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Good morning! The poll results are in.

While You Were Sleeping: Two winners, two chokers

These have started to feel like a morning status check, so let’s treat it as such. Gather round for the playoff standup: 

Eliminated: The Las Vegas Golden Knights, in the most brutal fashion. Down 3-1 in the series to the Oilers, Vegas put on a heroic showing at home, pushing a scoreless game to overtime only to have Kasperi Kapanen shatter hearts and end its season seven minutes into OT. The Oilers await the winner of Dallas-Winnipeg.  

Eliminated: The Golden State Warriors, who couldn’t hold the line against Minnesota without Steph Curry. There will be plenty of talk about Curry’s last title window closing here. That remains to be seen. Kudos must go to the Timberwolves, who have made the Western Conference finals for two straight seasons after appearing once in the previous 34. 

On the brink: The Toronto Maple Leafs, whose collapse is all too familiar yet simultaneously galling. At home last night, series tied 2-2 against the defending champions, the Leafs lost 6-1. It was ugly. Florida can end another great Toronto season Friday. Woof. 

Still alive: The Boston Celtics! A day after losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tear, the Celtics looked like a juggernaut in a 127-102 win over the Knicks that wasn’t close down the stretch. My eyes tell me this Boston team still might be better than New York, but I don’t know what to do with this series anymore. The Knicks can still clinch the series in Game 6 at home Friday. 

Onward:

Downfalls: How the EPL’s most valuable soccer club tanked

In the Premier League, Manchester United remains the standard. Forbes lists its current value at $6.55 billion, tops in the EPL. United is also tied for the most league titles in English soccer history (20).

And yet, in today’s state, those metrics feel hollow. United has never been lower, both mentally and literally — the club sits 16th in the Premier League table, two spots above relegation. One look at this chart illustrates the decline perfectly:

Two main tenets of what United supporters would tell you has been a 20-year fiasco: 

The name “Glazer” seems akin to a curse word in Manchester, where United supporters loathe the family that purchased the club back in 2005. The family’s patriarch, Malcolm, who died in 2014, never set foot in Old Trafford. His children, who inherited the club, need security to move around the city.
Why? Disconnection and debt, really. In their purchase, the Glazers loaded United with millions in debt, and the interest payments remain a financial hamstring to the club. The family handed operational control to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS two years ago, and hefty financial cuts have come since. Also, the Glazer family has yet to engage with the British media since buying the club. 

Strangely enough, United has hope this season despite their dreadful place in the EPL table — the Europa League final against Tottenham next Wednesday could deliver a Champions League slot next year. 

I asked Phil Hay, the excellent writer of our essential Athletic FC newsletter, about United’s strange reality and the road ahead: 

💬 United’s decline is endemic. Their squad is sub-standard compared to the Premier League’s strongest clubs and in this climate, it’s impossible to rapidly overhaul a locker room like theirs. That’s without touching on United’s debt-ridden accounts. Perhaps that’s why there isn’t more heat on coach Ruben Amorim presently — because the hierarchy above him appreciate how mediocre a hand he’s been dealt.

I thought these 20 charts on their decline were quite informative. And even with present malaise, don’t expect Amorim to get the same patience next year, either. 

Let’s keep moving:

News to Know

Hello, NFL schedule
One of the strangest days of the NFL year happened yesterday, where the king of our pro sports landscape jumps the shark for 24 hours — by releasing next year’s full schedule to much fanfare. There are social media videos galore (the Chargers have the best, of course) and a lot of yelling over what is essentially an email or a website page. Yet we eat it up. You can see the biggest games (for now) here, and the entire slate is listed here.

More news

Nick Saban, reported co-chair of President Trump’s proposed commission on college sports, doesn’t think we actually need the commission. See his full comments. 
College football coaches are discussing adding an OTA-style practice schedule to the spring calendar. Interesting.
The Dodgers are calling up top prospect Dalton Rushing. The only question is where he’ll play.
Cooper Flagg was “shocked” by the NBA Draft Lottery. Us too, bud.
Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi is in an induced coma after a scary injury over the weekend. More details here.

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Feedback Loop: Rose barely misses the Pulse HOF

You have spoken: A slight majority of Pulse readers say Pete Rose, despite his statistics, should not be allowed in the Hall of Fame.  

Two thoughts: 

You were not alone. Our MLB writers polled 12 Hall of Famers and most had a difficult time deciding their answers. Four said yes, a couple said no, and the rest punted. Their answers are worth a read.
I honestly don’t know where I stand on this. His accomplishments on the field are undeniable, and barring him on character issues opens some hypocrisy about the misdeeds of current Hall of Famers. 

And yet, Rose’s acts were so directly harmful to baseball itself. Multiple legends of the game said in the above story that his refusal to admit he bet on baseball, followed by a lack of contrition when he finally fessed up, feels impossible to forgive. 

I am happy for Rose’s children, who wept upon hearing the news Tuesday. We’ll have more on Rose’s Hall of Fame chances this weekend.

What to Watch

đź“ş NHL: Hurricanes at Capitals
7 p.m. ET on TNT/Max
Carolina is one win away from the Eastern Conference final, and this could be the last time we see Alexander Ovechkin play this season. Worth a watch on that alone. 

đź“ş NBA: Thunder at Nuggets
8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Oklahoma City can close out here. I would bet a lot of fake money they don’t, simply because this series has been so evenly matched. 

đź“ş NHL: Stars at Jets
9:30 p.m. ET on TNT/Max
Dallas can also end a season here, as Winnipeg is in full crash-out mode this round. Feels like a fait accompli. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

The PGA Championship starts today, with all eyes on two players: Rory McIlroy, who has a dreamy history at Quail Hollow, and Scottie Scheffler, who’s still the guy to beat. 

Right below them on that list: Jordan Spieth, who can still complete a career grand slam here, though his drought has been taxing. There is still hope, though, as Brendan Quinn writes. 

Richard Deitsch says every Caitlin Clark game should be nationally televised. I’m for it. 

One actually interesting nugget from yesterday’s NFL schedule reveal: It seems like we’re getting an 18-game season at some point. Matt Barrows has a great idea, though: the 1816 Compromise. 

Here’s an unbelievable story out of Auburn baseball, where backup-turned-first-base-coach Andrew Dutton delivered a “movie moment” with a homer. I dare you to read that and not get emotional. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our Pete Rose poll. Thanks everyone. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The Knicks-Celtics live blog.

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(Top photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images)