Catching Up
I was gone for a week, so let's walk through what happened in my absence.
One week ago, I wrote about the Dallas Stars’ 5-2 Game 3 win over the Winnipeg Jets to go up 2-1 in the series. That was my last post of the week as I went on a seven day hiatus due to a short trip to Orlando to visit family and Mickey Mouse’s wonderful abode (I’m assuming he lives in that big, beautiful castle. Might be wrong about that, though.)
In all seriousness, the stuff that Mickey Mouse and the gang got going on in Florida is otherworldly. The Star Wars rides in Hollywood Studios are next level, with Rise of the Resistance being one of the most impressive theme park rides I’ve ever seen. Animal Kingdom is absolutely gorgeous, with Pandora having a wonderful aesthetic that makes you feel like you're walking on another planet. Magic Kingdom is as advertised, making every person there to enjoy the park feel the magic that Disney promises. There’s a reason that Walt Disney World is the most visited theme park in the world, and I was able to see that first hand over this past weekend.
That being said, however, I was unable to achieve my sole goal of my visit to Florida, which was to purchase a lightsaber while at Hollywood Studios. After a quick search, we found where one goes to purchase such a saber but found out that the price is literally out of this world. It’s a shame, really, because I would be so awesome with a lightsaber. Alas, it was not meant to be.
SethStack is not a site that writes about amusement parks, however, so it’s time to return to some normal programming. Before I do that, I think it’s appropriate to catch up on all that transpired over the past week and change in the sports world. There was a lot that went on, and it’s my goal today to recap it all in succinct fashion.
Let’s do this.
Stars Advance to Western Conference Finals
For the third consecutive season, the Dallas Stars will be making a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
There’s no doubt that over the past six years, the Stars have been one of the most successful teams in hockey. That fact, however, comes with one important caveat: they still haven’t managed to win a Stanley Cup since 1999.
Perhaps that all changes in 2025, as the Stars won 2-1 on Saturday night in Game 6 against the Winnipeg Jets to win their second round series four games to two. Oh, how sweet that is.
Dallas had far and away been the better team throughout the entirety of the series prior to Game 6, but given the stinker that they laid in Game 5 up in Manitoba, there was some uncertainty regarding how well they were going to play back home. Those fears continued to manifest themselves as the team shot out of a cannon to start the contest but still didn’t manage to put any pucks into the back of the net.
It’s those types of starts that can be the most frustrating for a team and a fan. All the chances are there, it’s just the finishing touch that is lacking. What makes them all the more infuriating is that there’s always that lingering feeling that despite the immense pressure that your team has put on the opponent, it only takes one goal to swing the momentum completely.
On Saturday night at the American Airlines Center, that’s what appeared to be happening.
In the first several minutes of the second period of a scoreless game, Winnipeg remembered that they were the best team in hockey in the regular season and started to get their mojo back. With the Stars now on their heels, the Jets capitalized, as Mark Scheifele gathered up a rebound and shot it past Jake Oettinger to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead.
Before I get into anything else, it’s important to talk about Scheifele’s game on Saturday night. Scheifele’s father, Brad, passed away during the night prior to Saturday, with Scheifele and the team finding out early in the morning. Obviously, Scheifele’s status for Game 6 was uncertain at that point, but he still decided to play to honor his father. Seeing him score that opening goal was extremely moving. It’s a cliché to call some things “bigger than sports” but Scheifele’s experience on Saturday absolutely was.
And then, after the game, with the Stars celebrating on the ice after Thomas Harley’s overtime goal sent Dallas into the Western Conference Final, Scheifele sat alone in the penalty box with his head down and shoulder’s slumped. One has to think that the weight of the world was on him in that moment, but not for long, as his teammates pulled him out of the box to let him know that he was loved and not alone.
The ensuing handshake line — one of the best aspects of the Stanley Cup Playoff experience — was also beautiful, as each Stars player and coach individually expressed their condolences to Scheifele.
With no easy way to transition from that tragic story, I’ll say this: Sports provide us with all the entertainment one can ask for, but it’s in the moments where real life invades the games that we all need to step back and remember that it is indeed just a game.
After that opening goal by Scheifele, the Stars were in an early hole, which was a tough pill to swallow given how good they played in the first period. On top of that, climbing out of the pit they’d been thrown in was going to be an incredibly difficult task as Winnipeg had played their best hockey when up in games.
The Stars managed to do it anyway.
