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Bar Chat

01/22/2024

NFL Playoffs...Mikaela Shiffrin...

Add-on posted Monday evening, due to the schedule this week.

NFL Playoffs

The Conference Championships are set for next Sunday, two great matchups….

Chiefs at Ravens…3:00 p.m. ET…CBS

2-time MVP Patrick Mahomes against soon-to-be 2-time MVP Lamar Jackson.

Lions at 49ers…6:30 p.m. ET…FOX

Only the second time in NFL history where the Detroit Lions are one win away from the Super Bowl.  Detroit fell to Washington in the 1991 season in its only other appearance.

Detroit also hasn’t won a playoff road game since 1957.  They have lost an NFL-record 11 straight road playoff games.

--After I posted Sunday evening, I settled in with the rest of you for Kansas City at Buffalo, and once again it was a cruel ending for Bills fans, a 27-24 defeat, kicker Tyler Bass missing a game-tying field goal from 44 yards with 1:47 to play, wide right, shades of the most famous Super Bowl loss back in 1991, when Scott Norwood missed a kick that went wide right as well that gave the Giants the win.

As Jim Nantz said on the broadcast, “The two most dreaded words in Buffalo have surfaced again,” wide right.

Bass was 24-for-29 on field goals during the 2023 regular season.  But he was 1-of-3 against the Steelers in the wild-card round, which included a blocked attempt.  Bass said he should have accounted more for the wind blowing left to right.

“Ultimately, it’s completely on me,” Bass said, according to ESPN.  “I’ve got to do a better job of getting through to my target.  I’ve got to do a better job of playing it a little bit more left when you have a left to right (wind).  I’ve been here long enough to know that you have to do that…

“I love this team and it hurts. This one hurts bad. Yeah, I’ve got to do a better job. Totally on me.”

Well, I doubt Mr. Bass gets another shot with the Bills, and some of his teammates have to be rather upset, though the always classy Josh Allen said after: “I wish he wouldn’t have been put in that situation.  You win as a team, you lose as a team.  One play doesn’t define a game.”

But, such is life when you leave it up to the kicking game.  Detroit’s Michael Badgley now heads to San Francisco and that ‘iffy’ field, especially when wet, and no doubt he was watching Tyler Bass.

As I noted before, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs now head to a sixth consecutive conference championship contest, all with him at the helm…remarkable.

The Chiefs have also now crushed the Bills’ dreams three of the past four playoffs, with the first two wins coming at home in the 2020 AFC championship game and the 2021 divisional round.

Mahomes was superb, 17/213, 215, 2-0, 131.6, with a key 24-yard run, while Rutgers’ Isiah Pacheco rushed for 97 yards on 15 carries, including the decisive 4-yard TD run at the start of the fourth quarter that made it 27-24.

Travis Kelce caught two touchdown passes (5-75-2), igniting the suite where Taylor Swift, Jason Kelce and Mom were, Jason playing the role of party animal.

Kelce and Mahomes have now become the most prolific touchdown duo in NFL playoff history, combining for 16 touchdowns, surpassing the 15 that Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski hooked up on.

But after Pacheco scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, everyone expecting a wild shootout to the end, it got a little nuts.  Damar Hamlin got stuffed on an ill-conceived fake punt, and then Mecole Hardman fumbled through the end zone to give the ball right back.

Josh Allen played heroically, though wasn’t terrific as a passer, 26/39, 186, 1-0, 86.1, but he rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Mahomes now has a career playoff record of 13-3, Allen 5-5.  But this was Mahomes’ first true road playoff game – not including neutral Super Bowl sites.

Of the Ravens, Mahomes said, “There’s no weakness there.  It’s going to take our best effort.  Defense, offense, special teams, they do it all. It’s always a great challenge and that stadium’s going to be rocking, so we’re excited for the challenge.”

--Going back to Saturday’s Green Bay-San Francisco affair, I knew this was the first fourth-quarter comeback all season for the 49ers, but I didn’t know that during coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure, the team had been 0-30 when trailing at the start of the fourth quarter by at least seven points.  That’s amazing.

So, yeah, as quarterback Brock Purdy said afterwards, “For us to finally have a game like this and pull through at the end was huge for all of us.”

--Tampa Bay Coach Todd Bowles said after his team’s loss at Detroit that Baker Mayfield earned the right to return in 2024, and Mayfield, who was on a one-year deal with the Bucs, has indicated he definitely would like to return, as would wide receiver Mike Evans.

Bowles said: “Baker had a hell of a year.  We love him.  The guys love him. And we’ll see what the future holds.”

He’ll be back. He has to be.

--Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni fired defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who had been stripped of his play-calling duties during the season. The NFL Network reported that defensive assistant coach Matt Patricia, who replaced Desia as the signal caller for the Eagles’ final five games, will also be leaving to explore other opportunities.

Desai and Patricia tried and failed during the team’s second-half meltdown to turn the defense around.

The fact that Sirianni made the decision is a further indication that the Eagles are leaning toward keeping him as head coach, but owner Jeffrey Lurie hasn’t said anything, days after they met on Friday.

College Basketball

--New AP Poll (records thru Sunday)

1. UConn (44) 17-2
2. Purdue (17) 17-2
3. North Carolina 15-3
4. Houston 16-2
5. Tennessee 14-4
6. Kentucky 14-3
7. Kansas 15-3…down 4
8. Auburn 16-2…up 5
9. Arizona 14-4
10. Illinois 14-4
11. Oklahoma 15-3
12. Duke 13-4…down 5…can’t lose to Pitt at home…
13. Wisconsin 14-4
14. Marquette 13-5
15. Baylor 14-4
16. Dayton 15-2…up 5
17. Creighton 14-5
18. Utah State 17-2
19. Memphis 15-4…down 9
20. Texas Tech 15-3
21. BYU 14-4
22. Florida Atlantic 15-4
23. Iowa State 14-4
24. Colorado State 15-3
25. New Mexico 15-3

Seton Hall is No. 26 if you carry out the votes.  No votes for Wake Forest.

