-First off, let’s just wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day out there. Yeah. It’s a bit late cause I was at a great barbecue here in Shaolin VG style. Thanks go out to Nick for putting it together. Whatever ya’ll did yesterday, hope it was as much of a blast as I had. Great food. Awesome people. Dope music. And freestyling!

It’s always worth noting what this day really means. Many of us might be able to kick back and enjoy ourselves but for a precious few who put their lives on the line, they are the true definition of heroes and what makes our country great. So a big thank you to all our troops for making so many big sacrifices. Without you, we wouldn’t be around to celebrate.

Now to some other thoughts:

-I’m never going to say that I’m the biggest lacrosse guy out there but the men’s NCAA championship always is fun to check out. Congrats to Syracuse on winning their school record 10th lacrosse title by defeating defending champion John Hopkins 13-10 yesterday in Foxborough. They held off Hopkins’ star Paul Rabil, who connected six times to keep his school in it. That included an amazing goal which made it interesting late. That guy is some player. The Orange were simply better getting a hat trick from Dan Hardy along with two apiece from Brendan Loftus and Kenny Nims. For the school which missed last year’s tournament for the first time since 1982 due to three players getting suspended, it was sweet redemption. Big ups to them on taking the trophy in front of a record crowd of 48,970.

-Nice to see the Pistons bounceback taking care of the Celtics 94-75 in Game Four to level their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Series. They got a big performance from Antonio McDyess, who went for a double/double (21 and 16) in sparking Detroit to a convincing home win to send the series back to Boston tied at two. The 33 year-old veteran big man shot an efficient 8-for-14 from the floor while connecting on 5-of-6 from the charity stripe while grabbing seven of his game high 16 boards on the offensive glass. The Pistons as a team had nine offensive rebounds and only 34 overall meaning that McDyess nearly accounted for half. Not bad for someone who’s closing in on the end of his career. Richard Hamilton added 20 points and seven assists. Chauncey Billups also dropped seven dimes. The Detroit guard duo’s combined 14 were two better than the entire Celtic roster. Key reserve Rodney Stuckey also added five assists as Detroit spread the ball around. Jason Maxiell also came off the bench to shoot 6-of-6 from the field with 14 points.

The Celtics shot a dreadful 31.8 percent from the field misfiring on 45 of 66 shots. Yikes. The Pistons by comparison shot 36-for-70 connecting at 51.4 percent. Another huge difference was the assist to turnover ratio. Detroit had 27 assists to only seven turnovers while Boston dished out just 12 assists and turned the ball over 14 times. You’re not winning many games with those kind of numbers.

-It’s okay for the Pens to remember to play the game. They’ve now been outscored 6-0 by the Red Wings in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals. Guess we didn’t miss much last night. Wonder what the ratings were for that one?

-I’m glad the Mets didn’t axe Willie Randolph but if they don’t put together a decent record on this seven-game homestand, who actually believes Omar Minaya when he says the organization wants Willie around for the duration of his contract through next season?!?!?!?!?!

-The Amazin’s sure didn’t get the kind of start at Shea they needed giving up the last five runs in a 7-3 defeat to the first place Marlins, whose payroll is a major league low $22 million. Despite that, they’re 10 over .500 following a three RBI game from veteran outfielder Luis Gonzalez. His two-run double sparked a four-run fourth off losing Met starter Mike Pelfrey, who dropped to 2-6. Though shortstop Jose Reyes went deep twice, he also committed a key error in the first leading to a couple of unearned runs. The Met leadoff hitter is the definition of an enigma. He can be brilliant at times offensively but also sometimes has brain cramps. Whether it’s getting picked off or booting a routine grounder, Reyes has not played to capability. So much of how the Mets perform is on the shortstop. When he goes, they do. Unless he becomes more consistent, the Met season could go up in flames. At three under (23-26), they find themselves six and a half out. It’s important for them to respond with two wins to take this series against the Marlins. Ace Johan Santana will try to halt the losing when he faces Andrew Miller later tonight. Oliver Perez will battle Scott Olsen in the final game tomorrow.

-Meanwhile, the Orioles snapped the Yanks’ five-game win streak defeating them 6-1 at Camden Yards Monday afternoon. Nick Markakis broke a scoreless tie with a solo blast in the sixth off losing starter Darrell Rasner, who fell to 3-1. The great Yankee pen headed by LaTroy Hawkins made certain of that by giving up five runs in the seventh. Aubrey Huff’s three-run two out blast off Jose Veras broke it open as the Birds moved a half game ahead of the Pinstripes putting them back in last place. The lone bright spot for the Yanks was Hideki Matsui, who had three hits and scored their only run on a Chad Moeller ninth inning RBI single. Baltimore rookie starter Garrett Olson worked seven scoreless while fanning seven to win his fourth. The Yanks will look to even the series when rookie Ian Kennedy goes for his first win trying to build on last week’s good outing. He’ll oppose four-game winner Brian Buress.

-In by far the biggest offensive explosion of the day, the Phillies scored 20 times and pounded out 19 hits in a 20-5 home rout of the Rockies. Second baseman Chase Utley hammered Colorado pitching for three hits including a three-run dinger for No.16 on the season and six RBI’s. The Phils scored half a dozen runs in the fourth and sixth improving to a season best five over (29-24) to remain tied with the Braves for second two and a half out.

-In the French Open first round, Roger Federer was a straight set winner over American Sam Querrey defeating him 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in abbreviated play due to the rain at Roland Garros. Eighth seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet pulled out with a left knee injury.

-Congrats to Gustavo Kuerten on a great career. The popular Brazilian who won three French Opens was never the same due to a bad hip. He was eliminated in the opening round by Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. It’s too bad because he was a fiery competitor who had lots of flambuoyance energizing crowds. Still, he had a great career and will be sorely missed.