My heart’s a little emptier tonight. Fighting back tears as I type.
Anyone who said you should never meet your heroes never met Brooks Robinson, because No. 5 met all your expectations of his greatness and surpassed them with his humility & sincerity.
RIP 🐐 🧡🖤
#Birdland
Maroon: “I wasn’t even on the ice & I don't understand why he said it. I'm a bigger guy, I know that. There's times we joke around the locker, guys chirp me on the ice. But when someone's announcing the game and doing something like that, or front of millions of fans and…(1/2)
(2/2) “…millions of listeners and just pretty much you put me down to the lowest, it’s never fun to hear that…I’m a professional athlete, I can take some stuff….I’m a funny guy…You can joke with me all you want, but that was very unnecessary.”
#Gobolts
#tblightning
The
#StanleyCup
did sustain some damage today during the
#TBLightning
’s victory celebration. It will go to Montreal to be repaired and the
#GoBolts
Cup tour will begin as scheduled next weekend.
#TampaBay
#GoBolts
' Vasilevskiy on being booed in Sunrise: "To me, it's like they're respecting me because I've done something right against them. I'll take it. I actually I appreciate that. So that's fun. I wish every building was like this."
#TimeToHunt
#TBLIghtning
#NHLAllStarWeekend
Stamkos on Sportsnet: “My family and I absolutely love playing for that city and playing for the players that are there. It just seemed like maybe not everyone thought that way & listen, I’m a big boy. I can handle that.…(1/2)"
#gobolts
All in all,
#Astros
players seems genuinely remorseful. Carlos Correa’s comments stood out from the bunch. He said that he believed illegal sign stealing offered an an advantage. Added that he didn’t believe it had an effect on 2017 postseason or WS because teams altered signs.
Alex Killorn was working with his former
#GoBolts
teammates at this morning’s informal skate in Brandon. Also seen on the ice: Hagel, Cirelli, Paul, Barre-Boulet and Fleury.
Really wish I could be in Denver tonight for Game 1, but instead I will be having a watch party from the
@TGHCares
ICU unit. Long back story & all is good. Hope to pull a Brayden Point and be back soon. Thank you to the staff at TGH, especially the nurses.
#GoBolts
#StanleyCup
Yes, it’s true. Kevin Gausman and Chris Tillman are serving as bat boys for today’s game, duties they apparently must serve for fielding poor fantasy football teams last year. This job is not in name only. They are retrieving bats, giving the HP ump baseballs.
#Orioles
Yes, Carter Stamkos got to see the Zamboni in Las Vegas. Steven Stamkos said that they went to Monster Jam at Raymond James Stadium when they returned. “He had a quick turnaround, so we’re into the monster trucks now.”
#gobolts
#tblightning
#TBLightning
coach Jon Cooper on
#Isles
: "When you're going to play for a championship, you want to know you're played the best...The Islanders as as good a team as we've played...It was unbelievably difficult. That's as close as two teams can be."
#GoBolts
#Cowboys
DL Tyrone Crawford injured on last play, will be carted off the field on a stretcher. Appears to be serious as most of the Dallas players have come onto the field, some taking a knee.
#Bucs
Adam Jones runs onto field for anthem as his
#Orioles
teammates remain at dugout and fans give him standing ovation. He tips his cap in acknowledgment.
Some professional news:
This week, I’m starting my new role as the
#TBLightning
beat writer for the
@TB_Times
.
I’m excited to cover the reigning
#StanleyCup
champs.
Join me as we follow the
#GoBolts
on their next chapter.
It will be a fun ride and as they say in hockey...
#TBLightning
forward Nikita Kucherov played through a cracked rib he suffered from Scott Mayfield cross check in Game 6 of the
#StanleyCup
semifinals. He played w/ protective padding & returned to
#Tampa
between Games 3 & 4 of final to receive additional medical care.
#gobolts
#Tampa
mayor Jane Castor, speaking just now on WFLA Radio, said
#StanleyCup
final Game 5 is still on as scheduled for tomorrow night at Amalie Arena. “We hope the greatest damage in this city is what the Lightning do to the poor Canadiens.”
#GoBolts
#Elsa
#HurricaneElsa
The city of
#Tampa
is in preliminary discussions with the Toronto Raptors to host the
#NBA
team this season in the case the
#Raptors
aren’t able to play games in Toronto because of existing Canadian travel restrictions.
#TampaBay
#WeTheNorth
The reigning Stanley Cup champs and the Presidents Trophy winners eliminated in Game 7s on the same night. Reminder how tough it is to get deep in the playoffs every year. Makes you appreciate what the
#GoBolts
were able to do over three-year stretch.
#GoBolts
Nick Paul is a pending free agent but said he enjoyed his time in Tampa. Said he wants to come back and his agent knows how he feels. “I want to be in the playoffs again.” He’s even wearing a hat with the state of Florida on it.
#Angels
’ Shohei Ohtani received a beer shower after his first MLB hit and first MLB win. He received another one after hitting for the cycle on Thursday. “It’s always good to get the beer shower.”
(2/2)"...It certainly didn’t work out, but at the end of the day, in order to look yourself in the mirror, you have to just be honest with yourself, know your self-worth, know what loyalty and respect means to you, and then move on.”
