Rare NBA Brawl, Doc’s Frosty Philly Return, Celtics: Another Level? Time To Ban Rushing College Courts? Patrick Kane’s Warm Homecoming. Cody Bellinger Re-signs. What About Snell & Co.?
As we get through the month of February, the sports world stays consistent with enough topics to uncover as the latest episode has arrived. On deck:
(3:00) The sports landscape is crawling to the end of the month, but the NBA will lead us into the next fifty minutes or so. There was a rare brawl in the Association as the Heat-Pelicans had a melee to where four players were ejected and five players were suspended Including Heat star Jimmy Butler. Doc Rivers made his first appearance in Philadelphia after being fired by the Sixers last spring as the Bucks blew out Philly yesterday afternoon. Then the Celtics have been on a nine game winning streak. Veteran Al Horford stated that the team needs to hit ‘another level’, even with them having the best record in the sport. Is it championship or bust for this proud franchise? I’ll see what else is going on (including a key injury to Hawks G Trae Young and Coach Steve Kerr’s record breaking contract).
(17:47) Is it time for the NCAA to ban fans/students rushing the court after wins? This is due to the upset of Wake Forest beating #8 Duke on Saturday night and Blue Devils center Kyle Filipowski getting injured during the celebration. Will the powers that be act upon this from happening again in the future? St. John’s got back in the win column this week after coach Rick Pitino ripped into this players & coaches with a huge win over #15 Creighton yesterday. Will this propel them to a tournament bid next month?
(24:04) Quite a few things have transpired on the ice as there was a warm reception of former Blackhawks great Patrick Kane, making his first visit in the Windy City since being traded last year to the Rangers. He had a storybook ending with the game winning goal in OT to beat the Blackhawks, 3-2. Is Lightning forward, Nikita Kucherov, an MVP candidate? He’s the first player to eclipse 100 points this year as they beat the Islanders and Devils over the weekend. Then the Rangers had their 10 game winning streak stopped as they lost to Columbus last night. The big news of the past week is the debut of tough guy, Matt Rempe. How his impact (three fights, even a goal in his first five games of action) has injected some life into the sport with some anticipation as he makes his way throughout the league. I’ll check the latest in the wild card standings and even bring you up to date on my NHL over/under point totals.
(39:59) Baseball’s exhibition schedule is underway and we finally got some activity when it comes to the top free agents have are unsigned. Cody Bellinger re-ups with the Cubs (three years/$80 million). What about Blake Snell? Matt Chapman? Or Jordan Montgomery? Is this a situation where the agent (in this case, Scott Boras) is not doing his job, inflating the market to where his players may sit out until March? Then the Saga of Senga as Mets pitcher Kodai Senga won’t throw for three weeks because of the PRP (platelet rich plasma) shot in his shoulder. When will he possibly return?
(45:19) There isn’t much happening in the NFL (and why would there be?). I won’t spend a lot of breath on the combine that’ll take place this week in Indianapolis. Or Cam Newton getting into a scrap with a few gentlemen at a football camp. Some players cut (Dolphins Xavien Howard & Emmanuel Ogbah) even with the salary cap increasing $30 million this year. Russell Wilson wants to stay in Denver as he mentioned in a recent podcast, but does Denver want him?
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Intro/outro music by Cyklonus.