---

Bar Chat

02/19/2024

Remembering Lefty Driesell

Add-on...posted early Tuesday a.m.

Daytona 500

William Byron won his first Daytona 500, 11th NASCAR Cup Series title overall, Monday, in a thrilling finish of the rain-delayed race, edging out Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, giving Rick Hendrick, the winningest team owner in NASCAR history, his ninth Daytona 500 trophy on the 40th anniversary of his first Cup win.

There were two big wrecks the final laps but the 26-year-old Byron, a rising star, squeaked through as the caution flag was thrown after he crossed the line barely ahead of Bowman. 

I liked what Joey Logano said about the race and the 500, getting caught up in a late crash, finishing 32nd, after leading 45 of the 200 laps.

“It’s speedway racing. It’s a lot of fun, until it sucks.”

College Basketball

New AP Poll (records thru Sunday)

1. UConn (62) 24-2 ...unanimous
2. Houston 22-3
3. Purdue 23-2
4. Arizona 20-5
5. Tennessee 19-6
6. Iowa State 20-5 ...highest ranking since Dec. 2015
7. Marquette 19-6
8. Duke 20-5
9. Kansas 20-6
10. North Carolina 20-6
11. Baylor 19-6
12. Illinois 19-6
13. Alabama 18-7
14. Auburn 20-6
15. Creighton 19-7
16. Dayton 21-4
17. Kentucky 18-7
18. Saint Mary’s 21-6
19. San Diego State 20-6
20. South Carolina 21-5
21. Washington State 20-6 ...first time in rankings since 2007-08
22. Colorado State 20-6
23. Texas Tech 18-7
24. Florida 18-7
25. BYU 18-7

Just two ACC teams, Virginia No. 26 if you carry out the votes.

--Last night a biggie in the Big 12, 2 Houston defeating 6 Iowa State, 73-65, Jamal Shead with 26 points.

--Wake Forest-Pitt, Tuesday, is huge for both, 8-6 in conference, as the Deacs can’t look ahead to Duke at home next Saturday.  They must win both or the season really is officially over in terms of the Big Dance.

--We had two games of local interest Sunday night after I posted.

Rutgers had won four straight to put itself back into the NCAA tournament conversation, barely, but then fell at Minnesota (16-9, 7-7), 81-70, season officially over for the Scarlet Knights, 14-11, 6-8.

And St. John’s (14-12, 6-9) blew a 19-point first-half lead, falling to Seton Hall (17-9, 10-5) 68-62.  The Johnnies were 23 of 68 from the field (33.8%), 6 of 25 from 3, turned it over 15 times, and committed a staggering 28 fouls.

Afterwards, Coach Rick Pitino went off on his team in such a harsh way, it frankly staggered local hoops fans and has some wondering if he is just going to quit at the end of the season.

The 71-year-old Hall of Famer bemoaned everything from his team’s lack of toughness and athleticism to St. John’s “shitty facilities” to a “lost” season of recruiting players via the portal.

“If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year,” Pitino told reporters.

Asked whether he had second thoughts on taking the job and not staying at Iona, Pitino said it wasn’t the program, but his players who were the problem.

Then he criticized the university’s basketball facilities.

“Do we have shitty facilities?  Yes, we do,” Pitino said. “But we’re doing something about that. But that’s not the reason we’re losing.  Having shitty facilities has nothing to do with not guarding.”

Pitino then singled out by name individual players for their lack of athleticism and toughness, and essentially, no one moves well “laterally.”

Pitino added that he recruited offensive-oriented players to St. John’s through the portal “at the last second,” which was indeed the case as us locals were following his process. He got a late start.

That strategy, he suggested, has come back to bite his team on the defensive end.

“We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling,” he said.  “For me, I’ve always enjoyed the first year, and I’m not gonna lie to you: This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime. This has been disappointing.”

And more: “We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited.  We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach.  It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.

“We had to put together a team at the last second.  We will never, ever, do that again.”

All eyes now on the Johnnies and how the players respond at Georgetown on Wednesday, which is a ‘W,’ but it’s the body language folks will be watching.

