Subject: Interesting sports tid-bits:

Date: Thu Sep 24 18:59:57 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Almost wrote about Sayers yesterday, but since earlier discussions of him (mostly by me) herein had been limited, I passed. You are correct.........maybe as good as it gets. My opinion is that in the open field, he has no equals. More than a few of his cuts and jukes were beyond jaw-dropping. As in......."the human body can't move like that".

Date: Sat Oct 3 11:28:18 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Bob Gibson gone at 84 from pancreatic cancer.

Date: Sat Oct 3 12:28:32 2020
User: BuzzClik
Message:
Fifty two years ago yesterday, Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cards took on Detroit's Denny McClain in Game 1 of the World Series. It was a matchup of pitchers with unreal regular season performances. McClain had 31 wins that season, and Gibson had an ERA of 1.12. The Cards won 4-0, and Gibson had 17 strikeouts, a record that stands today.

Date: Sat Oct 3 13:20:03 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Immediately after posting above, my mind went to that Series - one of the great ones, imo. A casual fan wouldn't know that it was Lolich who won 3 WS games instead of McClain. Most serious fans, however, will know how he won that third one, against Gibson, with 2 days rest (back when men were men) - in St. Louis. In game 1 of that Series (52 years ago yesterday, as Buzz notes) he (Lolich) hit the only HR of his entire career. No one has won 3 complete WS games in the same Series since he did it. (Of course because men are no longer men.) I would write more about Lolich, but this is supposed to be about Gibson. A true giant of fireballers and a fearsome competitor. He and Marichal were the main reasons the mound was lowered. No one has come remotely close to that 1.12 in the modern era, Dwight Gooden being the nearest with his 1.53(?) in 1985.

Date: Sat Oct 3 13:23:53 2020
User: Klepp
Message:
What would Kershaw have done a few years back with a mound of that height?

Date: Sat Oct 3 13:33:58 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Well...........or Ryan or the Big Unit?

Date: Sat Oct 3 14:00:22 2020
User: firenze
Message:
Men were men is right. They pitched every four days and completed games. In 1968, there were 20 teams with four starters. Now, there are 30 teams with five starters and rarely a complete game. The dilution of quality talent is noticeable.

Date: Sat Oct 3 14:31:16 2020
User: joeygray
Message:
Can’t blame it all on the men, though. In 1968 you could get a complete game in 90 to 100 pitches. With the juiced ball, the lesser fence distances, and the sabermetrics-driven vast increase in skill at fouling off pitches you can’t hit out instead of just putting them in play, even a good pitcher pretty much has to throw 120 or more pitches for a complete game. And I seen plenty of mediocre pitchers or good pitchers on a bad night get through 70 pitches before they even hit 5 innings.

Date: Sat Oct 3 19:29:25 2020
User: mrbuck
Message:
I've watched a lot of baseball, mostly starting in 1969 and if I had to pick one pitcher to win an important game for me it would be Gibson. He was the most competitive guy I saw on the mound. Max Scherzer is second as far as competitiveness. I'm a Nats fan, I had to add that. mrbuck

Date: Sat Oct 3 20:27:11 2020
User: firenze
Message:
Things batters never did against Gibson: 1. Spend a lot of time digging in their stance. 2. Lean over the plate. 3. Make eye contact.

Date: Mon Oct 5 04:14:17 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
*Completely* by accident/happenstance...........I just came across some more stats about Gibson's 1968 season. So I did some digging and found a more complete dossier on that season. Despite that absurd 1.12 ERA, he lost 9 games that season (winning 22). How, you say? Here are some of the names (men being men) he lost games to: Drysdale. Jenkins, Gaylord Perry (twice, including a no hitter), Sutton, Fyman, Dierker. His ERA in those 9 losses was 2.50. He lost one game in the 10th inning, 1-0 In those 9 losses, the Cardinals managed 12 runs total. Additionally.............of those 22 wins, *13* were shutouts. THIRTEEN. And, good guess..........nobody's done that since, with Jim Palmer's and John Tudor's 10s in 1975 and 1985, respectively, being the best since then. One has to go back to Pete Alexander in 1916 (16) to see a bigger number than that. (Ruth threw 9 that year for the BoSox.) In the Junior Circuit, you have to go back to Jack Coombs in 1910 to equal that 13. Gibson's THIRTEEN is tied for 3rd ALL-TIME in shutouts in a season. (George Bradley in 1876 joins Alexander with 16 as the all-time season leaders.) Want more? Gibson was 32 years old that season. Tudor was 31 in '85, and Carl Hubbell was 30 when he threw 10 in 1933. The only other guy who was older than Gibson when he tossed as many as 10 shutouts in a season was the one and only Cy Young, with 10 - in 1904.