#gobolts
Today is
#TheLastDance
for the 🐐. My dad is retiring after a 39-year career as a letter carrier and 48 years total w/ the federal government (9 years with the FBI). He’s been essential personnel for nearly four decades delivering mail in West
#Baltimore
.
@USPS
@NALC_National
Jonathan Schoop said he cried when when Manny Machado told him he had been traded. Today was weird. They usually go to the part together. Knows today will be strange looking to his right and not seeing Machado.
#Orioles
Steven Stamkos, who will enter the final year of his contract next season, said the
#GoBolts
jersey is the only one he wants to wear. Said there’s hopefully an extension conversation over the summer “and we’ll take it from there.”
The
#Saints
’ postgame celebration that took place inside the Raymond James visiting locker room included Jameis Winston repeatedly throwing up W’s to eat and head coach Sean Payton joining in the dance party.
Video from Tre’Quan Smith’s IG.
#Bucs
#GoBucs
#NOvsTB
#nfl
David Savard said he received photos and texts from his old
#CBJ
teammates watching the game, offering congratulations. He played in Columbus for a long time, and his old teammates were happy to see him lift the Cup.
#GoBolts
#StanleyCup
Merela also said that as a kid he would read a Finnish hockey magazine sent to his house every month. When he was 10, it had a Steven Stamkos poster inserted in it and he put it on his wall. "Now I'm playing with the guy in the NHL. You can imagine how that must feel."
#GoBolts
Adam Jones: "This city has just supported me through everything and everything I’ve done between these lines, they’ve appreciated throughout the years."
#Orioles
#Baltimore
Former
#Rays
No. 1 overall pick and ex-
#Orioles
DH Delmon Young was named Venezuela winter league MVP today after hitting 19 homers in 252 ABs for Magallanes. No other player had more than 10 homers.
“We all live within a one-minute golf-cart ride from each other & I think the majority of that team is probably going to stay & retire here…We have bonds that will last forever.”
They might no longer be
#GoBolts
, but they have no plans to leave
#Tampa
.
Really happy for Steve Pearce. Easy to label him a journeyman, but he’s so much more. He’s a guy who made every team he played for better both on and off the field. Now he’s a
#WorldSeries
MVP. Humble guy deserving of a grandeur moment.
#Orioles
#RedSox
Matt Dumba's first day with
#GoBolts
:
-- Wheels down at
@FlyTPA
around 2
-- Got his bags around 3
-- Arrived at
@AmalieArena
at 3:30
-- A bite to eat, a 15-minute nap and a couple cups of coffee
-- Logs 20:04 in ice time, including 2:13 shorthanded, and had a fight in 7-0 win.
BREAKING: Capacity for next month's
#Wrestlemania
at Raymond James will be approximately 25,000 fans for each of two nights of the event. That's 36 percent of full capacity for what the event would hold at Raymond James in a normal year.
#TampaBay
#WWE
#ProWrestling
Something that went pretty much unnoticed yesterday is the
#GoBolts
extending D Emil Lilleberg for 2 years at $800K AAV, according to
@PuckPedia
. He gets guaranteed NHL money on one-way deal, signaling he’s a big part of their plans for the next 3 yrs.
Manny Machado is one of three players in
#MLB
history to hit eight career grand slams before their 26th birthday. The others: Ken Griffey, Jr. and Alex Rodriguez. That's pretty elite company.
#orioles
#GoBolts
' coach Jon Cooper's walk-off quote to end today's exit interviews: "As long as Jeff Vinik is the owner and Julien BriseBois is the GM, I would excited about this organization every single year."
After signing Jake Guentzel to the largest deal for an incoming player in the offseason in
#GoBolts
history, they still have $7.5 million to play with under the cap.
Stamkos on TSN: "It's been probably as crazy as you can think in terms of just a roller coaster of emotions. Clearly so much amazing history in Tampa for my family & I & ultimately trying to work something out there & you fell short -- not by by my trying, that's for sure."
Nikita Kucherov led the
#NHL
in scoring, became the third player ever to have a 40-goal, 100-assist season & propelled the
#GoBolts
to the playoffs, but was snubbed at tonight’s
#NHLAwards
.
More in this
@TB_Times
story (and my Hart Trophy ballot) here:
#GoBolts
forward Pat Maroon doing work for ESPN tonight during broadcast of tonight’s
#NHLAllStar
Skills Competition. Joked that this is the closest he will get to an All-Star Game.
#Bucs
GM Jason Licht said on Rich Eisen Show that
#NFL
is planning teams to have a mock draft prior to draft day to ensure all technology works. Licht joked that maybe he’ll draft a kicker in the first round.
#GoBucs
Cole Koepke is 1st
#goBolts
player to wear a neck guard this season. He was a friend of Adam Johnson, who died of a skate blade injury. “It’s something you don't really think will happen & if it's something as simple as just a layer of protection, in my opinion, why not do it?”
In the
#GoBolts
locker room this morning after skate,
#NHLBruins
broadcaster Jack Edwards approached Pat Maroon and the two had a lengthy conversation that lasted more than 10 minutes. Maroon was rather animated at times. Many players stayed in the room to watch the discussion.