Weekly Update – Week of March 22, 2021

Baseball: Seasons starts 4/1! Perez highest paid Royal ever. Votto back. Wright signed to Pirates. JCC arrested for all the drugs. Other MLB tea.

Basketball-NBA: LeBron out with ankle sprain. LaMelo Ball out. Rockets lose 20. Griffin back to dunking. Nets favs for NBA title.

Basketball-NCAAM: All brackets busted. March madness indeed.

Football: Watson in trouble. Williams extension. Some fans for NFL draft. Switzer’s baby drama. NFL Deals.

Golf: Jones wins Honda. Koepka knee injury – Masters questionable.

Olympic Sports: Tokyo Olympics will now allow foreigners. Marathon bomber case up to review of death penalty. Top 3 Alpine skiing winners are women. CAN gym coach banned. Surfer hopeful dies by lightening.

Baseball:

• Season starts on April 1!
• Venezuelan Salvador Perez made history with his 4-year $82MM extension deal with the Royals. This is the highest paid contract by the Royals ever. He is a 6x All-star C.
• Joey Votto, Reds 1B, is back with the team after having COVID 19. He has not publicly discussed how his virus was but says once he gets back to game shape, he will be playing.
• The Pirates have signed Steven Wright, who specializes in the knuckleball. No financial data was released. Wright was recovering from Tommy John surgery during the 2020 season. And he served a 15 game suspension in 2018 after he was arrested for domestic assault and preventing a 911 call.

• Cubs minor league P, Jesus Camargo-Corrales, has been arrested after 21lbs of meth and 1.2lbs of oxycodone were found in his duffle bag. He is being held at $75k bond in Colorado.
• MLB Tea:
  • Diamondback RHP Tyler Clippard sprained his right shoulder and will be out for 6 weeks.
  • Indians OF Oscar Mercado has been sent down to the minor leagues after he continues to struggle at spring training.
  • Josh Jung, Rangers 3B, is out for 6-8 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot. Although the Triple-A season is set to start in early May so he may not miss too much. He has not played anything above low A after he was drafted out of Texas Tech in 2019.

Basketball-NBA:

• LeBron James sprained his ankle on Saturday in the Lakers’ loss to the Hawks, which dropped the team to 3^rd place in the West. The Lakers have already been without Anthony Davis for a month after he suffered a calf strain and tendonitis. The team will have to change their game plan if they plan to win more games before those 2 return to the court.

• Hornets ROY frontrunner, LaMelo Ball, will now miss the rest of the season due to a broken right wrist suffered in his game vs Clippers on Saturday.
• The Rockets have lost their 20^th game straight after their 114-112 loss to the Thunder on Sunday. Not to add insult to injury, but the team put the ball in John Wall’s hands 2xs in the last 10 seconds to score a game-winner and he couldn’t do it; he went 1-and-7 from the 3 point line. The 20 game streak sits at the 9^th worst in league history, that’s NBA history not franchise.
• The opposite of the Rockets, newly dressed in the Nets uniform, Blake Griffin dunked for the first time since 2019 in his debut and win over the Wizards. Although on minute restrictions, Griffin scored 2 points and 2 rebounds in just 15 minutes. Slowly but surely getting back to form.
• The Nets are now the favorites to win the NBA title after LeBron’s injury.

Basketball – NCAAM:

• March Madness has certainly lived up to its name! Most brackets were busted before the end of Day 1 (only 121 perfect brackets were left after Friday night). 97% of brackets submitted had Ohio St beating Oral Roberts. The last bracket to bust (there were 3 left) was done so on Saturday night by the #10 Maryland Terrapins beating #7 UConn. IDK about you but 3 of my Final Four teams are out (Texas, Illinois, Gonzaga and Ohio St)…
  • The first #1 seed team to lose was Illinois to #8 Loyola-Chicago last night and they lost big 71-58.
  • #11 Syracuse has made its 3^rd straight Sweet 16 after beating #6 San Diego St and then #3 West Virginia last night. And that game was def worth the watch!
  • #15 Oral Roberts has been the biggest team to mess up brackets after they beat #2 Ohio St and #7 Florida to become only the 2^nd #15 seed to make the Sweet 16 ever. They play #3 Arkansas in their Sweet 16 matchup.
  • #13 Ohio put down the #4 UVA Cavaliers in the first round in a big upset.
  • Another #13 North Texas handled the Boilermakers to win 78-69. They did ultimately lose to #5 Villanova in the 2^nd
  • UNC HC, Roy Williams, was handed his first 1^st round loss ever when the #8 Tarheels got beat up by the #9 Badgers.
  • First Four #11 UCLA barely made the tournament in a thrilling win against Michigan St but they went on to win their first round matchup over #6 seed BYU. They play #14 Abilene Christian tonight. #14 Abilene Christian beat the #3 Texas longhorns in the first round in a big upset.
    • That’s what I get for cheering for my rival. I had Texas in my final four…
  • The Pac 12 is a perfect 7-0 as of when this post came out.

