1st Weekly Update of 2021 – Week of January 4, 2021

Baseball:Yu to Padres. Sciambi TV announcer for Subs. Robles to Twins. Smoak to JPN. Hughes retires.

Basketball-NBA: Curry’s best day. First Female coach. Battle for TX tonight. 2 technicals. Paul Westphal dies. 7 Clippers staff quarantined.

Basketball-NCAAM: KT wins! Coach K in quarantine. ND gets Atkinson. N. Illinois HC out. Houston Mills out for season. All the ranked losses.

Football-NCAAF: National Championship set. Bowl mania. Firings & Hirings.

Football-NFL: Wild Card weekend! Many firings. Eagles vs Giants controversy. Browns in playoffs since 2002!

Golf: PGA Tour is back. Norman in hospital. Westwood wins ET POY.

Olympic Sports: USOPC revamp committee being selected. Vonn/Subban breakup. Ginsin ruins win Vlhova/Shiffrin win streak. Team USA in Semis for world junior hockey championships.

Baseball-MLB:

• The Padres have got Yu Darvish in exchange for 4 prospects and Zach Davies. Needless to say, the trade was a surprise to Yu, who gave an emotional when talking about the Cubs and found out about the trade on Twitter. This trade follows the acquisition of Snell by the Padres as well.
• Sticking with the Cubs, Jon Sciambi will be the new TV announcer for the Cubs, replacing Len Kasper. Sciambi was previously TV announcer for the Braves 2007-2009 and radio voice for the Marlins 1997-2004.
• Hansel Robles has signed a 1-year contract for $2MM with the Twins. Robles has 313 appearances with the Angels and the Mets over the past 6 seasons.
• 1B Justin Smoak will now be playing for the Yomiuri Giants in JPN. Smoak previously played for the Brewers and Giants and before that the Blue Jays.
• Phil Hughes, RHP, has returned 2 full years after throwing his last pitch. He played for the Yankees with a record of 88-79 over 12 seasons but injuries have plagued him.

Basketball-NBA:

• Who’s having a good 2021 so far? Steph Curry. He went off against the Trail Blazers on Sunday scoring a career high 62 points and shooting 18 for 31 from the field. He was also 50% from beyond the arc and missed 1 of his 19 free throws. His previous career high was 54 points. The Warriors won 137-122 and now all the rumors about Curry’s future with the Warriors are shut up.
• Cue the glass shattering sound because the NBA had its first woman head coach in NBA. Becky Harmon took over the Spurs after HC Gregg Popovich was ejected with 3:56 left in the first half on Wednesday against the Lakers. Ultimately the Spurs lost but all womankind got a big W that day.
• Tonight we get to watch the Texas teams face off. The Mavs play the Rockets and Luka is probably and Harden is listed as available. Luka sat out of the Mavs last game, which was a loss to the Bulls with a quad contusion. Harden missed the Rocket’s last game, a W over the Kings on Saturday due to a sprained ankle.
• Chris Paul and Devin Booker were hit with double technical fouls with 7:20 left in the game. Rumor has it that it was about how Paul George had a lot of struggles last season in the bubble. No one commented. Paul George did score 5 points and an assist to win the game with 11.9 seconds left.
• HoFer, Paul Westphal has passed away at the age of 70 after being diagnosed with brain cancer in August. He played bball for USC and was drafted #10 by the Celtics in 1972. He won the championship with the Celtics in 1974 and took the Suns to their first Finals appearance in 1976, where his career really took off.
• 7 Clippers’ staff members have been quarantined away from the team after a positive test following a gathering in a SLC presidential suite on NYE. No players or coaches are in the group.

Basketball-NCAAM:

• Kentucky finally snapped their losing streak by winning over Mississippi St in 2OT. HC Calipari was ejected with 9 minutes to go in the game. Dontaie Allen picked up a team high 23 points and went 7 for 11 from the 3 point line. They are 1-0 in the SEC.
• The Duke/Florida St game has been postponed after a positive COVID test on the Seminole team. Coach K has been quarantined due to COVID exposure. Note that Coach K also complained about the season continuing during the pandemic AFTER a 15 point loss at home. Duke is now 3-2 and only playing within conference. The women’s team has canceled their season due to COVID concerns.
• Notre Dame has just landed the Yale grad transfer Paul Atkinson, who was named co-POY in the Ivy League last year. He turned down offers from Miami, Iowa, NC St and Texas. Atkinson was only 1 of 20 basketball players to enter the transfer portal after the Ivy League suspended all winter sports.
• Houston’s G Caleb Mills has stepped away from the game for personal reasons with no timeline on his return. He has been averaging 9.8 points/game.
• Northern Illinois HC Mark Montgomery has been fired after the team went 1-7 to start the season. Their only win was against the winless Chicago St at home. Montgomery has been with the team for 10 seasons and of those had 2 winning seasons.
• UCLA’s Chris Smith is out for the season after he tore his ACL in their win against Utah on Thursday.
• Saturday was a rough day for ranked teams. #8 Texas beat #3 Kansas by 25 points. The Longhorns had a 8 point lead at the half. Oklahoma also beat #9 West Virginia on the same night. #13 Texas Tech lost to OSU. #10 Iowa fell to #14 Rutgers. AND #7 Tennessee lost to Alabama. That should shake up the rankings.
• The March Madness tournament will officially be held all in Indianapolis as expected and speculated. This format will mimic the NBA bubble look.

