On Sunday, the 88th Academy Awards were broadcast and host Chris Rock brought us wit, glamour, and plenty (lack of) diversity jokes. The Oscars delivered wins by some favorites (Go Leo!), a few upsets (Sorry, Stallone) and even Girl Scout cookies. We bring you this week’s TINK with a splash of movie magic.
National Basketball Association (NBA)
The NBA “Spotlight” was shining on the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday night. The last two league MVPs, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, went head to head in primetime. Like Leonardo DiCaprio’s win for “The Revenant,” Curry took home best actor in a leading role, scoring 46 points and making an amazing 12 of 16 3-point shots. In the game, Curry tied the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in a single game, and beat his own record for 3-pointers in a SEASON (even more incredible considering there are still 24 games left in the regular season).
In the Eastern Conference, everyone’s favorite to win, the Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling, having lost three of their last five games. The Cavs fell to the Washington Wizards on Sunday without LeBron James but recovered to squeak by the Indiana Pacers Monday. The Cavs need to watch their rear view mirror as they are now up only two-and-a-half games on the Toronto Raptors (who dropped the Cavs 99-97 Friday night).
College Basketball
Even “Mad Max Fury Road” doesn’t have enough special effects and chaos to describe the current college basketball season. This campaign has seen 73 losses by Top-10 teams (the most ever in a college season). That’s more upsets than we’ve seen at all the Oscars ceremonies combined.
“The Big Short” continued this past week as every team in the top-10 lost with the exception of #2 Kansas and #6 Michigan State.
How did your favorite AP Top-10 team do last week?
| Team | Outcome |
| #1 Villanova | Lost |
| #2 Kansas | Won |
| #3 Oklahoma | Lost |
| #3 Virginia | Lost |
| #5 Xavier | Lost |
| #6 Michigan State | Won |
| #7 North Carolina | Lost |
| #8 Iowa | Lost |
| #9 Arizona | Lost |
| #10 Maryland | Lost |
After all the loses and shuffling, here is this week’s AP Top-5:
#1 Kansas
#2 Michigan State
#3 Villanova
#4 Virginia
#5 Xavier
Dominance, you say? Newly minted top seed Kansas blew out #23 Texas Monday to win its 12th straight Big 12 title.
Flashback…when Kansas’ streak started, Chris Rock also hosted the Oscars and Charlize Theron took home Best Actress for “Monster.” Check out her look back then and the red gown she wore Sunday.
Teams have two weeks do their best “Stella” and get their “Groove Back” as the NCAA tournament gets in full gear March 17th (Yes, St. Patrick’s Day).
National Hockey League (NHL)
The Washington Capitals are still the talk of the NHL, and have a chance to challenge the best regular season record of all time set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1977. It might be that “The Writing’s on the Wall” as the Capitals are 11 points ahead of the next best team in hockey, the Western Conference leading Chicago Blackhawks. The only snag: The Blackhawks beat the Capitals, 3-2, in Chicago on Sunday. We’ll see what happens next.
Family feud? The New York Rangers, currently second in the Eastern Conference, traded for Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal in a push to win the Stanley Cup this season. Staal had to consent to the trade before it could be completed, but no worries, he agreed to join his brother Marc on the Rangers. Sounds like a no brainer, right? Except when you consider he is leaving his other brother, Jordan, behind with the Hurricanes. Maybe Broadway (or “Brooklyn”) and the playoffs were a hotter draw than Carolina Bar-B-Que and a mediocre squad. Sorry Jordan.
In case you were wondering…the Staals have yet another brother, Jared, giving them four NHL players. Jared currently plays minor league hockey but previously played with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
What would you do with $75 million? New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes grew up in Cuba where his main mode of transportation was a bicycle. Fresh off signing a three-year, $75 million contact with the Mets this offseason, Cespedes has shown up to spring training with a new car every day. It’s hard to beat the story that he lent his ride to a Mets staffer to buy him a round waffle maker at Walmart.
Remember at TINK Sports we watch the games so you don’t have to.
See you next time…
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