When you’re a kid they tell you that it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. When you grow up, that gets bent to more closely resemble something you’ve heard a zillion times: “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Though Henry Russell Sanders was the one who said this, the statement is often misattributed to fabled Packers coach Vince Lombardi. Me, I think the right answer is something in the middle. To wit, I’d rather win than lose, and I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty, but at the end of the day, it’s really about the competition and the moment(s) of truth and the million little micro-competitions and mini-truths inside those competitions and moments. So, yeah, it sucks that the Raptors got bounced from the playoffs, but the Celtics probably deserved to win the series, and even though the season probably shouldn’t have been re-started at all, we’re glad that the world felt normal for a little while. Cheers and kudos, then, go to our beloved Toronto Raptors, who fought bravely and valiantly and will most certainly be good for years to come. Grudging respect is offered to the Celtics, who start four lottery picks. — DJ
#warmup
John Wall tossed up some gang signs and had to apologize. The Atlanta Braves scored 29 runs and didn’t. Albert Pujols is now tied with Willie Mays for fifth on the all-time home runs list but he may not ever hit a(nother) homer off Joe Kelly, who has a mild delusion that he’s targeted for death or something. Also: the Raptors extended Nick Nurse and Daniel Radcliffe read 2020’s worst tweets for Defector.
#queryncecampbell
What is the oldest NHL franchise to have never appeared in a conference finals?
#busterposer
Thanks to a base hit in his first major league at-bat, Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk landed himself (albeit near the bottom) on two all-time lists. After his MLB début, Kirk was tied for 58th place in career hits among catchers whose last name starts with K. Among catchers whose last name ends with K, he was tied for 62nd place in career hits. What two catchers are at the top of these two lists?
#kawhizleonard
Who is the only power forward to be on the All-NBA First Team, NBA All-Defensive First Team, and win NBA Finals MVP in the same season?
#randallcunninghmmm
Other than Tom Brady and Drew Brees, who are the only two NFL quarterbacks to start an Opening Week game while in their 40s?
#scoutingreport
They also referred to her as “a female” several times, which is both grammatically incorrect and also weird.
— from the Defector story on Danuel House’s weird exit from the bubble
That $25 million per year number is Batman money, and he’s never even been a team’s version of Robin.
— in which some Knicks blogger argues against signing Fred VanVleet
#queryncecampbell [answer]
The Toronto Maple Leafs have appeared in 22 NHL finals, but all of them occurred before the league expanded beyond the Original Six. Their appearances in those finals, then, pre-date the existence of the conference structure in the NHL.
#busterposer [answer]
Very useful catcher Jason Kendall leads all K-starting catchers with 2,195 hits. Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk has the most hits for a K-ending catcher with 2,356. Kendall and Fisk rank second and third overall, respectively, in hits while playing catcher.
#kawhizleonard [answer]
San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Tim Duncan won all three honours in the same season three times — 1999, 2003, and 2005. Others to achieve this include Michael Jordan (six times), Kobe Bryant (twice), LeBron James (twice), John Havlicek, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Willis Reed.
#randallcunninghmmm [answer]
Brett Favre (40 years, 334 days) started the opener of the 2010-2011 season for the Vikings, and Vinny Testaverde (40 years, 304 days) was under centre for the 2004-2005 Cowboys’ opening week game.
#postscript
We’re working on another round of trivia via Google Form for next issue. In the meantime, be a good egg and interact with this thing: click on the heart, leave comments, and share share share this thing with people you think may get a kick out of it. Oddball is a welcome distraction from the crushing weight of adult life, and as such, should be read by all.
Many thanks also to Clarence Campbell, Gerald Posey III, Kawhi Leonard, and Randall Cunningham for being named their names.
DJ/JY
This is me writing a test comment to see if I get an alert.
Thank you for a google search that resulted in Nazr Mohammad.