Mitchell Robinson has gone from a rookie project who was headed for G-League action to starting center. One of the more reserved rookies in the NBA and famous for his one-sentence answers to the media, the 20-year-old “Cajun Kid� is letting his hair down and now doing shows. Robinson will appear in a
What’s it like when all of Boston comes together to celebrate the World Series champs? These photos and tweets tell the story.
From wild outfits to epic speeches, championship parades are never dull. We look at some of the best as the Red Sox take their turn on the stage.
The Predators activated goalie Pekka Rinne from injured reserve on Wednesday.
No need to gamble to become a millionaire in Las Vegas. Just beat a field of 132 players at this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which offers 500 FedExCup points and a $1.26 million first prize to the winner. Better hope that Lady Luck – or in this case, the golf gods – are on your side. THE FLYOVER The 444-yard par-4 18th ends a terrific four-hole closing stretch at TPC Summerlin. Playing to a stroke average of 4.118 last year, the 18th is a challenging hole, with water guarding the left side of the green. A year ago, Patrick Cantlay won the Shriners despite suffering a double bogey (third round) and bogey (final round) at the 18th on the weekend. LANDING ZONE Since 2010, the hardest hole each year at TPC Summerlin has been the 492-yard par-4 third, which was once a par 5. A year ago, the hole played to a stroke average of 4.324, which made it the 14th toughest par 4 among the 551 that were played during the season. A double fairway to a slightly uphill green into a prevailing wind can play havoc with approach shots. Here’s a look at where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Brad Nelson: “Mostly sunny skies with some high clouds can be expected for the first round on Thursday with warmer temperatures topping out in the upper 70s. Winds turn from northwest to northeast and increase to 8-14 mph. Mostly sunny skies can then be expected the rest of the week with some more high clouds on Sunday. Temperatures warm back to above normal with highs in the upper 70s to near 80F. After a day of light winds on Friday, north-northeast winds pick up to 10-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph on Saturday. Winds then turn southeast and become light for the final round on Sunday.� For the latest weather news from Las Vegas, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK The worst performance that I ever had in college golf.They all followed me. BY THE NUMBERS 66.93 – Scrambling percentage for the 2017-18 season for Webb Simpson, who led the PGA TOUR in that category. 67.75 – Rickie Fowler’s scoring average at TPC Summerlin, the lowest of any player since 2009. 23 – Career Shriners starts by Davis Love III, who is making his 24th start this week. Love won by a tournament-record eight strokes in 1993. 1991 – Year in which Chip Beck shot 59 in the third round. It was the second of the 10 sub-60 rounds in TOUR history. SCATTERSHOTS Tony Finau is coming off a playoff loss to Xander Schauffele at last week’s World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China. He’ll seek to become the first time since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win a tournament the week after losing a playoff. That year, Spieth lost a playoff at the Houston Open prior to winning the Masters. Speaking of last week … Cameron Champ comes off his first TOUR win in his ninth start (and just his second as a TOUR member). “Still kind of sinking in a little bit, kind of everything that I just did,� said Champ, who had eight drives of 340 yards or longer in winning the Sanderson Farms Championship. In his 35 previous tournament debuts, Jordan Spieth has won once (the 2017 Travelers Championship) and finished second five other times. A number of players in this week’s field have ties to Las Vegas, including residents Ryan Moore, Kevin Na, Charley Hoffman and Aaron Wise, who was named this week as the PGA TOUR’s Rookie of the Year. Another player with Vegas connection is Shintaro Ban, a first-team All-American for UNLV in 2018 who won four tournaments in his senior season.
We’ve only seen the Timberwolves’ first-round pick appear in five games, but my goodness has he been impressive. Okogie was a relatively unknown prospect heading into the draft ouf of Georgia Tech. He climbed rankings and mock drafts after the combine and now we’re seeing why. His energy
Now that LeBron James is out West, who takes over the Eastern Conference throne? In the spirit of election season, we polled a handful of scouts and executives.
In an informal poll, it’s Kawhi Leonard vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo for the conference’s top honor.
All the schools. All the conferences. Needless to say we have all your aesthetic college hoops needs covered.
Cameron Champ was born in a state best known for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and the Silicon Valley’s innovative technology but as it turns out, he’s a country boy at heart. “It’s funny because I’m from California but I live in Texas and my friends always make fun of me because I drive a big truck and wear boots and Wranglers,â€� Champ explains with a shy smile. That truck is a lifted 2016 Chevy with a Duramax engine that Champ recently had rebuilt. Someday, he wants to be able to do all the work himself – he calls it his “escapeâ€� — but right now the PGA TOUR rookie is too busy winning golf tournaments to spend his days picking up a wrench and looking under the hood. Champ turned plenty of heads last week with a bevy of powerful drives that lifted him to victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship in only his second start on TOUR. But don’t look for him to splurge on a Ferrari or a Porsche any time soon. “I’m different,â€� Champ says. “I’d rather build something versus like guys going out and getting (a fancy car). “Obviously that’d be nice luxury to have but I’m more of like build an old classic like a ’69 Camaro or a ’78 Charger … or even an early 2000s decent car but then build up faster than those. I’m just that kind of guy.â€� Champ’s cousin Brian Wolf and a family friend he calls Uncle Tim who used to drag race fostered his interest in tinkering with cars. Several of his friends in the Lone Star State – Champ attended Texas A&M and has settled in San Antonio – like working on diesels, too. One thing he has noticed in working around cars is that there is always something better, bigger and faster on the horizon. “It’s almost like a cult in a sense,â€� Champ says with a grin. “Just because it’s like, they always want to do something. There’s always something wrong. Always something that you want to fix. “So, yeah, it’s been fun. It’s kind of like I said, my escape when I’m home. That’s kind of all I look forward to.â€� On the rare occasion these days when Champ is home in Texas he likes to study how engines go together. His cousin, who can take an engine apart and put it back together in a matter of days, is a valuable resource. “I’m still in that learning aspect of doing all that myself,â€� he explains. “When I’m home alone, I’ll just look up how to do things just to learn because I haven’t fully built an engine myself yet which is something I want to do one day.â€� Eventually, Champ plans to get a builder car that he can find ways to enhance. He finds the work “peacefulâ€� and says he’s always enjoyed putting things together, even as a child. “I just kind of finished mine and it’s more of a daily driver,â€� Champ says. “But I want something faster. That’s how everyone I know in the racing industry is the same way. So it’s just kind of like a second love besides golf.â€� Champ has seen videos of Uncle Tim drag racing, and he’s also been to Sonoma Raceway several times. He likes Formula One racing and will watch NASCAR events, although he’s not as much of a fan of that sport. Television shows like the Discovery Channel’s docu-reality series “Street Outlaws,â€� which offers an inside look at drag racing both on the road and behind the scenes in cities across the country, are also among Champ’s favorites. “So it’s just kind of all just added up,â€� Champ says simply. Down the road, the 23-year-old sees himself potentially collecting cars. The low-key rookie would just like to add to his bank account before making any big purchases, though. “It’s a very expensive hobby,â€� Champ explains. “So I say just starting slow with my own and just kind of go from there.â€� The way things are going right now, though, he might be able to add to his collection sooner rather than later.  Â
