Weekly Update – February 7, 2022

Basketball-NCAAM: Iowa St & LSU falls out of rankings after a rough week. UCLA lost twice this week. Duke beat UNC in Coach K’s final time in Chapel Hill.

Basketball-NBA: LeBron & KD are ASG captains. LeBron is back and had a great game. Westbrook gets benched again.

Football-NFL: Super Bowl this weekend! TB12 actually retires. Brian Flores suing the NFL. AFC>NFC in the Pro Bowl.

Golf: Hoge wins first PGA Tour title. HVIII wins in Saudi.

Olympic Sports: 3 USA silvers to start the games. Major storylines: Shiffrin goes down in GS. Valieva lands first quad. Pechstein most winter Olympics ever. Van der Poel’s amazing race. Clary oldest downhill medal.

Soccer: USA>HON in good shape for Qatar 2022.

Basketball-NCAAM:

• NCAAM season.
  • There were 2 ranked showdowns in the Big 12 on Tuesday. #10 Kansas outscored #20 Iowa St team in both halves to win 70-61. #14 Texas Tech had a killer first half scoring 43> #23 UT’s 29 to win by more than 10. Creighton upset #17 UConn holding onto their lead. #25 LSU tried to make a comeback in the 2H but came up 4 points short to lose to Ole Miss. The Tigers also lost to Vandy on Sat. Wednesday also saw 2 ranked match ups. #11 Wisconsin fell victim to the first against #18 Illinois who had a nice final score of 80. #24 Marquette beat #12 Villanova by 10. #3 UCLA also lost by 10 to #7 Arizona for the battle to top the Pac 12. UCLA continued to struggle then losing to unranked Arizona St in 3OT. And Arizona continued to roll beating #19 USC on Sat. #10 Kansas had a good week beating 2 ranked teams, first being Iowa St and then #8 Baylor after a dismal game for the Bears (final score was 83-59). #12 Villanova bounced back nicely against #17 UConn on a big game Sat winning 85-74. DePaul beat #21 Xavier and Rutgers beat #13 Michigan St in some of the week’s upsets. #20 Iowa St continued to slide losing to Texas with a bad 2H score of just 18..

• Duke beat UNC in what will be Coach K’s final time in Chapel Hill! He visited 36 times in his career with the Blue Devils.

Basketball – NBA:

• LeBron and KD are All-Star team captains once again. The All-Star game will be on Feb 20^th.
• Sticking with LeBron news, he returned to action against the Knicks and put up 29 points and nice triple-double after taking a 5 game hiatus for a left knee injury. LA went 1-4 without him.
• The Nets have been rumored that they will be trading James Harden but HC Steve Nash says that is not the case. It’s a valid rumor though as Harden turned down a 3-year $161MM extension in the offseason. That is not the only way he has to stay on the team but still.
• Russell Westbrook continues to struggle and was benched in Saturday’s OT win against the Knicks. He said he doesn’t care as long as the team won but he also scored 0 points.

Football-NFL:

• Grab your wings and beer as the Super Bowl is this weekend! Tune in Sunday @ 5:30pm on NBC. The game will be the Cincinnati Bengals vs the LA Rams and just like the CFP Final Four the Cincinnati team is the underdog. Joe Burrow and the Bengals are 4.5 point underdogs. The O/U is 48.5. The LA Rams and veteran QB Matthew Stafford will be playing at home in SoFi stadium.

• Tom Brady has officially retired. That’s straight from the horse’s mouth so it’s for real this time. We will have to do a separate post over all his accomplishments more to come!
  • ICYMI: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has also retired. That was expected.
• The NFL is being sued by Brian Flores, a black coach that was fired by the Miami Dolphins. He said the NFL is discriminating against AA coaches and that he was only given interviews with teams due to the diversity required quota (called the Rooney Rule). The only black HC is Steelers Mike Tomlin in a league that’s predominantly full of black athletes.
  • Nicely to contrast that is that the Texans are rumored to hire Lovie Smith, who was previously their associate HC and DC. He would be another black HC.
• The AFC won the Pro Bowl 41-35 with 2 Sooners leading in stats. QB Kyler Murray was the passing leader with 160 yards and TE Mark Andrews led in receiving yards with 82 (that’s odd that it was not a WR).

