It’s no big deal if Tom Brady isn’t familiar with anyone on the team, and he was just glad to agree to serve as the Bolts’ “fan captain” for Saturday’s Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s also hilarious to see the big-time Cameo video energy that Brady brought to the table to fire up the Tampa crowd.
The Lightning won, 6-4, to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, so maybe Brady is good luck. Or maybe the defending Stanley Cup champions are still riding the momentum of having been in the presence of Rob Gronkowski.
Meanwhile, as Brady and Gronkowski’s old “local” hockey team, the Bruins, played, Jets quarterback Zach Wilson and teammates were on hand at Nassau Coliseum, cheering the Islanders to a 4-1 win.
Now that’s the leadership you want to see from a QB, not just phoning it in.
Arizona’s softball team bowed out of the Women’s College World Series on Saturday afternoon with a loss to Florida State that was gut-wrenching to watch.
The Wildcats had a two-run lead and were five outs away from advancing to the tournament’s final six when Mariah Lopez walked Cassidy Davis and hit Devyn Flaherty with a pitch. After Kalei Harding struck out, Dani Morgan hit a three-run homer, and just like that Arizona was behind.
The Wildcats clawed back to tie the game on an RBI double by Reyna Carranco in the top of the seventh, only to lose on a single, a throwing error, and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, with Kaley Mudge trotting home on a deep ball by Davis.
That’s heartbreak.
In the regionals on the way to the men’s College World Series, a lot of the season-ending losses played out differently, nine innings of torture that just wouldn’t end.
Southeast Missouri State bowed out to Southern Mississippi, 21-0, in the day’s biggest elimination-game rout (Notre Dame beat UConn, 26-3, leaving the Huskies reeling but still alive for an elimination game against Central Michigan on Sunday). A few other elimination-game scores? Maryland 16, Norfolk State 0; Duke 14, Wright State 6; Indiana State 9, Presbyterian 2; and Central Michigan 8, Michigan 2.
But the worst? The worst was easily Florida. Holding the No. 15 seed and playing at their home park in Gainesville, the Gators fell behind South Alabama on two runs in the first inning, and were down 4-1 after five. Then the Jaguars scored 10 in the sixth. And five more in the seventh… at which point there was a rain delay of an hour and 50 minutes.
The Gators, down by 18 runs, had to sit around waiting all that time, knowing that they would just be coming out on the field to run out the clock on their season. It mercifully expired without further humiliation, ending when pinch-hitter Brock Edge, who has a main event-level name but hadn’t had an at-bat since March 7, grounded out to second base.
Every season-ending loss is painful in its own way. This one was excruciating.
The United States baseball team is headed to the Olympics after beating Venezuela, 4-2, in qualifying.
Todd Frazier had four hits for the Americans, including a homer, which means that the two-time All-Star third baseman is going to be able to add Olympian to his unique career that includes winning the Little League World Series and MLB Home Run Derby.
Of course, Frazier’s true calling remains reporting on New Jersey traffic. Put that together with Mike Trout doing the weather, and there’s a news radio station in the Garden State that’s gonna dominate the corporate beer league softball circuit someday.