Good morning, all and happy Sunday!
If you love sports, and I am guessing if you subscribe to this newsletter you do, this is one of your favorite Sundays.
In the video and podcast I discuss the following:
Selection Sunday
The Players Championship
The WBC semifinal between the United States and the Dominican Republic
Here are some other thoughts on this third Sunday in March:
Give credit to St. John’s for totally outplaying UConn to win the Big East Conference tournament. The Red Storm trounced the Huskies, 72-52, in the tournament final at Madison Square Garden last night, avenging the whipping they took at the hands of the Huskies in downtown Hartford on Feb. 25. After that game, an annoyed St. John’s coach Rick Pitino spoke to the media for 70 seconds and left the interview room. This time his team was better prepared, especially on defense, pressuring the Huskies at both ends of the floor, forcing turnovers, shutting down UConn’s inside game and rendering the Huskies perimeter game impotent. How this translates into the NCAA tournament for both schools remains to be seen but in the battle between these two mega Big East rivals, the Red Storm seemingly has had the last laugh for this season, splitting the two regular season games and winning the conference tournament. It will be fun, however, should they meet in the NCAA tournament.
St. John’s is the first school in the illustrious history of the Big East to win regular season and conference titles in back-to-back years. St. John’s is also 42-4 in its last 46 games against conference opponents. These days life is good for Rick Pitino.
Italy continues to get it done in the WBC, under manager Francisco Cervelli. Italy defeated Puerto Rico, 8-6, yesterday to advance to the WBC semifinals for the first time. They will play the winner of the Japan vs. Venezuela game. Here is the Italian call of the final out:
The Athletic reports four groups are vying for ownership of the San Diego Padres with a decision coming as soon as April.
Several reports indicate the NFL is on the verge of doubling its rights fees with CBS, the first of the networks to be on the NFL firing line. The greedy NFL, even though it currently has a contract with CBS, that pays it $2.1B per season, wants to tear up the deal and force CBS to pay nearly double that amount. More amazingly, CBS is apparently willing to do it. Why? Because in the end the cost will be transferred to you with higher cable-TV and streaming fees. Disgusting.
And on that note, thank you for subscribing to my newsletter and enjoy your selection Sunday!
DAN
