Welcome to Friday's Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.
FRIDAY'S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:MLB: LA Dodgers at Washington, 7 p.m. (MLB Network)MLB: Baltimore at Boston, 7:10 p.m. (NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7)NBA: NBA Draft Combine, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)NHL: Winnipeg at Vegas, 8 p.m. (NBCSN)
AROUND THE WEB:
-- Tyronn Lue clarified his comment about the Celtics 'gooning the game up,' saying he was actually criticizing his own team when he said that after Game 2.
"Physicality," Lue said after practice on Thursday. "Nothing bad. I like it. But physicality, hard fouls, into our body, into our airspace, and they're just playing tough. It's not a bad thing to goon it up. Like taking hard fouls and being physical, they're playing playoff basketball. That's all I meant by it, nothing bad."
Lue also said he wants his players to beat the 'gooning' with consistent physicality in Game 3 on Saturday.
"Match it. Be physical," Lue said. "Don't let them run as freely. I thought we did it for spurts, but we've got to do it for a full 48 minutes."
-- Julie Stewart-Binks announced on Wednesday she is leaving Barstool Sports and it is unclear whether it was a mutual split or if Stewart-Binks was released.
"I've really enjoyed my time working for Barstool Sports and Sirius XM," her tweet announcing the move read. "Thanks to Erika & Dave for an incredible experience and good luck to all the talented people I had the chance to work with. I have decided to take some time to decide my next career move."
Stewart-Binks spent eight months with Barstool and was one third of the Sirius XM show Barstool Breakfast, along with Willie Colon and Francis Ellis.
Her co-hosts discussed her departure and suggested she had actually been released.
"Today is a sad day," Colon said. "We heard news yesterday that our beloved JSB will not be working at Barstool anymore. She has left the company. I guess, was it safe to say she was released? … She is no longer with us. There is a lot to it."
"Barstool is a unique animal," he continued. "This is not ESPN, this is not Fox. This isn't the traditional monster that you can tune in and say this is [unclear]. Barstool is authentic. It's for the common man by the common man. This is the situation Barstool is in right now: People want to be a part of this juggernaut that has formed, but they don't necessarily dive into what the core culture or the thread of Barstool what it is."
Dave Portnoy said both sides agreed on her departure.
He said it was "great working with" Stewart-Binks and "it was mutual that she would pursue new opportunities."
Before Barstool, Stewart-Binks worked for ESPN and Fox Sports.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "There's a chance." -- Alex Cora, on the odds Dustin Pedroia will return to the Red Sox roster this month
