Happy Valentine’s Day yall!
Basketball-NCAAM: 19 ranked teams lost this week including #1 Auburn and #3 Purdue. Gonzaga is the new #1.
Basketball-NBA: LeBron passed Kareem in the most points ever scored in NBA history. Harden traded from Nets to 76ers. All Star Game this weekend.
Football-NFL: Rams are Super Bowl champs. Peterson arrested.
Golf: Scheffler wins PHX Open for his first title!
Olympic Sports: USA has 6 golds. NOR leads golds and total.
Basketball-NCAAM:
- NCAAM season. Normal mbball power houses #7 Duke and #8 Kansas both lost on Monday this week. But the big news from this week was #1 Auburn was upset by Arkansas in OT. The Hogs stormed the court after a flashy last basket to beat the #1 team by 4. #3 Purdue manhandled #13 Illinois 84-68. #14 Wisconsin beat #17 Michigan St. #24 UConn solidified their ranking in the Top 25 winning over #18 Marquette. Newly ranked #22 Saint Mary’s lost to Santa Clara by 5. Going up on a Tuesday. On Wednesday we had a bunch of unranked teams upsets. Oklahoma beat #9 Texas Tech who had broken into the Top 10 this week by 15 points. #6 Houston lost to SMU, #16 Ohio St lost to Rutgers and Seton Hall beat #25 Xavier. #3 Purdue was not safe from what seems to be upset week losing to Michigan on Wednesday by 24! #25 Xavier bounced back nicely beating #24 UConn on Friday. #2 Gonzaga made their argument to be #1 this next week after beating #22 Saint Mary’s who will prob fall out of the rankings after this week. #6 Houston lost again on Sat to Memphis by 10 in a low scoring game 69-59. #20 Texas lost to #10 Baylor after beating KU earlier in the week. #12 UCLA lost to their in-city rival #21 USC. Rutgers continued to have a good week beating another ranked team in #14 Wisconsin. #18 Marquette lost to Butler to round out the upsets.
- 19 ranked teams lost this week. Let March madness begin a little early.
- Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss will be competing in the Sun Belt next school year. They are all currently in Conference USA but that will end on June 30th.
Basketball – NBA:
- LeBron has passed Kareem Adbul-Jabbar for most points in NBA history in both the regular season and post season. His total is 44,152 points, passing Kareem by 3. Although LeBron scored 26 points, the Lakers did lose the game to the Warriors 117-115.
- Running it back to Thursday for this one. James Harden was traded by the Nets to the 76ers in a crazy trade that has the Brooklyn team getting Ben Simmons, Seth Curry (not Steph), Andre Drummond and 2 future 1st round picks. This will reunite him with Daryl Morey, who was previously the Rockets GM and now is the Pres of bball Ops at 76ers.
- Since we are at the All Star break, lets check in on the standings:
- East: Heat is leading the Bulls
- Last in/First out: Hawks/Wizards
- West: Suns leading the Warriors
- Last in/First out: Trail Blazers / Pelicans
- East: Heat is leading the Bulls
Football-NFL:
- The Rams and QB Matthew Stafford are Super Bowl champs!! The Bengals put up a good fight though and had a 20-13 lead in the 3Q. But the Rams came back 23-20 with only 1:25 left in the game. In the final 46 seconds, QB Joe Burrow was sacked to turn over on downs. Thank goodness for a good game since all the playoff games were good! Cooper Kupp was named MVP.
- NFL RB Adrian Peterson was arrested in alleged domestic violence on Sunday onboard an aircraft from LA to IAH. According to the report, Peterson grabbed his wife’s wedding ring, scratching her finger in the progress. Ashley is not pressing charges.
Golf:
- Scottie Scheffler won the biggest party on grass at the Phoenix Open on Sunday in a 3-hole playoff against Patrick Cantlay. He is yet another first time winner on the PGA Tour. Scheffler has been in the running for a title a couple of times and was an integral player for Team USA in the Ryder Cup. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy and couple.
- Sam Ryder’s ace on the iconic 16th was one to watch. The poor grounds crew.