Sam Steele — perhaps the most non-threatening forward on the Stars roster —propelled Dallas right back into the game when he collected a long rebound and shot it over Connor Hellebuyck’s glove. You could argue that that shot was one that Hellebuyck would like to have back, but it was still a great shot from Steele, and he was rewarded for it.
With the score still even at 1-1 as the third period waned, Steele made his presence known again when he managed to get behind the defense and attempted to score a breakaway goal with less than 30 seconds to go in regulation. Scheifele, who was the only reason that the game was level — at least from a Jets’ perspective — made a last-ditch effort to stop Steele and managed to trip him in the process. A penalty was called, and the crowd held their breath as they awaited word for whether a penalty shot was going to be awarded to Steele. On paper, it appeared that the play fit all the criteria for a penalty shot. But the referees on the ice felt differently, and the Stars were given a two-minute man advantage instead.
Once again, the Stars power play, which had been (and still is) the best in the playoffs thus far, had the opportunity to win a game. And win a game it did.
In the dying seconds of the two-minute Scheifele minor in overtime, the Stars shot the puck into the offensive zone, and Mason Marchment and Tyler Seguin battled for it against the boards. The puck bounced out to Seguin who saw a wide-open Thomas Harley in the slot. He passed it over to Harley, who then reared back just a little bit and shot it towards the net.
It went in.
The crowd erupted.
Thomas Harley jumped for joy.
The Stars were going to the Western Conference Finals, again.
There, the Edmonton Oilers are waiting. Last season, the Stars fell to the Oilers in that same round of the playoffs. Yes, a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals is on the line for both teams, but for the Stars there’s a little more at stake: redemption.
Rangers Figuring it Out?
When I last wrote about the Texas Rangers, they’d just lost a series in Boston and were heading to Detroit to face the best team in the American League. Even after the firing of Donnie Ecker and hiring of Bret Boone, the offense was still a miserable watch. Things were looking bleak.
Then all of a sudden, a switch seemed to flip in Detroit. After getting absolutely rocked by Tarik Skubal in the opening game of the series, the Rangers won the final two games in the Motor City. Back home against the Colorado Rockies, the Rangers did what every team needs to do against the worst team in baseball and won all three games. The hated Houston Astros then made the short trip up to Arlington for four games, and the Rangers won two of them.
When I last wrote about the team, the Rangers were 18-20. Now, they’re 25-23 and in third place in the AL West.
Not everything is completely fixed. The offense still has its moments of pure ineptitude and the bullpen has come back down to earth a bit after a sizzling start. Those two facets of the game caused the team to lose two of those four games against the Astros when they probably should’ve won all four.
What hasn’t changed, however, is the dominant starting pitching. Man, it’s amazing to watch those five dudes go out there every day and shove. Of all the things I expected to see from the Rangers in 2025, a fantastic starting rotation was not on the list.
Here are the pitching lines for Rangers starters over the past week:
Tyler Mahle vs. Colorado Rockies (May 12): 6 1/3 IP, 4 H,1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Jack Leiter vs. Colorado Rockies (May 13): 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Patrick Corbin vs. Colorado Rockies (May 14): 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 9 K
Jacob deGrom vs. Houston Astros (May 15): 8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
Nathan Eovaldi vs. Houston Astros (May 16): 5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Tyler Mahle vs. Houston Astros (May 17): 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Jack Leiter vs. Houston Astros (May 18): 7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K
Three Rangers’ starters sit in the top 12 in the league in ERA, with Tyler Mahle in fourth at 1.47, Nathan Eovaldi in sixth at 1.61, and Jacob deGrom in 11th at 2.29.
Amazing. Keep it up guys.
A road trip to New York to face the Yankees this week, followed by a trip back to Chicago to play the White Sox and Will Venable is on the docket and will tell us a lot about how real this turnaround is. Only time will tell.
Scottie Scheffler Wins the PGA Championship
I am no golf expert, and am certainly not good at playing it. I laid that out explicitly in my short little recap about The Masters about a month ago.
But watching greatness doesn’t require one to be an expert. All it takes is a pair of working eyes.
Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer that I’ve seen in my lifetime. While he may not be the most entertaining golfer to watch, the fantastic play makes up for it as he continued to just deliver fantastic shot after fantastic shot over this past weekend in Charlotte.
