General

Shanoff’s WUC: Moms, LeBron, LT, Yanks-BoSox

May 7, 2010, 11:54 AM UTC

Today’s Calls: Moms vs. the World, LeBron vs. Elbows, Dwight Howard vs. the Hawks, Lawrence Taylor vs. the Law, JaMarcus Russell vs. Humiliation, Roy Halladay vs. Andre Ethier, Yankees vs. Red Sox, Tiger vs. Sawgrass, NBA Draft vs. Early Entrants, Penn State vs. its Student Section, Detlef Schrempf vs. Pop Culture Relevance and More.â†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: Big year for moms in sports so far.â†µ

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â†µIt opened with Tim Tebow's mom, Pam, starring in a Super Bowl ad.â†µ

â†µâ†µKultida Woods might get some “Mom of the Year” nominations for sticking by her son Tiger during his February made-for-TV apologia. The disappointment on her face was the most humanizing part of the whole spectacle.â†µ

â†µâ†µMost recently, Dez Bryant’s mom, Angela, was in the middle of the NFL news cycle. (If someone asked you the same question Jeff Ireland asked Dez Bryant, you would probably not have shown as much restraint as Bryant did.)â†µ

â†µâ†µYou have to believe LeBron James’ mom, Gloria, has a mother’s worry about her son’s elbow heading into tonight’s game. (Although if his elbow really is injured enough to cost the Cavs the series, every Cleveland fan has mom-level worry.)â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd JaMarcus Russell’s mom -- there with him on Draft Day 2007 -- has to be hurting for her son, not just for the release but for the mockery. Hopefully, your mom would be, too.â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s not always about the tough times: Sheryl Howard, Dwight’s mom, must have been thrilled at her son’s dominant 29 and 17 last night. Not much can match a mom’s pride.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd I’m sure there will be plenty of moms taking sides in this weekend’s Yankees-Red Sox series -- not just players’ moms, but among the fans, too.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe point is that moms offer the unconditional support -- athletes illustrate that better than anyone. So the least you could do is call yours on Sunday. â†µ

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â†µNBA Playoff Mania: It's all about LeBron's elbow. There is one mitigating factor to my "Title or Fail" expectations for LeBron; if he is injured, he just isn't the same player (and the Cavs aren't the same team). Huge game in Boston tonight.â†µ

â†µâ†µLast Night: Dwight Howard exploded for 29 pts and 17 reb in another Magic win. Things could change for the Hawks when the series moves to Atlanta, but right now it doesn’t look good for them in this series.â†µ

â†µâ†µLawrence Taylor charged with rape: This was THE sports story of the day yesterday, simultaneously shocking ... yet not-so-shocking, if you recall all the things about LT’s lifestyle. That’s one of Florio’s big points in his analysis.â†µ

â†µâ†µRaiders release JaMarcus: Let’s be charitable. Russell’s status as a flop -- perhaps the biggest draft bust ever -- has more to do with the Raiders than the player. Let’s give him another shot with a more stable coaching staff.â†µ

â†µâ†µBengals sign Pac-Man: Presuming he has 32 games in a 2-year contract, what’s the over-under on the number of games he plays before there is some kind of “incident?” I’ll take “1” -- something happening between now and Week 1.â†µ

â†µâ†µMLB Talking Points: I think MLB’s pink takeover on Mother’s Day is my favorite marketing gimmick in sports. Pink bats, pink batting gloves, pink shoes, pink bases. The NFL did it this year, and it was cool. But MLB was there first.â†µ

â†µâ†µMore:â†µ

â†µâ†µ• 6th W for Halladay: Biggest yet.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Walk-off Watch: Ethier grand slam.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Has Milton Bradley finally lost it?â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Near-No-No for Nats: Into 8th.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Fantasy Stud: Vlad! (2 HR, 4 RBI)â†µ

â†µâ†µ• RIP: Philly ace Robin Robertsâ†µ

â†µâ†µ• Weekend Watch: Yankees-Red Sox, obviously.â†µ

â†µâ†µNHL Playoffs: Franzen!â†µ

â†µâ†µTiger Watch: Good news and bad news at Sawgrass. The good news for Tiger is that he is only 4 strokes off the lead. The bad news is that his 2-under 70 was still behind three dozen players on an unusually forgiving course.â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Draft: Last chance to withdraw, players! On the one hand, you really want to get into the pros now, before they slam the door next summer. On the other, it is as loaded of a draft -- 0 to 60 -- as there has ever been. If you’re a fringe prospect, it could get ugly for you. Jevan Snead ugly. Then again, there’s a strong case to be made that if you want a pro career, you’re better off in the D-League than spending another year playing college basketball. (The college teams, of course, would like to keep these players as long as possible.)â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Awards Season: All-NBA included 4 usual suspects (LeBron, Kobe, Howard, Wade) and one breakthrough: Kevin Durant, who could be an All-NBA staple for the next decade. Interesting to see Andrew Bogut make the 3rd team.â†µ

â†µâ†µStadiums and Student Sections: Terrific analysis by Brian Cook about the impact -- or not -- of Penn State moving its student section. The school contends it will be louder; the seats are futher away from the field.â†µ

â†µâ†µScandals: Does the NFL hold teams (and team execs) to a different standard than players?â†µ

â†µâ†µPop Culture: Detlef Schrempf was on “Parks & Recreation” last night. Enough said.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, with a special shout-out to my mom, my wife (mother of our two kids), my mother-in-law (who has offered to buy me my first Tebow Broncos jersey) and my gram.â†µ

â†µâ†µDan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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