Good morning, all and happy Tuesday!
The Geno Auriemma meltdown against coach Dawn Staley at Friday night’s NCAA women’s semifinal game against South Carolina will not die down. Here is my solution on how the issue can be settled. Among the suggestions:
Food
Wine
Common interests
Tremendous photo op
It is all there for the taking, as long as Geno makes the first move.
Here are some other thoughts on this first Tuesday in April:
The Michigan Spartans held off the UConn Huskies last night, 69-63, to win the NCAA men’s basketball national championship. Michigan pulled ahead in the first-half and UConn had to play catch-up the rest of the way. Connecticut cut the lead to four points inside of a minute, but the Spartans were able to hold off the charge.
We can now put the Dan Hurley-to-North Carolina rumors to rest. The Tar Heels new men’s hoops coach will be Michael Malone, the former coach of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. When last seen, Malone was fired days before the Nuggets were about to go to the NBA playoffs. However, his track record includes an NBA title, which he won in 2022-23.
John Ourand of Puck News is reporting more layoffs are coming to ESPN. The changing media landscape, i.e. cord-cutting, etc., is leading to the workforce shrinkage. According to Ourand, ESPN has lost 40 percent of its cable and satellite subscribers in the last 10 years. Do not look for the bleeding to stop anytime soon. That is why these sports leagues and the networks that carry them are fretting. A dwindling subscriber base means reduced revenue.
The Mets have moved their night games tonight and tomorrow against Arizona to day games, because of the cold weather forecast. The White Sox have moved their game against the Orioles tonight to this afternoon because of similar weather. The Yankees did not move the start of their 7:05 game tonight. Apparently it gets colder at Citi Field than Yankee Stadium. BTW, maybe there was a reason teams in the northeast and midwest did not schedule night games until late April or early May back in the day.
Don’t look now but the Red Sox are 2-8, after dropping an 8-6 decision to Milwaukee at Fenway Park last night. As the Sox continued to falter, fans once again broke out chanting “sell the team.” Red Sox management is vowing to stay the course.
Bring on the Masters, my favorite golf tournament. And speaking of favorites, Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win another green jacket. I will have my pick later this week.
So New York Giant defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who has had a solid career with the Giants but is coming off of a down year, wants to be traded because the team will not renegotiate his contract. Lawrence is entering the third year of a four-year $90M deal. Lawrence says he will not attend the Giants offseason workout program that starts today. I say trade him for a first round draft pick.
Juan Soto going on the 10-day injured list with a calf strain is not good news for the New York Mets. Soto rarely misses time due to injury and especially not for this length. When you read 10-day IL figure his absence from the lineup will be longer than that. The Mets do not have a lethal lineup, I do not care how hot Mark Vientos is at the moment. Soto being sidelined will have its impact on the Mets, for sure.
You know it is the first, full week of April. The sports websites clamoring for content are overwhelming readers with the upcoming NFL draft. Can you blame them? There is plenty of material and the NFL is in the news 24/7, even when games are not being played. The draft in particular is a big story generator. Expect many pieces in the next three weeks.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for being a subscriber and have a terrific Tuesday!
DAN
