Baseball – MLB: Yelich homers. Season has begun.
Basketball – College: Final Four Teams!
Basketball – NBA: Who’s in for the playoffs? LeBron to sit for the rest of the season.
Football – College: Navy Heisman trophy winner dies. United Airlines pulls out of naming deal for LA Memorial Coliseum.
Football – NFL: Pass Interference is now review-able – you got what you want Saints fans!
Golf: Kisner couldn’t be matched at the Dell Match Play.
Olympic Sports: A Russian tries to save boxing for Tokyo 2020. IOC gives their 4 suggestions for Paris 2024. American Bobsledder gets another silver after he passed away. Conor McGregor retired.
Baseball – MLB:
- Christian Yelich tied the MLB record during the 1st inning on Sunday in the game against the Cardinals. Yelich hit homers in 4 consecutive games, becoming the 6th player in history to do so. He was the MVP last year and is already off to a blazing start.
- Yankees have placed Stanton on injured list for 10 days due to a biceps strain. This happened just one day after the Yankees lost their season opener vs the Orioles.
- Boston Red Sox and SS Xander Bogaerts have reached a contract extension deal for 7 years for $132MM. The Aruba native has played all of his 6 years with the Red Sox and helped lead them to a World Series championship last year.
Basketball – College:
- Well the Final Four teams have been decided:
- 1. UVA, 2. Michigan St, 3. Texas Tech and 5. Auburn
- This is 3. Texas Tech and 5. Auburn’s first trips to the Final Four
- Games will be played on Saturday 4/6 with the NCAA Final on Monday 4/8.
- 1. UVA, 2. Michigan St, 3. Texas Tech and 5. Auburn
- To recap there were some crazy games this past weekend:
- 3. Purdue took 2. Tennessee into their 2nd OT in a row and got the best of the Volunteers 99-94
- 12. Oregon put up a good fight against 1. UVA only letting the Cavaliers win 53-49
- 1. Duke had another nail biter against 4. VTech but the Blue Devils prevailed 75-73
- Until Michigan St’s close game was one too many beating Duke by 1 point.
- Auburn beat 2. Kentucky in an OT stunner to make it to their first Final Four. Final score was 77-71 OT
- Purdue vs UVA also went into OT. The Cavaliers made a last second shot to go into OT during which they won.
Basketball – NBA:
- Lakers have announced that LeBron will sit the last 6 games of the regular season as the Lakers are not going to the post season. LeBron has a strained left groin.
- Trey Young scores the buzzer beater basket in OT to win over Bucks 136-135.
- The Bucks have won the Eastern conference and secured a spot in the playoffs.
- Joining them from the Eastern conference: Raptors, 76ers, Celtics and Pacers
- The Warriors have clinched the Western conference and playoff berth.
- Also going to the playoffs: Nuggets, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Jazz, Clippers, Spurs and Thunder
- Teams that are already eliminated with no chance at the playoffs: Wizards, Hawks, Bulls, Cavaliers, Knicks, Kings, Lakers, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Mavericks and Suns.
Football – College:
- Navy Halfback who won the Heisman trophy, Joe Bellino has died at the age of 81.
- Kansas RB Pooka Williams has agreed to a diversion of terms in his battery case against someone he was dating who claimed he punched her in the stomach and grabbed her throat. He is still suspended from the football team.
- United Airlines offered to buy naming rights to the LA Coliseum that hosts the USC Trojans, however there has been backlash. People think that adding a corporate sponsor and changing the name is disrespectful to those who fought in WWI that the Coliseum honors. United Airlines currently has a $69MM deal to change the name from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to United Airlines Memorial Coliseum.
- Texas RB Kyle Porter transferred to Houston.
Football – NFL:
- The NFL has announced that they have expanded the replay rule to include pass interference calls or non-calls. Pass interference calls or non-calls will be reviewable by instant replay for the 2019 season. Meaning that the infamous play in the Saints game will now be able to be reviewed and called after the play is over. Yes Saints fans can say #wetoldyouso.
- Dallas Cowboys Michael Irvin announced that he is now 100% cancer free after he underwent testing for throat cancer.
Golf:
- Kevin Kisner won the Dell Match Play on Sunday over Matt Kuchar 3&2 (meaning 3 up with 2 holes to play). Kisner went to the final last year and was able to pull in the victory this time around.
- Tiger Woods lost in the Semis to Lucas Bjerregard (Be-year-guard) after a 4 foot putt.
- Sergio Garcia has another anger management moment.. that cost him a stroke and the hole.
Olympic Sports:
- A Russian, Umar Kremlev, offered to pay the $16MM in debt for the International Boxing Association to keep the sport in the Olympics for 2020. Kremlev has been the security general of the boxing federation in Russia since 2017.
- The IOC has recommended that breakdancing, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing should be added to the Paris 2024 line up.
- Fernando de Carvalho Lopes, a former Brazil national men’s gymnastics coach, was fined $400k and banned from the sport after he was accused of sexual assault.
- The IOC DQ’d the bronze medalist from the 2012 Olympics in weightlifting, Valentin Hristov from Azerbaijan. He tested positive for a steroid used in East Germany in the 1970s.
- American Steve Holcomb is now a 2x silver medalist from the Sochi Olympics in the bobsled after the gold medalist Russian was found guilty of doping. Steve died almost 2 years ago of at the training center. He also has a gold medal from Vancouver.
- Conor McGregor has ‘officially retired’ from MMA. I use air quotes because he has called retirement before. We will see if it sticks this time.
