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Archives for February 2024

Caps’ and Wizards’ Move Met with Resistance from Virginia Reps

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ALEXANDRIA – (Wire Service Report) – A Virginia state senator does not want Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis to use taxpayer money to build a new entertainment district in the suburb of Alexandria, Va.

Sen. Louise Lucas, a Democrat who is the chairwoman of Virginia’s senate finance committee, told reporters Monday a bill that would pave the way to move the NBA and NHL franchises from Washington to Alexandria is dead in her eyes.

“I will not allow a billionaire to build his company’s wealth on a taxpayer’s dime,” Lucas said, saying Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s “refusal to negotiate” left her to block the bill.

While Lucas declared the Senate bill dead after rejecting discussion of it at a meeting Monday, there is also a version of the legislation in the House of Delegates that passed through the house appropriations committee last week.

In December, Youngkin and Leonsis announced an agreement to move the Wizards and Capitals to a new $2 billion sports complex in Alexandria by 2028. The teams currently play in downtown Washington at Capital One Arena.

Underpinning the proposed move is legislation that would issue more than $1 billion in moral obligation bonds to build the complex. Virginia taxpayers would be on the hook if the site did not meet its revenue projections.

A spokeswoman for Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the Wizards’ and Capitals’ parent company, told reporters Monday that moving the teams to Virginia remains their “only” plan even after the District of Columbia offered $500 million for renovations at Capital One Arena.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a Washington Post op-ed Sunday that D.C. plans to require the Wizards and Capitals to play at the arena through 2047, per the terms of their lease. December’s announcement was also met with outrage from local sports fans who want the teams to stay put.

–Field Level Media

Boston College Intros Coaching Staff

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CHESTNUT HILL – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Boston College Director of Athletics Blake James introduced Bill O’Brien as the (Gregory P. Barber ’69 and Family) Head Coach of the BC football program. O’Brien was met by the school community and held his introductory news conference inside the Yawkey Athletics Center.

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Boston College head football coach Bill O’Brien announced his complete coaching staff for the 2024 season. O’Brien, who was hired Feb. 9, and the Eagles start spring ball Monday, March 11 following Boston College’s spring break.

O’Brien’s first staff at Boston College features two coaches he has spent significant time with throughout his career, including the Eagles’ new strength and conditioning coach. O’Brien also retained four assistant coaches from BC’s 2023 coaching staff and promoted one more from within the program. Additionally, the staff has one BC grad and another assistant in his second stint on the Heights.

Returning to lead the offensive line for a fourth season is Matt Applebaum. He held that same position from 2020-21 and after a one-year stint in the NFL, found his way back to the Heights as offensive line coach for an improved unit in 2023. The BC o-line paved the way for the second-ranked rushing attack in the ACC in 2023 at 198.8 yards per game, while allowing just 1.46 sacks per game. During his time at BC, Applebaum has overseen the development of first-round pick and All-American Zion Johnson, top-prospect Christian Mahogany in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft and All-American Alec Lindstrom. Between stretches with the Eagles, he was the offensive line coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2022. Applebaum graduated from Connecticut in 2007 and was a two-year starter on the offensive-line for the Huskies.

Secondary coach Ray Brown comes to Boston College from Washington State, where he was the cornerbacks coach 2022-23. Washington State’s 2022 defense ranked third in the Pac-12 at 22.9 points per game and contributed to a seven-win regular season. Prior to WSU, Brown served as the cornerbacks coach at Utah State (2021) and Troy (2019-20). He was also the defensive backs coach at Abilene Christian (2016-18) following graduate assistant posts in the Pac-12 at Arizona State (2014-15) and Washington State (2013). He is a 2009 graduate of East Central (Okla.) University, where he played cornerback from 2006-08 and began his coaching career as running backs coach from 2010-11.

Beginning a second stint on the Heights is defensive line coach Jeff Comissiong, who previously worked at BC from 2007-12 in the same role. He joined Cornell in 2021 and served three seasons as the linebackers coach for the Big Red. Comissiong spent one season at Hampton University following a seven-year run at Old Dominion from 2013-19. At ODU, he worked with a defense that led Conference USA in regular season sacks in 2018 and coached Oshane Ximines, the most decorated player in school history. Ximines, a 2019 third-round pick of the New York Giants, twice earned All-Conference first-team honors and was ODU’s first-ever invitee to the Senior Bowl. In his first spell with the Eagles, Comissiong tutored three All-ACC picks, including first-round pick B.J. Raji and second-rounder Ron Brace. He is a 1997 graduate of Maine, where he played for the Black Bears from 1991-94.

