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 Russell Westbrook (0) needs to be reminded what his role is, or he could ruin a dream season.(Getty Images) 

SAN ANTONIO — Russell Westbrook put the Thunder in position to win Game 5, but then some guy came out of nowhere and nearly ripped the headlines, the game and maybe even this whole series away from him. The guy’s name?

Westbrook is that good, and Westbrook is that bad, and this column is absolutely that fair. The easy thing to write, the thing that would appease Thunder fans and lots of others, would be to celebrate Westbrook’s final line of 23 points and 12 assists and to note that he pushed, prodded and ultimately produced a 108-103 victory against the Spurs on Monday night — giving the Thunder a 3-2 series edge with the chance to finish off San Antonio at home in Game 6.

That would be easy, but sorry. Can’t do that. Because it wouldn’t be honest. what would be honest? to note that there are two sides to this game, this story, this player. There is good, and there is bad, and both sides were on display in high definition in Game 5.

And the good was so very good. Look, 23 points and 12 assists? That’s a great game. That’s beautiful. That’s a point guard who scored and created, and look at the final score. That’s a point guard who won.

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but the bad was so very bad. Westbrook needed 24 shots to get those 23 points. He was 9 of 24 from the floor, 0 of 5 on 3-pointers. He had six turnovers. Look, 9-of-24 shooting and six turnovers? That’s a bad game. That’s ugly. That’s a point guard who dominated the ball, taking (and missing) all those shots while NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant and Sixth Man of the Year James Harden were scoring much more efficiently, with 47 combined points on 30 shots. A better point guard would have taken the ball out of his own hands and given it more to Durant and Harden.

but again, the final score: Thunder 108, Spurs 103. And at the end of the day, if you’re a Thunder fan, that’s beautiful. And if that’s all you want to see, then see it. but there’s more at stake here than this game, or even this series. There’s an NBA title to be won, and the Thunder can win it.

The Thunder is better than every team in basketball — better than the Spurs, better than the Celtics, better than the Heat — if Russell Westbrook can control the bad player lurking within. And there’s a bad player in there, believe that. We saw it last year in this same round, when OKC coach Scott Brooks benched Westbrook for the entire fourth quarter of Game 2.

The Thunder won only one game in those 2011 Western finals against the Mavericks last year — the game Russell Westbrook was benched for the fourth quarter. And if Eric Maynor wasn’t out with a knee injury, I’m pretty sure Westbrook would have been benched again Monday night, and the story today would be twofold: One, the Thunder won. but, two, what about Russell Westbrook? can you believe he was benched in the fourth quarter of a game this big?

since Westbrook finished Game 5, and especially since the Thunder won Game 5, you won’t hear that today. but still, that fourth quarter was painful on the eyes. it was like watching a TV blooper reel, the kind where you know a mistake is coming — it’s a blooper reel; a mistake is always coming — and the anticipation is murderous. And sure enough, here comes the mistake.

Westbrook double-dribbles, giving the ball to the Spurs.

Westbrook elbows Tony Parker in the face, giving the ball to the Spurs.

Westbrook bats an inbounds pass from the frontcourt to the backcourt, giving the ball to the Spurs.

That was three possessions in a row, by the way. Three possessions in a row, late in the fourth quarter, a sequence that began with the Thunder holding a 101-93 lead with 3½ minutes left — and ended with the Thunder leading 101-99 with 1:45 to play. all because bad Russell came out to play, and wouldn’t go away.

Then, Good Russell. He drilled a 15-footer with 1:37 left to make it 103-99.

Then, bad Russell. He attacked the rim and missed in traffic. it took a 3-pointer from Harden with 28.8 seconds left to give the Thunder some breathing room, but they could exhale fully only after the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili — having one of the best games of his career with 34 points, six rebounds and seven assists — missed a 3-pointer for the tie with 4.9 seconds left.

