HOCKEY

Alex Ovechkin became the third player in the NHL to reach 800 goals in his career. Wayne Gretzky claims the top spot with 894 goals and Gordie Howe is at risk of losing his number two spot with just one more goal than Ovechkin.

BASKETBALL

Chris Beard, head coach of the Texas men’s basketball team, was arrested for assault by strangulation/suffocation after the police received a call from a woman who said he “choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around and going nuts.”

OTHER

Tom Brady, Steph Curry, and David Ortiz are some of the athletes who are being sued by cryptocurrency investors for misleading them about FTX. Tom Brady hired law firm, Latham & Watkins, to represent him. Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX has been arrested.

Speaking of Brady, the GOAT was asked for his autograph after he threw two interceptions in Tampa Bay’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The linebacker, Dre Greenlaw, boldly asked Brady  to sign the intercepted ball saying, “You’re the greatest ever. … I’ve been watching you since I was 2 years old.” Brady graciously signed.

FOOTBALL

The College Football Playoff selection committee released their new rankings with Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, TCU and Tennesse rounding out the top five.

Vanderbilt’s defensive backs coach Dan Jackson is under review (and currently on leave) after defending Kanye West’s antisemitic comments on Facebook saying, “West is two steps ahead of everyone” and “more people need to wake up and speak their mind.”

BASKETBALL

The Brooklyn Nets named Jacque Vaughn as their new head coach, replacing Steve Nash.

HOCKEY

During an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, actor Ryan Reynolds announced he’s interested in buying the Ottawa Senators. Although, Reynolds admitted he needed a “sugar mommy” or “sugar daddy” with deep pockets to afford it. Reynolds co-owns the Welsh football club Wrexham AFC.

HOCKEY

The Colorado Avalanche put on a 3rd quarter defensive show and triumphed with a 2-1 road win over the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightening to take Game 6. The Avalanche now hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001.

BASKETBALL

The NBA draft is in the books with a few surprises. The Orlando Magic took Paolo Banchero (Duke) with the first overall pick, while Jabari Smith (Auburn) who was expected to go #1 landed at #3 with the Houston Rockets.  The Oklahoma City Thunder grabbed Chet Holgrem (Gonzaga) with the second pick leaving Keegan Murray (Iowa) landing in the 4th spot with the Sacramento Kings and Jaden Ivey (Purdue) rounding out the top five and going to the Detroit Pistons.

WESTMINSTER DOG SHOW

A Bloodhound named Trumpet won Best of Show in the prestigious annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Trumpet, who made history as the first Bloodhound to ever win the top prize), triumphed over 3,500 dogs and more than 200 breeds. Westminster is the second oldest continuously running sporting event in the U.S. (the Kentucky Derby is the oldest).

FOOTBALL

The highly sought after top recruit Arch Manning has committed to play quarterback at the University of Texas. Manning is the nephew of Peyton and Eli and the son of their brother Cooper.

HOCKEY

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Center, Auston Matthews, won his first Most Valuable Player award, the Hart Trophy. Mathews also won the Ted Lindsay Award, given to Hockey’s most outstanding player.

The Colorado Avalanche are one game away from hoisting the Stanley Cup after an exciting 3-2 overtime win over Tampa Bay. The Avalanche are now up 3-1 in the series.

FOOTBALL

Iconic superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski announced he’s retiring (again). He wrote on Instagram, “[I’m] walking away from football again with my head held high knowing I gave it everything I had, good or bad, every time I stepped out on the field.” Gronk retired the first time in 2019, but then got the call from his buddy Tom Brady (who has won four Super Bowl titles in 11 seasons with Gronk) to come back for the 2020 postseason and the 2021 season as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Brady summed it up best…”Teammate, friend, brother, just a few of the words that come to mind when I think of Gronk. Nobody has ever embodied the idea of ‘leaving it all on the field’ like Rob has throughout his entire career. Every single snap, I knew that no matter how many people you put in front of him, he was going to get to his spot. Even more important is the person he was on and off the field. Focused when he had to be, and FUN the rest of the time. Having Gronk in your locker room was every NFL players dream. I’m proud of all that we’ve accomplished together, and even more excited for all you have in front of you.