Olympic Sports:
- The torch has been lit and the Games are in full swing. Let’s go over how the medals look:
- Most Golds: NOR with 9
- Most overall: NOR with 21
- USA Medal count: 7 / 6 / 3 = 16
- Golds:
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- Lindsey Jacobellis was the headliner for not celebrating too early in 2006 when she had the gold locked up in the Border Cross event but fell after doing a trick on the final jump to get silver. She had never won gold since then until Beijing. She finally won her gold and changed the narrative around her Olympic career. She became the oldest American to win Olympic gold in border cross… until the Mixed Team when she and partner Matt Bumgardner, age 40, won.
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- That started the American golds. Nathan Chen finished his redemption tour of these games winning gold by 22.55 point. His score of 332.60 was the highest score ever recorded helped along by his 5 quads. King of the Quads finally got coronated.
- Reigning Olympic champ JPN Hanyu messed up one jump in his short program and was out of it from then on. He tried to land the first quad Axel in the Free skate but fell.
- That started the American golds. Nathan Chen finished his redemption tour of these games winning gold by 22.55 point. His score of 332.60 was the highest score ever recorded helped along by his 5 quads. King of the Quads finally got coronated.
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- Chloe Kim successfully defended her gold medal in the W halfpipe in just her first run.
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- A new event brought in a gold for the Americans despite CHN being the big time favorites in Mixed Aerials. 3 athletes compete for the country and Chris Lillis came up big for the USA with a back double full-full-double-full (5 twists and 3 flips). The other two teammates were Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld are dating and now have matching golds – aw.
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- Erin Jackson, who needed her friend Brittany to give her a spot on the Olympic team due to a slip, is now Olympic Champion in the 500m. It has been 28 years since an American won gold in this event.
- Ryan Cochran-Siegle got the silver medal in the M Super-G, 50 years after his mom won her Olympic gold in the slalom.
- Colby Stevenson won silver in M Skiing Big Air
- Jessie Diggins won bronze in W Sprint in CC Skiing
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- Major Storylines:
- The GOAT is done and he was super emotional after finishing 4th in the halfpipe. Shaun White did so much for the sport of snowboarding.
- There was also a controversy with the US judge on the JPN gold medalists’ score on the 2nd run when Hirano landed the first triple cork. He still got gold but it did not look good on the USA.
- Mikaela Shiffrin crashed out of the Slalom.. if you’re saying to yourself, well ya thanks Claire you covered that last week – nope different race. She crashed out twice. Mikalea was on the snow for 25 minutes after crashing out and seemed inconsolable. She did come back to place 9th in the Super-G, not her specialty and will be competing in the Super G, Alpine Combined and potentially the team event.
- The GOAT is done and he was super emotional after finishing 4th in the halfpipe. Shaun White did so much for the sport of snowboarding.
- Major Storylines:
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- Other teams’ major storylines:
- ROC Figure Skater Kamila Valieva has been under investigation after a failing doping test on 12/25 however she is still allowed to compete on Tuesday in the women’s event. The IOC did rule that there will not be a medal ceremony if Valieva is in the top 3. She tested positive for trimetazidine at Russian nationals. TMZ is used to increase blood flow to the heart which can make it function better. CHN swimming star Sun Yang was banned for the same substance.
- Let’s go over why: their reasoning is she is a protected person (meaning a minor). The timing of the notification is also under question although COVID delays have been mentioned. And the limited facts about the case.
- If you did not watch the men’s 1000m short track event, you need to. It will be a 30 for 30 one day. In the semis, 2 KOR skaters were penalized (that’s not unheard of) but both benefited CHN skaters and advanced them to A Final. The final was made up of 3 CHN skaters and 2 HUN skaters (but those brothers are half Chinese). The HUN skater won but wait he was then penalized 2xs even though the CHN skater yanked him back by the shoulder and had the gold medal stripped away from him. At least that meant that his brother was moved into Bronze medal position.
- HUN did finally win their first Olympic Winter gold in the M 500m with the younger brother Lui winning.
- Sticking with Speed Skating, ITA Fontana goes back-to-back in the W 500m in short track. NED Wuest became the oldest gold medal winner in speed skating at 35. She won the 1500m.
- ROC Figure Skater Kamila Valieva has been under investigation after a failing doping test on 12/25 however she is still allowed to compete on Tuesday in the women’s event. The IOC did rule that there will not be a medal ceremony if Valieva is in the top 3. She tested positive for trimetazidine at Russian nationals. TMZ is used to increase blood flow to the heart which can make it function better. CHN swimming star Sun Yang was banned for the same substance.
