Flint Township View

A big Belmont win for the fat guy, a COVID shocker in the golf world and updates on the NHL and NBA playoffs

Fat Guy Corner


 

 

The Belmont Stakes horse I picked, Rock Your World, did not win the Belmont. I am so glad at the last minute I changed my mind and wagered on Essential Quality. I really need to thank a friend of mine who swayed my opinion and convinced me Essential Quality was the horse. Essential Quality, was also the Kentucky Derby favorite to win and ran fourth in the race. I will say, Essential Quality was the best horse on Saturday evening and the fat guy made a little “Cheddar” for his choice of Essential Quality!

The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont were all won by three different horses in 2021.

The NHL Playoffs are in round two and we have two real good series taking place on the ice. The Boston Bruins and New York Islanders have played tremendous hockey. The Islanders currently hold a 3-2 series lead over the favored Bruins. I picked Boston to win but really would love to see the Islanders pull off the upset.

The Las Vegas and Colorado series is deadlocked at 2-2 and these two teams might be the best two teams left in the playoffs. It’s a shame one of these will lose in round two and be on the golf course playing golf.

The real shame is the games start so late and lots of hockey fans have not got to watch this series. I will say, winner of game five is the winner of the series, and I am pulling for Colorado to win. I never thought as a Detroit Red Wing fan I would be pulling for Colorado to win but I am.

The Tampa Bay Lightening have a 3-1 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes and will win this series because they are offensively better than Carolina.

The Montreal Canadiens swept the Winnipeg Jets 4-0. The Winnipeg team was a total embarrassment in this series. Can the Montreal Canadiens pull off a miracle in the next round and make the Stanley Cup Finals? I will say, it shows that if you get in the playoffs anything can happen. Montreal is proving it right now.

The Jon Rahm story took the golf world by storm over the weekend. Jon Rahm after Saturday’s third round had a six stroke lead and was on cruise control. There was no doubt he would win the Memorial golf tournament.

However, the golf world was stunned when he had to withdraw because he was COVID positive. The news was stunning to say the least.

Rahm was told by contact tracing he had been in close contact with a person who had tested positive for COVID. The fact that Rahm had tested negative the previous days and then on Saturday tested positive was so unfortunate. I feel bad for Rahm, but the protocols have been in place since the tour restarted last summer. Some people say they should have let him play as solo on Sunday. I say, absolutely not! The protocols are in place and those should be followed. It would have been a non-issue if Rahm was 10 shots off the lead and had to withdraw. The golfer who benefitted the most was Patrick Cantlay, who won a playoff over Collin Morikawa.

The second round of the NBA has hit the hardwood. The Western Conference has the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets facing off. Thank you to Phoenix for taking out LeBron and the L.A. Lakers. I think Phoenix defeats the Denver basketball team.

The other matchup is Utah and L.A. Clippers in the Western Conference. I think these two teams are even, and I will side with the Utah Jazz to win. The Eastern Conference has New Jersey and Milwaukee playing and New Jersey is up 2-0 and will win this series.

The Atlanta and Philadelphia series will be a good one, I believe. I will take the Philadelphia 76ers to win.

I can be reached at thefatguy@mihomepaper.com.