The Lo Down: Why ‘The Truth’ Still Gives Back to Boston + Other Facts from Last Week

Ten facts (sometimes more) to consider from the last week and the future on all things sports, media, news, indie and anything in between.

1.       Victor Martinez has struck out 9 times in this season.

He also has 11 homeruns so far this season. That’s more homeruns than strikeouts ; and is impressive considering we’re nearly 3 weeks in May. He’s also on my fantasy baseball team, point to me.

2.       The Indiana Pacers beat the Heat, 107 – 96.

Will the real Indiana Pacers please stand up? The once lost Pacers team are now found; or at least for Game 1 carving out an impressive victory. Had Miami not also shot an impressive 51.3% to Indiana’s 51.5% I might have an idea if this was a quality win or not; but I’ll have to just keep my eyes on Game 2. A few key things to make note of, Indiana received 37 free throws in comparisons to Miami’s 15 (looks like after all that 1^st seed in the Eastern Conference was worth it) and also Indiana’s limited shot selection only attempting 68 field goals (the average NBA team takes about 80 attempts per game).

3.       People still bring baseballs to games.

I bring one whenever I remember, to try to capture a signature; but clearly this kid has the technique down. Hello, ladies!

4.       Godzilla (the movie) was shot in 2D.

Thanks to the trusty marketing executives over there at ESPN I am well aware that the film Godzilla was released last Friday. Interestingly enough the cinematographer (man who directed the filming) isn’t a fan of 3D, and even advises you see his work in 2D and forgo the extra $2 or $3. With that said, Mr. McGarvey I respectfully disagree and look forward to watching huge monsters on the big screen.

5.       The Celtics have a $10 million dollar trade exception

Holding true to the methodology of my article, this is an indirect way of saying, Kevin Love season is upon us! There’s a lot of speculation and yet no public statement from Love himself yet; so I just can’t write “Kevin Love has requested a trade (to the Boston Celtics)”. But yes, we have a lottery pick, and we have a treasure trove of future draft picks, but what goes less publicized is the $10 million dollar trade exception gathered in last year’s Paul Pierce trade. The Captain is still giving back to his Alma mater, the trade exception allows the Celtics to take back $10 million more in salary in a trade than going out….so say we wanted to upgrade a $1 million dollar salary for a $11 million dollar salary player that accelerated upgrade would come courtesy of the trade exception.

6.       The Preakness welcomes 123,469 attendees this past weekend.

Of course those 13 other people had to show up, sparing us from an awesome number of 123,456! But even more controversial for at least a hot second, was California Chrome’s nasal strip, yes – exactly what you’re thinking. Luckily the Belmont has permitted California Chrome’s nasal strip usage and we’ll have a chance to welcome a Triple Crown winner come June 7^th. Oh and if you weren’t aware, California Chrome won the Preakness.\

7.       The Mountain (Game of Thrones) almost was an NFL player.

Game of Thrones nerd alert, but if you watched last weekend’s episode the man playing Sir Gregor Clegane could have been an NFL lineman; but the contract never came to fruition and as a result his career deceased; just like his character come 2 weeks when Prince Oberyn wipes the floor with this chump. Look, I warned you this entire paragraph is GOT nerd-talk (no shame). And for those of you that don’t think the 1 min clip does it justice, thanks to the miracles of the internet, here’s the full scene – to be continued in two weeks…what say you Bart Scott?

8.       Michael Sam will defer the taping of his show.

Oprah is powerful, but not as powerful as the NFL. Earlier this week it was announced that a documentary would be taped following Michael Sam on his journey as the first openly-gay NFL player. This is great, and could serve as a role model for future athletes but there’s one problem…as a 7^th round pick there is no guarantee Sam even makes the team. This postponement is the right move, and perhaps a series to follow after making the roster.

9.       Two guys named “Mike” hit homeruns.

Mike Trout added to his storied career hitting his first ever walk off home run. In real life I’m happy for him, hopefully this gets him going as his statistics have leveled off since a torrid start to the season; he’s a special player and I wish him well. In fantasy life, he’s not on my team so I hope his bat is as cold as February in the County (for those readers from “away” the county is slang for Aroostook). Then a few days later Michael Brantley decided to join in the fun adding his own career walk-off homerun. And while Trout cooled, Brantley has continued to hit on-pace for a career year in all categories.

10.   Torii Hunter has played Major League Baseball for over 17 years.

And yet this Sunday was a set of firsts for Torii, first the Tiger’s sweep of the Red Sox in Boston was the first since 1993. And then the travel itinerary Torii experienced along with teammates, he paraphrased “I’ve never experienced anything like it in nearly 20 years of playing baseball” with a canceled flight players left the chartered flight and returned to a Boston hotel at 3:30 AM only to return later that day to fly out and arrive a few hours before a 7:05 PM start in Cleveland (Do you earn mileage on chartered flights, maybe Masahiro Tanaka knows?)

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