What to watch this week:
Baseball – MLB:
- Mon 4/1
- Cardinals at Pirates @ 12pm on ESPN
- Wainwright vs Archer
- White Sox vs Indians @ 3pm on ESPN
- Nova vs Clevinger
- Cubs vs Braves @ 6pm on ESPN
- Hendricks vs Newcomb
- Giants at Dodgers @ 9pm on ESPN
- Pomeranz vs Urias
- Cardinals at Pirates @ 12pm on ESPN
- Wed 4/3
- Cubs at Braves @ 6:20pm on ESPN
- Lester vs Teheran
- Cubs at Braves @ 6:20pm on ESPN
- Sat 4/6
- Rangers at Angels @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Smyly vs Skaggs
- Cubs vs Brewers @ 6:10pm on FS1
- Hamels vs Burnes
- Rangers at Angels @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Sun 4/7
- Dodgers at Rockies @ 7:30pm on ESPN
- Urias vs Bettis
- Dodgers at Rockies @ 7:30pm on ESPN
Baseball – College / Softball:
- Wed 4/3 – Softball – Florida St vs Florida @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Thurs 4/4 – Baseball – 9. Arkansas vs 15. Auburn @ 6:30pm on ESPNU
- Fri 4/5
- Baseball – 17. Texas vs Baylor @ 8pm on ESPNU
- Softball – Indiana vs Michigan @ 4pm on ESPNU
- Sat 4/6
- Softball – UCLA vs Arizona St @ 4pm on ESPN2
- Softball – Alabama vs South Carolina @ 5pm on ESPN
- Softball – LSU vs Mississippi St @ 5pm on ESPNU
- Softball – Baylor vs Oklahoma @ 7pm on ESPN
- Baseball – 11. Texas A&M vs 12. LSU @ 7pm on ESPN2
- Baseball – CSU Fullerton vs Cal Poly @ 10pm on ESPNU
- Sun 4/7
- Softball – Arkansas vs Florida @ 12pm on ESPN2
- Baseball – Purdue vs Nebraska @ 12pm on ESPNU
- Softball – LSU vs Mississippi St @ 3pm on ESPNU
Basketball – College: (rankings shown below are now their tournament seed)
- Mon 4/1 (Women’s Regional Finals)
- Iowa vs Baylor @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Stanford vs Notre Dame @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Fri 4/5 (Women’s Final Four) @ 6pm and 8pm on ESPN2
- Sat 4/6
- 5. Auburn vs 1. UVA @ 5:09pm on CBS
- 3. Texas Tech vs 2. Michigan St @ 7:49pm on TBS
- Sun 4/7 – Women’s NCAA Championship @ 5pm on ESPN
- Mon 4/8
- NCAA Championship between the winners of the Final Four games
Basketball – NBA:
- Tues 4/2
- Lakers at Thunder @ 7pm on TNT
- Nuggets at Warriors @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Thurs 4/4
- Bucks at 76ers @ 7pm on TNT
- Warriors at Lakers @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Fri 4/5
- Celtics at Pacers @ 7pm on ESPN
- Trail Blazers at Nuggets @ 9:30pm on ESPN
- Sun 4/7 – Thunder at Timberwolves @ 2:30pm on ABC
Football – College:
- Sat 4/6
- Clemson Spring Game @ 1:30pm on ESPN2
- Arkansas Spring Game @ 3pm on ESPNU
Golf:
- Thurs 4/4 – Valero Texas Open – Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 4/5 – Valero Texas Open – Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 4/6 – Valero Texas Open – Round 3
- 12pm on Golf Channel
- 2:30pm – 5pm on NBC
- Sun 4/7 – Valero Texas Open – Round 4
- 12pm on Golf Channel
- 1:30pm – 5pm on NBC
Hockey:
- Mon 4/1 – Bruins at Blue Jackets @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Tues 4/2 – Blues at Blackhawks @ 8pm on NBCSN
- Wed 4/3 – Canadiens at Capitals @ 7pm on NBCSN
Olympic Sports:
- Tues 4/2 – USA Climbing: Open National Championship @ 9pm on ESPN2
- Wed 4/3 – NCAA Men and Women’s Fencing Championship @ 4pm on ESPNU
- Thurs 4/4
- World Curling Men’s Championships: USA vs Japan @ 12am on NBCSN
- World Curling Men’s Championships: USA vs Norway @ 12am on NBCSN
- Fri 4/5 – Equestrian Rolex Grand Prix @ 12am on NBCSN
- Sat 4/6
- World Curling Men’s Championships: Semifinal Teams TBA @ 12am on NBCSN
- Gymnastics – FIG World Cup: Women’s Individual All-Around @ 9pm on NBCSN
- World Curling Men’s Championships: Gold Medal Match: Teams TBA @ 10:30pm on NBCSN
Soccer:
- Mon 4/1 – Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Manchester United @ 2:40pm on NBCSN
- Tues 4/2
- German DFB: FC Augsburg vs RB Leipzig @ 1:45pm on ESPNNEWS
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace @ 2:40pm on NBCSN
- Wed 4/3
- German DFB: Bayern Munich vs FC Heidenheim @ 11:30am on ESPNNEWS
- Italian Serie A: Genoa vs Internazionale @ 2pm on ESPNNEWS
- Thurs 4/4 – Southampton vs Liverpool @ 2:55pm on NBCSN
- Fri 4/5 – Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Sat 4/6 – Everton vs Arsenal @ 9am on NBCSN
- Sun 4/7
- Italian Serie A: Internazionale vs Atalanta @ 11am on ESPNNEWS
- MLS: Cincinnati vs Kansas City @ 2pm on ESPN
- Chelsea vs West Ham United @ 2:55pm on NBCSN
- Women’s International Friendly: USA vs Belgium @ 8pm on ESPN2