I thought it was great St. John’s got Pitino.  He was the coach for the moment, despite his age, tremendous energy (like Pete Carroll).  He’s a Hall of Famer for a reason, he’s “New York,” but no one expected him to do miracles his first year.  It was about year two and on...reestablish a once great program and hand it over to the right person, maybe his son.

I think we all were just shocked, and disappointed, how he ripped individual players in public...players who, by all accounts, are good kids.

So Monday, Pitino said he stands by the criticism he leveled at the team, and he insisted he “truly wasn’t ripping anybody.”

“I was pointing out exactly – in a monotone voice – why we lost,” he told Newsday. “I am not always calm and certainly not when I rip someone...I was not ripping anybody.

“I sometimes want my players to hear my words and read my words. That was my intention [Sunday].”

NBA

--The Brooklyn Nets got off to a solid 13-10 start this season, but then went 8-23 after, 21-33 overall, and Monday they fired coach Jacque Vaughn.  I mentioned last time the Nets had fallen 136-86 to the Celtics prior to the All-Star break and that was the final straw for GM Sean Marks.

Jacque Vaughn is a good guy, but this move needed to be made.  In parts of three seasons, Vaughn was 71-68 during the regular season and 0-8 in the playoffs.

--The NBA season starts back up Thursday after the break, and I have to admit, I literally didn’t watch a single moment of the All-Star festivities.  There was also zero reason to watch Sunday’s All-Star Game, which ended up 211-186, East, as the teams combined to shoot 168 3s, making 67.

Knicks fans have been spoiled this season because we have a very likable team, that also largely plays old-school basketball and not today’s modern game of just throwing it up from three, outrageous final scores, like 145-130, which is not entertaining in the least. 

Sunday night, after “60 Minutes,” I chose to watch the last two episodes of “The Sopranos,” because I’m headed shortly to Holsten’s in Bloomfield, where the final fade-to-black scene takes place.  Haven’t been there, and I’m going to have onion rings, which was what Tony had.

By the way, I had never rewatched the finale until the other day, and now I’ve rewatched it twice and love the ending as much as I did before.

NHL

--I was fixated on golf Sunday afternoon, but gave brief look-ins to the outdoor hockey game at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the Rangers taking on the Islanders, and it was really amazing to see 79,600 fans pack the place.  Great for the sport.  Weather was perfect, sunny and cold, though the game was delayed about 40 minutes at the start to allow the sun to leave the ice so that it wouldn’t melt, but otherwise, the players were highly complimentary of the conditions, which isn’t always the case with these outdoor games.

The fans also got their money’s worth, a spectacular 6-5 overtime win for the Rangers, who were down 4-1 in the second period before rallying.

Rangers star Artemi Panarin, who scored the game-winner, said he was practically tearing up at times during the game because the crowd was in such a frenzy...he said the emotions were overwhelming.

New York is suddenly on a seven-game winning streak,

MLB

The Lerner family announced Monday it is no longer exploring a sale of the Washington Nationals, Mark Lerner, the club’s managing principal owner, telling the Washington Post.

“No.  We have determined, our family has determined, that we are not going to sell the team,” Lerner said.  He said that the family came to the decision “a while ago.”

This comes after nearly two years of uncertainty for the franchise, which won the World Series in 2019, but has been in a painful rebuild ever since.

In April 2022, Lerner announced that his family would look into a sale of the team, saying it was an “exploratory process, so there is no set timetable or expectation of a specific outcome.”

Now, Lerner said, “Nothing has really changed.  We’ve just decided that it’s not the time or the place for it.  We’re very happy owning the team and bringing us back a ring one day.”

In 2006, the Lerner family paid $450 million to buy the club from MLB, which had moved it from Montreal to Washington in 2005.  Mark Lerner was given day-to-day control of the team in 2018 from father Ted Lerner, the real estate magnate.

Golf

--Going back to Sunday at Riviera, Will Zalatoris picked up his fifth career runner-up finish out of just 69 tournaments, one win.  But for his fourth outing after serious back surgery, it’s great to see him playing superbly already.

What we didn’t know the whole week was that Zalatoris was playing with a heavy heart, which he only revealed at the end of his final round.

When he stepped to the microphone for the press conference, he seemed very somber and then he shared the news.

