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Weekend winners
› It has to start with Bruce Pearl and Auburn basketball. Wow, was that game THAT intense for everyone else? And Auburn never trailed. In Tuscaloosa. The arguing points each side is bandying about — Alabama would have won if they shot better from 3; Auburn only won because they shot great from 3 — but this much is undeniable: Pearl looked at Alabama and said, “We’re going to run them off the 3 line,” and it worked. Again, in that environment, Auburn never trailed.
› Auburn baseball slugger Cade Belyeu. Yes, I know where I went to school, and I know this comes across as 100% Homer Simpson, but the hoops team went to No. 2 and handled them. And earlier in that weekend, Belyeu homered in the first game after he learned his mother had died. If that last one doesn’t make it dusty, well, you need to check your integer connection.
› Todd Gardenhire. I’ve always liked Todd. He’s honest, and that should be the starting point for all elected folks. But his statements of polarization and absolution are 100% correct, whether you agree with his stance on whatever issue he is discussing. Being all one way or all the other makes you always tough to work with and almost never wise.
› That 6-foot-2 white dude who is the best dunker since Vince Carter was young. Buckets, he jumps better than anyone I’ve seen since a young David Thompson, MJ included. (Love the old story of DT at NC State taking a quarter off the top of the backboard. That one is true. The story that he jumped up there and replaced the quarter with two dimes and a nickel may have been stretch a wee bit.)
› Dan Earl and the UTC Mocs hoopsters. Sorry I missed that one — we had a day full of rec hoops and then watched the AU-Alabama game on delay — but the report of the Mocs were impressive. Here’s betting MocsColts and utcmocs greatly enjoyed the events of Saturday eve.
› The hockey all-star set-up. Man, the passion coupled with the Olympics-like patriotism of the hockey all-star tournament actually gives hope to all-star possibilities for the MLB and even the NBA.
Weekend losers
› NBA all-star game and weekend. Maybe the international format could work these days — Jokic, a healthy Luka, SGA, Wemby and Giannis likely would be favored, no? — but whatever this thing the NBA is trotting out there is unwatchable.
› Vandy. Wow, they had Tennessee on the ropes, and let the Vols escape. That would have been a ticket-punching road Quad 1 win for the Commodores, but now, they look at the homestretch with the knowledge that they should be a tournament team, but the jury is still out.
› Mike White. Bro, you are going to be a great head coach in the A-Sun, and that’s OK. Georgia got punched by Missouri at home — and yes, I think Missouri is an Elite Eight team — in front of what was an impressive, full and hostile Stegman Coliseum.
› NASCAR. Hey, I’m more interested and excited about NASCAR than I have been in decades. Truly. And NASCAR has zero control of the uncontrollable, but I planned to sit down and watch a healthy chunk of racing for the first time since Dale Jr. was a contender, and the rain washed us away.
› Illinois. What should have been a great moment wasn’t because a jersey retirement turned upside down. Literally.
50 years of SNL
So we discussed the “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary show that aired Sunday night late last week.
I enjoyed it, even though it predictably went a good 30-plus minutes too long.
Steve Martin is always aces.
Eddie Murphy was his typically hilarious self in all appearances.
The visor tips to the living legends who helped craft arguably the most influential TV show on American culture over the last half-century were well done and apropos.
I even enjoyed the over-the-top celebrity cameos from the crowd to the Q&A — yes, that was Kevin Costner (aka John Dutton) sitting next to Cher — throughout.
In truth, the two biggest positive takeaways for me watching last night were clear.
First, the avalanche of creativity and comedic talent that has worked on the SNL set is awe-inspiring. Sure, it’s easy to be critical of today’s Not Ready for Primetime Players because they are not Belushi or Murray or Chevy or Eddie or Crystal or Carvey or Hartman or Myers or Ferrell or Fey or, well, you get the idea.
But goodness, what an avalanche of laughs.
The best segment of the evening was from one of the best SNL’s ever had. Adam Sandler’s poetic and poignant tribute song to 50 years of SNL was great.
Truly great, and borderline perfect. In fact, it should have closed the show.
As for my two quibbles on a winners and losers weekend, well, here goes:
Gotta wonder why, of all the musical guests SNL has had and all the amazing musical moments they have authored, Miley Cyrus and whoever was performing with singing Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing C compares 2 U” were puzzling choices.
Also, the MAGA hat on Tom Hanks as the interloper on a “black Jeopardy” segment was a poor choice.
Look, SNL has mocked everything, but when you only mock one side or clearly back one side — especially in an anniversary special — well, that’s not satire.
That’s political posturing. And that’s OK on most SNL, but on a commemorative episode of this stature, picking just one political joke is not an accident.
But it was not enough to ruin my enjoyment of what was a milestone event.
This and that
› Welcome back college baseball. We’re going to discuss that more this spring and summer than we ever have.
› Yes, a lot of the heated passion in the 4 Nations hockey event was patriotism. And a lot of it was the Canadians’ angst against Donald Trump.
› Wow, seven more accusers against Justin Tucker have come forward.
› From the “gifts you can really use category,” Saquon Barkley gave each of his O-linemen a truckload of beer. Seriously.
› Ludvig Aberg won the Genesis. Dude has a bag full of game and will win multiple events this year. As for the Baylor School crew, Harris English finished T24 ($164,857) and Stephan Jaeger finished T44 ($64K).
Today’s questions
Weekend winners and losers, go.
As for multiple choice Monday, let’s go here:
It’s an either or: NCAA men’s hoops champion prediction, are you going …
> SEC team
> Field
Discuss.
As for today, Feb. 17, let’s review:
Wow, a couple of bona fide GOAT contenders were born on this day, as Jim Brown would have been 89 and Michael Jordan is 62.
Huey Newton — a co-founder of the Black Panther party — was born on this day in 1942.
Does he make the Rushmore of Newtons? I say no but fire away.