Weeky Update April 15, 2024

Baseball: Streaks of good and bad. Extra innings.

Basketball – NBA: Final week of regular season. Final standings.

Basketball – NCAAM: National Championship recap. Women’s recap. Clarks #22 retired and Stanford HC retiring.

Football: OJ Simpson died.

Golf: Who ordered the double green jacket??

Hockey: Coyotes headed to SLC. NHL Standings. Women’s Worlds.

Olympic Sports: Lots of T&F news.

Soccer: US win SheBelieves again. NIG in Paris.

Baseball – MLB:

• Starting off the week, the Astros evened up their Texas rival series with a win over the Rangers 10-5. Pirates RF Bryan Reynolds got his 100^th career HR aiding in their win over the Tigers. That’s the Pitt team’s 3^rd straight win. It would end the next day as they drop one to DET. The Reds held off the Brewers winning 10-8 including an in-the-park HR. Snell made his Giants’ debut on Monday against the Nationals and it was not good. Nationals win 8-1.
• Tuesday the Royals won for their 5^th straight win, this time against the Astros. The HOU team did take it to extra innings before dropping the game to KC. Their game Thursday vs the Astros was an easy one with a 9-run first inning to cruise to a W. They would go on to sweep the Astros taking 7 straight games. However that would all come to an end on Friday. The Mets handed them a loss 6-1 to break their streak.

• The White Sox finally shook off their 5-loss streak on Tuesday against the Guardians, winning 7-5. Dodgers P Glasnow got a career-high tying 14 Ks in their win over the Twins 6-3. The Mariners beat the Blue Jays in extra innings on Wednesday to avoid the sweep. Guardians brothers Bo and Josh Naylor hit a HR in the same inning! They would beat the White Sox in extra innings 7-6. In a big upset, the Marlins get their 2^nd win of the year over a very good 10-win Yankee team. Kinda surprised that’s the team they get it from.
• Thursday, the Mets destroyed the Braves 16-4. Benches cleared in Fridays’ game between the Brewers and the Orioles. McCann and Adames were getting in each other’s faces but ultimately the Brewers get the last laugh, winning 11-1. The Cardinals Nolan Arenado hit a 3-run HR 425 feet, I believe the longest of the season so far in their win over the DBacks 9-6. Two games went into extra innings. The A’s win in a walk-off first for Butler in the 10^th. The Padres then beat the Dodgers in 11. The Dodgers were up 7-3 after the 3^rd. but the Padres came back putting up 3 alone in the 7^th to force extra innings and ultimately get the win.

• Speaking of extra innings, the Twins/Tigers had a doubleheader on Saturday and the first went into 12 innings – Yikes! That makes for a long day. DET P Zach McKinstry had a bad 12^th inning would be a huge understatement. He gave up 3 runs on an error in the field and then gave up 3 more as a Pitcher in the 12^th to drop the game! The Twins would also win game 2 that day.

• Pirates DH Andrew McCutchen hit his 300^th HR of his career leading his team to easily win over the Phillies 9-2 on Sunday. Giants P Blake Snell returned to the mound on Sunday but it was a struggle. Snell gave up 7 runs, 2 of which were HRs in just 4 innings causing his team to lose 9-4 to the Rays. The Guardians got a walk off in the 10th inning to beat the Yankees 8-7 despite having 3 less hits than the NY team.

• Orioles new 2B, Jackson Holliday, got his first major league hit in their game Sunday night. The Orioles rallied to win 6-4 over the Brewers who fell just short of the sweep. You might recognize the name because he is the son of MLB All-Star Matt Holliday. He was taken as the 1st overall pick in the 2022 draft and he got the largest signing bonus of any high schooler ever at $8.19MM.

Basketball – NBA:

• This week in the NBA: No games on Monday. Tuesday saw a high scoring affair in the Pacers win over the Raptors. Final score was 140-123. Giannis and the Bucks beat the Celtics to stop their 4-game losing streak. The Celtics shot 0 free throws, the first team to do it. Anthony Edwards put up 51 points in the Timberwolves’ game over the Wizards. That is a career high for him. The Lakers/Warriors game was dominated by the Warriors who won every Q except the last and hit 26 3-pointers to win by 14. The Heat vs Hawks game was a tale of two halves with the Heat leading by 12 at half but the Hawks came back in the 2H to take the game into OT. Hawks look to have it when Heats’ Highsmith threw up a 25-foot 3-pointer to make it even with 46 seconds to go. The Hawks would miss their next two opportunities and we got to 2OT. But 2OT was all Heat who get the W by 6.

• The Knicks toppled the Celtics thanks in big part to Bruson’s 39 points. The Bucks have lost 8 of their last 11 games. While the Knicks have won 6 of their last 7.
• KAT returned for the Timberwolves on Friday and thank goodness because they only beat the Hawks by 3.
• The Warriors then had Pelicans SG McCollum put up 8 3-pointers against them by himself. The NOLA team wins by 5. Celtics beat Hornets for their 10^th win by 30+ points.

