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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Madness

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Here we are right inside the belly of the BIG EAST, the NCAA East Regional where the University of Connecticut is playing NBA-style basketball while everyone else is trying out for the 5th Grade CYO team. This isn’t the “Chess vs Checkers” thing, it’s more like real NASA Rocket Science compared to Freshman Biology and first-time users of a Bunson Burner.

UConn doesn’t bring a machete to a knife fight, they bring vice grips. UConn is so good, Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown couldn’t find a flaw during a three-hour practice. If they’re down four points, they stay the course like a George W. Bush Rose Garden speech. The four point deficit soon becomes a two point lead, then six, then eight, then 12 – and here in Boston – then 30!

Dan Hurley, the son of a Hall of Fame coach (Bob Hurley, Sr. of St. Anthony’s High School in north Jersey), calls time out and applies the vice grip strategy, adjusts the after-burners and senior guard Cam Spencer takes it from there. If Spencer isn’t ready to score, or he’s closely guarded, the screens are set to perfection and the ball goes into 7-foot-2 sophomore center Donovan Clingan. If that doesn’t work or if the bigman is in foul trouble, UConn goes to their best scorer and shooter, in 6-foot-5 senior guard Tristan Newton.

Pick your poison. Fast.

“This is as dominant as a team can be,” said former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy after UConn went on a relentless second half run at TD Garden.

Let’s count the way: The score was tied at 23-all with 1:51 remaining in the first half. It was 26-23 in favor of UConn at the half.

The next time Illinois scored, the clock read 12:39 remaining in the game and the score was FIFTY THREE to 25. That was a 30-to-two run from that 1:51 mark for you math majors out there.

The final score was 77-52, after Hurley cleared the bench in the waning moments of the biggest ass-kicking we’ve seen since Mike Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks (91 seconds) in 1988.

Aside from the obvious talent and depth, and the fact UConn is very well coached and in condition, the Huskies don’t panic. In any game, never mind Saturday night’s clinic. Close game at the half? To start the second half, they adjust. Then, they play like champions – which they are, of course, as they try to become the first college basketball team to repeat since the Al Horford/Joakim Noah era Florida Gators, coached by another diminutive point guard in Billy Donovan, the Rick Pitino-schooled three-point maven from Providence College.

What did yet another Hall of Famer, Rudy T, say about champions?

“Don’t EVER underestimate the heart of a champion.”

Aside from Lew Alcindor/KAJ’s UCLA teams, Bill Walton’s UCLA teams and the last of the undefeated (30-0) Indiana team of Kent Benson-Quinn Buckner fame, college basketball hasn’t seen anything like this UConn team.

Since it’s Elite 8 time this weekend, it’s not prudent (again quoting a Bush family President?) to predict what will happen when the Final Four convenes in Glendale, Arizona with the exception that No. 1 overall seed Connecticut will be the team to beat, the favorites and the only school in the building with 13 pairs of vice grips, one for Coach Hurley and the others for 12 talented, disciplined players who rolled through the BIG EAST and should shine again when their shining moment comes in the Valley of the Sun.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: On the women’s side of NCAA Basketball Bracketville, there’s an equally talented UConn team but the incredible parity of the high-level women’s tournament makes it impossible to predict.

That’s good.

Call it the way you see it – Is coach Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team ready to accept another crown (adding to 2017 and 2022)? SC will play upstart Oregon State (today/Sunday) at 1:00pm EDT on ABC.

LSU will face Iowa State in a battle of the two most publicized women’s teams, with LSU defending their 2023 NCAA championship against a team they defeated in the Final Four (final game), 102-85, last April 2nd.

Texas will face NC State and a half-a-handful of others will compete this weekend for the right to survive and move on.

All good, right?

Nope.

We’ve got one coach – an odd one, bedazzled in her sequined Purple, Gold and whatever other colors are in the Louisiana State sky – who thinks she’s above the rest of us. She used the pulpit of an NCAA postgame interview room setting to call out a journalist from the Washington Post. In doing so, she called more attention to a story (posted Saturday) than anything published by any outlet that’s ever written a word about women’s basketball.

The coach (LSU’s Ms. Kim Mulkey) threatened lawsuits against a story she hadn’t yet seen/read because it hadn’t even been published at the time of her attempted preemptive strike – let’s call it a rant – in front of a captive audience of media trying to cover a simple basketball game.

Coach Mulkey is supposedly an educator of young minds. The administrators of Louisiana State University pay her good money and place a lot of athletes, basketball players and non-athlete students in her care and oversight.

?But, face facts, no Ph D, no administrator, no parent of a college student should allow Ms. Mulkey anywhere near their schools or kids. In addition, the Journalism Department at LSU should be calling for her dismissal. Mulkey’s actions were selfish and disruptive, and they show no respect for the Journalism Industry or the game of basketball.

Instead of wrapping a fish in a story she didn’t want to see written, Mulkey has taken the “Circle the Wagons” approach to attempt to galvanize her team in the “Us vs The World” style of B.S. coaching. After the Washington Post story dropped (in essence it sounded like a feather hitting a mattress), Mulkey decided to double-down and criticize the Los Angeles Times. The next thing you know, she’ll complain that one of her assistant coaches was booed at a “Hamilton the Musical” production or claim the final score of one of her games was rigged by machines.

It’s that bad.

Mulkey has ruined the 2024 Women’s NCAA Basketball season, a year that held such promise for the women’s game and the overall future of the sport.

IT’S BASEBALL SEASON: Next week’s column will dig-in deep before the Red Sox home opener (April 9) while we also get ready for the April 15th Boston Marathon, but today – How about some very basic MLB predictions?

In the National League, there are two very obvious favorites in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. In the American League, the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and defending ‘23 MLB Champion Texas Rangers get the nod as the regular season begins.

It’s reasonable to wonder if the ‘23 World Series runner-up Arizona Diamondbacks can repeat their magic from last October.

LA Dodgers over the Houston Astros in the 2024 World Series is the call, here.

Can the column seek another opinion, please?

STRAT AGEE: Our friends at Strat-O-Matic made their annual simulation/prediction for the upcoming season and the Braves came out as MLB champions.

Strat-O-Matic, a longtime leader in sports simulation games, simulated the ‘24 MLB regular season and post season, predicting Atlanta as the winner of 99 regular season games and later celebrating the franchise’s third World Series title since relocating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Georgia. The Braves needed only five games to take down American League pennant winner Houston in the simulated baseball championship.

Strat-O-Matic’s overall simulation had the Braves winning the NL East by seven games over the Philadelphia Phillies, and joining Central champ Chicago Cubs (90-72) and West winner Los Angeles Dodgers (99-63) as division winners.

Arizona (97-65), Philadelphia (92-70) and San Diego (84-78) claimed the wild card spots, with the Braves taking out the Dodgers in a sweep in the NLCS after dispatching the Cubs in three straight in the NLDS.

In the AL, Houston (102-60) set the big league’s best mark, backing it up by edging wild card Tampa Bay (90-72) in the ALDS and sweeping Minnesota (96-66) in the ALCS. The Twins, Central Division winners, had upended No. 2 seeded New York (99-63) to advance through the ALDS. Texas (91-71) and Cleveland (86-76) were the other AL wild card winners.

MAJOR LEAGUE’S “MAJOR AWARD” WINNERS: Strat-O-Matic also took a crack at predicting the best players in the Big Leagues.

In the American League it was New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, whose 48 home runs and 113 RBI to go with a .962 OPS earned MVP honors, while Minnesota’s Pablo Lopez turned in an impressive 20-8 mark with 3.15 ERA and 235 strikeouts to win the Cy Young Award.

In the NL, Mookie Betts’ work in the LA infield made him an even more integral part of the Dodgers, enough to earn his second MVP with a .281 average, .945 OPS, 40 home runs and 118 RBI. To no one’s surprise, Atlanta’s Spencer Strider breaks through for his first Cy Young Award, posting a 20-5 record and stellar 2.79 ERA with 260 whiffs.

TLs Sunday Sp🏀rts Notes | Mar 24

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Here in Boston, we have the Duke vs Carolina rivalry of College Ice Hockey as the Hockey East finals brought No. 2 ranked Boston University and No. 1 ranked Boston College together for the fourth time this season. It’s tagged “The Green Line” rivalry and noted for the six-mile stretch of Commonwealth Avenue that separates the schools.

It’s not the 8-miles from Durham to Chapel Hill but rather a Driver and a couple three woods from Agannis Arena to Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill. BU kids vote for the Mayor of Boston, while the BC kids call the City of Newton home.

Heading into the Saturday night Hockey East finale, BC held a 2-1 edge in the 2023-24 ice hockey season, but the one BU win came in the annual Beanpot Tournament (won by Northeastern University as they’ve gone back-to-back with Beanpot wins twice in the last six years).

This year?

Boston College took the Hockey East title, as BC took a 2-0 lead into the second period. But, BU cut that lead in half with a gorgeous wrist shot goal by defenseman Gavin McCarthy, a freshman from Clarence Center, N.Y. (Population 3,337).