MISC

To the annoyance of everyone who isn’t a Buckeye Fan, THE Ohio State University trademarked the word “THE”.

GOLF

Matt Fitzpatrick grabbed his first major PGA Championship and his first professional win in the US by winning the U.S. Open.

In other golf news, Brooks Koepka has stated he’ll be playing in LIV tournaments and has even “stripped ‘PGA Tour’ from his Twitter bio.

HOCKEY

The Colorado Avalanche blew out the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 on Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals, but on Monday night the Lightning came back and cruised to a 6-2 victory. The series goes to Game 4 on Wednesday night.

MISC

The cryptocurrency company FTX will stop providing jersey patches to professional sports teams. This development could be a sign of things to come for crypto companies’ investment in sports marketing.

HOCKEY

In a thrilling Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Colorado Avalanche pulled out a 4-3 win in overtime. Andre Burakovsky scored the winning goal, his first in a Stanley Cup Final.

BASKETBALL

The Golden State Warriors face the Boston Celtics Thursday night in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. If the Warriors prevail, they will have won their seventh NBA championship in franchise history and their fourth title in 8 years.

FOOTBALL

The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to a new five-year contract with Minkah Fitzpatrick that will pay him $73.6 million with $36 million guaranteed. Fitzpatrick is now the highest paid safety in the NFL.

BASKETBALL

Steph Curry put on a show Friday shooting a remarkable 43 points to help the Golden State Warriors cruise past the Boston Celtics 107-97. With the NBA Finals tied at two games a piece, the Celtics now head to San Francisco for game 5.

HOCKEY

The Tampa Bay Lightening finished off the New York Rangers and will head to the Stanley Cup Finals to take on the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche has had 9 days off and is the betting favorite to win, but the Lightening has been looking tough. It should be an exciting series.

GOLF

The PGA Tour suspended players who took part in the inaugural LIV event, which was funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The winner of each LIV event will get at least $4 million with last pace earning $120,ooo. In comparison, the winner of the most famous event on the PGA tour, the Masters, took home $2.7 million with 39 players (who missed the cut) going home with nothing.

HORSE RACING

The favorite (going off at 5- 2 odds) Mo Donegal, won the Belmont Stakes, the last leg of the Triple Crown.

BASKETBALL

Thanks to Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics jumped to a huge early lead and finished strong to even the series 2-2. Game 5 is Wednesday night. Boston 102, Miami 82

The Mavericks avoided an embarrassing sweep and pulled out a win Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors. Luka Doncic scored 30 points in the 119-109 game where halftime was extended 30 minutes due to a roof leak in the American Airlines Center. Warriors are now up 3-1 and head home for Game 5.  If by a miracle Dallas came back to win the series they would make history, as no NBA team has ever come back from 0-3 and moved on.

HOCKEY

The Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, founded in May of 2019, signed a letter of intent with The Walter Group and BJK Enterprises (run by Billy Jean King and Ilana Kloss) to create a “professional league for elite women’s hockey players”.

BASEBALL

Alyssa Nakken made history this week by becoming the first female Major League Baseball coach to make an on-field appearance. Nakken also made history when she became the first woman to work full-time in the big leagues. During the Giants/Padres game, Nakken replaced the Giants’ first base coach after he was ejected.

In other baseball news, the Lerner family is considering selling the Washington Nationals.

BASKETBALL

FOOTBALL

The Las Vegas Raiders signed quarterback Derek Carr to a three-year extension worth $121.5 million and overall compensation of $141.3 over the next four years.

COVID

The National Hockey League is dealing with a new outbreak in COVID cases by suspending its season until Sunday. The NHL also announced its players won’t participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics due to the outbreak.

The National Football League and National Basketball League, however, are choosing to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in a completely different way. The NFL will only test fully vaccinated players if they show symptoms, while the NBA is considering shortening the number of days a player has to sit out if he or she tests positive.

FOOTBALL

In an odd story out of the college football world, Jackson State linebacker Abdul-Malik McClain has been accused of defrauding the state of California by using bogus COVID-19 unemployment benefits to file for $903,688 in assistance.