Weekend winners
* SEC women’s basketball. Mississippi State pulled off the biggest upset in the sport’s history on Friday night, toppling UConn and its 111-game winning streak on Morgan Williams’ overtime buzzer-beater. MSU was spent in the title game and lost 67-55 to fellow SEC member South Carolina in the title game. In doing so, USC coach Dawn Staley became the first person to have a Final Four MOP award and win it all as a coach.
* Blake Parker. No not that mother scratcher, Blake Parker. If you do not know Blake Parker, well, you are not alone. Parker, a 31-year-old journeyman reliever made the Los Angeles Angels opening day roster with one of the best finishes to spring training imaginable. His last 17 outs have all come by strike out. Yes, 17 consecutive outs by K, with one hit mixed in. Crazy right?
* Speaking of crazy baseball stats – Happy Opening Day everyone – Madison Bumgarner is turning the big leagues into the local 9-and-10 kid pitch in which the best pitcher is also the best hitter. Bumgarner was his usually excellent self on the mound – seven innings, three runs and 11 Ks with no walks – and at the plate, well, he was Ruthian. He became the first pitcher to hit two homers on opening day since ever. And, right now, if he could pitch and hit in every game, he’d be on pace to record more than 1,700 strikeouts and hit 324 homers. He’d likely win the MVP, even if the Giants finished 0-162 with 324 blown saves.
* Russell Henley delivered an outstanding Sunday that meant, a) a Shell Open victory, b) more than a $1 million and c) an invite to play the Masters this week. That’s a strong contender for winning the weekend. Also of note, local star making good Luke List continued to make this season a memorable one. List finished tied for third in Houston after a final-round 68 that included birdies on the final two holes. The birdie 3 on the long par-4 18th started with a 345-yard drive and ended with a putt of almost 50 feet. In the crazy world that is professional golf, that putt was the difference between tying for third with Rickie Fowler and finishing solo fourth. It also was worth a cool $70,000, considering fourth would have meant a check for $336K and List and Fowler each got $406,000. List is at $1,48,189 in earnings this year and is 17th in the FedEx Cup standings.