Weekly Update – Week of April 22nd, 2019

Baseball – MLB: Bad day to be named Matt. Or be a Pirate.

Basketball – NBA: Playoff Updates! See who is winning and moving on.

Football – College: Texas A&M AD to LSU. Saban to have surgery.

Football – NFL: Draft day is April 24th! Stafford’s wife comes home after brain tumor.

Golf: CT Pan’s first PGA win.

Hockey: Playoffs Round 1 are almost over!

Olympic Sports: NCAA gymnastics over the weekend. Kiprop banned for 4 yrs. Tokyo Olympic changes.

Baseball – MLB:

• Blue Jays’ Pitcher Matt Shoemaker tore his ACL on Sunday while running to tag A’s runner Matt Chapman. He will undergo surgery and will be out for the year.
• Reds’ OF Matt Kemp came out of Sunday’s game vs the Padres after suffering a contusion in his chest after running into the left field wall in the 4^th
• 2 Pirates players are on the injured list after the Friday night game between the Pirates and the Giants. CF Starling Marte and SS Erik Gonzalez ran full speed into each other while trying to catch a fly ball in the 8^th Needlesstosay after the collision, the ball was dropped. Marte is out for 10 days with bruises on his abdominal wall and quad while Gonzalez will miss 2 months with a fractured collarbone.

Basketball – NBA:

• Playoff Update:
  • Celtics have already won their way into the second round after shutting out the Pacers.
  • The only series that is for certain to go past game 5 is the Nuggets vs Spurs which is tied 2-2 right now.
  • Warriors, Trail Blazers, Raptors and Bucks are all 1 game away from punching their ticket on as well.
• Spurs Forward Demar DeRozan was ejected and fined $25,000 for flinging a basketball in the general direction of the referee (the ball ended up in the stands) in the 4^th quarter of the Nuggets game on Saturday.

Football – College:

• Texas A&M’s AD (Scott Woodward) is now going to be the LSU AD. RC Slocum will be the interim AD for Texas A&M. However, the reason why this is making college football news is that Woodward was and football coach Jimbo Fischer had a great rapport and Woodward was some of the reason Fischer took the job. Aggie fans are scarred that Jimbo would leave College Station if there became an opening at LSU (although LSU football had a successful year last year under coach O ending with a #11 ranking)… stay tuned.
• Alabama coach Nick Saban is set to have hip replacement surgery today. The good news for Bama fans? Saban says he wasn’t to get this fixed because he “doesn’t want to coach for one more year, I want to coach for a lot more years.”

Football – NFL:

• The NFL Draft starts Thursday 4/25 – 4/27!!
• Lions QB Matthew Stafford’s wife is home from the hospital after having a brain tumor removed. She is home and resting, doing well.

Golf:

• Taiwan’s CT Pan wins the RBC Heritage after a stunning 6 over par day by World #1 Dustin Johnson. This was CT’s first win on the PGA Tour after 2 second place finishes in the last 2 years. This moves CT from 113 in the World to 55!
• This week’s tournament is a little unusual, the Zurich Classic played in NLOA.
  • The 80 teams will compete in stroke play but will play rounds 1 and 3 as better ball and rounds 2 and 4 as alternate shot.
    • Your teammate has to be a member of the PGA Tour or get a sponsor exemption
  • Reigning champs: Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy
  • Cut line after Friday is 35 teams and ties.

Hockey:

• Stanley Cup Playoffs:
  • The Flames, Blues, Islanders and Lightening have all punched their ticket to the second round of the playoffs.
  • Tied Series: Maple Leafs vs Bruins, Sharks vs Golden Knights
  • Defending Stanley Cup Champions: Washington Capitals

Olympic Sports:

• NCAA Gymnastics was decided over the weekend.
  • The Oklahoma Sooners took the women’s title back from UCLA to win their 3^rd NCAA title in 4 years. LSU took 2^nd place at the NCAA meet.
  • The Stanford Cardinals ended the Oklahoma Sooners men’s gymnastics NCAA streak with their sixth title in the event. Oklahoma was trying to win their 5^th NCAA championship in a row (2015 onwards). OU is tied with Penn St for the most NCAAs with 12.

• Kenyan running legend Asbel Kiprop, who won the 1500m in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has been banned from Track & Field until 2022 after his test results showed signs of blood boosting drug EPO. He gave many excuses but even his back up samples tested positive. He plans to appeal.
• World Champion and UT swimmer Madisyn Cox is suing a Dallas based health company that she says gave her multivitamins that caused her to fail a FINA drug test. Cooper Concepts, the health company in question, has removed the specific multivitamins from its selves since Cox failed her drug test.
• The Tokyo Olympics have been moved to an earlier time, meaning some events will take place at 6am in the morning. The marathon will start at 6am, the racewalk final will start at 5:30am and triathlons will start at 7:30am. Most of this is to avoid the heat. When Tokyo hosted the last Olympic games (1964), the country held the games in the fall to combat the heat.
  • Speaking of the 2020 Olympics, the basketball tournament has been shortened by 2 rounds in group play (from 5 to 3). The top 2 teams in each group will compete in the quarterfinals with the next 2 best 3^rd place teams.