BC extended its lead to 3-1, on a goal by Cutter Gauthier, BC’s third power play goal of the game which came at 18:46 of the 2nd period.

Eagles’ freshman Will Smith scored his third goal of the night to make it 4-1, BC, at the 6:46 mark of the third period. Smith has 22 goals and 44 assists on the season.

BC’s key goal of the game made it 5-1, as Boston College freshman Gabe Perreaultscored on the power play, BC’s fourth power play goal of the night. All three players – Perreault, Gauthier and Smith – player on the USA Developmental team for USA Hockey.

BU tightened the score on a power play to make it 5-2. A BC empty-netter made it 6-2 for the final before the fisticuffs broke out to close out the game.

BC freshman goalkeeper, Jacob Fowler, recorded the win.

The NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship begins next week (March 28-29) and concludes at the Frozen Four, scheduled for April 11-13 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Note: The Bulldog Edition of WWYI was held for 30 minutes to see the final result of the Hockey East championship game from TD Garden in Boston.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: March Madness did not fail to entertain this week, as noteworthy upsets included No. 13 Yale defeating No. 4 in heavily favored Auburn in the first round, while No. 14 Oakland upended No. 3 Kentucky. In the second round, Oakland lost to streaking N.C. State, 79-73 in OT. N.C. State qualified for the NCAAs by winning the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament (upset over North Carolina) and with the win over Oakland, the Wolfpack move on to the South’s Sweet 16 in Dallas.

TO WIN JUST ONCE? – As the NCAA hoops tournament progresses, this column reflects to what might have been for the St. John’s Red Storm in last week’s BIG EAST Conferencde tournament. The Johnnies defeated a tough Seton Hall team in the No. 4 (Hall) vs. No. 5 (Johnnies) match-up on Thursday (Quarterfinals). As winner of the No. 4 vs No. 5, the reward was a match-up vs No. 1 UConn in the Friday night semis. You know that story.

Everyone left Madison Square Garden assured St. John’s secured a tournament bid and the speculation was whether Seton Hall and/or Providence would be “in” as well. When the Sunday Selection Show played out, all three teams were left out in the cold, as the likes of N.C. State – by winning the ACC – stole a berth, and the BIG EAST was left with only three clubs – UConn, Marquette and Creighton.

Rightfully so.

Seton Hall was closest, but their loss to St. John’s hurt the chances of grabbing a spot. St. John’s while hot during the home stretch (six game winning streak, including a big won over Creighton at MSG), did not have the overall resume as a tournament team. Losses to Michigan, Dayton and Boston College crushed St. John’s early, and two losses to each of the likes of UConn, Marquette and The Hall during the regular season was too much to overcome when the NCAA basketball committee met in Indianapolis to decide between NCAA and NIT bids.

The Johnnies quickly turned down the NIT bid, but Seton Hall (the No. 1 seed) has flourished. Guessing the Johnnies were focused on hitting the transfer portal or the seniors had enough.

Go figure, but has anyone noticed that the “Red Storm” nickname is useless, jinxed, terrible, confusing and not well liked?

It’s rebuilding time for coach Rick Pitino – make that a total renovation.

TID-BITS: In the NCAA’s, there’s plenty of Huskies, Bulldogs and other assorted animal mascots, but here, we have the two maniacs.

Penny (Lane) laying the pup foundation for brother Max (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

NATIONAL PUPPY DAY: How can we let “National Puppy Day” go by without mention of our TWO pups, the nearing “Adult Dog,” Penny (Lane) and the seven month old Max. … Penny joined us on Thanksgiving Weekend, 2020, right smack in the middle of the global pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus. In many ways, she got us through the “dog days” of that terrible year. National Puppy Day was celebrated March 23 and its founding doctrine states, “Established in 2006, National Puppy Day is a paw-some day for all dog enthusiasts to celebrate unconditional love and fawn over the undeniably cute fur balls that bring so much happiness into this world.” … True story. … It’s been a quick three and a half years that we’ve enjoyed having Penny bark and chase and play and only five months since we adopted the seven-month old “Mighty Max.” … Penny (Lane) has the obvious connection to The Beatles while Max was named as a “Silver Hammer” kinda guy, but we met his (human) parents on Springsteen Road in Albany, NY, so there was an immediate bond with “Mighty” MaxWeinberg of the E Street Band. Weinberg, born and bred in New Jersey, learned to play the drums with the influence of The Beatles’ Ringo Starr, like so many who grew up in the British Invasion era. … In the dual-meaning of names, Penny (Lane), played by Kate Hudson in the motion picture “Almost Famous” clocks in as No. 3 of my all-time favorite movies, locked in behind “Casablanca” and “The Sting.” … Happy Puppy Day to all who partake. Penny and Max have enriched all of our lives (four in the family) and they’ve made friends with all of our neighbors. It’s just GREAT.

TL’s Sunday Sports N☘️TES | March 17

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The View from O’Grady’s, Clare Island, Ireland 🇮🇪

 

March 17, 2024

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – On Friday, the Big East Conference and Madison Square Garden announced that the BIG EAST Tournament will continue to be held at The Garden through 2032. The announcement guaranteed that The World’s Most Famous Arena will host 50 consecutive BIG EAST Tournaments.

MSG Entertainment and the BIG EAST have been partners since the Tournament was first played at the iconic venue in 1983 – the 50th consecutive event will take place in 2032. … (How old will you be?) … The BIG EAST Tournament continues to be college basketball’s longest-running post-season championship held at the same location.

“Our extension with MSG means the BIG EAST will have the privilege of playing our men’s basketball tournament at ‘The Mecca’ for five consecutive decades,” said conference Commissioner Val Ackerman. “This event, a New York City staple, has long been synonymous with tradition, rivalries and heart-stopping moments.”

Yes, it has.

BIG EAST memories run deep and remain important to so many who grew up alongside the basketball conference and its postseason tournament. In the early years, the late Dave Gavitt, as conference Commissioner, tried to spread the wealth around. From Providence to Syracuse to Hartford, the tournament bounced around the way most college basketball tournaments do, hosted by Gavitt and Providence College, then Syracuse University, the Dome Ranger and their strange Orange mascot and on to Hartford, where the University of Connecticut played all the “big games.”

In 1983, when St. John’s and Chris Mullin ruled, it was Madison Square Garden’s turn and the Johnnies defeated Boston College (85-77) in a very memorable final game. The light bulb popped-up, right over Gavitt’s head, as he realized the New York City location was special and centrally located between the likes of Georgetown (DC) and Chestnut Hill (Massachusetts). Teams, players and alum all loved the idea of meeting up every spring in “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” as the late John Condon announced to great patrons. Condon, the head of the sport of boxing for MSG, was also the famed public address announcer. His voice echoed over the 19,500 fans for both St. John’s and New York Knickerbocker games. It was too good to be true. The BIG EAST Tournament was dropped in our laps.

The event sold out every spring and the Garden sold more beer on BIG EAST Thursday (two doubleheaders) than on any day since the 1964 ECAC Holiday Festival invited Princeton (Bill Bradley), Michigan (Cazzie Russell), LaSalle, Cincinnati, Temple, Syracuse, Manhattan and St. John’s in one of the great in-season tournaments of all-time.

The rest has been a glorius history, a legacy that will surely extend to the Year 2032 but probably well beyond.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Aside from the annual BIG EAST Championship, there’s been plenty of great basketball from Conferences East to West. Here are a few thoughts that arise from watching the past few weeks, and especially teams who’ve looked good in their tournaments.

Mississippi State (21-12, 8-10 in SEC) put a hurtin’ on the Vols of Tennessee – (24-8) – (who were being considered a potential No. 1 bid team). Mississippi State lost to Auburn in the SEC Tournament Semis (Saturday), (Auburn 73,-66). The final is played on Sunday.

Iowa State (26-7, 13-5 in Big 12) – as of Saturday morning when this segment was written. Look out for the Cyclones.

We’ll see who gets to play Iowa State on the annual America? Who Can Dance Show.

Speaking of the Selection Show … It’s Sunday evening, March 17.  Dan Gavitt (son of Dave) will chair a group of college basketball experts who’ve been watching games and theoretically every team in every conference to know the good, bad and ugly. Can you imagine a bunch of oldsters hanging out at a high school auditorium to decide what couples should get invitations to the Big Dance?

That’s what happens Sunday evening.

black and white smartphone case
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

ST. PATRICK’S DAY THOUGHTS AND TEASES FROM THE PAST: There are plenty of memories of being pulled from my desk chair at 645 Fifth Ave to head down to 47th Street or, better yet, just join-in with the lads marching straight up Fifth – following the green line painted on the asphalt.

One year comes to mind, when the Houston Rockets were lucky enough to be playing a road game in New York on March 18th, and the great PR man and color commentator of Rockets broadcasts – Jim Foley – was in town for St. Patrick’s Day. Foley liked to hang with a few longtime buddies, including tavern owner Jim, at Neary’s (East 57th Street). One year, long ago, I can remember meeting Jim (and Brian), walking into the bar and dropping average age by about 10 years! … Great place. Nothing but Guinness.

