Links for March 31, 2017

The NBA’s secret addiction

From Doo’s perspective, PB&J’s were a far better option than players seeking out, say, greasy junk food from arena concessions. “It was a win-win for everybody,” he says. But as the Garnett-Paul Pierce-Ray Allen Celtics steamrolled to a 66-win season and an NBA title, the secret to their success, so cleverly disguised between two pieces of white bread, was eventually leaked.... In time, as visiting teams swung through Boston, opposing players caught wind that a new day had dawned.

The Mayor’s Cup: Where did it come from and where did it go?

If you’ve been a big Twins or Red Sox fan sometime in the past thirty years, you’ve probably heard of the “Mayor’s Cup.” Roughly speaking, it is a coveted trophy passed between the Twins and the Red Sox each year during spring training depending on which team beat the other more times in their exhibition games. Or, rather, the Mayor’s Cup was a coveted trophy. After nearly decades of fighting over it, the entire thing seems to have been completely forgotten.

Nicholas Brothers in Stormy Weather