OK, not sure how to handle today. We have the weekend winners and losers, and we'll use that for several angles to the biggest story of the sports weekend.
But we also have our Masters contest and more golf. So we'll use the opening stanza to say this: As difficult as the end of the Auburn basketball season was Saturday night, the way the players and coaches handled it, well, it made me proud of my alma mater and even more impressed with this team, which will be right there with the most beloved - regardless of sport - in school.
Bruce Pearl, in every postgame news conference I've seen, was gracious and respectful. Then there was this social media exchange between Pearl and UT star Grant Williams. William wrote: "Gut wrenching loss. @AuburnMBB had an incredible year and there's nothing you can hang your head for. Some things you just can't control. Try to remember the good things SEC Tourney Champions, First final four since 1984, and doing it all for Chuma. RESPECT. #SECBROTHERS"
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl directs his team during the second half in the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 6, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)To which Pearl responded: "When we talk about "it just means more"... this is what we are talking about! When you earn the respect of a Warrior you've accomplished something! VFL! War Eagle Grant!! @SEC"
I thought was especially pertinent considering the back-and-forth about rooting for other in-conference teams and rivals last week. Granted, there is the connection that is Pearl. Here's more on Pearl's handling of the matter from TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer.
And in a lot of ways, UT and Auburn - now that the football series is very occasional - are SEC kindred spirits, because when you share your biggest rivals (UGA and Alabama with a twist of Florida for good measure) you have a connection.
Still, it was a pretty cool exchange. Man, what a way to lose a shot at playing in the title game.
Weekend winners
Baylor. For a long time the biggest headlines involving the Baylor athletics department were negative. The scandals. Dave Bliss. Art Briles. Sunday night, after Baylor wrapped up a thrilling 82-81 win over Notre Dame for the NCAA women's basketball title, we got a reminder of why we love sports. After front court teammate Lauren Cox left the game with an injury, Baylor star Kalani Brown found her after the game and the tearful, joyous embrace was perfect.
Women's sports in general. The women's Final Four was thrilling. Women were the main event in Wrestlemania with Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair and that other lady. Then there was the great drama of the Augusta Women's Amateur. And yes, I watched a fair amount of it Saturday, with the young lady from Wake Forest - who decided to wait to go pro so she could play in this historic event - beating the long-hitter from Arkansas. And how about this for the power of Augusta National: The 0.96 rating - while not great - is the highest female golf rating in three years and the highest rated amateur golf telecast since 2003.
Golden State. For all the hand-wringing and bickering and fighting with the refs, the Warriors are exactly where we all expected - sitting as the 1 seed with home-court through the West playoffs. Sigh.
The Baltimore Orioles and their relationship with superman Mo Gaba, a blind 13-year-old who is going through his fourth fight with cancer. Kudos to those guys for making the time and effort.
Cody Bellinger. The Dodgers are wicked hot and hammering baseballs across every park this side of Yellowstone. And Bellinger is leading the way. Yes, we're two weeks into the season, but right now he leads the NL in average (.455), homers (7) and RBIs (18) for the 8-2 Dodgers who averaging 8.4 runs a game.
Bonus pick: There were a lot of Chattanooga sports fans supporting two soccer teams and the Lookouts on Saturday night. By announced numbers, there were more than 15K at those events. Well-done gang.
Weekend losers
Sports fans. Maybe we are over-critical. Forget maybe. We are. We are cynical. We look for reasons to argue rather than reasons to agree. It's the time and where we are. But, man, every big sporting event feels like it is overshadowed by controversial calls or bad officiating. Saturday night was no different. The missed double-dribble. The foul. My heartaches for that collection of Auburn players. For any collection of competitors who are forced to accept an unjust outcome. (Side point: Many kudos to the Guy who drilled all three free throws. Props and, as Raftery says, "Onions." Side point about the side point: Save the mumbo-jumbo about "It was a foul." OK, it was. But it had not been called all game in a very loosely officiated game in which the refs let the players be very physical. Not unlike setting an expectation of a strike zone or holding, once you set those parameters, changing them in the last second is brutal.)
Next point about the end of the Auburn-Virginia game. It was a terrible job by the officials, but please do not let one mistake hurt the entire sport. This is not something replay can solve. This is something that must be addressed by holding officials - across all sports - to much higher standards, especially in the biggest moments. Suspend that crew for the first three months of next year or something. Heck, try something - they are professionals and when those in professional sports make mistakes there has to be consequences and outcomes. But expanding replay will make the last five minutes of a college basketball game last 45. And I am under the opinion that the more expanded replay gets, the worse the officiating gets because they simply call everything in a way that it can be reviewed.
