Posted on April 1, 2024

Weekly Update April 1, 2024

Weekly Update

Coming up this month – April 2024

Baseball: Opening weekend. Ohtani’s first day as a Dodger. Dbacks crush day 1. Suspensions.

Basketball – NBA: This week in the NBA. Green ejected 4m in. Hawks > Celtics – twice! Knicks Brunson puts up 61. Standings.

Basketball – NCAAM: Sweet 16 and Elite 8 drama. We hadnt really had upsets but now you got them. Cinderella is still dancing. NCAAW update as well.

Football: UGA in trouble for speeding and DUI again. New NFL rules.

Golf: Houston Open is where Scheffler’s streak ends.

Olympic Sports: Barkley Marathon first female finisher. RUS and BLR out of opening ceremonies. ASU wins men’s swim and dive.

Coming up this month:

April: Women’s Final Four 4/5-7; Men’s Final Four 4/6-8; Masters 4/11-14; Boston Marathon 4/15; NBA post season begins 4/16; NFL Draft 4/25-27;

Baseball – MLB:

  • It was Opening weekend for the MLB season!
    • Dodgers fans were happy and showed their love for their new star by selling out their home debut. Shohei Ohtani may have some stuff going on in his personal life but he got 2 hits and was pleased with his performance. Betts and Freeman both got HRs and the Dodgers beat the Cardinals 7-1.

    • The Diamondbacks set an Opening Day record with a 14-run inning against the Rockies in the 3rd on Thursday. They were already leading 2-1 when they went to the plate for the inning where they cycled through 18 batters (13 hits, 2 walks and a sac fly). They are only the 2nd team ever to do that in one inning without a HR.
    • O’Niell had a HR on Opening Day for the 5th straight year. That is a major league record.

    • In today’s game, the Cubs had an in-field HR (aka a Little League HR) when the Rockies made a couple mistakes (2 Es). Embarrassing!

  • We already have suspensions after just a couple of days of baseball season. Blue Jays P Genesis Cabrera and Mets P Yohan Ramirez are both suspended for 3 game a piece but not for anything they did to each other. Ramirez got in trouble for throwing at Brewers Rhys Hoskins in the 7th of their loss on Saturday. Cabrera got in trouble for pushing Rays SS Caballero first in the 7th inning of their Saturday game as well. Benches cleared although punches weren’t thrown. Caballero was tagged out on 3rd and tempers flared. The Rays went on to win 5-1.

  • 4 teams are undefeated after opening week. The Yankees won all four of their games as did the Pirates. The Tigers and Brewers have won all 3 of theirs. On the flip side, the Astros and the Marlins have lost all 4 and White Sox and Mets are winless through 3 games.

Basketball – NBA:

  • This week in the NBA: On Monday, the Celtics were up 18 on the Hawks at half but the Atlanta team came back from a 30 point deficit to ultimately win by 2. Pretty good considering Tatum had 37 points. The Knicks Shooting Guard DiVincenzo set a franchise record with 11 3-pointers and a career-high 40 points to lead the NY team over the Pistons 124-99. That is the Knicks’ 15th consecutive victory over the Pistons. The Pacers upset the Clippers at home after a strong 2H, outscoring the LA team by 14. But the biggest upset of the day was the Spurs who nailed a 26-foot three-pointer with just 29 seconds left to win by 2 over the Suns in front of the San Antonio crowd.

  • Tuesday, we knew the Warriors and Heat game was going to be a close one and it was, for the 1H. 2H, the Warriors ran away with it going into half down two but winning by 19. The Mavs at Kings game should’ve been close but the Dallas team put the hot Kings away by 36. But no game was closer than the Lakers/Bucks. The Bucks had a terrible 4Q only putting up 13 points and letting the LA team come back and take them into OT. Twice. Ultimately, the Lakers got the last laugh winning in 2OT after being down 19 points during the game. That one stings. Despite having the worse record of the two teams, the Lakers have won the 2 matchups this year.

