Avs Gut Check, Wemby Drama & Schedule Week: Ridin’ the Pine Is Officially Off the Bench

The bench is open.

The first member-exclusive Ridin’ the Pine is officially here and is now available to all YouTube subscribers. This is not just another extra video. This is the start of a new lane for The Far End of the Bench universe.

The main show with Niko is still the heartbeat. That is where the full Bench comes together. But Ridin’ the Pine is different. This is the notebook version. The tabs-open version. The “let me get this take off before it either becomes a full segment or gets me yelled at in the comments” version.

And for the first one, the sports calendar gave us plenty to work with.

We had an Avs gut check against the Wild, Wemby throwing an elbow that would make Jon Jones jealous, the NBA playoffs getting weird, the NFL schedule machine starting to crank back up, and the Rockies already trying to make Colorado fans emotionally detach before summer even gets here.

So yeah.

Not a bad first ride.

The Avs Got Punched. Now We Find Out What They Are

The Colorado Avalanche came into Game 4 against Minnesota still leading the series, but Game 3 was the first real warning sign of the playoff run.

The Avs took care of business at home. Game 1 was a 9-6 chaos festival. Game 2 was much more controlled in a 5-2 win. Everything was lining up exactly as Colorado fans wanted.

Then Minnesota finally showed up.

The Wild won Game 3, and they did it by making the game ugly. They pushed the Avs out of the middle of the ice, won puck battles, got physical, and made Colorado play a style that did not look comfortable.

That does not mean the series is over.

That does not even mean the series has flipped.

But it does mean the Avs got reminded of something every playoff team has to learn eventually:

You are beatable. Now what?

That was the whole point of the Avs segment. Not panic. Not excuses. Just a gut check.

Minnesota won one game. Good for them. Now they have to prove they changed the series.

Colorado’s job is to make sure Game 3 becomes a wake-up call, not a turning point.

The goalie conversation is there. Wedgewood, Blackwood, who gets the net, who gives the Avs the better chance — that is all real. But the bigger issue is not just the guy in the crease. It is the group in front of him.

Clear the net. Win the middle. Stay out of the box. Stop giving Minnesota free belief.

The Wild were desperate in Game 3. Game 4 was about whether the Avs could answer with professionalism, pride, and a little bit of nastiness.

Because in the playoffs, getting punched is not the problem.

Staying down is.

The NHL Playoff Picture Is Starting to Sort Itself Out

Around the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Carolina is already sitting in the clubhouse with its feet up.

The Hurricanes swept their way into the Eastern Conference Final, and now the question becomes whether that much rest is a blessing or a setup. Carolina has looked like a machine, but machines still have to prove they can handle the first real punch to the mouth.

That is what makes playoff hockey so great.

A team can look unstoppable until suddenly it is not.

Montreal and Buffalo are still fighting. Vegas and Anaheim are tied up. The Ducks are young and dangerous, but Vegas is getting the kind of goaltending that matters this time of year.

The Avs may still have the highest ceiling in the West, but the runway is not clean. Nobody is walking to a Stanley Cup. Not Colorado. Not Vegas. Not Carolina. Nobody.

This time of year does not care about your regular season.

It cares about who can survive the next shift.

The NBA Playoffs Are the Future, Kicking the Door Open

The NBA side of the show started with a confession: basketball is not my strongest lane.

Hockey is where I am more comfortable. Football is where Niko and I can live for hours. Basketball? I am still working on it.

But playoff basketball is different.

And this playoff field is getting interesting fast.

Oklahoma City looks terrifying. The Lakers still have the name, the brand, and the attention, but OKC looks like the better basketball team by a mile. They are young, fast, annoying, confident, and they get under everybody’s skin.

That is not always fun to watch.

It is definitely not always easy to root for.

But it works.

Meanwhile, the Knicks swept the Sixers, and Philadelphia got invaded in its own building. That might be the most insulting part. Getting swept is bad enough. Getting swept while your home arena starts sounding like Madison Square Garden West? That is the kind of sports embarrassment that sticks.

The Knicks are no longer just a cute story.

They are waiting in the Eastern Conference Finals.

