Weekly Update – Week of April 19, 2021

Baseball: Bieber’s killer start. Bruce retires. Castellanos loses appeal.

Basketball-NBA: Curry’s streak. NBA personnel allowed to travel. Spurs fined. Pelicans and Louzada.

Football: Smith retires. ASmith’s warrant. Mahomes on schedule. UNT signee killed. Bengals new stripes.

Golf: Stewart Cink wins RBC Heritage for 3rd time.

Olympic Sports: Michigan takes NCAA Gym title. Coleman gets sentence reduced but still miss Tokyo. BEL Olympians first for COVID vaccines. Olympic qualification dates for Tennis, T&F and Swimming.

Baseball:

• Shane Bieber, RHP, is tied with pitching great Nolan Ryan with 48 KOs through the first 4 games. He is the first since the mound distance changed in 1893 to start the season with 4 starts all with over 10 KOs each. He had 13 in the most recent game to give the Indians the 6-3 win over the Reds.
• Yankees OF, Jay Bruce, announced his retirement at age 34 after the team started 5-10. Bruce entered the league in 2008 and has played with the Indians, Reds, Mets, Mariners and Yankees. He said he just felt like he was underperforming and was fed up with it. He retires with 319 HRs and a .244 batting average.
• Red OF Castellanos lost his appeal to the MLB to not serve his 2 game suspension for ‘instigating bench clearing antics’ during the Cardinals game during the 2nd game of the season. After he got hit by a wild pitch, he then scored and yelled and flexed towards the pitcher which brought the team off the bench.

Basketball:

• Steph Curry scored 47 points against the Celtics in the Warriors 119-114 loss. With this game, Curry became the first players since Kobe Bryant to score 30 points or more in 10 consecutive games.
• NBA personnel are allowed to travel internationally to scout talent if they are fully vaccinated. This has been restricted since October 2020. In case you’re wondering, personnel have to wait 7 days after the 2nd dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or 14 days if they got the J&J vaccine.
• The Spurs have been fined $25k by the NBA for resting 3 healthy players in an away game. The Spurs still won by 26 over the Suns. Teams are not supposed to rest multiple healthy players during the same game and especially not an away game. The Raptors were actually fined for the same thing the day before the Spurs.
• The Pelicans are in talks with Brazil’s Didi Louzada for a multiyear deal and they have until 4/27 to do so. Louzada has been in Australia in the next stars league.

Football:

• Alex Smith has announced his retirement. You may remember him from his epic comeback last season after his almost career ending leg injury. After 16 seasons, he said he knew it was time to retire. Smith was the first round draft pick in 2005 and has played for the 49ers, the Chiefs and the Washington Football Team.
• Seahawks DE Aldon Smith has a warrant out for his arrest on a 2nd degree battery charge in Louisiana. Smith has missed 4 NFL seasons due to suspensions for off-field antics and substance abuse.
• Patrick Mahomes is on schedule or ahead of schedule after surgery on his turf toe post the Super Bowl loss. He also had his COVID vaccine ahead of the Chiefs team practices which are set to begin in May.
• UNT signee Willie Simmons was one of the victims of the shooting in Austin, TX over the weekend. A girl from the same high school who played on the basketball team was also a victim. LB Simmons signed with the Mean Green in December.
• The Bengals got a new look. Maybe a cat can change its stripes.

Golf:

• Stewart Cink won the RBC Heritage for the 3rd time but this time it was with his son by his side as his caddie. Cink won his second title of the season after an 11 year winless drought. And he did so by 4 strokes. Cink is 47 years old and went pro in 1995, which is before many of his competitors were even born.

Olympic Sports:

• This weekend was the women’s NCAA Gymnastics meet and it was a close one. Michigan beat out the Oklahoma Sooners by .08 points to win their first natty.
  • On the men’s side, Stanford also beat the Sooners to win their 2nd consecutive title.
• Christian Coleman, favorite American for the World’s fastest man medal, got his ban reduced to 18 months, 6 month less than the original sentence. This means he will still miss the Tokyo games. If you’re like ‘wait what?!’ remember he got banned due to 3 missed no-notice tests in a one year period not for a positive doping test.
• BEL has announced that their 177 Olympians will be pushed to the front of the line to get their vaccines ahead of the Tokyo games.
• The World Surf League event in Sydney, AUS was postponed for 15 minutes due to a shark sighting.
• Tennis fans only have to wait until June 14th for the rankings to be set for the Tokyo Olympic Games; some of those players will earn spots directly into the games.
• USA Track & Field Olympic trials are set to start June 18th. The USA Swimming Olympic trials are set to start June 4th and the 2nd wave on June 13th.