Then, there’s this gem from the great Mike McCarthy, former head honcho of Madison Square Garden Network, who voiced a little “tease” for the New York Knicks St. Patrick’s Day broadcast of yesteryear:

But, there’s no better way than to celebrate the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day than to read the words of the great Brian McIntyre.

Let’s turn the column over to him for a wee bit:

“I am proud to be of Irish descent and I’ve been fortunate to have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, New York, Boston and Houston over the years,” stated McIntyre to wet your appetite for his story. “When our son, Brendan, was about four years old, we went to a Mexican restaurant to pick up some take-out dinner. As we waited, Brendan asked me what “Mexican” is. I told him it’s a nationality, that we all came to America from some other country and that people who came from Mexico are Mexican. He looked at me and said what am I?

“My wife, Betty, who grew up in Chicago as I did, is Polish, so I told him he was part Irish and part Polish. He thought for a second and then quickly blurted, “I am not!” with all the indignation a four-year old named Brendan Patrick could summon. I still don’t know where that came from but I assured him he was.

When I got home, I told the story to my wife and she responded, ”I hope you told him the truth!” Which I had.

When I recounted the story for my dad, he responded, “I hope you lied to him!”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.

TID-BITS: The once ubiquitous USA Today compiled a (partial) list of the salaries of many of the NCAA head basketball coaches. They took it another step and chose their five MOST OVERPAID and MOST UNDERPAID/UNDER-RATED.

The only commentary from here is the strong opinion that the following coaches should get an immediate raise: UConn’s Danny Hurley, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, Creighton’s Greg McDermott, BC’s Earl Grant and Seton Hall’s Shaheen Halloway.

THEN THERE’S PITINO: And, as he’s been written about, criticized and everything in between, it must be said that St. John’s coach Rick Pitino took his team a GIANT STEP further in peaking with a five-game winning streak, with a BIG WIN over Creighton in the regular season and he made it six vs. Seton Hall in the tournament), to guide St. John’s to play on BIG EAST Friday for the first time since the year 2000. In other words, the prior Friday night Johnnies game at the annual BIG EAST tournament came as we were all preparing for the SYDNEY OLYMPIC GAMES! … St. John’s played a fast-paced, tough game against Conference No. 1 Connecticut and lost 95-90 (the game was nowhere near as close as the score).

Year 2 will be a bigger challenge as Pitino will lose his Sr. point guard Daniss Jenkins who was often the ONLY player competing on the court for St. John’s. Sophomore guard RJ Luis, Jr. will need to step-up in 2024-25. He excelled in his Sixth Man role this season. Additionally, 6-9 sophomore Zuby Ejiofor will need to improve in all aspects of the game. Pitino changed his offense to go fast-pace, high scoring in order to cover the team’s poor defense and appalling transition defense, and it worked. Let’s see if he goes high speed or improves team defense in the year(s) to come. Pitino deserves credit, but please ignore homer media takes that the coach’s rant after St. John’s blew a 12-point lead and lost to Seton Hall on Feb 18th had a galvanizing effect on his team. It was unacceptable and his apology was warranted. Somehow, winning a few games (six in a row) has a way of revising short term memories and history. That said, Pitino earned another clean slate. A true new canvas to paint a future for the St. John’s program. Within that step, I’d like to see a clear succession plan in place by the 2025-26 season. Just where are Jeff van Gundy (consulting for the Boston Celtics and noticeably improving the team and individual players) or Billy Donovan (head coach of the Chicago Bulls) when you might need ‘em?

AARON WHO? Can you imagine NY Jets QB and former All Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the Vice President of the United States of America? Well, that what IND candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was considering when he made a “short list” of candidates. Having Rodgers as veep might be like having Senator Mitch McConnell quarterback the Green Bay Packers.

THE WEARIN’ OF THE GREEN: There’s no one who ever walked the earth who could wear the (Celtics) GREEN like the late, great Bill Russell.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 10

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The Baseball Bats will be Cracking as will the Beer cans at Fenway Johnnies/Boston

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – That’s a Boston dateline, not Fort Myers (Florida) or Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) where all good Boston baseball writers should be for a pair of games this weekend. The two Red Sox games against Tampa Bay will be played at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal for an official Major League Baseball event, tabbed as The Dominican Republic Series, as part of MLB’s “World Tour.”

The great Marichal pitched for the San Francisco Giants from 1960 through 1973 – then the Red Sox and LA Dodgers in his final two MLB seasons. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, garnering 83.7% of the votes. Honestly, there’s no indication as to what planet the other 16.3% of the voters were living back in ‘83 when the vote was taken. It might’ve been George Lucas’ Alderaan for God’s sake when you consider that a gorgeous stadium in the DR was named after the speed-baller but 16.3% of the BBWAA writers missed him on the vote?

Toss in Red Sox greats Pedro Martinez and David “Big Papi” Ortiz and you have an Old Timer’s Game waiting to happen. But, more immediately, you can look for Boston’s All-Star 3B Rafael Devers or starting pitcher Brayan Bello with Tampa’s Yandy Diaz, Jose Siri, and Randy Arozarena and you’ll be preparing for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game or close to it.

Aside from those players, the Dominican Republic is home to a variety of Major League Baseball education and training programs at various league-run academies. The idea behind this year’s inaugural DR Series is to honor the players who’ve competed at those academies and have made it all the way to the Big Leagues.

Remember, Major League Baseball will open its 2024 season when the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres travel to Seoul, Korea for a pair of games, March 20 and 21. Earlier, March 17 and 18, the two MLB teams will play exhibitions vs local Korean teams. The rest of MLB will celebrate Opening Day on March 28. Both LA and SD will have home games to continue their regular season.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Last week’s theme was dedicated to the anticipation of March Madness. This week, we’ll tease March Madness some more as the various college conference tournaments have begun and the Big Boys will tip-off their respective tournaments this week. … Digital Sports Desk will be on-site at Madison Square Garden for the annual BIG EAST Tournament where UConn will be the heavy favorites.

The A-10 will be a subway ride away from Madison Square Garden/Penn Station with their tournament March 12-16th at Barclays in Brooklyn. … Meanwhile the blue bloods of North Carolina and Duke will take on their ACC rivals March 12-16 at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC.

This week, the following Division I tournaments tipped-off and are on-going as this is written:

  • Ohio Valley
  • Big South
  • Missouri Valley Conference
  • Atlantic Sun
  • Sun Belt
  • Southern Conference
  • Horizon League
  • Northeast Conference
  • Coastal Athletic Assn. (CAA)
  • West Coast Conference
  • Summit League
  • Southland
  • Big Sky
  • Patriot League
  • America East
  • Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
  • Southwestern Conference

Then, the “weekend” conferences, including the IVY

  • Big 12
  • Mountain West
  • Big East
  • Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
  • Mid-American
  • Conference USA
  • Atlantic Coast Conference
  • Big West
  • Pac-12 (what’s left of it)
  • Western Athletic Conference
  • IVY League
  • Atlantic 10
  • Southeastern Conference
  • American Athletic Conference
  • Big 10

TID-BITS: While College Basketball is front and center this week, the PGA Tour will stage its “Fifth Major” with The PLAYERS Championship taking place at TPC Sawgrass (The PLAYERS Stadium Course) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Much like The BIG EAST in New York – the very best college basketball tournament in the USA – there is no better pro golf event in the world, and that includes The Masters, The Open, Pebble Beach and the other Majors.

It is at The PLAYERS when the split between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf becomes very apparent – call it annoying. When the PLAYERS rolls around, you want to see the very best – Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Bubba Watson, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Reed and even Phil “All Bets Off, No More Bets” Mickelson compete for one of golf’s biggest purses. This year, Tiger Woods will not be healthy enough to compete.

Meanwhile, the LIV golfers went from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to Hong Kong and will be watching The PLAYERS from their homes before they pick up the sticks in Miami on April 5-7.

Niemann won two of the first three LIV events with the final round in HK with the shotgun start at 11:05 Saturday night (tonight for those who read the Bulldog edition).

TOO MUCH: Center Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves thinks he’s a wise guy. Not a real Wise Guy, but a wise guy. Gobert earned his sixth personal foul in a March 8th 113-104 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. With 27.1 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter, Gobert was whistled for a loose ball foul, then hit with a technical. The reason? After the foul and his impending DQ, Gobert gestured towards NBA official Scott Foster with Gobert’s fingers rubbing together, as though he was caressing money – implying Foster was on the take.

The “T” allowed Cavaliers guard Darius Garland to drain a free throw to tie the game at 97-all, a costly foul/point as the 4th Q ended with the score tied at 97.

“A technical foul with 27 seconds in the game, to be honest, is unacceptable,” said acting head coach Micah Nori said after he filled in for head coach Chris Finch who was ill. “That’s who Rudy is, but you’ve got to be smart. He made a visual that was automatic. He was obviously frustrated — both teams were — but we have to be smarter.”

Gobert admitted he was wrong in making the gesture.

“My reaction, which I think was the truth, but it wasn’t the time to react that way,” he said. “It cost my team the game. It was an immature reaction. It’s not just one call. Everyone makes mistakes, but when it’s over and over and over again, of course it’s frustrating.”

