FOOTBALL

Isaiah Marshall, a 7th grader from Southfield Michigan, made history this week when Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh watched film of the quarterback and offered him a scholarship when he graduates. At 13 years old, Isaiah is the youngest player to receive a scharship from Michigan.

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The Golden State Warriors made history (again) when they recorded a 51-point first quarter against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson finished the game with 31 points each. The Warriors are now a half-game ahead of the Nuggets in the Western standing. Warriors 142, Nuggets 111.

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Even with a freshman scoring record of 35 points from Duke’s superstar Zion Williamson, the #1 ranked Blue Devils lost to unranked Syracuse 95-91 on Monday night. Before the loss, Duke had gone 104-0 in wins at their home stadium against every team other than their rivals at North Carolina. Injuries to two of Duke’s starters contributed to the loss and the end of their streak.

In the NBA, Houston Rockets’ James Harden keeps setting records. With his 57 points in a win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Harden recorded his 17th consecutive 30- point game. Rockets 112, Grizzlies 94.

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Heisman trophy winner, Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, announced he will enter the 2019 NFL draft. The reason this is big news is Murray is already a first-round pick from the Oakland Athletics for baseball. After Murray’s impressive season as the quarterback for Oklahoma, there’s been speculation on whether he’d continue with baseball or football. The decision to enter the draft doesn’t necessarily mean Murray will forego baseball, it just means he hasn’t ruled out the NFL and will decide after the draft.

The government shutdown did not stop President Trump from hosting the winners of the College Football National Championship, the Clemson Tigers.  According to press secretary, Sarah Sanders, Trump bought fast food from McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s for the players on their visit because, “the Democrats refuse to negotiate on border security” and “much of the residence staff at the White House is furloughed.”

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University of Texas alum and Academy Award-winning actor, Matthew McConaughey is not shy about expressing his love for his alma mater. He’s even taking that enthusiasm to another level by becoming the Minister of Culture for the Texas Longhorns new basketball arena and entertainment facility. According to McConaughey, “It’s time to raise the bar. It’s time to excel, on the court and in the stands. It’s time for an authentic home court advantage for our Longhorn basketball teams.”

Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino is reported to have accepted a position as coach of the Greek team, Panathinaikos. Pitino was a highly successful and public figure as coach of Kentucky basketball from 1989-1997 and Louisville from 2001-2017 but had a very public fall from grace when the FBI named him in a “pay for play” college recruiting investigation in September of 2017.

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New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL for violating the terms of his conditional reinstatement under the League’s drug policy. This suspension puts the Patriots in a tough position as Gordon is one of their playmakers. Gordon put out a heartfelt message on social media explaining his intention to focus on his mental health. He tweeted, “I have recently felt like I could have a better grasp on things mentally. I would like to thank Coach Belichick, Mr. Kraft, as well as countless others within the Patriots organization for their continued support. I want to thank my fans for their support as well as I continue down the path getting back to 100%.”

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The Penn Quakers made history on Tuesday night defeating #17 Villanova Wildcats for the first time since December 10th, 2002. Villanova’s 15 game win streak over the Quakers came to an end thanks to terrific coaching by Steve Donahue and 16 points each from AJ Brodeur and Antonio Woods. After the game, Donahue said, “Still digesting this and catching my breath. So incredibly proud of our guys. There are no words to accurately describe this group of young men. The good news is, we still have a lot of basketball left to play this season. Thank you to everyone who attended, watched, etc.!” Penn 78, Villanova, 75.

Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry is the latest NBA star to support a conspiracy theory. Speaking with The Ringer’s “Winging It” podcast’s co-hosts Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore about the moon landing. Curry said he’s not convinced the moon landing actually happened. NASA has offered to tour Curry when he’s in Houston saying, “There’s lots of evidence NASA landed 12 American astronauts on the Moon from 1969-1972.”Curry indicated he’d take them up on the offer to tour.

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The Dallas Cowboys fought hard for a big upset of the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night. With the win, the Cowboys snap the Saints 10 game win streak. The Cowboys defense dominated and prevented the Saints offense from scoring in the first half, the first time that’s happened in 72 games. Cowboys 13, Saints 10.

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In case you haven’t seen this story, it’s pretty sweet. A 9-year-old girl wrote the Warriors’ Steph Curry to tell him Under Armour (the company making his shoes) doesn’t sell girls shoes. Here’s her letter and here’s his great response:

Dear Mr. Stephen Curry,

My name is Riley (just like your daughter), I’m 9 years old from Napa, California. I am a big fan of yours. I enjoy going to Warriors games with my dad. I asked my dad to buy me the new Curry 5s, because I’m starting a new basketball season. My dad and I visited the Under Armour website and were disappointed to see that there were no Curry 5s for sale under the girls section. However, they did have them for sale under the boys section, even to customize. I know you support girl athletes because you have two daughters and you host an all-girls basketball camp. I hope you can work with Under Armour to change this because girls want to rock the Curry 5s, too.

