[Posted Sunday PM after Golf…]
MLB Quiz: Name the eight active hitters who enter the new season with at least 350 home runs. Answer below.
College Basketball
–We had some big games going back to last Tuesday…No. 1 Michigan (25-1, 15-1) defeated 7 Purdue (21-5, 11-4) 91-80.
9 Nebraska (22-4, 11-4) lost again, this time on the road at Iowa (19-7, 9-6) 57-52.
16 North Carolina (20-6, 8-5) fell to North Carolina State (19-8, 10-4) in Raleigh, 82-58! The Tar Heels shot just 5 of 33 from three (15%), while the Wolfpack were 9 of 20 from beyond the arc and committed just four turnovers.
In another biggie in the ACC, SMU (18-8, 7-6) solidified its NCAA hopes, 95-85 over 21 Louisville (19-7, 8-5), Boopie Miller with 23 points and nine assists for the Mustangs.
But then there was 13 Texas Tech (19-7, 9-4) which fell at Arizona State (14-12, 5-8) 72-67, with the Red Raiders suffering a potentially devastating blow when star JT Toppin, late in the second half, drove to the basket before going down in a heap, holding his right leg. The cinch first-team All-American was averaging nearly 22 points and 11 rebounds per game.
We then learned Toppin has a torn ACL, out for the season. Just awful.
Wednesday…Creighton (14-13, 8-8) pulled off a big upset at 5 UConn (24-3, 14-2) 91-84.
23 BYU (19-7, 7-6) continued its late-season swoon, falling at 4 Arizona (24-2, 11-2) 75-68.
And Wake Forest (14-12, 5-8) won its third straight, this one at home against a solid Clemson team (20-7, 10-4) 85-77.
Friday…22 Miami (OH) moved to 27-0, 14-0, with a 91-77 win over Bowling Green (16-12, 7-8).
Saturday…more upsets and another major reshuffling in the top ten coming up on Monday. No. 1 Michigan (25-2) fell to 3 Duke (25-2) 68-63 in Washington, D.C., Cam Boozer with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Blue Devils, who outrebounded the Wolverines 41-28, while Michigan was just 6 of 25 from three.
And 4 Arizona (25-2, 12-2) completed a bounce-back week with a 73-66 win over 2 Houston (23-4, 11-3), the Cougars second straight defeat after falling to Iowa State. So, Duke is likely to be the new No. 1.
5 UConn (25-3, 15-2) rebounded from the Creighton loss to beat Villanova (21-6, 12-4) on the road, 73-63.
And the aforementioned 6 Iowa State (23-4, 10-4) lost at 23 BYU (20-7, 8-6) 79-69, a huge win for the struggling Cougars as AJ Dybantsa had himself a game…29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
In other contests…Cincinnati (16-12, 8-7) pulled off a big road win, taking out 8 Kansas (20-8, 10-5) as the Jayhawks’ mysterious freshman star, Darryn Peterson was just 1 of 7 from three (17 points in all).
Hoops fans wonder what’s up with Peterson, who has played in only 16 of 27 games. As in the probable top five pick in the upcoming NBA Draft is now being questioned over his desire to play the game.
9 Nebraska (23-4, 12-4) whipped Penn State (11-17, 2-15) 87-64.
UCLA (18-9, 10-6) had a big win at home against 10 Illinois (22-6, 13-4), 95-94 in overtime. The Bruins, who were coming off two rough road losses to Michigan and Michigan State, trailed the Illini 33-10 early before staging the huge comeback.
13 Texas Tech (20-7, 10-4), sans JT Toppin, whipped hapless Kansas State (11-16, 2-12) 100-72.
14 Virginia (24-3, 12-2) had a big win over Miami (21-6, 10-4) 86-83.
16 North Carolina (21-6, 9-5) beat Syracuse (15-13, 6-9) on the road, 77-64.
17 St. John’s (22-5, 15-1) continued to roll in the Big East, 81-52 over Creighton (14-14, 8-9).
Elsewhere…Rutgers (11-16, 4-12) fell to Minnesota (13-14, 6-10) 80-61. Seton Hall (19-9, 9-8) picked up a needed win, albeit an ugly one, 51-47 over Georgetown (13-14, 5-11), despite The Hall shooting 0 for 18 from three (you’re reading that right). The Hoyas shot just 15 of 55 from the field (27%).
And so much for Wake Forest’s win streak, the Deacs (14-13, 5-9) losing at Virginia Tech (18-10, 7-8) 82-63. Wake started out 4-for-4 from three, and finished 6 for 30. Eegads.
