— It is March 12 and the NFL is in the headlines, with free agency starting. NFL is genius at promoting their sport, unlike baseball, which does a terrible job giving their sport exposure.
Friday afternoon, Bronx-Toronto game is on MLB Network, but the game is blacked out on DirecTV, at the bar where I’m having lunch. Game must be on the YES Network, right?
Ummm…..no. Game couldn’t be found anywhere. Why?!?!?
1) baseball needs exposure, so people can see what a great game it is.
2) baseball needs to promote its stars (Judge, Guerrero, Soto, Bichette in this game)
3) There was nothing else good on TV Friday afternoon; you had a captive audience!!!
4) Stop with the blackouts; your sport needs exposure!!!
Oy.
An explanation I read Monday: the salary cap creates a buzz for signing earlier in the free agent process. Baseball has no salary cap, thus less urgency to get deals done early in the off-season.
Lot of stuff actually happened Monday; here are some highlights:
— Atlanta Falcons gave Kirk Cousins a 4-year, $180M contract; Cousins tore his achilles last year; he is 77-70 record as an NFL starter, 1-3 in playoff games.
Baltimore Ravens re-signed DL Justin Madubuike for four years, $98M.
Carolina Panthers traded DE Brian Burns to the Giants for 2nd/5th round picks; Giants then paid Burns $150M for five years.
New Jersey Jets gave K Greg Zuerlein a 2-year, $8.4M contract.
Philadelphia Eagles gave RB Saquon Barkley a 3-year, $37.75M contract.
Las Vegas Raiders gave DL Christian Wilkins $110M for four years.
Raiders also gave QB Gardner Minshew a 2-year, $25M contract.
Washington Commanders gave RB Austin Ekeler a 2-year, $11.4M deal.
Commanders also gave C Tyler Biadasz a 3-year, $30M contract.
Commanders gave K Brandon McManus a one-year, $3.6M deal.
Washington was $91.5M under the salary cap, so they’re going to be aggressive.
Green Bay Packers gave RB Josh Jacobs a 4-year, $48M deal.
Good day for offensive linemen:
LA Rams gave G Jonah Jackson a 3-year, $51M contract.
Carolina Panthers gave G Robert Hunt a 5-year, $100M deal.
— Famous birthdays for March 12:
Jake Kupp, 83 (played OL for Saints; Cooper Kupp’s grandfather)
Liza Minelli, 78
James Taylor, 76
Mark Moseley, 76
Dale Murphy, 68
Darryl Strawberry, 62
Aaron Eckhart, 56
— Cy Young champ Gerrit Cole will have an MRI on his pitching elbow; he threw 39 pitches in a game March 1st, hasn’t appeared in game since.
Good news for fans of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, two free agent pitchers who still don’t have a home for the coming season, which starts next week.
JD Martinez, Adam Duvall, Michael Lorenzen, Tommy Pham are also still available.
— San Francisco Giants signed 3B Matt Chapman last week, then they waived 3B JD Davis, after he beat the Giants last month in salary arbitration. Davis will get just over $1.1M in termination pay rather than a $6.9M salary. Whoops.
— 1B Joey Votto signed on with Toronto, after playing 17 years for the Reds. Votto was born and raised in Toronto.
— Red Sox gave P Brayan Bello a 6-year deal worth $55M.
— Word of the Day: Shenanigans- secret, dishonest activity; mischief, trickery.
— Something to think about this week: over the last 12 NCAA Tournaments, the 48 teams who made the Final Four went 44-4 in their first conference tournament game, 33-11 in their second conference tournament game.
Overall, 22 of the last 48 Final Four teams won their conference tournament.
— Kansas Jayhawks’ two best players are banged up, won’t play in the Big X tournament this weekend in Kansas City.
Hunter Dickinson dislocated his shoulder over the weekend.
Kevin McCullar has a nagging bone bruise that has bothered him for weeks.
— Sun Belt
James Madison 91, Arkansas State 71
Dukes have won 13 in a row; they get to the NCAAs for first time since 2013.
Playing for third night in a row, Dukes made 11-19 on the arc.
— SoCon
Samford 76, East Tennessee State 69
Samford gets to the NCAA’s for first time since 2000.
Bulldogs are 29-5, playing tempo #14; they’re shooting 39.3% on arc (#7)
— CAA
Charleston 61, Towson 56
Charleston had a 13-1 run over final 3:13 of the game.
Cougars won their last 11 games.
Stony Brook 63, Hofstra 59
#7-seed Seawolves were an 8.5-point underdog.
Their three games with local rival Hofstra (1-2) were decided by 6-1-4 points.
— Horizon
Oakland 74, Cleveland State 71
Jack Gohlke was 7-14 on arc, scored 21 points off bench.
For season, Gohlke is 116-315 on 3-point shots, 4-8 on 2-point shots.
Milwaukee 82, Northern Kentucky 75
Northern Kentucky led by 15 points in first half.
Milwaukee out-rebounded the Norse, 50-28.
Panthers won their last six games.
— Summit
South Dakota State 59, St Thomas 49
Only 59 possessions in this game; very slow pace.
Jackrabbits have won seven games in a row.
St Thomas finishes 20-13, in their 3rd season as a Division I team.
Denver 66, Omaha 63
Omaha led by 4 with 6:50 left in the game.
Pioneers survived going 8-17 on foul line.
— Big Sky
Montana State 91, Weber State 82
MSU outscored Weber State 66-48 in second half.
Bobcats made 13-27 shots on the arc.
Bobcats were an 8.5-point underdog.
Montana 87, Portland State 81
Teams were tied with 14:33 left in the game.
Montana starts five seniors; they’ve got #34 eFG% in country.
Final Four of the Big Sky had the #’s 3-5-8-10 seeds.
— WCC
Saint Mary’s 79, Santa Clara 65
Gaels shot 65.6% inside the arc.
Alex Ducas shot 7-11 on the arc for Saint Mary’s.
Gonzaga 89, San Francisco 77
Zags have won nine in a row, 14 of last 15 games.
Zags’ last seven wins were all by 12+ points.
For 12th time in last 16 years, WCC tournament final is Saint Mary’s-Gonzaga.
— Underdogs were 8-6 ATS in Monday’s tournament games; they have a 61-56 lead ATS in conference tournaments this month.
