Banging away on the keyboard watching Opening Day action from Nationals Park. Everyone's got the same record as we start baseball's long meander into autumn. There are three other sporting enterprises where the standings are almost as tight, despite being significantly deeper into their respective seasons.
In the NBA's Western Conference, the Sacramento Kings just clinched their first playoff berth in 16 years. Denver and Memphis are also locked into the postseason. That's when it gets silly. With six or seven games left to play, depending on the team, the gap between 4th and 12th in the conference is five games. Two and a half games separate the 6th place Golden State Warriors and the 12th place Utah Jazz. The playoffs have already started.
We highlighted the crowded nature of the top of the English League Championship table back in January. One might have expected things to shake out in the two months since. And they did. A little. Burnley's (on 83 points) all but assured promotion, and a couple of teams dropped off the back of the peloton. But 12 teams will still feel like they've got a chance at going up. Sheffield United in second place (70) has hit a bit of a rocky patch, their lead over third place Middlesbrough (67) down to just three points. In 11th, Sunderland and Preston North End both sit on 53 points with eight matches to play, within hailing distance of sixth place (the last spot in the four-team playoff for the final promotion spot) Millwall (60). Chaos, firmly in our sights over the next two months.
One division higher, the stakes are different, but the tension is just as thick. In the Premier League's 30-year history, we've never seen more teams involved in a tighter relegation race as this season. A mere four points separate 12th place Crystal Palace (27) and last-place Southampton (23). It is damn near impossible to predict how this will shake out with 10/11 matches to play. According to Squawka, the three most likely clubs to go down are Southampton (78%), Bournemouth (56%), and Nottingham Forest (49.9%). Notably, that means that the stats favor West Ham to stay up, largely based upon the quality of their players. But the Hammers have been brutal (currently in 18th), and they're still alive in the UEFA Conference League, which means they'll be playing midweek matches and taxing their roster in ways the other relegation-threatened sides aren't.
Another story to watch is the fate of Everton. The Toffees have played 124 seasons in the top flight of English football, more than any other club. They haven't been relegated since 1953, the second-longest such streak, behind Arsenal's 97 season run. If they go down, it'd be a massive story.
Closer to home, our man Whit's Leicester City have scuffled throughout the season. The Foxes find themselves in 17th, just one place and one point above the drop. They have far more talent than their record would suggest, but they've also been stricken with all manner of injuries. Squawka give them an 11% chance to go down, so the odds are in their favor. But it is squeaky bum time for Leicester. And for Lester.
Not to mention fans of a bunch of teams across these three leagues. Buckle in, lads.
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Maybe West Ham's wunderkid manager wasn't the correct choice. Don't spoil it for me - we just started S3 of Lasso last night.
Up the Canaries?
canaries in with a shout
Last day in the islands. Soggy Dollar 2 days ago, followed by karaoke at Foxy’s, Willy T’s yesterday.
Did Anegada for 2 days earlier in the week. Highlight was Caribbean lobsters and painkillers galore with sea turtles swimming around our boat. Lowlight was renting a jeep and getting it stuck bumper deep in the salt flats mud. 15 minutes after we had rented it. Thought my credit card might be on the hook to replace a Jeep. Caught a ride back to the shop and for $400 they yelled at us and gave us a new car. We saw some folks tooling around in our Jeep a few hours later. Dumb tourists.
Wow… Clarence. Not sure how I’m publishing as my old self. Island technology is tough.
The return of the Clarence! Whitney never would have gotten a jeep stuck.
That froadin' misadventure will cost you your Southern man street cred.
True. There weren’t much anyway.
there have probably been games where i rooted harder for a team i don't generally care about, but i'm hard pressed to think of a time when i rooted more for a 'neutral' squad than i'm gonna root for iowa over lsu.
Bummer. Would like to have seen the Hokies take on the Gamecocks in the NCAAW. Guess I’m rooting for Iowa.
I don't usually root for the Hokies, but I sure was last night. That Iowa-USC game was fun.
I love Dawn Staley. First female basketball I ever loved. So I root for SC without exception. Until last night. I was pulling hard for Iowa. There’s no chance in hell I won’t be rooting twice as hard against LSU.
my wife and were at our local last night for our customary friday night out. the tech/lsu game was on in the bar where we sit. crowd was loud into it. and now it looks like the iowa/usc game is gonna wind up the most-watched women's game ever. until tomorrow, i suppose. women's hoops on the come up.
duane simpkins gets the head job at american. loved him as a terp. a new angle for me and teej when we make our annual trip to bender arena.
KQ has Iowa winning her work bracket pool. Needless to say, we were going hard last night.
With the cheering you perverts.
awwww, yeah
https://youtu.be/4dWAayQY1HY
i haven't watched much (any) uconn this year. but if you know me at all, you know that i've fallen in love with andre jackson. my kind of player.
It seemed implausible a month or two ago when I said Leicester City would get relegated. Now… yikes.
Leicester Shitty….am I rite?
So the refs in this game are horrendous! OMDL
Kim Mulkey’s outfits are fabulous and ridiculous!
I saw her play as a college player in Norfolk at Scope. She was a heck of a player. Those were the days of Anne Donovan and Nancy Lieberman.
If Iowa wins now, it’ll be in spite of the refs. Good f-ing Grief!!
drove on the left side of the road for the first time today. the beers i had in advance calmed me down a bit. shit’s weird, tho.
Periodic reminder that NFL brass is so concerned about player safety that they a) expanded the sked to include a 17th game, b) schedule Thursday night games for teams that played previous Sunday, an absurd three days' rest, and now c) they're monkeying with Thursday night 'flexing' of games so that teams could play multiple games on short-week rest.
Not all owners approve, and details may cause your eyes to glaze over, but here goes:
https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/04/03/nfl-thursday-night-football-flex-proposal-business
This game may be over early. Let’s figure some shit out, SDSU.
UConn definitely was team to beat.
So, on different subject and totally not what y'all probably care about, but since you all love Lasso, thought I'd share...ignore as you like, though, because this isn't your usual "dipshittery" (or maybe it is?!) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O6DH5YN-DfHI_NGB9CpD99OfJ7b2EAlHvi_iFSk4lGc/edit
Assuming you can open that, that was Easter sermon last year where I used "Lasso" illustration. I thought of it because I had congregant ask when I was going to use Ted the other day. He missed last year on holiday.
Happy Spring Break y'all!
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