It’s finally here! The Masters is now underway and will conclude this weekend (weather permitting). Most of your favorite golf names are in the hunt for the famed Green Jacket, too.

In today’s podcast-only version of the show, we’ll discuss the start of the NBA playoffs; a better idea for the NBA’s draft lottery system (“Your wish is granted”!); tip our sports cap to a couple of retiring NBA legends; take a final look at the NCAA Men’s basketball championship game and how officiating and those bothersome instant replays really need an overhaul (“Your wish is granted…again!”); and entice you to spend your weekend watching The Masters!

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Though the 2019 Masters golf tournament starts Thursday in Augusta, Georgia, the majority of the news surrounding the annual event seems to be all about just one player of the 87 golfers in the field.

Tiger Woods. 

Tiger hasn’t won one of the four golf majors since the 2008 US Open that he

won in a playoff with Rocco Mediate.

Yes, the same Tiger Woods who has been in the headlines for the past ten years for any number of personal issues and serious physical injuries. Tiger is now 43 years old, feeling and playing much better, and the sports media is back at it again in trying to convince golf fans that he is THE favorite again this week at The Masters.

Though Woods’ golf game has begun to round back into shape in the past

twelve months after his health (back and knee injuries) nearly ended his golf

dreams a few years ago, the Tiger Woods Media frenzy is back more than the

golfer’s realistic expectations of winning. 

If you had any doubts about the extent that the sports media is driving “Tiger Mania” this week, let’s take a look at some of the incredible number of stories I found when searching the internet about this year’s Masters golf tournament. 

Tiger Woods’ 2019 golf statistics:

In his last start ahead of the Masters, he finished in a tie for fifth in

the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.  In four other starts this year, his best

finish was a tie for 10th in the WGC-Mexico Championships.

Woods is ranked No. 12 in the official world golf rankings.

Woods is a four-time Masters champion and has 13 top-10 finishes at Augusta

National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

What are the betting odds of Tiger Woods winning the 2019 Masters? 

Rory McIlroy 7-1
Dustin Johnson 10-1
Justin Rose 12-1
Tiger Woods 14-1
Justin Thomas 16-1
Jordan Spieth 16-1
Rickie Fowler 16-1
Tommy Fleetwood 20-1
Francesco Molinari 20-1
Brooks Koepka 25-1
Bryson DeChambeau 25-1
Paul Casey 30-1
Phil Mickelson 40-1

One news outlet reported that a Tiger Woods fan has wagered $85,000 on Woods to win this year!  The bet, which was made in Nevada, would pay out $1.19 million if (I mean…when) Tiger Woods wins. 

Now there’s a true Tiger fan!   

Let’s see how the media is covering the Big Cat’s preparations for The Masters (these are all actual media reports)!

Tiger’s week-before-Masters– Woods flew up to Augusta from his seaside Florida compound last Wednesday and played a practice round.  Woods began with a three-putt from 25 feet on the first hole. It was his lone blemish on his card as he finished with a 65.

Tiger Sunday – Woods returned to Augusta National on Sunday and walked the front nine with only a putter and wedge in his hands. Woods dropped golf balls and hit shots from 75 yards and then chipped and putted at each green.

However, on Sunday night, the media reported that (gasp) Tiger Woods was the last one on the course at Augusta

National.  According the non-biased

reporter with this information, “We can only hope the same is true in a week”

(cough, cough).

Tiger Monday – As Masters week dawned Monday, Woods was first off for a quick nine holes on the back nine with Justin Thomas and Fred Couples joining him.

Tiger Tuesday – Woods played an early-morning practice round on Tuesday before he’s schedule...

Late Monday night, the University of Virginia Cavaliers delivered one more late game rally and finally tossed away the bad memories of how its 2018 season ended.

With yet another clutch come-from-behind rally in the final seconds of regulation, Cavs fans can proudly yell a passionate  “Wa-Hoo!” as the team won its first NCAA men’s basketball championship with a 85-77 overtime thriller over a valiant bunch of Red Raiders from Texas Tech.

UVa’s fans are just fine with either the nickname “Cavaliers” or “Wahoos”.  According to one source, rival Washington and Lee baseball fans (circa 1890’s) called University of Virginia players “a bunch of rowdy Wahoos,” and used the “Wahoowa” yell as a form of derision. 

With the win, Virginia erased the horrible taste of becoming the first and only #1 seeded team to lose to a 16th seed in last year’s first round of the NCAA tournament.  The loss to a Baltimore commuter school (UMBC) was a shock to the team and its always steady coach, Tony Bennett.

