Weekly Update – Week of February 4th
Basketball – College: #2 Duke vs #3 UVA on Saturday! De Sousa is ineligible.
Basketball – NBA: Anthony Davis is basically the NBA bachelor right now.
Football – College: Francois ousted. Riley gets a raise. Coach O maybe next.
Football – NFL: Patriots are Super Bowl champs… again.
Golf: Fowler wins at WM. DJ wins in Saudi. Johnny Miller retires.
Olympic Sports: Vonn takes the slope for the last time this week.
Basketball – College:
- Kansas AD says faith is shaken after the NCAA ruled Jayhawk forward Silvio De Sousa ineligible for this season and next after his guardian got impermissible benefits ($2,500 from an Adidas consultant to push the athlete towards Kansas). The argument is not that the payment happened but that De Sousa knew about it.
- Irv Brown, Colorado baseball coach, Final 4 referee and sports radio pioneer, has died at 83. Brown was in the ESPN booth for the first college football game in 1979 Colorado vs Oregon.
- Iowa handed Michigan their 2nd loss which explains the big jump for Iowa in the rankings from NR to #20.
Basketball – NBA:
- Let the fight over Anthony Davis begin. And right now the Lakers currently have the best offer on the table. Lakers prez Magic Johnson (see Basketball Famous Names to Know) is trying to check all of the Pelicans’ boxes by Thursday’s trade deadline. This will not be the last you will hear of this.
- Nuggets coach Michael Malone will coach the All Star game, which was clinched when Denver officially took the lead in their division. He will coach the team with LeBron on it, always a solid start.
- Trail Blazers acquired Rodney Hood from the Cavs in exchange for two 2nd round draft picks (2021 and 2023) as well as 2 expiring guard contracts. Blazers are 4th in the Western conference.
- Mavericks acquired 4 players with a crazy trade with the Knicks including Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr, Courtney Lee and Trey Burke. It only cost them Dennis Smith Jr, DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews, 2 future 1st round picks and 3 veterans who will be rotational players. The Knicks made this trade to get rid of $31MM of salary for next season.
Football – College:
- Syracuse will retire #72 in honor of Tim Green, DL. His jersey will join the 9 other #s that have been retired at Syracuse at halftime during the season opener against Clemson next year.
- Florida St dismissed QB Francois from the team on Sunday. It is believed that this is in response to Francois’ gf posting a video on insta of accusing him of abusing her. This comes only 1 month after Francois announced he would come back for his senior season to play for the Seminoles. However, it has now come to light that his gf now is saying that he never hit her… in the video she yells at him to stop hitting her (although it is not seen). No legal action has been taken.
- Oklahoma signs head coach Lincoln Riley to a new contract which puts him in the top 10 highest paid coaches (tied with #8 to be exact). His 2019 salary is $6MM after making $4.8MM last year. There are performance and loyalty bonuses (if he stays a Sooner for longer the more money he gets).
- The top 10 highest paid coaches for the 2018 season are (in order): 1. Nick Saban ($8.3MM), 2. Urban Meyer ($7.6MM), 3. Jim Harbaugh ($7.5MM), 4. Jimbo Fisher ($7.5MM), 5. Gus Malzahn ($6.7MM), 6. Kirby Smart ($6.6MM), 7. Dabo Swinney ($6.5MM), 8. Dan Mullen ($6MM), 9. Tom Herman ($5.5MM) and 4 guys tied for 10th at $5MM
- Ed Orgeron is also in talks with LSU for a contract extension
- SEC schools averaged $43.1MM in revenue this year per school. This is a significant increase from the 2016-17 season with $40MM.
- GFGuide note: These numbers do NOT mean profit (meaning after expenses). Very few DI schools are profitable. The only 2 sports that actually make more money than they spend is football and basketball (mostly in the ACC). Do not use my figure here to support your argument that athletes should get paid. Thanks!
Football – NFL:
- Well Super Bowl LIII set a lot of records but not necessarily in a good way, which probably explains why viewership was the lowest since 2007. Interesting but not surprising fact only ~26% of the New Orleans market tuned in for the game…
- Tom Brady now hold the most Super Bowl wins ever by a player with 6.
- He is also the oldest QB to win a SB
- He also holds the record for the most wins with 237
- However, Colts Kicker Vinatieri has 236…
- Bill Belichick is the oldest coach to win a SB
- Longest punt in SB history was last night with 65 yrds by the Rams punter, Hekker.