• The Suns beat the Kings in a close one. Speaking of close ones, the Nuggets were destroying the Spurs at half by 18 points. At one point the SA team was down by 22 points. But they started to slowly chip away at the lead, still trailing by 13 points at the start of the 4Q. It became a one score game in the final 3 minutes. Jokic missed a jumper and the Spurs would take the lead with .2 seconds left with a floater. It went final after the Nuggets got a 5 second violation at the same time as that shot. That made the Nuggets tied with the Thunder and the Timberwolves for the top of the West with a record of 56-25 going into the weekend.

• In the final day of the regular season, the Spurs beat the Pistons to clinch their 22^nd win of the season. The Hornets upset the Cavaliers by 10. The Magic killed the Bucks in their final game at home, winning by 25. The Lakers upset the Pelicans by 16 thanks to a 40 point 2Q. The Rockets upset the Clippers. But lets get to the West. All 3 teams were in action. The Suns came out hot, putting up 44 in the 1Q and bookended their game to beat the Timberwolves by 19. So MN is out of the conference title race. The Nuggets had the easiest test, only having to beat the injured and limping Grizzlies which they did by 15. The Thunder had a harder test with the Mavericks but man it didn’t look hard. The Thunder won by 49 with no one on the team scoring more than 15 by themselves! With that, the OKC team wins the West.

• Now that the season is over. Lets go over the final standings:
  • The Celtics won the East with the Magic and Bucks winning their divisions under the BOS team. The Knicks, Cavaliers and Pacers made playoffs. While the 76ers, Heat, Bulls and Hawks will be in the play-in games. The Nets, Raptors, Hornets, Wizards and Pistons are done.
  • We just went over who won the hotly contested West. The Thunder win in tie breakers over the Nuggets. The Clippers and Mavericks won their divisions. The Suns and Timberwolves are in playoffs. The Pelicans, Lakers, Kings and Warriors will be in the play-in games. Some star talent there! The poor Pelicans lost their auto playoff bid by tie breakers with the Suns.

Basketball – NCAAM:

• NCAAM National Championship. It is the 10th meeting of #1 vs #1 team in the finale of March Madness. The Huskies were not to be denied. For the first time since 2006, we have a back-to-back champion. Purdue scored 30 points in both halves. The Huskies took the lead just 8 minutes into the game and never gave it back, winning by 15 points. UConn won all of its tournament games by double digits again this year.  Zach Edey had 61% of Purdue’s total points. Purdue is now the team with the most tournament wins without a championship.

• NCAAW: The women’s championship brought in 24MM views which is the highest basketball game watched in the last 5 years including NBA Final games. Iowa is retiring Caitlin Clarks’ #22.

• Stanford HC Tara Vanderveer is retiring after this season where she became the winningest coach of all time. She coached for 38 seasons.

Football:

• OJ Simpson has died of cancer at age 76. He played 11 years in the NFL and is generally considered one of the best RBs of all time, however all of that is overshadowed with his criminal past. He won the Heisman for USC in college and went #1 overall draft pick to the Bills. By criminal past, I mean kidnapping, wrong death, tax evasion, weapons and assault.

Golf:

• This year’s Masters had everything. Tiger Woods making the cut, crazy wind on Friday making sand fly around everywhere, one of the highest rounds ever in the tournament with the field at +325, a tight leaderboard and an emerging star. Scottie Scheffler gave up his green jacket last year and gave it to Jon Rahm but he wanted it back and he played like it on Sunday. He was in the lead by 1 shot going into the final round and he pulled away from the field on the back 9. Every time you started to think the field was going to catch him or that he was hitting a slump (*cough* Saturday), Scheffler would bounce back. He birdied 6 of the last 10 holes to win by 4 shots over Masters rookie and SWE Ludvig Aberg who played well and had a huge smile on his face on Sunday. Scottie is only the 2^nd golfer to win 2 Masters titles in just 5 starts (quickest time was 3). Only 4 golfers have ever won the Masters by 3 or more strokes twice. Scottie has now won 9 times on the PGA Tour and I think we are just getting started.

• • Only 14 golfers under par going into the weekend. Cut was +6 (top 50 and ties). After Friday’s round it was Homa, Scheffler and DeChambeau at the top of the leaderboard going into the weekend. Tiger made the weekend but then shot his worst 72 hole score ever on the course, finishing last at +16.

Hockey:

• The Arizona Coyotes players were told that they are moving to SLC on Friday and it is official! Their name could change as well. They will be playing at the Delta Center until a new downtown arena will be built. The Coyotes have played in 3 different venues since 1996 when they moved from Winnipeg.