Date: Thu Oct 15 12:23:41 2020
User: BuzzClik
Message:
From the Knock Me Over with a Feather Department: The NFL and SEC football are suffering under growing hits from Covid-19. Among the pro teams: 1) Tennessee Titans just returned from a 16 day absence due to 1/3 of the team testing positive. The New England Patriots should be back in business this weekend after missing last week due to positive tests. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30030523/line-nfl-covid-19-outbreak-how-positive-tests-led-postponed-games 2) The Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons are in intensive Covid -19 protocols, and may miss their game this weekend. https://www.nfl.com/news/falcons-enter-intensive-covid-19-protocol-following-player-s-placement-on-list 3) The list of positive players (20) as reported by The Sporting News is shorter than the total number of players just on the Titans (22) as reported by the team. Oh, the folly of trying to find the truth in the fog of NFL public relations. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/nfl-covid-19-cases-2020-player-list/1571nnsr27yjn1bv9ro3a0hs6e Meanwhile in the SEC (where C doesn't stand for Covid but should): 1) Nick Saban, head coach of Alabama, was in the middle of an interview with an ESPN reporter when his test came back as positive. Saban was immediately sent home, and all players will be tested daily prior to Saturday's game with Georgia (Alabama ranked #2 and Georgia #3), the biggest game of the year thus far. 2) Florida is postponing their game with LSU due to a heapin' helpin' of the Gator Flu. As Scott Van Pelt of ESPN reported: "The Gator football team had a virus outbreak AFTER visiting Texas A&M last Saturday." (emphasis Van Pelt's). For the record, the U of Florida student population has 10X the infection rate of Texas A&M. If anything, the Aggies should be very concerned that the Covid Gators infected their team. We'll know soon enough. 3) The SEC game Vanderbilt vs Missouri has been postponed because Vanderbilt cannot put the minimum 53 scholarship players on the field due to Covid-19 and a few injuries. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30101651/vanderbilt-missouri-first-sec-football-game-postponed-covid-19 Are you ready for some (*hack hack*) fooball (*cough*)?

Date: Thu Oct 15 12:55:45 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Hopping from pretend football to pretend baseball.................. The Dodgers clobbered the Braves last night in Arlington (yeah, I know). Many records were set. And yes, I'll agree that these particular records aren't really eye-popping. Not really. This is copied directly from the SI site, and so the slightly wonky way it reads is their doing, not mine: "First-Inning Runs: The Dodgers scored 11 runs in the first, the most in postseason history in a single inning…The previous record was 10 runs scored in a single frame and last matched by St. Louis in Game 5 of the 2019 NLDS against Atlanta. First-Inning Runs II: Los Angeles hit three home runs and recorded five extra-base hits in the first inning…This was the first time in postseason history a team has hit three home runs in the first inning, and the first time a team hit three in any inning since the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth inning of Game 2 of the 2016 ALDS…This marks just the second time in NLCS history a team hit three home runs in a single frame and the first since the Florida Marlins did so in the 2003 Championship Series against Chicago. First-Inning Runs III: The Dodgers are the only team in postseason history to record three home runs and five extra-base hits in a single inning…The five extra-base hits tied a postseason record for the most in a single inning and were the most since the Milwaukee Brewers had five in the fifth inning of Game 1 of the 2011 NLCS…The New York Mets were the only other team to also record five extra-base hits in a single frame, doing so in the first inning in Game 4 of the 2000 NLCS. First-Inning Runs: Kyle Wright and Grant Dayton combined to allow 11 first-inning runs, the most a team has ever allowed in a single inning in postseason history…The previous record was 10 runs, done just four times and last by the Braves in the first inning of Game 5 of the 2019 NLDS…The Braves are the only team to ever allow 10 runs in the first inning of a playoff game, and the only team to allow 10 runs in inning twice in the postseason.

Link: If one inning is sufficient, then why play 9?

