Danica Is Hot . . . I Mean Mad

Sports by the Numbers Stat of the Week

171 Danica Patrick completed (171) of 200 laps at Sunday’s running of the Indianapolis 500 and was among the top ten drivers when she was involved in an accident in the pit lane. Ryan Briscoe swerved out of his pit and touched wheels with Patrick, causing her rear suspension to snap and ending her race. Patrick came out of her car literally looking for a fight, saying later, after being restrained by track security, “It’s probably a better idea that I didn’t make it all the way down there anyway.”

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Honorable Mentions

7 No team in NBA history has ever started the post-season by losing seven straight games on the road – but the Celtics were in position to do just that up against Detroit in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals last Saturday. Boston lost Game 2 at home, after beginning the post-season with a 9-0 run on their home court – so a win in Game 3 was a must. Well, they got it – and there still has not been an NBA team to start a post-season with seven consecutive road losses. Kevin Garnett scored 22 points to lead Boston to a 94-80 victory, and Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “I think our guys just assumed we would eventually win on the road.”

30 The Spurs are not dead yet – Manu Ginobili took care of the Lakers in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals to cut San Antonio’s deficit to 2-1. The Spurs won the game easily at home, 103-84, led by Ginobili, who scored 30 points and was good from outside the three-point arc five times. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “He is such a competitor – he’s got a lot of confidence in what he can do, and so when he has these games, it is really not a surprise anymore.”

34 Phil Mickelson won at Colonial this weekend after a miracle birdie on the final hole – it was win number (34) in his career, and it was also his second victory on tour this season. The victory means Mickelson is the only player on tour with at least two victories in each of the last five seasons. Mickelson set up the winning birdie with a wedge shot that went under one tree and over another – clipping branches along the way – and yet it ended up 140 yards away on the green just eight feet from the cup.

115 Scott Dixon won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday after leading the race seven different times for a total of (115) laps. He won the race with the fastest car, after all he did start from the pole position – but team owner Chip Ganassi beat him to the first gulp of milk. Ganassi took the bottle from Dixon and chugged away, later saying, “It tasted pretty good. When you’ve been in this business as long as I have, there are a few things you get out of the business – one of them is trophies, one of them is rings, and one is a sip of milk.”

600 The Tampa Bay Rays have a (.600) winning percentage after posting a 30-20 record through 50 games this season – and in case you missed it, that happens to be the best in baseball. No kidding. Tampa is 15-8 in May, and has now spent 11 days in first place in the A.L. East – the same division that houses Red Sox Nation and The Evil Empire.

Kaptain Knievel

Sports by the Numbers Video Stat of the Week

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The son of the legendary daredevil Evel Knievel said to the crowd, “Hopefully I’ll see you after the jump.” Then he began his descent down a three-story ramp, accelerated to 95 MPH, and went airborne for 200 feet.

Clutch Play in Prime Time

Sports by the Numbers Stat of the Week

14 The Boston Celtics have won (14) in a row at home after taking care of the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-92 on Sunday during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The home team won all seven games in the series – and the Celtics carry home court advantage into their next round match-up against the Detroit Pistons, which is a good thing, because the Celtics are 0-6 on the road this post-season.

Honorable Mentions

6 The Pittsburgh Penguins routed the Philadelphia Flyers (6)-0 on Sunday to earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Ryan Malone scored two goals and picked up an assist as the Penguins are now just four wins away from winning the biggest prize in hockey. It is the first time the Penguins have been back to the finals since 1992, but just two years ago they were one of the worst teams in the NHL. On getting a chance to play for the Stanley Cup, Malone said after the game, “Never would have thought it.”

41 Paul Pierce scored a team high (41) points as the Celtics star won an epic battle against Cavaliers star LeBron James during Sunday’s Game 7. James scored a game high 45 points – but it was Pierce who sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 7.9 seconds left on the clock. Pierce said after the game, “It is a great feeling – we knew this was going to be a tough, tough series.”

