< UTC women's basketball. The Mocs are now 18-0 in Southern Conference finals. And amend the lofty expectations and the dramatic tail-spin collapse to end the season on the men's side, the women handled every speed bump along the way and handled their BID-ness. Well-played indeed.
< Golf shot makers. The PGA tournament was filled with magical play all weekend. Here's an amazing chip in from Jordan Spieth on Saturday for example, and even some inadvertent highlights/lowlights/comic relief from Justin Thomas, who accidentally threw his driver into the crowd. (Cue Danny Noonan, "I should have noticed your grips were worn sit. I could get some stick 'em.) but in the end, the best player in the world was standing atop the field. Dustin Johnson is crushing it right now.
< Myles Garrett. We are going to break down some aspects of the NFL combine as it wraps up today, and we'll offer full grades and such on Tuesday. Deal? Deal. But if you had to pick one star, it would have to be Garrett, who blew away the physical testing this weekend. Oh my. Try these numbers on for size: 4.64 40, 41-inch vertical, 33 bench reps of 225 pounds, 10-foot, 8-inch broad jump at 6-foot-4 and 272 pounds. If you add them all together, it equals No. 1 - as in overall pick - and millions - as in dollars.
< Vandy. What a great win for the Commodores, at home against No. 12 Florida. After a dreadful start, the 'Dores may be the most intriguing Power Five conference team heading into the conference tournaments.
Kevin Harvick stands in Victory Lane after winning the pole for the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., Friday, March 3, 2017. (AP Photo/John Amis) Weekend losers
> Kansas administration. This is a very damning story of a potentially damaging double standard that detailed how a women's player was suspended earlier this season for large art because she threw a drink at a KU men's player, who was at a night spot with freshman Josh Jackson. Jackson and some of his friends allegedly vandalized her car, and yes, nothing happened to the superstar one-and-doner. The majority of the allegations are from the female player's father, and that must be taken with a grain of doubt. But the allegations - including the ones levied against KU coaches encouraging the female player not to call authorities - look bad on a lot of fronts. Not to mention that the athletic department denied the female player was suspended, but then she back-up the claim for the first time Saturday in this story.
> Alabama's image after the combine. OK, we all heard about All-American linebacker Reuben Foster getting into a confrontation with a medical worked and being asked to leave the combine. That's not a good look, but one that will not likely cost Foster any money. (Rightly or wrongly, NFL teams WANT their inside linebackers to be mean nasty people who are in a hurry to get where they are going. If this had been Deshaun Watson or any other QB, then it's a deal. With Foster, it's possible it could help his draft stock.) But the big news came when Tim Williams opened up to failing a "few" drug tests during his four years with the Tide. So, that means, Williams had multiple failed drug tests and a gun charge and was suspended for all of a half against Kentucky. We all know that NFL teams covet pass rushers no matter what - and that means Alabama may be closer to the NFL than we realize - but it will be curious if and how much this hurts Williams, considering the NFL will not waive its hand and make failed drug tests disappear. Remember, your greatest ability in this league is your availability, and suspended players can't sack anyone but their own GMs.
> Kevin Harvick. Dude is a great driver and has always been good at AMS. I was there when he got in Dale Sr.'s car in 2001. He was riding the most powerful thing in Atlanta this side of Coke on Sunday - leading far and away the most laps and each of the first two stages - but a borderline inexcusable pit row speeding penalty left him finishing ninth. That's especially painful for Harvick, who is one of the drivers quick to blame the shortcomings of the car or the results on his team. This one is on you big boy.
> Mark Cuban. Cue the scene in which they tell Champ to stop talking.. Cuban, who made headlines - when is he not making headlines - a few years ago for saying Russell Westbrook was not a superstar, now has doubled down on that notion. Cuban says Westbrook and his triple-double average is not an MVP candidate. Oy. "Why don't you sit the next few plays out, Champ."
Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor talks to teammates during an NFL football practice in Orchard Park, N.Y., Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert) Quarterback moves
There are a lot of names out there moving right now. Reports of the Bears chasing Mike Glennon and the Browns chasing Tyrod Taylor.
That's two teams that a) need QBs and b) have three of the top 12 picks in the NFL draft. We love the draft. You know this.