Golf:

• Another week another first time PGA Tour winner! Tom Hoge won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He was one of the 7 people to have the lead at some point on Sunday but he surged on the final 9 to pass Jordan Spieth. He had 202 PGA Tour starts and 2 runner up finishes (including one 2 weeks ago) before this win. Hoge’s final score was 91 under par.
• Also on an international note, Harold Varner III won the Saudi International after sinking a 90 foot putt for Eagle to win over Bubba Watson. This was Varner’s 2^nd win internationally.

Olympic Sports:

• The torch has been lit and the Games are in full swing. Let’s go over how the medals look:
  • Most Golds: SWE with 3
  • Most overall: ROC with 7
  • USA Medal count: 0 / 3 / 0 = 3 total
    • 3 silvers:

• • • • Jaelin Kauf in Freestyle Skiing – W Moguls

• • • • • Julia Marino in the Snowboard – W Slopestyle

• • • • • The US Figure Skating Team took silver in the team event! In that Nathan Chen led it off with the second best Men’s short program score ever with 111.71. the highest ever belongs to JPN reigning gold medalist Hanyu…
          • • Men’s Figure Skater Vincent Zhou has had to withdraw from the Olympics after he tested positive for COVID. He did get to compete in the Free Skate in the Team event but he will not compete individually.
    • Major Storylines:
      • Mikaela Shiffrin crashed out of the Giant Slalom in run 1 last night in a stunner. She hadn’t not finished a GS in 2 years. But she wasn’t the only one. Only 1 of the 4 Americans finished the 2 runs.

• • Other teams’ major storylines:
    • ROC Figure Skater Kamila Valieva became the first to land a quad in a women’s event (women’s free skate in team event)! Quad salchow, quad toe then triple toe in combo and then fell on her quad toe. Even though this was the first to ever happen she was clearly disappointed. ROC did win gold.
    • GER Speed Skater, Claudia Pechsten competed in the 3000m. Why is that important? Bc she has competed in 8 Olympics – the most ever by a female; she is 49 years old. Those 8 Olympics were 1992 Albertville, 1994 Lillehammer, 1998 Nagano, 2002 Salt Lake City, 2006 Turin, 2014 Sochi, 2018 Pyeongchang and now 2022 Beijing. She has 5 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronze Olympic medals spanning 1992-2006. She only missed the 2010 Vancouver games – missed due to doping ban.

• • • SWE Van der Poel was the overwhelming favorite in the M 5000m but NED Roest set a nice time an hour earlier in the rounds with a new OR of 6:09.31. Van de Poel was behind with 3 laps to go and it looked out of reach. However he dropped his times to make up .75 seconds per lap, just unheard of. He won SWE’s first speed skating gold since 1988.
    • FRA Johan Clary in the M Downhill is the oldest man to ever medal in Alpine Skiing at age 41. The medal podium in general was older. Before this, the oldest man was USA Bode Miller at 36.

Soccer:

• The USMNT beat HON 3-0 this week and currently sit in 2nd in the World Cup Qualifying CONCAF division. CAN is in 1^st by 4 points and 14 goal differential points. The US only leads Mexico by 3 goals. But 1-3^rd place will qualify. 4^th place plays an Oceania team for a spot in Qatar 2022.

What to watch this week

Basketball-NBA:

• Tues 2/8
  • Celtics at Nets @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Bucks at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 2/9
  • Heat at Hornets @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Warriors at Jazz @ 9pm on ESPN
• Thurs 2/10
  • Nets at Wizards @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Bucks at Suns @ 9pm on TNT
• Sat 2/12
  • Lakers at Warriors @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Sun 2/13
  • Hawks at Celtics @ 1pm on ABC

