FOOTBALL

Everyone is talking about the conviction of former New England Patriots’ player Aaron Hernandez who was found guilty of first degree murder of Odin Lloyd.  This was such a crazy case. Odin Lloyd was a 27-year-old landscaper and semi-pro football player who was dating Hernandez’s fiancee’s sister. Hernandez was accused of picking up Lloyd at his home in the middle of the night on June 17, 2013 and shot six times in an industrial park nearby. The jury didn’t necessarily believe he was the trigger man but they convicted him to life in prison without parole due to “extreme cruelty and atrocity”.

BASKETBALL

The NBA regular season ended on Wednesday and the playoffs are set to begin on Saturday. Check out the Teams and the Schedules.

HOCKEY

The NHL playoffs are underway. Check out the Teams and Schedules.

BASKETBALL

Shelly Sterling, the estranged wife of  former Los Angeles Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, got her revenge against the billionaire’s ex girlfriend V. Stiviano. Shelly sought $2.8 million in compensation from Stiviano for the gifts that Sterling showered on her while he was still married to Shelly. The gifts were substantial and included a $1.8 million home and $400,000 worth of cars. Under CA law, anything earned during marriage is community property so the judge ruled in Shelly’s favor demanding that Stiviano return $2.6 million. Shelly claimed that Stiviano seduced her 80 year old husband. Stiviano also recorded his racist rantings which ultimately made him lose the team and get banned for life from the NBA.

FOOTBALL

All football gurus believe that Florida State QB Jameis Winston will be scooped up either first or second in the upcoming NFL draft. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the first pick and it looks like they’ll either take Winston or Oregon QB Marcus Mariota. Some teams place value on the Wonderlic aptitude test given to all players. Both Winston and Mariota scored well with Mariota scoring an impressive 33 out of 50 (same score as Tom Brady) and Winston scoring a 27 out of 50 one point shy of Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, and Drew Brees who scored 28.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, this is the make or break year for the current state of the Denver Broncos.  Their new head coach Gary Kubiak has his sights set on the Super Bowl even showing his team a tape of great plays from Super Bowls of the last 20 years for inspiration.  One of their receivers, Emmanuel Sanders, said that “it’s Super Bowl or bust this year”.  Peyton Manning has decided to give it one more go, but this will likely be his last season.  They have to get the job done.

Elsewhere in the NFL, long time San Francisco 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree has decided to end his tenure with the 49ers.  He signed a deal across the bay with the Oakland Raiders.  The Raiders were terrible last season, but towards the end, they showed some signs of life.  They even beat the Niners, which was practically their Super Bowl.  They have some nice young players, a new coach, and perhaps adding a weapon like Crabtree could help them win some more games.  Most likely a good signing for the Raiders.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that was a doormat last year, is on their way to the playoffs.  They have locked in the #6 seed in the East, and have a great group of young players.  The Bucks’ management has decided to truly make this team into a contender, and are launching a full re-branding effort with the franchise.  They want to build a new, huge stadium complex (complete with restaurants and apartments) and they even launched new logos.  The Buck now look much fiercer and the colors are more in line with their origins.  Jerseys will come next, but expect the Bucks to be in the mix for the next few years.

GOLF

The main event of the weekend:  The Masters.  It was certainly an historic event this year at Augusta.   The boy of the hour was 21-year old phenom Jordan Spieth.  He came out of the gates with a marvelous performance.  Others in the field played well too.  Phil Mickelson finished second, Justin Rose came in third, and even Rory Mcllroy, Tiger Woods’ theoretical heir apparent, finished 4th with a remarkable -12.  But, Spieth was beyond incredible finishing with a -18.  That ties the score for best ever 72 hole total at the Masters (tied with Tiger Woods in 1997).  Plus, Spieth is only 21 years old, becoming the second youngest player to ever win the Masters (again, Tiger Woods).  If Spieth can keep this up, we may be seeing another Sports Icon in the making.

In other Masters’ headlines, Tiger Woods had a big scare on Sunday when he hit a root in the ground.  When you’re swinging a golf club hard, and not expecting to hit anything, that shock can really mess up the nerves in your hand.  When Tiger did it, you could immediately see him grimace and shake his hand.  He is already injury prone, and any more injuries could seriously derail his career even further.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, quarterback Russell Wilson is expecting to get a very big contract from the Seattle Seahawks.  In his first 3 years, he has led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl twice, winning one.  The Seahawks will definitely want to lock him up long-term.  Wilson, however,  said that he’s not ready to close all doors on a baseball career yet.  The Texas Rangers currently have his rights, and Wilson said he wants to keep his options open.  Would the Seahawks allow a contract that permits him to play baseball?  Seems unlikely, but they do want to keep him happy.   We haven’t seen a double sport player in quite a while.