What to Watch this Week

Baseball-MLB:

• Tues 4/20
  • Mets at Cubs @ 6:40pm on ESPN
    • Walker vs Arrieta
• Wed 4/21
  • Braves at Yankees @ 5:35pm on ESPN
    • Anderson vs Kluber
• Sat 4/24
  • Nationals at Mets @ 3:05pm on FS1
  • Rangers at White Sox @ 6:10pm on FS1
    • Gibson vs Keuchel
• Sun 4/25
  • Padres at Dodgers @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Paddack vs May

Baseball-NCAA:

• Thurs 4/22
  • 1. Arkansas at 11. South Carolina @ 6pm on SEC
• Fri 4/23
  • 16. Pitt at 7. Louisville @ 2pm on ACC
  • 20. Old Dominion at 19. Charlotte @ 5pm
  • 1. Arkansas at 11. South Carolina @ 6pm
  • 4. Mississippi St at 2. Vanderbilt @ 7pm on SEC
  • 3. Texas at 24. Oklahoma St @ 7pm on ESPNU
• Sat 4/24
  • 16. Pitt at 7. Louisville @ 12pm
  • 20. Old Dominion at 19. Charlotte @ 1pm
  • 1. Arkansas at 11. South Carolina @ 3pm
  • 20. Old Dominion at 19. Charlotte @ 4pm
  • 3. Texas at 24. Oklahoma St @ 6pm
  • 4. Mississippi St at 2. Vanderbilt @ 7pm on ESPNU
• Sun 4/25
  • 16. Pitt at 7. Louisville @ 12pm
  • 4. Mississippi St at 2. Vanderbilt @ 1pm
  • 20. Old Dominion at 19. Charlotte @ 1pm
  • 3. Texas at 24. Oklahoma St @ 1pm

Basketball-NBA:

• Mon 4/19
  • Warriors at 76ers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Jazz at Lakers @ 9pm on ESPN
• Tues 4/20
  • Nets at Pelicans @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Clippers at Trail Blazers @ 9pm on TNT
• Thurs 4/22
  • 76ers at Bucks @ 6pm on TNT
  • Lakers at Mavericks @ 8:30pm on TNT
• Fri 4/23
  • Celtics at Nets @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Nuggets at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN
• Sat 4/24
  • Raptors at Knicks @ 12pm on ESPN
  • 76ers at Bucks @ 2:30pm on ESPN
  • Lakers at Mavericks @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Sun 4/25
  • Celtics at Hornets @ 12pm on ESPN
  • Suns at Nets @ 2:30pm on ESPN

Golf:

• Thurs 4/22
  • Zurich Classic – Round 1 @ 2:30pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 4/23
  • Zurich Classic – Round 2 @ 2:30pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 4/24
  • Zurich Classic – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
• Sun 4/25
  • Zurich Classic – Round 4
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Mon 4/19
  • Red Wings at Stars @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
• Wed 4/21
  • Predators at Blackhawks @ 6pm on NBCSN
  • Sharks at Golden Knights @ 8:30pm on NBCSN
• Sat 4/24
  • Avalanche at Blues @ 2pm on NBC
• Sun 4/25
  • Bruins at Penguins @ 2pm on NBC
  • Blue Jackets at Lightning @ 6pm on NBCSN

Motorsports:

• Tues 4/20
  • Supercross – Atlanta @ 2pm on NBCSN
• Sat 4/24
  • Supercross – SLC @ 6pm on NBCSN

Olympic Sports:

• Mon 4/19
  • NCAA Volleyball: Regional Final – Pitt vs WashU @ 11am on ESPN2
  • NCAA Volleyball: Regional Final – Nebraska vs Texas @ 1:30pm on ESPNU (rolling schedule)
  • NCAA Volleyball: Regional Final – Florida vs Wisconsin @ 5:30pm on ESPNU
  • NCAA Volleyball: Regional Final – Purdue vs Kentucky @ 8pm on ESPNU
• Wed 4/21
  • Cycling: La Fleche Brabanconne @ 11:30pm on NBCSN
• Thurs 4/22
  • Boxing: Ring City USA @ 6pm on NBCSN
  • NCAA Volleyball: Semifinal – Teams TBA @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • NCAA Volleyball: Semifinal – Teams TBA @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Sat 4/24
  • Track & Field: Drake Relays @ 2pm on NBCSN
  • Track & Field: Oregon Relays @ 4pm on NBCSN
  • NCAA Volleyball: Final – Teams TBA @ 7pm on ESPN2
• Sun 4/25
  • Cycling: Liege Bastogne @ 1pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Mon 4/19
  • Premier League: Leeds United vs Liverpool @ 2pm on NBCSN
• Wed 4/21
  • FA Women’s Super League: Manchester City vs Chelsea @ 12pm on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Aston Villa vs Manchester City @ 3pm on NBCSN
• Thurs 4/22
  • Premier League: Leicester City vs West Brom @ 2pm on NBCSN
• Fri 4/23
  • Premier League: Arsenal vs Everton @ 1:55pm on NBCSN
• Sun 4/25
  • Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Burnley @ 6am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Leeds United vs ManU @ 8am on NBCSN
  • FA Women’s Super League: Manchester City vs Chelsea @ 11am on NBCSN