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The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition

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Shh don’t tell the boss but today is all about watching the Masters online at the office. Although we don’t think our lunch break is going to involve Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s favorite sandwich.

Hold the mayo,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PGA (Professional Golfers' Association)

  • The greatest game on grass. The Masters began yesterday and the defending champion Jordan Spieth leads the field after the first day.

1. Jordan Spieth: -6

T2. Danny Lee: -4

T2. Shane Lowry: -4

  • Record setting. 46-year-old Ernie Els set a record yesterday but not in a good way. He set a record for shooting nine shots on the first hole which is a par four. (See below for more about par).

Tune into www.cbssports.com or CBS for coverage from Augusta. 

Boxing

  • End of an era. Manny Pacquiao will face Timothy Bradley for the third and last time. This is Pacquiao’s last fight before retirement. You may remember Pacquiao for his memorable moves and fights but unfortunately many will remember him for his offensive comments about the LGBT community that caused him to lose sponsors.  The fight will be held Saturday in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and can be viewed on Pay-Per-View starting at 6 pm (EST).

MLB (Major League Baseball) 

  • That’s just wrong. Three people were arrested for stealing a scooter signed by San Francisco Giants’ outfielder Hunter Pence from the San Francisco Make-A-Wish office. 
  • Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Also in the news of records that aren’t good for the ego, the San Diego Padres tied a record for starting off the season with 26 scoreless innings. They went almost three games without scoring a run.

NFL (National Football League)

  • Let’s get it started. The NFL released the preseason schedule for the 2016-17 season. Each team will play four preseason games to warm up for the regular season. Your favorite team’s schedule can be found here.

Overtime

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be competing in Saturday’s Duck Commander 500 (those Duck Dynasty guys are everywhere). Earlier in the week Earnhardt tweeted a photo of his favorite meal - a banana and mayonnaise sandwich. An interesting combination for the best sandwich ever, but I guess they say don’t knock it ‘till you try it. You go first. Catch Saturday’s race at 7:30 pm (EST) on FOX.

Sideline stat

  • Golden State Warriors became the second team in NBA history to reach the 70-win mark in a single season. Warriors are on track for a record 73 victories in a season after a win over San Antonio Spurs yesterday.  

Coaches’ Corner

  • Tell me about these golf scores. We could go on for days but to understand scoring in golf you have to understand one thing – par. Par is the number of strokes (times you hit the ball) a golfer is expected to take on that hole – from the tee off to putting it into the hole.

The individual hole scores are combined each day for the entire round of golf. The basic breakdown is that the players with a minus (i.e. -4) means they went under par (in this case four strokes under par). That’s a good thing. So on a par four hole (like mentioned above) they hit the ball into the hole in less than the suggested strokes (four). The golfers with a plus after their name (i.e. +3) means it took them more than the number of strokes to get the ball in the hole by three. 

Have we confused you enough? To learn more click here.

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The Rundown: Five Things to Know About the Masters

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The Masters is upon us. Today’s five things to know will get you ready for the excitement that is golf. Finally, a reason to wear our argyle socks and vest while watching Happy Gilmore on repeat. 

Golf clap,

The Last Night’s Game Team

 

PS- If you like what you read, share us with your friends using the handy dandy buttons at the bottom. 

Five things to know about the Masters

The Masters, starts on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. 

  1. The famed green jacket became a tradition in 1949.  Members of the club decided on green so fans in attendance at the tournament could spot them in case they had questions. The tournament winner receives an esteemed green jacket and the tournament winner from last year is the one to ceremoniously help him put it on.
  2. It doesn’t matter who you are - journalist or a patron, there is a strict no cell phone policy at Augusta National. Don’t even try it as getting caught will land you a lifetime ban from the tournament. 
  3. Despite the prestige of the course, the food is cheap with everything under $3 and beer for $5. We’ll drink to that.  
  4. Becoming a member of Augusta National Golf Course is somewhat of a mystery. There is no listed criteria for membership and the members list is not public. Ron Townsend was named the first African American member in 1990 and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became first woman member in 2012. Way to keep up with the times.
  5. CBS (longtime broadcast partner of the tournament) pumps in bird noises during the telecast to make it seem even more like a “natural paradise.” (Apparently they’ve admitted to doing this for other tournaments as well). At least nothing will swoop down and steal your $3 popcorn.

You can watch all of the Masters’ coverage on CBS or cbssports.com. 

NCAA Basketball (College)

  • What a game! In what is said to be one of the best national championship games in history, Villanova Wildcats beat North Carolina Tar Heels (77-74) to win the title on Monday. The lead changed often during the game but it all came down to the last few seconds when Tar Heels' Marcus Paige hit a miraculous three-point shot to tie the game at 74-74 with 4.7 seconds left. Then the Wildcats drove length of the floor, gave the ball to Kris Jenkins who hit the game winning three-pointer to win the game with less than a second left. 

