling Diva is at it again. Odell Beckham Jr. has found time this offseason to attend the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game, follow the singer Drake around, attend the Coachella Music Festival, get a Michael Jackson tattoo and sign the richest shoe deal in NFL history. And, add catching some passes from Johnny Manziel to the list. All of this, yet he had no time to attend the Giant’s OTAs Monday or Tuesday.
 
Whether you care about any of this has everything to do with whether or not you believe the Giant’s are a contender. Shoot, we would probably all skip a couple of voluntary workouts to negotiate the final touches of a shoe deal that could put $48 million in our pockets over an eight-year period. Beckham’s offseason, though, brings into question whether or not he truly took to heart to GM Jerry Reese’s message at the end of last season that it was time for Beckham to grow up. Hey Gerry… He didn't.
 
Perhaps, though, catching passes from Manziel  who partied his way out of the NFL  instead of Manning isn’t the best way to show that you heard what the general manager said. For championship-driven players, OTAs are not voluntary, regardless of what the Collective Bargaining Agreement says. And when you are the most noteworthy player on the New York Giants, your absence will surely be noted.

Beckham knows this, and he knows he once again has drawn attention to himself. Hey, Look at me!

This latest transgression is the latest in a long line of transgressions for the receiver currently devoid of a championship. You see Beckham isn’t a famous person who happens to play football. Actually, Beckham is a football player who became famous for everything but football, minus one catch against the Cowboys.

 Beckham knows exactly what he’s doing. He craves attention regardless if it’s positive or negative. Had he made that catch in the playoff game vs the Packers, maybe I wouldn’t be writing this blog about his no show.  But he didn’t. He’s a member of team that has championship aspirations. He should show his commitment, he has not.

Because he is the most talented receiver in the NFL, some will blindly defend him, I will not. Grow up Odell.

Aaron Judge’s game-saving catch on Sunday shows just how complete of a player the young Yankees star is. The only thing missing was the cape.
 
Is it me or do the NBA playoffs suck!?
 
The Brazilian Mint has to fix at least 130 medals handed out at last summer’s Games because of either rust or black spots. Some of the affected medals are from the Paralympics, and most of the more than 130 tarnished medals are bronze. Add that to the list of embarrassments coming out of the Brazil Olympics, even nine months later. They never did get it right.
 
There is no bad team in the NBA, including the Knicks that LeBron James doesn’t turn into a playoff team just by walking into the gym.
 
The Blue Jays are at it again. Last week Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar was suspended two games by his club for using a homophobic slur toward Braves pitcher Jason Motte. If that wasn’t enough, Jose Bautista…his  team down 8-3 in the eighth, hits a home run pauses and flips his bat (again). The Braves took some exception, as Jace Peterson voiced his displeasure as he rounded first base, and catcher Kurt Suzuki also had a few words for Bautista when he reached the plate. Needless to say, tensions rose and the players converged, but ultimately it didn’t develop into anything more than tempers flaring. Josh Donalson must have been disappointed that he missed another proud Blue Jay moment. 
About halfway through the Yankees-Royals FS1 game last Thursday night, I actually started to wonder if Alex Rodriguez was aware that we could all hear him.
 
How cool is it that the Predators are going to their first ever Stanly Cup final. 

​Coming into the 2017 season, the big question mark for the Yankees was the starting pitching… the 2 thru 5 starters. As it turns out the biggest question mark is their #1 starter Masahiro Tanaka who may be the biggest question mark of them all. In 3 1/3 innings he gave up 9 hits and 6 earned runs, including 2 home runs on Saturday’s loss to the Tampa Rays. In 9 starts Tanaka has given up 35 earned runs, along with 13 home runs, an ERA approaching 7.Two consecutive terrible starts…something’s wrong.
 
After the Derek Jeter game, a lot was made of Tanaka making some mechanical adjustments, including moving to the third-base side of the rubber. That just meant he had a different view of baseballs zooming out of the ballpark. The Rays batters were just teeing off on him, line-drive after line-drive.
 
The Yankees have lost 7 of 11, (if it wasn’t for CC’s last two outings, you could say) their starting pitching is collapsing, and Tanaka can’t get outs. In his outing against the Rays on Opening Day, Tanaka didn’t last three innings and gave up seven runs. In his past three outings against the Rays, Tanaka has surrendered nine home runs over 11 ²/₃ innings. They are clearly concerned about Tanaka, the staff ace, who has not been the same since he bested Boston’s Chris Sale in a three-hit, complete-game shutout at Fenway Park on April 27.
 
Good offense is being wasted by some really bad pitching as the Glass Slipper is beginning to fall off the Yankees. If anything good is going to happen to this team they need Tanaka to be its strongest pitcher. That hasn’t happened so far in 2017. And given the rest of the Yankee rotation, if Tanaka doesn’t get back to his regular levels, the charm of an unexpected playoff season may not last too long.  Either this team goes and gets a true #1 and another top to above average pitcher or they will not be a factor in October. It's gonna take giving up some prospects but that's the decision that needs to be made. Stand firm and keep working the process building towards a championship like 2 years from now or dive in a go for it now.