  • Wednesday, Draymond Green lasted just 4 minutes into their game against the Magic before getting ejected; Steph Curry had an off shooting night and Golden State still managed to win 101-93. To say the Nets/Wizards was back and forth is an understatement. Each Q was led by a different team and both teams had their highest scoring player both sitting at 38 points apiece. The Nets did get the better of the Wizards in OT winning only by 2. The Rockets and Thunder also went into OT. The Rockets handed the OKC team their 8th loss at home of the season. The Spurs beat the Jazz to win 2 in a row. Then the Suns shut down Jokic to upset the Nuggets by 7.
  • There were only 2 games on Thursday as that was when NCAAM came back on the TV. Both were upsets! The Hawks beat the Celtics again! This time in OT and with ATL SG Murry putting up the highest points of the week at that point with 44. The Pelicans dominated in the 2Q, scoring 35 and that was enough to hold on to the lead over the Bucks.

  • Friday, the Nets tied the NBA record with 18 3-pointers in a single half (2H) to beat the Bulls by 17. The Pistons and Wizards faced off in a race of the worst teams. The Pistons got the better of this matchup and they both sit at a home record of 6-30. Speaking of another bad team, the Trail Blazers got annihilated by 60 points by the Heat. That is the largest victory in franchise history. The Timberwolves beat the Nuggets by 13 and now both teams have 51 wins apiece. The Spurs were beating the Knicks at half by 17 and the Knicks came back to take the game to OT. Both teams had their stars hit career highs in this game as well. SA C Wemby scored 40 and despite NY PG Brunson putting up 61 points – the highest of the week, the Spurs get their third consecutive win.
  • Saturday had 3 games and all 3 went according to plan and they covered their spreads. Also of note, the Bucks finally put away the Hawks for the first time this week.

  • LeBron had a good Easter Sunday setting his career high 9 3-pointers in the Lakers win over the Nets, who only put up 11 in the 1Q. LeBron had 40 points at the end of the night. 2 other players would put up 40+ that day. Clippers Paul George was responsible for 41 in their win over the Hornets 130-118. Luka Doncic put up 47 in the Dallas vs Houston match up. Needless to say, the Mavs won by 18. The Knicks lost another close one on Sunday, their 2nd heartbreaker in a row. This one was to the Thunder who beat them by 1 with a killer 4Q.

  • Standings as we go into the final 2ish weeks of season. The Play-in tournament begins April 16th.
    • In the East: the Celtics are in and clinched the conference. Eliminated: Pistons, Wizards, Hornets and Raptors. Right now the Nets are on the outside looking in and they are not close.
    • The West is much tighter of a race. Both the Thunder and Nuggets have secured a spot in playoffs but since they both are sitting at 52 wins and the Timberwolves have 51 Ws, no one has clinched that conference yet. Eliminated: Spurs, Trail Blazers, Grizzlies and Jazz. The Rockets are outside looking in and only 2 wins behind the Warriors.

Basketball – NCAAM:

  • NCAAM Sweet 16:
    • 3 of 4 games on night 1 were upsets. 1 UConn was the only one to get through unscathed, winning by 30 over last year’s Cinderella 5 San Diego St. 6-seed Clemson goes to their first Elite 8 in 44 years after beating 2 Arizona. Despite Clemson taking an early lead, we were tied at 2 different points in the 2H. Clemson was only up by 2 with 30 seconds left when Chase Hunter made a one handed lay-up. The Tigers added insult to injury with a huge pass across the court to the other Hunter brother who almost slam dunked one in (technically it was a layup).

  • Elite 8:
    • #1 UConn took care of business and put a stamp on it in the 2H, putting up 49 points. The Huskies beat #3 Illinois going on a 30-0 run and winning by 25.
    • The other Elite 8 game was familiar faces on the football field but now on the court. #6 Clemson vs #4 Alabama. It was a great close game. Bama was up 3 at half and then both teams went off in 2H scoring 50+. But the Tide outlasted the Tigers to make their first Final Four in school history. They are the only team to make the CFP and the Final 4 this year.

    • Another #1 made it to the next round. #1 Purdue put up 36 in both halves to beat #2 Tennessee. Zach Edey majorly helped with 14 straight points.
    • The Cinderella story continues with a HUGE upset #11 NC State started off slow only scoring 21 points in the 1H. But they came back and scored 55 in the 2H to put away the Blue Devils and the blue blood basketball school. NC State is the first team with 14 losses in the regular season to make the Final Four. Football HC Dave Doeren might need to be corrected that they are a basketball school! Big man DJ Burns is unstoppable, let’s see if Purdue can.

