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Don’t really want to divulge the details of your weekend during the small talk around the coffee pot this morning? Use sports to shift the conversation and show off your savviness.
Don’t really want to divulge the details of your weekend during the small talk around the coffee pot this morning? Use sports to shift the conversation and show off your savviness.
You’ve got this,
The Last Night’s Game Team
College Basketball
If you’re feeling like a champ this morning. It’s championship week in college basketball. That means the different conference tournaments have begun in advance of the big March Madness tournament, which starts next week. Teams that win their conference championship earn an automatic bid into the tournament. The rest will have to sit and wait to hear their team name announced on Selection Sunday (March 11).
Who doesn’t love an underdog? The Lipscomb University Bisons won their conference tournament, which guarantees the team from a small university in Nashville a spot in the March Madness tournament for the first time ever. LIST OF TEAMS THAT HAVE QUALIFIED
If you’re interested in participating in the bracket madness of the NCAA (the governing body of college sports) tournament, you can play with us. After Selection Sunday we’ll share a link to our bracket so you can pick your teams and play along in a judgement free zone for a chance to win prizes and have a little fun too.
Overtime
Kobe Bryant isn’t only one of the best in basketball, but he can now add one of the best in Hollywood to his list of accomplishments. Last night he took home an Oscar for his animated short Dear Basketball. He is the first professional athlete to win an Academy Award.
Sideline stat
In hopes of making a team, NFL (National Football League) hopefuls showed off their athletic and mental abilities to scouts in the NFL Combine. University of Central Florida’s Shaquem Griffin was not on the original invite list but the one-handed Griffin certainly made the best out of his appearance, dominating the Combine. Not only did he bench press 225 pounds an impressive 20 times using a prosthetic hand, he ran the fastest 40-yard dash for linebackers in 10 years. And with that, we have no excuse to skip the gym today.
Coaches’ corner
Michelle Wie and Phil Mickelson are two of the biggest names in golf who have been down on their luck for years until this weekend. Wie ended a four-year losing streak by taking home a win on the last hole of the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore. Mickelson, 47, finally broke his five-year losing streak, winning the Mexico Championship this weekend.
The Envelope Please
Your reward for making it to Friday? Oscar award winning conversation starters.
Your reward for making it to Friday? Oscar award winning conversation starters.
It's just an honor to be nominated,
The Last Night’s Game Team
NBA (National Basketball Association)
When you know you’re not getting your security deposit back. Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry has won two league MVP awards but his golf game might need a little work. He was practicing his swing inside his hotel room which resulted in broken glass everywhere. Guess he’s the reason they charge for incidentals when checking in.
If all you need in life is the perfect cheer. NBA legend Charles Barkley is hosting Saturday Night Live this week. This is Barkley’s fourth time hosting the show and you can expect some parodies around his famous “I am not a role model” quote. Let’s see if he can one up the best athlete skit ever - Peyton Manning as a United Way youth volunteer.
Overtime
A balmy 50 degrees is like summer weather if you’re a NHL (National Hockey League) fan. The largest crowd ever at the Naval Academy is expected to brave the weather to catch the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals play outdoors in Annapolis, MD.
Sideline stat
Whoever said 50 years old was over the hill was full of crap. Meet George Corones the 99-year-old Australian swimmer who broke the record for the 50m swim for his age category by a whole 35 seconds. Somewhere Michael Phelps is envisioning his comeback.
Coaches’ corner
Not really into sports but love Hollywood? The two worlds collide at the Oscars, which are this Sunday. Former NBA player Kobe Bryant is nominated for his animated short Dear Basketball. Check out our Top Five Oscar Winning Sports Movies so you can be a part of the conversation or at least have an excuse to watch movies all weekend.
The Top 5 Oscar Winning Sports Movies
Hollywood takes the red carpet this weekend for the Academy Awards. What does this have to do with sports you ask? Well for one, Kobe Bryant is nominated for an Oscar. That and unlike most of the Oscar nominated movies, these are ones you’ve actually seen.
Hollywood takes the red carpet this weekend for the Academy Awards. What does this have to do with sports you ask? Well for one, Kobe Bryant is nominated for an Oscar. That and unlike most of the Oscar nominated movies, these are ones you’ve actually seen.
Pass the popcorn,
The Last Night’s Game
The Top 5 Oscar Winning Sports Movies(in no particular order)
Chariots of Fire (1981) In a class-focused, divided society, two runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. The movie is probably best known for its Oscar winning original music score.
The Blind Side (2009) Sandra Bullock took home her first Oscar for her role as a pushy mom who takes in a homeless teen and helps to harness his talents to turn him into a football powerhouse. Based on a true story, the real Michael Oher became a college football sensation and an NFL (National Football League) player.
Rocky (1976) We all remember the iconic line of “Yo Adrian” and Sylvester Stallone’s run up the steps, but while the actors and their lines are what we remember, the movie took home the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing awards. A big fat TKO for Rocky and Adrian.
Jerry Maguire (1996) Tom Cruise may have yelled “show me the money” in a story about a sports agent down on his luck but Cuba Gooding Jr. showed them how it was done as he received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Oscar, you complete me.
Million Dollar Baby (2004) This movie about a middle-class female boxer who forges a life changing bond with her trainer is tied for the most celebrated movie on our list. The movie took home Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress (Hilary Swank), Best Director (Clint Eastwood), Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman). The other flick with four wins? Chariots of Fire.
Honorable mentions of sports films that were nominated but didn’t win: Moneyball, Field of Dreams and Hoosiers.
Intermission break
While you map out your movie marathon, here are the top three things everyone is buzzing about in sports today including which mom is the greatest of all time (besides yours of course), why the claws are coming out in the NFL and what epic thing Ellen is doing to support a group of gold medal winners. READ