GOLF

It’s the PGA Masters week. Tiger Woods and Rory McIIroy have been dominating the headlines.  Tiger has been absent for a few months until his game became “tournament ready” after back surgery last year. Tiger has won an impressive 4 Masters tournaments in his career but is now just looking to make the cut. McIIroy has 4 major victories under his belt but has never won the Masters so McIIroy fans will be pulling for him to complete this Grand Slam.

In other Masters’ news, eyes will be on the younger generation and the future of the sport in Jordan Spieth (21 years old and ranked 4th in the world) and Patrick Reed (24 years old and 15 in the world).

BASKETBALL

Indiana Pacers’ forward Chris Copeland, his wife and another women were stabbed in front of a nightclub at 4:00 am Wednesday. The Pacers were in town to play the Knicks at Barclays center that evening. The motives of the alleged 22 year old stabbing suspect are still circumspect but sports fans have been discussing whether or not Copeland should have been out at a nightclub at 4;00 am the day of a game that evening.

BASKETBALL

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has spoken out against the state of college basketball, calling it “horrible”.  He said the 35 second shot clock is way too long, and it’s very boring to watch.  He said that you see players at the top of the key just pass the ball back and forth for the majority of the possession, and then at the end, one guy tries makes something happen, while 3 other guys just stand around because they aren’t involved in the play.  The scoring is going down, and he said that the college game has to improve so that players learn how to play a full game to come into the pros NBA ready.

FOOTBALL

Finally, in the NFL, another Patriots’ running back is on the move, as the New York Jets have signed Steven Ridley.  Ridley had an excellent season for the Pats a few years ago, but then struggled from fumbling errors and got lost in the running back fold.  Now the Pats have parted ways with both Ridley and Shane Vereen (Giants), but they still have LeGarrette Blount (who was suspended for Game 1 of next season for a prior arrest) and up-and-comer Jonas Gray.  This signals that they will likely take someone in the draft at the end of the month.

MARATHON

The sports world erupted in headlines on Wednesday when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the brothers responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing, was found guilty.  This was a horrible, un-imaginable tragedy a few years ago.  Tsaranaev was guilty on all counts, and could now face the death penalty.   His sentencing was an emotional day for the world and anybody connected directly to the event or the families involved.

BASKETBALL

In women’s college basketball, it was the National Championship between Connecticut (the dynasty) and Notre Dame (the underdog).  Could head UCONN coach Geno Auriemma win his 10th National Championship?  It was a pesky fight, but UCONN just has so much talent and poise.  Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson led the way for UCONN, each scoring 15 points, and leading the Huskies to their 3rd straight championship.  Amazing!  That gives Geno his 10th title (tied with John Wooden), and makes everyone wonder if anybody can ever beat UCONN.  UCONN 63, Notre Dame 53.

In the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs are catching fire at just the right time.  They had 7 straight wins coming into a battle against Oklahoma City.  Normally this would be a close game, but the Thunder were without Kevin Durant, and the Spurs are just gelling so well right now.  Kawhi Leonard was the hero for the Spurs in this one, and head coach Gregg Popovich said that he loves Leonard because he has so much composure.  When he does something amazing, but doesn’t scream or beat his chest — he just turns around and gets back on defense.  San Antonio 113, Oklahoma City 88.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, rumors are swirling that the Chicago Bears might trade their franchise quarterback, Jake Cutler, to Tennessee in exchange for the #2 pick.  The Bears would then likely use that pick to draft last season’s Heisman winner, Marcus Mariota.  This would be a risky move for the Bears, but potentially a great move for the Tennessee Titans, who currently do not have a reliable starting QB right now.  The Titans could also take Mariota, but he’s no sure thing, and Cutler would give them a capable quarterback to get that offense going.  It will be interesting to see if this happens.

BASKETBALL

After a month of March Madness, Monday night was an exciting culmination with the National Championship between #1 Duke and #1 Wisconsin.  Wisconsin was coming off an incredible upset win against undefeated Kentucky, and Duke was playing their best basketball coming into the game.  Duke also only plays with a roster of 8 players, but Coach K feels that that is plenty.  So how would this final game play out?

The first half was a neck and neck battle, but Duke’s star player, and likely overall #1 draft pick Jahlil Okafor got in foul trouble early.  That made for a difficult decision for Coach K — keep him in and risk losing him for the clutch, or continue to have him play.  Coach K opted to sit him, knowing that he would need the star in the end.  The teams went into the half tied at 31.