The gesture might earn a cool $50,000 fine but the quotes should be call for a one game suspension without pay.

Enough is enough.

Minnesota is at the LA Lakers today (Sunday, March 10), so if there’s a suspension, it’ll come down before the game.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 3

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March Madness will soon be upon us (DSD/file photo)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – In January, we have the Bowl Games, the CFP national championship and a bunch of wild card and early round NFL Playoff Games to get us through 31 days of cold, damp, raw weather, here in the Northeast. In February, we have the Super Bowl. But those March winds? They bring a ton of sporting events to look forward to each and every year.

From football to ice hockey to college and pro basketball, March is the time of year to get serious. No more mid-winter blues, as Daylight Savings Time brings sunny skies at 6-7:00pm and plenty of entertaining sporting events.

Nothing in sports compares to the frenzy of “March Madness.” It is said to cost the work load efficiency a couple billion dollars every year as office pools with NCAA brackets are cause for research, plotting, guessing or maybe filling out multiple brackets in order to claim the glory and the prizes.

Back when Barack Obama was President of the United States, basketball stalwart Andy Katz (then of ESPN, now of the NCAA media contingent) even got The White House to stop so President Obama could pick his brackets on live television – doing quite well in his predictions.

Unlike the NFL Playoffs, and the void left without a Bowl Game to watch – whether the Pop Tart Bowl or the Super Bowl – sports fans are lost. Left holding an emptiness that can only be filled by next year’s Fantasy Football Drafts and a preaseason game in Canton, Ohio. When March Madness commences late this month, the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers will already of the ball bags packed for Seoul, Korea where they’ll open the 2024 MLB season with a pair of “real” games on March 20 and 21, the first regular season MLB games ever played in Korea.

Every other MLB team will play ball starting Thursday, March 28, including the Boston Red Sox opener at Seattle. The Sox home opener will come on April 9 when the reigning AL East champion Baltimore Orioles grace Fenway Park.

Of course, The Masters will be staged in Augusta, Georgia from April 11-14 with the Boston Marathon coming the very next day here in The Commonwealth.

That’s a lot of sporting activities to break through the winter gloom and put some Spring in your step.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: How about this advice, which could’ve been applied to and utilized by St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino and all his defenders of the flag. Read up on reporter Will Leitch’s thoughts about Social Media hacks, in general …Writes Lietch: “One of the biggest mistakes people make when they feel attacked online is to get defensive, to try to fight back, to post through it. I understand this temptation—when someone says something wrong about you, your first instinct is to correct it—but it is important to resist. The No. 1 rule of online discourse is that you’re not going to convince anyone of anything they’ve already made up their minds about. You can make the most logical, sober-minded, fact-based points, and it will not matter: Simply by engaging them, you’ve already lost. These people are jackals. They are not arguing in good faith: They are just trying to get together with everyone they already agree with so that they can shout you down. You are spitting in the ocean. Any engagement on your part will only encourage them to push harder.”

St. John’s and Pitino met that logic halfway. They did not engage (defensively) heavily on social media but did hold multiple media avails to address Pitino’s Sunday, February 18th meltdown after a loss to Seton Hall at the New York Islanders’ UBS Arena. In the first, Pitino doubled down. In the last, he apologized to his players and the school for his remarks.

But, get this?

Since the horrible loss to The Hall, St John’s has reeled-off three consecutive victories, with one coming at Madison Square Garden against No. 15 Creighton. It was – arguably – St. John’s best performance of the season and it was sandwiched by wins against Big East bottom-feeder Georgetown and another middle of the pack respectables, in an 82-59 scrubbing of Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

While some coaches – the likes of Villanova’s Rollie Massamino or Indiana’s Bobby Knight (RIPs) – would use a complete meltdown to motivate their players, no one can say Pitino’s calling out of individual players by name could’ve motivated the club, now 17-12.

To keep the ball rolling, St. John’s will need to win two more regular season games (vs DePaul and Georgetown) – a task easily accomplished. But, from there, St. John’s will need to carry the momentum of a five-game winning astreak to win games on both Wednesday and Thursday of the annual Big East Conference tournament. Only the four teams playing on Big East Friday will deserve attention for an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament.

St. John’s is far, far away, and that’s on the players – not Pitino.

Depiction. of The Death of Julius Caesar (1806) by Vincenzo Camuccini. (file photo)

TIDBITS: Back by popular demand is the TIDBITS section of the Sunday Notes, second in popularity to only the “Sure-Fire” investment selections segments written occasionally. Here we go: March comes in like a lion they say, but how about the king of the jungle of sports seminars with the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference which began Friday and concluded Saturday out at a packed “Seaport” Convention Center.

It’s 12 days until the Ides of March (March 15). On the ancient Roman calendar, the Ides of March was the deadline for the citizens of the Roman Empire to settle all debts. (Uncle Sam gives us a bonus month to April 15th for U.S. Federal Tax Deadline). The Ides (which defaults to Ideas in this age of spell check) also marks the anniversary of the brutal assassination of Julius Caesar). More pressing than musing about days of the Roman Empire, let’s concentrate on the final regular season games for Conference play in men’s college basketball and the first non-basketball jewel of the great college sports month of March.

Here in Boston, while the vast majority of sports fans are calculating the success of failure of their NCAA Basketball Brackets, ice hockey fans will be treated to the Hockey East postseason tournament with an “everybody’s in” menu.

Hockey East teams, seeded No. 6, 7 and 8 will host seeds No. 11, 10, and 9, respectively, in the Opening Round set for Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

After a reseeding, the top three seeds will host the winners of the Opening Round while No. 4 will host the No. 5 in the Quarterfinals on Saturday, March 16. The Hockey East Men’s Championship Semifinals and Final will return to the TD Garden in on March 22-23rd.

Once the tournament reaches TD Garden the Hockey East semifinalists will play for the Lamoriello Trophy, named in honor of Lou Lamoriello, the first commissioner of Hockey East and a leader in the formation of the conference. The league commissioned the creation of a permanent trophy in 1998, and it was delivered in time for the 1999 championship. Lamoriello served as the Providence College head coach for 15 seasons (1968- 83), guiding the Friars to an overall record of 248-179-13, a winning percentage of .580. Lamoriello is now the head of Hockey Operations and GM for the New York Islanders. He’s a three time Stanley Cup champion as an administrator and inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

A week later – Thursday, March 28 and Saturday, March 30, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will be in the “Sweet 16” state, otherwise known as the East Regional final. Four Division I college basketball teams will qualify for Boston and you can pretty much call it a lock that the University of Connecticut Huskies will hold the No. 1 seed in the East and make their way East on I-84 and further East on the Mass Pike to play at Boston’s TD Garden against three other worthy candidates, including a possible East No. 2 seed in either North Carolina or Duke.

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, in Southampton, N.Y (file photo)

LOOKING MUCH FURTHER DOWN the LINE: The USGA announced Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, in Southampton, N.Y. as the host to both the 136th U.S. Open and the 91st U.S. Women’s Open, with the major championships taking place in consecutive weeks in 2036. Yes, right around the corner in 2036!

Quick! How old will you be?

“Few clubs places can match the historic importance of Shinnecock Hills to golf in the United States,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer, in the official news release issued Saturday. “As an organization, we felt that such an iconic venue would be an ideal stage for both our men’s and women’s premier championships. It will offer the perfect opportunity to bring the game’s best to one course and provide fans the chance to watch them compete for a national championship in back-to-back weeks.”

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | Feb 25

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While We’re Young (Ideas) on The Summer of ’69

moon photography
Photo by NASA on Unsplash

By TERRY LYONS, Editor & Publisher Digital Sports Desk

BETHPAGE, LONG ISLAND to TRANQUILITY BASE to BOSTON, MASS – There was quite a bit of buzz this week as the Odysseus private spacecraft touched down on the Moon. Although there were some issues with the landing – reminding some of us as a replication of a Chris Dudley free throw attempt – the spacecraft is in working order, although toppled over on its side. Engineers at Intuitive Machines – the private company behind the mission – are working to secure additional information.

The new venture is the first time in 50 years the USA/NASA space program is involved with landing a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. It brought back memories of that memorable Summer of 1969 when on July 20th, Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon and his co-pilot, Buzz Aldrin, followed soon after.

That milestone in human history is possibly the most amazing thing that’s ever happened in our lives for a generation of baby boomers who grew up during the tumultuous decade of the 1960s. The lunar landing and walk of the surface came about eight years after President John F. Kennedy announced the goal of “Going to the Moon” during a speech at Rice University. Kennedy did so with one of the great one-liners known to speech writers everywhere when he declared in rhetorical form, “Why does Rice play Texas?”

The portion of the speech being quoted stated: “ … But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon… We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.

“Because they are hard.”

Brilliance was packed into JFK’s delivery – stating “We choose to go to the Moon,” not once, not twice but three times to emphasize his determination to accomplish the goal.”

The Apollo Space Program began with Apollo 1 – a disastrous mission which cost the lives of three astronauts – Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee – when their space capsule ignited while completing tests on the launchpad. All three were burned and asphyxiated.

