With Prince’s passing, we celebrate his life with a special purple edition of TINK. Prince was a musical genius with talents on vocals, instruments, production, fashion and culture. Watch this SNL 40th anniversary recap to get in a Prince groove.
What some don’t know is that Prince Rogers Nelson was an athlete, too. Check out this hilarious skit from Dave Chappelle, based on a true story, on how Prince schooled Charlie and Eddie Murphy in basketball and then served them pancakes. Here’s Prince talking about the real life encounter.
In another sports-related moment, Prince delivered arguably the best Super Bowl halftime performance of all time during a “Purple Rain” in 2007. It was pouring in Miami when Prince, who was using four electric guitars, was asked what can be done to make the day better. Prince replied “can you make it rain harder?!” #MakeItRainHarder
National Basketball Association (NBA)
The first round of the NBA playoffs is nearly complete with no major surprises. NBA fans are screaming “Let’s Go Crazy” as they look forward to some upsets.
Western Conference:
The “Little Red Corvette” is in the shop…Defending MVP and this season’s MVP front-runner, Steph Curry, returned from an ankle injury Sunday only to sprain his knee and is now sidelined for at least two weeks. His Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets to go up 3-1 in their first-round series but will face stiffer competition in the next round without their best player.
Another elite point guard, Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, is also sidelined, breaking his hand in Monday night’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Their series is tied 2-2.
Take a load off…The San Antonio Spurs were the first team to advance to the second round, sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies 4-0. Aging star Tim Duncan is trying to win his sixth championship, with his first championship party back in “1999.” The Spurs will meet the Oklahoma City Thunder who can also rest for a few days as they beat Mark Cuban’s team, the Dallas Mavericks, to close out their series 4-1.
Eastern Conference:
What took you so long? The Charlotte Hornets, Michael Jordan’s team, won their first playoff game since 2002 on Saturday. The Hornets followed up with another win on Monday night and tied their series 2-2 with the Miami Heat.
Joining the tied race…The Boston Celtics took down the Atlanta Hawks in overtime Sunday to tie their series 2-2. The Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers series is also knotted at two games apiece.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, led by their terrific trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love join the Spurs as the only NBA teams to advance to the second round as the Cavs swept the talented but inexperienced Detroit Pistons 4-0.
College Basketball
#RunningManChallenge – If you haven’t seen the latest Internet video craze, started by a couple Maryland basketball players, here’s an entertaining compilation featuring college and pro athletes. The Rutgers football team had fun in practice with it last week, too.
National Hockey League (NHL)
It’s almost time to “Kiss” the first round of the NHL playoffs goodbye. Unlike the NBA playoffs, most first round series were competitive with several going six or seven games.
The only first round matchup still alive is the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators whose series is tied 3-3 and who play a deciding seventh game Wednesday.
These are the second round playoff matchups:
Eastern Conference
- The Pittsburgh Penguins versus the Washington Capitals
- The Tampa Bay Lightning versus the New York Islanders
Western Conference
- The Louis Blues versus the Dallas Stars
- The Anaheim Ducks/Nashville Predators versus the San Jose Sharks
National Football League (NFL)
Deflategate is back in the news. Tom Brady’s suspension for allegedly contributing to underinflated balls in the 2014 NFL playoffs was reinstated after a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Options for Brady: a review by all 13 Circuit court judges or by the Supreme Court (yes…that team). In short, it’s not looking good for Gisele’s hubby.
The NFL will hold their college draft Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and all 32 teams will be looking for “Diamonds and Pearls” to improve their squads. If you can’t understand why picking college kids is exciting, don’t sweat it, just know that football fans really get into it.
“U Got the Look.” If fashion is your thing, check out 2015’s best and worst NFL Draft outfits.
Now they can afford a brand new “Raspberry Beret”…The top two picks in the Draft are expected to be the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles selecting quarterbacks Jared Goff (California) and Carson Wentz (North Dakota State), respectively.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
In a case of “I Would Die 4 U” New York Mets star pitcher Jacob deGrom is back with the team after missing two weeks to be with his wife and son who had complications at birth. All is well now and deGrom rejoins a young and talented, but underachieving, Mets team.
The Chicago Cubs (14-5) and the Washington Nationals (14-4) continue to pace the National League and are pulling away from the competition in the early part of the season. Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arieta, the defending Cy Young award winner, is flexing his muscles again this season with his second career No-Hitter last week and a 4-0 record with a 0.87 ERA.
Remember at TINK Sports we watch the games so you don’t have to.
See you next time…
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