Morning!

We’ve got some headlines to get through so we’ll focus less on the scoreboards and more on catching you up on some news and getting you back to whatever you were doing before opening this.

Let’s jump right in.

Headlines

New York Rangers drop two in a row

This doesn’t feel like strictly scoreboard material because the Rangers won six straight playoff games, but they have lost their last two. The Rangers played two perfect periods last night and were up 1-0, but Carolina scored four unanswered goals in the third period. WE HAVE A SERIES.

Suspended in the middle of playoffs

Colorado Avalanche lost Valeri Nichushkin to a 6-month suspension yesterday, right in the middle of playoffs. In hockey fashion, there are not too many details about what caused the suspension, but what we know is he violated some rules as part of the NHLPA’s players assistance program, and now he is placed in stage 3 of the program. It’s being assumed that he failed a drug test, but that news ain’t final

Aaron Rodgers will returning

Week 1. You heard it here first. Aaron Rodgers will be returning for the Monday Night Football opener, where the New York Jets face the San Francisco 49ers. Rodgers will be returning to the SF Bay Area, where he grew up, in hopes of redeeming himself/his health after he blew out his Achilles on the 4th snap of last year’s MNF opener.

PGA Tour corporate is crumbling?

Well, it might not be the case, according to the guy who just quit. Do you ever get that feeling that if you just didn’t show up to work for a month or two, no one would notice? Cue Jimmy Dunne!

He’s on the PGA Tour’s policy board and was part of the team that helped negotiate the PGA Tour + LIV Merger, which has done the exact opposite of merge. So Dunne quit and said his job was “utterly superfluous.”

Dunne apparently didn’t get the quiet quitting memo.

Iowa’s women's basketball coach ain’t no dummy

Lisa Bluder saw the writing on the wall. She was Iowa’s head coach for 23 seasons and is the winningest coach in the Big 10, but she knew what was up. Caitlin Clark just happened to be from Iowa, which has to be the only reason she decided to go to Iowa. Any other person would’ve chosen any other school to attend. If you’re Lisa Bluder, why not go on top?

and that’s exactly what she’s doing. Bluder is retiring after making it to the national championship the past 2 seasons and coaching for the last 40 years.

Go play some golf, Lisa, you deserve it.

The Buffalo Bills are trying to ruin their team

The Bills have signed Chiefs dropout Marquez Valdes-Scantling to a 1-year deal worth up to $4.5 million. MVS made a few big plays season at the end of the year but also had some big drops. We’ll see if he can be the missing piece for Josh Allen.

The Detroit Lions are all in

The Detroit Lions are signing quarterback Jared Goff to a four-year, $212-million extension, including $170 million guaranteed. Goff is now signed through 2027, and his contract includes an option for 2028. The reported deal makes Goff the highest-paid player in Lions history. The 29-year-old's new $53-million average annual salary now ranks second among quarterbacks behind only Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals ($55 million).

Ok, hold up…..

Jared Goff ain’t even 30? DAMN.

Now for the scoreboard

NHL

🏒 The Dallas Stars bulldozed the Colorado Avalance 5-1 last night and now Dallas has a 3-1 lead. The Avs are on the brink of elimination, and game 5 is heading back to Dallas.

NBA

🏀 The Boston Celtics are almost on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals and just need 1 more win after beating Cleveland 109-102 last night. Jayson Tatum scored 33, and Jaylen Brown scored 27 for Boston.

🏀 The Dallas Maverick let game 4 slip out of their hands last night against the OKC Thunder. The Thunder snuck out a 100-96 win after the Mavs had a 14-point lead during the game. The Mavs were 52% from the free throw line, leaving a lot of points on the court, and the Thunder had some players step up big in the 4th quarter when Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort hit clutch threes late in the game. That was followed up by some chaos when Jalen Williams drove to the hoop for the Thunder, and Dallas thought it was a double dribble when it, in fact, was not. The Thunder would close out this game and SGA would finish with 34 points.

What’s on tonight

You guessed it

More playoffs!

NHL

🏒 Bruins @ Panthers, 7 pm ET on ESPN

Florida leads series 3-1

🏒 Canucks @ Oilers, 9:30 pm ET on ESPN

Vancouver leads series 2-1

NBA

🏀 Pacers @ Knicks, 8 pm ET on TNT

Series tied 2-2

🏀 T-Wolves @ Nuggets, 10:30 pm ET on TNT

Series tied 2-2

Enjoy your Tuesday and we’ll see you tomorrow!

-The DB