It always annoys me to no end when ANYONE jokes (or even worse) is actually serious about faked Moon Landings. It’s a fact and a shame three brave men gave up their lives to advance the Apollo mission and three others – James Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise of Apollo 13 – damn near gave up their lives when the Service Module spacecraft malfunctioned and the Grumman-made (in Bethpage, NY) Lunar Module (LEM) was utilized to propel the astronauts back to earth.

In between those two missions, a truly united world community watched with amazement as Apollo 8 (Dec. 21-27, 1968) became the first mission to orbit the Moon.

Following the program minute-by-minute became our passion as one mission led to the next to the next which led to the infamous Apollo 11 mission forever immortalizing the quote by Neil Armstrong as he made that incredible first step off of the LEM’s staircase, stating so eloquently, “One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind.”

While JFK’s Rice vs Texas line was hand-written into the speech by Kennedy himself, and started the missions off, there was another very important sports reference to the Apollo 11 lunar landing of ‘69.

Yes, the New York Mets won the World Series that Fall. The Amazin’, Amazin’ Amazin’ Mets, born in 1962 became the “Miracle Mets” and the ‘69 World Champions on October 16th, defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles 4-games-to-1 behind two Jerry Koosman pitching gems.

Of course the New York Jets performed their own miracle, defeating the very heavily favored Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in Super Bowl III on January 12, 1969 and the ‘69-70 New York Knickerbockers took the NBA title on May 8, 1970 to seal the sports trifecta surrounding the lunar landing.

It was all so Amazin’ that it begs a question or two, here in 2024.

What might happen this year? Can the Mets win again?

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Please someone out there tell us what got into St. John’s head basketball coach Rick Pitino? Certainly, the program has had it’s ups & downs since legendary Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca retired, but never has a coach called out individual St. John’s players for their weaknesses and lack of game. Pitino filled notebooks and wrote his own headlines which started on Long Island at the UBS Center near Belmont Park, made their way to New York City and then ran nationwide and worldwide, cascading the once glorious Top 5 basketball program into being THE laughing stock of the BIG EAST.

“If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year,” Pitino said to begin his press conference after the 68-62 loss to cross river rival Seton Hall who drilled St. John’s 80-65 on January 16 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Pitino made it clear, as clear as the nearby Clearview Expressway, by calling his first year with the program “the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime.” (It’s on video tape from a post game podium complete with the official St. John’s backdrop behind him).

Pitino cited the players (as a whole) as being the “antithesis” of his coaching style and saying they lacked toughness.

“We are so un-athletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling,” he said. “For me, I’ve always enjoyed the first year, and I’m not gonna lie to you; This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime. This has been so disappointing,” said Pitino of the 2023-24 St. John’s season, adding, “They hear but they don’t listen.”

From there, it really went South:

“Do we have sh#*tty facilities?” Pitino asked rhetorically. “Yes, we do. But we’re doing something about that.

“But that’s not the reason we’re losing. Having sh*tty facilities has nothing to do with not guarding,” he concluded as media scratched their heads knowing Pitino’s home court – Madison Square Garden – is arguably the greatest gym in the world. However, he was referring to Carnesecca Arena and the training facilities and offices in Jamaica Estates, not the home court in Manhattan that also doubles as the site of the annual Big East men’s basketball tournament.

With the first ball lobbed at his own school (although, after thinking twice, he qualified his remarks by saying, “It’s NOT St. John’s.”

“Look, Joel [Soriano] is slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court. Chris Ledlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway’s slow laterally. Brady [Dunlap] is physically weak, Drissa [Traore] is slow laterally,” said Pitino, noting things every basketball aficionado recognized when the Johnnies were blown off their homecourt at Madison Square Garden by a rather mediocre Michigan team back in November.

Pitino rounded third base and went for the inside the park homer when he undermined his own coaching and recruiting staff and efforts, stating, “We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited. We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach. It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.”

“It’s not the job,” Pitino continued. “You could be at Missouri and recruit slow players. Believe me, it’s not St. John’s. We had to put together a team at the last second. We will never, ever, do that again.”

Keep in mind, Pitino cut or dismissed every player from the mediocre Johnnies’ 2022-23 squad, only keeping his bigman, Soriano while others have gone on to excel at other programs.

It was all like a scene from Hollywood, maybe like Captain Wilton Parmenter telling F-Troop they needed work firing the cannon, but they were great at the mess hall.

Yes, the mess created was surprisingly doubled in size and strength when a follow-up story a day later in Long Island’s Newsday passed along the unbelievable “day after” sentiment, stressing his even keel in choosing his postgame statements, saying, he “truly wasn’t ripping anybody”, and that he “stands by” his choice of words.

“I was pointing out in a monotone voice why we lost,” Pitino told Newsday. “I am not always calm and certainly not when I rip someone. I was not ripping anybody. I sometimes want my players to hear my words and read my words. That was my intention [Sunday]. I’m fine with what I said.”

Rah, rah Rickie, they’ll be calling him after St. John’s defeated a sorry Georgetown team this past Wednesday and Pitino used the occasion to apologize for his comments, “I should never, ever mention a name,” he lamented after an all-out national firestorm of feedback. “I’m a veteran coach. l tell every young coach in the business to show class when you win, show class when you lose and give the other team credit,” said Pitino, who also apologized to any St. John’s fans that were upset by his comments.

“I’ve been really, really frustrated this year for a lot of different reasons. But understand something: I recruited this man [Jordan Dingle], I recruited this man [RJ Luis]. My staff did not recruit these guys. It was all me. It was all me, and I’m really, really proud to have them. I totally apologize to them for doing that. I wasn’t ripping them. That wasn’t my intent. But words matter.”

He later added: “I told the team this, maybe seven, eight times this year: ‘You’re not failing; I’m failing you.’”

Well, Pitino got one thing right.

JUST FOR REFERENCE: This columnist saw his first St. John’s game live on February 11, 1971 – as a child, of course). (SJU defeated Calvin Murphy and Niagara 82-71). The time between 1971 and 1977 went quickly as, togeher with my family, we caught dozens of games, Holiday Festivals, NIT, a few NCAA qualifiers when it was the ECAC before BIG EAST days and so on. As a Johnnies freshman, I purchased four (4) seasons tickets to St John’s basketball in 1977-78. This year, with a summer filled with getting tons of requests from friends and family for tickets, we upped the ante to eight (8) tickets at MSG, keeping the four at Carnesecca Arena.

As of February 18, 2024 – some 53 years and two weeks after that St. J vs Niagara game – one week past the Seton Hall debacle – we can’t even GIVE the tickets away.

RED SOX AND MLB BEGIN SPRING TRAINING: The Boston Red Sox began their 2024 Grapefruit League training camp exhibitions this weekend. The Sox played to a 14-14-4 (.500) in 2023 MLB Spring Training. … The Sox will play 35 exhibition games in 33 days, including Friday’s game against Northeastern University. They play two games in the Dominican Republic vs. Tampa Bay on March 9-10, and two games vs. Texas at Globe Life Field on March 25-26 as they break camp. … In addition to those 35 games, the Red Sox will host one of the inaugural MLB Spring Breakout Games on March 16 vs. Atlanta. … Boston opens the regular season on March 28 against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Feb 18

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While We’re Young (Ideas) | ’24 NBA All-Star Weekend

BREAKING NEWS FROM SATURDAY NIGHT: The ups and downs, ebbs and flows of the annual NBA All-Star Weekend were on display Saturday night. The verdict for the NBA this year was another serious high mark.

Highlights of the night included a very competitive three point contest won by Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard who is now a back-to-back champion, defeating Atlanta’s TraeYoung on the final shot.

NY Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu set the bar very, very high by shooting an incredible round at the NBA three-point line and scoring 26 points (which included her hitting her first seven shots and 8-of-9 of the “money balls” which counted for two points each.

Under pressure in the single round of competition, Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors met the mark and scored 29 points to secure the victory and a ‘boxing or MMA-like” championship belt. Curry drained two perfect racks of five basketballs and then went three for five on his final rack of all money balls.

The end result was a significant ($55,000) donation by State Farm Insurance to benefit each player’s charity efforts.

In the final scene of the night, Mac McClung, the former Georgetown and Texas Tech guard, turned pro via the NBA G-League’s Osceola Magic (Orlando’s minor league club) became a back-to-back champion by defeating Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown.

Brown brought out some of the classic Dominique Wilkins’ power dunks and fit them into a creative repertoire of well choreographed dunks. It wasn’t enough as McClung scored an amazing “50” on his final dunk of the night to take honors.

For an event that always seems to have some high notes and clinkers, Saturday night scored well and was a highly entertaining evening. Turner (TNT) Sports outdid itself with dozens upon dozens of well-placed cameras, super slo-mo replays and great commentary and back and forth humor – especially by Kenny Smith.

In the column below, you’ll read of other All-Star Weekend memories, noting – It was a great night from the couch and the home LED Hi-Def TV.

