the mad sports man

 End of the month is here. Geez it was fun.  Loads of NHL hockey (playoffs are close), loads of baseball (including a couple of no hitters), and a boat load of curling. Curling alone had: 1. The men's worlds won by Nik Edin. 2. Two grand slam events (Bruce Mouat won both men's, Rachel Homan and Kerri Einarson won the womens) and 3. The womens worlds that started today. Einarson lost to Anna Hasselborg of Sweden then just beat the Czech Republic 9-2 to start at a win and a loss.  Got to 23c here and it was a great day to get outside.

There have been 23 perfect games in the majors all time. No pitcher has thrown more than one, but one catcher has caught two of them - ten years apart. Ron Hassey caught his first one on May 15, 1981 when Len Barker threw one in a Cleveland 3-0 win over Toronto.  His second one was on July 28 1991 when Dennis Martinez threw one in a Montreal 2-0 win over the Dodgers. Hassey and Gus Triandos are the only two catchers to have caught a no hitter in both the AL and NL. So there you go.

 Bruce Mouat beats Brad Gushue 6-5 to win this grand slam six days after winning the first one.  Plus the silver he won at the men's worlds. Let's just say he had a very good April.  Congrats Bruce.

 Man, she is on a roll. Kerri Einarson beat Rachel Homan to win the second grand slam of the year.  Three titles in the bubble (Scotties, mixed doubles and grand slam) AND she is 32-6 in the bubble (thanks Devin Heroux for the stats).  I'd say she's ready for the womens worlds.  That begins Friday.

 Yesterday Rachel Homan won her 11th career grand slam event, beating Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland 6-3.  She does this 3 weeks after giving birth to daughter Bowyn.  I swear she is super human. Rachel's mom was there to help out.

 Tonight Patrick Marleau has broken Gordie Howe's record for most games played in a career. Marleau is playing in game 1768, Howe had played in 1767.  Howe still has the record for most games played with one team, at 1687.  Marleau has roughly a season and a bit to catch that. 

 With the end of the Montreal Maroons, here are a few tidbits. 1. Their first season was the 1924-25 season, while their last season was the 1937-38 season. 2. Founded for the English speaking community of Montreal. 3. They never really had a nickname. The media eventually coined the Maroons because of the color of their sweater. 4. Started with success.  Even though their first season wasn't good, they were drawing. They won the Stanley Cup in their second season. 5. November 26, 1926 they were the first opponent of the New York Rangers. 6. Fielded some some competitive teams into the 1930s. Once the great depression began, they began selling off their stars to stay afloat.  This led to some bad seasons.  They managed to improve enough to win one last cup. This included being in the longest playoff overtime game against Detroit. 7. June 22, 1938 they asked to suspend operations, which was denied. They were given until August 1 to decide to field a team. They didn't....

 The 1937-38 season had 8 teams and 48 game schedule. 1. NHL took over ownership of the New York Americans. 2. Howie Morenz memorial game was played raising $11,447.  Other contributions were raised, putting total to over $20k. Morenz' uniform and hockey uniform was auctioned off and Joseph Cattarinich had the winning $500 bid. All stars 6 Habs/Maroons 5. 3. Montreal Maroons played their final season.  Was a bad season.  Their last game was March 17th against the Canadiens. The playoffs had: qfs had New York Americans beat new York Rangers 2-1, and Chicago beat Habs 2-1.  Semi final had Chicago beat the Americans 2 games to one and Toronto beat Boston 3 straight games.  Stanley Cup finals had Chicago beat Toronto 3-1. It is Chicago's second cup win. At 14-25-9, it is the lowest winning percentage by a Stanley Cup champion.  It is the last best of five series.  With the demise of the Maroons, there will be 7 teams and a new playoff format for next ...

 Second no hitter of the year and second in five days. Carlos Rodon of the Chicago White Sox threw 114 pitches, 75 of them strikes, had 7 strike outs and no walks in an 8-0 win over Cleveland. Only blemish was hitting Roberto Perez. Congrats to Carlos.

 We are 100 days out to the 2020 summer games in Tokyo.  Hopefully they go off this year. Hopefully they go well this year.  How will Canada do?  What records will fall? Which performance will stand out?  How will the opening and closing ceremony look.  To borrow one of Devin Heroux's bits, going to need lots of cereal bowls of coffee with the time difference (15 hours between Tokyo and Prince Albert).  Sleep deprivation games round two.

Pretty good game here.  5-5 through 8 ends. Then Sweden scores 5 in the 9th, after a terrific double take out and Sweden wins 10-5. Niklas Edin now has won three titles in a row and a record FIFTH overall. Wow. Scotland goes home with a silver. Switzerland ends up winning the bronze after beating Russia 6-5 in a good one there. Twas a wild and crazy tournament. Oh yeah, Switzerland has an Olympic spot as well.

 It will be Scotland vs Sweden for gold and Switzerland vs Russia for bronze.  Scotland beat Russia 5-3 in the semi final game that just finished.  Sweden and Switzerland were close after 4 ends with Switzerland leading 3-2. Sweden scored 5 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th and 3 in the 8th (7th end was blanked).  Sweden wins 11-3. Both the gold and bronze games is at 9pm Prince Albert time.

 A good one here.  Switzerland just beat the US 7-6 and will face  Sweden in one semi final, while Scotland faces Russia in the other.  Hopefully no more positive covid cases. (That was a shit show). Semi final games start at 4pm Prince Albert time.

 This quarter final game just ended with Scotland beating Canada 5-3.  Scotland was shooting lights out leaving Brendan Bottcher and his team chasing.  First time Canada won't get to the semis since 1976.  Eep.  It was just not Canada's tournament at all. Quarter final two and the two semi finals are tomorrow. Stay tuned.

 ......... Joe Musgrave of the San Diego Padres.  San Diego's own Musgrave threw 10 strike out and gave up no walk in San Diego's 3-0 win in Arlington over the Texas Rangers.  Only blemish was hitting Joey Gallo.  Also San Diego's first ever no hitter in team history. Wow. (Padres started in 1969).  Congrats to Joe Musgrave.

 Canada will be sending a men's curling team to the winter Olympics this coming February in Beijing.  Brendan Bottcher, by beating Norway, got the spot. I'm thinking if Canada Norway Scotland and Switzerland ended up in a four way tie at 8-5, they would get a spot, having beaten Scotland and Norway. Switzerland had lost to Scotland and Norway. Scotland plays Norway tomorrow.  Russia, Sweden and United States also have Olympic spots. The Scotland vs Norway game could decide the other two playoff/Olympic spots. Added:. Scotland does now have a spot.

 This ended up not much of a doubt as Baylor cruised to an 86-70 win over Gonzaga.  Total domination from start to finish.  Congratulations to Baylor, your first ever championship.

 It will be the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Baylor Bears for the NCAA basketball tournament championship.  Gonzaga beat UCLA in an overtime thriller 93-90 while Baylor beat Houston 78-59.  This is Baylor's second trip to the championship game (lost in 1948), while Gonzaga is also making their second trip to the championship game (lost in 2017).  Big game is on Monday night, tipoff about 7:20pm Prince Albert time.

 An update to the winter Olympics figure skating news, there have been 3 ice dance pairs added, along with the two pairs teams, and a male and female skater.  So there.

 It's here.  It's finally here.  It's BASEBALL SEASON!!!!!!!!  Few day games happening, and a couple of them done already.  Toronto beat the Yankees 3-2 and Detroit beat Cleveland 3-2.  Hopefully this season goes without a hitch.