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By Marc Lawrence
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Tuesday, Mar 24 |
DOWN GO THE PROS
Saturday's Fanatics Flag Football Classic posed an intriguing question: Could a team of current and former NFL players defeat a USA flag football squad that has won the past five world championships and figures to make up most of the 2028 Olympic roster?
The answer: A resounding no.
Despite facing Tom Brady, Rob Gronlowski, Luke Kuechly, Joe Burrow, Saquon Barkley, Jayden Daniels and other big names, Team USA showed how valuable experience with the rules and strategy of flag football is en route to winning the round-robin tournament.
As USA flag football star QB Darrell “Housh” Doucette was heard saying on a live mic — and has said in the past when the possibility of NFL players trying out for an Olympic team was first suggested — “those guys don’t know this game like we do.” The results backed him up.
In the championship round games, the Wildcats got the ball to begin the game after losing the opening coin toss. Coach Kyle Shanahan told his players that he wanted them to work the clock and try to prevent Team USA’s offense from getting more possessions.
In the late stages of the game, the Tom Brady-led the Wildcats were left with one minute to get two touchdowns, but they couldn’t get a first down on their final possession as Burrow’s flag was pulled by Laval Davis while looking to make a deep throw.
Not even the NFL guys could defeat the five-time flag football world champions.
The league could be up to something, especially with the support of Fanatics.
For what it’s worth, Doucette is on record as sang he would beat Patrick Mahomes in flag football. He may have a point. |
ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
March Madness at its Best
The beauty of sports played out this weekend on the hardwod. Underdog stories. Buzzer-beaters. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat.
But the best part was this: for four straight days, a significant portion of America showed up for the same thing (hoops), at the same time (12pm ET and on), in the same place (CBS, TBS, etc.), and felt it all together. Per Yahoo Sports, like rice paddy fields in Asia, the NCAA Tournament has become its own monoculture.
These moments are increasingly rare. The Super Bowl is another example — one game, one night, watched by roughly 125.6 million people at the same time. But March Madness sustains it for three weeks across dozens of games, and it does it with a form of engagement — the bracket — that pulls in people who would never watch a game otherwise.
The beauty is you cannot watch the tournament on your own schedule. Games happen live, simultaneously, and the results land in the world in real time.
A buzzer-beater on a Thursday afternoon cascades across group chats, offices, sportsbooks, and every social media feed at once. Either you saw it or you didn't. Either way, you are talking about it.
Ah. The magnetism of March Madness at its very best. Enjoy the moment while it lasts. |
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GRINDING OUT THE PROFITS
Don’t Let The Suns Go Down On Me
PHOENIX over Denver by 6
While it may look like the Suns are fading in the Western Conference playoff chase... we’re not buying it. For openers, they remain the ATS Kings of the league at a sparkling 43-27-2 ATS heading into tonight’s contest. And when it comes to payback, Phoenix means business – posting an 11-6 ATS mark in same- season revenge (SSR) games, including a perfect 2-0 ATS in double-SSR spots. Now flip the script. Denver hasn’t handled revenge-minded opponents well at all this season, stumbling to a deplorable 2-4 SU/ATS record against teams looking to cash tickets after a pair of SSR losses. That sets the table for you know what, THE CLINCHER: The Phoenix Suns are 17-7-1 ATS with same season revenge from a loss of fewer than 20 points, including 9-1 ATS against foes coming off a home game.
Extracted from this week’s
Playbook NBA ONLY Hoops Newsletter
Click here to Download your Copy
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QUOTE OF THE DAY |
"My life is one long obstacle course
with me as the chief obstacle."
- Jack Parr |
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TRENDING TODAY
A Florida Size Headache |
So, Florida had the best front court in college basketball, outrebounding opponents by more than 16 rebounds per game.
And then it disappeared against Iowa in a stunning 73-72 loss ot the Hawkeyes as -10.5 favorites.
What happened, you wonder?
For openers, the Gators scored to go up by 2 with 8 seconds remaining and went to a full court press on the Hawkeyes inbound pass with instructions to foul.
The problem: Florida didn’t foul as Iowa got the ball down to the corner for a 3-point shot, and buried it. Game over. Exit, Gators, stage right.
It didn’t help that Florida’s 7-foot center finished with 0 points, 1 rebound and 1 shot.
A coaches’ worst nightmare. |
PERCOLATING
MLB Debuts New Ball-Strike System
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Kevin Gausman got 709 called strikes over the past decade on pitches out of the strike zone, tied for the third highest total in the major leagues.
There will be winners and losers under the Automated Ball-Strike System, which makes its regular-season debut Wednesday night when the New York Yankees play at the San Francisco Giants. Using Hawk-Eye technology, 12 cameras measure whether a pitch crosses the strike zone with accuracy of about one-sixth of an inch.
Kyle Hendricks led the majors with 777 called strikes over the past decade on pitches that should have been balls, according to MLB Statcast. He was followed by Aaron Nola (747), Gausman and Zach Davies (709 each), Kyle Gibson (697), Patrick Corbin (694), Marcus Stroman (671), Zack Greinke (667), Martín Pérez (647) and Kyle Freeland (631).
Mookie Betts led batters on called strikes that should have been balls at 714.
“He knows the strike zone as well as anyone and it does seem that he gets the short end of a lot of calls," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s a guy I certainly would trust to challenge a call.”
Each team will be allowed two challenges throughout the course of the first 9 innings of the game. An overtured call gives challenge back to the team that made the successful call.
Rest assured, we’ll be reading a whole lot more on this sensitive topic in the days ahead. |
STAT OF THE DAY
2010 |
The last time a Big Ten team
won the NCAA Tournament.
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