NPR’s Scott Simon talks sports with ESPN’s Howard Bryant. They’ll cover the surprises of the NBA playoffs so far and the historically hot start by baseball’s Boston Red Sox.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Don’t despair about the world. It’s time for sports.

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SIMON: The Red Sox are red-hot. We’re about halfway through everyone’s least favorite round of the NBA playoffs. But first, Howard Bryant of ESPN joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.

HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott.

SIMON: Any NBA games worth watching before the Cleveland Cavaliers come roaring back to take everything?

BRYANT: (Laughter) You know, Scott, I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to mention the Cleveland Cavaliers. I don’t know. I got to tell you. I think that this might be it for the reign of King James. LeBron James has been to the NBA finals every year since 2011. His team is really not that good this year. And they lost a game last night. They should have won to Indiana. They’re down 2-1. Obviously, nobody would bet against LeBron. But if it’s going to happen that he’s – you don’t win every single year. This one very well may be the year. They’re not the best team. They’re not playing particularly great. And he’s looking like he did during his first reign in Cleveland, which is he’s really, really good. But everybody else isn’t that good.

SIMON: But Cleveland rocks. Listen. Houston and the Warriors seem to be on cruise control. And, of course, Steph Curry is coming back. But what about Philadelphia and New Orleans?

BRYANT: Well, that’s the fun part of this, Scott – is that you – for the first time in a long time, you start to see a team in the post season – usually the first round is the one you fall asleep on. But the Philadelphia 76ers are looking like the very best team in the Eastern Conference right now – not just maybe for this post season. But certainly next year and the following years, they’re going to be a team to reckon with. I think that in the Western Conference, yes, it is no question that the matchup everybody wants to see is Houston versus Golden State. The Warriors have been the best team in the league for the last three years and – the last four years now. And I think that the Rockets have been built to beat them. So this is the matchup.

However, just like Philadelphia in the East, I really like New Orleans with Anthony Davis. And you’re starting to see that team play really, really well. They’re up 3-0 on the Portland Trailblazers. And so it’s not as boring a first round as it used to be. I think there are some teams if you’re a big NBA fan – and the NBA has had a great season this year – that there’s a lot to look forward to. And it’s not just ho-hum waiting to see if it’s going to be LeBron and the Cavaliers against Golden State like the last couple of years.

SIMON: So the baseball season opened. Red Sox lost opening day. And almost not since, they’re 17 and 2. How are they doing it?

BRYANT: Well, they’re doing it because they’re hitting the ball. I remember last year, after David Ortiz retired, the Red Sox couldn’t score. That’s one thing that you never would think – that team playing in Fenway Park, that they weren’t going to be able to score runs. Well, this year they’re scoring lots of runs. And they’ve got a 66 – or 68-run differential in terms of runs scored versus runs given up. And they are – they’re doing it with pitching. They’re doing it with everything.

And I think that this is actually sort of fun because at the end of last season you were thinking Dodgers. You were thinking Astros. You were thinking the Yankees came a game away from making the World Series. The Red Sox lost to Houston last year in the first round of the playoffs. So now you’ve got three, four, five teams that are actually going to really be in there and a resurgent Red Sox, resurgent Yankees, world champion Astros – pretty fun stuff.

SIMON: Howard Bryant, thanks so much.

BRYANT: Thank you.

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

If at first you don’t succeed… try, try, try again! #CapsJackets#ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com/6S3b5cfXNW

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 15, 2018

The NBA playoffs are upon us — and this year tensions are running high between the players and referees.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The NBA has a communication problem. Players are mad at the refs. The fans are mad at the refs. The refs are mad at seemingly everyone else. It’s gotten so bad referees mounted a PR campaign, reaching out to talk with fans after games.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Were you at the game tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I did. I did. I was there.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We’re trying to do a survey on the officiating…

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: …Of the NBA. You know, because we’re trying to crack down on them – get better…

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: For sure.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: …You know – everything. Yeah.

CORNISH: To explain more about what’s going on and whether it might affect the playoffs which start tomorrow, we turn to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN. Welcome to the program.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: So how’d all this get started?

ARNOVITZ: Well, there are these competing theories, as there always are. Some say that there has been a spate of retirements of the league’s most respected venerable referees, and in their place have come some younger referees that don’t have the relationships with the players. They know what makes these players tick. I mean, I think one of the other theories is players – there’s far more at stake. It’s a more emotional business. You’re talking about millions and millions and millions of dollars. And, you know, sports is where we go to be irrational.

But I have a different theory, which is I think in many ways, the issue mirrors the larger conversation we’re having about the deterioration of civil discourse in every other walk of life. Like, we now live in a world where a low-grade conflict between referee and player that would have gone unnoticed a few years ago now gets published and posted on Twitter.

