Weekend winners
Golf. Tiger made a charge to get within one of the lead. Rory ended up winning it by reminding everyone that Rory’s A-game is better than anyone else’s A-game. The action was more entertaining than almost every Sunday NCAA game (other than maybe Nevada-Cincy, but can anyone really name a Cincy player since Kenyon Martin?) and we’re two weeks before the players starting arriving in Augusta for what will be the most anticipated Augusta in a decade.
Cordarrelle Patterson and Jerey Hill. Two reclamation projects that always seem to work out for the Patriots. CP got dealt to the Patriots, and if he gets his head right and shows up in shape, he could have a Pro Bowl season in that New England offense that a) is dying for some vertical speed and b) still has Tom Brady at QB and Josh McDaniels at OC. Hilly was a low-rick signing and has the potential and the skills to be an impact back for New England.
The budding rivalry between UCF and Alabama. Here’s the bicker-fest between the two ADs on Twitter. Anyone else want to see them settle this on a neutral site game on Labor Day?
Steph Curry. Classy move here for the former MVP to send some of his Under Armour swag to the UMBC program. Of course, here’s a bet that the NCAA, which can’t keep the FBI out of its ranks, will figure out a way for it to be a violation.
Tiger Woods. He continues to be the lightning rod in his comeback that has jumpstarted staggering golf TV numbers. He also was named the most dominant athlete of the last 20 years on the 20th anniversary of ESPN the Magazine.
And while we are here on all-time greats, Roger Federer continues to do Roger Federer things.
Weekend losers
Holly Warlick. Man, Coach Warlick better figure out was to avoid games in which “First time in Tennessee history” are attached, because almost all of them are negative. This time, for Holly, it was the first NCAA tournament loss for the Lady Vols in Knoxville.
Jorge Polanco. The Twins starting shortstop was suspended for 80 games for using a PED. And according to this, and maybe this is a new twist on PED punishment, but this story from CBSSports.com says that of the Twins qualify for the playoffs, Polanco will not be eligible, even after serving his suspension.
Butch Jones. Yes Tennessee fans, he could be here for a while, and almost on a weekly basis. But since a) all the college basketball choices are down below, b) Tennessee’s pro day is today, and we will get a strong look at the number of players who either did not progress under Lyle’s brick-by-brick methods or potentially see who could be the next Alvin Kamara and light up the NFL while only getting part-time reps in K-town, and c) Georgia and other SEC schools continue to come in and pluck the best in-state high school football players, we think Butch qualifies.
NCAA tournament recap
For a lot of us, the brackets have been thoroughly busted. Side challenge here for those willing to play: If you entered an office pool, report back sometime this week with the person leading your pool. There will be two types of people win this year: People who have zero idea about college hoops and entered as a gag and UK and/or Duke fans who rode their team to the title game (and conversely picked upsets to make the path as easy as possible for each of them).
Before we get to the winners and the losers of the first full weekend of the NCAA tournament, let’s cover some over-arching themes:
Size matters. The bigger team won in almost every occasion in the second round, and in a lot of ways (Hi, Texas A&M, looking at you too Clemson) it was not even close.
About all those upsets. Yes, the first weekend has been about the underdogs and the bracket shattering. But could it also be about the shoddy job the selection committee did in seeding these teams. Yes, no one blames the committee for giving Virginia a 1-seed before its historic collapse. But tenuous-at-best-1-seed Xavier lost to No. 9 FSU in a game in which the Seminoles played pretty average, making less than 44 percent of its shots in a 75-70. There’s no doubting that the one-and-dones (although the two teams that do it the most and the best – Duke and UK – are still alive) have changed the landscape in terms of parity but this is slap ridiculous. Check the seeds still alive: The East is fairly normal with 1 vs. 5 and 3 vs. 2, but the South has 9-5, 11-7, the West has 9-4, 3-7 and the Midwest has 1-5, 11-2. Nine of the top 16 seeds are out of the Dance.
Officiating. You know what, for the most part, we thought the games were called pretty well. Shocking, right? Yes, they allowed teams to play a little more physically, butwe’re OK with that, as long as it is consistent. At least that was the takeaway in some of the games we watched this weekend.
Now because it’s Monday, let’s do some college hoops winners and losers.
Winners
A lot of you guys and at least one gal are in the running for the March Madness: Last In/First Out Contest title. There were a lot of Syracuse and Loyola-Chicago picks that were paired with Virginia. Standings will be available this afternoon. (Side note: If both the 11 seeds lose in the Sweet 16, Syracuse is the winner because they play Friday night at 9:37 and technically would be the last double-digit seed still remaining.)
UMBC. Yes, the offense vanished in the second half Sunday against K-State. But nothing can take away the history the Retrievers notched by becoming the first 16-seed to topple a 1. From a practical stand point, reports are that UMBC got more than $30 million worth of marketing exposure from its time in the NCAA sunshine. From a historical stand point, unless there is a Christian Laettner-type game on the horizon this weekend, this side of who cuts down the nets in the title game, the 2018 tournament will be remembered for the UMBC Retrievers. It was the 116th time a 16 played a 1.