The developments among the top four quarterbacks in this class from the weekend also give shape to the quarterback-needy teams and how these four rookies are reviewed. Let's look at each of the four guys that had a varied showing at Indy.
Deshaun Watson. We have long said he's our favorite in this class. He did not disappoint this weekend, even if he didn't have a Mariota-like breakout showing either. His 40 time was 4.67, which was right around what was expected. His throws in the limited package were strong and a little more accurate than expected, according to most scouts. Granted, the limited offensive transition from Clemson to the NFL has to send up red flags, especially after the rough transition Jared Goff had after being the No. 1 pick last year. Still, according to most observers, Watson closed the gap on perceived top QB prospect Mitch Trubisky.
Speaking of Trubisky, he also ran a 4.67 40. Some in the media were surprised by this, but the league expected it according to reports. Like Watson, his throws were relaxed and smooth. If Watson helped himself a touch in the race to be the No. 1 QB drafted, Trubisky certainly did not hurt his chances. (And yes, both have over-arching questions that can not be answered throwing to uncovered receivers running around in their skivvies.)
Speaking of question, Patrick Mahomes answered a couple of big ones and raised a few others this weekend. Mahomes got rave reviews for his throwing array. Strong throws. Deep throws. Intermediate throws. He showed the strength and touch with all his passes that some feel he has the highest potential ceiling in this class. But his footwork was still an issue - something that all shotgun QBs will forever face in a transition to Sundays - and his mechanics look like a guy with a world-class arm and been able to get by with simply that.
DeShone Kizer. Well, it couldn't all be good news could it? Kizer showed a strong arm - possibly the strongest of all the guys under the microscope - but that was about the only positive from his work this weekend in Indy. Did he play himself out of the first round? Possibly, which means he cost himself millions, but the truth is that someone will talk themselves into believing that they can take Kizer's rocket arm and mobility and make an NFL starter out of him.
This and that
- Interesting column from TFP sports ace Mark Wiedmer on the benefits of experience heading into college hoops tournament time. We've said it before and we'll say it again, when Weeds is writing college hoops, we're in.
- We are all for leagues looking for ways to make their product better. Here's a story on Adam Silver trying to find ways to make the All-Star Game better. And yes, there are few sporting entities in need of as much fixing as the NBA All-Star Game, and it may never pass of as good viewing because defense will always be viewed as optional. Still, we are always in favor of leagues looking for ways to improve the product.
- Interesting look at some of the dregs of the NFL and how they are poised to drop a ton of free agent money this week.
- There are tons of great links and options, as always, in SI sports media ace Richard Dietsch, who also handicaps the race to replace Chris Berman's noteworthy gigs with the mothership and a lot of lay-offs on the horizon for some big names in Bristol.
- This is a dude living the daring dream of playing fantasy sports for a living.
Today's question
You know the drill on Monday's. Winners and losers. Sports at its clear and most fundamental essence.
If we need questions, here's a meaningful Monday possibility: The New York Knicks silenced all background music and piped in noise for the first half of their game against the Warriors on Sunday. The players hated it, especially Draymond Green, who gave the idea a verbal kick to the junk - hey do what you do, player. No piped in sic, good idea or bad? If we are going to stay deep here, let's take the next step. On this day in 1932 John Phillip Sousa died. Dude wrote a lot of tunes - he was nicknamed the March king - including Stars and Stripes Forever.
Well, this weekend, the U.S. Soccer folks instituted a rule that states all players must - MUST - stand for this country's national anthem and the anthems of other countries.
There was a fair amount of discourse about this, considering the fall-out from the Colin Kaepernick protests of last fall that even carried over to the women's national soccer team. There were even a lot of military folks making the fair point on social media that they fought to make sure Americans had the right to choose whether they stood or sat during the anthem. But this one has more layers and nuance.
First, there's the fact that these people are playing for their country. That adds more meaning here, in each direction believe it or not.
We also can't ignore the back half of the new guideline. There's a very real chance that Americans could and would sit out anthems in matches against Syria or North Korea or even Canada - their bacon is more ham than bacon, and what's up with the exit 'u' in words like 'favourite,' that's it, Canada you're on the list.
Let's go deep on a Monday. U.S. soccer's everyone has to stand for the anthem, an American tribute or an unAmerican attack on freedom?
Discuss.