And players will send these clips to other players on other teams they’re friendly with and say, did you see what happened in Denver or Houston tonight? And I think very much the story of referee and players is the story of all of us right now in discourse.

CORNISH: Now, I understand that they actually maybe sat down to talk about this. Is there any sign of an agreement? And what would even be in it?

ARNOVITZ: Yeah. I mean, there was a brief meeting at the All-Star Weekend. But actually, the heads of sort of the referees’ operations in the league just got back – finished on Monday a 30-team tour around the league, having conversations with the players and saying, look; what can we do to communicate better?

Because the interesting thing is when you talk to players, they’ll tell you the performance of the referees in making correct calls and incorrect calls is no worse than they feel it’s been in previous years. What they feel like is that when the whistle blows, there used to be room for a casual conversation, wanting clarification, and now those particular discussions are escalating into some – you know, kind of some bad blood.

CORNISH: Superstars are getting tossed out of games, which used to be rare. Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors has been ejected five times just this year, LeBron James ejected for the first time in his 15-year career. Heading into the playoffs, could this be an issue?

ARNOVITZ: I mean, I think it absolutely could be an issue. In fact, we saw in 2016 Draymond Green was ejected from a game – suspended for a game, and ultimately it might have swung the fate of the series. I think everybody is on heightened alert right now. On one hand, I would like to believe – the optimist in me – that because everybody knows this is an issue, that players will kind of recognize that line and not cross it.

CORNISH: Speaking of the playoffs, after three years of basically Golden State versus Cleveland in the finals, both teams have been struggling. So looking forward into the playoffs, what are you watching for?

ARNOVITZ: I’m watching the Houston Rockets, who had a phenomenal year behind their star, James Harden, and Chris Paul, who came over from the Los Angeles Clippers. They can score the ball at will, and they are the favorites to take the title over Golden State, who’s trying to kind of bide their time while Steph Curry comes back from injury. He’s injured his MCL and probably won’t be ready until the second round. The east is interesting. LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers have not had a successful season. They’re looking up at three other teams, including the Toronto Raptors, who in Eastern Conference is number 1C and could give Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston and the rest of the east a tough time.

CORNISH: Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN, thanks so much.

ARNOVITZ: Thanks for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF KALI UCHIS SONG, “RIDIN ROUND”)

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The most talked about baseball player so far this season is Los Angeles Angel Shohei Ohtani. He’s electrified people with his pitching and hitting. It’s an unusual talent to be good at both. But how rare is it?

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

To baseball news now and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, who is the talk of this young baseball season. The 23-year-old Japanese phenom is winning as a pitcher and smashing home runs as a designated hitter. He has electrified fans and drawn comparisons to baseball’s most famous so called two-way player Babe Ruth. NPR’s Tom Goldman looks at whether Ohtani’s success could lead to making the two-way player a more common sight in the game.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: In fact, it’s quite common at lower levels of baseball. You can still go to any high school around the country and see players pitching one day, then playing a position and hitting the next. Although less common, you can find it in college, too.

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GOLDMAN: With a hiss and a pop, Kenyon Yovan delivers one of his 90-plus mile an hour fastballs. It’s a practice day this week at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Yovan is a 20-year-old sophomore starting pitcher and designated hitter. So after he finishes throwing, Yovan heads to batting practice.

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GOLDMAN: After this, he goes back to pitching, working on arm care and conditioning. Yovan says the extra time he spends focusing on two different essential baseball skills is worth the effort.

KENYON YOVAN: Being able to help my team in both aspects of the game are definitely the key that I always look for when I play. And the feeling of always being on the field is amazing.

GOLDMAN: He has a receptive head coach at Oregon in George Horton, who also has another full-time, two-way player – a shortstop who pitches. Horton, a baseball lifer who’s coached for 40 years, says in many college programs, there are practical advantages to having two-way players like his.

GEORGE HORTON: And so if we can double up – having them both hit, play positions and pitch – then it stretches our scholarship dollar out and our quality of depth out.

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JOEY MCMURRY: One ball, two strikes.

GOLDMAN: Yovan has made his coach’s decision easier by performing well on the mound and at the plate, as heard on the Oregon IMG Sports Network with announcer Joey Mac.

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MCMURRY: One-zero to Yovan.

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MCMURRY: He belts it into left field – at the wall, out of here.

GOLDMAN: Kenyon Yovan wants to be a major leaguer. From college through the minors to the majors, it’s a long shot. Coach George Horton says at the beginning of that process, big league teams traditionally have made the decision to turn two-way players into either-or.