Local product Jonathan DiBiaso was promoted by O’Brien to quarterbacks coach after spending the 2023 season as an offensive analyst, working closely with the BC quarterbacks, including 2,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher Thomas Castellanos. DiBiaso got his start in coaching at BC as a graduate assistant from 2018-20. He then moved on to Vanderbilt (2021) as an offensive analyst and worked one season at Pittsburgh (2022) in a graduate assistant role. DiBiaso, who played high school football at Everett for his father John DiBiaso, played two seasons at Dartmouth (2013-14) and two seasons at Tufts (2015-16), earning his degree from Tufts in 2018.

Running backs coach Savon Huggins returns for his third season in that role and fourth overall at Boston College. The Eagles rushed for 2,584 yards in 2023 with BC running backs averaging 4.71 yards per carry. Kye Robichaux ranked seventh in the league at 70.9 yards per game; totaling 780 yards, eight touchdowns and a 4.79 yards per carry average. Huggins arrived at BC in 2021 as a recruiting advisor, while also working directly with the Eagles’ running backs, including All-ACC second-team selection and 1,000-yard rusher Pat Garwo III. HUggins got his start in coaching at Somerville (N.J.) High School, gained experience as an intern with the Miami Dolphins and broke into the college ranks at Buffalo in 2020. He played running back at Rutgers and graduated in 2015.

Will Lawing joins BC as the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach after a season as the New England Patriots tight end coach in 2023. Lawing and O’Brien have coached together since 2013 beginning when Lawing was a graduate assistant at Penn State in 2013 during the second year of O’Brien’s two-year stint as head coach of the Nittany Lions. The two continued to work together with the Houston Texans, where Lawing served in roles of defensive quality control (2014-16), offensive assistant (2017-18) and tight ends coach (2019-20). Lawing returned to the college game as an offensive analyst at Alabama from 2021-22. As a player, he was a walk-on at North Carolina and a member of the Tar Heels squad from 2004-07.

Defensive coordinator Tim Lewis arrives at Boston College with 34 years of coaching experience and seven years as a NFL defensive coordinator. Lewis, a first-round pick as a cornerback at Pittsburgh, has spent 25 years in professional football. He was the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator from 1995-1999, which included an AFC Championship, and New York Giants defensive coordinator from 2004-06 under former BC head coach Tom Coughlin; twice reaching the playoffs with the Giants. Most recently, he was the co-defensive coordinator of the Arlington Renegades in the United Football League. As a coordinator or secondary coach, he coached six players to All-Pro status in the NFL, including Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan and two-time All-Pro selection Carnell Lake. As a player, Lewis spent four years with the Green Bay Packers from 1983-86.

Boston College graduate Dan O’Brien ’05 returns to his alma mater as the Eagles’ linebackers coach. The son of former BC head coach Tom O’Brien, he was a student assistant as an undergraduate. O’Brien most recently coached for three seasons at Southern Miss, beginning as the safeties coach from 2021-22 before assuming the defensive coordinator role in 2023. He spent the two previous seasons at Georgia (2019-20) in defensive quality control after working five years at Navy (2014-18). Upon graduation from BC, O’Brien got his start as a scouting assistant intern for Bill Belichick’s staff in New England in 2005 and later worked as a defensive analyst and graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama.

Matt Thurin was retained as Boston College’s special teams coordinator and will be the longest tenured member of the staff heading into his fifth year at BC. He has coached special teams and safeties in his time with the Eagles. His special teams unit blocked two kicks in 2023 and did not allow a blocked kick or punt on the season. He oversaw the development of kicker Liam Connor, who ascended to placekicker in 2023 after serving as the kickoff specialist as a freshman in 2022. Connor went 11-for-14 on field goals, including three makes of 45 yards. Thurin previously spent five seasons at Ohio State (2015-19) in defensive quality control.

Assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt returns for a third season with the Eagles. He oversaw the evolution of All-ACC, All-American and first-round pick Zay Flowers in his first season on the Heights in 2022 and has led the development of Lewis Bond. In 2023, Bond was one of just six receivers in the ACC to catch 50 or more passes for over 600 yards and seven touchdowns. Wyatt spent his four previous seasons at UCF (2018-21) as the wide receivers coach and worked with future Eagle Ryan O’Keefe, who set the Knights’ record for receptions in a season at 84. Overall, Wyatt has 34 years of coaching experience, including stints as the offensive coordinator at Kansas (2000 and 2010) and Texas (2013). He transferred to Kansas State, where he played two seasons and earned his degree in 1989.

Craig Fitzgerlad worked with O’Brien at both Penn State and with the Houston Texans. He takes over as the Eagles’ director of football performance. A tight end and 1996 graduate of Maryland as a player, he has been a head strength coach across collegiate and professional football every year since 2005, beginning with five years at Harvard (2005-09). Fitzgerald left South Carolina (2009-11) to work with O’Brien at Penn State (2023-13) and continued the partnership with the Texans (2014-17). He then moved on to Tennessee (2018-19) before accepting the head strength and conditioning job with the New York Giants (2020-23). He was recently hired as the director of football performance at Florida in December, but arrived on the Heights immediately following the announcement of O’Brien’s appointment.

BC also brought in Berj Najarian as chief of staff. Najarian spent the last 24 seasons in Foxborough as the director of football/head coach administration with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. He was a part of six Super Bowl Championships during his time in New England.

2024 Boston College Football Coaching Staff
Bill O’Brien, Head Coach
Matt Applebaum*, Offensive Line
Ray Brown, Secondary
Jeff Comissiong, Defensive Line
Jonathan DiBiaso*^, Quarterbacks
Savon Huggins*, Running Backs
Will Lawing, Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends
Tim Lewis, Defensive Coordinator
Dan O’Brien, Linebackers
Matt Thurin*, Special Teams Coordinator
Darrell Wyatt*, Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers
Craig Fitzgerald, Director of Football Performance
Berj Najarian, Chief of Staff
*-Returned from 2023 Staff
*^-Returned from 2023 Staff in a New Role

 

SB LVIII: Niners Struck Gold

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LAS VEGAS — As Mr. Irrelevant, he had a parade, a prodigious haul of swag and a few massive believers.

As an NFL quarterback in his second season, Brock Purdy started two NFC Championship Games and is playing Sunday for a Lombardi Trophy and a little bit more national attention.

“I would say he’s doing a pretty good job of getting it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday at Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night.

It’s been quite a roller coaster to get back to Las Vegas, where Purdy brings a 21-5 record as a starter to the Strip and a Super Bowl LVIII matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The third-youngest QB starter in Super Bowl history, Purdy is embracing everything about his next game and the opportunity to spark another parade.

“I got drafted last,” Purdy said Monday with a wry smile. “Staying grounded and more than anything, just staying grateful. Not what I didn’t do or where I didn’t go. But, ‘Hey, I get to go play for the 49ers.’ I want to be a part of this, I want to be a part of it forever. Even though I was overlooked two years ago in the draft, I’ve got an opportunity to go win a Super Bowl with the 49ers.”

When Purdy’s NFL journey began down the street at Caesars Palace, the 49ers turned in the card for the 262nd and final pick in the 2022 draft to little fanfare. He was the ninth of nine quarterbacks selected.

San Francisco hardly kicked the door down to reel in Purdy. Niners general manager John Lynch had many chances to select him sooner with five picks on the third and final day of the draft (Nos. 134, 172, 187, 220 and 221) before the draft-capper was announced.

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Mr. Irrelevant no more, Purdy stood out to coach Kyle Shanahan very early in his rookie training camp. That’s not revisionist history.

“We had a fourth-round grade on him,” Shanahan said Monday. “You always go through and predict where guys are going to get drafted. We had a lot of holes at the time. Quarterback wasn’t really one of them.

“We knew his measurables and stuff were smaller (than the prototype quarterback). The first day of rookie minicamp he walks out and I told our coaches, ‘OK, he’s going to be fine.’ We called him Baby Bosa. He had these shortie shorts on and big, thick legs kind of like (San Francisco edge rusher Nick) Bosa.”

Team owner Jed York confessed this week Shanahan told him in August 2022 he was pretty sure the “third-sting quarterback is our best quarterback,” which turned the stomach of the CEO who invested massive draft capital and salary for the 49ers to acquire the No. 3 pick in 2021 and select Trey Lance.

San Francisco traded three first-round picks to go up from No. 12 to No. 3 and select Lance, a relative neophyte out of North Dakota State. Shanahan said now with the benefit of hindsight it was “definitely a mistake.” After two seasons and four total starts, Lance was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in August after the 49ers were fully comfortable that Purdy’s surgically repaired right elbow was fully healthy.