191 Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano began play on May 10 with a (.191) average – but then he went 4 for 5 and began a stretch of nine games where he picked up 20 hits, including seven homeruns, and his average was up to .296 when play ended on May 18. Cubs fans are apparently cheering him now, instead of booing him like they were less than ten days ago.

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273 Japanese pro golfer Ryuji Imada closed with a final round 5-under par 67 at the AT&T Classic at the TPC Sugarloaf on Sunday to post a 15-under par (273) for the tournament – a score that got him into a sudden-death playoff with nine-time tour winner Kenny Perry. Imada lost a playoff to Zack Johnson in this same tournament last year when he hit his second shot on the first extra hole into the water – but this year it was Kenny Perry, on the very same hole, who hit his second shot into the water and opened the door for Imada to pick up his very first PGA Tour victory.

455 The New York Yankees are 20-24 for a (.455) winning percentage that has them dead last in their division – and the only teams in the league with worse records are the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners. Think Yankee fans miss Joe Torre yet?

The Spurs, Junior, and The Rocket all got Hammered

Sports by the Numbers Stat of the Week

12 The number of assists (12) for Chris Paul during the Hornets 102-84 drumming of the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Paul, who led the NBA with 11.6 assists per game during the regular season, also scored 30 points as New Orleans became the first team to go up 2-0 in a playoff series against the Spurs since the Lakers did it in 2001. He later said, “These are some of the best moments of my life that we’re experiencing right now.”

Honorable Mentions

4 The final four (4) in the quest for the Stanley Cup: the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, and the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit swept their series against Colorado with an 8-2 shellacking last Thursday, and the Flyers beat Montreal 6-4 on Saturday to win their series in five games. The Penguins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on Sunday to take their series in five games, and the Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in four overtimes on Sunday to win their series in six games. Next up: Dallas at Detroit, and Philadelphia at Pittsburgh.

31 The starting position (31) for Clint Bowyer during the running of the Crown Royal 400 this past weekend in Richmond, Virginia. Only four drivers held the lead during the race: Denny Hamlin (381 laps), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (15 laps), A.J. Allmendinger (1 lap), and Bowyer, who led only 13 laps but was there at the end to take the checkered flag for his second career victory. Bowyer got plenty of help – Hamlin got a flat tire with 17 laps left in the race, and Junior got spun into the wall on the third turn of lap 398 by Kyle Busch.

48 The amount of time (4.8) in seconds when the game clock came to a halt at the end of the third quarter of the Magic-Pistons game two match-up on Monday night. Pistons guard Chauncey Billups brought the ball up the court, passed the ball, got the ball back, and then made a three-pointer to give Detroit a 78-76 lead – but the clock was not running. Replays show it took him 5.2 seconds to get the shot off and the play should not have counted, but NBA officials are barred from using a television replay for that particular situation, and so the play stood. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy later said, “It’s almost funny.” Not quite though – Detroit went on to win the game 100-93.

71 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has not won for (71) consecutive races. You have to go back two years for his last victory, which came at the 2006 running of the Crown Royal 400. Junior was in a great position to break that dry spell on Sunday until the driver he replaced on the Hendrick team – Kyle Busch – intervened. Earnhardt later said of Busch, “He’s going to need security from all of us.”

354 The number of career victories (354) for Roger Clemens. On Monday, Clemens said, “I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry. I have apologized to my family and I apologize to my fans. Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right.” Rusty Hardin, a lawyer for Clemens, said that Clemens is “getting pummeled” in the press. Richard Emery, a lawyer for Brian McNamee, who Clemens is suing for defamation of character, said that Clemens “apparently admits he cheated on his wife and family – and if he cheated on them, I think it’s reasonable to assume that he cheated his fans and baseball.” Roger truly was the best pitcher of his generation – too bad this is what the young fans of today will remember.