Screen Shots: May 22nd-28th, 2025

Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what sporting events you should watch on TV every week! Make sure you subscribe so it comes straight to your inbox! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

Super cool episode last week! Announced the first-ever BTA sponsor, Turn The Paige Travel. It was a great time to do it, as I also recapped my trip to Atlanta to watch my Dodgers take on the Braves. Got some footage from both games that I attended, plus extra special bonus footage of my dog Kobe’s trip to a dog-friendly convenience store. Tap in!

Now, to the sports!

Thursday, May 22nd, 2025

• NBA Playoffs: Minnesota Timberwolves @ Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:30 pm (ET) on ESPN

Game 2 of the first Western Conference Finals since 1996 to not feature a team from California or Texas. Interestingly enough, the Thunder participated in that one as the still-missed Seattle SuperSonics. Both of these teams are looking for a shot at redemption after being taken out last year by the version of Luka Doncic that got Nico Harrison death threats. It should be a good one as they split their season series at 2 games apiece.

Friday, May 23rd, 2025

• WNBA: Connecticut Sun @ Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 pm (ET) on ION

The usual suspects for the Lynx have picked right back up where they left off last season (and during Unrivaled!), and they’ve been joined by a familiar face. Jessica Shepherd missed all of last season due to violating the WNBA’s prioritization rules, but is back where she’s spent her W career and making up for lost time. She missed 3 shots combined over the first two games en route to averaging 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. She won the 2018 national championship at Notre Dame alongside Sun G Marina Mabrey, who I hope did not see my tweet about her involvement in this kerfuffle. However, I know the perfect way to smooth things over if she did.

Saturday, May 24th, 2025

• WNBA: New York Liberty @ Indiana Fever at 1:00 pm (ET) on CBS

It’s early, but I’m fully prepared to overreact. When was the last time a player joined a defending champion with their core intact and looked like the biggest difference maker on the court in game 1? That’s exactly what Natasha Cloud did during the Liberty’s season-opening win over the Aces. Yes, she filled up the stat sheet, but the energy she brought was even more important. Shockingly, the 33-year-old Cloud has yet to make an all-star team, but that streak will end if she keeps this up.

• MLB: Baltimore Orioles @ Boston Red Sox at 4:10 pm (ET) on FS1

Baseball comes at you fast. The Orioles have nearly flip-flopped records compared to their previous 2 seasons through this point, leading to the firing of manager Brandon Hyde. Red Sox manager Alex Cora might be on the hot seat himself. After his 2020 slap on the wrist suspension for his involvement in robbing my Dodgers of not one, but two World Series titles, Boston has been about a .500 ball club. If he doesn’t get this turned around quickly, he might end up right back where he started.

Sunday, May 25th, 2025

• IndyCar Series: Indianapolis 500 at 12:00 pm (ET) on Fox

In 1936, after winning his 3rd Indy 500, Louis Meyer drank a glass bottle of buttermilk in victory lane. The thought of this absolutely disgusts me, but these lunatics made it a tradition. I am not a huge IndyCar person at all, but the Indy 500 does remind me of legendary fiction IndyCar star A.J. Ferguson from the ultimate misogyny-busting movie from my childhood, The Little Rascals.

As you know, the “He-Man Womun (sic) Haters Club” run by the gang almost caused Alfalfa to lose his love, Darla, to rich dork Waldo. Ironically, Bug Hall, who played Alfalfa, managed to miss the message of the movie entirely. Probably spent too much time with Waldo’s dad.

• NBA Playoffs: New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers at 8:00 pm (ET) on TNT

Speaking of things from my childhood, these teams faced off against each other 6 times between 1993 and 2000, including 3 times in the Eastern Conference Finals. Neither of them walking away with an NBA Championship is a testament to the strength of the dynasties that were active at the time. The good news for both is that that’s no longer the case! For the first time in NBA history, we will see the 7th different NBA Champion in as many seasons. They’ll have to survive this series first, so the stakes are high, the fans still hate each other, and Pacers legend/Knicks killer Reggie Miller will be on the call!

Monday, May 26th, 2025

• On This Day In Sports History: In 1987, Bird Stole The Ball

The Detroit Pistons are up 107-106, and are 5 seconds away from beating the Boston Celtics to go up 3 games to 2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Even better, they have the ball. They seem poised to steal a game at the Garden and head home needing just one win to make their first NBA Finals appearance. All they have to do is get the ball inbounds.

Of course, some things are easier said than done. Star PG Isiah Thomas, one of the best passers in league history, attempted to inbound the ball to Bill Laimbeer. Larry Bird anticipated it perfectly, intercepted the pass, and tossed it to teammate Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup. I’ve heard Johnny Most’s call of the moment roughly 8 million times.

You want to know how great winning is? Nobody remembers why the Pistons had the ball in the first place. In fact, Larry Bird had just missed a shot that would have given the Celtics the lead. The scramble for the rebound ended up with the loose ball going out of bounds off somebody, but the referees decided it was Pistons’ ball. Isiah rushed the inbounds pass, didn’t see Bird lurking, and the rest is history. The line between hero and goat is that thin.

Tuesday, May 27th, 2025

• MLB:  Atlanta Braves @ Philadelphia Phillies at 6:45 pm (ET) on TBS

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the touching story of 12-year-old Prince Bailey meeting Jose Alvarado after TV cameras caught Bailey imitating the Phillies closer’s every pitch. Well, unfortunately, Bailey just learned the very same lesson I did when I was his age: your favorite baseball players LOVE performance-enhancing drugs. Alvarado will miss the next 80 regular-season games after testing positive for testosterone. New MLB rules make players who get popped for PEDs ineligible for postseason play as well.

I actually learned about the postseason ban after Braves OF Jurickson Profar was suspended at the beginning of the season for testing positive. Perhaps we all should have been suspicious when Profar, at the age of 31, had his first-ever All-Star season while playing on a 1-year $1 million deal for the Padres. The Braves were not, and signed him to a 3-year, $42 million contract this offseason. Huh. Tune in to watch Alvarado and Profar not play!

Wednesday, May 28th, 2025

• WNBA: Indiana Fever @ Washington Mystics at 7:30 pm (ET) on NBA TV

Being a rookie in the WNBA is not for the faint of heart. You get virtually no break after your college season, you’re expected to learn a new system in an abbreviated preseason, and you’re fighting for a spot with established pros in the toughest league to make. As a result, the number of WNBA rookies who have come in and made big contributions immediately is few and far between. It’s even more rare to have two rookies do this on the same team, but that’s exactly what the Mystics have in Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.

The 3rd and 4th picks in this year’s draft have helped what is supposed to be a team in rebuild mode get off to a fast start. Citron was drafted for both her shooting and defense, but has displayed a more confident, all-around offensive arsenal than we saw from her at Notre Dame. Iriafen had an up-and-down senior season at Southern Cal, but has shown up in D.C. looking like the player who was the best PF in the nation as a junior at Stanford. Is Sydney Johnson’s team suddenly a title contender? Well, no. But the future is bright!

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