A note involving the Golden State Warriors’ back to back titles in 2017 and 2018, is that the father and son Mychal and Klay Thompson played on repeat NBA champions, 30 years apart.
Mychal did so with the ’87 and ’88 Lakers, by the way the first repeat NBA champions in 19 years.
Klay and his Warriors are the sixth team to win at least two straight crowns since the ’88 Lakers.
They are the fourth father and son players to each win NBA crowns (Matt Goukas Sr. and Matt Goukas, Rick and Brent Barry, Bill and Luke Walton, the others).
Interesting round numbers as Goukas Sr. was on the first recognized NBA champions, the 1947 Philadelphia Warriors with son Matt on the great Philadelphia 76ers title team, 20 years later in 1967.
All but the Waltons, had at least one member of the father/son title duo as a member of the Warriors. Rick Barry having led the Warriors to the 1975 title.
Two today, one from “column” WNBA dogs do “bark” outright and one from “column” esoteric, winter sports first letters, also “columns” a and b.
In the WNBA yesterday, a Las Vegas team, the Aces won outright at the New York Liberty, paying off at 5.25 to 1. The Aces moved to the Las Vegas area this season after incarnations in Utah and more recently San Antonio. Their coach Bill Laimbeer won vs the team he coached for 5 seasons yesterday.
The Washington Mystics were also a huge underdog and paid off at 4.50 to 1, winning outright at the now (7-2) Connecticut Sun.
That parlay, certainly not mine, paid nearly 35 to 1!
This year marked just the second time that the first letter of the city/area of the NHL champion matched that of the first letter of the NBA champion’s team nickname. (“W”ashington/”W”arriors).
The only other time that occurred was in 1961, when the “C”hicago Blackhawks won the NHL crown and the “C”eltics of Boston won their third straight title and fourth in 5 seasons.
Rudy guided Chicago to the ’61 title, dispatching the great 5 time champion, Montreal Canadiens in the semis and then “6 ing” the Detroit Red Wings in the Final Series.
At the time the team spelling was Black Hawks since changed to Blackhawks.
Of course, all things being equal, it is better to finish first and avoid the one game/10 to 8 teams, that is played in each league.
However, those purporting any race for avoiding that game as great, are perpetuating the very ruination of the great game of baseball, the wild card presence.
I will not waste time bemoaning the wild card, nor recalling 1951 and 1978, two great examples of races with no wild card safety net that produced unbelievable, ecstatic and heartbreaking drama.
Right now the Yankees, who somehow have played 6 less games than the Red Sox (I guess the weather “gods” do not like this either), lead them by 3 games in the loss column.
In turn, Boston has a 9 game loss column lead for playoffs qualification.
Also, need I cite the fact that last season, the Red Sox won the one eighth division, but lost in the division round to eventual champion, Houston.
Meanwhile, the wild card Yankees made the next round, before losing in 7 games to those Astros.
Carroll “Whitey” Lockman, pictured above, delivered a huge hit in the decisive game of the 1951 National League race.
Of course Bobby Thomson followed with the decisive hit, we would not be recalling anywhere near as dramatically if the losing team in that game/race, the Brooklyn Dodgers made post-season play as a wild card team.
Last night, some nice memories and coincidences manifested, as I watched television shows and movies of past years.
The seminal show, “All in the Family” had 4 major guest appearances, two by actors alive in their 90’s, in the episode “Archie sees a mugging.”
One, Bill Macy, appeared in the episode, a role preceding that of “Walter” on “Maude.”
“Maude,” “Edith Bunker’s” cousin, (Edith of course played brilliantly by Jean Stapleton), later a series also developed by another in his 90’s, the great Norman Lear, is referenced in the episode. Bea Arthur played the role of “Maude.”
Also appearing and in his 90’s is Val Bisoglio.
Later, switching channels, there he was lamenting how little a dollar buys, playing “Tony Manero’s” father in “Saturday Night Fever,” which of course starred John Travolta as “Tony Manero.”
In future posts, I will have more comments and coincidences.
Val Bisoglio, pictured above.
There were many signs that the Washington Capitals were going to win the NHL crown this just completed season, all along the forty years since the Bullets title, CAPPED by it being the same date these forty years later.
Most significant and relevant to today’s sports is the Caps played the part of the mid 90’s Detroit Red Wings, who twice failed to end a long title drought with the best regular season record, (’95 and ’96) only to win it, without the top mark, in 1997.
The title in 1997 ended a 42 year Wings’ title drought and Detroit won it again without the top record in 1998.
The Caps in their 41st and 42nd completed seasons (1975-2017, with no NHL season in 2005), failed to even reach the semis, despite having the best record in the regular season.
Now they win it all in their 43rd season (43 and 42 are close) a la the “Vogues”/Red Wings, without the best regular season record.
There will be more notes on the Capitals’ title in the days and weeks ahead.
The Capitals clinched all four playoff series, en route to the title on the road.
Justify, ridden by 52 year old Mike Smith and trained by Bob Baffert, led “wire to wire” to win not only the Belmont Stakes, but also the racing Triple Crown.
It is the second time in 4 possibilities, there has been a Triple Crown winner as American Pharoah, also trained by Bob Baffert, won it in 2015. “Pharoah” also was a “wire to wire” winner in the Belmont Stakes.
Justify is just the second unbeaten horse, upon winning the Triple Crown, joining Seattle Slew in 1977. (Seattle Slew in ’77, the SuperSonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the final, but lost to the Washington Bullets in #7 on June 7,1978 and then beat the Bullets to title, winning the last 4 in ’79).
