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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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MARCH MADNESS: NCAA Tournament Tips-Off Today

It’s the MOST WONDERFUL TIME of the YEAR
With the kids basket-balling
And everyone calling
To tell you a’ Bracket-Buster to Fear.

It’s the hap-happiest hoops season of all
Our masks from the pandemic, hanging on the wall
The Refs come a’ calling, every perimeter foul and some walking
It’ll drive you to be another LaVar Ball,

There’ll be Final Four parties for hosting
Tall Boys for toasting
With kegs stored out in the snow
There’ll be Raftery’s stories
And, tales of Duke’s Glory of
Championships long, long ago

It’s the MOST WONDERFUL TIME of the YEAR

There’ll be Greg Gumbel glowing
And Jay Bilas spouting to prove
He’s the best commentator going,
For every game of the basketball year

There’ll be watch parties thriving
As school-work goes diving, your Dean’s Lists ripped-in-shreds
But fill-up the tank and head with your ranking
The SuperDome smells like a BEER.

It’s the MOST WONDERFUL TIME of the YEAR

There’ll be buzzer-beater tossin’
Kentucky be a ‘lossin’
Just like they do every year

It’s the most wonderful time
Yes, the most wonderful time
Oh, it’s MARCH MADNESS time
Of the YEAR.

 

Valspar Tees-Off with Sunny Skies

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PALM HARBOR – Happy St. Patrick’s Day as the PGA Tour tees-it-up at the Valspar Championship at Innesbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Florida. After a rain-soaked, thundershower-laced and one-day delayed PLAYERS, the PGA Tour is looking forward to sunny skies today.

Since Sunday, 10 players have withdrawn from the Valspar as of this morning (see list below).

This week’s Valspar Championship returns to its traditional March date and will wrap up the PGA Tour’s four-tournament Florida Swing after previously being contested in May, 2021. The three winners in Florida so far have included a first-time winner (Sepp Straka, The Honda Classic) and two players who entered the week in the Top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and picked up their second wins of the season (Scottie Scheffler/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Cameron Smith/The PLAYERS Championship).

Five of the Top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are scheduled to compete in the Valspar Championship, the most for the tournament since 2015 (5). This is the seventh event this season with at least five of the Top 10 players and second consecutive. No. 2 Collin Morikawa, No. 3 Viktor Hovland, No. 8 Justin Thomas, No. 9 Xander Schauffele, and rounding it out, No. 10 Dustin Johnson.

There have been 11 Holes-in-One at the Valspar.

Among all the players in the field this weekend, only Denny McCarthy and Sam Ryder have made the cut in the three prior Florida Swing events. Meanwhile, Shane Lowry has pocketed the most FedEx Cup points during the three Florida events with 357. Viktor Hovland registered 298 points.

The 2020 FedEx Cup champion Dustin Johnson is making his 300th career start on the Tour this week. In his first 299 starts, Johnson collected 24 wins (8.0%), and 113 Top-10s (37.8%). DJ has won on Tour in each of the last 14 seasons (2008 through 2020-21), which is tied with Tiger Woods for the third-longest streak to start a career.

 

Six Big East Teams Join “Big Dance”

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Six BIG EAST Teams Going Dancin’

PHILADELPHIA – Villanova, Providence and UConn earned top-five seeds when the NCAA Selection Show was broadcast Sunday night, while Creighton, Marquette and Seton Hall are each set to compete in the NCAA Tournament beginning Thursday. Villanova, the BIG EAST Tournament champion, earned a No. 2 seed, while Providence, the regular-season champion, is a No. 4 seed. UConn claimed a No. 5 seed, followed by Creighton and Seton Hall as No. 8 seeds and Marquette as a No. 9 seed.

No. 2 Seed Villanova Wears Big East Title Crown, (Again)

The eighth-ranked and second-seeded Villanova Wildcats earned a trio of hard fought victories in the 40th BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep played at Madison Square Garden to win the sixth BIG EAST Championship in program history. After a ferocious comeback moved the Wildcats past St. John’s 66-65 in the quarterfinals, Villanova edged UConn 63-60 in the semifinals. In the finals, Villanova outlasted Creighton 54-48 in a dramatic showdown to improve to 5-1 in the tournament finals since conference realignment. The ‘Cats guard Collin Gillespie won the Dave Gavitt Trophy as the Most Outstanding Player.

