Welcome to Thursday'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.
THURSDAY'S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:NBA: Boston at Minnesota, 8 p.m. (TNT)NBA: San Antonio at Golden State, 10:30 p.m. (TNT)NHL: Philadelphia at Boston, 7 p.m. (NESN)
AROUND THE WEB:
-- No, Rob Gronkowski has not retired to become a race horse. But there could be a Gronkowski in the Kentucky Derby.
A horse named after the Patriots tight end won the Kempton Stakes, a one-mile race in outside London, on Wednesday to earn 20 qualification points toward the Kentucky Derby.
Gronkowski, a 3-year-old horse, will compete in Friday's Patton stakes at Dundalk and another qualifier on March 30 to earn a spot in the Derby.
"I love the New England Patriots, and as Rob Gronkowski is 6-5 and about the same wide, I thought it would be an appropriate name for the horse, as he's built much the same," owner Kerri Radcliffe said last month.
The human Gronkowski attended the Kentucky Derby in 2015 so hopefully he makes another appearance this year if his namesake competes in the race.
-- A Jeopardy contestant on Wednesday night had a very wrong answer to a simple clue about baseball spring training.
"Spring Training baseball in Florida is known as this league" was the clue, to which the contestant answered, "What is the Bush League?"
Of course, it is the Grapefruit League. It's disappointing that the only person who even buzzed in got it wrong. It looks like Alex Trebek agrees.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I have nothing to prove right now in spring training. I just go out there and worry about me getting ready, that's the way I'm looking at it." -- J.D. Martinez, on dealing with the pressure of playing in Boston