After last year’s early loss,

he said, “I got a poster of Rocky on the steps and I told them: I just

want a chance at the title fight one day.”

Last year’s embarrassing

first round loss served as motivation for the entire 2018-2019 season and was a

game-by-game reminder for the team to prepare hard and never underestimate any opponent

this year.   

Mission accomplished! 

Virginia’s overtime win over

Texas Tech in Monday night’s finale was the Cavaliers’ third consecutive game

in which the team trailed with 15 seconds or less remaining in regulation.   

On Saturday against Auburn, it was guard Kyle Guy (the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player) who scored the team’s final six points during the final ten seconds of play.

On Monday night, forward De’Andre Hunter nailed a clutch three pointer from the corner to tie the game at 68 points apiece and send it to overtime.  He scored a career high 27 points (with 22 of them coming in the second half and overtime) in leading Virginia’s rally to victory. 

Harry Houdini would have been

proud of the way this bunch escaped with victories!

After living with the

humiliation of becoming the first and only #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed last

season, this year’s team worked hard and received more than a fair share of

fortunate bounces, officials’ calls, and clutch baskets. 

After last year’s loss, it seemed like much of the college basketball universe was saying that Coach Bennett’s style of basketball wouldn’t be able to win a national championship in this generation of high-flying “one-and-done-to-the-NBA” athletes. 

Who said defense can’t win basketball championships?  Virginia finished as the #1 team in the country in scoring defense (by the way, runner-up Texas Tech was #3).   

Offensively, Virginia’s game

plan is (putting it nicely) quite deliberate. 

To win with a slower pace of play, UVa’s ability to take care of the

basketball was proven by their #5 national ranking in the vital assists-to-turnover

ratio statistic.

This weekend found the sports world with a myriad of “feel good” stories.  Though your intrepid SwampSwami normally saves some stories for his end-of-week “Sweep-the-SwampCast” podcast, it’s time to break-out some good ol’ hot chocolate this Monday morning to salute some terrific sports stories from this weekend.

College basketball had three very compelling games played over the weekend.  On Saturday, the men’s semi-final #1 in the NCAA Final Four’s early game featured a nail-biter between the Auburn Tigers and the Virginia Cavaliers.

After Virginia led most of

the game, Auburn’s outside shooters found their stroke in the massive domed

stadium in Minneapolis and took the lead over Virginia with a minute to

go.  The Cavaliers, who lost to the #16

seeded team UMBC in the first round last year, were looking like they were

heading home again late Saturday afternoon.

Then, “That Guy!” saved the day.  As in UVa‘s Kyle Guy.  As a result, Virginia is playing for the school’s first national championship in tonight’s finale with Texas Tech.    

The junior guard for the

Cavaliers literally saved his team from going home on Saturday with a clutch

three-point shot from the corner with less than ten seconds left.  Then, with the game on the line, Kyle Guy drained

three straight free throws with less than one second remaining to help Virginia

edge Auburn 63-62 in a classic Final Four thriller. 

Here’s what you didn’t know about “That Guy!”  Kyle Guy, the young man with ice water running through his veins on Saturday, has been very public about suffering from anxiety and panic attacks while attending the University of Virginia. 

Guy moderated a panel on mental

health for UVa athletes earlier this year and accepted an invitation to

participate in a similar panel at this year’s Final Four in Minneapolis.  

He said, “That’s why I was

transparent about it and came out about it. Being able to use that to help

other people is what I always wanted to do here. Using basketball as a vehicle

to do that has been tremendous.”

Weekend Good Story #2 – The Texas Tech Red Raiders shocked everyone except themselves in defeating #2 seed, Michigan State, by a score of 61-51 in the nightcap game on Saturday. 

Texas Tech’s coach, Chris Beard, was an assistant for a man named Bobby Knight when the legendary coach came to Lubbock.  Beard honed his coaching skills under Coach Knight and hit the road in search of head coaching success. 

Beard coached a semi-professional basketball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  He also coached a few small college teams at McMurry University, Angelo State, and then at the University of Arkansas – Little Rock. 

While spending just one season at UALR, Beard’s Trojans went 30-5 to get into the NCAA tournament, beat #5 seed Purdue, and, all of a sudden, Beard himself became one of the nation’s hottest coaching prospects. 

He landed at Texas Tech in 2016

and the Red Raiders are playing Virginia tonight with a chance to win their

first national championship in men’s basketball. 

