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Weekend winners
UT hoops. Visor tip, Rick Barnes. You handle the ever-lasting emotion of Bruce Pearl's return with an offensive masterpiece against one of the best defenses in the country on Wednesday and then on Saturday, you go on the road and throttle the best offensive team in the country. Folks, if you hate UT, be forewarned, this team is Final Four-caliber. Here's more on the ways UT can win from Paschall. If you click on the link and see the locker room you may think the Vols played a game at Tuscaloosa Central High's gym, but it was at U of A. I watched it.
Caitlin Clark. Yes, there are a slew of caveats that come with Pete Maravich's career. He only played three years. He did not have the 3-point line. I get it. But even in four years with the 3, I didn't think anyone would pass him. And Clark did on Sunday. Wow, she is raising the level of women's basketball more than anyone can guesstimate.
Boston Celtics. Hey NBA, keep trying. The Cs are far and away the best team in the world. Will they win? Who knows — and the discussion of Jayson Tatum and his place will be very Peyton Manning-esque from ol' Five Head's early pursuit for a title with the Colts come the postseason — but that team has three 50-point-plus wins this season. Wow.
Oklahoma softball. I know you are thinking, "What the (bleep) fat face? They lost." But here's the thing: When dynastic super-teams like the Sooners softball crew — which won 71 in a row before losing over the weekend to La.-Lafayette — fall, it should make us all appreciate the excellence that led to the shock of a single loss.
Everyone in their car when a Prince song comes on the radio. Yeah, that's not just a weekend winner and is a universal winner. But man, running errands with "Purple Rain" as the soundtrack is way better than almost all.
Weekend losers
This narrative. Yikes, last year's No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft saying that Caitlin Clark won't lose money is like quoting Ryan Leaf in a story about Peyton Manning. It's not even apples and oranges. It's apples and octagons. I watch Clark play for Iowa, but because of the calendar, I likely won't pay as much attention to Clark in the WNBA. It was the same with previous college women's stars, including Sabrina Ionescu.
All of us. Chris Mortenson died over the weekend. He was 72. He was every bit the foundational piece in the ESPN future that Chris Berman or Dan Patrick were. He was the Godfather of Adam Schefter or Woj or Buster Olney or Jeff Passon. He was the guy breaking news before Twitter and breaking that news in ways that if Mort reported it, we trusted it. He was forever gracious, too, which for folks who reach that status in my business is extremely rare. (Yeah, looking at you, Berman.) There are two primary avenues in modern sports 'journalism' — commentary/analysis/arguing/yelling/Stephen A. Smithing and breaking news. There are way too many in the former (me included) and way too few trusted names in the latter. And Mort (along with Peter Gammons) was the Don Corleone of the latter. Rest in power, sir.
All of us (again). Yep, it's about to be fundraising season and every organization from the T-ballers to Titans are going to have tables somewhere. No kidding, I made three stops on Saturday and had three different crews of Girl Scout cookie pitch people try to guilt me into a box.
Jay's Plays. Wow, so we have a pretty good finger on the pulse of Auburn basketball. The rest? Not so much, especially making UTC an official pick for maybe the first time this season and they played what appears to be the Mocs' worst game of the season at home in a blowout loss. So it goes. We gotta keep grinding to get beyond the plus-100 mark and stride forward. We'll get there together.
Combing the combine — again
Wow, the Underwear Olympics came and went.
And they came in a hurry and went into a place that we have to wonder whether this is about to be the next "sports" offseason event that gets pushed into nonexistence like old-school "Signing Day."
Yes, we saw some of the heavy hitters in terms of physical skills.
Among them was local-kid-made-good Ladd McConkey. Here's more from Paschall.
But he was not the biggest head-turner even among his position group. Texas wideout Xavier Worthy ran a 4.21.
But would you take him over say Keon Coleman, the FSU wideout who made play after play after play? One could be John Ross (bust) but the other could be, say, Kelvin Benjamin (bust).
But the questions remain and continue to circulate — and will be the focal point of whatever national sports radio show you listen to moving forward.
Case in point, no one has any idea what is about to happen with Justin Fields, but everyone will discuss it. So it goes I suppose, and I am part of that problem.
But if we had to discuss combine winners/losers (other than the combine losing its value since so many prospects are now skipping all the parts of the event) let's offer a few:
Winner: Amarius Mims. The Georgia offensive tackle was a complete dude in all the drills. And while his availability was an issue in Athens, his potential is off the charts.
Loser: Spencer Rattler. Yikes. Good luck with that Snake.
Winner: Joe Milton. Those of us from this part of the country knew that Milton was physically freakish. And that has to mean NFL teams — especially teams with new coaching staffs who think they can fix anything — are intrigued. Milton did not disappoint this weekend.
Losers: Almost all of the DBs, and the teams that need DBs. Yikes. Those 40 times looked like a Rich Eisen best of video.
Winner: Byron Murphy. I hope the Falcons draft this dude at 9 and either trade for Justin Fields or sign Kirk Cousins. Murphy is Aaron Donald 2.0 people. I would be tempted to pull a Costner in "Draft Day" and take him 1.
This and that
— Wow, how about a corporate social media account pushing chips into a college rivalry? The main Twitter feed for the Wiegels convenience store chain was blasting Alabama and even took shots at Tide coach Nate Oats all night Saturday as the Vols worked Alabama. So there is that.
— Some weekend binge watching with the Mrs. First, "The Burial" with Tommy Lee Jones and a great merger of Jackie Childs and Johnnie Cochran from Jamie Foxx was good. Not great, but worth your time. That said, "The Night Agent" was outstanding. Binged the entire first season over the weekend with both kids out of town. (Oldest was at a state youth-in-government event in Nashville; youngest went to Disney with the middle school band. Yeah they likely won the weekend, too.)
— Good for UTC, since, as Gene Henley tells us here, the facilities are getting a much-needed face-lift.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
As for multiple choice Monday, we'll leave this open ended:
Which combine participant won the weekend?
As for today, March 4, let's review.
Wow, Jefferson, Lincoln and FDR were each inaugurated for their first terms on this day, War America.
Catherine O'Hara is 70 today, and yes, her role as Kevin's mom in "Home Alone" is far left, but what else completes her Rushmore?