Morning Perk: Preakness, Corrosion, Celts and Pens

Monday morning. Your alarm goes off for the first time in two days, you head back to the office and then spend the first few hours of the workday planning how you’ll survive until closing time on Friday. Luckily, Poker Central and Death Wish Coffee have you covered. The world’s strongest coffee gives you a “Morning Perk,” recapping the weekend sports action on Monday and then the best from across the internet on Friday.

Another week, another massive announcement in the world of poker live streams but before we move ahead to PokerGO, we first need to look back on the sports weekend that was. The NBA Playoffs finally gave us a Conference Finals upset, the Kentucky Derby champion couldn’t go back-to-back and a a “Morning Perk” favorite was dethroned in Spain.

MAJOR UPSET: Cloud Computing wins @PreaknessStakes! pic.twitter.com/dHcxkRIjTQ

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 20, 2017

After Always Dreaming won the Kentucky Derby, the pre-Preakness Stakes headlines, as they always are, centered around a potential Triple Crown run for the Derby winner. The last Triple Crown winner was American Pharoah in 2015 but before that, the last time a horse won all three major races in the same year was 1978. Always Dreaming laying a goose egg in the Preakness kind of killed the mood, and any 2017 Triple Crown chances, but Cloud Computing’s come-from-behind upset win will likely be the most exciting moment of this year’s race season.

Real Madrid win their 33rd #LaLiga title after a 2-0 win away to Málaga.

They finish three points clear of Barcelona in second. pic.twitter.com/rp5CE8ipih

— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) May 21, 2017

Lionel Messi has been featured in a few “Morning Perk” articles but this weekend, his biggest rivals made all the Spanish headlines. Real Madrid won their 33^rd La Liga title on Sunday, beating Malaga 3-0 to keep a 3-point lead on Messi and Barcelona. Madrid, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, will face Italian giant Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final next month, for a chance at another trophy.

Rusty Rio Medals: 130 Olympic medals returned to organisers to be fixed https://t.co/lAHyT3203e #sun7 pic.twitter.com/VrCuR3d38g

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 20, 2017

Speaking of trophies, medals from the Rio Olympics made some negative headlines this weekend. 130 Olympic medals, most of them bronze, were returned to event organizers to be fixed and replaced. The medals had begun to corrode and a few people have made the point that there may be a metaphor somewhere in there to describe the Rio Olympics, which were criticized for numerous reasons before, during and after the event.

The Steelers have tacked on the XP to take a 7-0 on Ottawa. pic.twitter.com/XrCWVjn8FB

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 21, 2017

The kick is up and it is good. The Pittsburgh Penguins took a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Ottawa Senators and are now one game from the Stanley Cup Finals. Pittsburgh fans are just hoping that they didn’t waste some goals in Game 5 that could have been used in Game 6, as the Pens hung seven on the Sens, after combining for just six goals through the first four games of the series.

AVERY BRADLEY FOR THE WIN!!! #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/y0tp9bjANw

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 22, 2017

The Boston Celtics won Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on an Avery Bradley near buzzer-beater and while that win may rally the troops against the Cleveland Cavaliers, it is likely just prolonging the inevitable. The Celtics best player, Isaiah Thomas is out for the rest of the post-season, the Cavaliers have LeBron James, who had an off night in Game 3, so the question isn’t if the Cavs are going to win this series, it is when are they going to win this series? My prediction, Cavs in five.

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