Weekend Good Story #3 – In the NCAA Women’s national championship game on Sunday afternoon, the Baylor Lady Bears prevailed (pardon the pun, “Bearly”) by one point over Notre Dame to

It’s Final Four weekend for both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments! We’ll give you a preview of both events, talk about the best 3-point shooter in college basketball (hint – SHE made 77 out of 100 shots on Thursday night to win), and chat about LSU, Texas, Texas A&M hoops, too. Plus, we’ll talk about the AAF, the NFL, and this Sunday’s WRESTLEMANIA!

Oh, yeeaah! Dig it!?

This is an audio podcast only, so click on the bar above or, better yet, subscribe (it’s FREE!) via Apple Podcasts. I’m the only SwampSwami on their search bar!

Pit-i-ful!

The Association of American

Football (AAF) is now deceased.  

In the graveyards of start-up

professional football leagues, the AAF may have set the record for the quickest

demise, as the teams had only played eight games of the ten game regular

season.

Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry

Jones, can now rent his 12,000 seat (that’s right, 12,000 seat) stadium for

another venue now that the AAF’s championship game won’t even be played in

Frisco, Texas this month.

What happened, you ask?

Money, of course!

Even one of my generation’s most beloved television characters, Jethro Bodine (who graduated from the sixth grade at Potts School in Beverly Hills), could have worked out the math for this new professional football league.

Sure, Jethro may have needed both

of his hands to count the proper number of “naughts” of dollars which the new

AAF lost during just two months of play.

For new league to have survived,

Charlotte billionaire, Tom Dundon (the football league’s equivalent to Jed

Clampett who is…correction, WAS…reportedly worth $1.1 billion) would have to

continue losing nearly $10 million per week just to keep the new league afloat.

For his generous $250 million

financial donation to the AAF, Dundon effectively bought his way to becoming

the league’s chairman in week 2.   

Just because you are (oops

again, were) a billionaire doesn’t mean that you have all of your money in

cash, either.  It’s hard to watch your

fortune heading downward when the league had no realistic chance of making a

profit anytime soon (if ever). 

Pardon my pun, but “Dundon was done”.

And here’s why.  The chart below (which reflects my best guesses on most items) clearly shows you that a football league which averages 15,000 fans per game at an average net ticket price of $20 was doomed from Day 1:    

SwampSwami’s Best Guess EstimatesAssociation of American Football (AAF)Estimated Costs per Team:AnnualStadium Lease (5 home games/yr)$250,000Lease – Team HQ/Practice Facilities$250,000Referees ($2000/game*4/wk*8 wks)$80,000Players (52 @ $83,333/yr)$4,333,316Staff – Coaches$2,000,000Staff – Management$1,000,000Staff – Ticket sales/Mktg.$250,000Staff – Stadium GameDay$50,000Staff – Medical$300,000Uniforms ($1000/player)$52,000Travel – Air$150,000Travel – Hotel$100,000Travel – Ground Transp.$25,000Subtotal – Est. Team Expenses$8,840,316Plus 20% unforeseen costs:$1,768,063Subtotal – Team Expenses:$10,608,379Estimated Expenses – 8 Franchises:$84,867,034Plus – Est. Leaguewide G&A ExpensesStaff – Executives$2,000,000Staff – Office and support$1,000,000Insurance (events, players, staff)$1,000,000Taxes (Fed, State, City)$1,000,000Marketing/Promotional Costs $1,000,000Estimated Expenses – League

G&A:$6,000,000Estimated Expenses – Total:$90,867,034Revenue Summary:Average Weekly Attendance15,000Est. RevenuesPer WeekTicket prices @ $20 each x 4 games/wk$1,200,000Concessions @ $10 each x 4 games/wk$600,000Parking @ $10 each x 4 games/wk$600,000Weekly Game Revenues:$2,400,000Times 8 weeks of play:8Est. AAF Game Revenues:$19,200,000Media – Network Television$2,000,000Media – Local Radio rights$80,000Media Revenues: $2,080,000Franchise Fees – $1 mm/team:$8,000,000Estimated Revenues – Total:$29,280,000AAF Summary:Estimated Net Losses:-$61,587,034Estimated Net Losses per team:-$7,698,379

Busted?  I meant “Bracket Busted”, of course!

If you’re like me, you may

have only one team (Michigan State, in my case) remaining in your NCAA Men’s

Final Four bracket for this coming weekend. 

If you have two or more teams left in this group of four teams, then you

should be looking forward to your new nickname at the office next week, Champ!

