Baseball beer pong! (MLB.tv)
Baseball beer pong! (MLB.tv)

The NHL playoffs are a couple of games into their first round while the NBA playoffs tipped off on Saturday. We've got pucks flying, lotteries being won, sudden death that doesn't involve Jean-Claude Van Damme (unless you have any movie channel ever), big dunks, big 3's, and big hilarity on the sidelines and in the stands. Not only that, but we've invented a new version of beer pong in the confines of Wrigley Field.

We review the weekend that was:

What Happened in MLB

ALEX TORRES GOT A SAVE WITH A HAT THAT IS ON HGH

If you were watching the New York Mets close out the Miami Marlins on Saturday, you may have noticed Alex Torres come into the game to get his first major league save. It would have been hard to miss him because the man that recorded one out on three pitches for his first save was wearing a gigantic, protective hat in the field. Here you can see him strike out Christian Yelich:

For a closer look at the gigantic hat, Marc Carig of Newsday has a side-by-side of Torres' protective hat when he was with the San Diego Padres and his new one with the Mets. 

The reason for this hat is Torres is aware of the damage a line drive to the head can do. He saw former Tampa Rays teammate Alex Cobb miss two months with a concussion in 2013. Torres wants to minimize the risk, so he's wearing this oversized hat as a bit more protection. It clearly didn't affect the way he pitched against Yelich. I wonder if they'll start selling these in the team shop at Citi Field or if fans will just have to rely on their own adaptations of the protective gear?

CUBS FANS PLAY ULTIMATE GAME OF BEER PONG, WIN THE WORLD

There is a new game being played at Wrigley Field these days and it really gained some momentum this weekend. It's baseball beer pong and it can be a little tricky to play. First step is you have to wait for a foul ball to come your way and you're going to need a beer in one of your hands (two is ideal though for maximum participation). Kids, you'll need your parents to buy you one if you want to join. Second, when the foul ball comes your way, you've got to catch the ball in your beer cup without dropping the beer.

After that crucial second step, you then have to chug your beer as the crowd cheers you on. It's sweeping the nation and it's something Cubs fans can enjoy being No. 1 in for the time being. Just check out this fan, Krista Dotzenrod from Minnesota, do a phenomenal job of baseball beer pong.

However, this wasn't the only time this happened at a Cubs game this weekend. A day earlier, this guy managed to end up with a line drive foul ball in his cup and he too started drinking with the baseball still lodged in the beer. 

He didn't chug the beer quite with the same fervor as our friend Krista, but he also won the baseball beer pong game. Good luck out there, fans.

KRIS BRYANT IS A MAJOR LEAGUER NOW AND HE'S ALREADY GOOD

Speaking of the Cubs, there was a lot of hype regarding the top prospect in baseball, third baseman Kris Bryant. In an effort to curb some financial commitments earlier rather than later, the Cubs optioned Bryant to the minors following a spectacular spring training. Well, they couldn't hold him down anymore, giving him a call to the big show on Friday to make his major league debut.

Bryant's first game on Friday against the Padres didn't go as planned, as he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. However, the next day, he was probably inspired by baseball beer pong and it drove him to his first major league hit. A broken bat looping single to right center field with one out in the fifth brought him his first major league hit and his first RBI.

He went 2-for-3 with an RBI and three walks on Saturday and followed that up by going 1-for-3 with a double and a strikeout on Sunday. He has an OBP of .500 in 10 plate appearances, which is totally sustainable. 

ASTROS MASCOT ORBIT TECHNICALLY BEATS MIKE TROUT AND ALBERT PUJOLS IN GIANT JENGA GAME

Astros mascot Orbit was playing a giant game of Jenga before Houston's Sunday showdown with the Angeles. Perhaps it was a community building experience or maybe it was just a way to distract the Angels from properly warming up. Regardless of the reason, Orbit invited Albert Pujols and Mike Trout over to foul territory to join in on the game.

Pujols and Trout didn't exactly get the concept or maybe they just didn't really want a piece of Orbit's Jenga skills. They annihilated the tower of Jenga pieces and left Orbit lying in rubble like he was a broken jaeger in Pacific Rim.

Orbit won the game and the Astros beat the Angels. Who's laughing now, Albert and Mike?!