- 0 TDs scored until the 4th quarter
- The lowest winning score: 13
- The lowest point total ever: 16
- Fewest plays run in the red zone. The Patriots had 1. Rams: 0.
- The Rams are only the 2nd team in SB history to not score a TD (1971 Dolphins)
- Tom Brady now hold the most Super Bowl wins ever by a player with 6.
- Julian Edelman won the MVP award (pictured above with Brady)
- There were some great commercials though… For the link to a lot of them see this post. And who doesn’t like Adam Levine shirtless?
- Usain Bolt also tied the 40 yrd dash NFL combine record… but he ran in sneakers.
Golf:
- The Waste Management Tournament was this weekend, Rickie Fowler won by 2 strokes with a score of 17 under par. This is even after a triple bogey on hole 11!
- Waste Management extended their title sponsorship through 2030.
- Dustin Johnson won the Saudi Arabian International after taking the lead on Friday (shooting 61) and he never gave it back. Johnson finished 19 under par.
- Sergio Garcia got DQ’d after damaging ‘a couple’ of greens in anger on Saturday. Many people are saying the punishment should be steeper.
- Johnny Miller retires from broadcasting after his broadcast on Saturday for NBC. He won 25xs on the PGA Tour himself and won the Waste Management Open 2xs.
Olympic Sports:
- Lindsey Vonn will take the slopes for the last time this week competing in the Downhill (Tuesday 2/5) and the Super G (2/10) in Sweden. After just too many injuries, she said these runs will be her way to say goodbye. They are marked in the schedule below. Bring the tissues.
- That’s not the only news in skiing. Mikaela Shiffrin has just set a PB season with 13 World Cup victories after her win in the slalom on Saturday. The only one other woman has won more World Cup races in a single season, Swiss Vreni Schneider with 14.
- Amgen Tour of California announced its race path, making it the most challenging course in the 14 year history with a distance of 777.6 miles for men and 176.9 miles for women. More than half of the stages are over 120 miles. The race will take place May 12-18.
- Russia has submitted a bid for the 2023 European Games in the midst of their doping scandal, which continues to produce banned athletes.
- Speaking of, 12 new athletes from Russia have been found guilty of doping. Among these athletes is Olympic high jump Champion Ivan Ukhov. 2 other track athletes that won gold medals in the World Championships in 2013 in Moscow have are also guilty. 2 Americans sit in silver medal positions and could receive a gold medal if those medals are to be stripped. I actually competed with one of the men in college, Erik Kynard (who went to Kansas St).
What to watch this week:
Basketball – College:
- Mon 2/4
- 16. Louisville at 11. VTech @ 6pm on ESPN
- Tues 2/5
- Boston College at 2. Duke @ 6pm on ESPN
- South Carolina at 5. Kentucky @ 6pm on SEC
- 9. Michigan St at Illinois @ 6pm on ESPN2
- 7. Michigan at Rutgers @ 7pm on BTN
- NC St at 8. UNC @ 7pm on ACC
- Johns at 10. Marquette @ 7pm on FS1
- Mizzou at 1. Tennessee @ 8pm on ESPN
- 13. Kansas at Kansas St @ 8pm on ESPN
- Wed 2/6
- Creighton at 14. Villanova @ 7pm on CBSSN
- 6. Nevada at Colorado St @ 9pm on CBSSN
- Thurs 2/7
- 12. Houston at UCF @ 6pm on CBSSN
- San Francisco at 4. Gonzaga @ 8pm
- Sat 2/9
- 19. Wisconsin at 7. Michigan @ 11am on Fox
- Miami at 8. UNC @ 11am on ACC
- 11. VTech at Clemson @ 11am
- Oklahoma St at 13. Kansas @ 11am
- Minnesota at 9. Michigan St @ 1pm
- 14. Villanova at 10. Marquette @ 1:30pm on Fox
- Florida at 1. Tennessee @ 3pm
- 16. Louisville at 22. Florida St @ 3pm
- 2. Duke at 3. UVA @ 5pm on ESPN
- New Mexico at 6. Nevada @ 5pm on CBSSN
- Nebraska at 15. Purdue @ 7:30pm on BTN
- Mary’s at 4. Gonzaga @ 9pm
- Sun 2/10
- 25. Cincinnati at 12. Houston @ 3pm on ESPN
Basketball – NBA:
- Tues 2/5
- Raptors at 76ers @ 7pm on TNT
