Weekend winners
Sam Burns. First, the course in Austin where the Dell Match Play event -- which Burns won over the weekend -- is held looks like a terrifically fun place to play. In fitting fashion to the craziness and randomness of the NCAA tournament, since Sam Burns got so hot this week against a great field, let's go ahead and crown him the Masters champ, the British Open winner and the Ryder Cup captain. Cool.
Braves fans. Baseball is upon us. Thank goodness. Plus, the new City Connect jersey with the throwback logo and the new twists is pretty awesome. Side question: I grew up loving the classic style of the Dodgers uniforms, but the Braves have a top-five MLB uni right?
Keith Mitchell and Harris English. Golf Digest reported over the weekend that with the days dwindling and with the two former Baylor School grads still in the top in official world golf rankings, both are headed to Augusta in a couple of weeks for a little tournament called the Masters.
Caitlin Clark. The best player in college hoops is a female junior at Iowa. Look her up and put respect on her name. She dropped a 40-point triple double to get Iowa to the Final Four. Her box score is off-the-charts special.
Weekend losers
Dallas Mavericks. Wow, for all the craziness that has been Kyrie Irving over the last handful of years, is there a bigger exclamation point on his negativity than the last six weeks? Dallas is oin the verge of missing the playoffs and the Nets -- Irving's former team -- is playing its best basketball of the season.
The XFL. Or is that the USFL? Which is playing right now?
Barbie Bassett. If you are wondering, "Who?" well, this story may clear it up. Ms. Bassett was a TV news anchor in Mississippi before recently quoting Snoop lyrics on air. Yep, that will cost you.
Spring breakers on the Atlantic. Man, imagine getting all loaded up for a spring break trip to South Florida and being met by a wall of seaweed. Gross.
Madness
Did the NCAA tournament win or lose the weekend?
It's also fair to ask if you will watch a single moment of the Final Four? Heck, can you name a player on any of the teams in the Final Four?
It's a conversation as familiar as the Madness we love: This event is magical and intoxicating.
It also is the single worst one-and-done format to determine true champions. And this weekend especially puts an exclamation point on truly how meaningless the regular season is.
Both of those statements can be true because this surely is not an either/or proposition.
Heck, we heard all year and looked at every computer model that screamed clearly that the ACC was historically bad this season. So naturally the only Power Five conference with a team in the Final Four is, of course, the ACC.
It will be interesting to me to see the TV numbers from Saturday and Sunday. It also will be interesting to see how the Final Four fares in terms of viewers considering that a) when UConn is the closest thing to a Blueblood (and we're talking men's not women's hoops) well, that's a stretch, and b) almost everyone's brackets are cooked.
To that last point, of the almost 40 folks in our TFP office pool, exactly one person can score points this weekend. Her name is Patti Frierson (she's in sales), and if UConn wins its semifinal, she will win the whole shebang, passing her husband Jim for the title.
I don't know, and you may love that there is UConn and three random programs from various coastal venues still dancing. That's cool.
For me, Saturday looks more like a midmajor conference semifinal than a Final Four.
This and that
-- Wow, Charles Barkley shared some of the depth of his decade-old spat with Michael Jordan. Sounds like MJ may be the GOAT of grudges too.
-- Thought this was a fun look back at the 2019 McDonald's All-American team. Some of them like Tyrese Maxey have already played almost 200 NBA games. Some of them like Armando Bacot will play college hoops again next season.
-- There has not been a QB prospect with a more varied projected draft slot in quite a while than Kentucky's Will Levis. Some have him as a top 3 pick. Heck some have him slotted as a potential overall No. 1 selection. This CBSsports.com mock draft has Levis falling to 18 with the Rams trading up to select him. Crazy.
-- Speaking of QBs and the draft, well first, I love the draft. You know this. Second, if I were a GM and had a day-three pick and was looking for someone to put in my QB room, I would not hesitate to pull the trigger on Stetson Bennett.
-- Do what? A bluechip running back picked Auburn over Georgia and Alabama? Well, atta boy Hugh Freeze. Also, make sure the checks don't bounce gang.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
As for a multiple choice Monday, let's do this:
How many of the elite eight did you have in your bracket?
-- Duh, zero, like everyone else.
-- 1 or 2.
-- 3 or 4.
-- 5 or more.
As for today, March 27, let's review.
Mariah Carey is 54 today. Fergie is 48. One of those two can really sing.
And Quentin Tarantino is 60 today.
Buckle up because this one is going to be tough.
Rushmore of characters from any Tarantino movie. Go.