And Cleveland? The Cavs better wake up before Detroit turns their whole season into another second-round ceiling conversation.

The NBA feels like it is shifting. The old names are still loud, but the young teams are starting to kick the door down.

Wemby Learned the Ugly Side of Playoff Basketball

Then came the Wemby conversation.

Victor Wembanyama is the alien. Everybody knows it. Nobody has ever seen someone built like him with that kind of skill set.

But playoff basketball does not care how special you are.

Minnesota got under his skin. Naz Reid was in the middle of it. Wemby swung the elbow. The officials reviewed it. Flagrant 2. Ejection.

And honestly?

That is a playoff lesson.

You can be the future of the league. You can be the face of a franchise. You can be 7-foot-whatever with guard skills and alien wingspan.

But if a veteran can talk you into throwing yourself out of a playoff game, you failed that test.

That does not mean Wemby is soft. That does not mean he is not great. It means he is young.

The playoffs are not just about highlights. They are about composure. They are about patience. They are about knowing that the second guy almost always gets caught.

I tell seventh graders that all the time.

I might not hear what started it, but I definitely saw how it ended.

Wemby will learn from it. He is too good not to. But Minnesota tied that series, and now San Antonio has to prove it can respond with more than talent.

Because the playoffs do not ask, “Who has the most potential?”

They ask, “Who can keep playing when everything gets uncomfortable?”

The Mile High Sports Mood Is a Mixed Bag

From a Colorado perspective, things are weird right now.

The Avs are still the hope. They are alive. They are dangerous. They still have a real path.

The Nuggets are the frustration. Getting knocked out early, especially given how things broke in the West, leaves a bad taste. No coaching change. Big roster questions. Jamal Murray conversations. The feeling that this group might need something more than just “run it back and hope.”

The Broncos are the addiction. Schedule release week is coming, and the NFL knows exactly what it is doing. It drops a calendar and somehow turns it into an event. Every fanbase starts finding wins, ignoring problems, and talking itself into the best-case scenario.

And the Rockies?

The Rockies are the yearly test of emotional endurance.

They are already in their familiar spot, hanging around the bottom of the NL West while fans are asked to care about development, patience, and whatever version of hope they are selling this season.

At some point, “development” has to turn into “contention.”

Otherwise, it is not a plan.

It is a cover story.

NFL Schedule Week Proves the League Owns Us

The NFL schedule release is ridiculous.

It is also brilliant.

Every year, we pretend we are above it. Every year, the league starts leaking games, dropping international matchups, announcing primetime slots, and suddenly, we are all locked in like the season starts tomorrow.

The NFL says jump, and the sports world asks how high.

Cowboys-Giants getting a Sunday Night Football slot is exactly the kind of thing that makes people complain while still watching. Dallas keeps getting the spotlight because it still moves the needle, even when the football product does not match the attention.

That is the machine.

And the Broncos' schedule matters because it shapes the season. Road trips. Primetime. Division timing. Short weeks. Respect level.

Once the schedule drops, every fanbase gets the same disease.

“Actually, I can see 11 wins.”

Football is not even back yet, and people are already acting irrationally.

Beautiful sport.

Terrible addiction.

Ridin’ the Pine Has Its Own Lane Now

The biggest takeaway from this first member-exclusive episode is not just the Avs, Wemby, the NFL, or the Rockies.

It is that Ridin’ the Pine now has an identity.

This is where the takes can breathe. This is where side conversations can turn into real conversations. This is where members get the early version before the main show sharpens it, challenges it, or Niko comes in and tells me I am insane.

That is the point.

This is not a replacement for The Far End of the Bench.

It is expanding it.

Members get early access. Members get the first takes. Members get the extra layer of the show before it hits everybody else.

And now that the first one is out, the bench is officially open.

Could you jump in the comments?

Please tell me if the Avs are fine or if Game 3 exposed something real.

Could you tell me if Wemby deserved the ejection?

Please tell me if OKC is already clearing the West.

Please tell me which NFL schedule matchup you are circling.

And please tell me how many Rockies losses it takes before we are legally allowed to stop pretending.

This is Ridin’ the Pine.

Real takes. Playoff energy. Members first.

Welcome to the bench.