Weekend winners
Hubert 'Take That' Davis. The UNC coach put an emphatic exclamation point - and earned career-securing goodwill within a fan base that was more than a smidge doubtful about the first-year Tar Heels boss - on this memorable Baby Blue run to the title game. Yes, a rookie head coach getting to the final game of the Final Four is always memorable. To do it by handing hated rival Coach K a big fat L in his final home game and another one in his final career game is simply too sweet for words for the UNC faithful.
Tennessee baseball. What's not to love about this brash collection of future MLB studs. Seriously, UT is 9-0 in SEC play with sweeps against South Carolina and at Ole Miss and at Vandy. That's not exactly taking nine from Iona, Rhodes and Motlow State people. And Tony V's crew of charismatic characters is doing it with style. You know, Crash told Nuke that "You gotta play this game with fear and arrogance. That's the key." Well, UT is long on the latter and devoid of the former and it's suiting them to a, wait for it, almost there - to a T. (Side note: And the way Tony Vitello handled the in-game interview after a first-inning homer was disallowed because of a bat issue was gold, Jerry. Gold. Quite possibly the best in-game interview ever, and yes, that's like saying what's the best Carrot Top movie, but still. And the entire Mike Honcho stuff - and the school's marketing arm pouncing on the Honcho harrumph - well, gold Jerry. Gold.)
Dawn Staley and Aliyah Boston. The coach and the best player on the newly crowned women's NCAA champs from South Carolina deserve a visor tip this morning too. Especially for the full-circle flow of their tears. Last year, Boston missed a critical lay-up in the final seconds of the Gamecocks' title-game loss to Stanford. This year, Staley's stars went wire-to-wire as the nation's top-ranked team and manhandled UConn to become the eighth NCAA women's basketball program to win multiple national titles.
Sports fans. Man, start playing the Christmas tunes. Everyone, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." An epic Final Four weekend with a UNC-Duke game for the ages. MLB starting. Tiger touring the grounds at Augusta and pondering a game-time decision. I'm giddy.
Weekend losers
Duke. Seriously, the Devils got farther than I expected and the Coach K magic fizzled at the end. (Side note: Kudos to the refs for at least trying to pay it down the middle.) But most of the Duke players high-tailed it to the locker room rather shaking hands with the victorious UNC players in just the latest example of poor sportsmanship that's plaguing the game right now. And while we're here, sorry Eric Church. You lost me as a fan by selfishly cancelling your Saturday night concert - a concert that has been on the schedule for at least a year and had sold more than 70,000 tickets - by skipping out at the last minute.
Luke Jackson. Yes, I was reformed over the last couple of seasons as we witnessed Jackson go from bona fide rally igniter to a critical piece of the Braves' bullpen. Well, Jackson's on the shelf heading into the start of the season, and the reports are not good considering the chatter about MRIs and ligament damage that has Jackson on the 60-day IL. And looking at this Tweet from Dave O'Brien - the Braves beat ace for The Athletic - the weakest part of this Braves bunch may be right-handed relievers before closer Kenley Jansen. The lefties in 'pen are salty. (Side note: That said, even with the joys of the banner festivities this week, watching this team without Acuña and Freeman in the lineup is bittersweet at best for me. And yes, Acuña will be back before Memorial Day, but still.)
The Lakers. Losers of six straight, L.A. is all but done in terms of making the playoffs. Seriously, can we recall a team with five Hall of Famers being this bad? (Side note: And yes, there are five Hall of Famers on the Lakers with LeBron, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard. Side note on the side note: Kareem calling out LeBron's hypocrisy is one of the truly inspired stances I can remember in recent years.)
LSU hoops. Seriously, the entire roster has hit the portal or left the building. The Tigers have zero scholarship players on the roster. (Yes, the new staff will bring in a slew of transfers too, but right now, wow.)
Masters
Yes, it is a glorious week.
(Side note: If you have practice round badges for Tuesday or Wednesday, well, sorry 'bout that. The weather is gonna STEE-ink.)
We're going to have a Masters riff every day this weekend, because, it's the Masters.