HORTON: Asking them to do two things makes the odds probably more astronomical. And so they really want to protect their interest by investing in what side of the ball they think that young man has the best chance to succeed.

GOLDMAN: Horton thinks Ohtani’s success with the Angels in the major leagues might make teams take a closer look at two-way players. He doesn’t think there will be a lot because it’s so hard to master the dual role. But former major leaguer Rick Ankiel is bullish on a potential Ohtani effect. Ankiel pitched and played outfield during his career, although not at the same time. He says it should be a great moment for two-way players because baseball is demanding less from its pitchers.

RICK ANKIEL: My guys are getting pulled out in the fifth inning with a hundred pitches, and the bullpen takes over. So if you are – had a concern about maybe it’s going to be too many throws, and then we – you know, do we DH him the next day? Do we play him in the field the next day?

GOLDMAN: Ankiel says that concern shouldn’t be as great the way the game is trending. The Angels are being careful with Shohei Ohtani, resting him on days before and after he pitches. But in the true two-way spirit, he appears to be tugging against the restraints. After driving in a run in last night’s Angels’ win, he told reporters he wants to play even more. Tom Goldman, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINCE GUARALDI TRIO’S “BASEBALL THEME”)

Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Over the weekend 15 members of a Canadian youth hockey team were killed in a bus collision in rural Saskatchewan. NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly speaks to Globe and Mail reporter Carrie Tait about how the community is coping.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

In Humboldt, Saskatchewan last night, families, friends and fans gathered for a vigil at the ice rink where the Humboldt Broncos practice. The youth hockey team was headed to a game on Friday when its bus collided with a tractor-trailer. Ten players, two coaches, a broadcaster, a statistician and the driver were killed – 15 people in all. Broncos team president Kevin Garinger spoke to mourners last night.

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KEVIN GARINGER: We are gathered in a state of shock and unthinkable heartache. This tragedy has devastated our families, our Humboldt Broncos organization, our community, Saskatchewan, Canada and our world.

KELLY: Globe and Mail reporter Carrie Tait was at that vigil. She’s been reporting from Humboldt all this last awful weekend. And, Carrie Tait, welcome to the program.

CARRIE TAIT: Thank you for having me.

KELLY: Set the scene for us. What was this vigil like last night?

TAIT: Well, this is in the Humboldt Broncos’ arena, and that’s sort of the social heartbeat in a small town. And so at the very, very front, you had people like the man you just heard speaking. In front of that, on the ice surface, there were families and the billet families. And the billets are the parents who take kids in who aren’t from here. And then there was overflow, and overflow for the overflow, and overflow for the overflow.

KELLY: To make sure I understand what you’re saying about the billet families, this youth team that’s based in Humboldt – Humboldt’s a small town. The players are from all over Canada. So is the way it works the players come and they find a host family that – where they live for a period of time while they’re playing for the team?

TAIT: Yeah, it’s like any hockey league or sports league where you’re drafted. And in towns like this, particularly hockey towns, there’s families who take kids in constantly. That’s sort of the double whammy here is that it’s both biological families have lost their children, and then billet families have lost their children. And they look at these kids like they’re sons.

KELLY: And we mentioned this is a junior team. The players on this team would’ve been – what? – in their late teens up to early 20s?

TAIT: Yeah. The youngest is 16, and then you’re sort of graduated out of it age-wise at 21.

KELLY: So these boys are a big deal in this town. These are the heroes of this town.

TAIT: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, it’s not just like they are kids who play hockey. They’re the kids who really do have organized, call us and we’ll go shovel your driveway in the winter, or where they’re helping out with fundraisers. And that’s why people have much more of a connection to them. They’re heroes, and they’re great hockey players, but they’re part of the town.

KELLY: As awful as this tragedy is, I understand that a mistake at the coroner’s office has added to the awfulness. There was a mix-up in identifying one of the deceased and one of the survivors. I saw that the coroner’s office was saying maybe some part of the problem was all these boys looked alike ’cause they had all dyed their hair blond in solidarity for the playoffs.

TAIT: A couple of things. A – you know, the hockey players often, you know, have a similar physique. This was an obviously horrific crash, and there was, you know, this isn’t about bumps and bruises.

And something like hair color – as a tidbit, that is something the team and others in town, because the younger kids play hockey or because they’re supporters, have their hair dyed this sort of bleach-blond yellow for good luck in the playoffs. But a lot of this wasn’t about hair color. It sort of shows the magnitude of the car crash.

KELLY: Carrie Tait, thank you very much.

TAIT: Thanks for having me.

KELLY: That’s Globe and Mail reporter Carrie Tait.

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Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.