Baffert joins the legendary “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons, as a trainer with two Triple Crown victories (Fitzsimmons, who had a 78 year career in racing, won it with Gallant Fox in 1930 and its/his colt, Omaha in 1935).
Pictured left to right above, two of the greatest, trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith.
For the second straight season and third time in four seasons and that many NBA final clashes, the Golden State Warriors have defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This time it was 4 straight “G.S.” wins after a 6 game triumph in ’15 and a 5 game win last season. Cleveland, strongly aided by the suspension of Dray Green, won the city’s first sports crown in 51 and a half years (memo to Michael Wilbon that is NOT nearly 60, but you said it was) in 7 games in ’16.
Last night’s game 4 win, exactly 39 years and one week after Seattle “titled” winning 4 straight, but games (2-5) vs a Washington team and a night after the other “Wash” winter sports team, the Capitals, “titled” winning games (2-5), was a devastating (108-85) rout.
In it, Steph Curry hit for 37 points, but for a second straight season, this time certainly with a strong case for Curry winning it, the great Kevin Durant was named Series MVP.
The Warriors are the first NBA franchise to sweep the NBA Final series twice. They have never been swept in a final and are (24-5), in their six victorious final series. By contrast the Bulls were (24-11), however, more telling with a perfect (6-0) mark. The Warriors are (6-4), (4-3) on the West coast, in NBA final series.
Cleveland was swept for the second time, the Lakers once in Minneapolis and twice in L.A. were swept thrice. The difference is that the Lakers have 16 titles and Cleveland has one.
Mr. Durant and his epic 43 point performance in game 3 is an excellent choice.
Steph Curry pictured above, with big games 2 and 4, also made the most important G.S. play of the final, a driving, 3 point play that put the Warriors up by one point late in “reg” of an eventual overtime win in game 3. He also would have been an excellent MVP choice.
Forty years after the Bullets won the only other Washington D.C. area winter sports title on June 7, 1978, the Washington Capitals, in their 43rd season, won their first NHL title/Stanley Cup, winning (4-3) at Las Vegas, to take the series 4 games to 1, vs the first year Golden Knights.
Lars Eller, who also scored in the second overtime of game 3 at Columbus after the Caps had lost the first two games of their prelim vs the Blue Jackets, scored with seven plus minutes remaining and the Caps held on to win the title.
Jakub Vrana and Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Alex Ovechkin, the latter incredibly emotional after winning the crown in the 14th season of his superb career, gave “Wash” (1-0) and (2-1) leads, they could not hold and Las Vegas led (3-2) entering the third period.
However, Devante Smith-Pelly scored at 9:52 of the third period to tie the game, before Eller’s Stanley Cup winning goal.
The last time before this year, both NBA semi-final series went 7 games was in “same calendar” 1979.
That year both the NHL and NBA final series ended in 5 games, with the winning team (Montreal, which won an incredible 15th title in 24 seasons, and the Seattle SuperSonics vs Washington (Bullets), winning 4 straight games after losing the opening game.
Now a Washington team wins 4 straight after losing the opener, this vs an incredible first year team, Las Vegas that shocked by making the NHL final and nearly cost its town’s sports books “mucho dinero,” by winning it all.
The “Caps (series) Wrap” took place on the road in all 4 series and they trailed the series at one point in all four (only the 1991 Penguins had trailed in all 4 series and won it all, before the Caps did so).
Speaking of the Penguins, let’s cite their greatness with 5 crowns, all 5 in years they eliminated the Capitals.
Yet now the Capitals have a title and they defeated Pittsburgh (now they are (2-9) vs the Pens in the ‘offs), en route to their most special, first Stanley Cup victory.
A first title for the Capitals with their goalie, Braden Holtby and their coach Barry Trotz.
The great player, Kevin Durant scored 43 points leading the Golden State Warriors (bet vs, from minus 5 to minus 3 plus) to a (110-102) win at Cleveland (Cavaliers) in game 3 to take a commanding (3-0) NBA final series lead.
It is the second straight season “G.S.” has taken a (3-0) final series lead and the fourth time in Warriors’ history (they also did so as the Philadelphia Warriors in the first final in 1947 and in their upset sweep of the Washington Bullets in 1975).
Only in 1975, did they complete a 4 game sweep, winning the crown in 5 last year and in 1947.
Andre Iguodala returned to the Warriors’ lineup and made some big plays down the stretch for the Warriors, who will seek their third crown in four seasons Friday night in Cleveland.
Kevin Durant, pictured above won 4 NBA scoring titles, but nary a title with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Last year, he joined previous Warriors players, Neil Johnston, Paul Arizin, Joe Fulks and Rick Barry (all 4 won their scoring titles with the Warriors) as a Warriors’ title winner in a season without winning the scoring title, to coincide with season(s) in which there was no title, as the league scoring leader.
Only Joe Fulks, in that referenced above first season, won a scoring title and a team title with the Warriors.
I am not sure why the superb film, “The Third Man,” was relegated to an afternoon time slot on TCM, but it was a pleasure and much needed pick me up to view it.
The Third Man was brilliantly directed by Carol Reed.
There was a great cast that included Orson Welles, Trevor Howard and Joseph Cotten, plus a compelling, mysterious story, making “The Third Man” among the greatest films ever made.
Andy B Sports 