• #ICYMI (so you’ve been living under a rock), the difference between the men’s basketball tournament and the women’s has been on blast after pictures surfaced of the weight rooms. The NCAA is def catching some heat and rightfully so. The ‘weight room’ for the women is worse than what most of us have in our own households. This is now calling into question how fair everything is in the NCAA women vs men. The weight room did get a remodel now (see below) and its sooooo much better.
  • I would love to discuss this further and give you my stance on it, so feel free to comment if that is something you would be interested in hearing. I think you’ll be surprised.

 

Football:

• Houston QB DeSean Watson is in hot water and its not for wanting to leave the team this time. As many as 22 women have come forward to accuse the QB of sexual assault/misconduct, including a woman from the past 30 days. No criminal charges have been filed but there is a 3^rd degree civil suit.

• The 49ers have given OT Trent Williams a 6-year $138MM extension. The last season where he played all 16 games was 2013 at the age of 25. He played for the Redskins for 9 years before going to the 49ers.
• It looks like there will be limited fans allowed at the 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland 4/29-5/1. Fans will be designated by the clubs and must be vaccinated and must wear masks.
• Ryan Switzer, Browns WR, had a son 9 months ago and it has been a roller coaster ride. Christian is back in the hospital after a blood transfusion after it was discovered that he had significant bleeding. Prayers to the Switzer family.
• Deals:
  • WR Kenny Golladay signed a 4 year deal for $72MM with the Giants. This was a big deal as he only played ~5 games in the 2020 season and turned down a previous deal that seemed more appropriate for him.
  • The Rams have agreed to a deal with WR DeSean Jackson in his 13^th season in the league.
  • The Jets added DT Sheldon Rankins for 2 years for $17MM. Rankins will be moving from NOLA to NYC.

Golf:

• Matt Jones won the Honda Classic in dominating fashion (by 5 shots). This was only his 2^nd PGA Tour title and the first one he made a long putt to make a playoff and a chip in to win. This victory was much easier as he finished 12 under, which tied the largest victory margin ever with 2010 Villegas and 1977 Jack Nicklaus. Jones now also will get to play in the Masters next month. For the week, the total balls in the water was 269 (at least the last count that I could find).
• Speaking of the Masters, Brooks Koepka looks like a Maybe on his Masters’ RSVP card. He went through knee surgery on his right knee (yes that the opposite of the last injury we talked about) after he dislocated his kneecap and had some ligament damage.
• It’s the Dell this weekend! Get ready to fill out another bracket!

Olympic Sports:

• #ICYMI The IOC and the Japanese government have announced that there will be no spectators from abroad at the Tokyo Olympic Games. 80% of the Japanese public don’t even want the games to happen at all. Japan has had only 8,800 deaths from COVID. Everyone who bought a ticket from outside of Japan, ~600,000 tickets, will be refunded. Volunteers from abroad have also been banned. $800MM in revenue was estimated from ticket sales that will likely not happen now. 4.45MM tickets have been sold to people inside Japan and the capacity of the arenas will be announced next month. The Olympic torch relay is set to take place in a couple of days and will involve 15,400 athletes coming in for the relay.

• The Boston Marathon bomber could suffer the death penalty. The Trump administration carried out 13 executions in the last 6 months however the new administration will have to take its stance on capital punishment. The initial decision to seek the death penalty was actually suggested by the Obama admin, so Biden might be ok with it moving forward. The case will not be heard for 6ish months.
  • Notice how the name of the bomber is scratched out. I refuse to publish his name on my website as I believe that is a factor that weighs into terrorists’ minds; they want their 15 minutes of fame. I will not continue to give them such.
• The Alpine skiing World Cup top prize winners are all female this year. Lara Gut-Behrami, Petra Vlhova and Mikaela Shiffrin took the top 3 money earners spots with $523k, $479k and $444k, respectively. The top money earner on the men’s side was Alexis Pinturault with $409k for winning 5 of the 35 events.
• Dave Brubaker, former CAN women’s gymnastics coach, has been banned for life from the sport after an internal investigation. He was found not guilty of sexual assault in 2019 but after written complaints, the internal investigation was opened. His wife has also been suspended until 2024.
• An Olympic surfing hopeful from El Salvador, Katherine Hernandez, was training near her home when she was struck by lightening and killed on Friday. Quite a shocking story – sorry I had to!

 

What to watch this week

Baseball-MLB:

• None on tv this week

Baseball/Softball–NCAA: (ranked vs ranked only)

• Tues 3/23
  • Baseball: 8. East Carolina at 24. UNC @ 5pm on ACC
• Fri 3/26
  • Baseball: Louisville at 14. Notre Dame @ 4pm
  • Baseball: 22. LSU at 12. Tennessee @ 6:30pm
  • Baseball: 5. Florida at 25. South Carolina @ 7pm
  • Baseball: 2. Arkansas at 3. Mississippi St @ 7:30pm
• Sat 3/27
  • Softball: 22. Auburn vs 18. Mizzou @ 11am on SEC
  • Baseball: Louisville at 14. Notre Dame @ 2pm
  • Baseball: 2. Arkansas at 3. Mississippi St @ 3pm
  • Softball: 12. LSU vs 5. Florida @ 4pm on ESPN
  • Baseball: 5. Florida at 25. South Carolina @ 4pm
  • Baseball: 22. LSU at 12. Tennessee @ 6pm
• Sun 3/28
  • Baseball: 5. Florida at 25. South Carolina @ 12pm
  • Baseball: Louisville at 14. Notre Dame @ 1pm
  • Baseball: 22. LSU at 12. Tennessee @ 1pm
  • Softball: 2. Alabama vs 10. Kentucky @ 2:30pm on ESPN2
  • Baseball: 2. Arkansas at 3. Mississippi St @ 3pm

