Happy President’s Day! Sorry for the late post yall – I was on vacation!

Baseball – MLB: Spring Training begins.

Basketball – College: Duke vs UNC – the rivalry is tonight. 100 miles for Tyler Trent. 

Basketball – NBA: Team LeBron won the All-Star Game. Embiid > Regina King.

Football – College: LA Tech DE invite to NFL Combine rescinded.

Football – NFL: Adam Silver not interested.

Golf: JB Holmes wins the LA Open (aka the Genesis Open). Genesis reaches invitational status in 2020. Steve Stricker as Ryder Cup captain. Leg day on the PGA.

Olympic Sports: Shiffrin setting records. Lightsaber dueling = a sport now. 2032 Olympic bids. USA Gymnastics new CEO. 

Baseball – MLB:

• The MLB is in full swing spring training mode as the last team’s pitchers and catchers showed up for spring training on Feb 16th (Braves). Position players show up for duty starting Feb 16th – 21st.
  • Check out the full schedule of when you’re fav team goes back to business here.

Basketball – College:

• The big showdown is tonight #1 Duke vs #8 UNC. These 2 basketball blue schools HATE each other. The cheapest available ticket is now #2,500…. So far Duke is a 9 point favorite. 
• Aaron Lai, a Purdue student, walked 100 miles (not an exaggeration) and raised $20,000 for Tyler Trent as his Boilermakers took on the Indiana Hoosiers (their basketball rivals). He walked the 3 days before the game and made it 40 minutes before tip off. Just in case you needed a feel good story on hump day!

Basketball – NBA:

• Team LeBron wins the All-Star Game 178 to 164. Both teams attempted a lot of 3 pointers, 168 combined to be exact. Gimme some highlights:
  • This alley-oop
  • Dirk making back-to-back 3 pointers after coming off the bench
  • Diallo wins the dunk contest by jumping over Shaq… yes all 7’1″ of Shaq
  • Kevin Durant won MVP
• Joe Embiid not only preformed during the All-Star Game but in his win over the Knicks, Embiid jumped over actress Regina King. She appreciated the effort, the MSG broadcasting group did not.
• James Harden continues the 30+ point to 31 games, tying Wilt Chamberlin for the 2nd longest streak ever.
• Markieff Morris, a free agent forward, signs with the Thunder.

Football – College:

• LA Tech DE Jaylon Ferguson has had his invitation to the NFL combine taken away after an old battery conviction came out in his background check. Quite a big penalty considering when the battery only originally cost $189 for a fight between 2 teenagers in a McDonalds.

Football – NFL:

• Adam Silver is putting an end to the NFL commissioner rumors. Confused why Adam Silver’s name is under the NFL heading? So it Adam as he says he ‘has given any thought’ to changing his allegiance to the NFL > NBA.
• Colin Kaepernick and the NFL reached a settlement. TBD if a team picks him up, the Patriots and the Panthers have been rumored to be checking him out. But is he worth all the off-the-field drama? 

Golf:

• Steve Stricker is the new 2020 Ryder Cup captain. He is the first golfer without a major win to be captain. 
  • He will make his captain’s picks on Sept 1st, 2020. Two days after the conclusion of the Tour Championship. The WGC tournament this weekend will be the first time players can win points to be on the team. 
• Tony Romo will compete in AT&T Byron Nelson in Dallas, TX in May. This will be his second PGA Tour event (not as part of a celebrity pro-am).
• JB Holmes won the Genesis Open by 1 stroke over Justin Thomas with a score 14 under par after some crazy weather delays. 
  • Next year the Genesis will become an invitational event, meaning that only 120 players will be competing in the event with a prize pool of $9.3MM and the winner will receive a 3 year PGA exemption.
  • For the first time since 2013, the PGA Tour reset scores as the rain delayed the Genesis for a full half day.
• The head pro at TPC Treviso Bay in Naples, Ben DeArmound scored a 17 on one hole (yes one hole) in the Web.com event at the Lecom Suncoast Classic. He found the water 6xs to get that score in his first tournament on the tour.
• Golfers on the PGA Tour are now allowed to wear shorts during practice rounds and pro-ams! This is a first and does not apply to competition rounds of golf. 
• The 2nd WGC (“World Golf Championship”) event of the year is this weekend in Mexico. These tournaments are essentially under the 4 majors in importance; these are basically the next set of tournaments a player would rather win. A WGC win means more prize money, more FedEx points due to the tough field. 
  • Some key tee times:
    • 11:39am – Koepka, Watson, McIlroy
    • 11:51am – Mickelson (last year’s champion), D. Johnson, Thomas
    • 12:03pm – Stenson, Kuchar (current FedEx point leader), Fleetwood
    • 12:51pm – Fowler, Rahm, Reed
    • 1:03pm – Woods, DeChambeau, Ancer 

Olympic Sports:

• Mikaela Shiffrin keeps on breaking records. She won her 4th straight title in the slalom, something that has not been done before. She now has a 203 point lead after her win in the city event this weekend, meaning no one can catch her in the points with 2 races to go. Shiffrin has won 14xs this season, tying the record set by Swiss Vreni Schneider for most World Cup wins in a single season. She now has a break until March. 
  • Marcel Hirscher (AUT) also clenched the slalom season title this past weekend although he did not win the event. 
• Former mogul skier Bill Kerig has created a site that will post the coaches that are banned from the US Olympics due to sexual abuse allegations, doping test results and other criminal activity. He says its to make it much easier for parents to know who is coaching their child; its supposed to be about transparency not shaming. 
• USA Gymnastics hires new CEO Li Li Leung (VP of NBA) who was a gymnast for Michigan.She will begin her new job as CEO and President on March 3rd. Good luck!
• Indonesia is putting in a bid for the 2032 Olympic Games (Yes its a summer people – I won’t make you do the math). This comes on the heels of the country successfully hosting the Asian Games in August. Other countries who are rumored to be interested in 2032 as well: Australia, Russia and a joint bid from North and South Korea (Both. Together. As one). 
• France has made the lightsaber the same status as the epee, foil or sabre in fencing and is legally recognized lightsaber dueling as a sport. The French Fencing Federation is equipping fencing clubs with expensive lightsaber replicas for 3 minute bouts. You cant make this stuff up people.

What to watch this week:

Basketball – College:

• Wed 2/20
  • Rutgers at 10. Michigan St @ 5:30pm on BTN
  • Florida at 13. LSU @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • 8. UNC at 1. Duke @ 8pm on ESPN
  • Butler at 11. Marquette @ 8pm on CBSSN
  • 6. Nevada at San Diego St @ 10pm on CBSSN
• Thurs 2/21
  • 7. Michigan at Minnesota @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Pepperdine at 2. Gonzaga @ 8pm 
• Sat 2/23
  • 3. UVA at 18. Louisville @ 11am on ACC
  • 5. Tennessee at 13. LSU @ 11am on ESPN
  • 11. Marquette at Providence @ 11am on Fox
  • Auburn at 4. Kentucky @ 12:30pm on CBS
  • 16. Florida St at 8. UNC @ 2:45pm on CBS
  • 15. Purdue at Nebraska @ 3pm on BTN
  • 1. Duke at Syracuse @ 5pm on ESPN 
  • South Florida at 9. Houston @ 5pm on ESPN2
  • Fresno St at 6. Nevada @ 7pm on CBSSN
  • 12. Kansas at 14. Texas Tech @ 7pm on ESPN
  • BYU at 2. Gonzaga @ 9pm on ESPN
• Sun 2/24
  • 10. Michigan St at 7. Michigan @ 2:45pm on CBS

Basketball – NBA:

• Thurs 2/21
  • Celtics at Bucks @ 7pm on TNT
  • Rockets at Lakers @ 9:30pm on TNT
• Fri 2/22
  • Spurs at Raptors @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Jazz at Thunder @ 8:30pm on ESPN
• Sat 2/23
  • Rockets at Warriors @ 7:30pm on ABC

Golf:

• Thurs 2/21
  • WGC – Mexico Round 1 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 2/22
  • WGC – Mexico Round 2 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 2/23 – WGC – Mexico Round 3
  • 11am on Golf Channel
  • 1:30pm – 5pm on NBC
• Sun 2/24 – WGC – Mexico Round 4
  • 11am on Golf Channel
  • 12:30pm – 5pm on NBC

Hockey:

• Wed 2/20 
  • Blackhawks at Red Wings @ 7:30pm on NBCSN
  • Bruins at Golden Knights @ 10pm on NBCSN 
• Thurs 2/21 – Kings at Predators @ 8pm on NBCSN
• Sun 2/24 – Blues at Wild @ 7pm on NBCSN

Olympic Sports:

• Thurs 2/21 – FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Championships: Men’s & Women’s Sprint Finals @ 11:30pm on NBCSN
• Sat 2/23 – Track & Field – USA Indoor Championships @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
• Sun 2/24
  • IBSF World Cup Bobsleigh and Skeleton – Women’s Bobsled @ 12am on NBCSN
  • Track & Field – USA Indoor Championships @ 4pm on NBCSN
  • FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Women’s Combined @ 10:30pm on NBCSN
  • FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Championships: Women’s Team Sprint Finals @ 11:30pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Fri 2/22 – West Ham United FC vs Fulham FC @ 2:40pm on NBCSN
• Sat 2/23
  • AFC Bournemouth vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers FC @ 7:25am on NBCSN
  • Burnley FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur FC @ 9:55am on NBCSN
• Sun 2/24 – Manchester United FC vs Liverpool FC @ 9am on NBCSN