​The Mets lost another game in the desert last night, dropping their second straight series and their second straight game to the Diamondbacks, 5-4. Tommy Milone started for the Mets, and was about what you’d expect, giving up 5 runs in five and 2/3 innings, including Yasmany Tomas’s (who?) fifth straight game with a home run against the Mets. The game also included an errant throw during a run-down to home from Lucas Duda, a memory that many Mets fans had repressed since the 2015 World Series. Yes, it was ugly.
 
Lucas Duda has been a dud since returning from his elbow injury and is batting .218. Jose Reyes is at .186. Curtis Granderson is hitting .148. Jay Bruce has stopped hitting and again played a single in to more as he struggles defensively. The Mets look old in their style of base-to-base play, especially when they are matched up against the aggressive Diamondbacks, who are hitting .266 compared to the Mets’ .239. They can’t hit and they can’t pitch.
 
Now back to the cold facts. The Mets (16-22) haven’t won on this road trip, and struggling Matt Harvey is scheduled to face Arizona in today’s series finale. That’s the same Matt Harvey who was dumped by his girlfriend, went out and got drunk, played golf the next morning (with a hangover) and didn’t bother to show up for his teams game later that day. Then apologizes after being suspended and lasts just five innings, surrendering five runs in a 7-4 loss to the Brewers in his next start. BTW…The Mets have managed to pull off the daily double of pitching disgrace. Both their starters and relievers have a collective ERA over 5.00.
 
The 2017 MLB season is now six weeks old, and while most teams still have 120-something games to play, the season is not that young anymore The Mets who play in a weak division if you exclude the Nationals, are in 2nd place, but 10 games behind Washington.  Can they get healthy, pitch better, and hit consistently? They better, because this 2017 version stinks, and  isn't  part of the plan.

Maybe the Cubs aren’t the best team the Yankees have played this season. We’d probably go with the Orioles. But they are the defending world champions, and that technically makes them the gold standard of early-season tests, especially at Wrigley Field.
 
So what are we to make of Joe Girardi’s crew sweeping the series during a windy North Side weekend in which the first-pitch temperature never touched 50 degrees?
 
Tossing aside the small sample-size disclaimer, the Yankees beat the Cubs in every way imaginable, capped by Sunday-night-into-Monday-morning’s crazy, seemingly endless 5-4 victory that required 18 innings to complete. Then on little rest, beat the Reds. I know its early (I’ve said that before) but the 21-9 Yankees are the real deal!
 
Who knew the Yankees could be this hot-blooded? They’re the polar opposite of last year’s unwatchable team that vaporized down the stretch. This summer was supposed to be the pivot toward 2018, but the rebuild has accelerated beyond anyone’s expectations. Suddenly, the Yankees are squaring up against the history-making Cubs in the best series of the young season: world champs against a “retooling” team full of inexperienced youth. Looking back at the weekend, the Cubs weren’t even a speed bump for the Bombers. Where’s the broom?
 
Little by little, one statement game after another, the Yankees are changing the narrative. What started as a crazy long shot is now being taken seriously. Just ask the World Series champions, the Orioles, and the Red Sox, all teams they have taken a series from. All teams who are supposed to be the elite in MLB. Yes, friends, the Yankees are for real.
 
I could go up and down the list of the accomplishments, offensively and pitching wise, but no need to, just tune in to MLB, FOX or even ESPN and the numbers are there to see. Proof that   the Yankees are red-lining at optimal performance levels, with a number of players going above and beyond the back of their bubblegum cards.  Judge, Castro, Headly, Romine, Toreyes, Gardner, Ellsbury, Severino, Gregorius, Warren, Hicks etc…
 
So far, this team is relentlessly successful. On this the 9th day of May, I still won’t proclaim they will be in the Fall Classic, but if this continues, then a playoff berth is believable, and who knows, maybe more.
 
 

The Dark Night went even darker on Saturday, when he never showed up at Citi Field for a game against the Marlins.  As a result, the Mets suspended the 28-year-old right-hander without pay for three days for violating club rules.   That violation was a "miscommunication" on Harvey's part, who was absent from the ballpark due to a migraine. Another headache for the Met’s organization.
 
The Dark Knight's suspension typifies the club's season to date: one filled with unfortunate injuries, controversial front-office decisions, questionable acts from the team's PR department and mistaken diagnosis from the training and medicals staffs. This goes along with the newest laughable incident…the sex toy that was spotted when the Mets tweeted out a picture of T.J. Rivera on Friday night with Kevin Plawecki's locker in the background The New York Mets are no longer a baseball team, they’re a soap opera.