Notice whose name you haven’t read much: Kevin Durant. Remember him? Westbrook played the last six minutes of the fourth quarter as if he didn’t. Durant didn’t score in the final six-plus minutes, and took only one shot in that span. two nights earlier, in Game 4, the Thunder needed someone to rally them past the Spurs and they turned to Durant, who delivered 16 consecutive points to win it. but here in Game 5, with the game seemingly won, Westbrook (and Harden) went into hero mode. Kevin Durant? they don’t need no stinkin’ Kevin Durant.

And in fairness to Harden, maybe he didn’t need Durant. Harden hit the two biggest shots of the quarter — the 3-pointer with 28.8 seconds left, and another 3-pointer almost five minutes earlier, this one becoming a four-point play as Ginobili fouled him on the shot. That gave the Thunder a 101-88 lead. There were barely five minutes left, the Spurs trailed by 13, and fans started to leave the building.

but Westbrook went into hero mode and damn near became the goat. He took five shots in the quarter and missed four. He caused four Thunder turnovers. Meanwhile, the Spurs were plugging away, Ginobili going off and then Tim Duncan joining him, scoring 11 of his 18 points in the final six minutes. together, they had the Spurs on the precipice of one of the biggest comebacks of the 2012 playoffs.

which means the Thunder were on the precipice of one of the biggest collapses. And seeing how Harden was hitting big shots, and Durant couldn’t get his hands on the ball, the blame would have rested primarily with one guy: bad Russell Westbrook.

bad Russell was here Monday night, following three quarters of Good Russell like a hangover follows a fabulous night. bad Russell didn’t lose this game, but he came close — and there are more games waiting.

bigger games.

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Courtesy of Ritu Sharma

Ritu Sharma (right), shown during a visit to Honduras, makes one trip a year to live with underprivileged women, one week at a time, living as the women there live.

May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. All month, tell me More is talking to people who trace their heritage to that part of the world, and have changed the game in various fields.

Nonprofit “game changer” Ritu Sharma knew from a young age that she wanted to make a difference. now, as the president and co-founder of Women Thrive Worldwide, she is hoping to lift women and children around the world out of poverty by influencing U.S policy.

Sharma is a first-generation American. her family’s roots are in Punjab, India, so it’s easy to understand where she gets her taste for international affairs. The challenge sometimes is convincing people crafting U.S policy that keeping women and girls out of poverty should be an issue of national concern. in an interview with tell me More host Michel Martin, Sharma says there’s a correlation between countries with less-than-stellar women’s rights records, and countries where governments are unstable and where terrorism might take root.

In order to advance her work, Sharma tries to make a trip once a year to live with underprivileged women for a week at a time. she does this while living as the women there live, and using what they live on.

Sharma says the experiences are critical to being able to better understand the women for whom she advocates.

“You really don’t know what it’s like until you at least try to walk in their shoes,” she says. “Standing there next to an African farmer and trying to weed with a little hoe that’s about 5 inches long, you know, my back hurts after five minutes! She’s out there for five or six hours a day.”

But Sharma insists that women around the world aren’t lamenting their situations, and they’re not asking for a handout.

“They are tenacious,” she says. “They just want equal access. they want a little bit of a hand so that they can get ahead; they can do the rest themselves.”

A do-it-yourself approach has been critical to Sharma’s own success. she co-founded Women Thrive Worldwide in 1998, before she had turned 30 years old. her decision to go into the nonprofit world wasn’t at the top of her parents’ wish list.

“I think my parents really hoped I would become a Wall Street banker or an engineer,” she says, noting that her parents thought that was where she could put her international economics degree to work. But, she adds, “my parents are also people who supported me — unlike many, many Indian parents — as a girl to follow my dreams.” It’s a lesson that she says defined her work, and inspired her to do the same for women around the world.

Cooperation and cultural understanding are central to Sharma’s approach. Rather than impose a Western way of thinking on some societies, Sharma chooses to rely on forward-thinking men and women in all cultures to achieve success organically. That, says Sharma, is how change happens.

BOSTON (CBS) – while the Celtics boast three future hall of famers, many feel it’s their young point guard that runs the team.

There is a perception: “as Rondo goes, the Celtics go.”