Then, in the second half, Wisconsin came out red hot, and even jumped to an 8-point lead.  But against Duke, you have to keep your foot on the gas, or they will come back and that’s exactly what they did.  The game came down to the wire. Player of the year Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky continued to have a solid game, but the player of the game was Duke’s Tyus Jones, who hit several clutch shots in the game’s final minutes as he helped Duke win the 2015 National Championship!  That is the 5th Championship in Coach K’s career.  Duke 68, Wisconsin 63.

BASEBALL

It was opening day around the league.  And the biggest story was probably Alex Rodriguez who hadn’t played in a Yankees uniform since 2013.  A-Rod said he didn’t think the Yankees fans owed him anything, and he was just going to try his best.   The 39 year old was greeted by cheers at his first plate appearance, and even walked to get on base.  The Yankees didn’t win the game, but it looks like A-Rod might be a contributor this year.   Toronto 6, NY Yankees 1.

BASKETBALL

This weekend the Final Four teams whittled down to the final two teams who will compete for the College Basketball National Championship Monday evening.

First up, it was #1 Duke vs. #7 Michigan State.  Michigan State has been on a tear this tournament, shocking everybody.  Their head coach Tom Izzo even called them “The Team Of Destiny”.  But, Duke is another beast altogether, and has the likely #1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft in Jahlil Okafor.  Michigan State came out of the gates hot with their 3-point shooting, but then Duke’s defense clamped down, and Michigan State’s defense disappeared.  Duke easily rolled in the second half and earned a spot in the National Championship.  Duke 81, Michigan State 61.

Next up, was the marquee matchup between #1 Wisconsin and the #1 undefeated Kentucky Wildcats.  Kentucky was just 2 wins away from making history by being the first undefeated team in 39 years. Kentucky ousted Wisconsin in last year’s Final Four, and the Badgers definitely wanted revenge. The opening half was neck and neck, as was the second half, but down the stretch Wisconsin did just a little bit more, and hit some incredibly clutch shots to shock Kentucky.  The Badgers were able to hold on and pull the amazing upset against Kentucky.  Totally unexpected, but Wisconsin deserved it.  Wisconsin 71, Duke 64.

So if you had Wisconsin and Duke in your brackets, you’re feeling pretty good right now.

Finally, it was also the Women’s Final Four, in which all four of the #1 seeds made it.  First up the surprising South Carolina team taking on Notre Dame, and while it was a grueling battle till the end when Notre Dame did just a little more to grab the victory.  Then, it was the dynasty UCONN vs. Maryland.  This one wasn’t even a contest, as UCONN beat them severely from the opening tip off.  It will be a rematch of last year’s championship game between Notre Dame and UCONN on Tuesday evening.  Can Notre Dame get their revenge?  Notre Dame 66, South Carolina 65.   UCONN 81, Maryland 58.

BASKETBALL

In college basketball, it’s official, former VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) coach Shaka Smart, a guy who miraculously led a “nobody had heard of them VCU” to the Final Four in 2011 and made the program relevant again, has decided to take the job at the University of Texas.  After Smart got VCU to the Final Four, many large colleges came after him, but he wanted to stay.  But jobs like Texas are just too lucrative and too prestigious to pass up.  He’s already a good coach, and when he gets access to the recruiting in Texas, he will likely make Texas an immediate contender.   VCU will be sad to see him go (even the strip clubs in the area offered free lap dances to Smart and his staff if he stayed), but it was the right opportunity for Smart to move on.

And in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers might be red hot right now, but that doesn’t mean that they’re perfect.  On Thursday, we got a glimpse into their inner-dynamic.  After an early season game where the Cavs lost to the Jazz, LeBron gave Kyrie a lecture.  Kyrie finished the game with 34 points, but didn’t finish with ANY assists.

“He came up to me and was like, ‘One, you can never have another game with no assists,’ ” Irving said, describing James’ words. ” ‘You can damn near have just one, two, three, but you can’t have zero.’ And I was like, ‘All right, cool, it won’t happen again.’ And it hasn’t happened since that game.”

Now the Cavs are in prime position to win the Eastern Conference.

BOXING

The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on May 2nd will cost a record-setting $99 on Pay Per View.  Typically, the big fights are between $40 and $60, but they know that everyone wants to see the fight of the century, so they can charge as high as $99.  Alternatively, you you can book your reservations at your favorite sports bar or restaurant but do it now to get a good seat.