The Fives: April 11th, 2010

Five observations from Saturday in sports…

1.    One thing I wanted to mention yesterday, but ran out of room.  Isn’t it interesting what winning can do for a franchise?  At the start of the season, the Coyotes were unwanted, owned by the league, and possibly headed to Canada.  50 wins and a top 4 Western Conference playoff seed later, and now there are 2 groups wanting to buy the team and keep it in Arizona.  Kind of makes you wonder where they would be if they had a bad season, huh?

2.    Yesterday at Augusta is just the setup for what should be a fascinating day today.  Westwood and Mickelson in the last group, with Woods and Choi in striking distance if they have a great round.  Even casual sports fans might want to check this one out.

3.    Good job by the Bruins to win their way into the playoffs yesterday over Carolina.  Bad job by the Canadiens who backed into the playoffs with an overtime loss to Toronto.

4.    Nice win by the Spurs last night on the road in Denver.  It also helped San Antonio that the Nuggets imploded in the fourth quarter to help them out.

5.    I know it’s been against the Nationals and Astros, but it looks like the Phillies are going to be able to hit all year long.  41 runs in the first 5 games and a lineup that doesn’t really give a break anywhere has Philly looking very strong.

Five top performances from Saturday…

1.    C.C. Sabathia, Yankees SP: 0 runs on 1 hit with 5 K’s in 7.2 IP in NY’s 10-0 romp over TB

2.    Dirk Nowitzki, Maverick PF: 39 pts and 7 reb in DAL’s 126-108 win over SAC

3.    Thomas Vanek, Sabres LW: 4 goals in BUF’s 5-2 win over OTT

4.    Ryan Newman: Breaks a 77 race winless streak with the Sprint Cup win in Phoenix

5.    Brad Hawpe, Rockies RF: 3 for 6 with 2 HRs and 2 RBIs in COL’s 5-4 14 inning loss to SD

Five events to watch on Saturday…

1.    MLB: Yankees at Rays, 1:30 PM (Burnett (NYY) vs. Shields (TB))

2.    Golf: Final Round of The Masters (Coverage starts at 2:00 PM on CBS)

3.    MLB: Phiilies at Astros, 2:00 PM (Great matchup: Halladay vs. Oswalt)

4.    NHL: Rangers at Flyers, 3:00 PM (One final game for the last NHL Playoff spot)

5.    NBA: Bulls at Raptors, 6:00 PM (Could go a long way to deciding the NBA’s last playoff team)