Football-NCAAF:

• The National Championship is set: Alabama Crimson Tide vs Ohio St Buckeyes.
  • Alabama handled Notre Dame with ease which we all saw coming, although due to a last ditch effort TD from the Fighting Irish, the Tide didn’t cover.
  • The other game was much more entertaining. The Buckeyes came ready to play and take revenge for last year’s defeat and some smack talk from Dabo.
• Bowl game mania. Here’s how things shook out.
  • The Big 12 and the MAC went undefeated 5-0 and 2-0, respectively.
  • The Pac 12, ACC and Conference USA all went winless with 0-2, 0-6 and 0-6.

• Texas HC Tom Herman is out. Steve Sarkisian is in. After it looked like Herman’s job was safe after a reassurance from the AD, UT has reached out and struck a deal with Alabama OC Sarkisian, who will still coach the Tide in the Championship game before heading to Austin. It is an interesting pick since Sarkisian is known for having the same problem as a HC as the Longhorns have in their program: they have great talent but cannot put together a good consistent team. I guess we will have to see if that changes.
  • Also Texas QB Sam Ehlinger is going to the draft ending the reign of Ehlinger. He was second to only Colt McCoy in a lot of different school records.
• Marshall has fired their HC, Doc Holliday, who has been with the team for the last 11 seasons. He went 85-54. Odd since he won Conference USA Coach of the Year honors for the 2nd time and he took Marshall to a ranking of #15 before their first loss.
• Baylor has hired BYU’s OC Jeff Grimes as their new OC. Grimes was with the Cougars for the past 3 years.
• Many other players have announced their intentions to go pro: LSU LB Jabril Cox, Buffalo RB Jaret Patterson, OU C Creed Humphrey, TCU S Trevon Moehrig and Ar’Darius Washington, Georgia LB Monty Rice. I’m sure we will have more to add as we get closer.

Football-NFL:

• The Post season starts this weekend with Wild Card games on Saturday and Sunday!

• HC Firings… and a lot of them
  • Jets fire HC Adam Gase in hopes that they will get Urban Meyer. Notice how there are 2 NFL teams in this post gunning for Urban. Gase leaves the team after only 2 seasons including this one with a record of 9-23, which included a 13 game losing streak – a team record. The Jets have not made the playoffs in 10 years and have had losing seasons for 5 years straight.
  • The Jags have fired their HC Doug Marrone and I must say even I saw this one coming. The Jags went 1-15 but at least they have the #1 draft pick which will likely be to snatch up Trevor Lawrence. Their hope is to get Urban Meyer. Good luck Jacksonville although I think they have the best chance.
  • Chargers have fired HC Anthony Lynn after just 4 seasons with the team and their 2nd consecutive losing season. They lost 7 games this season by a TD or less. His 4 year record at the Chargers was 33-31.
    • However they blew multiple double digit leads and got blown out by the Patriots 45-0. That score just doesn’t happen in the NFL.

• The Giants are throwing some shade on the Philadelphia Eagles by claiming that they didn’t even try to win their game against the Washington football team. Why? Because the Giants needed the Eagles to beat Washington to get into the playoffs but the Eagles and Giants are known and heated conference enemies. Eagles HC Pederson said in no way did they try to lose the game. Some of the Giant’s fans’ points: QB Jalen Hurts was pulled early in the 4th despite the score being 17-14 and he had 2 rushing TDs. They also went for it on 4th down late in the game when all they needed was a FG to tie and take the game into OT. They also went from getting the 9th pick in the draft to 6th…
  • TE Zach Ertz thanked the city in a heartfelt interview after the game. It is thought to be his last game. Thanks for everything Zach!

• The Browns have made the playoffs for the first time since 2002! They ended the season 11-5 with their win against the Steelers yesterday and they will play them again in the first round of the playoffs this weekend.

Golf:

• Golf returns this week with the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. PGA Tour life is hard.

• Greg Norman, HoFer, is being treated with antibodies for COVID in the hospital. He says he’s doing well and feels good.
• Lee Westwood won the European Tour Player of the Year award. This is the 4th time he’s won.
• The Masters has delayed giving out their tickets with less than 100 days to go until the first round. The tournament is hoping to allow spectators. So far its thought to be around 30,000 series tickets would be sold.

