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By Marc Lawrence
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Friday, Mar 6 |
YOU WANNA BET?
Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz died Wednesday at the age of 89. While Holtz will always be remembered for all the games he won (249) and the national championship he led Notre Dame to in 1988, he will also be remembered for his love of golf and all the fun times he had playing the often, frustrating game with friends and family.
ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and Rece Davis paid a sweet tribute to Holtz on Wednesday night’s SportsCenter and during it they shared an amazing story of Holtz and the strategy he often used while playing at Augusta National, where the Masters is played each year.
“I doubt this will make air but I’m asking it because the story is so good not to ask,” Van Pelt said. “[Holtz] was a member at Augusta National. I’m told that Lou would lay up on 12. Now 12 is a par 3 but Rae’s Creek is in front of there and he couldn’t carry it. So, I’m told he’d punch it down there, and then he’d chip it up there and more often than not he’d roll it in and make a three. And the reason I love the story is because it’s coaching—it’s realizing what you’ve got to work with and figuring out a way to win.”
The par-3 12th hole at Augusta National is one of the most famous holes in all of golf and usually plays at around 155 yards during the Masters. For members, it plays less than that as they don’t play the tournament tees.
“The story is true,” Davis said, before sharing details of the round they played together. “He was playing at the time when he wasn’t supposed to be playing, Scott. He just had neck surgery and they told him he could chip and putt but of course he wasn’t having that.
“Lou would punch it right down the middle, 130-140 yards and he’d get up and down and he’d run off and leave the rest of us. And he won a bet with Mark May—Mark May and Jay Bilas played with us—and he won a bet with him on that day, just friendly competition, and as he was going to have a photograph after the round of Mark handing him the five dollars or whatever it was, Lou said wait a minute and he went into the clubhouse in the back and he got his neck brace and put his neck brace back on so it would look like that he beat Mark wearing a neck brace.”
How good is that?
FYI: Holtz’s golf handicap was reported at 12.9 in 2009, although it’s said he was an 8 in his earlier prime years. |
ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
American Muscle
The World Baseball Classic sixth edition kicked off yesterday, as 20 teams began their quest to be the last nation standing when the final pitch is thrown in Miami later this month. Let's break down the field, group-by-group, noting that the muscle on the America roster is seriously ridiculous:
GROUP A: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico will play their round-robin at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in baseball-crazed San Juan, though the host nation — yes, Puerto Rico competes internationally under its own flag — will be without its two best players as Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa were denied insurance due to recent injuries.
GROUP B: Tournament-favorite USA (-110 at BetMGM) is joined by Mexico, Italy, Great Britain and Brazil at Houston's Daikin Park. There's star power aplenty here with the likes of Aaron Nola and Vinnie Pasquantino (Italy), Randy Arozarena and Alejandro Kirk (Mexico), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Great Britain)... and a handful of decent players wearing red, white and blue.
GROUP C: Samurai Japan, the defending and three-time WBC champions, get to play at home in the Tokyo Dome against South Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei and Czechia. Expect the Czechs, as they did in 2023, to again become tournament darlings thanks to a roster filled with average Joes who hold day jobs when they aren't striking out the most talented player of all-time. All eyes will rightfully be on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but you'd be wise not to overlook Australia's Travis Bazzana (No. 1 overall pick by the Guardians in 2024).
GROUP D: This group, playing at Miami's LoanDepot Park, is the deepest of the four, with loads of MLB talent across the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Netherlands (mostly via the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao). Israel and Nicaragua are the underdogs here, though both are led by former MLB managers in Brad Ausmus (Israel) and, somewhat curiously, Dusty Baker (Nicaragua). The DR's lineup can just about match the USA's, with Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Julio Rodríguez, and Ketel Marte. | |
GRINDING OUT THE PROFITS
Sweet Charlotte
CHARLOTTE over Miami by 10
Meet the real surprise team in the league tonight. The 30-win Hornets, currently holding the No. 10 seed and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, are trying to fend off Milwaukee and close the gap on Atlanta. The real question tonight is: Are the Hornets a viable team this season? They are 17-15 SU and 21-10-1 ATS on the road this season. Yes, we realize they are hosting the Heat tonight, but it speaks to their capability. And that tells you all you need to know about the Hornets. They are one of only 14 teams in the league with a winning record on the road this campaign. They take the floor in Charlotte with a same-season triple-revenge chip on their shoulder. That’s good news for the Hornets, as Miami is 12-17 ATS on the road versus non-division foes seeking same-season triple revenge, including 1-6 ATS versus opponents looking to avenge a 14-point or more loss in the previous meeting. Note: See more on the Hornets in our Percolating segment in today’s Coffee Club.
