Welcome to Monday’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.
MONDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
MLB: Orioles at Red Sox, 2:05 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Brewers at Cubs, 2:10 p.m. (WGN)
MLB Network: Yankees at Indians, 4 p.m. (MLB Network)
MLB: Mets at Phillies, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
NHL: Hurricanes at Bruins 7 p.m. (NESN, NHL Network)
College basketball: NCAA championship, Michigan vs. Louisville, 9:20 p.m. (CBS; WEEI-FM)
AROUND THE WEB:
Darrelle Revis
♦ The Jets keep saying publicly that they’re happy to have Darrelle Revis on their team, but their actions tell a different story. The latest development in the Revis saga is that the team reportedly is forcing him to attend next week’s voluntary workouts in order for him to receive his $3 million in bonus money, and Revis is not happy about it.
The Jets put the language in Revis’ contract to prevent a recurrence of his 2010 holdout, and they apparently plan to enforce it while they continue to talk to the Buccaneers about a trade.
“As we get into the offseason program, it’s all voluntary … but you would hope that most of your players want to be there and be in the building and get the juices flowing with our staff,” new general manager John Idzik said at the NFL scouting combine in February. “We feel that we have a lot to offer Darrelle and all of our players. We would hope that they would be there.”
Revis, who has been rehabbing his surgically repaired left knee in Arizona, had planned to meet with Jets doctors in New Jersey on April 15 and then return to Arizona. Last spring, the Jets allowed LaRon Landy to skip most of the offseason program while he rehabbed a foot injury in Arizona.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers reportedly are growing impatient with the Jets regarding Revis trade talks.
♦ The feel-good story of the weekend comes from Lincoln, Neb., where a 7-year-old cancer patient named Jack Hoffman scored a touchdown during Nebraska’s spring football game.
Hoffman, who has been battling brain cancer for the past two years, was befriended by the Huskers last year. On Saturday, he dressed in a replica No. 22 uniform and took the field at the end of the scrimmage. On fourth-and-1, he took a handoff from quarterback Taylor Martinez and followed his blockers 69 yards for a touchdown as more than 60,000 fans roared in approval.
“Jack’s a young man who’s touched the hearts of a lot of people,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. “Our football team, the student body, people have gotten behind him and he’s become a big part of the team.”
♦ Marty Blake, who was the NBA’s director of scouting for more than 35 years, died Sunday at the age of 86.
A former general manager of the Hawks who oversaw the 1958 title team, Blake later turned to providing scouting reports to NBA and ABA teams. In the mid-1970s, the NBA started paying him to provide the reports for all the league’s teams.
“Marty began his lifetime of service to basketball at a time when the league was still in its infancy,” commissioner David Stern said in a statement. “His work as a general manager and then as director of scouting for the NBA first helped the teams to understand the value of scouting. Marty’s dedication not just to the NBA, but to basketball was extraordinary and we will forever be indebted to him.”
ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On April 8, 1973, who became the first Red Sox designated hitter to record a hit when he smacked a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over the Yankees?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “He had about 2,000 feet of homers. He obviously feels pretty good at the plate. It’s fun to watch.” — Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester, on teammate Will Middlebrooks, who hit three home runs in Sunday’s 13-0 rout of the Blue Jays
STAT OF THE DAY: 1 – Pacific Division championships for the Clippers, who clinched their first title Sunday with a 109-95 victory over the Lakers
‘NET RESULTS (mobile users, check the website to see the videos): Sharks forward T.J. Galiardi scores on a long backhander in Sunday’s game against the Stars.
Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn takes a slap shot to the face during Saturday’s game against the Jets. Schenn returned to the game after getting stitched up.
A South African soccer fan runs onto the field and hits the referee with his vuvuzela.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Orlando Cepeda
SOOTHING SOUNDS: Biz Markie was born (as Marcel Hall) on this day in 1964.