UConn and Purdue remained 1-2, but the rest of the top ten was shuffled around with Kansas and Duke dropping sharply, ditto Memphis.

North Carolina has won eight straight to make its major move up.  But the ACC has only two ranked teams.  Ugh. 

--So, tonight, before posting, I watched the Demon Deacons travel to Chapel Hill to face the No. 3 Tar Heels, just praying Wake would keep it close, lose by no more than 10 points and play decently. We shot 18 of 35 from three on Saturday.  How would we do with much more pressure?

Well, it just ended…[Drat!!!]

Wake came out solid, leading 34-33 at the half, North Carolina firing up bricks, and then…a total s---show.

Final score…North Carolina 85…Wake 64.  The Deacs 3 of 20 from three.

We MUST split with Duke later on to have any shot at making the Big Dance.

Very depressed.  And pissed.

Golf Balls

--When I went to post Sunday evening, at the American Express tournament in La Quinta, CA, 20-year-old amateur Nick Dunlap trailed Sam Burns by one through 15.

But Burns would put his tee shots into the water on the final two holes, losing the lead with consecutive double-bogeys to finish four shots back, while Dunlap birdied 16 and parred 17 and 18 to win by one over South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Dunlap had to sink a six-foot par putt to avoid a playoff on 18, setting a tournament record at -29.

So as I wrote prior, Dunlap becomes the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991.  And he won on a sponsor exemption.  He is also only the second player to win the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Amateur, along with Tiger Woods.

Since Dunlap couldn’t take home the $1,512,000 first-place check, Bezuidenhout gets it.

Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Yu tied for third at -27.

For the record, Daniel Berger in his return after a long layoff, finished T39, Will Zalatoris T34.

Dunlap said after: “Whether I made or missed that (final putt), if you had told me come Wednesday night that I had a putt to win this tournament, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

When asked if the University of Alabama sophomore would turn pro, Dunlap replied: “I don’t know.  I have to take a second to let what just happened sink in a little bit.

“That’s a decision that’s not just about me. It affects a lot of people, and obviously I’m going to enjoy this.”

I’ll take a stab at it and say he turns pro after this spring season for his college team.  He’s going to be playing in the four majors and could turn pro perhaps prior to the U.S. Open, following the NCAA Championship.

--Overseas, Rory McIlroy defended his title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, winning the event for a record fourth time on Sunday, the first to do so in DP World Tour history.

McIlroy was 10 shots back entering Saturday’s third round before a 9-under 63 vaulted him into the final group Sunday.

Rory now has six wins in Dubai, where he is adored by fans.

--Eamon Lynch / Golfweek

“During whatever passes for his quiet moments these days, Jay Monahan must yearn for the time when his news consumption was principally focused on the sports and business pages, those being the areas most consequential to his remit as commissioner of the PGA Tour.  Nowadays, he must also turn to international affairs, one assumes with a knot in his gut at what might await.

“This week, one dispatch was downright ulcerative.

“A lawsuit accused the Tour’s soon-to-be-partner, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, of taking part in a malicious campaign to punish a dissident defector whose children have been imprisoned for four years without due process.  Allegations leveled in lawsuits are often hyperbolic, of course.  Many colorful claims evaporate when oaths are administered or are dismissed with something approximating derision by a court, at least in the case of one chap who seems to think that both jurisprudence and the rules of golf are matters of personal interpretation.

“On paper, Al-Rumayyan’s latest entanglement could be viewed as a squabble between stooges for a despotic government. His accuser is Dr. Saad Aljabri, the former chief of Saudi intelligence.  Aljabri claims the companies under Al-Rumayyan’s control have been used to apply pressure on his family, and it’s not the first time an asset in the PIF portfolio has been implicated in nefarious activity. A charter jet company seized by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and transferred to Al-Rumayyan’s fund was later alleged to have been used in the murder of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi.  There has been no suggestion that Al-Rumayyan was involved in that gruesome act, but there’s still reason for his business associates to be apprehensive.

“Al-Rumayyan enjoys a reputation as a sophisticated, savvy dealmaker (his bankrolling of Greg Norman’s ego notwithstanding) but he’s like everyone else in Saudi Arabia’s state apparatus: a factotum for MBS.  These are not people likely to demur if called upon to act on a matter close to the Crown Prince’s heart.  There’s evidence of what MBS has been known to ask of loyalists – particularly those who have demonstrated proficiency with a bonesaw – so anyone who is in business with the Saudi fund can’t delay scanning the international news section until after they’ve done with the funnies.

“Whatever troublesome relationships the Tour has encountered in the past – say, a sponsoring bank that defrauds customers (Wells Fargo) or an occasional Ponzi schemer (Allen Stanford) – the wrongdoing wasn’t known in advance of contracts being signed.  No blissful ignorance defense exists when it comes to the sovereign wealth fund of a government with a lousy human rights record.  Nor does this situation mirror Saudi involvement in other sports, like F-1 or cricket.  There’s an enormous difference between sponsorship and ownership, and if agreement is reached with PIF, the U.S. and European tours – and the private investors of Strategic Sports Group – risk having to ‘own’ more than mere equity.  Harvard Business School can’t teach one how to predict the perils of a direct relationship with an autocratic regime headed by a capricious prince who doesn’t take well to criticism.  But then, it shouldn’t have to…

“If a day arrives when Monahan is forced to explain his organization’s adjacency to another Saudi outrage, it shouldn’t be overlooked that this partnership wasn’t brought about by the imperial ambitions of executives in Ponte Vedra or Wentworth.  It’s happening because the best players in the world feel entitled to compensation beyond their worth in any rational market.  By presenting a ransom demand that only the Saudis will pay, golfers on the PGA Tour are forcing a deal that absolves them of individual decision-making responsibility.  And if there’s a reputational price to be paid for that later, well, its like bad yardages or swing slumps. Someone else will take the fall.”

