AMAZING MESSI - At 38 he's felling great. Will he be feeling fine at 39? MESSI MAGIC - BUILDING A FRANCHISE

Shohei Ohtani is off to a solid season as a two-way player for the Dodgers - (All Pro Reels - Photo) SHOHEI OHTANI'S BLESSINGS in DISGUISE SHOHEI'S BACK ON THE MOUND

In 1956, the inaugural year of the Cy Young Award, Don Newcombe became the first pitcher to win the National League MVP and the Cy Young in the same season- MLB's DON NEWCOMBE REMEMBERED

Trinity Rodman - (Hamilton photo) Trinity Rodman… ON THE MOVE?

From the perilous streets of Philadelphia to coaching her third NCAA Women's title winning team, Dawn Staley is living a dream - (Chris-Gillespie photo)

Charles Barkley was a member of the 1992 USA Olympic Dream team BUT… he was never a member of an NBA title winning team ALL TIME NBA NEVER WON-NA TITLE TEAM

Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics ALL TIME NBA 1st TEAM - BREAKING IT DOWN

SPORTS NOTES EXTRA - AMAZING MESSI

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Somebody knows what they're doing in the Charlotte Hornets camp - At 37, the old man (?), Kevin Durant has still got it - What's in a name? If it's Rodman, that translates into controversy - WNBA has agreed to housing? - Double Trivia - NBA's ALL TIME BEST PLAYERS 1st and 2nd TEAMS

Friday April 24, 2026

SOCCER/Int Football

Messi Jumping with JOY

It's a sight to see a 38-year-old man jumping in the air and thrusting his fist towards the sky after an exciting play on the pitch. The man is Lionel Messi of the Inter Miami in the MLS. Messi has started his season strong notching 5 goals in 5 matches at the beginning on the month. Since that time, he has increased his output has increased his total to seven goals in seven matches.

Shortly after the season began Manager Javier Mascherano left the club just four months after guiding the side to its first MLS Cup title. Personal reasons were given as an explanation.

New interim coach Guillermo Hoyos has a previous relationship with Messi when he was a young player at Barcelona's renowned La Masia academy more than 20 years ago. Hoyos assumed the post after moving over from his current role of Inter Miami's sporting director.

The franchise is experiencing a rough start having yet to win in their newly built home stadium. Having a stadium built for the club during Messi's short time with the club is astonishing to him. In their first home match against Austin (TX) FC they were held to a 2-2 result. Over 27 thousand fans were in attendance.

That Messi Magic continues to be on display as he scored two goals in a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids before a crowd of 75,824 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. It is the second-highest attendance in MLS history.

With all of their growing pains and going through them changes the Messi Mob is in 2nd place in the East. It's kind of rough but if they smooth things out they could be in for a strong season and perhaps a title repeat. A big difference would be to turn those ties into wins. Juss sayin…

MLB

Shohei Ohtani is off to a solid season as a two-way player for the Dodgers. Ohtani has a 2-0 pitching record. His most outstanding result is a six-inning stint while striking out 10. He gave up only one run on two hits. The final score was 8-2 against the NY Mets and he was credited with the win.

The 3rd year Dodger's hitting is off to a slow start, as it was last season. For the most part, he's batting roughly about .250 to .275 with 5 home runs. His pitch count reaches 100 around the sixth inning.

Back in the day there was no such thing as a pitch count. Don Newcombe, then a member of the then Brooklyn Dodgers great teams during the 50's pitched both games of a double header against the Philadelphia Phillies. Johnny Podres was supposed to start the second match but was ill. Newcombe was called on to replace him.

Newcombe won Game 1 with a 9-inning shutout throwing only 83 pitches. He then pitched 7 innings and got a no decision in Game 2, a game the Dodgers won 3-2.

Newcombe was a hulk of a man standing 6'4" and 225 lb. He pitched his first game on June 20, 1949 (Age 22). In 1949 he became the first black pitcher to start a World Series game. When Newk won the Rookie of the Year Award, he was the first pitcher in award history to receive the honor. Newcombe was the first black pitcher to win twenty games in one season.

Like Ohtani, Newcombe was an excellent hitter who was called upon to pinch hit. He was an excellent hitting pitcher who compiled a career batting average of .271 with 15 home runs and was used as a pinch hitter, a then rarity for pitchers.

On Nov. 28, 1956 Newcombe was also the first recipient of the Cy Young award, which was introduced by Commissioner Ford C. Frick in honor of Hall of Famer Cy Young, who died in 1955.

Of note, then Pittsburgh Pirates Harvey Haddix is best known for pitching 12 perfect innings in a game against the Milwaukee Braves on May 26, 1959; the Pirates lost the game in the 13th inning.

NCAA

GOING NORTH PHILLY ON-EM

In the whas-sup department, in a semi-final game pitting Connecticut against South Carolina, Carolina coach Dawn Staley went all North Philly on Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma. Auriemma said something to Staley and she went ballistic.

Staley gave the coach and thorough, intense and hot North Philly attitude. It was a sensational video that went viral. Auriemma later apologized through an intermediary. The episode equated to bad attitudes but good TV.

For those that don't know, Staley is from North Philadelphia. It's a tough area and many are lucky they survived.

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

April 24, 1963 Bob Cousy ended his Boston career on a high note as he helped the Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-109 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals for the team's fifth consecutive NBA Championship. It was Cousy's last game in a Celtics uniform, although he did appear in seven games as player-coach for the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969-70 season.

April 24, 1964 Wilt Chamberlain of the San Francisco Warriors grabbed 38 rebounds against the Boston Celtics and arch-rival Bill Russell, in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, a 98-95 Boston win. During the regular season, however, Russell led the league in rebounding with a 24.7 rpg mark to Chamberlain's 22.3 rpg.

April 24, 1967 The 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, who in 1980 were voted the NBA's all-time greatest team, beat San Francisco 125-122 in Game 6 of the Finals to win the NBA Championship, ending Boston's eight-year string of league titles.

April 24, 1988 Milwaukee's Jack Sikma became the tallest player (7-0) in NBA history to win the NBA free throw title by shooting 92% from the line.

April 24, 1993 The Milwaukee Bucks retired the #33 jersey worn by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for six seasons. Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to the 1971 NBA championship with a sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the Finals. He had previously had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won five NBA titles.

April 24, 1994 David Robinson of San Antonio became just the fourth NBA player to score 70 points in a game, hitting for 71 in the Spurs' 112-97 road win against the LA Clippers. Robinson finished the 1993-94 season as the NBA's scoring champion, edging out Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal 29.8 to 29.3 ppg.

April 24, 1994 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf of Denver finished the 1993-94 season by hitting 219-of-229 free throw attempts for a 95.6% free throw percentage, the second-highest in NBA history behind Calvin Murphy's mark of 95.8% in 1980-81.

April 24, 1995 Atlanta Coach Lenny Wilkens, the NBA's all-time leader in victories with 968 at the close of the 1994-95 season, was named coach of the 1996 United States Olympic Men's Basketball team.

April 24, 1996 The NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of the Women's National Basketball Association to begin play as a summer league in 1997.