- Other teams’ major storylines:
What to watch this week
Basketball-NBA:
- Tues 2/15
- Celtics at 76ers @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Clippers at Suns @ 9pm on TNT
- Wed 2/16
- Nets at Knicks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Jazz at Lakers @ 9pm on ESPN
- Thurs 2/17
- 76ers at Bucks @ 7:30pm on TNT
- Sun 2/20
- All Star Game: Team LeBron vs Team KD @ 7pm
Basketball – NCAAM: Only Top 25 on TV are listed
- Mon 2/14
- Oklahoma St at 6. Kansas @ 8pm on ESPN
- Tues 2/15
- 19. Michigan St at Penn St @ 5:30pm on BTN
- Wake Forest at 9. Duke @ 6pmon ESPN
- 20. Texas at Oklahoma @ 6pm on ESPN2
- 10. Villanova at 8. Providence @ 7pm on CBSSN
- Minnesota at 18. Ohio St @ 7:30pm on BTN
- 4. Kentucky at 16. Tennessee @ 8pm on ESPN
- 22. Wyoming at New Mexico @ 8pm
- 15. Wisconsin at Indiana @ 8pm on ESPN2
- 23. Arkansas at Mizzou @ 8pm on SEC
- Wed 2/16
- 12. Illinois at Rutgers @ 6pm on BTN
- Mississippi St at 25. Alabama @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Seton Hall at 24. UConn @ 7:30pm on CBSSN
- Vanderbilt at 2. Auburn @ 8pm on SEC
- 5. Purdue at Northwestern @ 8pm on BTN
- 7. Baylor at 11. Texas Tech @ 8pm on ESPN2
- 1. Gonzaga at Pepperdine @ 10pm on ESPN2
- Thurs 2/17
- Austin Peay at 21. Murray St @ 6pm on ESPNU
- Oregon St at 3. Arizona @ 6:30pm
- UCF at 14. Houston @ 8pm
- Wash St at 13. UCLA @ 10pm on FS1
- Washington at 17. USC @ 10:30pm
- Sat 2/19
- TCU at 7. Baylor @ 11am on ESPN2
- Xavier at 24. UConn 2 11am on FOX
- 11. Texas Tech at 20. Texas @ 11:30am on ABC
- 25. Alabama at 4. Kentucky @ 12pm on CBS
- 2. Auburn at Florida @ 1pm on ESPN
- 12. Illinois at 19. Michigan St @ 1:30pm on FOX
- Iowa at 18. Ohio St @ 1:30pm
- 16. Tennessee at 23. Arkansas @ 3pm
- 21. Murray St at UT Martin @ 3:30pm
- Georgetown at 10. Villanova @ 4pm on FOX
- Florida St at 9. Duke @ 5pm on ESPN
- 6, Kansas at West Virginia @ 7pm on ESPN
- Santa Clara at 1. Gonzaga @ 8pm
- Oregon at 3. Arizona @ 9pm on ESPN
- Washington at 13. UCLA @ 9pm on FS1
- Sun 2/20
- 14. Houston at Wichita St @ 12pm on ESPN
- 8. Providence at Butler @ 12pm on FS1
- Michigan at 15. Wisconsin @ 12pm on CBS
- Rutgers at 5. Purdue @ 4:30pm on FS1
- Washington St at 17. USC @ 6:30pm on FS1
Golf:
- Thurs 2/17
- Genesis Invitational – Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 2/18
- Genesis Invitational – Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 2/19
- Genesis Invitational – Round 3
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on CBS
- Genesis Invitational – Round 3
- Sun 2/20
- Genesis Invitational – Final Round
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on CBS
- Genesis Invitational – Final Round
Hockey:
- Wed 2/16
- Panthers at Hurricanes @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Avalanche at Golden Knights @ 9pm on TNT
Olympic Sports:
- 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: USA vs FIN @ 7:10am