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – While I’m very accustomed to being on site and – in the case of this year -listing an Indianapolis dateline, it’s very nice and comfortable writing from Boston and watching the All-Star festivities from the couch.

It was 16 years ago tonight that I watched the NBA All-Star Saturday events from a couch, joining former NBA referee Bob Delaney and his wife, Billie, at their home in Florida after a 12-day tour promoting Bob’s first book – COVERT. The last couple days were in the NBA All-Star city – New Orleans – where we did hundreds of interviews and enjoyed the Thursday-Friday tip-off of a great event in one of the greatest American cities. Overall, we were exhausted but had a great time tuning in to watch.

This weekend, it’s quite the same. I’m scoring from home.

At his pre-event media availability, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the league examined many of the intricacies of the All-Star Game and the league and its players – largely behind the experiences of new NBA Players Association executive director Andre Iguodala – have agreed to put the focus on the game of basketball.

Amen.

“We returned to the East versus West format and the 48-minute game format because we thought what we were doing was not working,” said Silver at his Saturday media availability. “I’d say people uniformly were critical of last year’s All-Star Game and felt it was not a competitive game. It was not a position held solely by the league. I think the players collectively recognized, as well, that it wasn’t what they wanted to see, either, that they had not put their best foot forward.

“I’d say Andre Iguodala now, who is the executive director of the Players Association, and a former player, shares that view with the league office; that we’re not necessarily looking for players to go out there as if it’s the Finals, necessarily, but we need players to play defense, we need them to care about this game.

“And the feeling was that maybe — and I’ll take responsibility for it … as you know, I used to run something called NBA Entertainment … that we’d gotten carried away a little bit with the entertainment aspect,” added Silver.

“By that I’m not just talking about the halftime or the intros, per se. One of the things we heard from the players, was on one hand now, ‘you’re telling us you want us to play this as if it were a real game, but there’s nothing about it that feels like a real game.’ You have us standing up on stage, operating through this draft (of players choosing sides). Then once the intros start, we get cold, we’re standing there forever, we don’t get to go through our usual routines. Then come halftime, you’re adding not just a little bit of extra time but a lot of extra time, so we get cold in the locker rooms.

“I think we sat down with the players and we listened to them, and we said, all right, we have to return to basketball, back to basketball, so to speak. It’s about the game. That’s ultimately how we’re going to be judged.”

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: It’s worth noting – ahem – that this columnist was fortunate enough to work 25 consecutive NBA All-Star Games, dating from 1982 to 2007 and attend another four as a media member for a grand total of 29 NBA All-Star Games. The line of demarcation was the 1984 NBA All-Star Weekend in Denver where the Nuggets’ organization encouraged the league to stage a Slam Dunk contest, reminiscent of the great ABA Slam Dunk Contest of 1976 when NY Nets forward Julius “Doctor J” Erving squared-off against Denver’s David Thompson – both Hall of Famers – for the greatest slams in basketball history.

That February, as Commissioner Larry O’Brien passed the torch to David Stern, the league paired the Slam Dunk with a valiant attempt to organize an “Old-Timer’s Game” which was very well received and began a long process for the league to proiperly reconnect with the players of yesteryear. Recognizing the opportunities ahead, we quickly switched the phrase from “Old Timers” to “Legends.”

The Legends Game made its way through the late ‘80s and early ‘90s until a couple serious injuries – to LA Lakers/Clipper great Norm Nixon and to Thompson – called for an end to the Legends Game and the introduction of other contests like 2Ball, the Skills Contest and the inclusion of WNBA Players into the various events. For the most part, a good time was had by all but certain weekends were much beter received than others. There was a definite ebb and flow, with the likes of Larry Bird (3-point king) and Michael Jordan (Slam Dunk champion) getting high praise for their participation.

In one man’s opinion, high points over the years included:

  1. Jordan and Dominique Wilkins going mano-a-mano at the ‘88 Slam Dunk in Jordan’s home court Chicago Stadium.
  2. Vince Carter dominating the Slam Dunk when the weekend was played in a rain-soaked Oakland in the Year 2000.
  3. Bird, Craig Hodges, Mark Price and Peja Stojakovic shooting the lights out at various Three Point Contests over the years.
  4. Spud Webb amazing the Dallas crowd and his peers with dunk after dunk to defeat his teammate, Dominique Wilkins.
  5. The NBA at 50 celebration.
  6. Dee Brown slamming it down with a blindfold on at the ‘91 Slam Dunk Contest in Charlotte.
  7. Blake Griffin jumping over a car in the Slam Dunk leading to Dwight Howard popping a sticker high up on the backboard, then later blowing a candle out of a strategically placed cupcake on the backboard.
  8. Of course, there were dozens of other highlights over the years, NYK Kenny “Sky” Walker reaching new heights in Houston – The Space City; Jason Kidd in the Skills competitions; The WNBA’s Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird proving they could compete at the highest level; among many others. (Feel free to add your suggestions in the comment section).

The greatest of NBA All-Star Weekends and my favorite, for sure, was the 1992 NBA All-Star Weekend in Orlando, when Earvin “Magic” Johnson returned from his abrupt and forced preseason retirement (HIV Virus) to lead the West to a decisive 153-113 victory, while gaining Most Valuable Player honors in an astonishing and emotional event.

Of course, Johnson would later play on the ‘92 Dream Team and eventually return for limited action in the NBA.

NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND in INDIANAPOLIS: Tonight, as noted, the NBA will return to its roots with an old-fashioned EAST vs. WEST all-star game. No more shenanigans with LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo choosing up sides. Thankfully, the league didn’t fold to pressure mounting for a USA vs The World contest, as that’s for the Olympic Games and Basketball World Cup, not an NBA mid-season exhibition that’s supposed to be fun. … That’s the one, “key” factor that everyone seems to overlook as they criticize the players for not competing as though its the NBA Finals. The weekend is a three-ring circus of events, parties, meetings, interview sessions, network media obligations and late-night hanging, and that’s encouraged as the norm. It makes it damn near impossible for the All-Stars to compete at a high level after a three-day gauntlet of commitments. … Over the years, the level of high competition only comes when the score is relatively close at the end of the third quarter and very close at the 6:59 timeout in the fourth quarter. Then, the players’ competitive spirits kick-in, the adrenaline flows, the coaches call for solid team defense and the stars shine. It’s somewhat cyclical. The league had a great experience the first time they tried the “Elam Ending” with a 157-155 thriller (2020 in Chicago), tacking on “24” points to the 133 points “Team Giannis” had accrued as of the end of the third quarter. With the clock turned off, and as fate would have it, “Team LeBron” kicked it in gear and outscored “Team Giannis” 33-22 down the stretch to win a very exciting game, much to the pleasure of Nick Elam, a professor from Ball State, who came up with the idea ((although his version called for a 35 point addition to the leading team at the end of the third quarter but the NBA shortened it to “24” in honor of the late LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his uniform number.

Tonight (Sunday night), the NBA will return to its East vs West roots created when the NBA All-Star Game began (1951 in Boston) – five years after the birth of the Basketball Association of America. The league considered the long history of the game of basketball in the State of Indiana, and decided to go the traditional route. Maybe it was the thought of coach John Wooden, or paying tribute the the love of the game at the high school and college levels. Regardless, the 2024 game will have no gimmicks, no choosing up sides – playground style. Just basketball.

MORE WWYI INVESTMENT IDEAS: Join the While We’re Young (Ideas) New Investment Club for promising financial success. Guaranteed to return 0.0% or lose your shorts but generate a few laughs. … We’re bullish on the food industry. Inflation be damned. The big BUY is into a start-up producing Lavender Goddess Dressing. … The company has a deal – signed and sealed – with our new fast food venture – The Pizza Out House. … IBM has sunk billions into its industry leading Chat Bot assistant, “Watson.” … Meanwhile, WWYI has gazzillions into Quantel’s latest with “Faldo” Chat Bot AI. … The only issue seems to be the mainframe shuts down automatically at 3pm for a Cup of Tea. … We’re fronting a new rock band out of Oregon called, Bubonic Plague. They’ve been around forever. … We’re ready for a suggestion on a great New York City Drinking Saloon. Gone are Toots Shors owned by Bernard “Toots” Shor with a great location at 51 West 51st Street in Manhattan , there was Harry M. Stevens right by the Garden’s press entrance. … Gone too, are Runyons and even Runyons II. Many a night passed at The Grill (Smith & Wollensky steakhouse side hustle and we had a good run with No Idea and Antarctica where there was always a great AFC/NFC Championship party. The Corner Bistro in the West Village is still a “Must Go” for the best burger (The Bistro Burger). … In Boston, while there’s no longer The Four’s – a victim of the pandemic – we have West End Johnnie’s by TD Garden and Fenway Johnnie’s over by the ballpark. Great Places … Great Food … Great Drinks … Great People. … Serious Investments Only.

TL’s Super Sunday Notes | Feb 11

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Let’s have a Super Day. First and foremost, let’s hope for a great NFL championship game between the San Francisco 49ers (representing the National Football Conference) and the Kansas City Chiefs (representing the American Football Conference). Let’s hope for game played at the highest level, a game that is close to the final minutes and one that goes from kickoff to the final seconds without any player being seriously injured.