BIG EAST Fans Flocked to The Garden

NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Tournament was a sellout at Madison Square Garden for four of the five sessions on March 9-12. The attendance for the four sellouts was 19,812. The Garden was filled to 97.3 capacity over the four days. The BIG EAST
was playing its tournament at the World’s Most Famous Arena for the 40th straight year. It is the longest running conference tournament played at the same venue. The sight of thousands of UConn fans entering MSG brought back all the memories of years gone past.

BIG EAST Averages More Than Five Team Bids Per Year

With six NCAA bids in 2022, the BIG EAST has received a total of 42 NCAA
Tournament invitations since reconfiguration in 2013-14, averaging 5.3 per
season. That average discounts 2020 when the NCAA Tournament was not
played. Villanova won the national championship in 2018 and 2016. The BIG
EAST earned a high of seven NCAA bids in 2017.

Villanova has the Top Nine-Year Record of Teams

In the last nine seasons since conference realignment, Villanova has the best record in conference play with a 130-31 (.808) mark. The Wildcats have won or shared seven of the nine regular-season titles. Providence won outright this season and Xavier won outright in 2017-18.

Smith Takes The PLAYERS

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH – Cameron Smith won The 2022 PLAYERS Championship, earning his fifth PGA Tour title and second win of the season as the PLAYERS became the first PGA TOUR event with an unscheduled Monday finish since the 2021 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

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Smith became the third consecutive winner of the event to enter the week in the Top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and 13th since the inception of the official rankings in 1986.

Smith also became the fifth Australian to win The PLAYERS, joining Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Greg Norman (1994), Adam Scott (2004) and Jason Day (2016).

Smith moved from No. 10 to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, the highest position of his career. He’s led the field in SG: Putting in all three of his individual titles on the Tour (2020 Sony Open in Hawaii, 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions, and this, the 2022 PLAYERS Championship).

 

PLAYERS | Final Leaderboard

Cameron Smith 69-71-69-66—275 (-13)

Anirban Lahiri 67-73-67-69—276 (-12)

Paul Casey 70-69-69-69—277 (-11)

Kevin Kisner 68-74-68-68—278 (-10)

Keegan Bradley 72-71-68-68—279 (-9)

Brady Announces Return to Tampa Bay

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TAMPA BAY – The return of Major League Baseball was not the biggest sports story today, nor was the Celtics’ retirement of Kevin Garnett‘s no. 5 at the TD Garden. The final day of the College Basketball conference tournament week and the NCAA Selection Show probably came in at No. 2 on the big sports story list.

Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the Tampa Bay Bucs’ starter the past two seasons, used his social media accounts to announce his return to the NFL and the Buccaneers for the 2022 season. Talk about seizing the day and its headlines!

Developing story…

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | March 13

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By TERRY LYONS

NEW YORK – There are few things that join death and taxes as the guarantees in life. With that in mind, we add:

  1. Steph Curry’s jump shot
  2. Gregg Popovich leading NBA coaches in career victories
  3. The famed Island Green (17th) at TPC Sawgrass bringing PGA Tour pros to their knees, especially with winds at 20 mph and gusts 44+ mph.
  4. The annual BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden – the World’s Most Famous Arena – playing host to some of the best postseason college basketball any fan would want to experience in a community of like-minded opponents. Every March.

Right from the beginning this week, the BIG EAST did not disappoint. In the opening game, a 4:30pm (ET) afternoon start of a BIG EAST triple-header, Butler (14-19) upset Xavier (18-13) in a 89-82 overtime thriller. As the tournament progressed at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Providence and Butler were tied (31-all) at the half until the Friars outlasted Butler, 65-61 after a last minute 3-point FG by Providence’s Al Durham iced the victory.

With 15:38 left in the 2nd half on Thursday evening, St. John’s led Villanova 44-27. At 2:08 mark, after several lead changes, St. John’s was barely holding on, 65-64, but could not convert the win, eventually losing to ‘Nova, 66-65.

At the Friday night semifinals, No. 8-ranked Villanova took care of business against the No. 20 UConn, 63-60, in a game that had old-school BIG EAST fans lighting up The Garden with sound. But, No. 11 ranked Providence, the regular season BIG EAST Champion and tournament No. 1 seed dropped their semifinal game to an impressive Creighton team, 85-58. Included in that one-sided tally was the fact Creighton held Providence to 27 points in the first half.