The game write-up above was extracted from the current 7B edition of the Playbook Hoops Newsletter.
Click here to download a copy now.
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STAT OF THE DAY
3-10 |
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Lou Holtz’s career record (.230) as a head with the NY Jets
in his only stint in the NFL. He was 249–132–7 (.651),
with
six college football programs.
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TRENDING TODAY
The Free Agent QB Game |
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With plenty of quarterback-needy teams, two signal-callers have generated a lot of interest.
Malik Willis – Arizona
Willis came up in Mike LaFleur’s style of offense and played for Mike’s brother, Matt, in Green Bay. He’s the sort of high-end bridge that could help get a team that’s picking high through in a year where there aren’t many highly-touted quarterbacks. But the financial reality here is the challenge.
Arizona owes Kyler Murray $36.8 million for 2026, via the guarantees on the contract he signed in ’22. Presuming Murray does a league-minimum deal elsewhere, the Cardinals will only have $1.3 million of that alleviated. So they’ll likely be responsible for $35.5 million in cash, and that, plus more than $20 million in leftover prorated bonus money on the cap. That’s a lot of cabbage for the cash-poor redbirds to fork over.
If the idea is to clean out the decks a bit in LaFleur’s first year, then it’d make sense to go with an economical option at quarterback, given the Cardinals’ existing fiscal commitments at the position heading into 2026. So, an affordable veteran like Jimmy Garoppolo (who LaFleur was with in Los Angeles and San Francisco) or even Joe Flacco (who he had with the Jets) may make more sense for the time being. We’ll see.
Kyler Murray – Miami/Minnesota
The obvious one is Minnesota. Who else? Well, the Jets could potentially give him a shot to start, and the Dolphins might be interested. Getting him at the minimum for a year would make sense for a team carrying all the Tua Tagovailoa money into 2026 (after presumably cutting him). The Colts and Falcons are in a separate category.
If the Colts re-sign Daniel Jones, both teams will have rehabbing quarterbacks who will have to really push to be back for the opener, and quarterback-friendly head coaches with strong development track records. So if Murray goes to either, he’d get starter reps through spring and summer, perhaps an opportunity to play early in the year, and the chance to reset under Shane Steichen or Kevin Stefanski.
Which wouldn’t be the worst thing. The word is Murray has interest in Indy. |
QUOTE OF THE DAY |
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"There are three kinds of men.
The one that learns by reading.
The few who learn by observation.
The rest of them have to pee on
the electric fence for themselves."
- Will Rogers |
PERCOLATING
Hot, Hot, Hornets
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What has sparked the Charlotte Hornets remarkable turnaround?
In late January, the Hornets were 16–28. It looked like another year where Charlotte would punt toward the future and the draft lottery. But, only 42 days later, the Hornets are 32–21 and firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff picture as one of the NBA’s most exciting teams.
To put it simply, Charlotte’s high-powered offense is difficult for any opponent to keep up with. Over the current winning streak, the Hornets’ offense is far and away the best across the league. If you zoom out to the entire season, Charlotte’s offense is still near the top of the NBA. Its offensive rating of 117.6 is behind only the Nuggets, Celtics and Knicks.
Through it all, the Hornets have ranked as a top ranked unit across the NBA in key stats since Feb. 22 when the win streak began. Check out these numbers...
| Stat |
Hornets’ mark |
Rank all NBA teams |
| Points per game |
123.8 |
T-1st |
| Three-point percentage |
44.6% |
1st |
| True shooting percentage |
63.2% |
1st |
| Effective field goal percentage |
61.3% |
1st |
| Offensive rating |
127.1 |
1st |
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