Chicago Cubs

Cardinals tight end Jermaine Gresham didn’t realize why he was suddenly a big deal.

And that might be the best part of a story that was already very good.

Gresham became a viral sensation last week when he helped fellow airline passenger by paying a $50 baggage fee when her credit card didn’t work. But he didn’t realize he was viral until a Cardinals staffer mentioned it to him, since he doesn’t have a social media presence.

He was like ‘Yo, you’re a viral sensation,’ Gresham said, via Katherine Fitzgerald of the Arizona Republic. And I was like ‘For what? I didn’t get arrested or nothing.’

Here’s a fun question: Is Matthew Stafford a superstar? For years, the Lions quarterback seemed to exist just below that special tier of quarterbacks, the one that was reserved for the likes of Brady, Rodgers, Brees, etc. He was a franchise quarterback, sure, but would Stafford ever actually take his game to the next level? Well, it took eight years, but Stafford reached a career zenith in 2017, piling up the yardage and the touchdowns while cutting down on the turnovers that had been his undoing in the past. The partnership with Jim Bob Cooter has done wonders for Stafford’s career, and the Lions made the supremely wise decision to retain their offensive coordinator after firing head coach Jim Caldwell. We consider Stafford a belated addition to the Superstar Club… and we expect him to stay there.

Following Wednesday’s loss, in which he earned a triple-double, James compared facing the Warriors to what NFL teams go through when playing against Bill Belichick and the dynastic New England Patriots.

The margin of error is very low. It’s almost like playing the Patriots: you just can’t have mistakes, they’re not going to beat themselves, James said, via NBA TV.

As he continued, James’ assessment could work as well to describe the Patriots as it does the Warriors:

When you’re able to force a miscue on them you have to be able to capitalize, he said. And then you have to be so in-tuned and razor sharp and focused in every single possession. You can’t have miscommunication, you can’t have lulls, you can’t have ‘my faults’ or ‘my bads’ and things like that because they are going to make you pay.

James, an avid football fan, hit the nail on the head.

When the roster for the Yankees ‘ Old-Timers’ Day was announced last week, former catcher Jim Leyritz was not on the list.

So the 1996 World Series hero turned to social media to rip the team’s front office for his exclusion, specifically president Randy Levine and senior VP of marketing Debbie Tymon.

And Leyritz liked a tweet that said : The only slider Levine has hit is of the cheeseburger variety. If the guy (wasn’t) literally in bed (with) ownership for decades, the team would take a pulse from the fan base on what we thought of Randy Levine. Results. (Wouldn’t). Be. Positive.

Just last week, we saw Chargers tight end Hunter Henry and Eagles linebacker Paul Worrilow suffer torn ACLs that will almost certainly cost them all of the 2018 season. That’s a fate Dunlap will not allow to happen in a voluntary OTA session.

It will be interesting to see what approach Dunlap takes for the mandatory minicamp in June. He obviously doesn’t want to risk injury, so perhaps the Bengals will allow him to attend but stay on the sideline and avoid injury risks.

It is real easy for the guy who was made the highest paid receiver in the NFL following the 2016 season and then got his deal restructured again this offseason to have his 2018 salary fully guaranteed, tell the guy who is looking for a longterm deal to show up. I mean, Bell has been arguably the best running back in the league for the last few seasons, but I get the hesitation to give him a lucrative contract over an extended period of time. It just doesn’t work to pay running backs huge contracts in the NFL anymore. He has also had trouble with the law as well as suspensions from the league.