But Rajon Rondo doesn’t agree with that.

“That’s a lot of pressure,” he said when asked if he heard of the saying. “ I’ve heard it before. I don’t know if it’s true. We’re one of the few teams in the NBA where all five guys contribute. We’re not just a one, two man show. We’re a great team.”

While the Celtics can usually win without Rondo at his best, it doesn’t make things easy. when he is on – moving the ball, driving to the basket, and stealing rebounds from much bigger bodies – the Celtics are near unstoppable.

Read: Celtics Need ‘everything from Everyone’

But as the playoff grind starts to wear on the elder Celtics, they are relying more on their 26-year-old playcaller. when he struggled in Game 6, so did the flow of the Celtics offense.

But Rondo is confident all of that will change Saturday night.

“We haven’t got it done yet, but we will [in Game 7]. I think that’s our mindset, our focus, and our intentions coming into the game,” he said confidently. “We’re going to make sacrifices and make plays.”

Some would say that is as close to a guarantee as you can get without actually guaranteeing a victory. that would be Rondo’s second of the playoffs, as he said it felt “like we had won the series” after the C’s Game 2 win over Atlanta in the first-round. some see it as a little bit of cockiness, which is not a horrible thing for Rondo to have. his nickname is “swag” in the Celtics’ locker-room after all.

But what the Celtics need most is a confident Rondo. with injuries and mileage adding up, the responsibilities are mounting on him. For this winner-take-all affair, he needs to get everyone involved in the offense with his head-spinning passing, take on scoring with Ray Allen seemingly on last leg, and amp up his defense without the services of Avery Bradley.

Read: Bradley Undergoes Surgery, Done For Playoffs

Taking Bradley’s spot as defender numero-uno , or slowing Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams who both had their way with Rondo and the Celtics defense in Game 6, may prove to be the most difficult.

“[Bradley’s] ability to guard the best guard, at one or two, had really taken so much pressure off of Rondo in particular,” Rivers said of his absent shooting guard. “Not having him means Rondo goes back to that role and running the team, and that’s hard to do. Especially against the team we’re playing who has two guards that attack. Rondo doesn’t have a lot of breaks.”

But the responsibilities shouldn’t fall solely on Rondo. Keyon Dooling and Mickael Pietrus also need to step up off the bench; Dooling with some offense, and Pietrus on both ends of the floor. Rondo can do just about everything, but that doesn’t mean it should all fall onto his shoulders.

Some would say he took Wednesday night off, proving the “as Rondo goes” adage a bit. The bottom line is Rondo has the ball in his hands, and needs to be the one to start the Celtics offensive attack. The offense goes through him, and he dictates what they do. The C’s won’t need one of his spectacular triple-doubles (although that would be nice), but they need a focused and confident Rondo taking the floor Saturday night.

The Celtics will need a full team effort to win Game 7, but it all starts with Rondo.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood will apparently announce his retirement later today. The announcement may come following this afternoon's game at Wrigley Field against the crosstown rival White Sox as interleague play

After 14 MLB seasons, Kerry Wood's playing career is coming to an end. The 34-year-old right-hander plans to announce his retirement, Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com reports. Wood will retire after making one more

20, 2008 file photo shows Chicago Cubs closer Kerry Wood, left, celebrating with relief pitcher Carlos Marmol, center, starting pitcher Ted Lilly, right, and Daryle Ward after the Cubs clinched the NL Central title when they defeated the St. Louis

When I flipped on the internet, I was surprised to see all the stories about Kerry Wood's impending retirement. It's easy to forget what a huge phenom he was back in 1998 — it's no exaggeration to say Kerry Wood was the Stephen Strasburg of his day.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood will apparently announce his retirement later today. The announcement may come following this afternoon's game at Wrigley Field against the crosstown rival White Sox as interleague play