After that? We can get a little greedy in the things we’d like to see.

Back on September 3, 2023, I went with the favorites and predicted a San Fran vs KC Super Bowl with the Niners winning and RB Christian McCaffrey taking home the Most Valuable Player award. Aside from just about every pundit predicting a Kansas City victory and a Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes MVP performance, I see no reason to change my preseason prediction.

Throughout this week’s game analysis, much of the focus on the Niners’ success was placed upon the shoulders of young Brock Purdy, the third team quarterback now starting and proving he belongs amongst the elite QBs in the NFL. Remember, Purdy suffered torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in January 2023 but rehabbed after an “InternalBrace” surgery was performed, saving him the lengthy rehab after undergoing a more involved “Tommy John” surgery needed by so many MLB pitchers.

The successful surgery allowed the 2022 seventh round draft choice (No. 262) out of Iowa State to return to action. Keep in mind, the 49ers were 7-1 with Purdy before his injury occurred and they went 12-5 this season, good enough for the NFC West division title and victories in the two NFC playoff games, thus earning this trip to Las Vegas and Super Bowl LVIII. By the way, that Roman numeral stands for 58, not Las Vegas 3.

Combining McCaffrey, Purdy, an elite receiving corp, a Pro Bowl Tight End (George Kittle) and one of the NFL’s best defensive units (top three in holding opponents in rushing yards and points, but middle of the pack vs the pass), should be enough to outlast the Chiefs, although KC can boast much of the same.

Yes, QB Patrick Mahomes, RB Isiah Pacheco and all everything TE Travis Kelce provide the power numbers in passing rushing and receiving, but the KC defense ranks slightly ahead of SF in most categories.

Here are some fun facts to consider as you watch the Super Bowl Sunday night:

  • The two teams are a combined 5-0 at Allegiant Stadium since it opened in 2020.
  • It’s tough to pick against KC QB Patrick Mahomes as the 28 year old will become the youngest QB in NFL history to start a fourth Super Bowl. Previously, at age 30, New England’s Tom Brady held the honor. With a win, Mahomes would join Brady and Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboys QB Troy Aikman as the only quarterbacks to win three Super Bowl rings prior to their 30th birthdays.
  • KC TE Travis Kelce is likely to work the middle of the field vs. the 49ers as Kelce led all NFL tight ends in yards receiving (393) when the closest defender is a linebacker.
  • Since head coach Andy Reid was hired by Kansas City on January 7, 2013, (11 seasons), the Chiefs have not experienced a losing season. No other NFL team can say they have more than five consecutive winning seasons. KC has been to the Super Bowl in four of the last five years. That impressive mark comes after the Chiefs went 49 years without a trip to the Super Bowl.
  • There is some (unfounded) speculation that Reid might “go out on top” and retire if KC is victorious. Further logic would place – now head coaching free agent – Bill Belichick as a possible replacement for KC to consider.
  • As previously noted, SF QB Brock Purdy entered the NFL as the final choice of the 2022 NFL Draft which “just happened to be held” in Las Vegas. Since his draft day, Purdy has an .808 winning percentage as a starter, is passing at 9.2 yards per attempt, and owns an 111.2 pass rating – all top marks for NFL quarterbacks with a minimum of 20 starts.
  • Niners RB Christian McCaffrey (yes, the son of former Denver Broncos’ receiver Ed) has joined Hall of Famer and Denver RB Terrell Davis as the only players in league history to average 110 scrimmage yards per game in both the regular season and postseason.
  • To tie a bow on the stats and factoids/nuggets section of your Super Notebook, this year’s game features the best defensive matchup in Super Bowl history. During the regular season, Kansas City allowed 17.3 points per game while San Francisco allowed 17.5 ppg. Only Baltimore, at 16.5 ppg, had a better “D” and you saw what KC did to them.

HONOR ROLL: This week, the National Football League recognized its award-winning players in the annual NFL HONORS ceremony, traditionally held the Thursday evening before Super Bowl Sunday. Here are a few of the top honorees:

  • Most Valuable Player: Lamar Jackson (Baltimore)
  • Coach of the Year: Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland)
  • Offensive Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco)
  • Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett (Cleveland)
  • Comeback Player of the Year: Joe Flacco (Cleveland)
  • Offensive Rookie of the Year: C. J. Stroud (Houston)
  • Defensive Rookie of the Year: Will Anderson (Houston)
  • Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh)
  • Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Bobby Wagner (Seattle)
  • Deacon Jones (Sack Leader): T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh)
  • Jim Brown Award: Christian McCaffrey (SF 49ers)

WALTER PAYTON MAN of the YEAR: Here’s an award that deserves further ,mention, as it is named for one of the greatest players in NFL history. In the late Walter Payton, running back for the Chicago Bears, the NFL honors “a player who excels on the field but demonstrates a passion for creating a lasting positive impact beyond the game.” … Pittsburgh defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, the 2023-24 honoree, has played 13 seasons in the NFL and is known as a leading voice in the Steelers’ locker room. Heyward’s 78.5 career sacks are the most for a Pittsburgh defensive lineman since 1982. Heyward is a six-time Pro Bowl player, a three-time first team All Pro. Heyward’s contributions off the field are far too numerous to list in this column. Suffice to say, he’s done it all in the Pittsburgh community. He’s helped fun libraries, school systems, worked and donated to food banks and works to assist the patients and families of those suffering from brain tumors and cancer. This year was the sixth time he was nominated as the Pittsburgh Steelers contender for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

SALUTE TO SERVICE AWARD: Believe it or not, there’s a New England connection to Super Bowl LVIII. The NFL and sponsor USAA named Joe Cardona, the long snapper for the New England Patriots as recipient of the Salute to Service Award. It is presented annually to a member of the NFL for “exceptional efforts to honor and support the military community.” Cardona graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served the United States when stationed at the Naval Academy Prep School in Rhode Island. He has dedicated his time and support to the military serving on the Korean Peninsula.

THE WWYI SUPER BOWL MENU – With the weather unsettled – up and down, meaning NO GRILLING – we went for the sure fire specialties which are all set and ready to go. Here’s the Super Sunday menu:

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: While we must applaud New England’s Joe Cardona for his award, I always thought a long snapper was something caught off the Florida coast. … All indication thus far has Las Vegas as the all-time greatest site for the Super Bowl. By contrast, the 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend was duly noted as the worst All-Star event since the league went to a full weekend of activities (1984). Why?

IT WAS 60 YEARS AGO: This week, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of The Beatles landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and their subsequent appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (two days after thier Pan American Flight 101 from London). The good folks of Pan American public relations staff pulled off – possibly – the greatest PR Photo Op of all-time, complete with backdrop and product placement – the Pan Am Boeing 707 Clipper Ship. … Everyone seems to agree, Rock ‘n Roll was never the same after the lads played “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on the Ed Sullivan Show.

CLIPPED: Just when you thought it was safe to re-enter the sports docuseries waters after “Winning Time” was rightfully cancelled, the general public learned about a new documentary series today, entitled, CLIPPED.

The press release goes something like this: “If you pay even the slightest attention to professional basketball, you’ve heard about former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling — and the scandal that led to his lifetime ban from the NBA.

In 2014, during the Clippers’ playoff run, Sterling was caught on tape spewing racist remarks. The news blew open his marriage, drew attention to his personal assistant V. Stiviano, and revealed deep problems within the Clippers organization. In 2019, the scandal became the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 podcast titled The Sterling Affairs, reported and hosted by Ramona Shelburne. This summer, 10 years after the tapes were released, The Sterling Affairs gets the small screen treatment, coming to FX on Hulu as the six-episode miniseries Clipped. … Ramona Shelburne is a fabulous reporter and has contributed mightily to the world of sports journalism, BUT, why on Earth do we need to revisit Donald Sterling and the Clippers debacle of 2014? … Give us a mini-series on the life of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his new impact as a gifted writer. Give us a mini-series on Elgin Baylor and Julius Erving, two of the greatest skywalkers who ever touched a basketball. Remember, if there were no Elgin and Doc, there’s no chance we would’ve had Michael and Kobe.

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.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | January 28

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While We’re Young (Ideas) | Best Weekend of NFL Season

It’s KC’s Patrick Mahomes vs B’more’s Lamar Jackson for the AFC title (file photo)

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Screw Super Bowl Sunday. The best weekend of the year for a tried and true NFL fan is THIS weekend, the home of the AFC & NFC Championship games.

It’s pretty simple math. Two is greater than one.

First, the opener. The Kansas City Chiefs travel East to the Charm City of Baltimore, but please don’t expect Baltimore Ravens fans of extending the warm and wonderful, faithful and friendly hospitality known of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Chiefs might get more WIRE or House of Cards than The Social Network.

With full disclosure in mind, I adore Baltimore. It’s one of the gems of the I-95 corridor from Washington DC to Portland, Maine. (The other gems include Philadelphia (PA), Mystic (CT), Providence (RI), Portland (Maine) and a not-too-far off “95” Portsmouth (New Hampshire). There is more to be written on the nuances of these Mid-Atlantic to Northeast corridor gems, but let’s get back to the NFL.

