Back in the day, Monday was known as “wash day” in New Orleans.  It became popular to slow cook red beans, lots of seasonings, and rice that day while moms cleaned the house and washed the clothes.  Yum.   Monday on BBR is becoming known as Ten Piece Nuggets day as multiple sports in the late Spring season gives us plenty to season ourselves.  Help yourself below.

1.  Brooks Koepka owned the largest 54 hole lead in PGA history after three rounds.  After four consecutive back nine bogeys, and a three under (at the time) round going for Dustin Johnson, the lead shriveled to two.   Was Koepka on the verge of a Greg Norman 1996 Master’s meltdown?  Perhaps.  But the brutal Bethpage Black course and gusts to 35 mph late in the afternoon didn’t discriminate.  It  handed out bogeys to all from punishing places the course over.  Koepka held on, as DJ faltered, to win his fourth major in his last eight starts.
2.  Koepka boldly spoke before the PGA about winning ten or more majors.  He has openly told coaches and players that he’s better than Tiger was and he might win 18 or more.  Koepka doesn’t rhyme with confidence, but it may be a synonym for it.  At the current pace of winning every other one he’ll have ten down in early 2022.  “Not so fast my friend,” Lee Corso just said.  Regardless, with the win Koepka moved to the number one ranking in the world.  He becomes the first golfer ever to hold two back to back major titles simultaneously.
3.  Koepka’s former coach at Florida St. weighs in like a heavyweight.   Doug Malloy, now the head coach at his alma mater, Ole Miss, believes Koepka is upset nobody is taking him seriously as a threat to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.  “It pisses him off that he isn’t asked that question,” said Malloy. “That will make him feel great if you ask him about Jack. I promise you he absolutely thinks of both Tiger’s 15 majors and Jack’s as targets. That’s not 99 percent, it’s 100 percent. Guaranteed.”  We need to order some of whatever supplements he is taking.  The US Open starts 6/15 at Pebble Beach.
4.  From good golf we turn to good baseball.  Good baseball is exactly what the Yankees have been playing for the past month. Since April 19, they are 20-7, earning the best record in the big leagues across that span.  The Yankees have notched that record while a bevy of key players have spent time on the injured list. In all, 17 Yankees have landed on the IL this season.  They took two of three from the AL East’s division leader Tampa Bay over the weekend and also took over the division lead.
5.  More good baseball was on tap this weekend as the Houston Astros took two of three from the once slumping, suddenly hot, defending 2018 World Series champs, the Boston Red Sox.  Until yesterday’s loss the Stros had won ten in a row for the second time this season.  Houston’s month of May to date, winning 13 of 14 starts, is the best record in the big leagues across that span.  The Astros own the best record in the AL at 31-16.
6. Good baseball wasn’t limited to the East either. Hyun-Jin Ryu, pitcher extraordinaire for the LA Dodgers, pitched seven shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 1.52, or half of his career ERA of 3.03. In his nine 2019 starts spanning 59 innings he has given up a stingy ten earned runs.  They have scored game by game as follows, 1,2,2,2,2,1,0,0, and 0.  He extended his scoreless streak to 31 innings.  Hyun-Jin Ryu doesn’t rhyme with Cy Young Award, but it may be a synonym for it.  The Dodgers own the best record in the NL at 31-17.
7. The Dodgers lead the NL West by 5.5 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks.  It’s early, way early, but will they even look back at the division want to be’s?  The Astros lead the AL West by 8.5 games over the Angels of LA.   It’s early, way early, but will they even look back at the division want to be’s?
8.  We think that run differential in MLB is a telling stat.  It’s simply how many total runs have you scored season to date minus how many runs have you given up.  If the difference is in the black, you likely have a winning record.  If it’s in the red, you likely have a losing record.  The MLB leader at plus 92 is Houston.  The surprisingly good, and in first in the AL Central, Minnesota Twins are second at plus 74.  The LA Dodgers are third at plus 65.  Somehow Pittsburgh has a 24-20 record with a minus 39 runs scored.  We guess they win close games and lose blowouts.  That doesn’t sound too good for the long summer nights ahead.
9. A week ago we liked Golden St. in six or less over Portland in the NBA West Conference Championship.  A week ago we liked Milwaukee in six or less over Toronto in the East Conference Championship.  A week later we like what we liked.  Golden St. is going to close out Portland in four tonight.  Milwaukee will take Toronto in five, or six at the max, by week’s end.
10. We don’t follow boxing.  We think fewer and fewer do.  Therefore we wouldn’t recognize Deontay Wilder or Dominic Breazeale if they were walking down the street next to us.  That said Deontay introduced himself to Dominic in their bout in round one Saturday night in Brooklyn.  It’s as vicious of a one punch TKO as you’ll ever see.  Want to see it?  Click here.  Be forewarned.  It’s brutal.  Want to see it in slow motion?  You can in that same link.  Be forewarned.  It’s even more brutal in slow mo.

That was a lot to chew on.  Be sure to brush regularly.