May 26, Week in Sports
May 26, Week in Sports
:: SCOTT DIXON WINS INDY 500 (Auto Racing)
:: CHICAGO BULLS WIN FIRST DRAFT PICK (Pro. Basketball)
:: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS PLAY DETROIT RED WINGS FOR STANLEY CUP (Pro. Hockey)
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GOT MILK? DIXON WINS INDY 500
On Sunday afternoon, driver Scott Dixon won the Indianapolis 500–one of the most historical and important races of the year for motorsports enthusiasts.
Dixon started out the race in pole position (first), but he was losing to Vitor Meira with fewer than 30 laps left to go. However, Dixon beat Meira out of the final pit stop and was able to hold on for his first Indianapolis 500 victory. Following his victory, Dixon drank a bottle of milk on the track, as is customary for winners of the Indy 500.
The day was full of accidents, and tempers flared as reckless driving knocked some of the sport’s top drivers out of contention. About halfway through the race, Marco Andretti accidentally forced his own teammate, Tony Kanaan, into a wall. Late in the race, Ryan Briscoe hit Danica Patrick in pit row, and Patrick was seen fuming along the track until track personnel guided her away. Helio Castroneves finished the race in fourth place.
Quote of the Week: “He’d better be [sorry]. That was a very stupid move. Me being a good teammate, I didn’t want to turn into him and take out two cars. So I give up today.” — Tony Kanaan, on Andretti apologizing after knocking him out of the race
Further Reading: “Pole sitter Dixon races to first Indianapolis 500 victory” — Associated Press, via ESPN
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LUCKY LOTTO: BULLS TAKE FIRST OVERALL PICK
On May 20th, the NBA held their annual lottery to determine the order of picks for this year’s draft. The Chicago Bulls, who only had a 1.7 percent chance of winning the NBA lottery, were the surprise winners, taking home the first overall pick in the draft.
The NBA Draft is more important than the draft in any other sport–sometimes the addition of a single player can entirely change a team’s future, as it did when the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted LeBron James in 2003. The order of the draft is roughly determined in the reverse order of teams’ success the year before. That is to say, the worst teams have the best odds of getting the highest draft picks. But to discourage losing deliberately, the worst teams are not guaranteed the top draft picks. Since the odds were overwhelmingly against the Bulls, though, their winning the NBA lottery was big news.
The Bulls will either take Memphis guard Derrick Rose or Kansas State power forward Michael Beasley with the first pick of the draft. Both players are exceptional, and both could fill major needs for the lucky Bulls organization. The Chicago sports media were also tremendously lucky, since they are now guaranteed to have a topic to debate every day until the June 26th draft takes place.
Quote of the Week: “I understand this was pure luck. Now we have to do our job.” — John Paxon, Bulls GM
Further Reading: “A No. 1-track mind” — K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune
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PENGUINS FLOUNDER FIRST NIGHT IN HOCKEYTOWN
The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins are currently playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, the most important event of the National Hockey League season. The Red Wings won the first game, defeating the Pens by a crushing score of 4-0.
This is considered a high-profile match-up for fans of the sport, since it pits Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, one of the biggest stars of the league, against the Red Wings, one of the most storied franchises in the sport and a perennial contender. The NHL continues to struggle to draw casual fans to the sport, but league officials hope that a championship with this kind of intensity will help to get people to watch the games.
Game One of Stanley Cup Finals was played in Detroit (a.k.a. Hockeytown) on Saturday. Pittsburgh hopes to bounce back from the devastating opening loss when they play Game Two on Monday night.
Quote of the Week: “If a matchup ever was going to capture the attention of the casual sports fan and make the NHL matter during its showcase event, this seems to be the one to do it.” — Associated Press
Further Reading: “First-period power-play failures come back to haunt Penguins” — Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
:: BASKETBALL – The Conference Finals match-ups (Boston/Detroit and San Antonio/Los Angeles) continue this week. The full schedules are available at www.nba.com.
:: HOCKEY – The Stanley Cup Finals continue this week, with games scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
:: TENNIS – The French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the year, started this week and runs through June 8th.
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ALL-SPORTS UPDATE
ACTIVE SEASON
:: BASEBALL
MLB (Pro. Baseball): Baseball season is in full swing, but it is a long season, so teams tend to measure their success month by month. The All-Star break takes place the second week of July. By then, teams’ records will be a good indicator of how well they are performing this season. [Official MLB Website]
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:: BASKETBALL
NBA (Pro. Basketball): The NBA conference finals continue this week. The winners of those two best-of-seven series will face off in the NBA playoffs. [Official NBA Website]
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:: GOLF
MEN’S GOLF: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments are the four Major Championships: The Masters, U.S. Open, The Open (The British Open), and the PGA Championship. Now that the Masters is over, the next event will be the U.S. Open, which is played in the month of June. [Official PGA Website]
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els
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:: HOCKEY
NHL (Pro. Hockey): The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins are currently battling in the Stanley Cup Finals. [Official NHL Website]
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:: TENNIS
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS: While there are professional tournaments throughout the year, the most important tournaments of the year are the four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. The French Open is currently underway. The next event is Wimbledon, which runs from June 23rd to July 6th. [USTA Website]
NOTABLE PLAYERS: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova
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OFFSEASON
:: BASKETBALL
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL (College): Now that the tournament is over, college basketball news will focus on which players leave their schools for the NBA, and which college teams land the premier high-school players for next season. [CBS Sports]
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:: FOOTBALL
NFL (Pro. Football): The pre-season begins in August, and the regular season begins in September. [Official NFL Website]
NCAA FOOTBALL (College): Practice sessions for college football begin in summer, and the regular season begins in August. [NCAA Football, ESPN]