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m. after the first playoff game.

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[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to late NFL playoff game and golf finish.]

Winter Olympics Quiz: I have an item down below that had me looking up related stuff.  Plus, most of the country is rather cold this weekend, or went through a crappy week replete with winter weather.  And…this is a memory check for us old folks losing same.  1) Name the last five sites for the Winter Olympics (2006 on…).  2) In the history of the Winter Olympics, which are the only three nations with at least 100 gold medals?  3) Name the site of the 2026 Winter Games.  Answers below.

NFL

--First the coaching carousel.  Following last weekend’s playoff games, the big questions centered around the status of Dallas’ Mike McCarthy, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, and Philadelphia’s Nick Sirianni.  We then received some surprising answers….

--Dallas owner Jerry Jones is sticking with McCarthy. Yes, he is 36-15 the last three seasons, all three 12-5.  He has a 167-102 record between his Packers and Cowboys stints as he heads into the final year of his Dallas contract.

But the bad news is each of those last three seasons has ended with a thud, ranging from heartbreaking to humiliating.

Two years ago, the Cowboys fell at home, 23-17, to the 49ers when they failed to get one final play off after calling a Dak Prescott run with no timeouts that made no sense in the first place.

Last year, the Cowboys defeated the Buccaneers in the wild-card round (ending Tom Brady’s career) but again fell to the 49ers, this time 19-12.

This year, the defense was a no-show against the Packers, in Big D, and Green Bay won 48-32.  Jerry Jones called it his “most painful” loss.

So it was a surprise for Jones to stick with McCarthy.  But Jones is not offering him an extension, even for a year.

--Turns out Mike Tomlin isn’t going anywhere.

Days after walking out of a postgame news conference during a question about his future, Tomlin said that his fire for the job has “intensified” and that he expects to get a contract extension this offseason.

“I expect to be back, and I would imagine that those contract things are going to run their course,” Tomlin said at his end-of-season news conference Thursday. “Art [Rooney II] and I have a really good, transparent relationship. We communicate continually often. I don’t imagine  there’s going to be an issue, and I imagine it’s going to get done in a timely manner at the appropriate time, but my mindset is to coach his football team.”

Tomlin also explained his walk-off during the final question of the news conference after the wild-card loss to the Bills and acknowledged he didn’t handle it well.

“I certainly could have handled that situation better than I did,” he said.  “But I’ll also say this, I just believe there’s a time and place for everything and postgame press conferences are probably not the place to address contract issues and things of that nature.”

Tomlin signed a three-year contract extension in 2021, tying him to the team through the 2024 season.

Tomlin also said rumors that he was planning to step away for a year were not true.

In his first 17 seasons at the helm, the Steelers have never finished worse than .500. But they last won a Super Bowl in 2008 (losing in 2010).

Tomlin said he’s committed to Kenny Pickett at quarterback, but that he’ll have competition.

Mason Rudolph, who performed so well in Pickett’s absence at the end of the season, is set to be a free agent, but Tomlin expressed a desire to bring him back.

But in the two years since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, Pittsburgh ranks 27th in offensive points per game, 26th in passer rating and 20th in point margin.  It’s on Tomlin to make sweeping changes in the coaching staff for the offense.

--The Raiders then announced Friday that they were removing the interim label from Antonio Pierce, a popular move in Las Vegas.

Pierce was named interim head coach after the team fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler the night of Oct. 31 following a 3-5 start this season, their second together.  Pierce then guided the Raiders to a 5-4 record the rest of the way, the team finishing 8-9.

McDaniels went 9-16 in 25 games as Raiders head coach.

Pierce was aided by the fact that Raiders stars Davante Adams and Max Crosby both openly advocated for Pierce to get the head-coaching job.

“There’s only 32 [NFL] head coaches in the whole world, so you’ve got to find a leader of men,” Crosby told reporters earlier in January.  “And when you’ve got one of them in the building currently, I don’t know why you would let them go.”

--Which still leaves us with Philadelphia’s Nick Sirianni, who unlike in the case of player support for Antonio Pierce has seemingly lost the locker room.  Jalen Hurts, for example, was mum on the topic of Sirianni’s future.

But as of today, it seems owner Jeffrey Lurie will stay with Sirianni, though many changes to his staff will be made.

--Meanwhile, Bill Belichick and Jim Harbaugh have both interviewed with the Falcons, and Harbaugh is still at the forefront of the Chargers’ head job conversation.

The other teams not mentioned above with still vacant head-coaching positions are Carolina, Washington, Seattle, and Tennessee…Mike Vrabel will get one of them, probably Bobby Slowik another.  [Belichick and Harbaugh will get the Atlanta and LA Chargers jobs.]

--On to the games…Saturday…

The Texans and Ravens were tied at the half, 10-10, in chilly Baltimore in Saturday’s first game before 2023 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson took over, Jackson accounting for all four Ravens touchdowns…16/22, 152, 2-0, 121.8 through the air, 11 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground…another stellar performance.  The Ravens shut down C.J. Stroud (17/33, 175, 0-0, 72.2) and Co., 34-10, outgaining Houston 352-213.

Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely, out of Coastal Carolina (who Johnny Mac targeted when he was in college as a future star), had a superb TD catch as he is beginning to show football folks around the country that the sky is the limit for him.  And teammate Zay Flowers, who I told you would be a star receiver when he was at Boston College, not only had a terrific rookie season for the Ravens (77 receptions, 858 yards, five touchdowns), but he had four catches for 41 yesterday, and he will bust out shortly.

Prior to the game, all the talk was about Lamar Jackson and his 1-3 postseason record.  Make it 2-3, discussion over, until next week.

In the nightcap, San Francisco staged its first fourth-quarter rally of the season to beat Green Bay, 24-21.

Jordan Love (21/34, 194, 2-2, 72.4) had put the Packers up 21-14 in the third quarter with two touchdown passes, but then Jake Moody opened the fourth with a 52-yard field goal for the 49ers to cut it to 21-17, after which Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey did the rest.