Date: Thu Oct 15 22:16:33 2020
User: Dr.Bombay
Message:
What I remember most about Bob Gibson was betting my grandmother $1.00 on the Yankees over The Cardinals in 1964. I was 100% convinced I’d be winning twenty times my weekly allowance once the Yankees swept the Cardinals. Of course Bob had different notions and my Mom made me pay up - a lesson that has followed me to this day.

Date: Fri Oct 16 08:30:41 2020
User: TitanicTony
Message:
Thanks for posting that; it cheered me up (some), 🙂!!! And, WOW, you lost 20 weeks "salary" on a single bet -- that really is memorable!!!

Date: Fri Oct 16 09:22:22 2020
User: The_Inquisitor
Message:
Seriously? 1964? A nickel a week? 1934, maybe?

Date: Sun Nov 8 12:55:40 2020
User: BuzzClik
Message:
Last week, ESPN's Desmond Howard (Heisman winner and one of the anchors for College Game Day) was tripped up the Covid-19 and was contributing from his home. He was clearly ill and barely able to do his bit. Howard was out again this week, but definitely feeling a bit better. As often happens with the ESPN reporters who contribute from home, Howard was using the bookshelf behind him to give the viewers clues about who he is and what he likes. He had his helmet from his playing days at Michigan, a couple of books by famous modern authors, and some other tidbits. In full view over his left shoulder (camera right) was a brightly colored record album cover with big letters, "Happy Days are Here Again." That's a pretty odd choice of music from the outset, particularly considering that it was from the St. Mary's Academy A Capella Choir. St. Mary's is in Nauvoo, Illinois; Howard is from Cleveland. The rest of the songs on the album are a mix of pop, Broadway, and Ave Maria. I doubt that Howard bought the album for its music. So, I'm guessing this was a message of his mood. On that particularly Saturday, it was a good day to be happy.

Date: Sun Nov 8 17:16:42 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
Notably, the only special team player to win SB MVP. He was great during all that post season, and that SB was his shining moment. Return TDs give such a spark to the game.

Date: Mon Nov 16 11:49:57 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
I can't decide whether this year's Master's was 'pretend' or not. I kinda think yes. Very little pub, no crowds, no azaleas, getting dark so early, etc., etc. But anyway, some noteworthy things happened: Dustin Johnson won his first one, fairly handily, and oh, along the way set new 54- and 72-hole scoring records. Further..........he has now accumulated 11 straight under-par rounds at Augusta, a new record besting Tiger. And.............he only recorded 4 bogeys for the week - a record low number. Speaking of Tiger........................he had a career-worst score of *10* on the difficult par 3 12th hole yesterday. That's pretty noteworthy right there. Then he went on to birdie 5 of the 6 last holes. Cameron Smith, who tied for second with Sungjea Im, recorded all four of his rounds in the 60s yet still lost, the first time that's ever occurred at the Master's. Bernhard Langer (previous 2-time champ), at *63* became the oldest player, by a month over Tommy Aaron, to make the cut at the Master's. That's quite remarkable. All that stuff came after the bizarre hole-in-one during a practice round. I imagine most have seen, or at least heard of it, but I link it below for those who haven't. Alternate view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRBlsD9c8Y0

Link: Jon Rahm's water-skipping Master's ace

Date: Sun Dec 27 17:22:52 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
Live halftime score: Mavericks 77 - Clippers 27. That has never happened before; the record margin for any half was 48 (twice in the 2nd half), one of them in the record 68 point win by Cleveland over Miami on Dec 17th, 1991. The halftime record was 47, set by Golden State a month before that against the Kings. They led 88-41 and won 153-91, T-4th highest beatdown.

Date: Sun Dec 27 17:27:39 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
Also, Alvin Kamara's 6 rushing TDs yesterday certainly deserve mention here, tying Ernie Nevers' record set in 1929! Very few running backs even had 5 in a game.

Date: Sun Dec 27 17:46:00 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
That NBA thing is way crazy. Besides being a record margin, I'm sure it's also a record multiple (well, likely, for some minimum level of scoring). But to me, this is still "pretend" sports. But still....... Hadn't heard about the 153-91 game. Incredible, but still worthy of a "pretend sports" asterisk.

