The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the basketball court. Isn't that how the song goes? Then the Easter bunny doesn’t know March Madness. Book your spot on the couch for all of the courtside excitement this weekend.

Pass the Cadbury Eggs please,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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MLB (Major League Baseball)

• Long road to retirement. New York Yankees star Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez announced he will retire when his contract is up after the 2017 season. If he plays out his contract he will have made over $400 million in his 20-year career (not including endorsements). He will be the first ever American professional athlete to pass the $400 million mark. We’re sure he doesn’t regret much about his career. Okay maybe his involvement with steroids and of course the photoshoot where he kissed himself in the mirror. He is known for his love of beautiful women having dated Hollywood’s finest in Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz and Madonna. Six degrees of separation anyone? 

NCAA Basketball (College)

• Please pass go. On Thursday, Villanova (#2), Kansas (#1), Oregon (#1) and Oklahoma (#2) dominated to reach the Elite Eight. So long Duke (#4). 
• Friday fun. Friday holds the second half Sweet 16 basketball. Full schedule here.
• There goes the weekend. Teams in the Elite Eight will play this Saturday and Sunday. Here’s the schedule.

NFL (National Football League)

• It’s a hard knock life. The newest residents of Los Angeles, the Rams, will be featured on the show “Hard Knocks” on HBO. The show will follow the team throughout training camp. The Rams are re-locating from St. Louis to L.A.
• RG3 moves to the C. Free agent quarterback Robert Griffin III, (aka RG3) signed a two-year contract with Cleveland Browns. (Party boy Johnny Manziel was the former QB for the Browns). RG3 was drafted second overall in 2012 draft by the Washington Redskins and was named the offensive rookie of the year that season. Since then, injuries and differing views from coaches led to his release from Redskins. A healthy RG3 did not play in a single game last year due to coaching decisions. 

Overtime

• MLB is encouraging all fans to put their #CapsOn and wear their favorite team's cap on Monday, April 4th in honor of the opening day of baseball. Ellen DeGeneres and her studio audience shared their #CapsOn opening day excitement on Thursday. Share with us the team’s hat you’ll be sporting that day.

Sideline stat

• Cleveland Browns have had 24 different starting quarterbacks since their reinstatement in 1999 which is the most QB swaps in the NFL during that time span. Apparently it’s as easy as swiping left.  

Coaches’ Corner

• Who's the boss? Warriors’ Stephen Curry shared how his daughter, Riley, helped sway his decision to move to Under Armour. He told the story of how she was presented with a Nike, Adidas and Under Armour shoe. One by one she picked up the Nike and Adidas shoes and threw them over her shoulder. She picked up the remaining shoe and brought it to Curry. The queen has spoken.

The Rundown: Five Things to Know About the NCAA Sweet 16

Our "Five Things to Know" will give you all the information you need to finesse your way through the Sweet 16. And in protest just like our mamas did at 16, the ladies of women’s tennis are burning their (sports) bras for equality.

Don’t mess with mama,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five Things to Know about the Sweet 16

• Oh to be 16 again. The Sweet 16 starts on Thursday. This is where the remaining 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament play for a spot in the Elite Eight. After that comes the Final Four. Alliteration overload.  

1. If you picked your bracket by the numbers, good for you as all four #1 seeds are still alive. Although according to experts Kansas, University of Virginia, North Carolina and Oklahoma (#2), not Oregon, are expected to head into the Final Four.
2. Gonzaga is the only Sweet 16 university without a football team. They had one but it was stopped after the U.S. entered into WWII because there were not enough men to play.
3. While the magic number may be 16, for the coaches it’s $2 million. Sweet 16 coaches have already earned over $2 million in bonuses for making it this far in the tournament. Catch the breakdown of bonuses here. 
4. Out of the millions of the brackets submitted online only one perfect bracket still remains
5. Every team in the Sweet 16 has made a previous appearance.

A complete schedule of games can be found here. 

MLB (MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL)

• Toodle-loo Tobacco. Following Chicago’s ban last week, New York City became the latest city to ban smokeless tobacco at ticketed sporting events for fans and players. The MLB Players’ Association will be providing alternatives to Mets and Yankees players alike who need to quit.