After a terrible start (trailed 0-7), Creighton gave Villanova everything it could handle in the Saturday night BIG EAST Final. Villanova’s team leader, Collin Gillespie was held scoreless in the first half but finished the game with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, including a pair of pressure three-point FGs and the game-clinching rebound with seven seconds remaining. Gillespie went to the line and hit two clutch FTs to close out the victory, 54-48, while securing Villanova’s fifth BIG EAST title in the past seven years.

The tournament brought forth an amazing sense of normalcy for the old-time BIG EAST fans, not the ultra-annoying “new-normal” spoken by talking heads, health care professionals and political talking heads. Just as the timing of the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament couldn’t have been worse, the 2022 edition, the 40th held at The Garden since the conference kicked its tires in Providence, Syracuse and Hartford to start things off in 1980-81-82, came about at a time when COVID-19 restrictions are being eased at public arenas, bars, restaurants and at schools.

There’s talk of the BIG EAST receiving seven invites to the NCAA’s Big Dance, with Xavier having a possible NIT invite awaiting after their early exit this week. What’s certain, as sure as that Curry 30-footer, is the depth and competitiveness of the BIG EAST’S men’s basketball teams.

The conference play is physical and, to the credit of the officiating staffs, the BIG EAST seems to have found the ability to call games in a ‘no harm, no foul’ professional style, rather than the annoying ticky-tack foul calls out on the perimeter. The refs have mastered the art of the non-call, to let play to continue. It has allowed an intense up & down style of play, less frequent foul trouble by the star players and better preparation for the upcoming Big Dance for Big East contenders.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The new NBA coaching record for most career victories was set Friday and mentioned above. While it’s easy to define the best coaches by the sheer number of victories, NBA coaches often chalk-it-up such honors due to longevity.

Here are the winningest coaches in the four major North American sports leagues:

NHL Ice-Hockey – Scotty Bowman – (1,244 wins, nine Stanley Cup championships)

NFL American Football – Don Shula – (347 wins, two Super bowl wins)

MLB Baseball – Connie Mack – (3,731 wins)

NBA Basketball – Gregg Popovich – (1,336 victories, five NBA titles)

NCAA Basketball – Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and coach John Wooden of UCLA both deserve mention.

In addition to this lofty list of winners, there’s also a common sense list of the greatest coaches, one that is a bit more subjective.

NHL – Al Arbour, Coach of the New York Islanders, Toe Blake of Montreal, Joel Quenneville of multiple NHL teams.

NFL – George Halas of Chicago Bears and Bill Belichick of New England Patriots

MLB – John McGraw, Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and Sparky Anderson all deserve mention.

NBA – Red Auerbach, Boston Celtics.

DIAMOND DUST-UP RESOLVED: Thank goodness. Major League Baseball and its players Association came to terms this week and the baseball season will begin with players reporting today (March 13) and Spring Training games beginning March 17. As you would expect, it’ll be toughest on the pitchers stretching out, especially free agent pitchers.

Opening Day will be April 7, and MLB is planning to play a full 162-game schedule, allowing for players to make up on previously lost salary.

The MLB Postseason will expand to 12 teams.

The National League will adopt the Designated Hitter.

Free agency might be the most newsworthy item as Baseball comes back to life after its loss of three months. The lock-out began December 2 but starting this week, there will be a frenzy of free agent signings, maybe some 10-12 a day as teams re-stock.

Freddie Freeman, the Atlanta Braves star first baseman is high on the list of the potentially most valuable and sought after free agents. While some believe he will re-sign in Atlanta, there’s already talk of a mega-deal with one of the big market teams.

LA Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw already signed a one-year deal with the only club he’s played for on the major league level. The Dodgers’ California rival and neighbor to the north, the San Francisco Giants, signed left-hander Carlos Rodon to a reported two-year $44 million deal. Saturday, the Oakland A’s sent Chris Bassitt to the New York Mets in a muti-player deal to begin an Oakland roster-stripping list of expensive player sales.

For additional information, the reporters at ESPN are following the Free Agent market and post all transactions HERE.

March Madness Special: Read more of the weekly notes by subscribing HERE.

No Matter Rain, Sleet, Snow or Wind

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH – The 2022 PLAYERS Championship went from rain and thunderstorms to high winds and darkness. Today, more windy conditions are in store for the best PGA Tour players in the world.

Due to dangerous weather on Saturday morning, the second round did not start until 12 Noon (ET) and then due to darkness, the second round was suspended at 6:29pm (ET) with 48 of 71 players in the first wave having completed the second round. But, 45 of 72 players in the second wave began the second round Saturday and none of them completed.