Basketball – NCAAW:

    • Sweet 16: There were still 4 perfect brackets going into the Sweet 16! #1 South Carolina squeaked by #4 Indiana only winning by 4. #1 Texas beat up on #4 Gonzaga who only scored 9 points in the first 2Qs. #3 Oregon State upset #2 Notre Dame (1 perfect bracket left) and #3 NC State upset #2 Stanford (none!).
    • Bad day to be a #2 in the women’s bracket. The next day, there was only 1 upset #3 LSU handled #2 UCLA especially in the 4Q to advance. Other than that #1 Iowa and USC won their games. Although USCs was tight with #5 Baylor (Iowa’s win over #5 Colorado was NOT). #3 UConn Paige Bueckers put up 24 points by herself to lead her team to an easy win.

    • Elite 8: #1 South Carolina didn’t like their close call in the Sweet 16 so they didn’t make this one close. They beat the Beavs easily. #3 NC State was leading #1 Texas by 12 at half and held on for an impressive upset win. Both the men and women are in the Final Four!

    • We do have games tonight including a rematch of last year’s national championship LSU vs Iowa. Iowa favored by 2.5.
  • Caitlin Clark has been invited to the Olympic training camp before the Final Four. 9 former Olympians were also invited to train and get ready for Paris.

Football:

  • UGA RB Trevor Etienne was arrested for a DUI and is now facing suspension for 10% of the season if he is found guilty. Etienne was going 80-90mph in a 50. That has been happening more and more with even a staffer dying from racing. While I do believe kids will make mistakes, this is now becoming a really bad pattern at UGA.
  • There are some new rules coming down the pike for the NFL. The two big ones: hip drop tackles are now banned. Last year there were 230 tackles like this that led to 15 leg injuries. That is 20xs the amount of normal tackles. The other big change is that on the kicker and returner are allowed to move on kickoffs. This is only a one year trial… we have seen this before in the XFL (now UFL).
  • The NCAA is also proposing to get rid of player prop bets (meaning betting on certain players to do something – rush for so many yards, score this many points, etc) due to the players getting harassed. TBD on if people will actually ban this. Some books currently do but a lot of the time that results in less regulation.

Golf:

  • The Texas Children’s’ Houston Open was a battle down the stretch. Going into the final round, there was a 5-way tie for the lead. Friday’s round was noteworthy for 2 reasons, Scottie Scheffler’s streak of rounds under par ended at 28 after he 3-putted from 6 feet to end the day with a par 70. Also Tony Finau tied his career low round of 62 to take the lead. That’s the 6th time he has shot 62 and he did it last time at the same course and tournament. But it all came down to Stephan Jaeger and Scottie Scheffler in the end. Jaegar closed with 9 straight pars. Scottie left some opportunities on the table but had a 5 foot 4 inch birdie putt to take the tournament to a playoff with Jaegar. Scheffler hadn’t missed anything under 7 feet all weekend… except that one. Jaegar wins his first title at age 34 (and 135 starts on the PGA Tour).

Olympic Sports:

  • Technically this is not an Olympic sport but GBR ultrarunner Jasmin Paris is the first female to ever complete the Barkley Marathons. The total amount was 100 miles in under 60 hours. She finished with 99 seconds before the time limit.
  • RUS and BLR are banned from the Opening Ceremony in Paris.
  • Last week, UVA won the women’s swim and dive title. This week, Arizona State won the men’s side. The Sun Devils beat Cal who won the last 2 years.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

  • Mon 4/1
    • Rangers at Rays @ 5:50pm on FS1
    • Red Sox at A’s @ 8:40pm on NESN
  • Tues 4/2
    • Reds at Phillies @ 5:40pm on TBS
      • Ashcraft vs Turnbull
    • Giants at Dodgers @ 9:10pm on TBS
      • Webb vs Glasnow
  • Wed 4/3
    • Red Sox at A’s @ 2:37pm on NESN
  • Fri 4/5
    • Mets at Reds @ 5:40pm on Apple TV+
    • Astros at Rangers @ 7:05pm on Apple TV+
    • Red Sox at Angels @ 8:38pm on NESN
      • Crawford vs Canning
  • Sat 4/6
    • Dodgers at Cubs @ 3:05pm on FS1
      • Stone vs Wicks
    • Red Sox at Angels @ 8:38pm on NESN
      • Whitlock vs Detmers
  • Sun 4/7
    • Red Sox at Angels @ 3:07pm on NESN
      • Houck vs Silseth
    • Astros at Rangers @ 6pm on ESPN
      • Blanco vs Dunning