Kentucky. For all the hand-wringing about this unfair seed and that bad match-up and “blah-blah-blah, the world is out to get our beloved Wildcats,” Kentucky is now the top seed left in the South at No. 5. And it now gets to come to its home-away-from-home known fondly as Cat-Lanta in some circles. In fact, this year’s South quadrant is the only region in tournament history to be heading toward the Sweet 16 without any of the top-four seeds. Here’s betting our good buddy Weeds had a fairly noticeable smile this morning even before he got his Starbucks. (Because you know the rules. Here’s Weeds on the weekend, and if it’s Weeds on the college round ball, we are in.)
Loyola of Chicago and Sister Jean. By now everyone knows Sister Jean, the 97-year-old basketball fan/LCU icon. Here’s betting she’ll be on some the late-night talk shows this week. Well, the LCU players have also embraced the spotlight, pulling off two upsets to get to the Sweet 16. And in a tournament of upsets, these upsets are even more special, considering that a) LCU has landed two of them in four days, and b) in each LCU trailed in the final 5 seconds before finding away to win.
Losers
Bettors who had just about any favorite this weekend. After a dead-even split in the first round (from the VegasInsider.com lines, the favorites covered 16 times in the first round, the underdog covered 15 times with one game closing with a pick ’em line), Saturday the favorites went 4-4 against the number but Sunday, the underdogs were 7-1. Of the most painful beats of the weekend was Seton Hall making an-anything-but-meaningless-3 at the buzzer. The last-second 3 made the final 83-79 and yes, Kansas was a 5-point favorite. Ouch-standing.
Tom Izzo. Been a rotten year for the man by every measure. Now let’s talk about his status as Izzo the coach. We’re not sure what the powers that be inside his program did or did not know when it comes to the sexual harassment and assault allegations made against Michigan State athletics. What we do know is that a second-round exit for a team that was considered a bona fide title contender on paper will lead to some sleepless nights. Then comes this stat: After losing to Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse zone in a game that set offensive basketball back to pre-shot clock standards, Izzo is just 4-23 against Boeheim, Coach K and Roy Williams. No es bueno.
Pac 12. A definite front-runner for losing the weekend, if, you know, any of the Pac-12 teams actually made the weekend. Pac 12, bagel-and-3 and did not make it past Thursday. Ouch-standing and then some.
Bruce Pearl. Wow. That was like watching a car-wreck in real time. You wanted to look away but you couldn’t. Clemson’s 31-point annihilation of Auburn was that bad. And it happened on Pearl’s 58th birthday. Yes, there was so much accomplished by Pearl and this overachieving Auburn bunch that the season will be remembered fondly. But it also could be remembered as Pearl’s final one with the Tigers depending on how all the investigation stuff turns out.
The endings of the other games. Yes, the buzzer beaters are great. And there was a fair amount of drama beyond that too. And yes, we want the calls to be as accurate as possible. But when we start walking to the review window and teams are bouncing back time outs and the fouls and the last 90 seconds are either exhilarating, painful or non-existent. There is no in between. As for the ultimate example: According to YahooSports!, the final minute of Marshall’s upset of Wichita State took 18 minutes to complete.
This and that
– We forgot to mention the overnight star whomever running the UMBC Twitter feed became over the weekend. It was excellent, and shows the value of smart social media specialists.
– Speaking of smart media folk (is that an oxymoron, Stewwie), here’s an excellent spoof on from the Brewers on the Sandlot movie. Excellent times.
– And then there is of course, the social media trolls, like former Auburn head coach and current UK assistant Tony Barbee, who unloaded one of those little emoticon thingees at Auburn’s expense during the tail-whipping it received Sunday evening. Let’s say the Auburn response – especially since Barbee’s less than .400 winning percentage was the worst ever for an Auburn coach with more than two years on the job – was pretty hostile.
– Speaking of golf, thought this was interesting. Rory McIlroy was complaining over the weekend about the heckling and wondered if they should limit alcohol sales on the course. It’s reminiscent of Jordan Thomas getting his panty wedges in a bunch and having a fan ejected for rooting for his ball to “Get in the bunker.” Yes, McIlroy’s complaints centered on some jackwagon talking about his wife, and that’s simply not cool. But man, how would these dudes last in any other sport environment anywhere.
– More golf: Luke List recovered from an uncharacteristically bad 74 on Saturday with a 68 Sunday to move into the top 10 at tied for seventh. He pocketed $249,941.67. Fellow Baylor School alum Harris English finished tied for 22nd and made $89,000. Man, that’s good work if you can get it. And from the “Dudes who can bomb it” here were the five longest drives of Bay Hill: Bubba at 380, Rory at 373, Luke at 367, John Huh at 361 and Adam Scott at 354.
Today’s question
Weekend winners and losers. Please share your choices.
On this day in 1995, Michael Jordan returned to the NBA. One hundred years ago, the U.S. established time zones and approved daylight savings time. Man, that Daylight Savings needs to be revoked like yesterday.
Man Glenn Close is 71, and if we wanted adultery to drop in this country, “Fatal Attraction” should be required viewing before anyone gets married. Egad.
Clayton Kershaw is 30. Bruce Willis is 63 today.
Rushmore of actors who went from TV stars to A-list Hollywood movie stars, such as Willis, who went from Moonlighting to the big time.