No sport is more egalitarian than golf, with countless practitioners on six continents and an incredibly slim margin of error on a daily basis. That’s why Nelly Korda’s feat of winning six tournaments in her last seven tries is absolutely astonishing. Yes, we saw something like this with Tiger in his prime, which means she is in exalted company.
▪ We have been all wrapped up hereabouts in the NBA and NHL playoffs, maybe even the somewhat perplexing Red Sox, and everything Drake Maye, and thus might be missing the single best sports story of the moment.
It’s been a while since I Emptied Out The Desk Drawer Of My Sports Mind. So …
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▪ And speaking of golf, Xander Schauffele making a birdie on the 72nd hole to win a major by one stroke is golf’s ultimate dramatic moment, one not many have ever experienced.
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This year’s PGA will be remembered for the Scottie Scheffler episode, but the fact is it was a great tournament. You wouldn’t want all courses in majors to play as easy as this one did, but it sure was fun to watch.
▪ With their 64-18 record, this group of Celtics became the 14th in franchise history to win 60 games or more. The first was the 1961-62 squad, which took advantage of an expanded NBA schedule to become the league’s first 60-win team at 60-20.
It probably will come as no shock that the Lakers are next on the list with 11 60-win seasons. The entire rest of the NBA has only 54 60-win seasons, and the Nuggets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Nets, Pelicans, and Raptors have combined for zero.
▪ Now that Major League Baseball, like the rest of the sports world, has married itself to gambling, I am reversing my long-held stance and now say there no longer is a reason to keep Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame. Baseball has forfeited the moral high ground in this matter. And if he needs someone to pick him up at the airport, my hand is raised.
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▪ What jumps out at me with the annual NFL schedule is that in the quest to serve the interests of television viewers in Fargo, Ashtabula, Chula Vista, and assorted other American communities, the people whose needs and desires are never addressed are the actual ticket buyers and their families. Night games are logistical nightmares for most people.
▪ I always laugh at these post-draft stories in which someone ranks the “winners” and “losers.” Really? Shouldn’t the success of a certain 199th player chosen in a draft remind everyone that there are always going to be colossal flops and amazing surprises?
When it comes to drafts in all sports, it’s wise to recall what Samuel Johnson said about second marriages. They are, he said, “the triumph of hope over experience.” Ditto, all sports drafts.
▪ Hail the pitch clock. Now if they’d only do away with that ludicrous “ghost runner,” or whatever you want to call it.
▪ Gotta love the backcourt Canada will present to the world in the upcoming Olympics. Say hello to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario, and Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ontario. They’ll match up with anyone. By the way, Canada is long overdue to medal.
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▪ It’s going to be very interesting to see how baseball Hall of Fame voters evaluate pitchers as the years go by. We’ve seen the last of the 300-win possibility, given that 41-year-old Justin Verlander (259), 39-year-old Max Scherzer (214), and 36-year-old Clayton Kershaw (210) are the current win leaders. After that, the dropoff to 33-year-old Gerrit Cole (145) is frightening. Two hundred will definitely be the new 300.
Yes, I know that wins are now downgraded, but still. There was a certain romanticism attached to the big numbers.
▪ Don’t get me started on the chaos engulfing big-time college football and basketball. As I’ve long pointed out, we are the only country in which institutions of higher learning provide significant entertainment for the masses (Canada? Very low-key compared with us). But we always pretended the priority was Education. Ha! I’d love to know how many of these transfer portal people ever see a classroom in their new port of call.
It’s important to identify the true villains here. It’s not the coaches. It’s not the athletic directors. And it’s certainly not the, ahem, “student-athletes.” It’s the school presidents who have been seduced by the dollar sign. None of this insane conference realignment, or any other examples of the new nonsense, takes place without their approval.
▪ Bet you never thought of Terre Haute, Ind., as a vacation destination. The new Larry Bird Museum opens May 30 in downtown Terre Haute. There you go.
Bob Ryan can be reached at robert.ryan@globe.com.
Thoughts on some great golf, the NFL schedule, and other topics in the sports world
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