“I didn’t say anything all week,” he said.  “I lost a family member on Thursday and...she was with me all week.  Pretty special to make the hole-in-one on Friday after I found out on Thursday.”

Zalatoris didn’t share any more details other than that it was very “unexpected.”  His family was not at Riviera because they were tending to the matter – and Zalatoris was going to join them soon – but he did say that he knows they’re proud of him for the way he fought late into the final round.

“Just shows you life’s short and appreciate the moments,” he said.  “How lucky I am to be out here.”

Stuff

--A zookeeper at a Nigerian university was killed by one of the lions he had been looking after for close to a decade, as reported by the BBC.  The man was attacked as he was feeing the lions, the school said.  His colleagues tried to save him but he was already fatally wounded.  The lion was put down.

The zookeeper, a veterinary technologist, had been “taking care of the lions since they were born on campus about nine years ago, but, tragically, the male lion killed the man who had been feeding them.”

Well, you know what they say about lions and tigers.  You think you know ‘em, until you don’t.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

-----

[Posted Sunday p.m.]

NCAA Men’s Basketball Quiz: 1) Name the eight schools to make 10 or more Final Fours.  2) Name the two schools with 5 titles, but less than 10 Final Fours.  Answers below.

College Basketball Review

--Since I last posted, we had only a few upsets.

Tuesday, 7 North Carolina (19-6, 11-3) lost at Syracuse (16-9, 7-7), as guards Judah Mintz and JJ Starling combined for 48 points.  Wake beat the ‘Cuse 99-70, but we can’t beat Carolina or Duke.  It just sucks.

21 Virginia (19-6, 10-4) suffered a loss at home to Pitt (16-8, 7-6), 74-63.  Wake heading to Charlottesville Saturday.

Wednesday, in an SEC biggie, 13 Auburn (20-5, 9-3) whipped, blasted, annihilated 11 South Carolina (21-4, 9-3), 101-61!  Goodness gracious.  Auburn was 36 of 59 from the field (61.0%), and 12 of 20 from 3 (60.0%).

--So, on to Saturday, and Wake Forest-Virginia was a noon game.  How would the Deacs do?

Drat!!!  I’m so freakin’ tired of this team, Deacs lose 49-47, another pathetic shooting effort, 19 of 55 from the field (34.5%), 5 of 21 from 3 (after going 6 for 26 against Duke in last Monday’s loss).  Since he suffered his right wrist injury, Cameron Hildreth is 3 of 24 from 3!  And he has missed a zillion layups.

And 21 UVA (20-6, 11-4) was an astounding 1 of 11 from the foul line, including missing its first ten.  I have never seen that.

In the end, another missed opportunity for Wake, who at 16-9, 8-6, doesn’t deserve to be in the tournament.  Hari-kari time.  J. Mac, send the sword.

--In other important ACC contests, 7 North Carolina (20-6, 12-3) rebounded with a 96-81 win over Virginia Tech (14-11, 6-8), Armando Bacot with 25 points and 12 rebounds, Harrison Ingram 12 points, 17 boards for the Tar Heels.

9 Duke (20-5, 11-3) defeated Florida State (13-12, 7-7) in Tallahassee, 76-67, as freshman Jared McCain had a spectacular 35 points (8 of 11 from 3).  He’s a first-rounder and could be the big star of the upcoming NCAA tournament.

Two other biggies in the ACC...Pitt (17-8, 8-6) has suddenly reeled off five straight to put itself in NCAA contention, whipping pathetic Louisville (8-18, 3-13), 86-59, as Blake Hinson went off for 41 points, 9 of 13 from 3.  Pitt heads to Winston-Salem on Tuesday to take on the Deacs.

And I thought North Carolina State was dead and buried after losing to Wake last Saturday, but they are back to 16-9, 8-6, with a huge win at Clemson (17-8, 7-7), 78-77.

The ACC now looks like this....

UNC 12-3
Duke 11-3
Virginia 11-4
Pitt 8-6
NC State 8-6
Wake 8-6
Clemson 7-7
FSU 7-7
Syracuse 7-8

It is highly likely the ACC gets only 4 bids, so who emerges from the pack?  And the 8-6, 7-7 teams are fighting for the fourth position in the conference to get the double-bye in the ACC tournament, which is critical.