Second-round play resumed at 8:15 am (ET) this morning. Keep in mind, the USA adjusted to Daylight Savings Time overnight which will allow for extended play this evening.

Current second-round scoring average is 75.625 (71.902 in R1). There were 29 total balls hit in the water at No. 17 on Saturday (10 during completion of round one, 19 during round two).

Bubba Watson (68) and Justin Thomas (69) recorded the only bogey-free rounds among those who completed round two and of the 48 players who completed 36 holes, Watson and Thomas (T-15) sit highest on the leaderboard.

Henrik Stenson withdrew following Saturday’s suspension of play

PGA Tour officials are planning to complete play on Monday.

The last Monday finish at THE PLAYERS came in 2005, with Fred Funk as champion.

BIG EAST & The Garden Share 40 Years of Fantastic Tournament Memories

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from official News Release) – The 2022 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden marks the 40th Anniversary of the prestigious postseason championship being staged at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” The BIG EAST Tournament first took to the famed Madison Square Garden basketball court in 1983, making it the longest-running postseason championship at the same location in college basketball.

One of college basketball’s most treasured events, the BIG EAST Tournament, first signed an agreement to bring the annual postseason classic to The Garden on October 7, 1981. Led by tournament MVP Chris Mullin, St. John’s defeated #1 seed Boston College 85-77 to win the first BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden in ’83. That weekend set the tone with sellout crowds and alumni parties up and down the Northeast corridor which quickly became a staple to circle the dates on The Garden’s yearly sports calendar.

Countless tournament memories have been made throughout the years, including Walter Berry’s block on Dwayne “Pearl” Washington in 1986; Kemba Walker’s spectacular 130 points in five games during the 2011 Tournament; Allen Iverson vs. Ray Allen in the 1996 Championship game; Doug McDermott scoring 92 total points in Creighton’s first BIG EAST Tournament in 2014; and of course Syracuse and UConn scoring 244 points over the course of 3 hours and 46 minutes in six overtimes in a wild game that ended at 1:22 a.m. in 2009.

“This year’s competition will be a fierce as ever,” said BIG EAST Commissioner, Val Ackerman. “And, we know that an electric atmosphere and the unforgettable moments that have defined the BIG EAST tournament for decades will once again await our amazing fans.”

“The BIG EAST Tournament and Madison square Garden have been synonymous with one another for 40 years,” said Joel Fisher, executive vice president, MSG Marquee Events. “Since 1983, the tournament has become a staple on The Garden calendar and has provided millions of fans with thrilling long-lasting memories. College hoops junkies will once again rush through our turnstiles this week for another four days of scintillating college basketball.”

The BIG EAST and Madison Square Garden will welcome fans back to the tournament this week for the first time since 2020 when the COVID Pandemic brought an early halt to the postseason tournament. Quarterfinal doubleheaders will be played this afternoon and evening, March 10. The semifinal doubleheader will be held Friday, March 11, followed by the title game on Saturday evening, March 12.

The first three BIG EAST tournaments were held in Providence, Syracuse and Hartford, respectively.

The BIG EAST Conference is an association of 11 nationally prominent colleges and universities that foster healthy athletic competition, community service and the pursuit of excellence in academic environments. The athletic programs of BIG EAST institutions provide national-caliber participation opportunities for more than 4,100 student-athletes on over 200 men’s and women’s teams in 22 sports. Established in 1979 and headquartered in New York City, the BIG EAST’s members are located in eight of the country’s top 37 largest media markets and include Butler University, University of Connecticut, Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, Villanova University and Xavier University.

Stormy Weather at The PLAYERS

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH – First-round tee times at The PLAYERS were delayed by one hour due to overnight rain and area thunderstorms. Unfortunately, stormy weather will be the storyline as ‘the fifth major’ is underway, and the golfers who can navigate the weather (rain/wind/humidity) will rise on the dripping wet leaderboard.

This week’s PLAYERS Championship will be more of a challenge than the Tournament Players Club of Sawgrass usually can dish out. The weather report is not cooperating as thundershowers, high humidity and a 30-degree dip in temperature from Friday to the weekend could wreak havoc for the contenders when the sun shines on Sunday.

The PLAYERS Championship is the first of five tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule offering 600 FedEx Cup points to the winner, along with the four major championships.