Thank God it was only seven … I thought the league would really go overboard, but be that as it may, Metta will think before acting.  Anger is something … it is hard to control and at least he is trying to work on it, and when your pocket is hit, you tend to pay more attention.  so don’t preach the Lakers funeral because one player is missing.  Everybody is professional and should be able to step up and do their jobs.  I hope things get better for Metta, I hope Kobe has a good scoring night for this last game, because he stayed ahead after missing seven games, so I am hopeful that he can do what it takes to secure it again.  I know he says it isn’t important, but he scored his butt off to be ahead, and .11 points behind Durant is not a lot, so hopefully he has a good night in Sacramento.  Teams go through ups and downs because you have different personalities.  I believe in Metta because he is working on himself and at least acknowledging the fact that he needed to make a change.  Some of us stay in denial, but all in all, I believe in the Lakers and I am praying and pulling for them.

Published on may 7, 2012 by faceoffnews   ·   no Comments

The NHL announced Monday that Philadelphia Flyers star and leading playoff point scorer Claude Giroux will be suspended one game for his hit on new Jersey’s Dainius Zubrus Sunday night.

The hit that has the hockey world talking came at the end of a shift in which Claude Giroux appeared very frustrated over a missed call on goaltender Martin Brodeur. Clearly angry, Giroux targeted Zubrus and finished his check. The hit crossed the line from typical hockey play to suspendable action when Giroux’s shoulder made contact with Zubrus’ head.

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This is the type of hit that the NHL wants to get rid of. Giroux’s hit to Zubrus’ head was unintentional,  but reckless.  Fortunately, Dainius Zubrus wasn’t injured.

(Listen to Giroux’s explanation here)

This situation seems like an excellent opportunity for Brendan Shanahan and the NHL Department of Player Safety: Claude Giroux’s 17 points lead all playoff scorers, earning him a spot among the league’s few superstars. Suspending a superstar, in a game in which his team faces elimination, is a great way to show the players in the league that headshots will not be tolerated whatsoever. Right?

The opportunity to suspend a high-caliber player has already presented itself in these playoffs. but, Shanahan and company let them off almost scot-free.

In the first game of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings, Nashville defenseman Shea Weber slammed Henrik Zetterberg’s head into the glass like a maneuver out of a WWE wrestling video game. Arguably the league’s best defenseman, Weber was given a measly ,500 fine.

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Later in the first round, in game four of the Flyers-Penguins series, the NHL’s leading regular season point-getter and likely recipient of the Hart trophy Evgeni Malkin, elbowed the head of Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann. Grossman was concussed on the play, but Malkin’s dirty hit went unnoticed by everyone with the authority to make an impact. there was no penalty on the play and Malkin did not receive even a fine, let alone a supsension. In fact, he did not even receive a phone call from disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.

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Also in the first round, the league tried to send a message by suspending notorious troublemaker Raffi Torres 25 games for his hit on Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa. While Torres’ suspension was well deserved, the message sent here misses the mark. Dirty hits from players with dirty track records are expected. but, these players aren’t the only ones whose hits induce concussions.

Brendan Shanahan and the Department of Player Safety needs to hammer out a distinct, uniform policy that excludes no player under any circumstances.

If Alexander Ovechkin elbows a player in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, suspend him for game 7. The future of player safety–especially head safety–is far more important than television viewer ratings.

The one game suspension handed to Claude Giroux is fair. but, the time to suspend a world-class player for a dangerous hit has come and passed–multiple times.

The Hockey Writers

Tags: Claude, Giroux, mark, Misses, Shanahan, suspension

Poor misguided "dating spreadsheet guy" of last week has another moment in the New York Post Monday. This time it comes from Andrea Peyser, our new favorite dating columnist, who's not only full of advice but also so effervescently positive. how does she do it? Peyser uses David Merkur—remember, he's the investment banker who ranked his Match.com dates and kept track of them via Excel—to bemoan the entire state of online dating, that thing these crazy kids are all doing nowadays! the nostalgia wafts over the cubicle walls, here. Peyser writes: 

It seems so very 2011. but remember the old days when men and women used to communicate via text message?

Or the previous century, when guys and gals hooked up in bars?