Meanwhile, how good is No. 1 UConn?  Real good.  They blasted 4 Marquette (19-6, 10-4), 81-53 in Hartford, the Huskies (24-2, 14-1) with 24 assists. And I just saw this was the biggest blowout, 28 points, in a top-5 AP matchup...ever!  Just give UConn the trophy and let the rest play in a strengthened NIT.

It was a rare Saturday with no upsets in the top ten, but in the SEC....

LSU (13-12, 5-7) handed 11 South Carolina (21-5, 9-4) its second straight loss, winning 64-63 in Columbia.

And 22 Kentucky (18-7, 8-4) also picked up a big road win at 13 Auburn (20-6, 9-4), 70-59.

The SEC standings look like this....

Alabama 10-2
Tennessee 9-3
South Carolina 9-4
Auburn 9-4
Florida 8-4
Kentucky 8-4

--Ohio State fired men’s coach Chris Holtmann on Wednesday, the Buckeyes 14-11, 4-10 in the Big Ten.

Over the past two years, OSU is 30-30 with a 9-25 conference record.  They have lost 16 consecutive road games.

Holtmann was 137-86 overall in his six full seasons, 67-64 in the Big Ten.

Holtmann had four years remaining on his contract that ran through the 2027-28 season and will be owed the $12.8 million remaining on the deal.

So then what did interim coach Jake Diebler do today, the Buckeyes hosting No. 2 Purdue?  They freakin’ won it, 73-69, Purdue falling to 23-3, 12-3, one of the bigger upsets of the season.

Zach Edey had 22 points and 13 rebounds for Purdue, but six turnovers, which was all the entire Ohio State team had, and there’s your difference, because the Boilermakers were 20 of 20 from the foul line.  Virginia should be watching the film of that. “Oh, that’s how you do it.”

By the way, I did see the release of the first bracket seedings, top-4, and it’s just not a story. It’s all about the bubble list.

--Caitlin Clark, scored a school-record, and career-high, 49 points in Iowa’s 106-89 win over Michigan, Thursday, surpassing Kelsey Plum to move into first place in the NCAA scoring record book.  She is on pace to break Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667 points, set from 1967-70, but women’s basketball historians and junkies are targeting 3,649. That’s the total by Lynette Woodard, who racked up the total while playing at Kansas from 1977-81.  That was before the NCAA ran women’s college sports, so Woodard’s record is not in the NCAA record books.

Clark sits at 3,569, with at least six games remaining, four regular season, the Big Ten tournament, and the NCAA tournament.

--We note the passing of Lefty Driesell, 92, who died Saturday.  What a colorful character he was.

Driesell is the only coach with 100 victories at four Division I colleges – Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State.  Broadcaster Billy Packer called him “the greatest program builder in the history of college basketball.”

Davidson 176-65, .730
Maryland 348-159, .686
JMU 159-111, .589
Georgia State 103-59, .636

786-394, .666

He also took all four schools to the NCAA Tournament.

By the time he retired in 2003, his 786 victories in Division I ranked behind only Bob Knight, Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith.

But it was after his stint at Davidson, 1960-69, that Driesell headed to College Park, Md., to take over the Terrapins, declaring that his team, coming off an 8-18 season, “has the potential to be the UCLA of the East.”  [John Wooden was in the midst of a run that would see the Bruins win 10 national titles in 12 years.]

But while Driesell led his team to ACC and NIT titles (back when this one was big), he never made it to a Final Four.

That said, “When you talk about legends and icons in the game of college basketball you’d better include one Charles ‘Lefty’ Driesell,” Dick Vitale told Sports Illustrated in 2017.

Driesell developed a reputation as one of college basketball’s greatest recruiters, with seven of his Maryland players – Len Bias, Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, John Lucas, Brad Davis, Buck Williams and Albert King – selected in the first round of the NBA draft.  McMillen went on to become a Rhodes scholar and congressman; Elmore became a lawyer and television commentator; and Lucas became a head coach in the NBA.

Driesell had a temper, known for his sideline antics, and he was angered by the perception he wasn’t a good teacher of the game, and more of a huckster.  He used to repeatedly tell his critics, “I can coach.”