Purdy, who had not played particularly well (23/39, 252, 1-0, 86.7, overall), nonetheless engineered the decisive 69-yard drive, going 6 for 7, 47 yards, including a 3rd-and-10 completion to Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey (17 carries, 98 yards, two scores, plus 7 receptions for 30) then taking it in from six to put San Francisco in front, 24-21, with 1:07 to play.

[Green Bay rookie kicker Anders Carlson missed a critical 41-yard field goal attempt with 6:18 left that would have meant McCaffrey’s subsequent touchdown would have only tied the score at 24.]

Jordan Love then threw his second interception as the 49ers became the first team to advance to three straight NFC Championship games since…themselves in 2011-2013.

San Fran’s Deebo Samuel left the game early with a shoulder injury, and as of today, his status for next week has been described as “murky.”

--Today, we opened with Tampa Bay at Detroit, and it was a nondescript first half, Lions up 10-3, two-minutes to go, when the Bucs’ Baker Mayfield led his team 90 yards down the field for the tying touchdown in 1:13, two consecutive passes for 27 and 29 yards to Mike Evans, the last one spectacular, putting the ball on the two-yard line, Mayfield then converting to tight end Cade Otton for the touchdown.  Baker had a huge 14-yard line run on the drive.  Momentum totally flipped as they headed into the tunnel.

Detroit only had 134 yards of offense.

So in the second half, Jared Goff drove the Lions 64 yards for a TD, the key play a 29-yard pass to tight end Brock Wright, and then on 4th-and-1 at the goal line, Coach Dan Campbell went for it, Craig Reynolds (Kutztown State…Go Bob P. and Lisa) taking it in for the TD, 17-10.

But then Baker Mayfield drives the Bucs down 75 yards for the touchdown, Mayfield completing a 12-yard pass to Rachaad White for the tying score, 17-17, but Detroit failed to challenge a call where Baker was clearly down as he threw it away.  The following play was the TD pass.  Wow.

And then Goff drives Detroit 75 yards in five plays, Jahmyr Gibbs with a super 31-yard run for the score…24-17 Lions…13:13 to play in the game.

Not for nothing, but Mike Tirico is really good at his job…we continue….

And after stopping the Bucs, Detroit goes 89 yards in 10 plays, Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown on a huge 3rd and 15, and then the two connecting on the 9-yard touchdown pass…31-17 Lions, 6:22 to play.  Home crowd going nuts.  [By the way, they showed the Henry Ford Museum, and I gotta tell you, if you live nearby, even like New York, and have money, it’s a great day trip.  Take an early flight out of Newark, LaGuardia, Philly, Beantown…spend 2 ½ hours at the museum and fly home.  Seriously, it’s as good a museum, especially for Americana, as you will find in this country.  Better than the Smithsonian.  And that’s a memo…]

Back to the game…and Mayfield drives Tampa Bay down the field, 75 yards, 9 plays…but they go for two…and no good!  31-23.  The officials missed an easy pass interference call on Evans!  That sucks!  4:37 left.

But the Bucs get the ball back, 1:45 to play, and then Mayfield throws an interception. Game over.

Detroit is on to the NFC Championship game in San Francisco.

Summit’s Michael Badgley was perfect in the kicking department…just understand, I was on pins and needles with each kick.

In the nightcap, Kansas City is attempting to become the 2nd team ever to advance to six straight conference championship games – New England went to 8 straight from 2011-2018 – but they have to go through cold and snow-inundated Buffalo.

College Basketball

--How crazy has the college basketball season been?  The Wall Street Journal’s Jared Diamond and Laine Higgins had a telling stat.

“Top-10 teams entered Tuesday with a record of just 12-19 in true road contests against unranked opponents. That’s a winning percentage of .387.  To say that is unusual is a grave understatement: …going back to 1989, top-10 teams had won nearly three-quarters of these kinds of games – until now.”

As the two writers also note: “Thanks to a perfect mix of pandemic-era rule changes allowing players to extend their collegiate careers and loosened restrictions on transferring, the talent gap between the blue bloods and everybody else is not nearly as profound as it once was.  The result is a level of parity in college basketball that hasn’t been seen in ages.”

Fran Fraschilla, a former college coach and current ESPN analyst, notes another dynamic at work: “There are very few teams relying on freshmen.  This year there are top-75 high-school recruits languishing on the bench because they’re just not as good as a guy who transferred in from the mid-major level.”

And as we approach March, Diamond and Higgins remind us:

“Look no further than last year’s Final Four field for evidence of how seeding teams is increasingly difficult.  A No. 4 seed, UConn, won it all and was joined by two No. 5 seeds, Miami and San Diego State, and ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic.  The quartet had the second-lowest average seed in March Madness history.”

“Rankings don’t mean as much as they might have meant five years ago,” Fraschilla said.  “The beauty is when you get to March, it’s a total crapshoot anyway.”

--Which is why for the likes of Wake Forest, just wanting to get back into the Big Dance, games like last Tuesday’s road contest at North Carolina State are huge.

The Deacs got off to a 43-35 halftime lead and, as in the Florida State road loss a week earlier, wilted in crunch time, the Wolfpack prevailing 83-76 to go 13-4, 5-1 in the ACC for the first time since the 1988-89 season when Jim Valvano was coach and the backcourt was Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe (a sweet combo).

Wake fell to 12-5, 4-2, as the Deacs committed another 16 turnovers, their big bugaboo.  Cameron Hildreth was horrid and the normally good-shooting team from the foul line was 9-14 in the second half, including a few misses on one-and-ones.

--Also Tuesday, St. John’s was without coach Rick Pitino, who had tested positive for Covid (yes, it’s still around), and the Johnnies lost an important one to streaking Seton Hall at the Pru Center in Newark, 80-65, as the Pirates are a startling 13-5, 6-1 in the Big East, St. John’s 12-6, 4-3.