Date: Thu Dec 31 10:29:08 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
This is video game crazy. Every player on the team (who played) gets at least 1 - except their best player (so, 12/13)? Whose streak of 108 consecutive games of scoring at least 10 is ended? And they hit almost 57% of them, becoming ".....first team in NBA history to attempt 50 or more 3-point shots and to have made more than 50% of those attempts." I wonder what the previous record on that (attempts) is. Has some team hit 40 3-pointers at a higher-then-50% clip?

Link: record 3-pt. barrage

Date: Thu Dec 31 11:31:43 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
Sure, TN. Linked below is my answer on Quora which was updated several times during the past two years. If anyone likes it I'd appreciate an upvote. BTW, Antetokounmpo did hit a three in this game, but not THAT Antetokounmpo, but his older brother Thanasis, who was previously 0/11 from deep in his NBA career.

Link: 3-points % records, team

Date: Thu Dec 31 14:05:24 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Thanks. Did not know about his brother. And despite trying moderately hard, I can't find the answer on that page. Not saying it's not there - just that there's so many sub-questions.

Date: Thu Dec 31 14:26:43 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
I cannot understand why viewing this link as a guest gives 1 answer out of 2, omitting mine. It's quite upsetting, as part of the idea of writing these answers is people finding them on searches. Anyway, here's my answer with a direct link.

Link: 3-points % records, team

Date: Thu Dec 31 16:28:20 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Thanks - even moreso. Jokic a triple double in 14:33?!? Wowser! I'm pretty sure I've never done that! Your record-keeping is amazing.

Date: Thu Dec 31 16:42:51 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
Thank you. I also have a couple about triple doubles, if you're interested.

Date: Thu Dec 31 17:02:06 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Ummmm........OK. Just don't use my real name. LOL.

Date: Thu Dec 31 17:37:30 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
That's more specific about that Jokic TD: https://www.quora.com/Did-someone-in-the-NBA-already-achieve-a-triple-double-in-the-first-quarter/answer/Oded-Ross Jokic's 17 assists of that TD were his career high until he dished 18 on another TD (19-12-18) on Monday. He already has 3 TDs in 4 games this season. BTW, the rookie who set the record of 17m which stood for 63 years was a little-used sub with a very short NBA career, and that was his only career triple-double; in fact it seems only twice he had more than 3 assists in a game (complete game stats from the era are partial so take that with a grain of salt). Extremely improbable for such a player to set this mark and not, say, Oscar Robertson, Kidd or Magic. We're talking a 4x4 streak of 4 improbable. The other ones involve Wilt and stat-chaser-or-not Westbrook: https://www.quora.com/In-January-of-2019-which-NBA-player-broke-Wilt-Chamberlains-record-of-most-consecutive-games-with-a-triple-double/answer/Oded-Ross https://www.quora.com/Is-Russell-Westbrooks-20-20-20-statline-one-of-the-best-of-all-time/answer/Oded-Ross

Date: Thu Dec 31 17:42:41 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
The damn thing cuts the links. Well, the first is missing only " /answer/Oded-Ross " The second: "-consecutive-games-with-a-triple-double/answer/Oded-Ross" The third only my name. Hopefully you'll go through the hassle of pasting to read these.

Date: Thu Dec 31 18:00:13 2020
User: TNmountainman
Message:
You're links aren't working - but I figured it out by removing the dots at the ends. Actually, the one with Wilt in it I couldn't get to work at all, removing the dots, the dots and the dash, or none of the above. But that's ok. I *think* I/we discussed the Westbrook game earlier. He was a triple-double machine there for a while. And why does Quora need cookies? It's SUCH a pain to have to copy-and paste to another browser. But thanks much for the info. I have a rebound question I've never been able to get a definitive answer to, and so I'll just go ahead and ask you............but this is just for college ball. Yet it may also apply to the pros. That being..............the definition of a rebound. In college, they used to give credit (rightly so, imo) if a player "had control of" a ball enough to tip it toward the basket. I.e., didn't "possess" the ball, but clearly had enough clearance and control of the ball to make a legitimate field goal attempt on the tip. Not just slapping at it in the general direction. Scorer's judgement, of course. Altho I never became aware of any change, that might have been one that didn't make much noise in the rule-change world. I sense they don't credit those as "rebounds" these days, but could be wrong. It would make no sense to credit a basket, but not a rebound on the same play. IMO. Any clue(s) on that?