But there was that failure to get to a Final Four.  And then his career cratered, temporarily it would turn out, with the cocaine overdose of star player Len Bias in 1986.  Maryland dismissed him, and it took him two years to get back in the game with James Madison.

Long-time Maryland fans, however, will remember the 1973-74 season.  Back at a time when only one team from the ACC advanced to the NCAA tournament, the Terps, led by Elmore, Lucas, McMillen and Maurice Howard, beat Duke and North Carolina in the first two rounds of the ACC tournament, and then squared off against North Carolina State for the conference championship and the bid.

NC State, led by David Thompson and 7-foot-4 center Tom Burleson, was No. 1 in the country.  Maryland was No. 4.

And in one of the all-time great college basketball games, the Wolfpack held on to win, 103-100, in overtime. [A game played before the shot clock and three-point shot.]

Driesell was criticized after for failing to give his starters a breather, and with seconds remaining in OT, an exhausted Lucas missed a free throw and then made an errant pass.

But he also went to the N.C. State bus after to congratulate Wolfpack coach Norm Sloan and his team.

“I’m proud of all of you,” Driesell said.  “You played a great game to beat my team tonight.  Now you better go and win the national championship.”

The Wolfpack then defeated seven-time defending champion UCLA in double-overtime in the Final Four, 80-77, and topped Marquette, 76-64, to win the title.

“We wouldn’t have been at the Final Four if we hadn’t escaped that night,” Sloan told SI in 1999.  “I tell you, it was a tragedy a team of Maryland’s caliber wasn’t able to participate” in the NCAA tournament.

Kelyn Soonig / Washington Post

“Throughout his coaching career, Mr. Driesell was exceptionally close to his players and earned the respect of his peers. He stayed in touch with his players long after they left campus and reportedly paid the tuition of one former player seeking to complete his college degree.

“In 1974, the NCAA presented Mr. Driesell its Award of Valor for his actions a year earlier in Bethany Beach, Del.  He and two fishing partners saw flames coming out of a nearby resort complex, broke down the door and rescued at least 10 children from the burning building.

“‘Don’t call me a hero,’ Mr. Driesell said, according to the Virginian-Pilot.”

On the other hand, when a female student at Maryland accused a player, Herman Veal, of sexual misconduct, Driesell came under fire when the student said he had pressured her to drop the complaint, sparking outrage from the campus women’s center.

“I don’t care about the women’s center,” Driesell said.  “I’m a men’s center. In my mind, Herman Veal is the victim.”

And then there was the awful, tragic death of Bias, days after he was the second player chosen in the NBA draft. I’ve written gobs on the guy over the years.  He was LeBron before LeBron.  He would have been spectacular, a man among boys.

But Driesell, according to reports at the time, allegedly told an assistant coach to clean up the room where Bias used the cocaine.  Driesell adamantly said he did not tell the assistant to do that and told the coach nothing should be disturbed.  A grand jury investigation cleared Driesell of any wrongdoing.

It didn’t help Driesell and Maryland’s cause, however, when it was discovered that five of the Terrapins’ 12 players, including Bias, had flunked out of school after the spring semester in 1986.

Even though Driesell had just signed a 10-year contract, Maryland chancellor John B. Slaughter said the university needed “a greater commitment to the development of the young men playing in the program.”

Driesell was forced off the sideline and reassigned to an administrative job, only to reemerge at James Madison in 1988.

Years later, after Maryland won the 2002 NCAA men’s basketball title under coach Gary Williams, finally achieving what Driesell had set out to do decades earlier, Williams received a letter in his office.

“Gary, YOU have made Maryland the UCLA of the East. Congratulations.”

Signed, “Lefty.”

NBA

--I am not an NBA All-Star Game fanatic, to say the least, but kind of like the overall break as a fan.  And my Knicks sure needed a break.  Once 32-17, they lost 5 of 6, their last four, including Wednesday’s 118-100 loss at Orlando (30-25).

The Knicks have been decimated by injuries like New York fans have seriously never seen before.  So the week-long break was critical and some of the players will be back when they face the Sixers next Thursday in Philadelphia.