—The NCAA Tournament expansion talks are on hold. There’s a chance the 2027 tourney could feature a larger bracket, but NCAA senior vice president Dan Gavitt said talks will be halted and that an answer will not come until at least after the 2026 tournament. That announcement came shortly after NCAA president Charlie Baker said he wants to see the tournament expand beyond its current 68-team format.
Winter Olympics
–Before the Milan Cortina Games started, my personal goal was to watch Lindsey Vonn in the downhill, Mikaela Shiffrin in the slalom, Ilia Malinin and the U.S. women in figure skating all ‘live,’ while waiting to see what happened with the men’s and women’s hockey teams…and that was accomplished.
For Team USA, the Games started out in devastating fashion for the high-profile figures that NBC had promoted ahead of time, Vonn and Malinin crashing and falling.
But what a week we just had, with Mikaela Shiffrin, Alysa Liu, and the U.S. women’s hockey team coming through in the clutch, all in spectacular fashion. It was outstanding stuff. NBC had to be ecstatic, ratings for the whole two weeks said to be great, as all are in agreement, starting with the Paris Summer Games, the Olympics are back after dull affairs in South Korea and Beijing, and the Covid-mess with the Tokyo Games. L.A. in 2028 will be ginormous…with this summer’s World Cup also capturing billions of eyes around the globe.
For the U.S. women’s hockey team, they trailed Canada in the gold medal game 1-0 with just over two minutes to play in regulation when veteran captain Hillary Knight leveled the score with a historic goal – one that made her the United States’ all-time leading scorer in Olympic competition. That led to Megan Keller delivering a legendary goal to put Team USA on top in a 2-1 thriller.
Alysa Liu then followed about an hour later with a performance on ice for the ages, winning the first individual American Olympic gold medal in women’s free skate since Sarah Hughes in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Games; and the first podium finish for an American woman in 20 years. Liu, who retired at age 16 after the Beijing Games, staged a comeback we’ll be talking about for a long time and the example it sets for young girls in particular.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai won the silver and bronze. And kudos to American Amber Glenn, who was 13th after the short program, but nailed her free skate and for a long time appeared headed to the podium before she ended up a highly respectable fifth.
Back to Wednesday and Mikaela Shiffrin, no athlete, following Ilia Malinin, had more pressure on them than Shiffrin entering Wednesday’s slalom after her disastrous start to the Games in the Alpine combined and then the giant slalom.
Shiffrin had won 7 of the 8 World Cup slalom races this season, finishing second in the other, and she came through in historic fashion.
Leading after the first run, Shiffrin blew away the field with a strong second run that gave her a massive 1.5 second advantage in winning her third career gold medal, more than any other U.S. alpine skier, and her first podium finish since her gold in the giant slalom in 2018 in South Korea. [She also picked up a silver medal in the Alpine combined in Pyeongchang.] The 12 years between Shiffrin’s slalom golds is the largest gap ever between individual gold medals in the same event at the Winter Olympics.
Whether fair or not, Shiffrin solidified her legacy forever as the greatest female alpine skier in history, and, frankly, the greatest skier of all time, period. Her 108 wins on the World Cup circuit leads second-place skier, Swede Ingemar Stenmark, by a wide margin, as he retired in 1989 with 86 wins.
–I have to go back to Monday night and congratulate American Elana Meyers Taylor, who had come as close as humanly possible to Olympic gold without winning it.
She’d competed in both two-woman bobsled and monobob, racking up three silvers and two bronzes, more than once missing the top of the podium by fractions of a second.
But Monday, Meyers Taylor, a 41-year-old mother of two young children, set a record as the oldest Winter Olympic champion in an individual event. Her 16-year search for Olympic glory had taken her to Vancouver, Sochi, Pyeongchang, and Beijing…and then Milan Cortina.
–Norway picked up a 17th gold medal in the Games on Friday, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal in the 15-km mass start biathlon – giving Norway the record for most gold medals won by a nation at a single Winter Olympics.
Norway had set the record at the 2022 Beijing Games with 16.
And then Norway’s spectacular Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo completed his historic gold medal sweep of the men’s cross-country skiing events on Saturday by winning his sixth race, setting the record for the most golds by one athlete in a single Winter Olympics, breaking the nearly 50-year record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
All of Heiden’s wins were in individual races and two of Klaebo’s have come in team events, so Heiden’s individual wins mark still stands.