Though the four “Elite Eight”

games from last weekend were probably the best collection of weekend college

basketball I have seen in a long time, the majority of us are now left with a

perplexing thought for the official “Final Four” games on Saturday. 

Who are these four teams, and

which one(s) should I now pull for?

A great question, and, as you

figured, your SwampSwami has a unique way to help you through the process.

I think you should choose

your favorite of the Final Four squads (Texas Tech, Virginia, Michigan State,

and Auburn) in the same manner as you prefer to build your personal investment

choices! 

Are you an ultra-conservative investor?  Is your style

more of a defensive investor who likes cash, short-term securities, and bonds

and generally stays away from risky stocks and long shots?  You may be the type of person whose gut thinks

that the next market crash is just around the corner, right?

Virginia

should be your choice!    

Yes, Virginia, you are the

lonely #1 seeded team remaining. 

Virginia’s stockholders remain (understandably) a wee bit skeptical

after being a #1 seed last year and losing in the first round (a dubious

distinction) to #16-seeded commuter school from Baltimore (UMBC). 

With a head coach (Tony Bennett) who shares a name with one of America’s favorite singers, the Cavaliers are trying to go from “Rags to Riches” and redeem their fans’ high expectations this season with a national championship trophy.

Virginia is your “defensive”

choice (#1 in the country, in fact).  It

took an overtime game with Gonzaga (80-75) for Virginia to give up 70 or more

points in the year 2019 to a team not named Duke!

Offensively, the Cavs aren’t

exactly the team to pick if you want to get rich quick.  They rank a paltry #215 in the NCAA in team

offense.  The Cavs philosophy is to play smart,

play defense, and play to win. 

Is your investing style a little less conservative but

still patient?   Do you prefer a little higher mix of stocks and bonds

and find yourself attracted to “Balanced” mutual funds and a few blue chip

stocks with good dividends?

Texas Tech

is the team for you! 

Defense, you ask?  The Red Raiders are button-downed type of

basketball team who will defend your “cash” for the full forty minute game and,

if needed, into overtime.  They’ll keep

the game close with a slowdown pace and have not given up more than 69 points

to an opponent in four NCAA tournament games.  

They are a solid #4 in the nation in defense this season. 

Alas, like Virginia, your

team’s offensive returns will probably be a little below average, too.  The Red Raiders’ offense can be, at times, a

little boring and don’t offer the highest yields.  Texas Tech’s offense is rated #159 in the

land in points scored.

However, T-Tech’s offense

features a solid international “investment” that has provided gre...

If you’re over 50 (yes, I am ancient!), you probably remember a country music-oriented comedy television show called “Hee Haw!“? Every week, the cast performed a variation of a funny song called “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me!“.

That little ditty sums up my NCAA men’s and women’s basketball brackets! Poof! Gone for another year!

In today’s weekly audio podcast, I’ll discuss the sad state of my college basketball picks, talk about the New Orleans Saints’ rule change “victory” at the NFL owners’ meeting this week, the latest problems for the fledgling AAF league, XFL owner, Vince McMahon, cashes out 3 million shares of WWE stock to fund his new venture, Arizona Cardinals’ coach Cliff Kingsbury’s “Cell Phone Breaks” for NFL players, and the jersey retirement ceremony for Miami Heat basketball player, Chris Bosh.

All of our shows are available to you via Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today – it’s FREE!

No offense to your brackets, but, for me, this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament has been a bit of a dud for those of us always pull for a few big surprises. 

Sure, the Oregon Ducks have been on a massive roll through the Pac-12 tournament and the first two games of the NCAA tournament. 

Sorry, Oregon.  Your Pac-12 conference Ducks are just not the same type of feel-good small school story as last year’s Loyola-Chicago Ramblers team and their now-99 year old good luck charm, Sister Jean. 

This year’s final 16 teams

are pretty much the expected teams among the big boys of basketball.  There are some good stories, but the sports journalists

will have to work a bit harder this year.

Heading into Thursday and

Friday night’s games, we have all four #1 seeds left, all four of the #2 seeds remaining,

and all four of the #3 seeds still in the tourney? 

Yawn. 

All of the top 12 teams are standing this year after two games!  Add two #4 seeds (Florida State and Virginia Tech), a #5 seed (Auburn) and #12 Oregon, and there’s this year’s Sweet 16. 

However, did you know that Sister Jean’s Loyola-Chicago Ramblers had won the National Championship back in 1963? 