- Heat at Trailblazers @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Wed 2/6
- Wizards at Bucks @ 7pm on ESPN
- Spurs at Warriors @ 9:30pm on ESPN
- Thurs 2/7
- Lakers at Celtics @ 7pm on TNT
- Spurs at Trailblazers @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Fri 2/8
- Nuggets at 76ers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Timberwolves at Pelicans @ 9pm on ESPN
- Sat 2/9
- Thunder at Rockets at 7:30pm on ABC
- Sun 2/10
- Lakers at 76ers @ 2:30pm on ABC
Golf:
- Thurs 2/7
- AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 2/8
- AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 2/9 – AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Round 3
- 1pm on Golf Channel
- 2pm – 5pm on CBS
- Sun 2/10 – AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Round 4
- 1pm on Golf Channel
- 2pm – 5:30pm on CBS
Hockey:
- Wed 2/6 – Bruins at Rangers @ 8pm on NBCSN
- Sun 2/10 – Maple Leafs at Rangers @ 7pm on NBCSN
Olympic Sports:
- Mon 2/4
- 2019 FIS World Championships Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom @ 7:30pm on NBCSN
- Tues 2/5
- FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Women’s Super G @6:25am on NBCSN**
- 2019 FIS World Championships Snowboard Parallel Slalom Final @ 3pm on NBCSN
- 2019 FIS World Championships Snowboard Big Air Final @ 9pm on NBCSN
- Wed 2/6
- FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Men’s Super G @6:25am on NBCSN
- 2019 FIS World Championships Free ski Slopestyle Final @ 5pm on NBCSN
- Thurs 2/7
- 2019 FIS World Championships Freestyle Aerials Final @ 12am on NBCSN
- Figure Skating 4 Continents Championships: Ladies Short Program @ 5pm on NBCSN
- 2019 FIS World Championships Freestyle Skiing: Slopestyle @ 7pm on NBCSN
- 2019 FIS World Championships Freestyle Team Aerials Final @ 9am on NBCSN
- Figure Skating 4 Continents Championships: Men’s Short Program @ 11:30pm on NBCSN
- Fri 2/8
- FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Women’s Super-Combined Downhill @ 9am on NBCSN
- FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Women’s Super-Combined Slalom @ 10am on NBCSN
- 2019 FIS World Championships Snowboard Halfpipe Final @ 1pm on NBCSN
- Biathlon: IBU World Cup Men’s 20km & Women’s 15km @ 7pm on NBCSN
- 2019 FIS World Championships Freestyle Moguls Final @ 9pm on NBCSN
- Sat 2/9
- Figure Skating 4 Continents Championships: Ladies Free skate @ 12am on NBCSN
- Rugby – 6 Nations Championships: Scotland vs Ireland @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
- Rugby – 6 Nations Championships: Italy vs Wales @ 4:30pm on NBCSN
- FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Men’s Downhill @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
- Figure Skating 4 Continents Championships: Men’s Free skate @ 11pm on NBCSN
- Sun 2/10
- 2019 FIS World Championships Women’s Freestyle Dual Moguls Final @ 2am on NBCSN
- FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Women’s Downhill @ 6:25am on NBCSN**
- Rugby – 6 Nations Championships: England vs France @ 1:30pm on NBCSN
** indicates Vonn’s last races
Soccer:
- Mon 2/4 – West Ham United FC vs Liverpool FC at 2:55pm on NBCSN
- Tues 2/5
- FC Heidenheim vs Bayer Leverkusen @ 11:30am on ESPN Desportes
- Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen@ 1:45pm on ESPN3
- Wed 2/6
- Hertha Berlin vs Bayern Munich@ 1:45pm on ESPN3
- Schalke 04 vs Fortuna Dusseldorf @ 1:45pm on ESPN3
- Everton FC vs Manchester City FC @ 2:40pm on NBCSN
- Sat 2/9
- Fulham FC vs Manchester United FC @ 7:25am on NBCSN
- Liverpool FC vs Bournemouth @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Brighton & Hove Albion FC vs Burnley FC @ 12:25pm on NBCSN
- FC Juarez vs Venados FC @ 7pm on ESPN3
- Sun 2/10
- Tottenham Hotspur FC vs Leicester City FC @ 8:25am on NBCSN
- Manchester City FC vs Chelsea FC @ 10:55am on NBCSN
- Italian Serie A: Sassuolo vs Juventus @ 11am on ESPN2