But make it 18 for Team Norway.
And the U.S. ends up with a record 12…the last one this morning, eastern time, in the U.S.-Canada men’s hockey final…a truly pulsating affair that the U.S. won, as did the U.S. women, 2-1 in overtime, the New Jersey Devils’ Jack Hughes with the game-winner.
Any one watching this great game, however, knows the U.S. is getting silver were it not for the heroics of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (11 seasons with Winnipeg), who stopped 41 of the 42 shots he faced, including the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Devon Toews in the third period, then minutes later denying Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway – something he also did to Connor McDavid earlier.
For Canada, just a brutal defeat to their archrivals, Sidney Crosby unable to suit up due to his knee injury suffered in the competition.
Just as Alysa Liu will inspire a new generation of girls to take up figure skating, and the U.S. women’s hockey team will get girls into the sport, thus will this U.S. men’s edition, the first to take gold since the “Miracle on Ice” this very day in Lake Placid 46 years ago, get a new generation of boys to take up a terrific sport.
Lastly, it was very touching how the U.S. men honored the late Johnny Gaudreau, his wife, children, and parents in the stands.
NBA
—The NBA season restarted Thursday following the All-Star break, and at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks (35-21) faced off against the first-place Pistons (41-13) and for a third time this season, Detroit whipped the Knicks, 126-111.
The Piston demolished the Knicks by 31 points on Jan. 5 and 38 on Feb. 6. They are thus plus-84 in their three games against the Knickerbockers.
Cade Cunningham was brilliant for Detroit; 42 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds. As I noted after the Feb. 6 blowout, the Pistons just play terrific defense against us, and Thursday, they were even missing Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, who were serving their suspensions from the Hornets brawl.
As Knicks fans, it’s all about last postseason, and the Pistons being out for revenge for falling to New York in six games.
Obviously, us Knicks fans are deeply concerned as both gear up for this season’s playoffs. Detroit has our number.
But the Knickerbockers (36-21) had a terrific bounce-back win at MSG Saturday night, 108-106 over the Rockets (34-21), despite trailing by 18 points early in the fourth.
—The NBA is grappling with the tanking issue, and Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly informed all 30 general managers that the NBA will adopt rule changes to combat tanking, with several possible solutions on the table after league discussions.
Silver had to act after tanking became the biggest storyline of the season and dominated the conversation All-Star weekend. Suns owner Matt Ishiba called for “massive changes” as tanking has become more blatant than ever.
MLB
—In a tumultuous week for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, union chief Tony Clark resigned after an internal investigation revealed an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law – a union employee – with players debating later in the day who should take over his job on an interim basis. The timing, to say the least, was awful, given the looming shutdown next December when the current collective bargaining agreement expires.
Detroit Tigers Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, a member of the MLBPA executive subcommittee, however, said, “I don’t think it has any impact on negotiating. Bruce (Meyer) has been our lead negotiator. He’s done it in the past. Although Tony has been the face of the PA in terms of negotiating, I’m still as confident as ever in Bruce and everyone else that we’ve got behind him.”
Meyer, who has been the MLBPA’s lead negotiator, was then voted unanimously Wednesday by the players to be their interim executive director.
Meyer has been MLB’s public enemy since he joined the union in 2018. He frequently has clashed on even small agenda items with MLB, which has accused him of being bad for baseball.
Meyer, 64, is considered the union’s most fierce litigator since the days of Don Fehr and Gene Orza, and once again Wednesday expressed his deep resentment towards MLB’s hopes for a salary cap, believing that a lockout Dec. 1 is inevitable when the CBA expires.
“A lockout is all but guaranteed at the end of the agreement,” Meyer said Wednesday. “The league has pretty much said that. Their strategy in bargaining has always been to put as much pressure on players as they can to try and create divisions and cracks among our membership.
“It never worked. I don’t think it will ever work.”
MLB players struck for 7 ½ months in 1994-95 to fight off a cap proposal, a structure used by the NFL, NBA and NHL.
“We don’t believe in a system that’s basically a zero-sum game that says ‘If we pay you, we’ve got to take that out of the pocket of another player,’” Meyer said Thursday after meeting with Milwaukee Brewers players. “That’s how the other systems work.”
–The Minnesota Twins, in the midst of a massive teardown that started last season, lost quality starter Pablo Lopez for the season after a “significant tearing to the UCL” of his right elbow, requiring major reconstructive surgery. Lopez was entering the third year of a four-year, $73.5 million contract. He has a 3.68 ERA in his three seasons with the Twins.
