May 13, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) walks off the court after game five of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
It’s Tailgate Tour week and it was a big week for a pair of Cyclone superstars.
Let’s muse.
Tailgate Tour kicks off in Ankeny
Iowa State’s annual Tailgate Tour kicks off today in Ankeny. Both myself and Rob Gray will be there to get comments from coaches and the athletic director Jamie Pollard, who will likely talk on Iowa State’s search for a new president after Wendy Wintersteen announced she will retire in January. More on that later.
Brock Purdy gets paid
The former Cyclone quarterback’s new contract had been long anticipated and the San Francisco 49ers delivered.
The five-year, $265 million contract was already a great deal for Purdy on the surface. It made him the 8th-highest paid quarterback in the league and was a huge upgrade on his rookie deal.
For reference, a stat from Shehan Jeyarajah – Purdy’s contract paid him an average of $934,252 per season. He’ll make that number every six days on his new contract.
On top of it, the contract includes a No Trade Clause as well.
As part of his five-year, $265-million extension, #49ers QB Brock Purdy received a full no-trade clause for the duration of the deal, per @MikeGarafolo pic.twitter.com/4CUrzi3DQK
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) May 19, 2025
Tyrese Haliburton vs. Brunson & the Knicks
The former Cyclone helped clinch his team’s spot in the Eastern Conference Finals days ago and likely gotten some extra rest in preparation to face Jalen Brunson and the Knicks.
Both of those guys are ballers, and they’ve led they’re teams with grit all throughout the NBA Playoffs so far. It’s as intriguing of a matchup here that we could’ve gotten.
Haliburton and Brunson faced off outside a WWE ring last year, too.
Tyrese Haliburton vs Jalen Brunson.
ECF FINALS. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/mlahm72EJ3
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) May 17, 2025
I don’t know how the NBA managed to do it, but they slotted Indiana for game 3 at home on the day of the Indianapolis 500. That will be a huge day in that state.
NBA Eastern Conference Finals schedule
Wed. May 21 | Game 1 @ New York, 7 p.m. TNT
Fri. May 23 | Game 2 @ New York, 7 p.m. TNT
Sun. May 25 | Game 3 @ Indiana, 7 p.m. TNT
Tues. May 27 | Game 4 @ Indiana, 7 p.m. TNT
Thurs. May 29 | Game 5 @ New York, 7 p.m. TNT
Sat. May 31 | Game 6 @ Indiana, 7 p.m. TNT
Mon. June 2 | Game 7 @ New York, 7 p.m. TNT
Quick Hits
The NHL Playoffs delivered one of its most memorable weeks in recent years, and that’s rather impactful. This tournament rarely fails to disappoint.
On Saturday, the Winnipeg Jets faced off in Dallas for game 6 against the Stars. The first period was filled with scoring chances and two goalies that refused to let their opponents strike first.
But in the second, Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele hit paydirt, sliding the puck under Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger to give the Jets the 1-0 lead.
That was a matter of hours after Scheifele found out his father had unexpectedly passed away.
Sports always find a way to be poetic. Of course it’s Mark Scheifele to open the scoring. What a moment
pic.twitter.com/wwMHC15F4Z— Ross Levitan (@RossLevitan) May 18, 2025
There were doubts Scheifele would even suit up to play, but many in the arena and watching at home were thrilled to see how it played out to that point – and that’s fans on both sides.
Mark Scheifele goes through the handshake line following the passing of his father.
Incredible moment. pic.twitter.com/jI2TF1EUGd
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 18, 2025
Hockey summed up in two images
Jamie Benn and Mark Scheifele@DallasStars #TexasHockey
(Both Getty) pic.twitter.com/Hq0axhzGJh
— Travis Currie (@travcurrie) May 18, 2025
As poetic as it was, Oettinger stood on his head and kept the game knotted up through regulation.
HOW DID JAKE OETTINGER STOP THIS???! pic.twitter.com/udOsvyef8b
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 18, 2025
It set up Thomas Harley’s game-winner in overtime inside an arena that’s turned into one of the best atmospheres in hockey.
Now, Dallas will head to the Western Conference Finals to take on Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers with home-ice advantage throughout the Cup, should they make the final round. That series starts Wednesday.