CBS and the tournament in general. Wow, in what has been a monster year for college basketball in terms of TV numbers - and interest - and what was by almost every measure the best second weekend of the tournament will have a historically low-rated title game tonight. Yes, the TV numbers will be better than last year - or any other year that the championship is played on a Turner network - but here's betting Virginia-Texas Tech (first team to 31 wins) will be the least watched title game ever on CBS. (Side note: And if it had been UK vs. Zion, it would have challenged Bird-Magic from 40 years ago. Side question on the side note: Anyone else surprised there was not more done on the 40-year anniversary of that historic game?)
Mark Walton. After his third arrest in 2019, Walton was cut from the Cincinnati Bengals. And if you are too criminal for the Bengals, well, you're doing some serious FBI-level law-breaking. Here's more, including the part when he out-ran police after - AFTER - being shot with a taser.
Youth baseball fields. Man, with the amount of rain we have received this year and the continued rain falling this morning, we may have to book some triple headers down the road. That is if we can ever get the fields dry to start with.
Masters time
There are few sporting events I enjoy as a fan as much as this week.
Take the kids' teams and the alma mater out of the equation, and Masters runs away with it.
Better than the Super Bowl? Easily.
Better than the World Series? By a landslide.
Better than the NBA playoffs? By a mile - at least.
First, let's cover the rules of the Masterfully Mastering the Masterpiece that is the Masters Challenge.
Pick five golfers. Top four count, and the lowest score wins. (If you pick the winner, the runner-up, and two dudes that tied for fifth and a guy who missed the cut, the scoring would be 1-2-5-5 and your score of 13 would almost assuredly win. The missed cut would be wiped away as the top four count.)
Any questions? I need the entries by end of business Wednesday. Deal? Deal.
Masters history lesson: On this day in 1935 Gene Sarazen won the second Augusta National Invitational Tournament in a Monday playoff over Craig Wood by five shots.
Sarazen made holed out from the fairway for a 2 on 15 - the famously dubbed "Shot heard around thew world" - to force the playoff. It also was the birth of the roars that have become synonymous with back-nine charges and Sunday glory.
It also was the springboard that jumpstarted the Masters into becoming the Masters.
Also of note for those of us who are tempted at picking Keith Mitchell who is making his Masters debut: Sarazen is one of three dudes to win the Masters in their first trip down Magnolia Lane. Horton Smith won the first Masters in 1934, Sarazen won the second in '35 and Fuzzy Moeller won in his first trip 40 years ago.
This and that
- Speaking of TV numbers, the overnights from the Final Four, while up from last year's games on Turner networks, were down 15 percent from 2017 - the last time semifinals were on CBS. The overnight rating for the two combined semifinals - they were measured together - was an 8.8, down from 1 10.4 in 2017.
- Offered without comment: Former Auburn and Ole Miss coach - and other spots - Tommy Tuberville is running for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Seriously. And former political lightning rod Sean Spicer is on his campaign team.
- Also offered without too much opinion because of the source right now: disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti has made allegations that Nike gave Zion Williamson's momma money before he enrolled at Duke. Duke is looking into the allegations.
- Wow, listening to Jay Williams on ESPN's "Get Up" apologize for the above allegations were brutal. He actually said that AAU teams are "501c3s" which is the tax code for non-profit organizations and charities. He also offered, "Who cares?" which is a bigger question about the entire issue and one worthy of debate. But right now, it's against the rules, so everyone should care - even the elitist Dukies. Yes, Jay and Coach K, the rules still apply to Duke right?
- Wow, what to make of the late Sunday rumors that Rick Barnes is a candidate for the UCLA gig? Is there any fan base that has handled more drama in the last decade than the Vols? Seriously?
Today's question
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
Should we care that Nike is giving money to basketball stars?
Most painful loss for your team? I need the therapeutic exchange friends.
Today is April 8, and we could offer a few date-related Rushmores.
Hey, Hank Aaron hit 715 on this day 45 years ago gang. I was there. Sound asleep. Seriously.
Robin Wright is 53 today. Consider me a fan.
But this is Masters week friends, so we're aiming to have a Masters-related Rushmore each day. Deal? Deal.
In honor of Gene's shot heard around the world, Rushmore of the most famous shots in Masters history. (And gang, three seem pretty clear.)