What to Watch This Week:

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 4/22 – Philies at Mets @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Arrieta vs Matz
• Wed 4/24 – Philies at Mets @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Velasquez vs Vargas
• Sat 4/27
  • Reds at Astros@ 3:05pm on FS1
    • Bieber vs Peacock
  • Brewers at Mets @ 6:10pm on FS1
    • TBD
• Sun 4/21 – Reds at Astros @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Carrasco vs Miley

Baseball – College / Softball:

• Thurs 4/25 – Baseball – 21. Auburn vs 4. Vanderbilt @ 6:30pm on ESPNU
• Fri 4/26
  • Baseball – Bethune-Cookman vs NC A&T @ 12pm on ESPNU
  • Softball – Wichita St vs Tulsa @ 7pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball – SF vs Gonzaga @ 9pm on ESPNU
• Sat 4/27
  • Softball – Georgia vs South Carolina @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Softball – Florida vs Auburn @ 1pm on ESPN2
  • Baseball – 23. Oklahoma St vs 17. Texas Tech @ 7:30pm on ESPNU
  • Softball – Kentucky vs Alabama @ 8pm on ESPN
• Sun 4/28
  • Baseball – Kentucky vs Florida @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Baseball – Minnesota vs 25. Indiana @ 11am on ESPNU
  • Softball – Florida vs Auburn @ 12pm on ESPN
  • Softball – Georgia vs South Carolina @ 2pm on ESPN2
  • Softball – Tennessee vs Ole Miss @ 2pm on ESPNU

Basketball – NBA:

• Mon 4/22
  • East Game 4: Bucks at Pistons @ 7pm on TNT
  • West Game 4: Rockets at Jazz @ 9:30pm on TNT
• Tues 4/23
  • East Game 5: Nets at 76ers @ 7pm on TNT
  • West Game 5: Thunder at Trail Blazers @ 9:30pm on TNT
• Wed 4/24
  • West Game 5: Clippers at Warriors @ 9:30pm
  • If necessary
    • East Game 5: Pistons vs Bucks
    • West Game 5: Jazz vs Rockets
• Thurs 4/25
  • West Game 6: Nuggets at Spurs @ TBD
  • If necessary:
    • East Game 6: Raptors at Magic
    • West Game 6: Trail Blazers at Thunder
    • East Game 6: 76ers at Nets
• Fri 4/26 – if necessary
  • East Game 6: Bucks at Pistons
  • West Game 6: Warriors at Clippers
  • West Game 6: Rockets at Jazz
• Sat 4/27 and Sun 4/28 – Game 7s if necessary

Football-NFL:

• Thurs 4/26 – NFL Draft Round 1 @ 7pm on ESPN
  • College GameDay will be on before the draft starting @ 4pm on ESPN
• Fri 4/27 – NFL Draft Rounds 2 & 3 @ 6pm on ESPN
• Sat 4/28 – NFL Draft Rounds 4-7 @ 11am on ESPN

Golf:

• Thurs 4/25 – Zurich Classic – Round 1
  • 2:30pm – 5:30pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 4/26 – Zurich Classic – Round 2
  • 2:30pm – 5:30pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 4/27 – Zurich Classic – Round 3
  • 12pm – 1:45pm on Golf Channel
  • 2pm – 5pm on CBS
• Sun 4/28 – Zurich Classic – Round 4
  • 12pm – 1:45pm on Golf Channel
  • 2pm – 5pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Mon 4/22
  • Maple Leafs vs Bruins @ 7pm on NBCSN
  • Golden Knights vs Sharks @ 10pm on NBCSN
• Tues 4/23 – Conference Quarterfinal: Teams TBA @ 7pm on NBCSN
• Wed 4/24 – Conference Quarterfinal: Teams TBA @ 7pm on NBCSN
• Sat 4/27 – Conference Semifinal: Teams TBA @ 7pm on NBCSN
• Sun 4/28
  • Conference Semifinal: Teams TBA @ 7:30pm on NBCSN
  • Conference Semifinal: Teams TBA @ 10pm on NBCSN

Olympic Sports:

• Tues 4/23 – World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship: USA Vs Spain @ 10:30pm on NBCSN
• Thurs 4/25
  • World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship: Russia vs USA @ 1am on NBCSN
  • Track & Field: Penn Relays @ 6pm on NBCSN
• Fri 4/26
  • Track & Field: Penn Relays @ 12:30pm on NBCSN
  • Track & Field: Drake Relays @ 3pm on NBCSN
  • World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship Gold Medal Match: Teams TBA @ 9pm on NBCSN
  • Swimming: FINA Champions Series Day 1 @ 11pm on NBCSN
• Sun 4/28 – USA Climbing: Sport and Speed Open National Championships @ 4pm on ESPN2

Soccer:

• Mon 4/22 – Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton & Hove Albion @ 2:40pm on NBCSN
• Tues 4/23 – Manchester United vs Manchester City @ 2:55pm on NBCSN
• Thurs 4/25 – Liverpool vs Huddersfield Town @ 2:55pm on NBCSN
• Fri 4/26
  • Tottenham Hotspur vs West Ham United @ 7:25am on NBCSN
  • Fulham vs Cardiff City @ 9:55am on NBCSN
• Sat 4/27
  • Leicester City vs Arsenal @ 6:55am on NBCSN
  • Burnley vs Manchester City @ 9am on NBCSN
  • Manchester United vs Chelsea @ 11:25am on NBCSN
• Sun 4/28
  • Seattle Sounders vs LAFC @ 2:30pm on ESPN