THOMAS ******* HARLEY!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/L4kOLoHhrI
— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) May 18, 2025
On the Eastern side, Carolina took care of the Washington Capitals early, sending Alex Ovechkin home in five games as the Hurricanes look as crisp as ever.
And fittingly, Toronto looked the opposite in Game 5 against Florida, dropping their third-straight game of the series and getting booed out of their home rink in a 6-1 loss.
It looked as though the Leafs were in the same spot they had been in behind superstars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, who’ve looked impeccable during the regular season while lacking stats in the playoffs.
Granted, that would have been the end for many teams, but Toronto came back in Florida to win 2-0 and force a game 7 set for primetime on Sunday night.
Surely, that would be a game that guarantees a back-and-forth war and will come down to the wire, right? Well, it is still the Maple Leafs.
Toronto got taken off the puck from the start, consistently lost battles, and went to the locker room tied 0-0 after the first period before coming back out of it in one of the biggest ass kicking’s that someone could imagine. Yes, even for the Maple Leafs.
“This is brutal,” Paul Bissonnette, a lifelong Leafs fan, said on TNT in between periods. “This is men vs. boys right now. (They’re) completely unprepared. I think they’ve lost every single 50-50 puck battle. I don’t know how else to describe it, but a pathetic performance.”
“This is brutal” –@BizNasty2point0 pic.twitter.com/egZKIFCSDx
— Viva La Stool (@VivaLaStool) May 19, 2025
Same guy pictured here coasting down the rink in the biggest game of the century for this team.pic.twitter.com/ceFfd2q5hz https://t.co/fkL84lB8Rz
— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) May 19, 2025
It looks as though that will be Marner’s last game as a Leaf, and the defending champion Florida Panthers will keep on marching.
This place will chew you up and spit you out, as it has done with this group in Toronto.
There’s plenty that will say the same about this really old race track in Indianapolis.
The Indianapolis 500 is this week, but the weekend’s qualifying sessions tried to steal the show
Each car qualified on Saturday and set there best 4-lap averages to try and lock in to either the race or the top 12, which move on to try to set the pole speed on Sunday.
These cars are typically on tightropes, but the introduction to the new hybrid-engine system has seemed to cut the width of those in half.
Kyle Larson went around for the second time this month on practice Friday, Colton Herta flipped on Saturday and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin lost control in a Sunday warmup session. Each of those guys are some of the most talented in the world. These cars are tough.
Scary moment here with Colton Herta. He would get of the car and walk away on his own 🙏 pic.twitter.com/mAVjTPZQWy
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 17, 2025
Scott McLaughlin hits the wall hard in #Indy500 practice. pic.twitter.com/N5oPmCuOVI
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 18, 2025
But the drama ramped up on Sunday when Team Penske was forced to take its cars off of the grid.
IndyCar officials found – and may have been tipped off – that Team Penske had altered a ridge found on the rear attenuators – crash structures on the back of the body that are given to teams as a spec part and can’t be modified.
The controversy only grew as post-qualifying inspection didn’t find the same issue on Saturday, in the cars and team owned by the same Roger Penske that owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar as a whole.
“They had that yesterday, I guarantee you,” series star Pato O’Ward said. “Until someone pointed it out today – if those cars are disqualified today, they should have been disqualified yesterday.”
“They don’t need to be doing that stuff.” Pato O’Ward says the Team Penske No. 2 and No. 12 cars should have been sent to Last Chance Qualifying. #Indy500 #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/7AwpI18Jks
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 19, 2025
Whether they were intentionally trying to cheat or not – I’m sure you’ll have your guesses on that – it’s a rough look after being penalized at the start of last season for a different issue.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that this is what race teams do. They try to find every way to push the envelope and gain any inch that they can.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden will try to become the first driver to win this race three year’s in a row on Sunday.
The day culminated with the fastest six cars on the grounds going flat out to determine the first two rows of the race, and an unlikely hero came out on top.
Robert Shwartzman! What a run by the rookie. #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/WY1hysycns
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 18, 2025
Robert Shwartzman, a former endurance and formula racer from Israel, put his car on the pole – a car fielded by a team attempting to qualify for its first Indy 500 ever.
Oh, and it was in his first oval race of his entire career, too.
The odds on that last week – before the start of practice – sat at +5000. It’s one of the biggest upsets of the decade in motorsports.
And to think that was just qualifying. I’d say the race on Sunday (11:30 a.m. FOX) will be exciting.
