The Rundown: Ninja Style

Is your weekend full of happy hours, charity events and birthday parties? Break the ice with anyone by perusing today’s Rundown over your morning cup of coffee.  

Small talk ninja,

The Last Night’s Game Team  

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PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association)

• Slippery when wet. The competition at The Masters took a hit as the favorite Dustin Johnson (#1) withdrew from the tournament just before teeing off, citing a back injury from falling down the stairs in his Augusta rental house. Word is he was wearing socks on wood floors. Everyone who’s seen Risky Business knows that’s a slippery slope.
• A tea and lemonade toast to you. This was the first time since 1954 that Arnold Palmer was not present at Augusta. (He passed away in September). Golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the ceremonial first shot in front of a huge crowd with tears in their eyes and Palmer’s green jacket draped over an empty chair.
• What they’re saying. The terrible weather is the talk of the town with high winds and rain taking a toll. What else is everyone talking about? Find out in our five things to know about The Masters.

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

• The need for speed. Who doesn’t love American Ninja Warrior? Nothing like parading the physical specimens of the nation across our TV while we eat ice cream. Three NASCAR drivers are going to take their chances on the Warrior’s obstacle course this summer. To see which drivers and when, click here.

Overtime

• The college hockey “Frozen Four” was yesterday in Chicago. In the two semifinal games, Harvard and Notre Dame lost as did Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Tickets were in such high demand that the Mayor of Chicago struggled to get extra tickets. Minnesota-Duluth takes on Denver tomorrow for the national championship.

Sideline stat

• Amazon won the rights to stream NFL (National Football League) Thursday night football games on their platform. (The games will also be simulcast on NBC or CBS). Reports suggest the deal is worth up to $50 million. Last season’s games were streamed on Twitter, which was reportedly a $10 million deal.

Coaches’ corner

• On Thursday, former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow made his minor league debut for the New York Mets (MLB – Major League Baseball) Single-A affiliate, the Columbus Fireflies. Tebow hit a home run in his first at bat.

The Rundown: Out On A Limb

This weekend the men and women of college basketball hit the hardwood to determine which teams will play for the national championship. Not to be outdone, the boys of summer will pick up the hardwood and start their season swinging for the fences.

It’s a bad weekend to be a tree,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NCAA Men’s March Madness Tournament 

• Light at the end of the tunnel. The final four teams in left in the bracket play Saturday in Phoenix to determine who will play in Monday’s national championship game. We’ll see South Carolina vs Gonzaga and Oregon vs North Carolina.
• Westsiiide. Gonzaga is the first team west of the central time zone to make it to the Final Four in nine years.
• Taking a stance. The NBA (National Basketball Association) and the NCAA (the governing body behind college sports) took a stand against North Carolina’s “bathroom bill.” The NBA moved their All-Star Game from Charlotte last season and the NCAA relocated part of this year’s March Madness tournament, citing their values “of inclusion and gender equity.” The NCAA gave North Carolina a deadline to repeal the bill in order to have a chance at hosting future tournaments. The bill was repealed yesterday.  

NCAA Women’s March Madness Tournament  

• Ladies first. The women's Final Four is today in Dallas with Stanford taking on South Carolina and Mississippi State battling it out with Connecticut.
• We’re in this together. Both the South Carolina men’s and women’s teams are in their respective Final Four. UConn (Connecticut) was the last school to win both the men’s and women’s titles in same year (2014).

Overtime

• By now you’ve probably heard about the "artistic" bust created of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo that will now sit at his hometown airport, which has been renamed in his honor. Words cannot describe the injustice done to a man who isn’t too hard on the eyes (but his statue is). Here’s the photo.  

Sideline stat

• Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James passed Shaquille O'Neal for seventh on the NBA all-time scoring list. (Shaq took it well). At the ripe old age of 32 he sits roughly 10,000 points below the all-time leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Seems like a lofty goal but James is on pace to break that record in five years.

Coaches’ Corner

• In honor of baseball season starting on Sunday, what does it mean to be “on deck?” At a MLB (Major League Baseball) game, there's a circle next to the team’s dugout. That is referred to as the on-deck circle and that’s where the batter who is up next goes to warm up before his at bat.

For more mind-boggling baseball questions, visit our MLB Frequently Asked Questions. We promise you’ll learn something new.

The Rundown: My Kind Of Party

All of this talk about Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four has us rethinking our nickname. Couch potatoes doesn’t quite carry the same bravado.

 #squadgoals,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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World Baseball Classic

• Bringing home the bacon. Team U.S.A. took home its first ever World Baseball Classic championship title, beating Puerto Rico. Since baseball is no longer an Olympic sport, this is the equivalent to taking home the gold medal. Big league.

NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament

• Michigander. The Michigan Wolverines were on a winning streak since their airplane crash a few weeks ago. All good things come to an end. They lost last night to the Oregon Ducks.
• Narrowing it down. The field goes from the Sweet 16 tonight to the Elite Eight starting Saturday. If you want to cheer for the underdogs, Xavier and Gonzaga are playing each other in the Elite Eight on Saturday, and neither team has ever made it to the next round, the Final Four. Somebody has to win, might as well be you.

PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association)

• Family matters. Golfer Jason Day (#3) withdrew from this weekend’s tournament to spend time with his mom who is battling lung cancer. During a tear-filled interview, he talked about how “family comes first.” American doctors have upgraded her prognosis from the grave one she received in their native Australia but it’s still a long road ahead.  

Overtime

• According to Fortune Magazine, when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series last season - breaking their 108-year championship drought, it was nothing short of a modern marvel. The magazine named Cubs’ president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, this year’s “World’s Greatest Leader.” Epstein, who also ended the Boston Red Sox 86-year losing streak in 2004, beat out the Pope, Melinda Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and a few other underachievers.

Sideline stat

• "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." That’s the athletes motto in the Special Olympics which has been repeated thousands of times at their World Winter Games in Austria. The games come to a close on Saturday but over 2.700 athletes from 107 nations have been brave in their quest for gold. Click here for more about the games.

Coaches’ Corner

• There’s a tradition of doing a “shoey” after a victory in F1 (Formula One) racing. The shoey was introduced by Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo when he drank his victory champagne out of his gross, sweaty shoe after winning a race. Maybe a new pair of Jimmy Choos’ is a better idea? (Missed it? Here’s our five things to know about F1 racing in advance of this weekend’s season opener).