A Sports Filled Weekend Ahead

The great thing about the Kentucky Derby is the immediate question of whether the winning (or whinnying) horse can go on to take the Triple Crown.

The horse is never asked for his opinion. And the drama begins to truly build if that horse wins the Preakness Stakes.

So here’s looking at you, Always Dreaming. The Derby winner was a 4-5 favorite on Friday morning while Classic Empire, who was fourth in the Derby, was tabbed at 3-1. Always Dreaming will run from post position 4, with Classic Empire just outside of him at 5. The lean here is to Empire. Lookin at Lee at 10-1 might be worth a play. NBC shows this jolly good time on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET, with post time for the 1542nd Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland at 6:45 p.m.

Maybe this isn’t the crown jewel of your weekend. But trust us, your heiner and your recliner will be joined at the, uh, well, heiner for many a fine activity.

Start your Weekend Six-Pack on Friday night with the NBA playoffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who have yet to lose in the playoffs, look to go up 2-0 on the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. TNT has this game at 8:30 p.m. If you are tired of the mismatches and blowouts – not an exclusive club by any means – catch the NHL playoff matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.

Saturday is heavy viewing. There’s the Preakness, of course, but if you skip the palaver and buildup you can be done with that in two minutes. There are three boxing matches worth a peek, but we’ll give you the meeting between unbeaten Terence Crawford and 2008 Olympic gold medal winner Felix Diaz at 10:15 p.m. on HBO. Crawford’s 140-pound title belts (no, the belts don’t weight 140 pounds) are on the line.

NASCAR’s All-Star Race in Charlotte, North Carolina will be run on Saturday, beginning at 4:35 with qualifying. The Monster Energy Open follows at 6 p.m., with the Monster Energy All-Star Race at 8, all on Fox Sports 1.

For a look at the NBA Western Conference blowout, try the Golden State Warriors-San Antonio Spurs game at 9 p.m. on ESPN. The Spurs are down 2-0 and getting desperate. They’ll need stud forward Kawhi Leonard (ankle) back on the court.

And that’s it. Sure, there are sports to see on Sunday. But your friendly blog is giving you the day off. Squander it any way you please.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman