It’s week one of March Madness HerDaily readers. Rejoice and be glad! This is my favorite time of the year. Two and a half weeks of college basketball. #Heaven. There will be so many highs, and many, many lows…exciting buzzer beaters, bracket busters and Cinderella teams. I do love me some NBA, but it just doesn’t compare to the excitement and passion of NCAA hoops. Frenzied and fiery college students and alumni filling arenas and sports bars – wildly rooting on their teams. I’ve been to a few conference tourney games, as well as Finals Fours, and just like a Donald Trump rally, fans can lose their minds in all the excitement. Over the next two weeks you’ll see folks walking around in their school garb, taking long lunches and skipping out of work early to watch games, if they’re not secretly doing so on their work computers. It’s fun. So pick a team. Pay attention. Fill out a bracket and get ready to chat up some hoops. For the next two weeks, it’s all people will be talking about.
To get you started, here is a March Madness guide to give you some history, tourney lingo and tips on how to fill out your bracket. Conference tournaments were completed over the weekend, and the field of 64 teams chosen. The top four seeds are: North Carolina, Virginia, Kansas and Oregon. Then there is always the discussion of who was snubbed, and this year, it was the mid-majors. Here is a printable bracket. Fill one out for the hell of it. It will force you to pay attention. Print one out for your kids, spouse, co-workers. Winner gets dinner, drinks, or a movie night? Even if you have no idea what teams to pick – just wing it – it’s part of the fun.
The women’s selection show is tonight (Monday) 7pm ET on ESPN. Check my social media for updates.
On to the NBA:
The Golden State Warriors had a big weekend of basketball. On Friday they took on the Portland Trailblazers who demolished them last month in a 137-105 beating in Portland. Payback was especially vicious as the Warriors scored 81 points in the first half, for the 128-112 win. The win came with a price however, as reining NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala sprained his ankle and will miss at least two weeks of play. On Saturday, the Warriors battled the Phoenix Suns at Oracle and won 123-116 behind Curry’s 15 point fourth quarter surge. Dude is so in sync, he doesn’t even watch his 3s go in anymore. #Mercy . At 59-6, the Warriors stay one game ahead of the pace of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who set an NBA record with 72 wins.
The Charlotte Hornets are on a roll and beat the Houston Rockets on Saturday 125-109 for their 7th straight win in a row.
The San Antonio Spurs improved their home record to 30-0 this season with a 93-85 win over the West’s current 3rd place OKC Thunder. With their 56th victory, the Spurs clinched the Southwest Division for the fifth time in the past six seasons. OKC continues to struggle in a season marred with disappointment and tragedy.
The Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the LA Clippers 114-90 on Sunday afternoon staying perfect on their current road trip. Clippers could really use Blake Griffin who is still recovering from a broken hand, and is not slated to return until late March.
For more NBA news and scores, check here.
NHL News:
There is a battle for the top spot in the Western Conference. On Friday, the Dallas Stars beat the defending Stanley Cup champs Chicago Blackhawks to edge them out of first place in the division. On Saturday, the top spot was again on the line when the Stars took on the St. Louis Blues. Blues won 5-4 in OT. Now it’s the Stars and Blues, who have won six straight games, tied at the top with 91 points apiece with 12 games remaining. The Blackhawks have 88 points with 13 games to play.
The NHL-leading Washington Capitols lost 5-2 to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. The Caps still lead the NHL and the East with 103 points. The Boston Bruins and NY Rangers are battling for second place with 86 and 85 points respectively.
For all the NHL scores/standings/highlights…check here.
As I write this, the St. Louis Cardinals are playing the Washington Nationals in pre-season Major League Baseball on the MLB Network. But it’s waaaaaay to early for me to pay attention to baseball. Opening Day 2016 is still a couple weeks away on Sunday, April 3rd. It will feature three games televised on ESPN, with four more games televised Monday, April 4th. #batterup
In tennis:
Five time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova announced last week she failed a drug test for the banned substance meldonium at this year’s Australian Open. Meldonium was banned January 1st of this year. In a Facebook post, Sharapova disputed a report saying she was warned 5 times about the ban, and admitted she should have paid closer attention to a December 22nd email/newsletter containing information on the ban. She has since apologized, admitted her mistake and taken full responsibility. That didn’t stop three of her biggest sponsors, Nike, Tag Heuer and Porsche, from ending or suspending advertising campaigns with Sharapova, campaigns which helped contribute to her $30 million in total earnings in 2015. #ImageIsEverything. Meanwhile, her racket sponsor, Head, has come out in support of her and extended her contract, prompting fellow Head client, Andy Murray, to question his allegiance to the company. Critics question Sharapova’s claim she has used the drug since 2006 after suffering repeated bouts of flu, irregular heartbeat issues and concern over a family history of diabetes. The drug manufacturer insists it is intended for strokes and chronic heart conditions, and that a normal course of treatment is four to six weeks, not 10 years. Many feeling Head is sending the wrong message to young athletes. #staytuned.
All this while things are heating up in the desert at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. On Sunday, top seeds Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic overcame slow starts to win their matches. In her 3rd round match, WIlliams beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhatan 7-6, 6-0, while the Joker took out American Bjorn Fratangelo, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in his 2nd round match. Later in the evening in cooler temps and swirling winds, No.4 Rafael Nadal was pushed by unseeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg but won 6-2, 6-4.
In other news…
After two tumultuous years, Cleveland Brown quarterback Johnny Manziel was released by the team last week. Not a surprise. His future in football is very much in question.
In a related story, the Pop Warner youth football league has settled its first concussion related lawsuit. The suit was filed by the mother of 25-year old Joseph Chernach, who played in the youth football league for 4 years starting at age 11. Chernach committed suicide in June of 2012, and was later diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. Chernach’s mother described a sudden change in her son during college. The $5million lawsuit claimed Pop Warner “failed to properly train coaches, use the “safest helmets” or “enforce limitations on hitting in practice.” This can of worms has been officially opened and it’s a good thing.
#SportBits update on the University of Louisville scandal: sources say at least 3 former men’s basketball recruits have confirmed to NCAA investigators that they attended parties inside an on-campus dorm where strippers danced for them and prostitutes were paid to have sex with them. The source goes on to say, “There’s no question this stuff happened. There’s no question the people at the University of Louisville know this happened. Katina Powell is not an admirable person, but she told the truth.” Louisville is not in the tournament this year after a self imposed ban…and that’s just the beginning of its problems.
That’s it for #SportBits. I’m hoping you’ll find the time to invest in #MarchMadness. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for scores and updates during the week. Pull out that college T-shirt and support your team, or your spouse’s team, or your parent’s team, or the team who you think has the coolest mascot. Fill out that bracket and start asking the all-important question: Who do you have it winning it all?
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