[New York filed a protest with the league regarding last Monday’s last-second loss in Houston, after the referees admitted they screwed up the end of regulation, but no way the Knicks win it.  The NBA has only upheld one protest since 1982, Dec. 2007, when Heat center Shaquille O’Neal was ruled to have six fouls when he only had been assessed five.]

Also, last Wednesday, I can’t help but note Boston (43-12) routed the Nets (21-33), 136-86!  Yikes.

So entering the break…Eastern Conference standings….

Boston 43-12…--
Cleveland 36-17…6
Milwaukee 35-21…8.5
Knicks 33-22…10
Philadelphia 32-22…10.5
Indiana 31-25…12.5
Miami 30-25…13
Orlando 30-25…13

The Bucks are 3-7 under Doc Rivers.  I, like many others who follow the game, wondered why the hell Milwaukee brought Doc in.

Western Conference

Minnesota 39-16…--
Oklahoma City 37-17…1.5
L.A. Clippers 36-17…2
Denver 36-19…3
Phoenix 33-22…6
New Orleans 33-22…6
Dallas 32-23…7
Sacramento 31-23…7.5
L.A. Lakers 30-26…9.5
Golden State 27-26…11

Golf Balls

--At The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, the weather held out long enough, and with a cut after two rounds down to 51 players, and with heavy rain in the forecast for Sunday (at least that was the forecast early in the week), we had the following leaderboard after 36 holes….

Patrick Cantlay -13
Luke List -8
Jason Day -8
Mackenzie Hughes -8

But the story Friday was Tiger Woods, who withdrew due to illness, the PGA Tour announced.  PGA Tour rules official Mark Dusbabek said Woods’ illness is not related to his ankle or bank.

Rob McNamara of TGR Ventures said Woods began experiencing “flu-like symptoms” Thursday night.

“Woke up this morning, they were worse than the night previous.  He had a little bit of a fever and was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy,” McNamara said, via the PGA Tour. “Ultimately the doctors are saying he’s got some – potentially some type of flu and that he was dehydrated.

“He’s been treated with an IV bag and he’s doing much, much better and he’ll be released on his own here soon.”

An ambulance pulled up to the locker room, where Woods stayed for over 45 minutes, before getting into the passenger seat of an SUV and driving off.

Tiger had shot a 1-over par during the first round, admitting his “back was spasming” and “locking up” during the final holes on Thursday.  Tiger said he hoped to “clean it up” Friday.

He’s the tournament host, so would he stick around?  [Nope...at least not that I saw.]

Since Tiger crashed his SUV at high speed the day after the 2021 Genesis Invitational, he’s played in just six 72-hole PGA Tour events and finished two of them – with three withdrawals and a missed cut.

As the New York Post’s Mark Cannizzaro put it:

“Woods looks like an aging star who’s trying to convince himself he can still win – even though he hasn’t won since his historic 2019 Masters victory.”

Woods was playing with Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland.  Woodland said after, “I saw it, he obviously wasn’t himself, just didn’t look right.  I saw that before the round started.  It sucks.  Obviously, everything’s better with him there and for him for his first tournament back and he couldn’t come out and finish the way he wanted to, that sucks for all of us.”

[Woodland, coming off brain surgery in September, made his first cut this weekend.  Talk about a guy to root for this year.]

Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth was DQ’d for signing an incorrect scorecard on Friday. He had signed for a 3 on the par-3 4th hole but actually made a bogey 4.  It’s his responsibility to check to make sure all of the scores are correct.  He was -3 (66-73) and would have made the cut.

Will Zalatoris, T6 at -6, aced the par-3 14th, with both he and his caddie, Joel Stock, winning cars.  As golf fans know, if you’re going to win a car, the Genesis Invitational is as good as it gets.

Zalatoris gets a Genesis GV80 SUV, while Stock receives a Genesis Electrified GV70.

But when I watched the video of the shot and the reaction, Stock gave Zalatoris a huge bear hug and I’m thinking, ‘Oh no, that’s his back!’, Zalatoris having had serious back surgery that knocked him out the second half of 2023.

--Among those missing the cut were JT, Wyndham Clark and Matthew Fitzpatrick.

--So heading into the final round….

Cantlay -14
Xander Schauffele -12
Zalatoris -12…Go Deacs!
List -11
Harris English -10
Day -10

And on the back nine we had a five-way tie for the lead....