The field includes 47 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and 109 PGA TOUR winners combining for 418 titles. Justin Thomas is looking to become the first player to successfully defend a title at The PLAYERS Championship. The best result by a defending champion of The PLAYERS is T5 (Jack Nicklaus/1977, Tom Kite/1990, Hal Sutton/2001). In the last six attempts, only one defending champion has finished in the Top 50 (Webb Simpson, 2019). Thomas, a 14-time Tour winner (most recently at The PLAYERS in 2021), has successfully defended a title once on the PGA Tour (2016 CIMB Classic) and has earned multiple titles at three different PGA Tour events.

With his win at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Scottie Scheffler moved to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings for the first time in his career. Three players have won the week before The PLAYERS and then won The PLAYERS: Raymond Floyd (1981), Tom Kite(1989) and Tiger Woods (2001).

The people of the Ukraine were recognized by the PGA Tour and its Commissioner. As the tournament began at TPC Sawgrass with round 1 of The PLAYERS Championship, representatives of the Tour expressed its unified support for the people of the Ukraine.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced support via Golfers For Ukraine, an industry-wide effort that is collecting donations for UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children impacted by the crisis.

“Our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine and those caught in the crosshairs of the conflict,” Monahan said. “We hope for an end to this senseless violence and a peaceful resolution. The game of golf has a way of rallying around important causes and this is one.”

Seton Hall Endures; Defeats Hoyas

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release0 – On a night that saw the BIG EAST Tournament feel like old times, packed house of 17,163 and three gripping games with outstanding individual performances and renewed rivalries.

Georgetown travelled to the Garden knowing their last victory against a Big East opponent came in last year’s BIG EAST Tournament title game, a mere 362 days ago. During the season, the Hoyas held a halftime lead against a conference foe in just three games and never by more than three points. And last night’s three-point lead over Seton Hall was its first at the half since Feb.9 against DePaul.

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The Pirates came into the BIG EAST Tournament as the conference’s hottest team, winning their final five straight and eight of their last 10. They had just logged their sixth 20-win season in the past seven years and the Pirates kind of had the Hoyas number of late, having won 12 of the last 16 against Georgetown.

So it should have been little more than a walk in the park for the Pirates, no?

Um, no. And the Pirates should have known as much as they had just played the Hoyas a week ago and needed to rally late to take down Georgetown in a five-point win on The Hall’s Senior Night. So it should have come as no surprise that the third tilt of the season between the Pirates and Hoyas would once again go down to the wire as it did. But the Pirates used an 11-3 run over the final 4:38 to rally from a four-point deficit and pull out a hard-fought 57-53 victory.

The Pirates (21-9) move on to face No. 3 seed UConn in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Pirates and Huskies split the season series with Seton Hall winning, 90-87, in overtime on Jan. 8 before UConn evened the score with a 70-65 win on Feb. 16.

A three-pointer by Jamir Harris with 40.3 seconds to play gave the Pirates the lead for good at 55-53. But the Hoyas were not about to go quietly. With 27 seconds to play, Georgetown’s Collin Holloway had a wide open look on a three-pointer from the corner, but his shot clanged off the rim and right to teammate Donald Carey. But Carey’s attempt at a putback to tie the game was squashed when The Hall’s Ike Obiagu blocked his seventh shot of the game.

But after Seton Hall’s Alexis Yetna misfired on a free throw with 20.2 seconds to play, Georgetown had one more opportunity to either tie or win the game in the final seconds. But Carey made an errant pass to Kaiden Rice with six seconds to play and Jared Rhoden sank two free throws with two seconds left to ice the win for the Pirates.

Rhoden finished with 17 points to lead the Pirates while Myles Cale added 14. Freshman Aminu Mohammed was tops for the Hoyas with 12.

Afterwards, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard credited his team’s poise with helping to pull out the victory over a feisty bunch of Hoyas.

“What’s great about this group is that they never get rattled,” Willard said. “We got down four and they understood what we had to do and it’s nice having that veteran presence.”

That’s six straight wins for the Pirates who now turn their attention to the third-seeded Huskies, who will be coming at The Hall with BIG EAST All-First Teamers R.J. Cole and Adama Sanogo. The Huskies have also won six of their last seven coming into the tournament.

“The biggest thing is we rebounded in the second half and in the first half they really kicked our butts on the boards,” Willard said. “So going against a very physical UConn team, we’re going to have to rebound the basketball.”