NBA (National Basketball Association)

• Twitter turmoil. Cleveland Cavaliers’ all-star LeBron James sparked controversy by unfollowing the Cavaliers on Twitter. He justified this shun by saying he was going into “playoff mode,” as he typically shuts down social media during playoffs. In a shady move, he later stated he intends to create a Snapchat account. That’s one we’ll be following.  
• Long live the plaid sport coat. Known for his zany courtside attire, longtime TNT reporter Craig Sager announced his once defeated leukemia is back. 
• Escaping tragedy. Hall of Fame basketball player and Geiko commercial star, Dikembe Mutumbo, was at the Brussels Airport during the terrorist attacks. Luckily he came out unscathed.

Overtime

• Tournament owner and billionaire, Larry Ellison, announced that Indian Wells Tournament Director Raymond Moore has resigned after making disparaging remarks about the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association). Moore said "They (WTA) are very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have."

He also referred to women players as "physically attractive and competitively attractive." If that’s the case then beauty brings home the bacon since according to NBC News, Serena Williams trails only Novak Djokovic in on-court earnings.

Sideline Stat

• New York was the only state in the U.S. in which MMA (mixed martial arts) was illegal. Tuesday the New York State Assembly voted to pass the legislation which would allow organizations like UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) to hold events in the state. One legislator referred to MMA as "nearly naked, hot men rolling around.” That falls under the category “things I never thought I’d hear when voting on a bill.”

Coaches’ Corner

• NFL owners voted to enact a few rule changes for the upcoming season. One of the most notable changes involves moving the extra point kick to the 15-yard line. The previous placement was on the 10-yard line. The extra point (worth one point) is kicked after a team scores a touchdown (worth six points). Therefore, when a team makes an extra point after their touchdown they’ll have seven additional points on the board.

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition

Recovery is the word of the day after a wild weekend of college basketball. Luckily we have until Thursday to lower our blood pressure and mourn our destroyed brackets.

No use crying over spilled milk,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NCAA Basketball (College)

• Underdogs reign supreme. In the first two rounds of tournament there were 10 wins by double-digit seeded teams, the most in NCAA tournament history.

• Back to normal. The second round saw fewer upsets with the big win going to Gonzaga (#11) beating Utah (#3).  
• The games everyone will be talking about.
  • Texas A&M (#3) came back from 12 points down with 30 seconds left to tie game against Northern Iowa (#11), eventually winning in double overtime
  • Wisconsin (#7) and Xavier (#2) were tied 63-63 with two seconds left. Coming out of a time out Wisconsin hit a three-pointer to win 66-63. 
  • Notre Dame (#6) won 76-75 on last second tip in to beat Stephen F. Austin (#14) 

F1 Racing (Formula One)

• From the land down under. Nico Rosberg edged out teammate Lewis Hamilton to win the first race of year in Melbourne, Australia. There was a major accident in the race (luckily no one was injured) and the red flag came out. This was the first time since 2007 that a red flag made an appearance. (A red flag means the race has to stop).

MLB (Major League Baseball)

• Buena Vista Social Club. The Tampa Bay Rays will play the Cuban National Team in Cuba on Tuesday (1:30 pm EST on ESPN). They are the first team to do so since the Baltimore Orioles in 1999. Also in attendance will be President Barak Obama, Rachel and Sharon Robinson (wife and daughter of the late great Jackie Robinson) and retired New York Yankees star Derek Jeter. 

• Returning home. The Rays have added Dayron Varona (who has never played on a Major League team) to their roster for the trip. Varona defected from Cuba three years ago to pursue his baseball dreams. 
• Thanks but no thanks. ESPN radio/TV host Dan Le Betard offered a heartbreaking but passionate perspective on the upcoming game in Cuba and why he and his parents will not be attending. Le Betard’s parents left Cuba for Miami.

Overtime

• The Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) signed Tautvydas Kieras, a track and field standout from Mississippi State. Normally this wouldn’t be that notable but Kieras has never played football. Kieras trained for Mississippi State’s pro day where he wowed the team with his abilities.

Sideline Stat

• Jimmie Johnson (#48) won the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California. This is 77th career win and he surpassed legendary driver Dale Earnhardt in wins.

Coaches’ Corner

• For the first time since 2012, all #1 seed teams in the NCAA tournament have advanced to the Sweet 16 (i.e. the next round where there are only 16 teams left in the tournament).