Cantlay -14...thru 11
Schauffele -14...11
Hideki Matsuyama -14...13
Zalatoris -14...12
List -14...12

Zalatoris birdies 13 to go to -15....

But Matsuyama hits the two best back-to-back shots you’ll ever see...his approach on the par-4 15th, and then his tee shot on the par-3 16th, both within two freakin’ feet!  Hideki goes to -16....

Seriously, if you didn’t see it, they were carbon copy shots.

Matsuyama, seeking win No. 9 on the PGA Tour, birdies the par-5 17th, -17, and it’s a wrap.  [Zalatoris bogeyed 15 to go to -14.]

It all happened so suddenly...A 62!  One off the course record.  And there is your Masters favorite, already having a Green Jacket.

Great stuff!!!

Matsuyama -17 ...wins $4 million in this signature event
Zalatoris -14 ...awesome, Dude! ...just 4th tournament since surgery
List -14
Schauffele -13
Cantlay -13
Adam Hadwin -13...65

--Back to Tiger, in his press conference on Wednesday, Woods raved about Strategic Sports Group, the new partners of the PGA Tour.  “The consortium that they have at SSG, the partners that they have that have come together to be a part of this group, is quite remarkable to be honest with you in the sports industry,” he said.  “They’re unbelievable leaders. At a time that we need great leadership going forward, this elicits that.”

Woods also endorsed the idea of an eventual reunion with LIV golfers.  “At the end of the day, we’re trying to provide the best entertainment,” he said. “In order to do that, you have to have the best players play.”  He added, “We’re looking into all the different models for pathways back” for the LIV players, trying to decipher “what it means for the players who’ve stayed,” mulling “varying degrees of ideas” and engaging in “daily, weekly emails and talks about this, and what this looks like going forward.”

As for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Woods said, “Ultimately, we would like to have PIF be a part of our tour and a part of our product.”  Tiger said he hasn’t met with anyone with the PIF, that he had only a vague sense from the PIF’s “representatives” about their ultimate wishes and, “I don’t know if it’s good or bad; it’s an ongoing, fluid process.”

--It takes a few days for the official television ratings to come out, and I was curious to see a comparison of last week’s Saturday LIV finale in Vegas, and the third round of the WM Phoenix Open that day.  [Sports Media Watch]

WM Phoenix Open...1.665 million viewers
LIV...297,000

Daytona 500

Yes, this is the rare sport that starts a season with its Super Bowl, but alas it was rained out today. They’ll go for it tomorrow, Monday.

I give NASCAR a ton of credit for making the decision early Sunday morning and not forcing fans to sit in the rain awaiting a decision on whether the race would proceed.

Sports fans now have something to watch Monday afternoon.  Rain in the forecast in the morning but then should clear.

Semi-retired, 48-year-old Jimmie Johnson just made the field in one of the two qualifying races Thursday night.  While he’s racing a limited schedule this year, he had never failed to qualify for a race, and missing the biggest would have been a blemish on his record, even though he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame just last month.

MLB

--Spring training is underway, and not a lot of news before games actually start next week.  And then you’re worried about the pitchers and hearing something like, “Joe Blow left after two innings of a scheduled three-inning stint due to a little elbow soreness,” that then turns into Tommy John surgery and fans of Joe Blow utter their fist F-word of the season.

But for Mets fans, it’s really about Pete Alonso.  I’m in the camp that wants to trade the slugger for prospects (high-end prospects, that is, particularly pitching), rather than signing this Scott Boras client to an 8-year, $240 million contract extension, or much higher.

I like Pete, but he had the most overrated 46 home run, 118 RBI season you’ll ever see last year and I just picture more of the same.  Batting average still matters…and .217 doesn’t cut it.  I know multiple times last summer, Ken P. (Phil W., J. Mac) and I were exchanging “F’n Pete”s more than you’d expect from a guy with 192 homers in 4 ½ seasons.

I bring this up because Alonso spoke on the contract issue for the first time at camp on Saturday and said there have been no discussions as yet.  The Mets’ new GM David Stearns acted the other week like the Mets and Boras wouldn’t talk until after the season, fully expecting Boras and Alonso to explore the free agent market.