What Happened in the NHL playoffs

JOHN TAVARES WASN'T INTERESTED IN A LONG OVERTIME

Here's the tricky thing about sudden death overtime in the NHL. It's not like an overtime period in the NBA in which you truncate the time on the floor, and obviously the notion of having to be the first one to score or you could lose immediately puts a lot of pressure on the guys on the ice. But you don't want to just start ripping slap shots wildly. You've got to play a bit of a finesse game and try to properly set up your team into an offensive rhythm with proper spacing so you can manage to find the puck in the...

Oh hey, in the time it took me to type that, John Tavares ended overtime for the Islanders to tie their series with the Capitols 1-1. 

I guess he took sudden death pretty literally. 

WHY GO TO OVERTIME WHEN YOU CAN JUST WIN WITH 20 SECONDS LEFT

Anaheim Ducks RW Jakob Silfverberg wasn't interested in the sudden death pressure of overtime against the Winnipeg Jets. With about 23 seconds left in the third period, Silfverberg corralled a pass just to the left of behind the net. He broke free of his defender and slung wrist shot past Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec with 20 seconds left.

The Ducks held on for the victory in those final 20 seconds and took a big 2-0 lead over Winnipeg. You can see the devastation of Jets staff and the elation of the Ducks staff separated by a single wall.

Quack, quack. 

EDMONTON CROSSCHECKS BUFFALO OUT OF THE NO. 1 DRAFT SLOT

This didn't involve playoff teams but the Edmonton Oilers pulled off an upset over the Buffalo Sabres when they jumped from third in the draft to first by winning the NHL lottery. This is the fourth time in six seasons the Oilers will have the first pick in the draft after three straight No. 1 picks from 2011-2013.

The Oilers are likely to add Connor McDavid -- the super phenom that's regarded as the best prospect since Sidney Crosby. The junior center put up 120 points in 47 games this season. Poor, poor Buffalo.

What Happened in the NBA playoffs

THE TRUTH KEEPS THE RAPTORS FROM EXORCISING THEIR DEMONS

The possible Paul Pierce farewell tour has become a Ted Talk for everything he feels is wrong with certain teams and players in the NBA. He's ripped into his former team the Brooklyn Nets, talking about how easily they quit everything. He even got on his own teammate, Otto Porter, saying he may need to punch him to get him motivated enough to maximize his talent. And then he took shots at the Toronto Raptors organization he tortured in the first round of the playoffs last year.

This year, he's said the Raptors don't have "it" and he showed that once again in Game 1 of the first round. The Truth hit 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 7-of-10 overall from the field to lead the Wizards with 20 points in a 93-86 overtime victory over the Nets.

Masai Ujiri already got fined for publicly swearing at Pierce's team for the second year in a row, and if history is going to keep repeating itself with Pierce and the Raptors, Washington will be looking at a second round appearance for the second straight season, as will Pierce.

The Wizards lead the Raptors 1-0.

THE WARRIORS OUTSHINE THE BROW IN HIS PLAYOFF DEBUT, BARELY

In one of the more enjoyable performances from the weekend, the Golden State Warriors were hammering the New Orleans Pelicans for the first three quarters. They were up 18 going into the fourth quarter of Game 1 before Anthony Davis went off in the final seven minutes of the game. He scored 35 points in his playoff debut and 20 of those came in the fourth quarter.

But really it was the last seven minutes in which The Brow dropped 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed five of his seven rebounds. He brought the Pelicans within four points with nine seconds left and he did it with a lot of scoring inside.

But it simply wasn't enough for the 8-seed Pelicans to surprise the 1-seed Warriors completely in Game 1. While Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green did a great job on both ends of the floor, the star of the Warriors was still Stephen Curry. He scored 34 points and did a lot of his damage inside the 3-point line for once. 

Looks like Curry and the Warriors were able to make lemonade out of some fourth quarter lemons against the Pelicans.

The Warriors ended up holding on for the 106-99 victory and lead the series 1-0.

DERRICK ROSE RETURNS TO BEING DERRICK ROSE

Remember MVP Derrick Rose? He was the lightning quick, electrifying superstar for the Chicago Bulls back in 2011 that had Bulls fans dreaming of titles for the first time in 13 years. After a lot of knee injuries and setbacks starting in 2012, Rose finally returned to his star form in Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. He scored 23 points on 9-of-16 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range, along with seven assists in just 27 minutes.

But it's not just that he scored; look at the way he scored.