--As for upsets Tuesday, 9 Baylor (14-3, 3-1) lost at Kansas State (13-4, 3-1) 68-64 in overtime. [See the above Wall St. Journal article]

11 Wisconsin (13-4, 5-1) suffered its first Big Ten loss on the road to Penn State (9-9, 3-4), 87-83.

16 Utah State also fell on the road to fall to 16-2, 4-1 in the Mountain West, losing to rival New Mexico (15-3, 3-2), 99-86.

Cincinnati (13-4, 2-2) beat visiting 19 TCU (13-4, 2-2), 81-77.

And I can’t help but note 6 Tennessee’s 85-66 win over Florida (11-6, 1-3), the Vols moving to 13-4, 3-1, because of the performance of Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht.  The 6’6” guard has been on an incredible run, 39 points Tuesday, after 28 and 36 against Mississippi State and Georgia.  Ya never know about the portal, sports fans.

--Thursday, South Florida (10-5, 3-1) upset 10 Memphis (15-3, 4-1), 74-73.

--On to a big Saturday…

First off, Wake Forest rebounded, whipping once-great, now lowly, Louisville (6-12, 1-6), 90-65, the Deacs improving to 13-5, 5-2.

I didn’t realize Damari Monsanto was finally making his return after 11 months off due to knee surgery, and all Damari did was hit his first four threes!  Some of them insane.  I mean you could not have scripted a better first game back for the lad, who now provides a potent weapon off the bench the rest of the way.  [He’s also capable of some real clunkers, it’s all about the timing when they come up.]

Wake was an insane 18 of 35 from three, one shy of the school record.  [Louisville 2 of 11.]

But now the Deacs have a huge test on the road, Monday night in Chapel Hill against 4 North Carolina. I just pray we keep it close.

Speaking of the Tar Heels, they were up in Beantown playing Boston College Saturday afternoon and won it, 76-66, UNC 15-3, 7-0; BC 11-7, 2-5.

--In other big games yesterday….

No. 1 UConn (17-2, 7-1) held on to defeat Villanova (11-7, 4-3) on the road, 66-65.

3 Kansas (15-3, 3-2) inexplicably lost to West Virginia (7-11, 2-3) in Morgantown, 91-85, the Mountaineers 12 of 21 from three.

6 Tennessee (14-4, 4-1) beat Alabama (12-6, 4-1), 91-71, as the above-mentioned Dalton Knecht had 25 points, but was just 1 of 6 from downtown.  I watched a fair amount of this one to see Knecht and he’s certainly got an NBA-game (effective bench piece).

Talk about inexplicable, 7 Duke (13-4, 4-2) lost at home to Pitt (11-7, 2-5) as the Panthers’ Blake Hinson had 24 points on 7 of 7 from three!  Hinson, known for his 3-point shot, had been in a severe 11 for 49 drought from deep.

9 Baylor (14-4, 3-2) lost on the road at Texas (13-5, 2-3) 75-73.  So add Baylor (for a second time) and Kansas to the Journal tidbit on top-ten teams playing on the road.

12 Arizona (14-4, 5-2) beat UCLA (8-11, 3-5), 77-71, which I note only because it seems so strange to write UCLA and 8-11 in the same sentence.  They were 31-6 last season and have had a great 3-year run with Mick Cronin at the helm.

Finally, locally, 18 Creighton (14-5, 5-3) picked up a very big win on the road at Seton Hall (13-6, 6-2), 97-94 in triple overtime.  I watched from the last five minutes of regulation on in this one and it wasn’t actually a great game, in the truest sense, it was just close, until both sides did make some terrific plays in the third OT.

Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond, for example, had a triple-double, 21 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, but the guy was 8 of 32! from the field, missing one easy shot after another.

And St. John’s suffered a tough loss at home to 17 Marquette (13-5, 4-3), 73-72, Rick Pitino back on the sidelines, the Johnnies falling to 12-7, 4-4.

--Today, Sunday, Rutgers was at 14 Illinois and the story here was the return of Terrence Shannon Jr., who had been suspended for the past six games due to a felony rape charge in Lawrence, Kansas.  A judge ruled he had to be reinstated for financial reasons, seriously. I may comment when I get all the facts next week, but as more details emerge, this is a classic case of ‘wait 24 hours.’  There are those who were in attendance who say nothing happened.

Remember, Shannon is a probable lottery pick if he’s innocent.  He was averaging 21.7 ppg, 40% from three this season.

So he came off the bench, 3 minutes into the game, and immediately ignited the Illini (14-4, 5-2), who went on to beat RU, 86-63, Shannon with 16, but 0 for 5 from three. With him the Illini are a potential Final Four.

Rutgers falls to 10-8, 2-5.  No March Madness for them.

And what’s this?  Another top-ten going down on the road?  Yes, 10 Memphis (15-4, 4-2) lost this afternoon at Tulane (12-6, 3-3), 81-79.

This next AP Poll is going to be interesting.

NBA

--Indiana has gone all-in for an NBA title, acquiring two-time All-NBA selection and two-time All-Star Pascal Siakam in a three-team deal.

The Pacers receive: Siakam and a 2024 second-round pick (via the Pelicans).

The Raptors receive: Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, Kira Lewis Jr., 2024 first-round pick (via Pacers), 2024 first-round pick (lesser of picks from Jazz/Clippers/Rockets/Thunder) and 2026 first-round pick (via Pacers, protected 1-4).

Pelicans receive: Cash considerations.

Siakam, an impending free agent, is expected to work on an extension with Indiana, a key part of what makes him so valuable to his new team.  The 29-year-old forward is averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

Siakam is a perfect complement for Tyrese Haliburton.

--My Knicks are in the midst of a streak that has them playing 12 of 14 at home, one of the two away a ‘road’ game in Brooklyn.  [I wrote it was 10 of 12 at home earlier…my bad.]