Here’s Scheffler’s last four seasons, which has just been an incredible display of amazingness and fantastic play over and over and over again:
18 wins (9 since March 10, 2024)
3 majors
1 Olympic gold medal
Only four missed cuts in 82 starts
Around $75 million earned on the PGA Tour
141 weeks as the number one golfer in the world
My words are not enough to describe Scheffler’s great play, so I’ll hand it off to Kyle Porter, who had this great comparison on Twitter the other day:
“I’m sure the comp has been made, but Scottie is Tim Duncan. Never going to run you out of the gym or dunk all over you. Just going to wear you down with consistent greatness. Great winner, great champion. The fact that it’s boring is very much the point.”
Kyle Porter via Twitter
Mavericks Win the NBA Draft Lottery
So, yeah, that’s what’s been happening in the sports world. At least the sports world that I surround myself in. Yes, I could write about the NBA Playoffs, but I have no interest in that, so my words about the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Denver Nuggets in seven games or the New York Knicks overcoming the giant that is the Boston Celtics would mean nothing. Those things happened, though, so it’s important to at least shout it out.
Wait. I think I might be forgetting something.
Oh, yeah! The Dallas Mavericks might be the luckiest franchise in the universe after winning the draft lottery and being handed a potential generational star in Cooper Flagg.
Getting the opportunity to draft Flagg after the colossal failure of a season that the Mavericks induced upon themselves is a stroke of luck that not even the best poker player in the world could muster. For Nico Harrison and the front office to be bailed out from their horrible decision making by some rinky dink ping pong balls makes me sick. But at the same time, I’m elated.
I desperately want to cheer on the Mavericks again, and Flagg’s arrival in Dallas (which has not officially happened yet so I’m not fully committed to saying that it’s a done deal) makes the team one that can compete for a championship once again. This is the real “win now” move that Nico was talking about. Except it wasn’t even a move. It was just something that happened to the Mavericks. Oh well, I’m sure Nico Harrison will still take credit for it anyways.
It’ll be interesting to see how Flagg fits in with Anthony Davis, Derek Lively, and Daniel Gafford. This team is really built on defense now (hey, defense does apparently win championships) and definitely needs to get a primary ball handler and scorer to supplement the team while Kyrie Irving recovers from his torn ACL. Regardless of that need, the Mavericks should be a much more interesting watch than they were down the stretch of the 2024-25 campaign. And for that, I’m extremely thankful.
Thank you basketball gods, you might have just roped me back into watch your sport again! Huh, maybe I will write about the NBA after all.
Tottenham Hotspur moving onto Europa League final
It’s been a tough season for Spurs. As I’m writing this, they find themselves in 17th place in the English Premier League — one spot clear of relegation — with just 38 points. For a club that has so much history, prestige, and most importantly, financial capital, finishing in the bottom half of the table is simply not up to the high standards that the team should have for itself.
Personally, my Tottenham Hotspur fandom, which has honestly consisted of sometimes watching them and most of the time not, began in June of last year. I wanted to get invested in the club side of soccer, and Spurs was my pick. I’m not backing out on it now just because they decided to stink up the joint in my inaugural season of fandom.
The one bright spot for Spurs has been their run through the Europa League, UEFA’s secondary club competition. While they’ve been bleeding points nationally, the international success has buoyed a campaign that otherwise has been pretty bleak.
Tottenham’s Europa League run became even more important once it became apparent that a top-four finish in the Premier League was not going to materialize. With a Europa League title meaning automatic qualification for next year’s Champions League, winning it became goal number one for Spurs.
Now they are just one win away from realizing that goal after completing a 2-0 win over Bodø/Glimt in the second leg of the two game set back on May 8. The championship game will come against fellow English club Manchester United, which also finds itself in a middling (terrible is actually a better word for it, honestly) domestic season and is desperate for an invitation to Europe’s top club competition next season.
The championship game is on May 21. I will be tuned in, hoping for my Spurs to clinch a berth in next year’s Champions League, however improbable that might sound.
May is an underrated month for sports. With the NHL and NBA playoffs in full swing, as well as MLB kicking into high gear, there’s a lot to keep an eye on. The golf season is also finding its stride, and the club soccer season (at least internationally) is about to reach its end. Needless to say, there’s a lot to keep an eye on.
All that and more will be covered on SethStack in the coming weeks. My goal throughout the summer is to continue unloading good sports coverage on the site for y’all, all for the convenient price of $0. What a good deal!
Thanks everybody for all the support on SethStack. It’s been such a blessing to share my thoughts, opinions, feelings, and ideas about sports. So, cheers to all of you wonderful readers! Without you, none of this would be possible.