We're going to offer the "Masterfully Mastering the Masters, Masters degree not required" contest. If memory serves it's the oldest of all our contests. Good times. The rules are easy, and are the same as always. Send me five golfers, top four count, and for the place each player finishes, you get that many points. Low score wins. A perfect entry would be 7 - the winner which would be 1 point, and three players tying for second, which would be 2 each - and good luck with that. You can leave them in the comments if you wish, or you can email me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.
Good times.
Today, we're going to offer the five guys we want to win this thing. No, this is not the same list as the five guys we think will win.
1. Tiger. Of course, it's Tiger. Heck, even the biggest Tiger haters - morning Spy - have to love the Hogan-esque car crash symmetry and the return to glory. Heck, I now have my doubts he'll play and I definitely do not think he will make the weekend if he does give it the ol' college try. But man, if he does? Yes, please.
2. Luke List. You bet this is a homer pick, and since Harris English had to WD with an injured hip, List is the lone Baylor School alum in the field. Plus, List now lives in Augusta and will have a slew of support from the patrons. Man, this would be an amazing story.
3. Rory. Yes, he's one of my favorites, and yes, he has elite-level game. But vanquishing the demons here would be ever-so meaningful. And oh yea, there's that career grand slam thing too. Yeah, that'd be pretty boss.
4. Cam Smith. Dang right we're siding with the Mullet Masters champ. C'mon, other than this week, a mulleted male like Smith is a heck of a lot more commonplace around Augusta proper than the rest of these cats. (Well, with the exception of Brooks Koepka's platinum dye job which looks equal parts professional wrestler, back-up boy band singer and slow-pitch softball star.)
5. Tommy Fleetwood. Why Fleetwood? Well, my hair crush is Smith. My belly sides with Fleetwood though, because when Weston Wamp and I each had a spot on the ESPN radio dial here in town, we bet a full meal at the Ruth Chris' on who would win a major first. I picked Fleetwood; Weston has Rickie Fowler.
War Fleetwood.
This and that
- So the Grammys were last night. No, I did not watch. And since the Grammys are way behind the Oscars in the award show power rankings, did, say, DJ Jazzy Jeff punch Punky Brewster last night?
- So Denzel pondered "Who are we to condemn?" about the Will Smith slap at The Oscars. I'll play along, because Denzel is right, no one is perfect. The whole 'glass houses' and stone throwing stuff assuredly applies. But which sins are bigger? Which are more egregious? Which should be held as a permanent mark, and which should be wiped away because we liked "The Legend of Bagger Vance," Mr. Washington?
- And allow me one more: So how about this headline: "Louis C.K. wins Grammy for Best Comedy Album, proving once again that 'cancel culture' is a myth." Uh, yes and no. In fact, it proves that the standards for cancel culture are diabolical and the prism is centered on color rather than gender. Louis C.K. won a Grammy. Marilyn Manson and Dr. Luke were nominated for Grammys. Each of them has a troubled history in regard to their treatment of women. But if you think cancel culture is a myth specifically when it comes to the Grammys, uh, Morgan Wallen would like a word. Because Sturgill Simpson, Mickey Guyton and Brothers Osborne were nominated for a Grammy in best country album, but Wallen's "Dangerous" album - the most successful out-of-the-gate album since Whitney Houston was at the height of her powers - was not? Hmmm, any one have any idea why?
- Weeds being Weeds and crushing it in every measure about tonight's UNC-Kansas title tilt being the best and the worst college hoops has going on right now. (Side note: Although not to kibble Weeds' bits, but he says UNC and Kansas are two of the four most historically powerful programs, along with Duke and Kentucky. Which begs the question, is Duke more historically powerful than UCLA? And then one more: Is Duke UCLA 2.0, with the extreme levels of a historic run built on the success of a legend more than a legendary program? Discuss.)
- You know the rules. Here's Paschall with a Vols football spring practice update from the weekend.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
Multiple choice Monday asks you who are you pulling hardest for at this week's Masters? Discuss.
As for today, 4/4, well, let's not overthink this one.
(Also of note, on this day in 1974, the most famous of the 44s - Hammerin' Hank - tied the Babe with homer 714.)
Rushmore of 4 (or for) and be creative.
Go and remember the contest.