Anyway, they were 2-1 at home this week when, Saturday, they welcomed back RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, now Toronto Raptors, and the appreciative Garden crowd gave both a standing ovation.  It was very cool (as opposed to the classless Bulls fans the other night).

Barrett and Quickley were great Knicks, but New York is now 9-2 following the trade that brought OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa to Gotham, 126-100 winners last night.

The big thing the trade did was allow Jalen Brunson to totally run the show, as Barrett, like Julius Randle, can be a ball hog.  Now it’s Brunson’s team, 38 points last night, Randle with a triple-double, 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists.

But of concern is that center Isaiah Hartenstein, who has been a rebounding machine after taking over for the injured Mitchell Robinson, suffered an ankle injury. Achiuwa filled in ably, 18 points, 11 rebounds, but he is not a true center.  No word on Hartenstein’s status.

The Knicks are now 26-17 (Toronto, in total rebuild mode, 16-27).

--In a battle of the last two NBA MVPs, Joe Embiid (41 points, 10 assists) outplayed Nikola Jokic (25 points, 18 rebounds) as the 76ers beat the Nuggets, 126-121, Tuesday.  Embiid called Jokic “the best player in the league” postgame.

Through Saturday…this season…

Embiid 35.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists…Philly 28-13, 3rd in the East.

Jokic 25.7, 11.9, 9.1…Denver 29-14, 3rd in West.

--Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack the day prior, the team announced.

“We are absolutely devastated by Dejan Milojevic’s sudden passing,” the Warriors said in a statement.  “This is a shocking and tragic blow for everyone associated with the Warriors and an incredibly difficult time for his family, friends, and all of us who had the incredible pleasure to work with him.”

The 46-year-old Serbian coach was hospitalized in Salt Lake City, Utah, Tuesday night after he suffered a medical emergency at a private team dinner, according to the Warriors.

Milojevic was a member of the Hawks Summer League staff in 2016, followed by the San Antonio Spurs in 2017, and the Houston Rockets in 2018.

Milojevic was in the middle of his third season as an assistant with the Warriors, and won a championship with the team in 2022, when they beat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

He had a 15-year playing career in Europe and served as the head coach for KK Mega Basket in his native Belgrade, Serbia.

MLB

--Josh Hader and the Astros agreed to a staggering five-year, $95 million deal on Friday, marking the “largest present-day value contract” handed out to a reliever.  There are no deferrals.

Hader, 29, is a five-time All-Star, 20-21, 2.50 ERA for his career, 165 saves.  But while he has had some otherworldly seasons, like 2021 and 2023 with ERAs of 1.23 and 1.28, respectively, he was awful in 2022, 5.22.

I mean he’s a reliever.  It’s up and down for most of them, which is why most baseball fans just shake their heads.

Of course the Mets did the same thing with Edwin Diaz after the 2022 season, signing him to a five-year, $102 million contract, and it backfired when he lost the 2023 season due to a knee injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic.

Diaz’ contract is not considered bigger than Hader’s, however, because $26.5 million of it was deferred and its present-day value is estimated at $93 million.

--We learn Tuesday who is going to be in the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame class. Adrian Beltre seems a lock to get in in his first year on the ballot.  Others in the running are Joe Mauer, Todd Helton and Billy Wagner. And maybe Gary Sheffield (final year on ballot, 55% last time).

I’m giving you a homework assignment.  Speaking of Josh Hader, look up Billy Wagner.  Fifteen full seasons, one…ONE…offseason.  Unreal for a top reliever.

47-40, 422 saves, 2.31 ERA!  The guy was so good, so consistent.  He’s getting his due this go-round in his ninth year on the ballot.

And Sheffield deserves to get in, too.  He’s considered part of the steroids crowd.  I don’t view him that way anymore.

Golf Balls

--At The American Express event in the desert, La Quinta, CA, they play on three courses so no cut until the fourth round, and this being a regular event, you had a lot of golfers, like at the Sony Open, trying to make their mark and hopefully do well enough to get in a Signature Event or two before long.

It also marked the return of four-time Tour winner Daniel Berger, recovering from more than a year of back issues.

And after three rounds…we had a shocking development….

Amateur Nick Dunlap, 20, an Alabama sophomore, was on top….

Dunlap -27…64-65-60!
Sam Burns -24
Justin Thomas -23

Dunlap is attempting to become the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in 33 years, Phil Mickelson the last to do so when he won the Tucson Open in 1991 as a 20-year-old Arizona State junior.

Only seven amateurs have won on the PGA Tour since 1945, and only four since 1950.

Justin Thomas has a lot on the line as he attempts to climb back into the elite rankings.  He hasn’t won since the May 2022 PGA Championship.  Now he’s attempting to catch a fellow Alabama product.

Dunlap is the only amateur in the 156-player field, playing on a sponsor exemption.  IF he wins, he won’t get the $1.5 million first-place check or the 500 FedEx Cup points, but he would secure a PGA Tour card and playing privileges for two years.

Lastly, he would become the second-youngest winner since 1931.  Jordan Spieth was 19 when he won the John Deere Classic in 2013.

I have to post…Burns leads Dunlap by one thru 15.

Meanwhile, Daniel Berger made the cut, on the number, -13.

Will Zalatoris did as well.  After his serious back surgery, us fans just want to see cuts made.  The top tens and, hopefully, wins will follow.

Local boy Ryan McCormick, having received his tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour, made his first tour appearance and missed the cut by three.

Rickie Fowler missed the cut.

More in my Add-on….

--Jack Burke Jr., the oldest living Masters champion who staged the greatest comeback ever at Augusta National for one of his two majors, died Friday in Houston.  He was 100.

Burke, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, also won the PGA Championship and was equally skilled as a teacher.  He built the fabled Champions Golf Club in Houston.

A native Texan and World War II veteran, Burke won the PGA Championship and Masters in 1956.  The last of his 16 career titles on the PGA Tour came in 1963, but his career was far from over, becoming an assistant pro under Claude Harmon at Winged Foot, among other destinations.

