The Rundown: 5 Things to Know About Formula One Racing

The popularity of NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) in America has nothing on the global excitement around F1 (Formula One) racing. Since an American company now owns the majority of F1, and they are pushing for more races in the States, we thought you should be ahead of the curve when the season starts this weekend.

 

Taking home the checkered flag,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Five Things to Know About F1 (Formula One) Racing

  1. The races take place in some of the most picturesque places in the world including the scenic streets of Monaco, the desert of Abu Dhabi and under the lights in Singapore (the only night race). Even if you don’t like F1, it’s worth watching for the postcard worthy scenery. The only race in America is in Austin, TX. The season starts this Sunday in Melbourne, Australia.
  2. F1 cars are designed to be light and fast. Like a trip to Jenny Craig, the car and the drivers, with all of their gear, are weighed in at the end of each race to ensure they meet the car weight restrictions. 
  3. One of the best part about being an F1 fan is that the races are done in two hours regardless of if the total number of laps have been completed or not.
  4. Last year’s champion Nico Rosberg went out on top when he retired days after winning his first championship at the age of 31.
  5. F1 has always had an international feel, but times are changing as U.S.A. based Liberty Media became the main stakeholder last year, buying in at a mere $4.4 billion.  
  • Bonus: Think you can distinguish F1 drivers from the bad guys in movies? Take this quiz.

World Baseball Classic

  • Uniting the country. Team U.S.A. beat two-time champion Japan for a place in the World Baseball Classic finals. They will take on a tough Puerto Rico team tonight in Los Angeles. Break out your red, white and blue for good luck as U.S.A has never won the title.

Overtime

  • The curious case of New England Patriots (football) quarterback Tom Brady’s missing Super Bowl jersey has been solved. The culprit? A Mexican media executive who snuck off with the jersey after the game.  It was also uncovered that the same guy stole Brady’s jersey from the 2015 Super Bowl and a Denver Broncos helmet from the 2016 Super Bowl.

Sideline stat

  • Billionaire Warren Buffett offered $1 million a year for life to any employee who could pick every game correctly through the March Madness Sweet 16 (48 games). A factory worker was one game short of perfect but he will still receive a $100,000 prize. There were more than 96,000 entrants from Berkshire Hathaway’s 367,000 employees.

Coaches’ Corner

  • Just when you started going through withdrawals, bracket basketball is back. The Sweet 16 teams (final 16 teams left in the bracket) begin playing tomorrow through Friday. Here’s the schedule. 

 

The Rundown: 5 Things To Know About March Madness

March Madness is here and we haven’t been this excited since we found out how to use Snapchat filters.  Don’t forget to fill out your bracket by tomorrow morning.

 

Knock ‘em dead,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Five Things To Know About March Madness

  1. Bet on blue. Teams that wear uniforms with blue as the primary color have won 20 of the 32 championships.
  2. When choosing your bracket, remember that the most likely upset is a #12 team over a #5 and no #16 team has ever beat a #1 team.
  3. According to Vegas oddsmakers, the favorite teams to win the national championship are Duke, Kansas and North Carolina.
  4. The NCAA women’s bracket is out and UConn (University of Connecticut) is looking to win their fifth straight championship.
  5. The tournament is prime time for sponsors with over 11.3 million viewers last year. Although Nike still rules the court when it comes to team sponsorships.   
  • Nike sponsors 40 of the teams 
  • Adidas – 15 teams
  • Under Armour-  12 teams
  • Russell Athletic – 1 teams

Here is the full schedule including what channel and how to stream the games at work.

Overtime

  • Gold medal Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton reported that it’s nothing short of a miracle that his third brain tumor has shrunk without treatment. He previously beat testicular cancer and two similar benign tumors before he was diagnosed with his latest in 2016.

Sideline stat

  • Coming soon to an office near you. Don’t expect a lot of work to happen over the next few weeks because nearly 40 million people fill out March Madness brackets. It’s estimated that $4 billion is lost in work productivity during tournament.

Coaches’ corner

  • During March Madness you’ll hear the term “Cinderella team” thrown around but it doesn’t have anything to do with a lost shoe at midnight. The term is used to describe an underdog team that defies the odds and wins against teams that were expected to crush them.

The Rundown: 5 Things To Know About The World Baseball Classic

Break out your Team U.S.A. shirt because the World Baseball Classic is here and it features Olympic-like excitement.

 

There will be peanuts and Cracker Jacks,

The Last Night’s Game Team

 

PS – Do you have burning questions about the NCAA March Madness tournament that you were too shy to ask or are simply curious about the craziness that is the bracket? We want to answer your questions in our March Madness 101. Submit them via email, Twitter or Facebook.

Five Things to Know About the World Baseball Classic

  • The World Baseball Classic (WBC) consists of teams from all over the world playing in a global baseball tournament. The tournament essentially acts as a replacement for the Olympics since baseball was dropped in 2012. There are 16 countries represented in the tournament, which runs March 6 – 22.
  • Major League Baseball (MLB) found a new revenue stream with the Classic, which takes place every four years in March during spring training for MLB teams. (Spring training is the period where teams prepare for the upcoming season).
  • Players do not have to play in MLB to participate but they must have been born in or have one parent born in the country they’re representing. Due to the grueling 162 game MLB season, many of the top players for Team U.S.A. have opted not to play.
  • Israel is fast becoming the Cinderella team of the tournament, beating teams ranked much higher than them. The team has been wearing shirts proclaiming themselves as the “Jew Crew” and their mascot is “Mensch on the Bench.” (You might remember the doll came on the market as a take on Elf on the Shelf). During their national anthem the team removes their caps but still don yarmulkes.
  • Japan has taken home two WBC Championships and the Dominican Republic has claimed one.

Overtime

  • This Sunday is Selection Sunday, the big day where the NCAA March Madness bracket is released. Be the first to sign up to play in our March Madness Bracket Challenge. This is a no pressure challenge, novices are encouraged. Did we mention there are prizes?

Sideline stat

  • New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is still a specimen of health after 17 seasons in the NFL (National Football League). He attributes that to his diet and now you can eat like the Super Bowl MVP with his new plant-based meal delivery company. For $78 a week, you can have Brady-like meals delivered to your door. Gisele would approve. 

Coaches’ corner

  • NFL free agency begins on Thursday at 4 pm. This is a chance for the free agents (i.e. players without a commitment to a team/players who are “in between jobs”) to sign with a new team. Why such a specific time? That’s when the NFL year officially starts (kind of like their own their fiscal year) and players can be released from their teams and picked up by other teams. Curious which free agents are going where? Click here.
 

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