Two years later, Shanahan isn’t just willing to put Purdy among the best quarterbacks he’s ever coached.

“Better. He’s better,” Shanahan said.

The numbers prove his point. Among quarterbacks with at least 20 starts (regular season and postseason combined) the past two seasons, Purdy leads the NFL during his starts with an .808 winning percentage, 9.2 yards per attempt, a 3.36-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio (47-14) and a 111.2 passer rating.

–By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media

Super Bowl: For Bosa, It’s Revenge

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LAS VEGAS -(Staff and Wire Service Report) – Losing in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs four seasons ago has never slipped the mind of San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa. The defensive end said he documented his feelings and will break them out later this week as part of his preparation for Sunday’s rematch.

“No sharing but there are a couple recordings that I have,” Bosa said at Monday’s Super Bowl Opening Night. “I had some thoughts and I didn’t want to forget them so they’re in my phone.”

Bosa and the 49ers had a 10-point lead past the midway point of the fourth quarter in Super Bowl LIV before Kansas City scored 21 straight points to post a 31-20 victory at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Bosa scored one sack of Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes in that game and is eager for more.

“What stands out is very thin margins,” said Bosa, referring to Mahomes’ quick release and escape ability. “Very grateful for the opportunity against the same team. We have to make it count this time.”

Bosa and the 49ers figure to bring pressure with the Kansas City offense sometimes having issues against physical units.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid hasn’t forgotten the struggles of dealing with Bosa and the rest of San Francisco’s front seven four years ago.

“There were some running lanes early. They closed those up,” Reid said of the previous Super Bowl. “Their front — it starts with them. They’re really good, their front four. And then two of the most athletic linebackers in the league (in Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw).”

Yet even with the 49ers’ four sacks in the game, Mahomes still made the San Francisco defense pay.

“There’s a few plays in the Super Bowl we look back at that were very big plays where he made plays with his legs,” Bosa said.

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Bosa had 10.5 sacks this season after needing time to find his stride after a long holdout.

He agreed to a five-year, $170 million contract as the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history shortly before the season started.

“It’s definitely a weight off your back getting your second deal done and just having that out of the equation,” Bosa said. “It was a stressful time. I’m glad it’s over with.”

One season earlier, Bosa had a league-best 18.5 sacks and won NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. He has 53.5 sacks in 68 regular-season games.

Bosa has 10 sacks in 11 postseason contests, including two in the NFC Championship Game when the 49ers rallied from a 17-point deficit to claim a 34-31 victory over Detroit.

Bosa isn’t the only key San Francisco defender looking to close the door on past demons.

Warner repeatedly replays the former Super Bowl loss in his mind. He intercepted Mahomes in that game but the fourth-quarter collapse is what’s at the forefront of his thoughts.

“The biggest thing I take away from that game is the game is never over until that clock hits triple zeros,” Warner said. “That’s the biggest takeaway.

“I remember guys on the sidelines in that fourth quarter real happy and excited about possibly becoming Super Bowl champions and things flipped on a dime real quick. (Kansas City) scoring 21 unanswered in about six minutes.

“That scar remains with me to this day.”

–Field Level Media

SB LVIII: Reid Will Know When It’s Time

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid embraces Tommy Bahama button-town style to the extent questions about retirement no longer inspire shock and disdain.

“My mom and dad told me a long time ago, ‘You’ll know when it’s time,’” Reid said Monday at Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium. “I’m here. And I’m still ready to go right now.”

But at age 65, another question might apply to Reid by Sunday night: Could he become the GOAT?

“I don’t think about that sort of thing really,” Reid said.

Reid is second in NFL history with 25 playoff wins and fourth in regular-season victories with 258. Recently unemployed Bill Belichick ranks No. 1 with 31 postseason victories and is closing in on Don Shula’s regular-season wins mark. Belichick stands at a grand total of 333 victories (302 in the regular season).

Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has coached against Belichick and worked for Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chiefs. He wouldn’t claim to have foreseen Reid chasing 300 career wins, but he did see greatness in the young coach groomed under Mike Holmgren with the Green Bay Packers.

“You knew immediately that Andy knew exactly how to do it,” Spagnuolo said Monday, adding the detail-oriented Reid has encyclopedic volumes of notes from his coaching experiences and offseason visits to college programs to keep learning and exploring what’s next. “He never looks riled. Rock solid. He never gets too high, never gets too low. Stays the course all the way through. When the coaches, the players see that — they follow.”