As for the 1956 Masters, he started the final round eight shots behind Ken Venturi.  In conditions so blustery only two players broke par, Burke posted a 1-under 71 for a one-shot victory over Venturi, who shot 80.  Later that year, Burke defeated Ted Kroll, 3 and 2, to win the PGA Championship.

--I’ve wanted to get this off my chest for a long time.  You know that Lee Trevino commercial for Arthritis Knee Pain Centers?  What drives me crazy is the script.

“Most people know me for winning six PGA Championships.”

The first time I heard that I was like, “No you didn’t.  Who wrote this?”

Lee Trevino won 29 PGA Tour events, including six majors…two PGAs, two U.S. Opens, and two British Opens.  He knows this.

So why did he let them write the script this way.  It should be: “Most people know me for winning 29 PGA Tour titles, including six majors.”

It sounds more impressive anyway! [And a split-second more.]

Stuff

--In the Australian Open…36-year-old top-seed Novak Djokovic made it to the quarterfinals Sunday (local time) for the 14th time in this event, and 58th in 77 career Grand Slam tournaments, tying Roger Federer for the most quarterfinals reached.

American Coco Gauff, the 4-seed, reached her first Aussie Open quarterfinal on Sunday as well.

No. 1 Iga Swiatek on the women’s side was eliminated in the third round.

--Mikaela Shiffrin picked up win No. 94 on Tuesday in a night slalom in Flachau, Austria, defeating her rival Petra Vhlova.  [That would be a pisser to go to a World Cup night race like this one, as long as your hotel was walking distance, as you stumble back to your room following the post-race partying that is legendary, so they say.]

But then on Saturday in a giant slalom in Jasna, Slovakia, about 10 miles from Vhlova’s hometown in the Tatra mountains, Petra suffered a season-ending knee injury during the first run.  That sucks.

Shiffrin finished second in the race to Sara Hector of Sweden.

Then Sunday, Shiffrin won the slalom at Jasna, win No. 95!  [Seventh of the season] She does have an outside shot at hitting 100 before the campaign wraps up late March.

On the Men’s side, we have a terrific, developing story.  Cyprien Sarrazin is a 29-year-old Frenchman whose only World Cup win coming into this season was in a race in 2017.

But now the dude has 4 wins...4…since Dec. 28, three of them downhills, including consecutive days, Friday and Saturday, this weekend in Kitzbuhel, Austria.  And, also in that period, he has two seconds in the downhill, Marco Odermatt winning both of those.

As in WTF?!  Who is this guy? [Girls, he looks like a freakin’ stud.]

--The New York Islanders fired coach Lane Lambert and replaced him with Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, a terrific move.  Roy was a 4-time Stanley Cup champion with Montreal, but last coached in the NHL in 2016 with Colorado.

He totally won the press conference, for all that matters, saying, “Our fan base is extremely important.  I want the fans to come to our games and be excited about our performance. I want our fans to walk in the street wearing that jersey and be so proud of that team. And that’s my objective.”

Islanders fans can indeed be as passionate as any in the sport.  The team is still very much in the playoff hunt, sixth in the Metropolitan division.

--Jimmie Johnson was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., Friday night, alongside crew chief Chad Knaus.

Donnie Allison, an original member of the “Alabama Gang,” was voted in on the Pioneer ballot, joining brother Bobby Allison and Red Farmer.  Also, Janet Guthrie, the first woman to race in both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, who got in as the Landmark Award winner for contributions to NASCAR.  I love this move.  Generations of young girls will learn Guthrie’s story and that’s all good.

As for Jimmie and Chad, all they did was team to win a record-tying seven Cup championships, including five straight, 2006-2010.

--Still sporadic, post-holiday play in the Premier League not worth reporting on.

--From John Cherwa / Los Angeles Times:

“The California Horse Racing Board was facing what could be its most consequential decision in its almost 90 years of existence. Will it try to save Northern California racing at lower odds for success and possibly putting Southern California in further peril with an outside chance it could work out for both?  Or will it follow Kahneman’s Theory and make the less risk-adverse decision and sacrifice the north in order to give the south a better chance of immediate survival?

“That was the question it was asked to make at Thursday’s marathon monthly meeting of the state regulatory agency in Sacramento. So, what did it do? It kicked the can down the road until March.”

Horse racing in California is in deep trouble, and that would be awful for the sport.

--Sports Illustrated, once considered the standard of sports journalism through its writing and photography, will lay off staff after a licensing deal fell through, the magazine’s publisher announced on Friday.

The publication’s union said the layoff could involve “possibly all” of the NewsGuild (sic) workers represented.  But SI senior writer Pat Forde disputed earlier reports that the entire staff was laid off, saying on social media, “There still is a website and a magazine. That said: Ugly, brutal day with many layoffs.” [I just checked…yes, there is still a website.]

In an email sent to staff Friday morning, the Arena Group, which operates the Sports Illustrated brand and SI related properties, said that Authentic Brands Group has revoked its marketing license.

The magazine’s union tweeted Friday that it would continue to fight for the publication of the magazine but that its future is now in the hands of the magazine’s owner, Authentic Brands Group.

In 2019, Meredith sold Sports Illustrated for $110 million to ABG, in turn agreeing with The Arena Group to publish SI in print and digital.  That deal was terminated after Arena missed a nearly $4 million payment less than a month ago, in effect breaking the licensing deal.

Sports Illustrated’s first issue was published on Aug. 16, 1954, and was a weekly publication until 2018. It has been a monthly since 2020.

SI’s long-form journalism quickly made it the most important sports publication in the country.  Weekly issues of SI, with stories from writers such as Dan Jenkins, Frank Deford and Gary Smith, were appointment reading for generations of sports fans. And of course there was the swimsuit issue.  [Cheryl Tiegs was my favorite cover…1975.]

“RIP one of the best magazines in history. Gone but never forgotten,” wrote Rick Reilly, who for years wrote the magazine’s famous “back page” column, a must read.