Date: Thu Dec 31 18:16:32 2020
User: Oded789
Message:
Of course it's without the dots. That's an addition of this forum which apparently doesn't accept expressions over 100 chars long, or something like that. And Wilt's one is (remove the space) https://www.quora.com/In-January-of-2019-which-NBA-player-broke-Wilt-Chamberlains- record-of-most-consecutive-games-with-a-triple-double/answer/Oded-Ross As for tip-in attempts counted as offensive rebounds, I don't know of any such change. How do you sense that?

Date: Mon Jan 4 03:11:14 2021
User: TNmountainman
Message:
I know we're in the era of pretend sports, but these crazy records are still gonna count - I think. So how did I not hear about this until right now?? And here is that 40-0 run for those who want to see how it went down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsxz7lIPWV8 Quite bizarrely...............in their very next game, they came close to knocking off ranked Ohio St., losing by only 6 -- annnnnd..............have gone undefeated since (6-0), to now be 6-3. It's a funny world out there.....

Link: Ohio goes on 40-0 run against Cleveland St. (12-6-20)

Date: Mon Jan 4 04:35:19 2021
User: Oded789
Message:
Considering how common lopsided NCAA wins between powerhouses and small colleges are, I'm a bit surprised the record isn't higher. I know of a Connecticut game about 30 years ago that started 32-0. I have a nice one about the longest NBA in-game runs: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-longest-in-game-team-scoring-run-in-NBA-history/answer/Oded-Ross Elsewhere, we were this close of getting the first even 6-10 playoff team out of the ultra-pathetic NFC East, whereas even a 7-team playoff almost left out an AFC 11-5 team (had the Dolphins won), something that only happened twice before, last with the Brady-less, Cassel-lead Pats of 2008.

Date: Sat Jan 30 23:39:07 2021
User: Oded789
Message:
I think the following is more of a tid-bit than an oddity (what's the criteria, really?) so I put it here: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401267459 I was sure D.J.Augustin's +/- was a typo, surely he couldn't have been -21 in 4 minutes?! But it's true. He entered the game with the Bucks up 28-24 with 3:04 remaining in the 1st quarter, and was benched for good 1:18 into the 2nd period with the Hornets up 48-31, having shot six straight threes in those 4:22 (and another one right after that). The Bucks later erased the 20-point deficit and took the lead, only to score one bucket in the last 6:25 and lose anyway.

Date: Sun Jan 31 11:49:07 2021
User: TNmountainman
Message:
But Augustin didn't even take any shots. Stats show him 0/0. But still...........that's wild. Forbes at -31 in 11 minutes is pretty crazy, too.

Date: Sun Jan 31 13:35:02 2021
User: BuzzClik
Message:
It's pretty clear that the Bucks' bench lost the game for them. Lamelo Ball with 27 points and +37 off the bench for the Hornets played a huge role in the win.

Date: Mon Jun 7 18:25:59 2021
User: Oded789
Message:
Probably already the greatest female sprinter of all times, and a 3rd Olympic gold in Tokyo would put that beyond any shadow of a doubt. Only Flo-Jo's shady results prevent her from getting more deserved comparisons to Bolt.

Link: Fraser-Pryce unofficial 100m WR

Date: Wed Jun 16 00:58:20 2021
User: TNmountainman
Message:
KD goes for 49, 17, and 10 in game 5 against the Bucks. First ever to go at least 45/15/10 in a playoff game.

Date: Wed Jun 16 01:40:40 2021
User: Kaos
Message:
OK, call me jaded, (or wise), but, IMHO, Track and Field is rife with drug cheats including every single Jamaican since Ato Bolton and almost every single African since Henry Rono. Oh, and Flo Jo is there too. Lots of other American’s also. On the Women’s side, I can only think there are two Women’s world records that aren’t drug tainted (out of 30 some total). I’m a huge Track and Field fan, having subscribed to Track and Field news for a couple of decades but after reading an article one month about the last WADA approved drug lab in all of Africa going down one month and than Niekirk winning Olympic gold in the 400 meters a few months later (in world 😉 record time) with no flak I knew it was time to let the subscription lapse. Fraser Price is just another in the long list of drug cheats.

Date: Wed Jun 16 01:47:59 2021
User: Kaos
Message:
FWIW, Kendra Harrison’s world record is one of two on the women’s side of athletics that I don’t think is drug tainted. For the past decade, at least the US, Canada, and Europe have been very diligent on drug testing. For the rest of the planet, not so much.