- Curling M: SUI vs USA @ 7:05pm
- Snowboard: W Big Air Runs 1 – 3 @ 7:30pm – 8:15pm
- Alpine Skiing: W Downhill @ 9pm – Shiffrin Will use this for practice for Combined
- Snowboard: M Big Air Runs 1 – 3 @ 11pm – 11:45pm
- Tues 2/15
- Curling W: USA vs SUI @ 12:05am
- Nordic Combined: M Ski Jumping Large Hill @ 2am
- Speed Skating: W Team Pursuit Final @ 2:22am
- Semis start @ 12:03am
- Speed Skating: M Team Pursuit @ 2:41am
- Biathlon: M 4×7.5km Relay @ 3am
- Figure Skating: W Short Program @ 4am
- Nordic Combined: M 10km Cross Country @ 5am
- Curling M: ITA vs USA @ 6:05am
- Bobsleigh: 2-man Heat 3 & 4 @ 6:15am
- Curling W: CAN vs USA @ 7:05pm
- Alpine Skiing: M Slalom Runs 1 & 2 @ 8:15pm – 11:45pm
- Hockey M: Quarterfinal USA vs TBD @ 10:10pm
- *Freestyle Skiing: M Slopestyle Runs 1 – 3 were originally set for 7:30pm has been reschuled but no new time yet
- Wed 2/16
- Biathlon: W 4x6km Relay @ 1:45am
- Freesytle Skiing: M Aerials @ 5am – 6am
- Cross Country Skiing: W Team Sprint @ 5am
- Cross Country Skiing: M Team Sprint @ 5:30am
- Hockey W: Bronze Medal Game @ 5:30am
- Curling W: JPN vs USA @ 6:05am
- Short Track Speed Skating: M 5000m Relay @ 6:44am
- Short Track Speed Skating: W 1500m @ 7:18am
- Quarterfinals start @ 5:30am
- Curling M: DEN vs USA @ 7:05pm
- Alpine Skiing: W Combined Downhill @ 8:30pm
- Hockey: W Gold Medal Game @ 10:10pm
- Thurs 2/17
- Alpine Skiing: W Combined Slalom @ 12am
- Freestyle Skiing: W Ski Cross Final @ 1:10am
- Starts @ 12am
- Nordic Combined: W Ski Jump @ 2am
- Speed Skating: W 1000m @ 2:30am
- Figure Skating: W Free Skate @ 4am
- Nordic Combined: W 4x5km Cross Country @ 5am
- Curling: M Semis Teams TBA @ 6:05am
- Freestyle Skiing: W Halfpipe Runs 1 – 3 @ 7:30pm – 8:25pm
- Hockey: M Semi 1 @ 10:10pm
- Fri 2/18
- Curling: M Bronze Medal Game @ 12:05am
- Freestyle Skiing: M Ski Cross @ 1:10am
- Starts @ 12am
- Speed Skating: M 1000m @ 2:30am
- Biathlon: M 15km Mass @ 3am
- Figure Skating: Pair Short Program @ 4:30am
- Bobsleigh: 2-Woman Heats 1 & 2 @ 6am – 7:30am
- Curling: W Semi @ 6:05am
- Hockey: M Semi 2 @ 7:10am
- Bobsleigh: 4-Man Heat 1 & 2 @ 7:30pm – 9:05pm
- Freesytle Skiing: M Halfpipe Runs 1 – 3 @ 7:30pm – 8:25pm
- Alpine Skiing: Mixed Team Parallel @ 10:46pm
- Starts @ 9pm
- Sat 2/19
- Cross Country Skiing: M 50km Mass @ 12am
- Curling: M Gold Medal Game @ 12:05am
- Speed Skating: M Mass Start @ 2:30am
- Starts @ 1am
- Speed Skating: W Mass Start @ 3am
- Biathlon: W 12.5km Mass @ 3am
- Figure Skating: Pairs Free Skate @ 5am
- Bobsleigh: 2-Woman Heat 3 & 4 @ 6am – 7:30am
- Curling: W Bronze Medal Game @ 6:05am
- Curling: W Gold Medal Game @ 7:05pm
- Hockey: M Bronze Medal Game @ 7:10am
- Bobsleigh: 4-Man Heat 3 & 4 @ 7:30pm – 9:10pm
- Hockey: M Gold Medal Game @ 10:10pm
- Sun 2/20
- Cross Country Skiing: W 30km Mass @ 12:30am
- Closing Ceremony @ 6am on NBC
- Replay @ 7pm on NBC
