The movie industry had its big day Sunday and the shout-outs were plenty: Dreamers, MeToo, Parkland, and Truth-tellers. The biggest winners of the night were The Shape of Water and Mexico.
Sports was also in the spotlight at the Oscars. Icarus, a film that helped expose Russian athletes’ doping, won Best Documentary, and former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant took home Best Animated Short for Dear Basketball. This victory wasn’t all smiles as Kobe’s win is controversial in the ‘Me Too’ era.
Source: NBA.com
On the field, college football players strutted their stuff and impressed scouts at the NFL Combine but the big deal the next few weeks will be March Madness. College Basketball’s post-season has begun so get ready to hear a lot of college hoops talk.
In a tribute the Oscars, let’s look at what’s going on in sports with an eye on film…
TINK Sports Big-3
Here are three things you need to know:
1) March Madness is here. Conference tournaments continue this week and the NCAA tournament (aka the Big Dance) starts next Tuesday
2) The NBA season is in its home stretch and the two best teams continue to be the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors
3) Future NFL players were showing off their skills at the annual scouting combine, and a few stars shined brightest.
College Basketball
Think coeds will get much done in March? Think again. The college basketball postseason is here, and campuses are full of frenzy.
Hoop Dreams…Look for students and alums to be glued to the TV this week, especially Sunday night when the 68 teams that make up the NCAA Tournament field are announced. Every one of those teams is hoping to win six games and cut down the nets as National Champions April 2nd in San Antonio.
Want to avoid basketball in the Big Apple this week? #Fuhgeddaboutit
Source: ABC News
Gangs of New York? New York is a hoops town but never more so than last week and this week. The Big Ten, with teams largely in the Midwest (think Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska), held its conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in NYC this past week. Michigan surprised the experts and beat Purdue to take home the conference title.
This week New York also hosts the Big East tournament (at Madison Square Garden), and the ACC Tournament (at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn). Competition will be outstanding as these tournaments feature four of the top five teams in the country: #1 Virginia and #5 Duke (ACC) and #2 Villanova and #3 Xavier (Big East).
National Basketball Association (NBA)
The NBA once again relinquishes the spotlight for a few weeks as college basketball’s March Madness takes over sports fans’ hearts and minds.
Source: USA Today Rockets Wire
The Duel. The Houston Rockets, a strong playoff team last season, added veteran All-Star guard Chris Paul in the offseason to compete for a title. Paul and James Harden’s (aka “The Beard”) squad has won 15 straight games and may be the only real obstacle to the defending champion Golden State Warriors winning their third NBA title in the last four years.
National Football League (NFL)
Training Day…The NFL held its Draft Combine this past week. What’s a combine? It’s where top college players run around in shorts and t-shirts doing drills and trying to impress their future NFL employers.
Dream a Little Dream. The inspirational stories were not limited to Sunday’s Oscars. Meet Shaquem Griffin. Griffin had his hand amputated when he was four but that didn’t stop him from dreaming big and excelling in football. The all-conference Central Florida linebacker was a late invite to the Combine but did not disappoint.
Source: KTXS
The 6’2” 227-pound stud ran a 4.38 second 40-yard dash. Is that fast? Only the fastest time ever recorded by a linebacker at the Combine. (Translation: a man that big almost never runs that fast, even in the pros). Twinsees…Twin brother Shaquill Griffin, who was drafted last year and plays for the Seattle Seahawks, ran the same blistering 4.38 at last season’s Combine. (Shaquill is 30 pounds lighter).
If that wasn’t impressive enough, Griffin bench pressed 225 pounds 20 times. What? How? With a prosthetic hand. Edward Scissorhands is jealous.
The other star of this year’s Combine was Penn State running back Saquon Barkley who ran, jumped and caught his way into being a top three NFL draft pick. No truth to the rumor that Barkley was seen calling Jerry Maguire and shouting “Show Me The Money.”
National Hockey League (NHL)
With about 16 regular season games remaining, the NHL, like the NBA, is in its home stretch.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have the NHL’s best record followed by the Nashville Predators. The Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets are nipping at the heels of the two conference leaders.
From Russia With Love. Nikita Kucherov, the 24-year-old Russian winger, is taking the NHL by storm. In his fourth year, Kucherov is the leading the league in points and is a top MVP candidate (Hart Trophy in NHL lingo).
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See you next time…
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