Hello HerDaily readers…and I’m hoping there are a few new ones after my interview last week with Ms. Caitlyn Jenner. What a hoot! I’m still cracking myself up over the whole thing. I’m hoping the piece attracted some new visitors to #SportBits, and if so, welcome! My mission is to give those of you who don’t follow sports a bit of information so you can have it in your arsenal…along with the political and entertainment bits you may carry around. My sports knowledge has benefited me in so many ways, personally and professionally. Just this weekend I finally made it to an alumni event for my college alma mater. We met at a sports bar to watch our Vanderbilt Commodores take on Kentucky in college hoops. I didn’t know a soul, so my go-to start-up conversation was always something sports related (handy, since we were in a sports bar watching sports!). I think it’s always smart to have a little #SportBits in your back pocket. You never know when you’re going to need it.
Let’s begin with some college hoops! This past weekend we saw some great games and lots of upsets. With conference tourneys starting in a week, and selection Sunday slated for March 13th, every game from this point on is significant.
No. 3 University of Virginia climbed closer to a 3rd straight ACC regular season title with a HUGE 79-74 win over No. 7 North Carolina. Carolina takes on Syracuse tonight, 7 p.m. on ESPN; Syracuse is coming off a 75-66 win over North Carolina State this weekend.
No. 25 Texas overwhelmed No. 3 Oklahoma with a 25-5 run to close out a 76-63 victory on Saturday night in Austin.
No.20 knocked off No. 10 Maryland 83-79.
No. 2 Kansas beat Texas Tech for a share of the Big 12 title.
No. 11 Louisville went cold and made only 1 of its final 12 shots to blow an 8-pt second half lead in a 73-68 loss to No. 12 Miami on Saturday.
Vanderbilt is on the bubble so their 74-62 win over No.16 Kentucky in Nashville on Saturday may have sealed the envelope on that invitation to the big dance.
See all weekend scores and upcoming schedules here.
The NBA finishes its regular season at the end of April. Teams continue to battle for the top spots in their conferences in the hopes of making it to the playoffs.
The big news over the weekend revolved around reigning MVP Superman Steph Curry and his insane game vs. the OKC Thunder Saturday night. With a record-tying twelve 3-pointers, including the 35-foot game winner, Curry propelled the Warriors over the Thunder with a 121-118 soul-crushing win in overtime. He also broke his own record for three-pointers in a season, now at 288. Curry ended up with 46 points in the game, even after missing several minutes in the 3d quarter due to an ankle injury. The dude cannot be stopped. Even other NBA players were in awe. Oh, and lets throw in one more record: with the win, the Warriors have now clinched a spot in the playoffs, faster that any other team in NBA history.
Eleven-time all star and Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh is dealing with a recurring medical condition for the second year in a row. Under increasing pressure from physicians and the organization to sit out the rest of the season because of the potential dangers surrounding the blood clotting in his calf, sources say Bosh is searching for ways to continue to play with the use of blood thinners. If Bosh were determined to be out for the season, his return to basketball would be re-evaluated again in three to six months.
To check how your NBA team is doing, and for all the scores and highlights, look here.
In the NHL, the trade deadline looms. Teams are looking to strengthen and solidify their rosters for a possible playoff run. Check here for the latest trades, and the all the rumors and speculation currently swirling around the league.
The Dennis Wideman final appeal is expected sometime next week. You may recall that Wideman slammed linesman Don Henderson from behind on January 27th, and was suspended for 20games without salary. He’s sat out 12 of those games already, and by the time the ruling comes out,he may have served them all. Not sure what is taking so long. Wideman says he was concussed after taking a hit, and wasn’t fully aware of what he’d done.
San Jose Sharks defensemen Scott Hannan announced his retirement after 16 seasons with the same team he began with in 1997.
All NHL scores and highlights … here.
The NFL scouting combine took place last week and weekend in Indianapolis. The combine is a weeklong showcase where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of NFL coaches, GMs and scouts. Here is a rundown of stories and player standouts from the week. And here is the mother of all wardrobe malfunctions…easily topping Janet Jacksons “nipplegate” at the Super Bowl. (Pls. note, this video is rated “X” for Xtremely embarrassing).
In case you were wondering, Denver QB Peyton Manning has not officially retired from football after his Super Bowl win, but sources say he will make the announcement this week. #staytuned
The Dallas Police Department has finished its investigation into Cleveland Browns QB Johnny Manziel and the incident with his ex-girlfriend in late January. The case has now been moved to the grand jury which will decide whether formal charges will be filed against Manziel.
Opening Day for Major League Baseball is Monday, April 4th. Teams are busy at their respective training camps preparing for the upcoming season. In an interesting story, the New York Yankees have decided that fans no longer have the option to print their tickets at home. In what seems like a small change, it actually has a big impact on fans who will now have to bring physical tickets, or use the mobile delivery option on their cell phones. Yankees say the change is to “combat fraud and counterfeiting of tickets” but it feels like a straight shot at ticket service StubHub. If you can’t print your tickets at home, it’s very difficult to use that service. Sources say the Yankees are not happy with fans purchasing last minute tickets for well under face value. Read how Team COO Lonn Trott explains it in what seems like a big “oops” to me:
“The problem below market at a certain point is that if you buy a ticket in a very premium location and pay a substantial amount of money. It’s not that we don’t want that fan to sell it, but that fan is sitting there having paid a substantial amount of money for a ticket and [another] fan picks it up for a buck-and-a-half and sits there, and it’s frustrating to the purchaser of the full amount. And quite frankly, the fan may be someone who has never sat in a premium location. So that’s a frustration to our existing fan base.”
Oh boy Yankees, you wouldn’t want those poor people sitting in the premium seats. #yikes. And if a ticket holder is selling his/her ticket, he/she probably has a good reason for doing so, and doesn’t mind taking a price cut. Don’t you think?
In other news…
ESPN reporter and Dancing with the Stars host Erin Andrews is suing the Marriot Hotel in Nashville for $75million in what is being called the “peep-hole video” civil trial. In the suit, Andrews claims the hotel allowed David Barret to book rooms next to hers, rig peepholes and videotape her in the nude. Computer experts testified last week that the “conservative estimate” of video views worldwide since it was posted in 2009, is roughly 17 million. Ugh. Andrews had to sit in the courtroom while the jury watched 4-1/2 minutes of the tape. Humiliating beyond words.
Lindsay Vonn skied on Sunday with a hairline fracture in her knee suffered in a fall on Saturday in Soldeu, Andorra. Vonn crashed in the Super-G race and was brought down the hill on a rescue sled. After a fluid drain, she skied on Sunday with 2 braces on her knees and managed to extend her overall World Cup lead by placing 13th in the event. #DAMNgirl
#SportBitsOops: The Montreal Canadiens reached one million Twitter followers last week and, to mark the occasion, the team’s account made automatic responses to tweets from fans. Because the account was automatically responding to all fans, there appeared to be no screening process when it replied to the different names. This led to a string of tweets from the Canadiens’ account to different Twitter handles with very offensive names. I won’t write any of them here. It was a social media nightmare and the team has since apologized.
That’s it for #SportBits. The Academy Awards are about to start and as much as I love me some sports…ain’t nothing going to keep me from watching that!! See you next week. As always, follow me on instagram and Twitter for all the sports news and scores. #IdLikeToThankTheAcademy
The post #SportBits….And The Winner is appeared first on Her Daily.