Which means if the Mets are going nowhere at the trade deadline, Pete is gone.

But should they trade him now?  Does he have more value once teams see what they really have in camp?

Ah, it’s a great time of year…it’s Bar Chat, is what it is.

--We note the passing of former pitcher Don Gullett, 73, who died Wednesday, cause unknown.

Gullett was one of those classic cases where modern sports medicine may have saved his sterling career, though the rotator cuff surgery he underwent in 1978 is not an easy injury even today to come back from.

Gullett was a sterling 109-50, 3.11 ERA, in a career spanning 1970-78, the first seven seasons with Cincinnati, where he won World Series rings with the Big Red Machine in 1975-76, and then he picked up a third ring the following season with the Yankees after signing as a free agent, but he was out of baseball a year later, age 27!

Gullett had seasons of 16-6, 18-8, 15-4, and 14-4, but after 1974, never made more than 23 starts in a single campaign.

“Don Gullett, the best athlete and competitor I ever saw or played with!  He will be missed,” Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench posted on X on Wednesday.

--Commissioner Rob Manfred announced he will step down after his term ends in January 2029. I just hope I’m alive then.

--In College Baseball, No. 1 Wake Forest started the season 3-0 with wins over Fordham, Illinois, and Akron.  I actually followed the live box score for all three.  That’s kind of sick, this early in the CB season. [Gregg R., classmate, is my designated analyst for the season again.]

Premier League

In action this weekend, Saturday, Liverpool beat Brentford 4-1; Arsenal blasted Burnley 5-0 (after annihilating West Ham 6-0 last week); Aston Villa defeated Fulham 2-1; my Tottenham Spurs suffered a terrible home loss to the Wolves, 2-1, in terms of their Champions League hopes; and Man City managed only a draw at home with Chelsea, 1-1, which could be devastating for City’s quest to win another title.

Today, Manchester United beat Luton Town 2-1 to stay in the Champions League hunt.

Standings after 24/25 of 38…played – points….

1. Liverpool…25 – 57
2. Arsenal…25 – 55
3. Man City…24 – 53 ...game in hand
4. Aston Villa...25 – 49 ...Champions League line
5. Tottenham...25 – 47
6. Man U...25 – 44

17. Luton Town...24 – 20 ...relegation line
18. Everton...24 – 19*
19. Burnley...25 – 13
20. Sheffield...25 – 13

*Recall, Everton suffered a 10-point penalty earlier in the season.

Stuff

--The San Francisco 49ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks just days after losing the Super Bowl to the Chiefs.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan had told reporters at his end-of-year news conference on Tuesday, “I expect all our coaches to be back.”

And then he fired Wilks the next day.  He was DC just one season, after replacing DeMeco Ryans, who was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator before accepting the Houston Texans’ head coaching position last January.  So, Wilks’ firing means the 49ers will be on their third defensive coordinator in as many seasons.

Top 3 songs for the week 2/19/72:  #1 “Without You” (Nilsson)  #2 “Let’s Stay Together” (Al Green)  #3 “Hurting Each Other” (Carpenters)…and…#4 “Precious And Few” (Climax)  #5 “Never Been To Spain” (Three Dog Night)  #6 “Down By The Lazy River” (The Osmonds)  #7 “American Pie” (Don McLean...you wouldn’t believe how popular this song is in Ireland...)  #8 “Joy” (Apollo 100 featuring Tom Parker…awful…)  #9 “The Lions Sleeps Tonight” (Robert John)  #10 “Everything I Own” (Bread…B week…)

NCAA Men’s Basketball Quiz Answers: 1) Eight schools with 10 or more Final Fours….

North Carolina…21 (6 titles)
UCLA…19 (11)
Kentucky…17 (8)
Duke…17 (5)
Kansas…16 (4)
Ohio State…11 (1)
Louisville…10 (3)
Michigan State…10 (2)

2) Two schools with five titles and less than 10 Final Fours: Indiana…8 (5); UConn…6 (5).

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.

***As I noted in that other column I do, the one I sign...this week marks 25 years for StocksandNews and Bar Chat.  Any financial support would be greatly appreciated.

Joe Blow

---