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Reid snapped Kansas City’s 49-year streak without a Super Bowl appearance when the Chiefs claimed Lombardi Trophy after the 2019 season. He has taken Kansas City to four Super Bowls in the past five seasons and is pursuing his third title.

Since being hired by the Chiefs in January 2013, Reid hasn’t had a losing record in 11 seasons. No other franchise has a streak of consecutive non-losing seasons higher than five during that same window.

Fired by the Eagles in 2012 after 14 seasons in Philadelphia, Reid isn’t underappreciated in Kansas City. Before his arrival, the Chiefs hadn’t won a playoff game since January 1994, when Shula was still coaching the Miami Dolphins. Miami beat the Chiefs in the playoffs the following season.

That was one of Shula’s 347 total wins. He logged 328 victories in the regular season.

Reid stands at 283 total, 64 behind Shula’s all-time record tally.

But Reid’s 28-year-old quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is set to become the youngest to start four Super Bowls — a clip two years ahead of Tom Brady, who started his fourth at age 30 with the New England Patriots under Belichick.

With Reid — who drafted Mahomes in 2017 — they’re on a run of eight consecutive AFC West division titles and six straight AFC Championship Games.

Could Reid catch Belichick and Shula? Well, it depends.

Belichick, 71, and the Patriots split in January. Pete Carroll, 72, and the Seattle Seahawks did, too. That makes Reid the NFL’s elder statesman with his 66th birthday on March 19, six days after NFL free agency begins and less than a week before he is scheduled to represent the Chiefs at league meetings in Orlando.

Within the NFL pantheon of coaching legends, greatness narratives often are coupled with dynasty-level success, the type Reid is in the throes of with the Chiefs.

He has 37 regular-season wins and eight playoff wins in the past three seasons with a chance to get another playoff “W” this week. Including the Chiefs’ franchise-record 14 wins in 2020 (a mark they matched in 2022), Reid’s four-season totals are 51 wins, 10 in the playoffs.

For now, Reid wants to keep his focus on the next one.

He has never lost in Las Vegas (4-0 vs. the Raiders) and said the Chiefs are thanking the Raiders for the Christmas Day defeat in Kansas City that lit a spark under the team.

“We had some ups and downs throughout the year,” Reid said. “It was good to see the young guys step up and finish strong. The growth would be the biggest part of the journey.”

–By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media

Goodell Welcomed Swiftie Effect

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has attended two Taylor Swift concerts with his two daughters and his wife, but chances are, he never thought his status as a “Swiftie” would bleed over into the workplace.

But it has.

Swift has taken the NFL world by storm due to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and Goodell had nothing but good things to say on Monday about the couple’s impact on football.

“Having the ‘Taylor Swift effect’ is also a positive,” Goodell told reporters. “Both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people, and they seem very happy. She knows great entertainment, and I think that’s why she loves NFL football.

“Obviously, it creates a buzz. It creates another group of young fans, particularly young women, that are interested in seeing why she is going to this game, why she is interested in this game. Besides (her relationship with) Travis, she is a football fan, and I think that’s great for us.”

Kansas City beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 28, leading some fans to believe that the outcome was pre-planned in order to have Swift draw more viewers for the Super Bowl. The 14-time Grammy Award winner is expected to be in attendance when the Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, but Goodell made it clear that he is far from capable of cooking up such a storyline.

“I don’t think I’m that good of a scripter — or anybody on our staff,” Goodell said. “Listen, there is no way I could have scripted that one, let’s put it that way.”

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Swift has been spotted at 12 of Kelce’s games this season, with Kansas City coming out on top in nine of them. She first attended the Chiefs’ 41-10 victory over the Chicago Bears back on Sept. 24.

Of course, there has been some backlash from the NFL’s focus on Swift over the past five months, but Goodell is hoping that she sticks around.

“I think anybody in this society, when they’re in a public position, (is) going to be subject to criticism,” Goodell said. “Taylor is obviously a dynamo. Everything she touches, there are people following. So we count ourselves fortunate and we welcome it.”

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | February 4

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While We’re Young (Ideas) on St. John’s and the BIG EAST

Maybe it’s the Red Storm Mascot and Nickname That’s Cursed The Johnnies?