Jimmy Butler complemented Rose and led all scorers with 25 points to lead the Bulls to a 103-91 victory. They're up 1-0 against Milwaukee. 

JAMES HARDEN AND DWIGHT HOWARD SHOW OUT AGAINST MARK CUBAN

In an interview with Kirk Goldsberry of Grantland, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had this to say about his team's first round opponent, the Houston Rockets:

"There’s no more predictable team than the Rockets. You know exactly what they’re gonna do,” he says. “But James Harden is so good. That’s what analytics have begot. Right? Predictability. If you know what the percentages are, in the playoffs, you have time to counter them. Whether you’re good enough to do it is another question. Because they are very talented, and James Harden, I think, is the MVP. Because that’s not a very good team over there.”

Cuban's rivalry and feud with Rockets' executive Daryl Morey has been well documented over the years and it doesn't seem to want to end any time soon. When the Mavs owner comes out and takes shots at a playoff opponent like that, there's going to be a lot of focus on those comments in the series. James Harden made sure to make those comments look pretty dumb in Game 1.

Harden did his thing with 24 points on just 4-of-11 shooting (15-of-17 at the free throw line), but it might have been the 11 assists that made Cuban look worse for his barbs. He made sure his teammates helped him by finding Dwight Howard for lobs, Corey Brewer and Jason Terry for jumpers, and anybody the Beard could find on the floor in a Rockets' jersey.

What could possibly be fueling such an incredible performance by MVP candidate James Harden night in and night out? 

Fourth quarter heroics or fourth meal heroics?

For the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points (11-of-14 shooting) and eight rebounds while Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 18 boards. But it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the Rockets. The Mavs lost 118-108 and the Rockets have a 1-0 series lead. 

KYRIE IRVING LOOKS PRETTY READY FOR THE NBA PLAYOFFS

When LeBron James rejoined the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer and helped trade for Kevin Love, people immediately started questioning whether or not his new supporting cast had enough playoff experience to thrive in the postseason. One game into the latest playoff experiment for LeBron and it looks like Kyrie Irving will be OK.

Irving led all scorers with 30 points, including some absurd shots from 3-point range that left the Boston Celtics' inexperienced playoff crew looking silly. 

Seriously, that crossover move to hit the buzzer beater at the end of the first half made Evan Turner look like he was trying to wake up his foot after it fell asleep. Not to mention, the Celtics' late season additions just don't seem ready for the NBA playoffs.

Good luck to the Celtics in the 2015 playoffs!

Posted by Tom Brady on Sunday, April 19, 2015

Cavs rolled to a 113-100 victory and are up 1-0 in the series.

THE NETS MAKE ME WANT CONFERENCES ABOLISHED IN THE PLAYOFFS

The Brooklyn Nets aren't the worst team that will ever make the playoffs in the East and they certainly won't be the last bad playoff team unless Adam Silver does a major overhaul to the system this summer. But that doesn't mean I have to pretend their 99-92 loss to the 1-seed Atlanta Hawks was interesting. Not to mention, their own coach doesn't even believe an upset seems likely or even all that possible.

So what can we do here besides pretend this Hawks-Nets game was as close as the final score may lead you to believe?

Let's look at Wizards' coach Randy Wittman try to work a board to draw up plays on as Bradley Beal realizes the jig is up.

Isn't that much more entertaining?

GRIZZLIES GRIT-AND-GRIND DOWN A BATTERED BLAZERS TEAM

How did things go for the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of their series with the Memphis Grizzlies? Beno Udrih was the leading scorer for Memphis with 20 points and the game was pretty much over after the first quarter. Or if I could only find a Vine to visualize what this game looked like from the Grizzlies' perspective...

That's the one. Grizzlies won 100-86 but it wasn't really even that close. 

THE CLIPPERS JUMP ALL OVER THE CHAMPS... LITERALLY

To curb the idea that all Blake Griffin does is dunk (which hasn't been true in four years), you should know the All-Star big man was a monster in Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. In the Clippers' 107-92 victory, Griffin threw down the monster line of 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and three blocks with just one turnover. He simply did it all for the Clippers. Jumpers, attacking off the dribble, passing, defense, post work. The only thing he didn't do was knock down a 3-pointer.

Now that you know all about his all-around game from Sunday, let's watch him detonate the Spurs at the rim three times.

Clippers are up 1-0 in the series.