The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition

Selection Sunday is this Sunday so buckle your seat belts folks, this is going to be a wild few weeks of college basketball glory. Next week we will provide you with pointers on picking your bracket. If you’re intimidated by the pool your boss is putting together, don’t fret, the Inaugural Last Night’s Game Bracket Challenge will launch next week. It's a no pressure bracket, just good fun and maybe a prize or two. Who doesn’t like swag?

Winning!

The Last Night’s Game Team  

---

MLB (Major League Baseball)

• Buzz off. In a spring training game between Kansas City Royals vs Colorado Rockies, mother nature had plans to delay the game. The Kansas City Royals’ bench was swarmed with bees, but manager Ned Yost refused to let an exterminator kill them.  A hero showed up in a retired beekeeper who was in the stands. He put the bees in a trash bag, making sure they were all safe.

NCAA Basketball (College)

• Basketball bliss. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for some fans. “Selection Sunday” takes place this Sunday at 5:30 pm (EST) on CBS. This is when the NCAA selection committee will announce when and where the 68 teams that will participate in “March Madness” tournament to determine who the best team in the nation is. (You may know this bracket as the office pool everyone is obsessed with each year. Lots of basketball to be played here folks, lots of basketball).
• So you’re saying there’s a chance? There are playoffs in most divisions (minus Ivy League) where the winner receives an automatic bid into the tournament. Notable Conference Championship final games this weekend are:
  • ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), Saturday at 9 pm (EST) on ESPN
  • Big East, Saturday at 5:30 pm (EST) on FOX  
  • Big 12, Saturday at 5 pm (EST) on ESPN
  • PAC 12 (Pacific Conference), Saturday at 10 pm (EST) Fox Sports 1
  • Big 10, Sunday at 3 pm (EST) on CBS
  • SEC (Southeastern Conference), Sunday at 1 pm (EST) on CBS

NHL (National Hockey League)

• Old habits die hard. 44-year-old Jaromir Jagr of the Florida Panthers made the ultimate sacrifice for Lent. He gave up his coffee habit. Jaromir's coffee consumption maxed out at 10 cups a day. Although a lack of caffeine it doesn’t seem to hurt his game. Last night he set the record for the oldest NHL player to score 50 goals in his career.

NFL (National Football League)

• At least we’ll have the memories. Free agency began on Wednesday. Free agency means the players whose contracts are up can sign with a different team. (I.e. the team that they we’re previously contracted with had until Wednesday to sign those players or lose them in the free market). The defending Super Bowl Champions, Denver Broncos had a rough first day. Here are some of the key departures that you may have heard of:
  • Quarterback Peyton Manning (retired)
  • Quarterback Brock Osweiler (signed with Houston Texans)
  • Defensive tackle Malik Jackson (signed with Jackson Jaguars)
  • Linebacker Danny Trevathan (Chicago Bears)
  • Running back C.J. Anderson (Miami Dolphins)

Overtime

• Another athlete freak injury, Milwaukee Bucks guard OJ Mayo broke his ankle Thursday going down the stairs in his house. He will miss the rest of the season.

Sideline Stat

• NASCAR heads to Phoenix for the “Good Sam 500" on Sunday at 3:30 pm (EST) on FOX.  
• It’s early in the season but the driver standings heading into the race are as follows:

1. Kyle Busch (#18 car)
2. Jimmie Johnson (#48 car)
3. Kevin Harvick (#4 car) 

Coaches’ Corner

• How are teams chosen to participate in the March Madness NCAA playoff tournament bracket?
  • Teams are selected by 10-person panel.
  • The bracket is broken down into four divisions - West, Midwest, South and East with 16 teams in each bracket. (If you're getting technical and doing the math, there are four teams that "play in" for a spot in the tourney).
  • Each conference guaranteed one team for 32 spots total. Most conferences decide their guaranteed spot with a conference playoff with the champion entering into the tournament (aka “The Big Dance).
  • 36 “at large teams” will be selected. These are teams that did not qualify by winning tournament but are considered 36 of the best teams in college basketball.
  • As a rule of thumb, teams ranked in the top 25 at the end of the season are all but guaranteed a spot in the tournament.  
  • If you’re dying for more information, you can read it here. 

The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition

The weekend is looming and we hope whatever you have planned is as entertaining as Brett Phillips at a comedy show. Baseball teams are cracking down; first no facial hair, now no pie in the face.

But we love dessert,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS: Unlike your morning coffee, if you like what you see go ahead and share (us) with 10 of your friends. 

---

MLB (Major League Baseball) 

• No tolerance. Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has been suspended for 30 games at the start of the regular season for a domestic dispute where he allegedly choked his girlfriend and fired a handgun. No charges were ever filed. Chapman will lose $2.17 million during his suspension. This is the first suspension handed out under commissioner Rob Manfred’s new domestic violence policy.
• Laugh out loud. Minor league outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, Brett Phillips, has a laugh that can’t be contained. As part of #MomJokeMonday his teammate, Will Smith, told him cheesy jokes on camera. Smith laughs harder at Phillips laugh than the joke. Watch the video for your Friday funny. 