The first of several controversial incidents to befall the team in the season's first month came when Cespedes, by far the team's most important position player, left a game on April 20 with what the Mets called hamstring cramps. He made a quick return on April 26, only to re-injure that same hamstring a day later. He hasn't played since.

Then there's the predicament regarding Noah Syndergaard. You all know the story by now: The right-hander, arguably the game's best pitcher, was first scratched from a start on April 27 - the same day Cespedes limped off the field with his second hamstring problem - with "a tired arm." It was later diagnosed as biceps tendinitis, which led to the Mets urging their star pitcher to undergo an MRI as a precaution. He refused, saying he knew his body best, and the Mets begrudgingly obliged, with general manager Sandy Alderson saying he couldn't force his ace into the tube. Makes you wonder who’s in charge in Queens.

The Mets, 14-15, still have a legitimate shot to reach the postseason. Sure, maybe they’re not going to catch the runaway Washington Nationals (21-9) in the weak NL East, but if the Mets can ever become healthy, they certainly have the talent to capture a wild-card spot.

I think there is more to this story than we know and in the coming hours or days, we may find out why Harvey was scorned in the way he was by the Met organization. 
​
Right now, though, these are dark times, the Mets need a hero now more than ever. Too bad, for now, the Dark Knight can't help guide them on the path to righteousness.

​I am not a huge fan of ESPN. I watch because they have all the big games. I hate that when I turn on sports center that they show a 20 second clip followed by a score and then spend 8-10 minutes with a panel of 5 dissecting a play or two. I used to watch the show to get scores and see highlights, not see 5 so called experts giving their opinions, similar to Fox News or CNN.
 
Last year during the baseball playoffs I listened in to the Mike and Mike radio show. For the next hour they discussed the NBA. The next day I again tuned in to hear the hour split by NFL and NBA discussion. Baseball wasn’t mentioned once. Hockey is Never mentioned. Then I realized why…the amount of money they overpaid for the rights to those 2 sports because of their focus on the Millennial generation who want entertainment, release from boredom, and “emotional rescue.” The fast pace of the NBA and to a lesser extent the NFL, provide that.
 
It’s yet another play in the millennial mania that is overtaking all manner of businesses, including “The Worldwide Leader” who as reported, has laid off hundreds of employees, including on air personalities. The cuts to ESPN’s baseball operation are probably the most substantial. While ESPN was never particularly invested in hockey or auto racing, it has always covered baseball like a top priority. But with a cascade of layoffs, it appears America’s pastime has been demoted to the back burner. Analysts Raul Ibañez, Dallas Braden and Doug Glanville are gone, and their show, Baseball Tonight, is being reduced to Sundays only. Baseball is not a favorite of the “Me” generation. Given these cuts, who knows if the network will rush to re-up when their baseball deal expires in a few years.
 
Basketball, on the other hand, is as popular as ever. Its audience is young, its stars are marketable and it has an outsized presence in pop culture. And as a result, the NBA seems to be where ESPN is cutting back the least. That young audience loves to see the showboating and look at me stuff going on in the NBA and college basketball (where at least they try and play defense).
 
ESPN fired  a small amount NBA staffers so it could replace them with others. ESPN fired a bunch of MLB staffers so it could cancel their show. The writing is on the wall.
 
ESPN like any other sports network is in business to make money. I get that. It’s business, but it’s a shame that they focus on the generation who has the most money to spend and not the generations who spent money over the years to them to get them to where they are now, and those generations watch baseball. Thank God for the MLB network.

​The Rangers scored the game's first four goals and Henrik Lundqvist had 26 saves as the Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-1, on Tuesday night in game three of three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Madison Square Garden. We know there will be at least a Game 5 and that Game 4 is probably going to be intense, nasty and bring this series to another level. My only question is why did it take 3 games for the Blueshirts to show up.
 
The Yankees rebounded from their first set of back-to-back losses since the first week of the season by hammering the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. The final score was 11-5. Welcome back, offense (16 hits). We missed you the last two days. It was nice to see Bret Gardner continue his hot hitting, along with the “Judge” doing his thing.
 
It's all dumb and ridiculous and embarrassing the way the Red Sox keep throwing at Manny Machado because of the “slide”. Speaking of the Sox who have only hit 17 home runs in 26 games, I think they need David Ortiz the way Kardashians need attention.
 
What is the over-under number — in either games or seasons — before Tom Coughlin is coaching the Jacksonville Jaguars?
 
The way things are going for annoying Lavar Ball, the only sneaker endorsement deal his kid is going to get is from P.F. Flyers.
 
Gary Sanchez went 2-for-4 with a home run in his first at-bat and an RBI double while catching seven innings for Triple-A Scranton on Tuesday. That’s good news because Austin Romine left the game in the seventh inning with what the Yankees called cramping in his groin. If needed, Sanchez could go with the Yankees to Chicago to face the Cubs. This weekend’s must watch series.