• In the NHL, as we approach the final week of regular season, lets go over their standings. Playoffs begin April 20 and runs through June 24^th.
  • In the East, the Rangers, Hurricanes, Bruins, Panthers, Maple Leafs and Lightning have all secured their spot while the Sabres, Devils, Senators, Canadiens and Blue Jackets have been eliminated. That leaves the Islanders, Capitals, Red Wings, Flyers and Penguins all in the hunt still.
  • In the West, everything has been decided. The Stars clinched their division as the only ones. The Canucks, Jets, Avalanche, Oilers, Predators, Kings and Golden Knights are in. The Wild, Kraken, Flames, Coyotes, Ducks, Blackhawks and Sharks are eliminated from post season.

• The gold medal match was not to be missed. Team USA vs CAN. The two teams have met 21 in the last 22 tournaments (2019). Team USA has won 10 while CAN has won 12. But the USA have the edge in head-to-head competition with a record of 18-17 with both teams having 98 goals against the other. But CAN gets the better of the USA in this one. The game was back and forth with the USA scoring 2xs in less than 6 minutes in the 2P. The game ended up going to OT where our neighbor to the north put the final goal in to win 6-5.
  • FIN won over CZE in a shootout for bronze.

Olympic Sports:

• Lots of Track & Field news today.
  • World Athletics has said that they will be offering $50k for gold medalists. That makes them the first to ever offer prize money at the Olympics. Relays will split the amount between members. The USOPC has said they will pay their winners $37,500 for gold for the Tokyo games. Singapore has said they will pay $1MM to any winner. They have only had one gold medalist ever.
  • Nike had some explaining to do after they revealed their new Team USA uniforms for T&F. The men’s is fine but the women’s showed a very high bikini line brief bottom. While there are other options this time for the Olympics, many athletes voiced concern. In 2020, the only option was the brief. The Olympic kit will include 12 styles for competition and 50 apparel pieces.

• • LIT Mykolas Alekna broke the WR in the discus on Sunday in the Oklahoma Throws Series. The Junior at Cal threw 243 feet 11 inches (74.35m) which broke the WR set back in 1986 by GER Jurgen Schult by 11 inches.
  • VEN Yulimar Rojas tore her Achilles on Friday and therefore will miss the Paris Olympics. She is defending Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump so looks like we will have a new champ there.
• Women’s Elite Rugby has announced that they will have their debut season in 2025 making it the first professional women’s rugby league in the world.

Soccer:

• The USWNT won the She Believes Cup for the 5^th consecutive time but it was a sweat. Team USA played CAN in the final and were trailing until just before the 50^th Then the USA went up 2-1 in the 70^th minute but a penalty kick in the 86^th would tie it up and take us to extra time. No change so we head to a penalty shootout. CAN went up first in the PKs too after Rodman missed our first for the US. But Naeher was on fire stopping 3 CAN attempts to give the USA the 5-4 win in PKs. The USA won their 7^th ever She Believes Cup.
• NIG women’s team will be in the Olympics after they upset RSA 1-0. This is the first time since 2008 that they team will be in the Olympics.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Tues 4/16
  • Braves at Astros @ 7:10pm on TBS
    • Lopez vs Brown
• Thurs 4/18
  • Diamondbacks at Giants @ 8:45pm on FS1
    • Nelson vs Webb
• Sat 4/20
  • Mets at Dodgers @ 3:05pm on FS1
• Sun 4/21
  • Rangers at Braves @ 6pm on ESPN

Baseball/Softball-NCAA:

• Mon 4/15
  • Softball: 12. Texas A&M vs 13. Alabama @ 6pm on SEC
• Tues 4/16
  • Softball: Boston College vs 16. Vtech @ 11:30am on ESPNU
  • Softball: 14. Arkansas vs 25. South Carolina @ 1:30pm on ESPNU
  • Softball: 8. Georgia vs Kentucky @ 5:30pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball: 8. Kentucky vs Louisville @ 6pm on ACC
  • Baseball: Texas Tech vs 1. Arkansas @ 7pm on ESPN2
• Wed 4/17
  • Softball: 8. Georgia vs Kentucky @ 1:30pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball: 8. Kentucky at Louisville @ 3:30pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball: Texas Tech vs 1. Arkansas @ 4pm on SEC
• Thurs 4/18
  • Baseball: 3. Texas A&M vs 25. Alabama @ 6pm on SEC
  • Baseball: 13. UNC vs NC St @ 6pm on ACC
  • Baseball: 24. Florida vs 6. Vanderbilt @ 6:30pm on ESPNU
• Fri 4/19
  • Baseball: 13. UNC vs NC St @ 12pm on ACC
  • Softball: 19. Clemson vs Notre Dame @ 4pm on ESPNU
  • Softball: 6. LSU vs 4. Tennessee @ 5pm on SEC
  • Baseball: 24. Florida vs 6. Vanderbilt @ 6pm on ESPN2
• Sat 4/20
  • Softball: 25. South Carolina vs 9. Florida @ 11am on SEC
  • Softball: 6. LSU vs 4. Tennessee @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Softball: 15. Mizzou vs 8. Georgia @ 1pm on SEC
  • Baseball: Auburn vs 22. Mississippi St @ 5pm on SEC
  • Softball: 13. Alabama vs 14. Arkansas @ 8pm on SEC
• Sun 4/21
  • Softball: 25. South Carolina vs 9. Florida @ 10:30am on SEC
  • Softball: 6. LSU vs 4. Tennessee @ 1pm on ESPN2
  • Softball: 13. Alabama vs 14. Arkansas @ 1pm on ESPNU
  • Softball: 11. UCLA vs 7. Stanford @ 3pm on ESPN2
  • Baseball: 21. Oklahoma St vs Kansas St @ 3pm on ESPNU
  • Softball: 19. Clemson vs Notre Dame @ 5pm on ACC

