Notes of Note: Klay's Departure; Warriors' Outlook; Caitlin; Blake; Too Much Relief; Stanford FB; Aiyuk; Stones Tickets
Klay Thompson's departure from the Warriors may have been the best thing for both him and the team.
Thompson wouldn't have started for Golden State next season, and that would have been a source of immense frustration for the 13-year veteran and four-time champion.
Thompson's body language and numerous comments last season showed he was not happy with often being left out of the Warriors' starting and closing lineups.
Better for him to get a fresh start in a place without so many memories, where comparisons to the great two-way player of yesteryear won't be so vivid in people's minds.
Thompson should thrive as a spot up shooter in Dallas and as the team's No. 3 option behind all-world Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

* The Warriors, meanwhile, have a long way to go to get back into contention.
Watching the NBA playoffs, particularly the last three rounds, it was painfully obvious how far the Warriors are from the top teams in the league, all of whom have two, three or four elite players.
The Warriors have one, Steph Curry.
Their only hope is that one or more of their young studs--Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis--step up to the next level.
Because none of the Warriors new acquisitions--Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and De'Anthony Melton--are going to make much of a difference.
* All of the naysayers who predicted that Caitlin Clark would fall flat on her face in the WNBA are feeling pretty stupid right now.
Clark recently became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple double. She's averaging 16.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game.
She leads the WNBA in assists and is among the league leaders in scoring, free throw percentage and steals.
Even more impressive than the quality of her play has been the way Clark has handled the incredible pressure of being the face of the league and how she's endured cheap shot fouls from opponents who are jealous of the attention she gets.
* Nice to see embattled San Francisco Giants' GM Farhan Zaidi finally going with the youth movement.
Heliot Ramos and Luis Matos probably should've been in the lineup a lot sooner, but, hey, better late than ever.
If Blake Snell's last two outings are a sign of things to come and the Giants can keep their pitching staff healthy for the second half of the season, they might be able to nab a wild card berth.
* Speaking of Snell, despite his masterful performance yesterday against the Twins--and in some ways because of it--I was reminded of why I have a hard time watching baseball anymore.
Snell retired the first 18 batters, gave up a bloop single in the seventh inning, and then was removed after throwing only 80 pitches.
This is not unusual for Snell, who has never thrown a complete game in nine years in the league and has only pitched into the eighth inning four times.
I hate pitch counts. And I hate the fact that baseball games have become a parade of relief pitchers.
I grew up watching pitchers like Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale and Robin Roberts. Men who routinely threw 125-150 pitches and completed two-thirds of the games they started.
No mas. Yesterday's Giants-Twins game featured 11 pitchers. Eleven pitchers in a 3-2 game!
After Snell departed, Tyler Rogers, who's having a fantastic year, breezed through a 1-2-3 eighth.
Rogers should've come out to pitch the ninth, as his submarine delivery was the perfect counterpoint to Snell, and he'd only pitched to three batters. So why not use him to close out the game?
But, no, everything is pre-scripted now in baseball. Giants' manager Bob Melvin, following the ridiculous, unwritten rules which dictate that a setup man must pitch the eighth and the closer must pitch the ninth, brought in struggling closer Camilo Doval, who promptly gave up two runs to allow the Twins to tie the game.
The Giants went on to win in the bottom of the ninth on Mike Yastrzemski's triple and an errant Twins' throw into the dugout, but by then, all the pitching changes had ruined my afternoon.
* Some of the pre-season college football magazines have picked Stanford last in the ACC.
I think the Cardinal will do better than that, but the schedule makers didn't do Coach Troy Taylor any favors.
Stanford must play five of the best teams in the ACC--Clemson, Louisville, NC State, SMU and Virginia Tech, along with non-conference games against Notre Dame, TCU and San Jose State.
Taylor's most winnable games include Cal Poly, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Cal. But he has to find a way to run the ball, or Stanford is looking at another long season.
* For the life of me, I can't figure out why the San Francisco 49ers haven't signed Brandon Aiyuk. He's one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and has a real connection with quarterback Brock Purdy.
Aiyuk is more valuable to the team than Deebo Samuel now that Christian McCaffrey is carrying the ballhandling load so magnificently.
* Start Me Up: I'll be in Levi's Stadium Wednesday night for something other than a 49ers game...the Rolling Stones. My three lovely daughters got me Stones' tickets for my birthday present this year.
All time great lyrics and words to live by:
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, you just might find
You get what you need.
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