BASKETBALL

Murray State’s Ja Morant’s triple-double was the highlight of day one in the NCAA tournament. In a big 83-64 win over #5 Marquette, Morant recorded 17 points, 16 assists, and 11 rebounds. He is only the 8th player to register a triple-double in the tournament. The last player to achieve this feat was Draymond Green in 2011 and 2012 when he played for Michigan State. Murry State is ranked #12 so Morant and his teammates were feeling good about their win. After the game, Morant said, “It was a lot of fun. Just being able to go out with these guys and get a win in the NCAA tournament.”

FOOTBALL

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid received less than $10 million in total for their settlement in the NFL collusion case (not including what they spent in legal fees). Kaepernick was earning $14.3 million in his final year with the San Francisco 49ers, but has remained unsigned the last two years.

BASKETBALL

The Philadelphia 76ers were trailing the Boston Celtics for most of the first half on Wednesday night until the Sixers Joel Embiid and the Celtics Marcus Smart got into a confrontation. Embiid elbowed Smart, who fell to the floor (no call made), so Smart got up and shoved Embiid to send him flying. Smart was called for a flagrant foul and immediately ejected from the game. The Sixers gained the momentum from there and went on a 25-13 run to take the lead. Philly won 118-115 thanks to Embiid who led the team with 37 points and 22 rebounds.

Thursday at noon marks the beginning of the NCAA tournament (March Madness has officially begun). If you haven’t filled out your bracket yet, here’s some last minute help on what to watch for and which team could be this year’s Cinderella story.

FOOTBALL

Johnny Manziel has a new home. The troubled former Heisman trophy winner and Cleveland Browns quarterback signed with the Memphis Express in the upstart Alliance of American Football (AAF). According to Bill Polian, co-founder of AAF, “We are pleased to welcome Johnny Manziel to Alliance of American Football, which we’ve always described as a league of opportunity for talented players to launch or revitalize their pro football careers. We completed extensive background work to determine whether it would be appropriate for Johnny to play this season, and after consulting with many people familiar with his situation, we concluded that it would be good for him to resume his pro football career here at The Alliance.”

BASKETBALL

ESPN accidentally revealed the brackets for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament on Monday, hours before the official “selection show”. Many teams were upset as they wanted the excitement of listening to their schools announced on a live broadcast. ESPN apologized saying, “In working with the NCAA to prepare for tonight’s Women’s Selection Special we received the bracket, similar to years past. In the midst of our preparation, the bracket was mistakenly posted on ESPNU. We deeply regret the error and extend our apology to the NCAA and the women’s basketball community. We will conduct a thorough review of our process to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future. We will now broadcast the full bracket at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2, and the regularly-scheduled show on ESPN at 7 p.m.”

BASKETBALL

March Madness brackets are set. 68 teams will compete for the NCAA 2019 championship. The Big Ten landed eight spots, the most bids of any region, followed by seven for the  ACC and seven for the SEC. Teams will battle it out over the next three weeks with finals on April 8th in Minneapolis. According to the American Gaming Association, 47 million Americans will bet $8.5 billion during the tournament with 29% of those surveyed favoring Duke. The second most favored team is Gonzaga at 9%. If you’re looking to fill out your brackets, here’s some helpful info on every game.

FOOTBALL

36 year old quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick agreed to a 2-year deal with the Miami Dolphins just days after the Dolphins traded Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans. Fitzpatrick began his career in 2005 when he was drafted out of Harvard by the St. Louis Rams. He has since been on seven other teams.

BASKETBALL

NBA legend Dwayne Wade has been swapping jerseys with his buddies at the end of his remaining games in the league. On Monday after his Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks, Wade asked to swap jerseys with surprised rookie Kevin Huerter. Wade didn’t know Huerter but heard Huerter grew up idolizing him. Wade explained by saying,  “Earlier in the year a good friend told me about (Huerter) when he was younger that he used to wear my shoes and the No. 3 because of me, he looked up to me. So I knew I was going to surprise the last time we played them but I really like his game. Since preseason when we played him to all the way up to now he’s gotten so much better. So from one No. 3 to another, I thought I’d switch jerseys with him.”

Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, said he’d consider running for President if the circumstances were right. He said, “I haven’t decided anything yet. We’ll see what happens. It all comes down to how things play out. It’s not something I feel like I have to do. There’s a lot of uncertainty with what’s going on with the Mueller report, there’s a lot of things that have to be figured out before we know how 2020 is going to play out. But (running for president is) something that if circumstances were right I would.”