Sincerely,
Riley Morrison

Hey Riley,

I appreciate your concern and have spent the last two days talking to Under Armour about how we can fix the issue. Unfortunately, we have labeled smaller sizes as “Boys” on the website. We are correcting this now! I want to make sure you can wear my kicks proudly — so I am going to send you a pair of Curry 5s now and you’ll be one of the first kids to get the Curry 6. Lastly, we have something special in the works for International Women’s Day on March 8, and I want you to celebrate with me! More to come on that, but plan to be in Oakland that night! All the best! #RuinTheGame

Stephen

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LaMelo Ball has decided to return to high school and complete his senior year. LaMelo dropped out of Chino High School to play with his brother LiAngelo in Lithuania last year. After returning from Lithuania, the brothers played for their dad, the very outspoken LaVar, in the Junior Basketball Association. LaMelo was previously committed to playing at UCLA, but after signing with an agent last December, he became ineligible to play for any college so presumbably he’s hoping to attract attention from the pros.

BASEBALL

The baseball writers association has announced the finalist for the awards given to Major League Baseball’s finest. The voting concluded before the start of the playoffs and the ultimate winners will be announced next week. Not surprisingly, Jacob DeGrom, Max Scherzer, and Aaron Nola are finalists for the National League Cy Young Award, and Mookie Betts, Jose Ramirez, and Mike Trout are finalists for the American League Cy Young. Click here for a list of all categories and finalists.

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Tom Brady rallied his team to a close victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night and managed to set some more records while doing so. In the fourth quarter of their 38-24 win, Brady threw a touchdown pass to Josh Gordon, setting an NFL record for throwing a touchdown to the greatest number of different targets (71). He also recorded 500 regular season career touchdown passes joining Brett Favre (who had 508 in his career) and Peyton Manning (who had 539).

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The FBI has been working on an investigation into pay to play bribery schemes from Adidas officials and others to get recruits to sign with schools affiliated with the brand. Two Louisville coaches were implicated in this scandal during Thursday’s court proceedings when former recruit Brian Bowen’s father took the stand. Former  Adidas executives were charged with paying the Bowen family $100,000 for committing to play at Louisville. This story is just beginning and could have large ramifications throughout the college sports world. For a rundown of teams and people involved, click here.

Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving told his fans he’ll re-sign with the Celtics when he becomes a free agent next summer. He posted on social media, “If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.”

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LaVar Ball is back in the news after his son’s Lithuanian coach posted on Twitter a letter complaining about LaVar destroying the team. The coach also mentioned his disappointment in the sons LiAngelo and LaMelo claiming, “The most disappointing fact was that they had no inner drive to become better.” He went on to say, the brothers’ talent was “nowhere near the level of the LKL (Lithuanian league), let alone the NBA.”

BASEBALL

Pitcher Michael Kopech made a solid major league debut on Tuesday night with the White Sox, then soon realized he’s back in the news for racist and homophobic tweets he made 5 years ago at the age of 17.  Kopech responded to the criticism by saying, “It’s unfortunate that I was ever at that point mentally, but it’s not who I am now. Yeah, I cleaned some tweets up and tried to get rid of them. But, obviously, people saw them. It’s not who I am now, and it’s not who I want to be.’’ Kopech joins major leaguers Trea Turner, Sean Newcomb and Josh Hader who also had to apologize recently for old racist remarks surfacing on their social media accounts.

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San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman launched a daily fantasy sports site called Daily Number. As a co-founder of the company, he’s believed to be the first player to own or co-own a fantasy game.

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The NFL preseason games began Thursday night, and all eyes were on the rookies and the players coming back from injury. Number one pick in the draft Baker Mayfield provided one of the highlights of the night in his debut in Cleveland. In a  20-10 win over the New York Giants, Mayfield threw for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns, while the Browns newly acquired yet seasoned QB Tyrod Taylor completed 5 of 5 passes for 99 yards and a TD. Both QB’s are giving Browns fans some much needed hope for the future (the franchise lost every game last season and only won one game in 2016).  The Giants running back and #1 pick in the draft, Saquon Barkley, immediately impressed the crowd with his 39 yard run on his first carry in the NFL.

All eyes were on veteran quarterback Andrew Luck who missed the entire 2017 season due to a shoulder injury. Luck only played in two series during the game, but was jubilant after getting hit and realizing he could pop right back up. He even showed his excitement on the sideline and said he was “Just trying to control my emotions and then I just sort of said ‘screw it.  Whatever I want to think and whatever I want to feel, I’m going to feel it and let that happen. It was a little bit of pressure was off, in a sense, and I really had fun.”

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Jamill Jones, Wake Forest’s assistant men’s basketball coach, is facing charges of third degree assault in the death of a 35-year old tourist from Boca Raton. According to the police report, Jones punched the tourist (in New York City for a friend’s wedding) after he knocked on his car window thinking it was his Uber ride. The tourist fell to the ground resulting in fatal fractures to his skull. The investigation of the incident is ongoing.

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The NCAA announced new rules in college basksetball including allowing agents for “elite” athletes and permitting undrafted college age players to return to play for their schools.  The rule changes came out of a commission on College Basketball chaired by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice which looked into clearing up some controversial and problematic issues in college basketball. Many are unhappy with the changes and don’t believe they benefit the majority of athletes.

Kawhi Leonard officially wrapped up his time in San Antonio with a farewell letter to the players, the organization and coach Popovich. Leonard played for 7 seasons with the Spurs recording two All-Star designations and in 2014 a Finals MVP. After suffering a quad injury this past season, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors in July. Leonard showed no hard feelings in his goodbye letter stating, “Through all the ups and downs — I’m glad there were many more ups! — I’ll never forget what we have shared and accomplished together. While I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my career, I’ll always remember the city and the people of San Antonio!”