The Thunder are running a +10.81 point differential in the playoffs including a 51, 43, and 30 point (last night) victory. Those be some drubbins. 14 steals last night. I’ve never seen a team just relentlessly take the ball away at any moment like this OKC crew. Gotta use more butt ball against this squad. Protect the rock!

Did you know the Florida Panthers are going to their third straight Stanley Cup? The Lauderdale Boys got a real good thing goin down there. Florida only has three of the top 50 highest paid players. The state’s attractive taxes continues to be a way to acquire talent sub-market price. The NHL’s top earning stars average $11-14m per year. If you’re SGA, and you’re close to making $70m, sure you pay way more in taxes but it doesn’t impact your yacht size. If you’re Matthew Tkachuk, the difference between Canada and Florida could be the difference between boat or no boat at all. I think we know the answer to that one.

It’s Memorial Week (end?). That’s right, a few days after Memorial Day, we get The Memorial presented by Workday. You get Monday off work, then Thursday you get a golf tournament sponsored by HR Tech. Is anyone saying this shit aloud?

Here’s a blisteringly fast recap of what The Memorial is:

- Jack Nicklaus is 26 years old, wants to start a tournament that rivals The Masters, buys an old farm near his childhood home, and promptly builds a country club (and housing tract: Zillow 3bd/4ba for $725k)

- Nicklaus designed the course, set it the course record, hosts the tournament, and won it twice.

It can be easy to poke some fun at Jack for trying to establish his own Masters. The suburban McMansions don’t exactly lend a distinguished Scottish feel to the course even though it’s named after Muirfield Links. Augusta really doesn’t feel threatened by this tournament. But let’s park that for a second. This is a great weekend of golf.

The Memorial is one of 5 invitational events on tour. It features a smaller field, a larger purse, and a bonus year of tour exemption for the winner. It’s a Big Dog tournament played at the Golden Bear’s home track. You will certainly see replays of iconic Tiger shots. John Rahm, Scottie, Viktor Hovland, Bryson are all recent winners. Here are 3 things I enjoy:

- Regional. Shoutout the greater Columbus area suburbs. What a Saturday you can put together out there. Home Depot > Target > Memorial. Grass greener than you can imagine. It’s TrueGreen territory out there. When the Memorial comes to town, Columbus knows it summer. Shandy and brats for everyone.

- Scottie. I’ll watch this dude whenever he picks up a club. Can he repeat?

- Summer. MDW in the rearview. Summer is officially here. That means chips, hoagies, cold beer, iced tea, PGA on CBS. It’s watching TV with the doors and windows open. It’s seeing sun on television and in your yard. From now through Football, we get great golf, bbq’s, and open pools. To my Non-Californians, you made it.