NBA (National Basketball Association)

• Rest in peace. Oklahoma Thunder co-owner, Aubrey McClendon, died in a car crash on Wednesday. McClendon was charged this week by the Justice Department for conspiracy to suppress prices paid for oil and natural gas leases while in charge of Chesapeake Energy. The cause of the crash is under investigation. 

NCAA Football (College)

• Protecting the Ivy League noggin. Concussions are back in the news. This time Ivy League coaches have voted to ban tackling during regular season practices in hopes to reduce concussions and injuries.

UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)

• Fight club. Connor McGregor will take on Nate Diaz on Saturday. Diaz is filling in due to injury to the original opponent. He’s fighting on two weeks’ notice. The co-main event features champion Holly Holm (who beat Ronda Rousey) vs Meisha Tate. UFC 197 is in Las Vegas on Saturday night at 7 pm (Pay-Per-View)

WORLD CUP SKIING

• She can really fly. U.S. Olympic gold medalist, Lindsey Vonn, is putting her skiing career on hold. She reinjured her surgically repaired knee during the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women’s Super G. Doctors told her that she could risk her future in ski racing including the Winter Olympics in 2018. Hang in there Lindsey!

Overtime

• Rob ‘Gronk’ Gronkowski went from twerking on a cruise ship to participating in a new Nickelodeon series along with Cam Newton called “All In.” Newton will serve as the host and Gronk will be the face of the “Crashletes,” clips of sports action plays. 

Sideline Stat

• Tiger Woods opened a brand new golf course in Montgomery, Texas. The inaugural round of golf was played with kids.  11-year-old Taylor Crozier walked up and hit a hole in one. No big deal.

Coaches’ Corner

• Baltimore Orioles have banned any “pies to the face” in postgame celebrations for safety reasons. The team is known for smashing a whipped cream pie in the face of a teammate after winning a big game during postgame interviews. We bet team meeting went something like this “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.” In fact, Florida Marlins Chris Coughlan once tore his meniscus pie-ing a teammate in the face. 

The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition

The NFL Combine is on the brain this weekend. Who will be the next Brett Farve and who will run as slow as Tom Brady? Take the Combine IQ test to see if you’re smarter than an athlete. We’ll share our scores on our Twitter page. Let us know how you do at @lastnights_game.

It’s going down for real,

The Last Night’s Game Team

---

MLB (Major League Baseball)

• Come fly with me. Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has a history of showing up late to team events. Always a solution provider, Puig is in the process of purchasing a helicopter to take to the stadium. Take that L.A. traffic.  

NBA (National Basketball Association)

• What a good sport. Golden State Warriors' guard Stephen Curry (reigning NBA MVP) set the record for consecutive games where he sank a three-point shot at 128 games. Curry then gave his record breaking shoes to a young fan for their birthday after the game. That’s class.

NFL (National Football League)

• Brain vs brawn. Since the 70s the NFL has instituted the Wonderlic Test, an IQ test designed to test cognitive ability, at the NFL Combine. In its history the test results don’t directly correlate to an athlete’s athletic ability or NFL career. The average score of a quarterback is 24 and there has only been one perfect score of 50. Take a sample test here. (The athletes take the 12 minute, 50 question version of the test).

Soccer

• Vote. Today’s the day where they announce the new FIFA President. The four candidates campaigning to lead the international governing authority of soccer are Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Gianni Infantino and Jerome Champagne. Tokyo Sexwale (yes his real name, seriously) removed his name from the ballot a few minutes ago stating “it’s your problem now.” Results are expected this morning. 

Surfing

• Surf’s up. While most of the country is still in the dead of winter, down in Hawaii the waves were big enough to hold the Eddie Aikau big-wave surfing invitational. The waves have to be large enough for the competition to take place. This has only happened nine times in the past 31 years. This year the waves were as big as 60 feet. 

UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)

• Bring it on. Arguably best fighter of all-time, Anderson Silva, takes on Englishman Michael Bisping live from London on Saturday at 4 pm (EST) on UFC FIGHT PASS. 

Overtime

• What will 15 years as an elite NFL defender get you? See this picture of former New York Giants defensive end and current co-star of LIVE with Kelly and Michael, Michael Strahan’s fingers. Bey would not put a ring on that.

Sideline Stat

• You might see Tom Brady for the super star that he is now, but coming out of University of Michigan he was not highly sought after and was drafted 199 overall (the lower the draft number the better). Why you ask? Brady ran the slowest 40-yard dash for a quarterback in history (5.28 seconds). Break out your sundial and watch this.

Coaches’ Corner

• Former University of Arkansas quarterback, Brandon Allen, employed a masseuse in preparation for the NFL Combine. Not for his back as you might think but to massage his hands to help them grow. A 9 1/8 inch hand is considered the smallest hand size for an NFL quarterback (base of hand to the tip of the middle finger). Allen’s hands were 8 1/2 inches in January and have stretched 3/8 inches since then because of massages.

It’s obvious that size matters. Why? Smaller hands worry teams about their quarterback’s ability to hang onto the ball during inclement weather.