Basketball – NBA:

• Tues 4/16
  • Play-in West: Lakers at Pelicans @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Play-in West: Warriors at Kings @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 4/17
  • Play-in East: Heat at 76ers @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Play-in East: Hawks at Bulls @ 8:30pm on ESPN
• Fri 4/19
  • Play-in East: two winners of the East on Wed @ TBD on ESPN
  • Play-in West: two winners of the West on Tues @ TBD on TNT

Football – UFL:

• Sat 4/20
  • Memphis Showboats at St. Louis Battlehawks @ 11:30am on ABC
  • DC Defenders at Birmingham Stallions @ 6pm on FOX
  • Michigan Panthers at San Antonio Brahmas @ 6pm on FOX
• Sun 4/21
  • Arlington Renegades at Houston Roughnecks @ 1pm on FS1

Golf:

• Thurs 4/18
  • PGA: Puntacana Championship – Round 1 @ 7am on Golf Channel
  • PGA: RBC Heritage – Round 1 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 4/19
  • PGA: Puntacana Championship – Round 2 @ 7am on Golf Channel
  • PGA: RBC Heritage – Round 2 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 4/20
  • PGA Tour: RBC Heritage – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
  • LPGA: Chevron Championship – Round 3 @ 2pm on NBC
  • PGA: Puntacana Championship – Round 3 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Sun 4/21
  • PGA Tour: RBC Heritage – Final Round
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
  • LPGA: Chevron Championship – Final Round @ 2pm on NBC
  • PGA: Puntacana Championship – Final Round @ 2pm on Golf Channel

Hockey:

• Mon 4/15
  • Wild at Rangers @ 8:30pm on ESPN
• Tues 4/16
  • Maple Leafs at Panthers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Blackhawks at Golden Knights @ 9pm on hulu
  • Flames at Canucks @ 9pm on hulu
• Wed 4/17
  • Maple Leafs at Lightning @ 6pm on TNT
  • Blues at Stars @ 8:30pm on TNT
• Thurs 4/18
  • Kraken at Wild @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Oilers at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on ESPN
• Sat 4/20 – slated as first day of playoffs but TBD

Motorsports:

• Sat 4/20
  • F1: Lenovo CHN GP Qualifying @ 2am on ESPN
• Sun 4/21
  • F1: Lenovo CHN GP @ 2am on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

• Thurs 4/18
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – Championship Afternoon Session @ 3:30pm on ESPN2
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – Championship Evening Session @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Fri 4/19
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – Championship Afternoon Session @ 12pm on ESPNU
  • Gymnastics: NCAAW – Championship Evening Session @ 2pm on ESPNU
  • Wrestling: US Olympic Trails Day 1 @ 5:30pm on USA
• Sat 4/20
  • Athletics: Diamond League – Xiamen @ 12pm on CNBC
  • Wrestling: US Olympic Trails Day 2 @ 5:30pm on USA

Soccer:

• Mon 4/15
  • Premier League: Chelsea vs Everton @ 2pm on USA
• Wed 4/17
  • UEFA Champions League: Manchester City bs Real Madrid @ 2pm on CBS
• Sat 4/20
  • Premier League: Luton Town vs Brentford @ 9am on USA
  • NWSL: Washington Spirit vs NJ/NY Gotham @ 12pm on CBS
  • Premier League: Wolves vs Arsenal @ 1:30pm on USA
• Sun 4/21
  • Premier League: Everton vs Nottingham Forest @ 7:30am on USA
  • Premier League: Fulham vs Liverpool @ 10:30am on USA
  • MLS: Charlotte FC vs MinnesotaU @ 5pm on FS1
  • MLS: LS Galaxy vs San Jose Earthquakes @ 7pm on FS1