 

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – You have to turn the calendar back to Sunday, August 13 (NFL preseason) or Sunday, September 10 (NFL regular season openers) to mark a Sunday when there wasn’t an NFL game to tune into and that discards today’s flag football version of the NFL Pro Bowl.

While We’re Young (Ideas) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In place of hard-hitting NFL action, the sports calendar offered up a couple gems, including the NHL All-Star Weekend (to be mentioned later), the first of two Duke vs North Carolina regular season contests – the best rivalry in NCAA College Basketball. Or, you could’ve opted for Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes were live, against the BIG 10 Maryland Terps, in primetime women’s NCAA Basketball on (regular) FOX, Saturday night at 8pm (ET). (Note: FOX Sports deployed a Caitlin Cam for those who wanted to view 100% of the broadcast focused on Ms. Clark, available only on the FOX Sports app).

The Boston Red Sox used the slow sports news weekend to bring back Theo Epstein to the mother ship, as the one-time GM of the Sox returned for a senior Advisory role for all of the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) properties, including the Red Sox. That no worry to newly hired Boston GM Craig Breslow who was hired by Epstein back when Theo the Miracle Worker was orchestrating the first MLB Championship for the Chicago Cubs (2016) which came not long after Epstein broke the 1918 “Curse of the Bambino” with a 2004 Red Sox World Series pennant.

It’s not clear whether Epstein will place more of his attention on FSG’s new investment into the PGA Tour, their efforts with Liverpool in the English Premier League or maybe the new entry – The Boston Common – in the one-year delayed TGL Golf entity.

Regardless, Epstein was welcomed back to New England with open arms of fans hoping his experiences at the Cubs and Major League Baseball might shore-up a baseball team that’s destined for another last place finish in the competitive AL EAST.

Last place? Yes, as in:

AL EAST Prediction:

  1. Baltimore Orioles
  2. New York Yankees
  3. Tampa Bay Rays
  4. Toronto Blue Jays
  5. Boston Red Sox

Remember, the Orioles won 101 games last season and they’ve improved while the NY Yankees signed free agent slugger Juan Soto and starters Marcus Stroman and Luke Weaver, all questionable moves with the aging stars.

Rain-drenched Pebble Beach and Spyglass golf courses were of no help to the PGA Tour which threw us another curve ball – let’s call it a flop shot – when they announced a new but long talked-about entity – SSG (Strategic Sports Group) – invested a cool $3 billion into the tour via PGA Tour Enterprises, an investment and marketing arm for the Tour which will be valued at $12 billion to start but will hold a huge open chunk of equity7 for an eventual investment by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) with the pot of new dough “subject to all necessary regulatory approvals” by the United States’ Treasury, State and Justice departments.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: This brings us to today’s BIG TOPIC – the BIG EAST Conference, a highly competitive basketball focused conference now deep into the 2024 regular season with a post season tournament scheduled March 8-12 that is second to none.

The reason it is second to none? It’s an easy answer. It’s The Garden.

Madison Square Garden brings out the best in sports, in music, in everything.

Bono, of U2, said his band “has had our best nights in this building.” That was particularly true when U2 played one of the first rock shows after 9/11 and decided to scroll the names of every person (crews/passengers/everyone) murdered on the three flights and those on the ground at The Pentagon.

The Concert for New York was another magical night, not long after the Trade Towers fell, as was 12/12/12 – The Concert for Sandy Relief. They followed many others, from No Nukes to George Harrison.

But basketball is king at The Garden and St. John’s – which boasts as New York’s Team – is the only college that calls Madison Square Garden its home. Tjhat should be a HUGE advantage when teams visit during the regular season, for the Holiday Festival or for the BIG EAST Conference Tournament.

Sadly of late, it hasn’t mattered one bit.

Truth be told, this columnist owns a handful of seasons tickets for St John’s, dating back to 1977-78. This year, because of the preseason hype and ticket demand – much of it because of the hiring of Coach Rick Pitino – the number of seats was upped to eight – all in the hope of reliving a season as a Top 10 team, one that held court at The Garden and spit out any opponent daring to venture towards Penn Plaza.

That is no longer the case. Other schools waltz into MSG and sell out the joint – like a Baylor vs Duke game earlier this season. Duke even closed down most of the bars and restaurants on 7th Avenue with alumni gatherings and fund raisers. Duke made more money in one night than they do for a whole season at the Cameron Indoor Center on the bucolic campus in Durham, Carolina.