Date: Wed Jun 16 09:04:42 2021
User: BuzzClik
Message:
If you like blazing speed and rising young stars, watch for Athing Mu (pronounce moe, not moo). As a freshman (just turned 19), she has destroyed the NCAA records in the 800 and 400 m. Hails from New Jersey. She will a force at the upcoming Olympic Trials.

Date: Sun Jun 20 20:03:17 2021
User: Oded789
Message:
Kaos - as a huge T&F fan, I can only hope you're wrong. Though when it comes to the Women's WR list, obviously not by much, if at all. TN - since you put KD's game 5 here, there were lots of game 7 tid-bits. First game 7 to go to OT since 2006. KD's 48 points were the most ever in a game 7 (and how close was he to clinch it in regulation?!). Now also holds the highest career game 7 average (more than 1 played) with 36.2 (5 games), in front of LeBron (34.9 in 8 games) and MJ (33.7 in only 3 games; game 6 was his thing, game 7 not as much). But in OT the Nets and Durant in particular were out of gas. A 2nd chance bucket after 22s and that's it. 1/12 FG (Durant with 0/6). Even 3 further offensive rebounds didn't save them. The coaches used the shortest rotations in decades. Only once bench player scored. In Brooklyn, *no sub had even taken a shot*, and that never happened in a playoff game (at least since 1984 where the NBA started keeping track). In other news, after Denver became the first team to come back twice from 1-3 last season, the Clippers became the first one to come back twice from 0-2 this year, breaking their conference finals drought. They came back from 25 down in game 6. Terence Mann was the surprise star with 39 points. The only 1st or 2nd year players to even score 33 in a game 6 or 7 since Dumars did it in 1987 are Mitchell, Doncic and now Mann. And if we up the cut to 38 points, *every* former player to do that is a HOFer: Rick Barry, Dave Bing, McAdoo, Mikan (with 40 in championship game pre shot clock era!), Baylor, West. Quite the list. BTW, Wilt only scored 26 (vs the perennial champs Celtics) in game 6 as a rookie, and got swept first round next season, so that's one scoring list without him. Back to the Bucks-Nets series, apparently 7 games are not enough, at least for ESPN.

Link: More, more, more

Date: Mon Jun 21 04:13:54 2021
User: TNmountainman
Message:
LOL. Yeah, a 14-game playoff series would likely push the finals all the way into August, instead of the absurdity of July, as it now is gonna be. It's already WAY WAY too late to be playing basketball as it is. I was aware of almost all those records and curiosities, altho not the tidbit about the subs. And I fully agree with you about the Nets being out of gas. While the game was very enjoyable, it really almost degenerated into a hockey game/rugby match. It would take slo-mo replays of almost every play, especially in the 4th quarter, to determine what fouls should have been called. There's no way to know who truly was the best team; indeed, it might as well have been a tie, and the way it played out supports that. While I know the game is more physical once the second round of playoffs arrives, this was bad officiating. I *hate* the adage "let the players decide it". If an action is a foul in the first minute of the first game of the season, the same thing should be a foul in the 4th quarter of any game 7. They were letting pass ALL KINDS of illegal screens, carrying (KD being one of the guilty ones there), muggings under the goal, etc. I know it's a difficult job, but that was just an egregious lack of control of the game. Just my opinion, but I think it was pretty obvious. That stuff not withstanding, it was a great series. They (correctly) say baseball is a game of inches, and I guess (American) football is, too, on occasion. But that KD shot was only a matter of maybe 2-3-4 mm from ending the game right then and there. And Terence Mann *was* da man in that game 6. Holy moly what a game. And didn't that 25-pt. comeback at least tie some record? I can't remember. The first and second halves of that game were indeed like two different games. Amazing how important Big Mo is.... I can't see either the Hawks or 76ers handling either one of those other teams - the ones scheduled to play that 14-game series. I suspect you already have seen that a new WR shot put record was set 2 nights ago in Eugene. And tonight, the Yankees turned their *3rd* triple play of the season, tying the record. And yes, that tidbit should probably go in the thread where triple plays were being discussed, but oh well...............

