OK, we all knew what was coming in game 3 of the Knicks vs. Sixers playoff series. Philadelphia was outraged (outraged I say)! by the physical play of the Knicks in games 1 and 2, and the NBA League Office determined that the refs missed a few calls at the end of the game. Game 3? Well, it’s the make-up game. Refs will call any foul on Embiid, and he can flail, complains, etc. and will get every call. This has been going on in the NBA for last 600 years in the playoffs. It usually lasts just the one game though, and SU expects a return to the normal chaos on Sunday in game 4. The refs check the box on the even-up game and we all move on.

What was troubling for SU in game 3 was the dirty play of Embiid. Sure, he gets hit a lot and he gets frustrated and will lash out. But in this game, there were multiple plays – knees to the groin, tripping and shoving Mitchell Robinson while he was on the ground under the basket, and a hip check on Anunoby late in the game in the backcourt literally right in front of the ref. We already know in women’s college basketball, that is a foul – certainly in the last 10 seconds of a game between UConn and Iowa. In the NBA with Embiid? It’s a play on – nothing to see here. It was an obvious hip check and deliberate.

Look, it’s a tiring argument to complain about the refs and SU does not go there. Win the game in other parts of the game – don’t put yourself in that position and be at the mercy of the refs late. But the reality last night is that Embiid should have been ejected earlier in the game for a Flagrant 2 foul, and his attempts to be “physical” quickly translated into being “dirty.” SU does not even think the Knicks mind the physical play or even the occasional dirty play. It’s just that there were several in one game. Sure, it’s the playoffs and everything is ramped up now but the refs need to determine the “line” for these actions. Watch for a new line to be determined in game 4.

It is an entertaining series between 2 teams that don’t like each other. Nothing better than that. Mitchell Robinson’s status going forward will be a huge issue for the Knicks.

The Yankees continue to waste great starting pitching from a staff that is not great. The offense is masked by the greatness of Soto. Gleyber Torres has 2 rbis on the season. Plays every day. Stanton still can’t hit in the clutch but the fact that he is slimmed down quite a bit makes fans feel better about it. At least Yankee fans are used to it and if he ever gets a hit, you are surprised and excited as you certainly never expect it. I still say the record is deceptive and much better than how they are playing. Also, SU cannot recall a Yankee team – ever – with a weaker bench. Boone does not even play them and most of the subs don’t have a batting average this year. Very odd.

Fun NFL draft last night. The Giants are all in on Daniel Jones and passed on JJ McCarthy in order to get Jones a top flight wide receiver. Can Jones stay healthy? Will he be running for his life most of the season as the O-line provides no protection?

It is interesting how many quarterbacks went high this year in the first round. It speaks to how few quality quarterbacks are in the NFL right now. SU hopes this class really emerges – the League needs it for sure.

We have seen this all before. Your team loses the first two playoff games on the road in New York. The games are physical. The refs are letting a lot go and you believe that your team is getting hosed. What’s a coach to do?

That’s an easy one. You pull out the Phil Jackson playbook from his days at the Chicago Bulls. “Outrageous officiating!” “We are getting man-handled!” “So many missed calls!” Blah, blah, blah. And of course, this being the NBA, what happens in game 3? The road team, up 2 – 0 in the series, has most of its starters in foul trouble in the first 5 minutes of the game. It is the classic over-reaction by the refs. And it happens time and time again.

Nick Nurse is in over-drive this morning. Filing a grievance with the NBA on the officiating in the first 2 games vs the Knicks. Please. You are getting clobbered on the offensive glass – start there. In SU’s view, Brunson is getting abused on every possession, and Kyle Lowry gets away with murder. The Sixers’ strategy is to foul on every possession and dare the refs to call it. The strategy says they won’t call it on every possession and you can establish a more physical style of play for the entire game.

At the end of last night’s game, Maxey fell down and Brunson did grab his jersey from behind but unclear to SU that caused him to fall down. In real time, it sure looked like a foul but in slow motion, much less so.

I saw LeBron walked out of his media session unhappy with the refs from his game last night. He is also a master at getting his team better calls in the next game. We know reffing in the NBA is very challenging. The players are so good, athletic and fast. It’s not an easy job. But the Knicks will be up against it in game 3. SU believes the over-reaction usually only lasts one game, and game 4 will be officiated better. But no way in this next game.

The Aaron Boone ejection yesterday was a classic if you get to check that out. The YES broadcast picked up the audio. SU says MLB should allow all managers and umpires to be miked up – it definitely spices up the action and the back and forth is fun to hear. OK, so there is some profanity but hey, it’s all about entertainment here. Boone obviously should not have been ejected as he didn’t say anything but in baseball, you can still call the shots in the runway under the dugout. Not a big deal especially with the Yankees’ bench and the fact that they rarely play the non-starters.

As a lifelong Yankee fan, SU has listened to John Sterling for over 30 years. For a time, it was John Sterling and Michael Kay back in the 1990s, and then he picked up Suzyn Waldman as his booth mate. John Sterling is a good guy and it’s easy to wish him well in whatever the future holds for him.

However, for the past 10+ years, he has been unlistenable for SU. And rest assured, I can listen to anyone – with the exception of Dick Vitale in recent years who I actually have to mute on the television. SU is fine with Sterling being a homer for the Yankees – heck, we had Phil Rizzuto and no-one was more of a homer than him. For me, it was a few things with Sterilng:

1. Soooooo inaccurate on the home run calls. He was so excited to make the call on the home run and he did not seem to ever watch the TV monitor right in front of him. As his eye sight diminished, these calls became: “It is high, it is far, it is….caught 30 feet in front of the warning track.” As a fan, you started to listen more to the crowd noise in the background on these calls to figure out if it was actually going to be a home run. Brutal…. and super annoying.
2. He stopped giving the score of the game. You know: you get in your car, the games is on and you just want to hear the score. If the game was in progress, and no inning break in sight, you could wait a ridiculously long time to get the score. I finally started to check the score on my phone first because of that before turning on the game. Again….. annoying.
3. Working with Suzyn Waldman. SU has said this before: Suzyn was great when she did the post-game interviews in the clubhouse. Really excellent. As a radio analyst? Not so much value add there. I know many enjoy her with Sterling but I always felt it was a tough listening experience.