–And we note the passing of Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski, who died Friday at the age of 89.
Mazeroski played from 1956-72 in the big leagues, all with the Pirates, batting .260, 138 home runs and 853 RBIs, which were solid numbers for a second basemen in those days, but he got into the Hall of Fame, through the Veterans Committee in 2001, because of his fielding (8 Gold Gloves, with Bill James calling him the game’s greatest defensive player at his position), and one famous moment, Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
The Yankees would outscore the Pirates 55-27, 38-3 in the three games they won, Whitey Ford shutting out the Pirates twice in Games 3 and 6.
But there was Pittsburgh, Game 7 at Forbes Field, Mazeroski having hit a two-run homer in Game 1 of a 6-4 victory, and a two-run double in Game 5, a 5-2 win, and then he saved his biggest moment for the finale.
In a game the Yankees led 7-4 in the eighth, the Pirates scored 5 in the bottom of the inning, aided in part by a bad-hop double-play grounder that struck Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat. But the Yankees tied it up in the ninth, 9-9.
Yankee manager Casey Stengel had Ralph Terry on the mound for the bottom of the ninth, facing Mazeroski, up first, and on the second pitch, Maz blasted it over the brick wall in left, and all of Pittsburgh erupted with joy.
In my home I have a historic George Silk photo of the moment. It’s taken from the top of the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning, students on the observation level outside looking down on Forbes Field, transistor radios in hand the moment Mazeroski wins it.
ESPN has called it the greatest home run in major league history; the first time a World Series had ended on a homer.
Mickey Mantle would sob on the plane ride home, insisting the better team had lost. Whitey Ford was furious with manager Stengel for using him in Games 3 and 6 and making him unavailable to start a Game 7. Stengel would be fired five days later.
Singer Bing Crosby, a co-owner of the Pirates in those days, was afraid he’d jinx his team so he listened to the game with friends on shortwave radio from across the Atlantic, in Paris. His widow, Kathryn Crosby, told the New York Times in 2010: “We were in this beautiful apartment, and when it got close, Bing opened a bottle of Scotch and was tapping it against the mantel. When Mazeroski hit the home run, he tapped it hard; the scotch flew into the fireplace and started a conflagration.”
RIP, Maz.
Golf Balls
—After two rounds of The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA, another Signature Event, we had….
Marco Penge -12
Jacob Bridgeman -12
Rory McIlroy -11
Xander Schauffele -9
Adam Scott -9
Scottie Scheffler E.
Scheffler had to grind to make the cut, this being one of three Signature Events that has a 36-hole cut to top 50 and ties, and anyone within 10 shots of the lead. Once again he had a poor first round, 74.
Penge was the leading player from the DP World Tour to secure a PGA Tour card for this year.
After three rounds….
Bridgeman -19 after a 64…
Rory -13
Aldrich Potgieter -12
Aaron Rai -11
T22 Scheffler -5
Sunday, Rory didn’t mount a charge on the front nine and Bridgeman stayed solid, but through 10 was only four up on Kurt Kitiyama and Potgieter.
But on the back nine, within 15 minutes we had amazing hole-outs from Tommy Fleetwood, Max Greyseman (hole-in-one) and Rory out of a bunker…
And we had….
Bridgeman -19 thru 12
Kitiyama -15…13
McIlroy -15…12
[And your editor has to interject…Dottie Pepper is so freakin’ good at her craft…it’s appreciated.]
Adam Scott joined the group at -15…who doesn’t like the lad from Down Under….
But as we advance…after a bogey on 16….
Bridgeman -18…16
Kitayama -17…17
Scott -16…F…63!
McIlroy -15…16
Bridgeman then takes a one-shot lead to 18 over Kitayama and nails his approach shot on the iconic par-4…two putts for his first win…having started this season with four top-20s….
But first, Rory has a spectacular birdie on 18 to tie Kitiyama for second at -17.
Bridgeman poor first putt…but he knocks in the second for par and the ‘W’.
Good for the Clemson, Greenville, SC, boy.
–A little tidbit…both Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus never won here.
Speaking of Tiger, who was the host of the tournament, in his press conference Tuesday he was asked if playing in the 2026 Masters was off the table, and to the surprise of many, Tiger responded “No.”
Tiger confirmed he was still grinding away at home, trying to get back in golf shape after his seventh back surgery this past fall. “I’m trying, put it that way.” He said his Achilles, which he ruptured in March 2025, is not an issue.
