Welcome to Tuesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.
WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY TUESDAY:
NHL Playoffs: Lightning at Bruins, 8 p.m. (VERSUS)
MLB: Orioles at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI)
AROUND THE WEB:
♦ Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who left an NFL analyst job with ESPN in 2003 after saying that Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media was “very desirous that a black quarterback do well,” came to the defense of the Redskins quarterback this month. Boxer Bernard Hopkins had criticized McNabb for failing to win a title with the Eagles and implied McNabb wasn’t considered a true black man because he had a privileged upbringing.
Said Limbaugh on his radio show Friday: “This poor guy, he cannot catch a break. And it’s disgruntled African-Americans that are jumping down his case, about the way he was raised? It is horrible, it is distasteful. … His parents are out there having to defend the way they raised him, and all they tried to do was give him opportunity after opportunity, expose he and his brother to various things. It’s just amazing to watch this.”
Here’s the video of Limbaugh’s comments in 2003:
♦ Royals reliever Vin Mazzaro allowed 14 runs in Monday’s 19-1 loss to the Indians. Joe Posnanski at Sports Illustrated recaps what he calls “the worst pitching performance in the history of baseball.”
♦ Spurred by the success of 30-year-old Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, Real Clear Sports has a list of the top 10 late bloomers in baseball history. No. 1 is Dazzy Vance, who pitched in the early 1900s. The only player on the list who played for the Red Sox is Dante Bichette (No. 8), who finished his career in Boston in 2000-01.
ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On May 17, 1995, who was fired as coach of the Bruins after three seasons and a 120-73-23 record (7-15 in the postseason)?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Well, I would wait until after the year is over.” — Celtics coach Doc Rivers, on Monday’s Dennis & Callahan show, on his opinion of the Kendrick Perkins-Jeff Green trade with the Thunder
STAT OF THE DAY: 37 — RBIs for Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, tops in the major leagues, after his three-RBI effort in Monday’s 8-7 victory over the Orioles
‘NET RESULTS: During a college baseball rain delay at Virginia’s Radford University, the teams took to jousting.
For the second time in a month, a soccer team dropped a trophy off a bus during a parade. This one happened in the Netherlands, when Ajax goalie Maarten Stekelenburg couldn’t hand on to the dish.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Brian Sutter
SOOTHING SOUNDS: Blues singer Taj Mahal is 69 Tuesday.