Basketball-NBA:

• Tues 3/23
  • Lakers at Pelicans @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • 76ers at Warriors @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 3/24
  • Celtics at Bucks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Jazz at Nets @ 9pm on ESPN
• Thurs 3/25
  • Trail Blazers at Heat @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • 76ers at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
• Fri 3/26
  • Celtics at Bucks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Hawks at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN
• All other games are on NBATV

Basketball – NCAA: (rankings correspond to their seed now)

• Mon 3/22
  • Oregon at 2. Iowa @ 12pm on CBS
  • Oklahoma at 1. Gonzaga @ 1:40pm on CBS
  • Abilene Christian at 11. UCLA @ 4:15pm on TBS
  • Ohio at 5. Creighton @ 5:10pm on TNT
  • LSU at 1. Michigan @ 6:10pm on CBS
  • Colorado at 4. Florida St @ 6:45pm on TBS
  • Maryland at 2. Alabama @ 7:45pm on TNT
  • USC at 3. Kansas @ 8:40pm on CBS
• Sat 3/27
  • Oregon St at 8. Loyola-Chicago @ 1:40pm on CBS
  • Villanova at 1. Baylor @ 4:15pm on CBS
  • Oral Roberts at 3. Arkansas @ 6:25pm on TBS
  • Syracuse at 2. Houston @ 8:55pm on TBS
• Sun 3/28 – the rest of the Sweet 16 but all times and teams are TBD

Golf:

• Wed 3/24 – WGC-Dell Match Play Group Play @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Thurs 3/25
  • Corales Puntacana Resort & Club – Round 1@ 9am on Golf Channel
  • WGC-Dell Match Play Group Play @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 3/26
  • Corales Puntacana Resort & Club – Round 2 @ 9am on Golf Channel
  • WGC-Dell Match Play Group Play @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 3/27
  • WGC-Dell Match Play – Sweet 16 and Quarterfinals
    • @ 9am on Golf Channel
    • @ 1pm on NBC
  • Corales Puntacana Resort & Club – Round 3 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Sun 3/28
  • WGC-Dell Match Play – Semifinals and Finals
    • @ 9am on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on NBC
  • Corales Puntacana Resort & Club – Round 4 @ 1:30pm on Golf Channel

Hockey:

• Mon 3/22
  • Ducks at Wild @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
• Tues 3/23
  • Devils at Flyers @ 6pm on NBCSN
• Wed 3/24
  • Ducks at Wild @ 4:30pm on NBCSN
  • Sabres at Penguins @ 7pm on NBCSN
  • Rangers at Sharks @ 9:30pm on NBCSN
• Sun 3/28
  • Rangers at Capitals @ 11am on NBC
  • Blue Jackets at Red Wings @ 2pm on NBCSN
  • Devils at Bruins @ 4:30pm on NBCSN
  • Predators at Blackhawks @ 7pm on NBCSN

Motorsports:

• Mon 3/22
  • Supercross – Dallas @ 10pm on NBCSN
• Sun 3/28
  • F1: Bahrain GP @ 9:10am on ESPN2
  • Supercross – Dallas @ 12:30pm on NBCSN
  • MotoGP – Qatar GP @ 10:30pm on NBCSN

Olympic Sports:

• Mon 3/22
  • Skiing: Slopestyle Aspen @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
  • Snowboarding: Slopestyle @ 4pm on NBCSN
  • Swimming & Diving: ACC Championships @ 7pm on ACC
  • Gymnastics: SEC Women’s Championships @ 7pm on SEC
• Tues 3/23
  • Skiing: Slopestyle Aspen @ 2pm on NBCSN
  • Snowboarding: Slopestyle @ 3:30pm on NBCSN
• Wed 3/24
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Ladies Short Program @ 8am on NBCSN
• Thurs 3/25
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Pairs Short Program @ 12:30am on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Pairs’ Free Skate @ 2pm on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Men’s Short Program @ 4pm on NBCSN
  • Track & Field: Texas Relays @ 4:30pm on LGHN
• Fri 3/26
  • Track & Field: Texas Relays @ 1pm on LGHN
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Ladies’ Free Skate @ 1:30pm on NBCSN
  • Women’s Hockey: Toronto Six vs Boston Pride @ 4pm on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Rhythm Dance @ 9:30pm on NBCSN
• Sat 3/27
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Men’s Free Skate @ 7am on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating: ISU World Championships – Free Dance @ 2:30pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Sun 3/28
  • FA Women’s Super League: Manchester City vs Reading # 12:30pm on NBCSN