Baseball/Softball-NCAA:

  • Mon 4/1
    • Softball: 20. Arkansas vs 3. Georgia @ 6pm on SEC
    • Baseball: Georgia vs 5. Tennessee @ 9pm on ESPNU
  • Tues 4/2
    • Baseball: 9. UVA vs 11. Duke @ 11am on ACC
    • Softball: Furman vs 16. Clemson @ 5pm on ACC
    • Baseball: Louisville vs 17. Kentucky @ 6pm on SEC
    • Softball: McNeese vs 18. Florida St @ 7pm on ACC
  • Wed 4/3
    • Baseball: 3. Clemson vs Miami @ 11:30am on ACC
    • Softball: Liberty vs 11. Vtech @ 5pm on ACC
    • Baseball: Louisville vs 17. Kentucky @ 5:30pm on ESPNU
    • Baseball: Georgia Southern vs 22. South Carolina @ 6pm on SEC
    • Softball: McNeese vs 18. Florida St @ 7pm on ACC
  • Thurs 4/4
    • Baseball: 7. Vanderbilt vs 18. LSU @ 6pm on ESPN2
    • Baseball: Ole Miss vs 1. Arkansas @ 6pm on SEC
    • Baseball: 10. UNC vs 15. UVA @ 6pm on ACC
  • Fri 4/5
    • Baseball: Ole Miss vs 1. Arkansas @ 11am on SEC
    • Softball: 13. Mizzou vs 20. Arkansas @ 5pm on SEC
    • Softball: 1. Oklahoma vs 2. Texas @ 5:30pm on ESPNU
    • Baseball: 21. Wake Forest vs 11. Vtech @ 6pm on ACC
    • Baseball: 7. Vanderbilt at 18. LSU @ 7pm on SEC
  • Sat 4/6
    • Softball: 17. Mississippi St vs South Carolina @ 1pm on SEC
    • Softball: Kentucky at 12. Texas A&M @ 3pm on SEC
    • Baseball: 2. Clemson vs Notre Dame @ 4:30pm on ESPN2
    • Softball: Ole Miss vs 14. Alabama @ 5pm on SEC
    • Softball: 7. LSU vs 9. Florida @ 5pm on ESPN
    • Softball: 1. Oklahoma vs 2. Texas @ 7pm on ESPN
    • Baseball: Georgia vs 23. Mississippi St @ 7pm on SEC
    • Baseball: UC Santa Barbara vs 16. UC Irvine @ 7:30pm on ESPN2
  • Sun 4/7
    • Softball: 3. Georgia vs 4. Tennessee @ 10am on ESPN2
    • Baseball: 13. Alabama vs 17. Kentucky @ 11am on SEC
    • Softball: 7. LSU vs 9. Florida @ 12pm on ESPN2
    • Softball: 13. Mizzou vs 20. Arkansas @ 2pm on SEC
    • Softball: 11. Vtech at NC St @ 4pm on ACC
    • Softball: UNC vs 5. Duke @ 6pm on ACC

Basketball – NBA:

  • Tues 4/2
    • Thunder at 76ers @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • Mavericks at Warriors @ 9pm on TNT
  • Wed 4/3
    • Thunder at Celtics @ 6:30pm on ESPN
    • Cavaliers at Suns @ 9pm on ESPN
  • Thurs 4/4
    • Kings at Knicks @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • Nuggets at Clippers @ 9pm on TNT

Basketball – NCAAM:

  • Sat 4/6
    • Final Four: 11. NC St vs 1. Purdue @ 5:09pm on TBS
    • Final Four: 4. Alabama vs 1. UConn @ 7:49pm on TBS
  • Sun 4/7
    • HBCU All Star Game @ 3pm on CBS
  • Mon 4/8
    • National Championship: TBD @ 8:20pm

Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)

