WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Pat Summitt, the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, did what’s never been done in NCAA basketball (both men’s and women’s).  She has been coaching since January 10, 1975, when she coached her first game at Tennessee.  Since then she has won eight National Championships, and last night she went for the milestone:  1000 Career Wins.  Could Georgia stand in her way?  Um, no.  Tennessee routed the Lady Bulldogs, and then dumped a bucket of confetti on their Hall of Fame head coach.  This is a truly impressive achievement for both Pat Summitt and college sports in general.  Tennessee 73, Georgia 43.

NBA

The NBA was no slouch in terms of headlines, as Kobe Bryant and the Lakers traveled east to take on the streaking Celtics.  The Celts have won 12 in a row, but back in December the Lakers ended the Celtics 19 game winning streak.  Now the C-men were looking for revenge on their home court.  The game turned into an overtime showdown, but the Lakers had just a little more than the Celtics, and they pulled out a one-point victory. Paul Gasol put up 24 points, and had 14 rebounds, while Ray Allen scored 22 for the Celtics.  So the Lakers sweep the season series, but LA forward Lamar Odom said, “We won’t feel like we’ve gotten revenge until we beat them in a 7 game series in the championship”.  And there’s a strong possibility that this is exactly what we will see.  LA Lakers 110, Boston 109.

SWIMMING

For Michael Phelps, things just keep getting worse.  A picture of him smoking marijuana surfaced on the Internet and he’s been dealing with the bad press for the past week.  He’s publicly apologized, but people just can’t seem to let it go.  And today he was not only suspended by USA Swimming for three months, but he also lost Kelloggs as a sponsor.  For someone like Phelps, endorsements are extremely valuable.  And losing Kelloggs is like losing millions of dollars over the next couple years.  Sure, he’s got other sponsors happy with him, but to lose millions over a party photo taken in November is a true bummer.

NFL

The New England Patriots have placed the franchise tag on Matt Cassel.  In basic terms, this means that the Patriots have the right to match any offer another team makes to Cassel.  Tom Brady is their man, but there’s no guarantee that Brady comes back 100% next season.  He’s still recovering from a serious knee injury.  By placing a “franchise tag” on Cassel, it means that if they do in fact trade Cassel towards the beginning of next season, then they get at least two first round draft picks in return.  It’s a complicated concept, but the franchise tag is essentially just an expensive insurance policy on Tom Brady.  But Brady or Cassel… can either beat the Steelers defense next season?