With the upstart and impressive Detroit Lions traveling to Santa Clara, the home of the San Francisco 49ers, we have the possibility of a new rivalry in the making. Th Lions and Niners might see a lot of each other down the road. The SF 49ers are the best in the business with a healthy RB Christian McCaffrey – my choice for league MVP over Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson. And, while all four teams possess potent offenses, it’ll be the defense that wins the respective championships. (Now, who was the first to say that poignant phrase)?

They’ll be playing for a chance to compete for the Vince (file photo)

LET’S DIG IN: Here’s some background and some good juice on the two games being played for the right to compete at Super Bowl LVIII (that’s 58 for you non-Romans).

3PM (ET) – KANSAS CITY CHIEFS at BALTIMORE RAVENS

As many a media outlets are reporting, the Chiefs are playing in their sixth consecutive AFC Conference Championship game, the second longest streak in NFL history (New England: (8) from 2011-2018).

The Chiefs, with a win, can become the third team ever to advance to four Super Bowls in a five year span. (Buffalo 1990-1993) and New England (2014, 2016-18). With another win, KC head coach Andy Reid can become the fourth head coach in NFL history to head-up a team in five or more Super Bowls. (Bill Belichick, Don Shula and Tom Landry).

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (2018 and 2022) has two league MVPs while Lamar Jackson (2019) has one league MVP with a strong possibility of another one coming for this season. Mahomes is (13-3) in his 16 NFL Playoff starts and has 38 TD passes, 4,561 yards passing with a 106.7 passer rating. He needs a victory to tie Terry Bradshaw, John Elway and Peyton Manning – all with 14 playoff wins. Tom Brady (35) and Joe Montana (15) lead the NFL in playoff victories as QBs.

Since the start of last year’s playoffs, Mahomes has 10 touchdown passes with no interceptions over five games. He can become the first QB in NFL history to go six playoff games without an interception (minimum of 20 attempts per game).

Mahomes’ cohort, Travis Kelce will begin his day with 145 receptions, 1,694 yards and 18 TD receptions in his postseason career. With seven receptions against the Ravens, Kelce can surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for the most receptions in NFL Playoff history with (151) the magic number.

On the other side of the field, the Baltimore Ravens are seeking their third franchise Super Bowl appearance (they won in 2013).

Baltimore boasts the NFL’s best rushing attack, averaging 156.5 yards per game but their claim to fame this season is the fact they led the NFL in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 16.5 ppg. They also led in sacks with 60.

Kansas City was second in scoring defense (17.3 ppg) and the Chiefs defense claimed 57 sacks.

Will it be offense or the defense that wins an AFC Championship on Sunday?

6:30PM (ET) – DETROIT LIONS at SAN FRANCISCO 49ers

The Lions are playing in only their second NFC title game, the last coming in 1991. A victory would propel Detroit to its first ever Super Bowl appearance.

Detroit’s Jared Goff can become the fifth QB to advance to the Super Bowl with multiple franchises (LA Rams). He’d join Tom Brady (New England and Tampa Bay), Peyton Manning (Indianapolis and Denver), Craig Morton (Dallas and Denver) and Kurt Warner (St. Louis and Arizona).

Detroit’s rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs recorded 63 scrimmage yards and a rushing TD in the Wild Card game, then 114 scrimmage yards and a rushing TD in the divisional round. On Sunday, he can become the fourth rookie in NFL history to record a TD in three playoff games.

Detroit wide-out Amon-ra St.Brown recorded seven catches in the wild card game and eight in the divisional playoff game and he can join Michael Thomas and Wes Welker as players to grab at least seven catches in their first three NFL Playoff games.

The team to beat, however, is the San Francisco 49ers who’ve played in four of the past five NFC championship games (2019, 2021-23) and the franchise has 19 championship game appearances.

The Niners can become the fifth NFL franchise with eight Super Bowl appearances. They’d join:

  • 11 – New England
  • 8 – Dallas
  • 8 – Denver
  • 8 – Pittsburgh

SF QB Brock Purdy can become the fourth quarterback to win four playoff games in his first two NFL seasons.

Saving the best for last, Niners amazing RB Christian McCaffrey totaled 128 scrimmage yards (98 rushing, 30 receiving) and two rushing TDs last week in the divisional round.

McCaffrey can become the third player in NFL history with at least 50 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in each of his six career playoff games. He would join Marcus Allen and Terrell Davis.

What does it all mean? May the best team win and – to all teams and players, stay safe and healthy so we can see the best of the best.

January 27th’s Boston Globe told the story of Game 1 (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The NBA told us, it’s “Rivalry Week.” Oh yeah? Wrong sport. There is no better rivalry than the “Battle of Commonwealth,” two epic college ice hockey games – played back-to-back this weekend – featuring the No. 1 Boston University Terriers vs the No. 2 ranked Boston College Eagles.

The 30 minutes before the annual men’s basketball tournament (Final Four) is on the list of the greatest moments in sports, yes, but the 30 minutes before Boston College (BC) hosted Boston U. (BU) resembled the college hockey version of college basketball’s Duke vs Carolina. At the Conte Forum on Friday, January 26th, there were a few things missing – as in BU fans. All the tickets in the crowd of 7,884 went to the BC faithful and the students. – let’s call ‘em kids – gobbled them up.

No. 1 BU skated out to see a sea of white shirted co-eds, all dancing in the aisles to a combination of recorded pop music blasted by the Game Ops to the sound of the BC Band belting out Led Zep’s “Kashmir.” There might’ve been 250 BU fans in the building.

It had to be intimidating, but maybe not as intimidating as 7,200 fans at a sold out Agganis Arena all rooting for the Terriers on January 27 (Boston College took the second game 4-3). It’s not a long run between 28 and 925 Commonwealth Ave but it’s a continent away for fans dressed in Red hockey sweaters emblazoned with BOSTON as compared to Maroon and Gold uniforms with either BOSTON COLLEGE or EAGLES across the front. The tickets must be guarded like the very goals they will defend.

It’s ONLY happening this weekend, at least unto February 5th in the nightcap of the semis to the annual Beanpot when they meet again. BC will be ranked No. 1 in the USA when the Beanpot begins.

TIDBITS: If I ever owned a thoroughbred race horse, I think I’d name it “Rivalry Week,” just to drive racetrack announcers around the country a little WILD. … Go ahead, say Rivalry Week three times – FAST. … Maybe I’d spell the horse’s name “Wivalry Week?” … There was a warm welcome back to Boston to Coach Don Casey this weekend as he traveled east from his San Diego digs to visit Boston and take in the Los Angeles Clippers at Boston Celtics game Saturday night. The Clippers and Celtics, along with the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets were the NBA clubs Casey spent the most time with on the bench as an assistant and head coach (for LAC and NJN). A defensive (read: zone) specialist who coached Temple University from 1973 to 1982 spent seven seasons at the (Boston Garden, Fleet Center, TD Garden) as an assistant coach under (the late) Chris Ford and popular franchise man, M.L. Carr. And, yes Case and his son, Michael, stopped into West End Johnnies for a bite before Saturday’s game.

THINGS I THINK ABOUT: Why don’t dogs get poked in the eye more often, if ever? … And, what ever happened to the “original” National Floors Direct actress, Adrienne LaValley, and why was she replaced by Worcester native and current Boston North End resident, Samantha Valletta. If you have no idea what this is about, you haven’t watch a morning news show in Greater Boston. … Wouldn’t you just like to ask Chicago’s Robert Lamm what Question 66 was? And, speaking of Chicago, if you haven’t watched “The Terry Kath Experience,” you’re missing out on a vital story on the evolution of Rock ‘n Roll in these United States. As the cover says, “The Terry Kath Experience” is a documentary about a daughter discovering the legacy of her father – the late Terry Kath. Kath was one of the founding members of the band Chicago whose powerful guitar playing and husky, melodic voice has been praised by such icons as Jimi Hendrix, Joe Walsh and Eric Clapton. … Everyone forgets, Chicago – first known as Chicago Transit Authority – played a brand of rock that had never been played before (or since). Ass-kicking guitars blended with a horn section played by classically trained musicians became the headline band for the early to mid-70s. … That said, I find it bothersome that the band is still touring under the name, “Chicago.” Maybe they should play under the name “Sheboygan.” … It amazes me how all decent content on NFL.com is now only available if you pay for NFL+ at $6.99 a month. For that rate, they’d have to send a car to pick-up at home and drive back-and-forth to Gillette Stadium every Sunday. … While on the tangent, the same goes true of dishwasher soap. Cascade Platinium gets all the dishes cleaner than clean. Why didn;t they make regular Cascade that way to start? … SF QB Brock Purdy “don’t get no respect.” Look for a big day from Purdy. … And, one more item on the AFC Championship game and beyond: Can’t we all leave pop star Taylor Swift and Chiefs All Pro TE Travis Kelce alone for a while (like a year or more)? Maybe limit it to one cut-away a game?