“It’s like Coca-Cola or Kleenex or Ford,” said Rick Telander, who wrote for SI for more than two decades.  “Sports Illustrated was just absolutely iconic.  I have an overall sense of time marching on into the new world, and hoping it isn’t a harbinger of all mass print journalism.  I’m hoping that this was just terrible management, which it seems it was.”

He added: “It’s sad for me.  It relegates to the scrap heap all the things we did, all my friends.  It’s just depressing.”

We all have our memories.  I’ve been a subscriber since the mid-60s, still am today, but I admit I’ve read very little of it recently.  While the history is of “long-form” journalism, the old SI had lots of good little 2-page pieces on the hot teams of the day, which was important in the pre-cable era, where we all saw limited games outside of our local area.  I mean that’s why the Baseball Game of the Week was such a big deal in the 60s and 70s, for example.  The NBA’s Sunday Game of the Week in the winter was another.

As for the covers, I had the foresight to save a bunch and later framed them, such as when the Mets won the World Series, Muhammad Ali, a few others.

If you’re old enough, you remember the famous cover of Tony Conigliaro after he had been beaned by Jack Hamilton.

I also remember a particular cover that I bring up with my friend Ken P. all the time.  “Astros in Orbit,” 1966, which had the double-play combination of Sonny Jackson and Joe Morgan.  It’s funny how something like this has stuck in my brain for almost 60 years, but I can’t remember where I parked!

Yes, the times have changed.  I thought USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan put it well the other day, paraphrasing.

‘Today, it’s about Pat McAfee and the idiocy of Aaron Rodgers, vs. the beauty of Frank Deford’s writing.’

--After Diamond Sports, owner of 18 local sports networks aligned with the Bally Sports Network, filed for bankruptcy in March 2022, they’ve been searching for investors. And now, as part of a restructuring agreement with Amazon, Diamond Sports may have found a savior.  As part of the deal, Amazon will be able to provide access to Diamond Sports’ content through Prime Video, according to various reports.

It's very complicated and includes a separation agreement Diamond has in place with Sinclair, which bought regional sports networks from the Walt Disney Co. in 2019 for approximately $10 billion.  Sinclair is paying Diamond Sports $495 million and will support their reorganization.

Amazon Prime Video will have the direct-to-consumer rights to MLB teams such as the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, and Milwaukee Brewers.

There is much more to this story but it makes my head spin.  The biggest issues, it appears, will come after the 2024 season, but Diamond currently has the broadcasting rights to 11 MLB teams, and MLB and Diamond were in discussions to create a deal that would include a 12th team – the Twins.

--The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. says it has sold a bottle of The Emerald Isle triple-distilled Irish single malt whiskey for $2.8 million to American whiskey collector Mike Daley. That surpasses the price tag on the previous recordholder, a bottle of The Macallan 1926, which went for $2.7 million at an auction held by Sotheby’s in November 2023.

Daley has a collection of several thousand bottles of Irish and American whiskies, and Scotch whiskeys, but he sees Irish whiskey on the rise.

I currently have 12 cans of Coors Light, which will be reduced to two by night’s end.  [Just kidding!  Sort of….]

--We note the passing of Mary Weiss, lead singer of the 1960s pop group The Shangri-Las, who died at the age of 75.

“Mary was an icon, a hero, a heroine, to both young men and women of my generation and of all generations,” Miriam Linna, of Norton Records, said in a statement.

The Shangri-Las were made up of two sets of sisters, and formed in Queens, New York.

They had two monster hits in 1964, amid the British Invasion, the #5 “Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand)” and the #1 “Leader of The Pack.”

In 1965, the group charted with the #18 “Give Him A Great Big Kiss” and #6 “I Can Never Go Home Anymore.”

By 1966, the hits had dried up and they split in 1968, Weiss later saying she disagreed with the idea that they were “tough.”

“If you look at the old tapes, I don’t think that word would even come up.  Maybe it was the boots,” she was quoted as saying in an interview.

But in that brief period, the Shangri-Las helped popularize the girl group era alongside the Ronettes.

RIP.

Top 3 songs for the week 1/18/69: #1 “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye)  #2 “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” (Diana Ross and The Supremes & The Temptations)  #3 “Soulful Strut” (Young-Holt Unlimited)…and…#4 “Crimson And Clover” (Tommy James and The Shondels)  #5 “Hooked On A Feeling” (B.J. Thomas)  #6 “Wichita Lineman” (Glen Campbell…in my all-time top ten…) #7 “For Once In My Life” (Stevie Wonder)  #8 “Touch Me” (The Doors)  #9 “Worst That Could Happen” (Brooklyn Bridge)  #10 “Son-Of-A Preacher Man” (Dusty Springfield… ‘A’ week…the New York Mets a month from spring training…little did its fans know what the next nine months would bring…but six days earlier, Joe Namath and the Jets had pulled off their own miracle…)

Winter Olympics Quiz Answers: 1) Last five sites…2006: Turin; 2010: Vancouver; 2014: Sochi (Booo Booo); 2018: Pyeongchang; 2022: Beijing (Booo Booo).  2) Only three nations with 100 gold medals…Norway, 148 (148-133 silver-124 bronze…405); USA, 113 (113-122-95…330); Germany, 102 (102-98-65…265)*.  3) 2026 site: Milan/Cortina, Italy…this one is important, attempting a new economic model that hopefully works.

*The Wiki entry has 267, but if you add 102+98+65, it’s 265!  I can’t believe something this important…and it is…is going unnoticed. The rest of their table is accurate.

Very brief Add-on that could be Monday evening, if not, by noon Tuesday, posted up top.  Awful week coming up for moi, though slight chance it may not be.  [See Jury Duty…as in if I’m called for a murder case, the guy will be guilty within 30 seconds so I can go home!  “Listen people, I have to work!  He’s guilty…now lets’ get out of here.”  This assumes I have been named ‘foreman.’]

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