Remember? Remember those days? Peyser seems not perturbed by the fact that right in front of our eyes, guys and gals are still texting and hooking up in bars. No matter. the point is, we're all creeps now. Creeps with computers! Peyster continues:

It’s happened. the war of the sexes has gone creepy, officially turning from a pastime to a game. now it’s blown up into hand-to-hand combat on the Macs of Manhattan, where even a guy who looks like Miss Piggy can be the master of his virtual harem.

As for what the world is coming to and why, Peyser believes the fault lies with 1) the Internet; 2) Men, who think they are invincible because of the Internet (whatever happened to picking up "chicks in person," the way real men used to, back when people were honest and there was no such thing as a dial-up?); and 3) Women, who are desperate, a "red meat in a guy’s dreams of zipless conquests," eating up online dating manipulations from terrible men "like a bulimic before a purge."

but mostly it's the Internet. This all happens because men can't get girls in real life and so go online instead where they can better mess with women. because that's exactly how it works, assuming people are only online dating because they are psychotic.

there are other possibilities here, of course. There's a small chance that online dating is just another way for people to meet and to go through the general "games" and orchestrations (which every so often result in actually getting to like someone else, and maybe even having a relationship) as any other form of communication and interaction, including hooking up in bars after meeting in person after discovering a mutual admiration for cave drawings or whatnot. Online dating might, maybe, be a conduit to dating, not simply a distasteful activity akin to an eating disorder. but we're not the dating columnist. Andrea Peyser is! Her solution in this desperate time: Get off the computer and meet your husband in a synagogue, like her friend Arlene. Arlene clearly has an AOL account.

Image via Shutterstock by Andy Dean Photography.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jdoll at theatlantic dot com. you can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. Jen Doll

May 6, 2012 (LAS VEGAS) — Floyd Mayweather Jr. finally found himself in a real fight, complete with a bloody nose and an opponent in Miguel Cotto who was never going to quit.

As usual, he found a way to win.

Mayweather used his speed and accuracy Saturday night to take a unanimous decision over a game Cotto in a bruising bout to win a piece of the 154-pound title. but it wasn’t easy, as Cotto landed some hard punches and kept attacking all the way to the final bell.

“You’re a hell of a champion,” Mayweather told Cotto in the ring afterward. “You’re the toughest guy I ever fought.”

Mayweather dominated late, rocking Cotto in the 12th round to pull out a win and remain unbeaten in 43 fights. Unlike most of his fights, though, Mayweather got his nose bloodied and engaged in some bruising exchanges he usually likes to avoid.

Two judges scored the fight 117-111 and the third had it 118-110. the Associated Press had Mayweather winning 116-112.

Fighting just a few weeks before he enters a county jail to serve a three-month sentence for domestic abuse, Mayweather found himself in a tough fight against a game opponent who never stopped moving forward. but he was faster and more accurate than Cotto and seemed to wear him down in the final rounds.

In the last round, Mayweather landed his best punch of the night, a left uppercut that seemed to hurt Cotto. He followed that with several flurries to the head to wrap up a decision that until the later rounds had been in doubt.

the decision was roundly booed by the crowd at the MGM Grand arena, which cheered wildly every time Cotto landed a punch.

“He’s a tough competitor,” Mayweather said. “He came to fight, he didn’t just come to survive. I dug down and fought him back.”

Cotto was never down, though he seemed hurt several times during the fight, particularly in the 12th round.

“The judges said I lost the fight, I can’t do anything else,” Cotto said. “I’m happy with my fight and performance and so is my family. I can’t ask for anything else.”

Mayweather, who was guaranteed $32 million, was forced to fight every minute of all 12 rounds against the Puerto Rican champion. He did it after weighing in at 151 pounds, the heaviest he has ever been for a fight.

the weight didn’t seem to affect Mayweather, and neither did the heavier 10-ounce gloves at super welterweight. but he took some punishment, including a bloody nose during the middle rounds, before coming back to dish some out in the later rounds.