St. John’s lowered its appearances at MSG to four last season but Pitino is planning to schedule more games in the city and leave only some exhibitions, some patsys, and one BIG GAME at Carnesecca Arena, and that being UConn – a college with 10,000 of more ticket-scalping fans. At Saturday’s 77-64 drubbing of the Johnnies in front of 10,000 UConn fans and, maybe, 9,000 St. John’s fans – who were mostly quiet anyway.

As St. John’s center Joel Soriano said quite well, when he said, “There’s a little bit more meaning to it (the games) now just because we have been losing some games that we haven’t been closing out. Our backs are kind of plastered against the wall.

“We’ve got to finish out the season strong if we are going to make the NCAA Tournament,” Soriano added. “We all know that, the coaching staff knows that, our teammates know that and really we are just beating ourselves at the end of the day. We just got to finish our games.”

The fingers could not be pointed elsewhere. Soriano indicated he knew his game was nowhere near where it should be at this point in the season. His honesty and maturity was evident. His game? Invisible.

Thirty-three minutes, 2-of-6 from the field, 2-of-5 from the FT line, a lowly four rebounds and only two assists with one blocked shot. It was one of only four shots blocked by the team – a club which shot 4-of-14 from 3 Pt. FG range (29%) and 14-of-21 from the FT line (67%).

UConn, their opponent, shot 20-of-22 from the line (91%) and drained 47% of their 3 Pt. FGs – all on an unfamiliar rim in The Garden of Eden.

St. John’s hasn’t won the BIG EAST tournament since 2000, and 1986 before that. They haven’t won a Sweet 16 game since that ‘99 season and in 1991 before that. Only 1985 brought the modern day Johnnies to the Final Four where they were smoked by Georgetown.

For the 21st Century, St, John’s has been the FYRE Festival of Fashion Avenue.

Meanwhile their opponents in the BIG EAST have loaded and re-loaded their programs with talent and determination. Only Chicago’s DePaul University can claim to have less success.

In many a year, a typical BIG EAST basketball schedule made it damn near impossible to win a road game. That remains the case for most UConn, Seton Hall, Marquette, Creighton and Providence homers. Not so much for St. John’s as they’ve slipped to a 5-6 BIG EAST record (.455) with an 0-4 record against any team ranked.

UConn coach Danny Hurley and his No. 1 ranked Huskies remain the team to beat. No. 9/10 Marquette is trending upward while No. 13 Creighton – toughest at home – will be a very tough out at the conference tournament or in the NCAAs.

Pitino has nine regular season games to right the ship. Five of the nine are winnable games while four (@Marquette, @Providence, vs. Seton Hall and vs. Creighton) will be tuffies, as the Aussies say.

Pitino seems to have one player he can count on in guard Danis Jenkins, a transfer who followed Pitino from Iona. Other scorers, highly touted in their recruiting nes releases, but overmatched in a step-up (from IVY League types) to BIG EAST level competition.

At this point of the season, it’s really not on Coach Pitino to pull off a miracle, as he’s done in the past at Louisville or in the Wayback machine at Providence. It’s squarely on the players to plant their feet and make a stand. They need to do it on New York city hardwood, at The Garden, the Garden of Eden where they once dominated.

NHL ALL-STAR WEEKEND: The NHL proved something that most hockey fans already knew coming into this weekend’s NHL All-Star Weekend and NHL Skills Competition.

That fact? Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers is the best player in the NHL.

The National Hockey League has fast become a game of speed and McDavid was on display in the fastest skating competition on Friday night. In fact, McDavid was the leader all the way through the Skills competition thanks to finishing first in the previously mentioned NHL Fastest Skater (13.408 seconds), best in the NHL Stickhandling contest (25.755 seconds) and his display in the NHL Accuracy Shooting contest, when he went 4-for-4 on the targets in 9.158 seconds. His only drawback was in the (seemingly impossible) Passing Contest.

The revamped format for the Skills competition featured 12 skaters and eight goalies, leading to one overall winner. McDavid spoke with Steve Mayer, the NHL’s executive vice president and chief content officer, to give his opinion on what could work.

“I thought it was entertaining,” McDavid said. “From a competitive side, it definitely got competitive out there. I was huffing and puffing. Guys were working hard trying to put on a good show, and I feel like we did that and we can feel good about it. Ultimately, it’s up to the fans, and I hope they enjoyed it.”

For his efforts in the Skills contest, McDavid took home a cool $1 million in a “winner-take-all” scenario.