No fooling around on this first day of April! I’m ready to fire on all cylinders as I’ve got plenty of sports talk to unpack as a new week, month and quarter begin. On deck:
(4:08) I offer an apology to you guys and gals for not publishing my Thursday podcast (after the MLB Preview) due to some unforeseen circumstances. Add in Easter and celebrating a birthday yesterday, it had yours truly running around, enjoying life as I haven’t posted any thoughts on what’s happening in sports on my YouTube channel, social media, etc. I appreciate your patience and understanding as I send a mea culpa to start.
(6:30) March Madness pivots to April as the Final Four in the Men’s tournament is set! You have a Cinderella in #11 seed, NC State. A #4 seed and first time ever visit to a semifinal in Alabama. Then the two #1 seeds in Purdue (first FF since 1980) and UCONN (defending champs) I’ll talk about their journey to this point, including some early headlines of these four teams representing out in Glendale where the Final Four will take place on Saturday night. On the women’s side, there’s lot of intrigue with a regional semifinal tonight where LSU will play Iowa to see who goes onto the Final Four. We know about these rivals dating back to last year’s tournament. NC State has advanced, just like their male counterparts. Can the Lady Huskies do the same with a win tonight vs. USC?
(28:24) The Association is down to the final couple of weeks of the season. It’s a Wild Wild West at the top and bottom of the conference. Lakers continue their winning ways on a current East coast trip, trying to stay ahead of the Warriors for the ninth seed. Golden State keeps winning, where the Rockets had their eleven game winning streak snapped as they’ve tried to keep pace with the Dubs for the final seed out West. Has luck run out for Houston? What about the race for the top seed between OKC, Denver and Minnesota? Who needs it the most? I’ll check on what’s happening out in the East, as it’s not as intriguing, unless you’re interested in the battle of the 3-8 seeds. More importantly, is any lead safe in the NBA? After watching the Celtics blew a 30 point lead to Atlanta last week. And the Bucks coughed up an 18 point fourth quarter lead against a LeBron James-less Lakers team. This could be something to pay attention to come playoff time, although it’s unlikely to happen.
(42:40) Just four days into the baseball season, I’m already living a dark, twisted nightmare. My beloved Mets are 0-3 and the Yankees are 4-0. I’ll explain further as to why this is the case. I’ll discuss some early suspension for two pitchers (Mets Yohan Ramirez and Blue Jays Genesis Cabrera), which teams had a good weekend and who didn’t?
(53:06) On the ice, we’re down to about seven or eight games left of this long season. Are the Rangers the best team in the NHL at the moment? Are they peaking at the right time? I’ll get into their chances of competing for a Cup and take a trip to see what teams are in good stead for making the playoffs, who’s on the cusp and who’s fallen off completely?
(1:02:52) Lastly, there are a few NFL news and notes to dive into. I like the new kickoff rule (adopted from the XFL) Reviewing intentional grounding, roughing the passer and hits out of bounds (Ok?) Moving the trade deadline up to Week 9 (Fine.) Some acquistions last week, highlighted by the Jets acquiring Eagles pass rusher, Haason Reddick (Alright!) Here’s comes the cold water. The Eagles opener in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the Friday game after the likely Chiefs raising the curtain on the season the day before, will be aired on Peacock. (What?!) And there will be two games on Christmas Day, but the holiday falls on a Wednesday! (SERIOUSLY!?) What’s next? A game every day on the NFL calendar?
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Intro/outro music by Cyklonus.