“When you fight on pay-per-view you have to give the fans what they want, and that’s excitement,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather entered the ring unbeaten in his 16-year pro career, and a 6-1 favorite to stay that way. the fighter who has become the biggest pay-per-view attraction in the sport padded his already thick wallet with the fight, but he was forced to earn every penny of it.

the win gave Mayweather the 154-pound title held by Cotto, and assured him of still being a champion when he reports to jail June 1 for a sentence stemming from a domestic abuse case involving his former girlfriend and their children.

“In life there’s obstacles,” Mayweather said. “When it comes to June 1, I have to accept it like a man.”

Mayweather will be in jail when Manny Pacquiao fights in the same ring June 9 at the MGM Grand against Timothy Bradley. though boxing fans have clamored for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, it has yet to be made — and may never be made.

That’s partly because of Mayweather’s insistence that Pacquiao submit to Olympic-style drug testing, though Pacquiao has already said he will do that.

“I want to fight Pacquiao but he needs to take the tests before we make that fight,” Mayweather said.

Cotto came out looking slow and overmatched in the first round, but quickly settled into a routine, attacking Mayweather from behind his left jab. but Mayweather got more aggressive coming out to start the fourth round, and landed a series of rights to the head that stunned Cotto and kept him from moving forward effectively.

Mayweather fought good portions of the fight on the ropes, using them for leverage and counterpunching to Cotto’s head when he opened up. He was not only quicker than Cotto, but more accurate, often landing in between Cotto’s defenses.

“He’s ready to quit,” trainer Roger Mayweather told his nephew after the sixth round.

but Cotto was relentless, coming forward and hitting Mayweather with good shots to the head. Toward the end of the eighth round he landed several punches to the head, prompting Mayweather to shake his head as if they didn’t hurt, but by then Mayweather was bleeding from the nose and looked like he had taken some punishment.

Punch stats showed Mayweather landing 179 of 687 punches to 105 of 506 to Cotto.

Cotto, who fell to 37-3, was guaranteed his biggest purse ever, $8 million.

(Copyright ©2012 by the Associated Press. all Rights Reserved.)

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GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Rangers coach John Tortorella wasn’t sending a message to center Derek Stepan. Coaches don’t send messages in the playoffs.

"It’s about putting people on the ice that you think are going to help you win that particular game," Tortorella said Sunday.

Stepan’s play in Games 1 and 2 against Ottawa wasn’t bad enough to warrant a complete benching, but it wasn’t good enough to convince Tortorella to keep him in the top-six. Tortorella demoted Stepan to the fourth line in both Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

"I wasn’t performing and there were other guys playing better," Stepan told NHL.com.

Even if it wasn’t a message, Stepan took note of where he was in the lineup, and where he was headed if he continued to underperform. the next step was the press box, or worse, the offseason.

Stepan wasn’t about to be embarrassed by either. he responded, and over the past four games Stepan has arguably been the Rangers best forward, even with the emergence of college sensation Chris Kreider.

Posted: April 30, 2012

During the final minute of Sunday night’s game between the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks, Rajon Rondo, the Celtics’ star point guard, landed himself in hot water when he “chest bumped” the back of referee Marc Davis, apparently in objection to a foul call on one of his teammates.

Rondo’s chest bump, which he says was an accident, got him ejected from the game. To make matters worse for Rondo and the Celtics, the “accident” may even see him suspended, which could have a huge impact on the Celtics going into game 2 of the playoffs.

“I’m always worried, but I would be surprised if that happens,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Rondo’s possible suspension. “I thought Rondo was walking toward Marc, and Marc turned back toward him, and that’s when Rondo bumped him. That’s all it was, in my opinion. but we’ll see.”

Rondo says that he was upset about the referee’s call, but he didn’t mean to walk into Davis.

“obviously I was upset about the call and I said some words to Marc. I deserved the first tech,” Rondo said. “As I was walking, I thought he stopped. my momentum carried me into him. I even think I tripped on his foot.”

You can watch Sunday night’s “incident” between Rajon Rondo and Marc Davis for yourself directly below.

Do you think Rajon Rondo deserves to be suspended, or was the chest bump clearly an accident?