I like the Yankee television broadcasts. Kay, Paul O’Neill, David Cone, now Joe Girardi. All good. A different story on the radio and honestly, I stopped listening completely for the past couple of years for the reasons above. Unenjoyable. Nothing against him personally. Wish him all the best but looking forward to the new regime.

The Yankees are off to a great start but the cracks are starting to show a bit. The loss of Loaisiga in the bullpen is big as he was slated in for 2 innings at a time. Their ERA is excellent so far but you can see it coming. Over use as the starters don’t go much past 5 innings, and if you keep winning, there will be problems. Something is wrong with Anthony Rizzo in the field. Dropping throws at first, not scooping up balls in the dirt and last night, just missed a pop foul near the Yankee dugout. One wonders if the PTSD he suffered last year is totally gone.

Gleyber is not hitting but he will come around. The offense is more varied and once the weather warms up, they will be a tough out. They really need Gerrit Cole though to bolster the rotation. Truth be told, the AL is not all that good this year but the roster will need some tweaks going forward. I know: Yankee fans are spoiled. I prefer to think we have higher standards.

SU is excited about the Knicks’ playoffs coming up. They are an over-achieving team and fun to root for. A match-up with the Sixers will be very tough though – that is a team that may be built for the playoffs if Embid can stay healthy. But no matter what happens in the post-season, a great year for the Knicks.

SU has watched most of the UConn women’s games this year. As I have said before, they play the game the right way – team-oriented, up-tempo, constant movement on offense. They were definitely an over-achieving team and getting to the Final Four with this 8-player roster represents a master class in coaching by Geno Auriemma and his very capable staff. You have to realize that he is so hard on his players that he needs assistants to build the egos back up of his players – especially the freshmen. SU thinks Paige Bueckers is one of the top 3 players in the country and will be a huge draw in the WNBA and the Olympic team going forward.

UConn was down 9 or 10 points late and fought back to have a shot at the game with 9 seconds late. Impressive. Bueckers had a tough game as Iowa employed a similar approach that UConn had on Caitlin Clark with a smaller player basically face guarding the whole game. Still, she should have had more shot attempts in this game and that actually falls on Geno who did not alter the offense enough to free her up.

So, was that screen by Edwards a foul? SU says no – not by the standards that college basketball calls screens. Forget the NBA where illegal screens are a staple of the game. However… UConn had been called 3 times for a similar screening foul earlier in the game, and you have to be aware that these refs were calling it a foul. Iowa had none. SU believes that it was marginally an illegal screen but you don’t call it at that point in the game. The Iowa defender did a good job of jerking her head back and got the call.

It’s funny: if they don’t make the call, Bueckers gets the last shot under pressure. Maybe she gets hit and there is no call and then that is the argument. SU has to say that she does not get the respect from the refs that Clark does. Several drives she was hit and knocked to the ground – no call. To her credit, no crying about it, no arms flailing or not getting back on defense, i.e.., no LeBron behavior.

General observations:

1. NCAA women’s basketball refs are really bad. If you watch regular season games, it’s embarrassing at times. Just inferior. So many missed calls or incorrect calls. SU actually thought this game was called pretty well last night. Sure, the calls were favoring Iowa but UConn could not afford real foul trouble to any of the top 5 players and they survived for the most part.
2. Love Ryan Rucco. Great announcer.
3. There was a drive by Clark where she pushed off KK Arnold in the lane – sent her flying. Obvious offensive foul – no call. That’s what I mean about the officiating at the women’s games – not the same quality. So many games, nothing is called in the 1st quarter and then all of a sudden, everything starts to be called in the 2nd quarter.
4. SU does not believe that you can blame the officiating for losses. You have too many chances to win the game in the rest of the game. Missed foul shots, turnovers, missed layups, etc. That’s where the game is lost. If the game comes down to the last play, you are at the mercy of the officials. Do you want to put yourself in that situation? You hope they call the play correctly but it’s not an easy job and there are misses.
5. It is still super frustrating to see this game decided on that screen call. Wrong call at the wrong time.

If UConn can stay healthy which seems to be a big lift for them, they will have a really good team next year. South Carolina is much deeper and physical. SU will be surprised if Iowa can keep it close on Sunday. Bueckers and Clark are great ambassadors for the sport going forward. SU is not an Angel Reese fan – trash talker supreme. She is disrespectful but SU knows that I am not of this generation and many love this stuff. Act like you’ve been there before. Respect the opponent. Is it so hard?

The Yankees are off to a good start but the warning signs are flashing. Loaisiga is now on the 60-day IL and you know he will not be back. Despite being 6-2, the run differential is only +4 and they have won games where line drives late in the game found a glove. SU loves the left-handed bats in the lineup – who would have thought that was a good idea?? Will Stanton get untracked before he gets the annual injury? At least he is thinner this year but at some point, SU hopes he has to earn the at bats to be in the lineup. Dominguez will return this summer and then we will see who is playing.

While the Mets looked horrible for the first 5+ games, they have now eked out a couple of wins. Remember this: teams are not as good as they look when they are winning, and they are not as bad as they look when they are losing. The truth is somewhere in between. It’s a really long season. But for Yankee fans, it’s never too early to start complaining!