Posted on March 21, 2022

Weekly Update – March 21, 2022

Weekly Update

Baseball: Trades new and old.

Basketball-NBA: LeBron #2 All time scorer. Big 3 Warriors are down again.

Basketball-NCAAM: Sweet 16 is set! No bracket lasted past Game 28.

Football: Big time trades.

Golf: Cam Smith wins PLAYERS on Monday. Burns defends at Valspar in playoff.

Olympic Sports: Lia Thomas debate. World T&F meet. Shiffrin wins 4th WC.

Baseball:

March Madness is here! And its been maddening. My bracket busted in Game 1 when Michigan beat Colorado St. There were 17MM brackets total this year and all but 743 brackets were busted after day 1. The last perfect bracket busted by game 28 after Iowa St upset LSU. So it’s a repeat of 2021!

- In the East, Kentucky took down a lot of the brackets out after they lost to Saint Peter’s and even crazier the Peacocks made it to the Sweet 16! Defending champion, Baylor is out in Round 2 to UNC. And that was one of the tamer regions.
- The West had #5 UConn lose to #12 NM St and first four winner #11 Notre Dame beat #6 Alabama by 14.
- In the Midwest, another #5 went down in Round 1 when #12 Richmond beat the Big 10 champs Iowa. And sticking with that state #11 Iowa St squeaked by #6 LSU before beating #3 Wisconsin to make their Sweet 16. #10 Miami beat #7 USC and then went on to beat #2 Auburn.

- The first big upset was #11 Michigan over #6 Colorado St – which was game 1 of the entire tournament. Michigan then continued to roll beating SEC champ, #3 Tennessee. In the South, #8 Seton Hall, a March Madness norm, got beat by #9 TCU who then alllllmost beat #1 seed Arizona in OT but couldn’t quite seal the deal. #5 Houston destroyed the #4 Illinois.

LeBron is now the 2^nd most all time scorer of all time in the NBA. He entered into the game on Saturday vs the Wizards only needing 20 points. He ended with 36,947. He only trails Kareem Abdul-Jabaar now who has 38,387.
The Warriors are once again without their top 3 players (Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green). They played together for the first time in 1,005 days and are now without them again 48 hours later. Curry got an MRI on Wednesday and it came back that he has a sprained ligament in his left foot. He will get another in 2 weeks.

There have been some crazy trades.
- The Browns have acquired QB Deshaun Watson in a trade with the Texans, despite the 22 women who came forward claiming sexual assault. The Texans received 3 1^st round draft picks (2022, 2023, 2024) and a 3^rd round pick in 2023 and a 4^th round pick in 2024.
- QB Baker Mayfield will be looking for a new home after the Watson trade.
- The Colts have acquired QB Matt Ryan from the Falcons. The Colts are in serious need for a QB solution. Ryan will be the 5^th starting QB in 5 seasons. Ryan has been with the Falcons since his draft in 2008 and has only missed 3 games.

Cam Smith won the PLAYERS Championship after a crazy weather delayed tournament. Smith one-putted 8 of his last 9 holes (and 13 total one-putts in his final round), giving him a one-shot lead over Lahiri. It was a family affair after the round with his mom and sister in attendance. He hadn’t seen them in 2 years due to travel restrictions. This was Smith’s 5^th win on the PGA Tour and 2^nd this year after winning the first event of the year, Sentry ToC.
Sam Burns won his 3^rd PGA Tour title in playoff fashion defending his Valspar Championship title. In the 2nd playoff hole, Burns nailed a 32 foot putt to make birdie to take it all. He played against Davis Riley, a PGA Tour rookie who made the playoff despite a triple-bogey in his final round.

Lia Thomas is the first transgender athlete to win a NCAA title. She won it in the 500m freestyle and is the first male athlete turned female. Let the debate begin! She did get 8^th in the 100m. Thomas was ranked 554^th in the 200m, 65^th in the 500m and 32^nd in the 1650m as a man but is now the top female in all of those events. At the Ivy Championships, she even had a ~2 second difference in a negative split 52.14 to 50.98, which COULD be indicative of holding back.
World Indoor T&F Championships were this weekend. ETH swept the W 1500m. This is the first time for a medal sweep by any country in any event. SWE Mondo Duplantis broke his own WR in the Pole Vault again with a clearance of 6.20m. He won the world championship at 6.05m. VEN Yulimar Rojas also broke her own WR in the Triple Jump with a jump of 15.74m. UKR Yaroslava Mahuchikh took the HJ gold for her country and thanked their military for fighting the Russians.

Mikaela Shiffrin won her 4^th world cup overall victory after rival Vlhova placed outside the points. Shiffrin finished 2^nd in the Super G after a surprise win in the downhill to solidify that no one could catch her in the points. Vlhova and Shiffrin started March tied in the points with 8 races left. Funnily enough it was Shiffrin’s performances in the speed events that secured her the top spot.
Sticking with American Olympians, Nathen Chen has WD from worlds next week due to a ‘nagging injury’.

Thurs 3/24 – Sweet 16
- Arkansas at 1. Gonzaga @ 6:09pm on CBS
- Michigan at 2. Villanova @ 6:29pm on TBS
- Texas Tech at 2. Duke @ 8:39pm on CBS
- Houston at 1. Arizona @ 8:59pm on TBS
Fri 3/25
- St. Peter’s at 3. Purdue @ 6:09pm on CBS
- Providence at 1. Kansas @ 6:29pm on TBS
- UNC at 4. UCLA @ 8:39pm on CBS
- Iowa St at 10. Miami @ 8:59pm on TBS
- Elite 8 – West: TBD vs TBD @ TBD on TBS
- Elite 8 – South: TBD vs TBD @ TBD on TBS
Sat 3/26
- Elite 8 – East: TBD vs TBD @ TBD on CBS
- Elite 8 – Midwest: TBD vs TBD @ TBD on CBS

Wed 3/23
- Dell Match Play- Round Robin rounds @ 1pm on Golf Channel
Thurs 3/24
- Dell Match Play- Round Robin rounds @ 1pm on Golf Channel
Fri 3/25
- Dell Match Play – Round Robin rounds @ 1pm on Golf Channel
Sat 3/26
- Dell Match Play – Round of 16 & Elite 8
  - @ 9am on Golf Channel
  - @ 2pm on NBC
Sun 3/27
- Dell Match Play – Final 2 rounds
  - @ 9am on Golf Channel
  - @ 2pm on NBC

Wed 3/23
- MLS: Austin FC vs Seattle Sounders @ 4:30am on FS1
Thurs 3/24
- FIFA UEFA: POR vs TUR @ 2:45pm on ESPN2
- FIFA CONCACAF: USA vs MEX @ 9pm
Fri 3/25
- International Friendly: FRA vs CIV @ 3:15pm on ESPN2
Sun 3/27
- MLS: Portland Timbers vs Orlando City @ 3pm on ESPN
- CONCACAF: USA vs PAN @ 6pm on FS1

Wed 3/23
- Triathlon: Miami @ 7pm on FS1
Thurs 3/24
- Figure Skating: Pairs Free Skate & Men’s Short Program @ 12pm on USA
Fri 3/24
- Figure Skating: Women’s Short Program & Free Skate @ 12pm on USA
Sat 3/25
- Figure Skating: Men’s Free Skat & Free Dance @ 3pm on USA
Sun 3/26