Basketball – NCAAM: Only Top 25 on TV are listed

• Mon 2/7
  • UVA at 7. Duke @ 6pm on ESPN
  • 4. Arizona at Arizona St @ 8pm on FS1
  • 8. Kansas at 9. Texas @ 8pm on ESPN
• Tues 2/8
  • 23. Marquette at 24. UConn @ 5:30pm on FS1
  • 1. Auburn at Arkansas @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • 5. Kentucky at South Carolina @ 6pm on ESPN
  • 14. Wisconsin at 17. Michigan St @ 6pm on BTN
  • 15. Villanova at St. John’s @ 7:30pm
  • 13. Illinois at 3. Purdue @ 8pm on ESPN
  • Pacific at 21. USC @ 9pm on PAC12
  • 12. UCLA at Stanford @ 10pm on ESPN2
• Wed 2/9
  • 6. Houston at SMU @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • 16. Ohio St at Rutgers @ 6pm on BTN
  • 25. Xavier at Seton Hall @ 6pm on FS1
  • 10. Baylor at Kansas St @ 7pm
  • 19. Tennessee at Mississippi St @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • 9. Texas Tech at Oklahoma @ 8pm on ESPNU
• Thurs 2/10
  • 7. Duke at Clemson @ 7pm on ACC
  • Pacific at 2. Gonzaga @ 8pm
  • 4. Purdue at Michigan @ 8pm on ESPN
  • 3. Arizona at Washington St @ 8pm on FS1
• Fri 2/11
  • 24. UConn at 25. Xavier @ 6pm on FS1
• Sat 2/12
  • Texas A&M at 1. Auburn @ 11am on ESPN
  • 20. Texas at 10. Baylor @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Oklahoma at 8. Kansas @ 12pm
  • Seton Hall at 15. Villanova @ 12pm on FOX
  • Rutgers at 14. Wisconsin @ 1pm on FS1
  • Memphis at 6. Houston @ 2:30pm on ABC
  • Indiana at 17. Michigan St @ 2:30pm on FOX
  • Florida at 5. Kentucky @ 3pm on ESPN
  • TCU at 9. Texas Tech @ 3pm
  • 18. Marquette at Butler @ 3:30pm on FS1
  • 7. Duke at Boston College @ 4pm on ACC
  • 3. Arizona at Washington @ 5pm on Pac12
  • 16. Ohio St at Michigan @ 5pm on ESPN
  • Vanderbilt at 19. Tennessee @ 5pm on SEC
  • DePaul at 11. Providence @ 5:30pm on FS1
  • 22. Saint Mary’s at 2. Gonzaga @ 9pm
  • 12. UCLA at 21. USC @ 9pm
• Sun 2/13
  • 24. UConn at St. John’s @ 11am on FOX
  • Maryland at 3. Purdue @ 12pm
  • Northwestern at 13. Illinois @ 1pm on BTN

Golf:

• Thurs 2/10
  • PHX Open – Round 1 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 2/11
  • PHX Open – Round 2 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 2/12
  • PHX Open – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
• Sun 2/13
  • PHX Open – Final Round
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Wed 2/9
  • Predators at Stars @ 7pm on TNT
  • Islanders at Canucks @ 9:30pm on TNT

Olympic Sports:

• Mon 2/7
  • Figure Skating: M Short @ 7:15pm
  • Freestyle Skiing: W Big Air @ 8pm – 8:45pm
  • Alpine Skiing: M Super G @ 9pm
  • Hockey: W USA vs CAN @ 10:22pm
• Tues 2/8
  • Curling: Mixed Doubles Bronze Game @ 12:05am
  • Snowboard: W Parrallel Giant Slalom @ 1:36am
  • Snowboard: M Parrallel Giant Slalom @ 1:43am
  • Biathlon: M 20km @ 2:30am
  • Speed Skating: M 1500m @ 4:30am
  • Cross Country Skiing: W Sprint Free @ 5:47am
  • Luge: W Singles Runs 3 & 4 @ 5:50am – 7:35am
  • Cross Country Skiing: M Sprint Free @ 6am
  • Curling: Mixed Doubles Gold Game @ 6:05am
  • Alpine Skiing: W Slalom Runs 1 & 2 @ 8:15pm – 11:45pm
  • Freestyle Skiing: Big Air Runs 1-3 @ 9pm – 9:45pm
• Wed 2/9
  • Snowboard Cross: W 4 rounds start @ 12:07am – Finals @ 1:45am
  • Nordic Combined: 10km Cross Country @ 5am
  • Curling Men: USA vs ROC @ 6:05am
  • Luge: Doubles Run 1 & 2 @ 6:20am – 7:35am
  • Short Track Speed Skating: M 1500m @ 7:20am
    • Quarterfinals start the day @ 5am
  • Curling: W ROC vs USA @ 7:05pm
  • Figure Skating: M Free Skate @ 7:30pm
  • Snowboard: W Halfpipe Runs 1-3 @ 7:30p – 8:25pm
  • Alpine Skiing: M Combined – Downhill @ 8:30pm
• Thurs 2/10
  • Snowboard: M Cross 4 rounds start @ 12am – 1:15am
  • Curling: M USA vs SWE @ 12:05am
  • Alpine Skiing: M Combined – Slalom @ 12:15am
  • Cross Country Skiing: W 10km @ 1am
  • Freestyle Skiing: Aerials Final 1 & 2 @ 5am – 5:50am
  • Speed Skating: W 5000m @ 6am
  • Curling: W USA vs DEN @ 6:05am
  • Hockey: M USA vs CHN @ 7:10am
  • Luge: Team Relay @ 7:30am
  • Curling: M GBR vs USA @ 7:05pm
  • Snowboard: M Halfpipe Runs 1-3 @ 7:30pm – 8:25pm *Shaun White
  • Alpine Skiing: W Super G @ 9pm
  • Hockey: W Quarterfinal 1 @ 10:10pm
• Fri 2/11
  • Curling: W USA vs CHN @ 12:05am
  • Cross Country Skiing: M 15km @ 1am
  • Speed Skating: M 10000m @ 2am
  • Biathlon: W 7.5km @ 3am
  • Skeleton: M Run 3 & 4 @ 6:20am – 7:55am
  • Short Track Speed Skating: W 1000m @ 6:43am
    • Speed skating starts @ 5am with Quarterfinals
  • Hockey: W Quarterfinal 2 @ 7:10am
  • Snowboard: Mixed Team Quarterfinals – Finals @ 8pm – 8:50pm
  • Hockey: M CAN vs USA @ 10:10pm
  • Hockey: W Quarterfinal 3 @ 10:10pm
• Sat 2/12
  • Curling: M USA vs NOR @ 12:05am
  • Cross Country Skiing: W 4x5km Relay @ 1:30am
  • Speed Skating: W Team Pursuit Quarterfinals @ 2am
  • Hockey: W Quarterfinal 4 @ 2:40am
  • Speed Skating: M 500m @ 2:53am
  • Biathlon: M 10km @ 3am
  • Figure Skating: Rhythm Dance @ 5am
  • Ski Jumping: M Large Hill Round 1 & Final @ 5am – 6am
  • Curling: W GBR vs USA @ 6:05am
  • Skeleton: W Heat 3 & 4 @ 6:20am – 7:55am
  • Curling: M USA vs CAN @ 7:05pm
  • Bobsleigh: W Mono Heat 1 & 2 @ 7:30pm – 9pm
  • Alpine Skiing: M Giant Slalom Run 1 & 2 @ 8:15pm – 11:45pm
• Sun 2/13
  • Curling: W USA vs SWE @ 12:05am
  • Cross Country Skiing: M 4x10km Relay @ 1am
  • Biathlon: W 10km Pursuit @ 3am
  • Biathlon: M 12.5km Pursuit @ 4:45am
  • Short Track Speed Skating: W 3000m Relay @ 5:44am
    • ST Speed Skating starts @ 5am with M 500m Quarterfinals
  • Curling: M CHN vs USA @ 6:05am
  • Short Track Speed Skating: M 500m @ 6:09am – 6:14am
  • Hockey: M USA vs GER @ 7:10am
  • Speed Skating: W 500m @ 7:56am
  • Curlong: W USA vs KOR @ 7:05pm
  • Figure Skating: Dance – Free Dance @ 7:15pm
  • Freestyle Skiing: W Slopestyle Runs 1-3 @ 7:30pm – 8:24pm
  • Bobsleigh: W Mono Heat 3 & 4 @ 7:30am – 9pm
  • Hockey: W Semi 1 @ 10:10pm
• Mon 2/14
  • Freestyle Skiing: W Aerials Final 1 & 2 @ 5am – 6am
  • Ski Jumping: M Team Round 1 & Final @ 5am – 6:06am
  • Bobsleigh: M 2-man Heat 1 & 2 @ 6:05am – 7:40am
  • Hockey: W Semi 2 @ 7:10am