“As far as the disc replacement, it’s just sore. It takes time,” Tiger said. “Willy Z [Will Zalatoris] went through it, and it took him a while to come back. I’m a little bit older than Willy Z. It’s probably going to take me a little bit longer. My body has been through a lot.
“It’s just one of those things where it’s each and every day, I keep trying. I keep progressing, I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again.”
If Tiger thought he had a legitimate chance to tee it up at Augusta, he could play in a Champions Tour event before as a tuneup because he’d be allowed to use a cart, which he noted in his presser.
NFL
–The Chicago Bears’ potential move to Indiana took a big step forward when the Indiana House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee unanimously passed a key bill on Thursday, making such a move more realistic. The bill permits the establishment of a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority, which may finance, construct and lease a stadium.
The Bears initially sought to relocate to the suburb of Arlington Heights, but now Indiana is looking increasingly likely.
–We note the passing of Pittsburgh Steelers legend Mike Wagner, who passed away at the age of 76.
The former Steelers safety was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of all four Super Bowl-winning teams during the 1970s. He was a key member of the notorious Steel Curtain defense and a staple of one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties.
Wagner was drafted in the 11th round of the 1971 NFL Draft from Western Illinois. As a rookie, he started in 12 games and recorded two interceptions.
He had a few injuries along the way, including in 1979, when he played in eight games and, although he didn’t play in the Super Bowl, earned his fourth ring.
Over his 119 game career, he recorded 12 fumble recoveries and 36 interceptions.
–The football world was saddened to learn of the death of 25-year-old wide receiver Rondale Moore, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Moore, after an outstanding All-American career at Purdue, was a second-round draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2021, where he had 135 receptions in three seasons, before injuries wiped out both 2024 and 2025.
Premier League
Saturday…Aston Villa tied with Leeds, 1-1; Chelsea and Burnley played to a draw with the same score; and Manchester City defeated Newcastle 2-1.
Sunday…Liverpool edged Nottingham 1-0, while Tottenham got blown out at home by first-place Arsenal, 4-1.
No table since matches played are uneven due to European and FA Cup play, but my Spurs are only four points clear of relegation…which would have massive financial consequences.
More next week.
Stuff
–I didn’t have time last chat to just note a few things on the career of Robert Duvall, who died this week at the age of 95.
Few “character actors” enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin. Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Duvall created a number of unforgettable characters that earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for “Tender Mercies,” which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-driven boss in the 1989 miniseries “Lonesome Dove,” a role he often cited as his favorite.
Duvall had been acting for 20 years when “The Godfather” (1972), established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. In “The Godfather” Duvall was Tom Hagen, an Irishman among Italians, listening and advising, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.
In another Coppola film, “Apocalypse Now,” Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigor enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn’t find one of ‘em, not one stinkin’ dink body.
“The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like – victory.”
Coppola once commented about Duvall: “Actors click into character at different times – the first week, third week. Bobby’s hot after one or two takes.”
Among his other films was “True Grit” with John Wayne, playing Jesse James in “The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid,” the pious and beleaguered Frank Burns in “M-A-S-H,” “Network,” “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution,” and “The Great Santini.”
Top 3 songs for the week 2/21/81: #1 “9 To 5” (Dolly Parton) #2 “I Love A Rainy Night” (Eddie Rabbitt) #3 “Celebration” (Kool & The Gang)…and…#4 “Woman” (John Lennon) #5 “The Tide Is High” (Blondie) #6 “Keep On Loving You” (REO Speedwagon) #7 “The Best Of Times” (Styx…big hair bands coming to the fore…) #8 “Giving It Up For Your Love” (Delbert McClinton) #9 “Same Old Lang Syne” (Dan Fogelberg) #10 “Hey Nineteen” (Steely Dan…C+ week….)
MLB Quiz Answer: Eight active players with 350 career home runs….
Giancarlo Stanton 453
Mike Trout 404
Paul Goldschmidt 372
Manny Machado 369
Aaron Judge 368
Freddie Freeman 367
Bryce Harper 363
Nolan Arenado 353
Kyle Schwarber 340
Carlos Santana 335
Nick Kurtz 36…Go Deacs!
Brief Add-on Tuesday, if the power stays on. Probable blizzard bearing down on global HQ for StocksandNews…the 1,500 employees given Monday off, but they may have to work next Thanksgiving…with their boss, who works all holidays.