Olympic Sports:

• 4 of the 16 person committee to help reform the USOPC have been decided. They are former IN governor Mitch Daniels, former Defense Dept inspector general Joe Schmitz, Paralympian Melissa Stockwell, and UO AD Rob Mullens.  John Dane, 2008 sailing team, and Brittney Reese, 2012 LJ, have also been added. This committee will publish a report with suggestions for improvements and policy changes next year.
• Lindsey Vonn and NHL star, PK Subban, have called off their engagement and relationship after nearly 3 years together. They started dating after Vonn got back from the 2018 Olympic games and they met at the 2017 ESPYs.
• Sticking with skiing, SLO Michelle Gisin broke the winning streak between Vlhova and Shiffrin that has been going on since Jan 2017 by winning the slalom in CRO. 4 women qualified from Team USA for their best finish in 14 years, led by Shiffrin.  Shiffrin is working on her 100th World Cup podium, which has only been done by 54 skiers ever.
• Team USA will face FIN on Monday night in the world junior hockey semifinals. RUS will play defending champ, CAN in the other semi to determine who goes to the finals.

What to Watch This Week:

Basketball-NBA:

• Wed 1/6
  • Celtics at Heat @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Clippers at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN
• Thurs 1/7
  • 76ers at Nets @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Mavs at Nuggets @ 9pm on TNT
• Fri 1/8
  • Hornets at Pelicans @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Clippers at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN

Basketball-NCAAM:

• Mon 1/4
  • 14. West Virginia at OSU @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Tues 1/5
  • Kansas St at 18. Texas Tech @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • NC St at 19. Clemson @ 6pm on ACC
  • Iowa St at 4. Texas @ 7pm on LGHN
  • 13. Mizzou at Mississippi St @ 8pm on SEC
  • 15. Rutgers at 223. Michigan St @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • 6. Kansas at TCU @ 9pm on ESPN
• Wed 1/6
  • 23. SLU at LaSalle @ 4pm on ESPN+
  • 19. VTech at Louisville @ 5:30pm on ACC
  • Arkansas at 9. Tennessee @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • Wichita St at 11. Houston @ 7pm on ESPN+
  • 16. Minnesota at 10. Michigan @ 7:30pm on BTN
  • Boston College ar 21. Duke @ 7:30pm on ACC
  • Oklahoma at 2. Baylor @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Steon Hall at 7. Creighton @ 8pm on FS1
  • Wake Forest at 22. UVA @ 8pm on ACCX
• Thurs 1/7
  • 5. Iowa at Maryland @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • Indiana at 8. Wisconsin @ 6pm
  • Santa Clara at 1. Gonzaga @ 8pm
  • 12. Illinois at Northwestern @ 8pm on BTN
  • 17. Oregon at Colorado @ 10pm
• Fri 1/8
  • Purdue at 23. Michigan St @ 6pm
• Sat 1/9
  • Oklahoma at 6. Kansas @ TBD
  • 10. Michigan at Penn St @ TBD
  • Ohio St at 15. Rutgers @ TBD
  • St. John’s at 7. Creighton @ 11am on FS1
  • Wake Forest at 21. Duke @ 11am on ACC
  • 4. Texas at 14. West Virginia @ 12pm on ESPN
  • 9. Tennessee at Texas A&M @ 1pm on ESPN2
  • 22. UVA at Boston College @ 1pm on ACC
  • 25. Florida St at Pitt @ 1pm on ACCX
  • 2. Baylor at TCU @ 2pm on ESPN
  • 18. Texas Tech at Iowa St @ 3pm on ESPN2
  • 23. St. Louis at SJU @ 5pm on NBCSN
  • 19. Clemson at UNC @ 6pm on ESPN
  • 1. Gonzaga at Portland @ 7pm
  • Tulane at 11. Houston @ 7pm on ESPNU
  • LSU at 13. Mizzou @ 7:30pm on SEC
• Sun 1/10
  • 16. Minnesota at 5. Iowa @ TBD
  • Maryland at 12. Illinois @ TBD
  • 17. Oregon at Utah @ 1pm
  • Notre Dame at 19. VTech @ 5pm on ACC

 Football-NCAAF:

• Tues 1/5 – Heisman Trophy Presentation @ 6pm on ESPN
• Mon 1/11 – National Championship: Alabama vs Ohio St @ 7pm on ESPN

Football-NFL:

• Sat 1/9
  • Colts at Bills @ 12:05pm on CBS
  • Rams at Seahawks @ 3:40pm on FOX
  • Bucs at Washington @ 7:15pm on NBC
• Sun 1/10
  • Ravens at Titans @ 12:05pm on ESPN/ABC
  • Bears at Saints @ 3:40pm on CBS
  • Browns at Steelers @ 7:15pm on NBC

Olympic Sports:

• Sat 1/9
  • Skiing: FIS Alpine @ 7pm on NBCSN
  • Bobsled & Skeleton @ 8pm on NBCSN
• Sun 1/10
  • Biathlon: 4x6km Mixed Relay @ 11am on NBCSN
  • Biathlon: Single Mixed Relay @ 12pm on NBCSN
  • Skiing: World Cup @ 1pm on NBCSN
  • Bobsled & Skeleton @ 2pm on NBCSN