Tom’s Two Cents: Omaha, Overtime and Oakmont

Welcome back to another week of Tom’s Two Cents: the only sports column bold enough to complain about Apple TV's MLB coverage, while watching UCLA baseball in the same breath.

This week, we’re diving into one of the greatest 2-week stretches in the sports calendar. Baseball is heating up, Golf is about to get mean at Oakmont, NBA Finals, and a Stanley Cup Final between the defending champs and the country that hasn’t brought the cup home since 1993. It’s chaos, it’s beautiful, and we’re breaking it all down.

Today, we’re diving into the College World Series Super Regionals, recapping Game 1 of Panthers vs. Oilers, previewing a brutal U.S. Open at Oakmont, and of course, climbing up on this week’s Soapbox to scream about MLB’s blackout nonsense.

Let’s dive in.

Men’s College World Series Preview

And then there were 16…

We’ve officially entered Super Regional territory: the part of the college baseball postseason where the gloves come off, bats get hot, and dugouts get way too committed to choreographed celebrations.

Let’s pour one out for Vanderbilt -- the once-mighty Commodores got whooped by Wright State in the Nashville Regional. Bounced back to Broadway before the real fun even started. Sad!

Tom’s Pics to Make it to Omaha:

- FSU - Absolute wagon

- UNC - Steady, well coached and sneaky dangerous.

- Tennessee - Defending Champs with an unreal lineup

- UCLA - My championship pick. Bookmark this.

- West Virginia - Gotta be one upset, right?

Buckle up, the road to the College World Series is never straight, but it’s always chaotic. And if your team’s still alive, I hope you’ve cleared your weekend schedule… and have prepared your liver accordingly.

Stanley Cup Finals Game 1: Oilers’ OT Winner

The NHL’s brightest lights are on. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final ended in fireworks -- The Oilers were down 3–1 in the 2nd, tied it in the 3rd, and won it in OverTime. McDavid dished out two assists, Skinner stopped 29 shots, and Draisaitl delivered the OT heroics—his 9th goal of the postseason.

The real MVP? Jake Walman -- whose laugh at Tomas Nosek’s OT penalty went viral faster than the Florida State Fan's Burrito controversy (IYKYK). Oilers fans are calling it “a little surreal" -- side effects of your team winning in dramatic fashion.

But Florida isn’t folding. Coach Paul Maurice sounded calm, not crushed—calling the loss “intense,” not terminal. I see Bobrovsky standing on his head in the coming games, and the P’s coming out flying. Still taking the Panthers in 6.

Game 2 in Edmonton should be electric, and I can't wait for the rest of this series.

Oakmont to Host 10th U.S. Open

Golf goes nuclear June 12–15 as the U.S. Open returns to Oakmont Country Club. This is a 7,300‑yard, par‑70 hellscape featuring lightning‑fast greens, deep bunkers like the Church Pews, brutal rough, and a nearly 300‑yard par‑3. And personally, I can't wait. I love when the course makes the pros look like your 15-handicap buddy.

Who to Watch at the U.S. Open:

- Scottie Scheffler - World no. 1 and the favorite at +430. Coming in hot with wins at the PGA and Memorial…. BLAH BLAH BLAH. It's Scottie f***ing Scheffler, what “Players to Watch” segment wouldn’t include this guy.

- Rory McIlroy - Fresh off a Masters win and the career Grand Slam completion, and was also humbled by a triple bogey in the practice round.

- Bryson DeChambeau - The defending champion called this venue “scary.” His power should suit him well at Oakmont, but can he stay out of the long grass while pushing for distance?

- Sleepers - Shane Lowry, Cam Smith, and Ludvig Aberg - Keep an eye on these fellas.

Most experts are expecting the winning score to be over par. And I cannot wait.

My pick? The course -- I want Oakmont to chew these pros up and spit them out. Make it hurt, and make the victor earn it.

Soapbox Segment: MLB Blackouts

Here’s the thing: I love baseball. I want it everywhere. But MLB’s blackout rules are worse than the softball bases in college baseball. And now, even with Apple TV taking over, it isn’t helping.

Trying to watch your local team? Good luck. You somehow have to buy cable, stream the MLB package, maybe VPN it— it's like you’re laundering TVs, not watching games.

And Apple? They slap their logo on games like an ex girlfriend tagged in all your IG pics. Feels like the MLB sold their soul for some fancy interface and commercial-free mumbo-jumbo. But do we actually get anything new? Nope! No sideline dirt, no classic announcers, no local flavor—just high-res emptiness and a boring-ass scoreboard bug.

Baseball needs accessibility -- not exclusivity. Let people watch games on platforms they already pay for, because right now, trying to catch a game feels like completing a damn escape room. Easy access = happy fans. Blackouts and app-exclusive games = lost fans.

That’s all for this week’s edition of Tom’s Two Cents! Whether you’re locked in on Super Regionals, riding the Bobrovsky bandwagon, or just hoping the U.S. Open leaderboard looks like a crime scene -- I appreciate you spending a few minutes here with me. As always, thanks for reading.

See you next week!