  • Mon 4/1 – Elite 8 cont.
    • 3. LSU at 1. Iowa @ 6pm on ESPN
    • 3. UConn at 1. USC @ 8pm on ESPN
  • Fri 4/5 – Final 4
    • 3. NC State at 1. South Carolina @ 6pm on ESPN
    • TBD (Winner of UConn and USC) at 1. Iowa @ 8pm on ESPN
  • Sun 4/7 – National Championship @ 2pm on ABC

Football – UFL:

  • Sat 4/6
    • San Antonio Brahams at Memphis Showboats @ 11am on ESPN
    • Arlington Renegades at St. Louis Battlehawks @ 7pm on ABC
  • Sun 4/7
    • Birmingham Stallions at Michigan Panthers @ 11am on ESPN
    • Houston Roughnecks at DC Defenders @ 3pm on FOX

Golf:

  • Wed 4/3
    • Augusta National Women’s Amateur – Round 1 @ 12:30pm on Golf Channel
  • Thurs 4/4
    • Augusta National Women’s Amateur – Round 2 @ 12:30pm on Golf Channel
    • Valero TX Open – Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
  • Fri 4/5
    • LIV Tour: Miami – Round 1 @ 12:15pm on CW
    • Augusta National Women’s Amateur – Round 3 @ 12:30pm on Golf Channel
    • Valero TX Open – Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
  • Sat 4/6
    • Augusta National Women’s Amateur – Final Round @ 11am on NBC
    • Valero TX Open – Round 3
      • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
      • @ 2:30pm on NBC
    • LIV Tour: Miami – Round 2 @ 12:15pm on CW
  • Sun 4/7
    • Valero TX Open – Final Round
      • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
      • @ 1:30pm on NBC
    • LIV Tour: Miami – Final Round @ 12:15pm on CW

Hockey:

  • Mon 4/1
    • Oilers at Blues @ 8pm on hulu
  • Tues 4/2
    • Bruins at Predators @ 7pm on NESN
  • Wed 4/3
    • Devils at Rangers @ 6pm on TNT
    • Kraken at Kings @ 8:30pm on TNT
  • Thurs 4/4
    • Bruins at Hurricanes @ 6pm on NESN
    • Blues at Predators @ 7pm on hulu
  • Sat 4/6
    • Lightning at Penguins @ 12pm on ABC
    • Panthers at Bruins @ 2:30pm on ABC
  • Sun 4/7
    • Sabres at Red Wings @ 12pm on TNT
    • Stars at Avalanche @ 9pm on ESPN

Motor Sports:

  • Sun 4/7
    • F1: MSC Cruises JPN GP @ 12am on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

  • Thurs 4/4
    • Triathlon: Miami @ 6pm on FS1
  • Sat 4/6
    • Cornhole: American Cornhole League Teams @ 1pm on CBS
    • Sailing: NZ Sail GP @ 2pm on CBS

Soccer:

  • Mon 4/1
    • MLS: Atlanta vs Chicago Fire @ 1am on FS1
  • Tues 4/2
    • Premier League: Newcastle vs Everton @ 1:30pm on USA
    • CONCACAF Champions Cup: Columbus Crew vs Tigres UANL @ 6pm on FS1
    • CONCACAF Champions Cup: NE Revolution vs Club America @ 8pm on FS1
  • Wed 4/3
    • Premier League: Arsenal vs Luton Town @ 1:30pm on USA
    • CONCACAF Champions Cup: Inter Miami vs Monterrey @ 7pm on FS1
    • CONCACAF Champions Cup: Jerediano vs Pachuca @ 9pm on FS1
  • Thurs 4/4
    • Coupe de France: PSG vs Rennes @ 1am on FS1
    • Premier League: Chelsea vs ManU @ 1:30pm on USA
  • Sat 4/6
    • Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Manchester City @ 6am on USA
    • Premier League: Aston Villa vs Brentford @ 8:30am on USA
    • Premier League: Brighton vs Arsenal @ 11am on USA
    • USL Championship: Louisville City vs Indy 11 @ 3pm on CBS
  • Sun 4/7
    • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 9:30am on NBC
    • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC

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  • Steve April 2, 2024 at 8:55 am

    One of the many things I love about the Girlfriends Guide is the weekly recap of upcoming sporting events—it’s so thorough but organized by sport and separates Pro from college sports.

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