With the loss to the Clippers on Monday night, the LA Lakers have almost no chance to make the playoffs. If they do miss the playoffs, this will be the first time since LeBron’s second year in the league he’s failed to make the postseason.

BASKETBALL

In a follow up to Tuesday’s story about DeMarcus Cousins getting a technical foul for throwing a shoe off the court, the San Jose Mercury reported the “NBA has rescinded DeMarcus Cousins’ technical from last night. Players generally aren’t allowed to toss a shoe off the floor, but DeMarcus did it to avoid an injury to himself and others.” Cousins will avoid paying a $3000 fine.

Without an injured Zion Williamson, Duke lost again and is now slipping in rankings in the college basketball AP poll. Gonzaga currently ranks #1, Virginia #2, and Duke at #3.

FOOTBALL

The XFL (Vince McMahon’s alternative football league) has reportedly had conversations with controversial former SF 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick about joining the league when it starts up again in 2020. It’s been reported Kaepernick was offered $20 million to play in the Alliance of American Football (seen as a competitor of the XFL) and turned it down. No word on what sum he was offered for the rebooted league or if he accepted. There was even a rumor (started by Kaepernick’s lawyer) that the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders were interested in signing him.

BASEBALL

Free agent Bryce Harper remains unsigned and is looking for a long team deal. At 26 years old, Harper was offered a 10 year $300 million deal to stay with the Washington Nationals, and Harper is looking for more. The LA Dodgers appear interested in a short term deal, but the Philadelphia Phillies seem convinced Harper will sign with them.

BASKETBALL

With the 130-118 win over the San Antonio Spurs, the NY Knicks avoided tieing an embarrassing home losing streak set by the 1993-1994 Dallas Mavericks. Evan actor Samuel Jackson enthusiastically announced on stage at the Academy Awards that after 18 home losses, the Knicks finally won.

BASKETBALL

SpringHill Entertainment confirmed Space Jam 2 is happening. LeBron James will star in the sequel to the original Space Jam movie starring Michael Jordan and a supporting cast of Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues, Shawn Bradley, Charles Barkley, Bill Murray and of course Bugs Bunny.  No word yet on who will join LeBron in this much-anticipated sequel set to hit theaters on July 16th, 2021.

The Houston Rockets lost 111-106 to the LA Lakers on Thursday night. James Harden kept his streak (32 consecutive games) of 30-points (or more) per game alive, but the big story of the night involved teammates James Harden and Chis Paul complaining about referee Scott Foster.  Harden said he believes Foster is “rude and arrogant”. Paul added “I don’t know what else to do, know what I mean? I met with the league with him before and all this stuff. I don’t know what else to do.” Foster is a 25-year veteran of the league, but in a 2016 LA Times poll was voted by the players and coaches the league’s worst referee.

BASKETBALL

Fans who paid from $2000-$10,000 for a ticket to watch the UNC/Duke game and get a glimpse of Zion Williamson barely saw him play.  With just 36 seconds in, Williamson collapsed on the court because his shoe fell apart. He was wearing a Nike PG 2.5 PE and, according to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, Zion suffered “a mild knee sprain”. The Tar Heels beat Duke 88-72, but all anyone could talk about was the freak injury to Zion and whether or not the almost certain #1 pick in the NBA draft will continue to play this season or sit out for fear of another injury.

CHEERLEADING

Tremper High School in Wisconsin is under scrutiny by the ACLU for “creating a hostile environment for female students” after parents complained about the awards given out to cheerleaders at the annual banquets in 2017 and 2018. In addition to the traditional awards, a number of “gag” awards were announced including the “Big Boobie” and the “Big Booty” award. According to an ACLU attorney, “There is a serious indifference to how young girls are being treated within the KUSD (Kenosha Wisconsin Unified School District) system and that indifference is creating a toxic culture of perpetuating gender stereotypes that will stay with these girls for the rest of their lives.”

BASEBALL

Manny Machado signed a monster 10-year deal to play for the San Diego Padres. His $300 million deal is the largest deal ever signed by a free agent in the history of American sports. The previous record was $275 million by Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees in 2008.

In other big news from Major League Baseball, the League has instituted new rules to prevent sign stealing. Among the high tech changes are a ban on in-house outfield cameras from foul pole to foul pole and television monitors in the clubhouse put on an 8 second delay.

BASKETBALL

The basketball rivalry between Duke and the University of North Carolina has always been intense, but this year the intensity is at a whole new level thanks to Duke’s superstar Zion Williamson. For tonight’s game, a fan can expect to pay $2500 for the cheapest available ticket. According to Vivid seats, one ticket went for $10,652.