Date: Mon Jun 21 05:50:37 2021
User: Oded789
Message:
The playoff record comeback was set two seasons ago, also by the Clippers, when the Warriors led 94-63 midway through the 3rd, and LAC came back to win 135-131 (capping a 85-58 2nd half), in that bizarre opening round series that saw a GSW game 1 home win followed by five wins for the road team. The previous playoff record of 29 points, by the Showtime Lakers, is linked below. Yeah I've seen the Shot Put WR. It had been under threat for a while now, highlighted by the unbelievable WC final in Doha 2019, where three putters shot 22.90 or more (with *1 cm* separating 1st and 3rd) and another one over 22.50. To put only 10 other putters ever crossed the 22.50 mark, most of them in the heyday of the 80s doping era. It's staggering that Barnes' old WR stood all those years, given that he was caught on steroids a mere 3 months later, and even more upsetting that after serving a 27 month ban, he came back to win gold in Atlanta, and got to keep that medal too after getting caught again in 1998, being banned for life.

Link: Lakers 29 point playoff comeback in 1989

Date: Mon Jun 21 10:41:19 2021
User: BuzzClik
Message:
Somewhere on one of these threads was a discussion about triple plays in baseball. The question centered around triple plays starting in some fashion other than the a) the hot grounder hit to an infielder with two on and subsequent three force outs or b) a hard hit line drive out with two on and the runners on the move -- the runners are then caught prior to tagging up. We all agreed that we had some fuzzy recollections of other triple plays, but they were rare. Last Thursday saw such a rarity. Blue Jays vs Yankees. Runners on second and third. The batter hits a dribbler to the pitcher who looks the runner back to third and tosses the ball to first for the out. The runners both were oddly half way between their respective bases, and that's when the chaos started. The lead runner was tagged out between third and home, and the third out came as the final runner was tagged out attempting to slide into third. The first 1-3-6-2-5-6 triple play combo in ML history. Good execution by the Yanks, and the exact opposite by the Jays.

Link: https://www.mlb.com/news/yankees-turn-wild-triple-play-against-blue-jays

Date: Mon Jun 21 12:28:43 2021
User: TNmountainman
Message:
Kinda sad to see the Supersonics no longer around, but admire Seattle for not bending to the extortionary tactics of the team. Ok, Oded........it seems almost harder to be down 29 in the first 14 minutes than to come back from that. Obviously the lead-change-per-minute is much greater. Doubt if there is a 'record' for that wonky stat. I *vaguely* remember that game; not the actually play-by-play stuff, but the huge comeback itself.

Date: Mon Jun 21 19:39:35 2021
User: Oded789
Message:
There is. The same Laker team set it two years earlier (reg. season), leading 29-0 after 9 minutes and finishing the first quarter 40-4 against the hapless Kings, the most lopsided quarter in NBA history. Sacramento went 0-of-18 and their player got a standing ovation from the LA crowd for making the first free throw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwdRWIwCEPo (part 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbBJQbt3hiA (part 2) Regarding the Laker comeback vs the Sonics, Worthy is quoted that “Now, if it had been the fourth quarter, and we were down by that much, it’d been a lot more difficult to do.” But that also happened once in the regular season. Going into the 4th quarter, Atlanta led Milwaukee 104-76. With 8:43 remaining, the score was 111-82 for the Hawks. The visiting Bucks made a 35-4 run to close the game and won 117-115. ------------------------------------------------ Scattered playoff stats: That Nets-Bucks game 7 was the first game since the merger (regular season of playoffs) with only 11 players scoring, and the Nets became the first team for at least 50 years with no bench points in a playoff game. This is the first time since 1994 that both No. 1 seeds in the NBA playoffs failed to make the conference finals. The Hawks are the 5th NBA team since 1980 to reach the conference finals after making a midseason coaching change. The previous 4 teams won it all.

Date: Tue Jun 22 03:52:48 2021
User: TNmountainman
Message:
I do *not* remember that 29-0 start, but may have been aware back at that time (probably was). I remember we had earlier discussed on this forum a college hoops game (maybe involving Syracuse??) that had some outlandish scoring stuff like that. Seems like Snowguy was in on that. And then there was that crazy record of futility by Houston in the NBA playoffs (finals?) 2-3 years ago, also discussed on this forum, but that was mostly for 3-pt. futility - in the extreme. That Kings team was indeed woeful. (And not all that much better since..........)