Did you also know that Loyola-Chicago has one more National Championship in their basketball trophy case than this year’s #1 seeds Virginia and Gonzaga, #2 seed Tennessee, #3 seeds LSU, Purdue, Texas Tech, and the University of Houston, #4 seeded Virginia Tech, and #5 Auburn?

So, despite the blue bloods like Kentucky (8 national titles), North Carolina (6), Duke (5), Michigan State (2), and others like Michigan and Oregon with one trophy each, there are ten other extremely hungry teams in the remaining field of 16 who still have the chance to win their first men’s basketball championship.

The good news about this

weekend’s basketball schedule is that ANYONE left in this field could still win

it all. 

The two “worst” remaining teams (#12 seed Oregon and #5 seed Auburn) both won their conference tournaments to get into the field and are playing a frenetic style of basketball with full-court pressure, sharpshooting three-point bombs, and are scoring points at pinball wizard speed. 

What about LSU, you ask?  Can you imagine the “holier-than-thou” national media screaming about a team which suspended its coach (Will Wade) who won’t even talk to his bosses about a reported wire-tapping of a possible payoff to the family of one of their current players? 

LSU was already playing hard as they dedicated this season to honor one of their players (20-year old Wayde Sims) who was shot and killed in Baton Rouge back in September.  His father (Wayne Sims) had played on the LSU basketball team in the 1980’s for Coach Dale Brown.

This year’s Tigers’ team has nothing to lose at this point.  They have plenty of talent but need to play their best games now if they want to advance. 

If the allegations about Coach Will Wade turn out to be true, LSU’s team should be be approaching each game as if it may be the last NCAA tournament game of their college careers.  The NCAA would likely place LSU on a lengthy suspension from post-season play if the worst is confirmed.

Gonzaga would be a great story, too!

Quick.  Name some of sports’ most legendary players who

are known by just one name.

Hoops?  Let’s go for Magic, Shaq and Kobe.

Golf?  There’s always Arnie, Tiger, and Jack.

What about baseball, you

ask?  Willie, Mickey, and the Duke would

make for a nice song!

Let’s consider adding the name “Ichiro” to that baseball list!

Ichiro Suzuki (known to the world as simply “Ichiro”) quietly retired last week at the age of 45 from the Seattle Mariners.  The M’s and the Oakland A’s were playing Major League Baseball’s season-opening two-game series in Tokyo late last week. 

Ichiro started his lengthy (28 years!) professional baseball career in Japan as he became national legend in his first nine seasons.   While in Japan, Ichiro batted .353 and won seven Gold Glove awards for his skills as a speedy outfielder with an accurate throwing arm.      

During the 1994 baseball

season, he began to use his given name, “Ichiro,” instead of his

family name of “Suzuki” on the back of his uniform.  The team’s manager introduced that idea as a

publicity move to help create a way to distinguish their rising young star.

Initially, Ichiro did not

agree with the name change and was reportedly embarrassed by it.  By the end of the season, though, “Ichiro”

had become a household name in Japan and, soon, around the world.

He came to the United States

to play in Major League Baseball with Seattle in 2001.  Many Americans thought Ichiro might be too frail

to succeed against Major League pitching or endure the longer 162-game season. 

After all, Major League

Baseball fans had become used seeing steroid-induced giants such as Mark

McGwire and Barry Bonds on the field for the past decade. 

Ichiro was smaller than most

major leaguers.  Despite his “average”

height and weight (listed as 5’11” and 170 pounds), Ichiro’s inaugural season

in Seattle featured a sterling .350 batting average and 56 stolen bases. 

He became the first player to

lead the league in both categories since Jackie Robinson in 1949.  Ichiro also won the American League’s MVP and

Rookie-of-the-Year awards.

As fans flocked to watch Ichiro, his on-field stretching exercises started to become legendary.  

“Ichiro’s on-deck gyrations became a Seattle model of cool,” wrote S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated in 2002, “with Little Leaguers everywhere trying to keep their faces blank while contorting like pretzels.”

During his first ten MLB

seasons in Seattle, Ichiro was selected to the All-Star team every season as he

also had more than 200 hits each year (an American League Record).  He also holds an American League record with

45 consecutive stolen bases without being caught between 2006 and 2007. 

Ichiro’s personal stats started to slide after he turned 40 years old (5 years ago!) as he traveled to play for the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins.  He came back to finish his major league career in Seattle last week with a .311 career batting average and finished 22nd on the MLB all-time hits list with 3,089. 

And that came AFTER he played

his first nine years in Japan!