Thursday’s 6-pack:
Six teams that were awarded an extra 3rd round pick for the NFL Draft
97- Vikings
98- Dolphins
99- Giants
100- 49ers
101- Rams
102- Lions
Quote of the Day
“The harder you work, the luckier you get.”
Gary Player
Thursday’s quiz
Toronto Blue Jays won back/back World Series in 1992/1993; who was their manager?
Wednesday’s quiz
Of the 31 conference tournaments in college basketball, four were held in Las Vegas this year; usually it is five, but the Pac-12 took this season off.
Tuesday’s quiz
In the TV show
Friends, the coffee shop where people hung out was called Central Perk.
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Thursday is probably my favorite day of the college basketball season; 44 games on TV all day, each of them pretty important, conference tournament games. Should be a fun day; have lot of food in the house, won’t be going anywhere.
— Big Sky tournament
Montana 91, Northern Colorado 83
Both teams shot 65% inside the arc.
Montana won 14 of its last 15 games.
Grizzlies are in NCAAs for first time since 2019.
— Southland Conference tournament
McNeese State 63, Lamar 54
Lamar out-rebounded McNeese 49-32, but Cowboys have won 11 in a row.
McNeese has #39 eFG% defense, forces turnovers 21.6% of time- they can defend.
McNeese went 4-5 against the #24 non-conference schedule; they’ll be an interesting Cinderella next week.
— Patriot League tournament
American 74, Navy 52
American shot 11-25 on the arc on their home floor.
American tied for 1st in regular season in Patriot, going 13-5 in the #27 league
Eagles are in NCAA’s for first time since 2014 (they lost by 40 to Wisconsin)
— Big X tournament
Kansas 98, Central Florida 94 OT
Jayhawks led by 12 with 12:29 left in regulation.
Four Jayhawks played 36:00+.
Kansas is 7-7 in its last fourteen games.
Colorado 67, West Virginia 60
Buffs pull upset for 2nd day in a row; they were 3-17 in Big X regular season tilts.
West Virginia led this game by 13 midway thru first half.
Buffs play tournament favorite Houston Thursday.
— Big 18 tournament
USC 97, Rutgers 89, 2OT
Trojans led this game 41-30 at halftime.
USC survived 21 turnovers; they shot 10-23 on the arc.
All five USC starters played 41:00+; three of them played 46:00+
— Big East tournament
Butler 75, Providence 69
Butler shot 59.5% inside arc; they snapped a 4-game losing skid.
Providence was 8-35 on the arc, took only four foul shots (3-4)
Butler plays St John’s next; they lost to Red Storm by 8-6 points in regular season.
— MAAC tournament
Merrimack 66, Sacred Heart 62 OT
Bad beat if you had Sacred Heart +3.5; good handicapping if you had Merrimack.
Merrimack started season 1-6; they’re 2nd-worst rebounding team in country.
Warriors shot 13-36 on the arc, 11-26 inside arc.
—
Famous birthdays, March 13th:
William H Macy, 75
Dana Delany, 69
Mariano Duncan, 62
Will Clark, 61
Aaron Cox, 60
Trent Dilfer, 53
Johan Santana, 46
Caron Butler, 45
Nicky Lopez, 30
— Next week in Japan, Cubs-Dodgers will play two games that count in the standings; games will start at 6am here in New York, 5am in Chicago, 3am in Las Vegas/Los Angeles.
Way to market the sport, guys.
— Colorado Buffaloes have a basketball player Julian Hammond, whose grandfather Julian played for five years in the old ABA, scoring 10.8 points/game for the Denver Rockets.
The ABA was great fun to watch; faster-paced games. The 3-point shot came into prominence there. Basketballs in the ABA were red, white and blue; still think the NBA should have one weekend a year where the four ABA teams play each other, honoring their past.
Nuggets, Pacers, Nets, Spurs are the four ABA teams that still exist.
— Speaking of the ABA, the rapper Common (real name Lonnie Lynn) is the son of a guy who also played briefly in the ABA.
Lonnie Lynn played college ball at Upper Iowa; he played 52 games for Rockets and Pittsburgh Pipers in the ABA in 1970, scoring 5 points/game.
NFL comings/goings:
— QB Jacoby Brissett signed with the Cardinals. He’s had an interesting career:
2016- Patriots (1-1)
2017-20- Colts (11-15)
2021- Dolphins (2-3)
2022- Browns (4-7)
2023- Commanders (0-0; 23 passes in three games)
2024- Patriots (1-4)
2025- Cardinals
Brissett was the Colts’ backup QB in 2017; he came in to play when they lost to the Rams in the 2017 opener, Sean McVay’s first game coaching the Rams.
— Cleveland Browns acquired QB Kenny Pickett from the Eagles, for QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 5th-round draft pick.
Pickett was the 20th pick in the 2022 draft by the Steelers; he went 14-10 in two years with the Steelers, then won his only start for Philly 41-7 vs Dallas last year. He also got himself a Super Bowl ring.
— Saint Mary’s Gaels are going to be in the NCAA’s for 5th time in last six tournaments, but they haven’t dome that well there.
Since 1997, Saint Mary’s is 4-7 in first round games.
Since 2010, Saint Mary’s is 1-3 in second round games.
Gaels’ one Sweet 16 in this century was in 2010, when Matthew Dellavedova was a key player.
— RIP to former NBA player Junior Bridgeman, who passed away this week at age 71; he played college ball at Louisville, then played 12 years in the NBA, scoring 13.6 ppg.
We hear a lot about pro athletes who squander their money when they retire, but Bridgeman was the total opposite; he made so much money after his playing days ended that he became a billionaire philanthropist and recently, a part-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
RIP, sir.