This was Villanova’s first national championship since 1985 and Villanova senior Ryan Arcidiacono was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

  • The greatest. There were Tar Heel alum everywhere at this game with the most famous, Michael Jordan, behind the bench. While you may have seen the crying memes of Jordan all over social media, his actual reaction to the final shot was a nod then looked at his friend and said “good shot.”   
  • One for the record books. Last night the UConn women did something no women's team has done before, win their fourth consecutive national championship, beating Syracuse 82-51. UConn’s Breanna Stewart brought home her fourth Final Four Most Outstanding Player award, becoming the first to win the award four years in a row.  

  • On top of the world. A shout out of congratulations to our inaugural Last Night’s Game Bracket Challenge winner, Dave. Thanks for playing!

NBA (National Basketball Association)

  • Good morning class. The NBA has announced the inductees to the 2016 Hall of Fame. The 10 inductees are lead by:
  • Shaquille 'Shaq' O’Neal – played for Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics
  • Allen Iverson - played for Philadelphia 76ers
  • Yao Ming - played for Houston Rockets
  • Tom Izzo - head coach of Michigan State

Inductees will be honored in a ceremony on September 9th.  

Overtime

  • John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” issued a challenge to baseball fans. Last week a Yankees executive made a comment that some of their premium ticket holders felt uncomfortable sitting next to fans who paid less because they bought their seats on a ticket resale website. (The team implemented a new policy this season to ban print-at-home tickets in hopes that it will combat this predicament.) So Oliver, who called the Yankees “elitist,” created a contest to put riffraff in premium seats. The winners were two guys dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Cowabunga dude!

Sideline stat

  • Boston Red Sox' designated hitter David Ortiz hit a home run in the first game of his last season before retirement. Ortiz has been in the league since 1997 and will retire at the end of this season.

Coaches’ Corner

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The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition

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We have good news and bad news, WrestleMania 32 and the Final Four both set records this past weekend. One record for the right reason, the other not so much.

The Final Four victors, Villanova and North Carolina, play for the title of National Champions tonight. Lastly, the day is finally here and we know the boss will appreciate it when you walk into the office with your #CapsOn supporting baseball’s Opening Day and your favorite MLB team.

Hats off to you,

The Last Night’s Game Team

NCAA Basketball (College)

  • See ya Sooners. Villanova Wildcats (#2) beat Oklahoma Sooners (#2), 95-51 in game one of the Final Four. The Sooners never stood a chance. This was the biggest blow out in final four history. Wildcats shot 71% to Oklahoma’s 31%. Wildcats only missed five shots the entire second half.
  • Shattered dreams Saturday. In game two of the Final Four, University of North Carolina Tar Heels (#1) beat Syracuse Orange (#10), 83-66. Tar Heels used their size to dominate the Orange in the paint. Naismith Player of the Year, Buddy Hield of Oklahoma was held to only nine points, well below his 25 point average for the tournament.
  • National champions. Tonight is the last game of the NCAA tournament, the National Championship game. Villanova Wildcats (#2) will take on North Carolina Tar Heels (#1).

 Here’s the skinny…

  • Game time - Monday, 9:19 pm (EST) on TBS (first time ever for the game to be shown on cable)
  • North Carolina is the slight favorite at -2 (must win by two to win your bet). 
  • TV coverage will include taped performances from NCAA March Madness Music Festival featuring Maroon 5 and Pitbill.
  • Villanova Head coach Jay Wright was named 2016 coach of the year.
  • Both teams have won a national championship previously - Villanova (1985) and North Carolina (1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009). 
  • Ladies Night. University of Connecticut Huskies (#1) will play Syracuse Orange (#4) for the women’s national championship on Tuesday at 8:30 pm (EST) on ESPN. If UConn wins, they will bring home their fourth consecutive title.

F1 RACING (FORMULA ONE)

  • Racing for the checkered flag. Nico Rosberg of the Mercedes team won the second race of the season in Bahrain, making it his fifth race win in a row. 
  • Overnight sensation. In his F1 debut (driving for an injured Fernando Alonso), Stoffel Vandoorne, 24, traveled overnight from Japan and raced in a car he had just met to finish the race in 10th place.
  • Incredible start. The newly established Haas Racing, an American owned F1 race team is embracing their rookie year and having an incredible one at that. Haas Racing (drivers are Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez) have collected points in each race this year. Only the top 10 in each race earn points and it’s quite the feat for a new team to compile points so early into their career. Grosjean has finished sixth and fifth in the first two races. Keep your eyes on this team.

La Liga Soccer

  • Spanish showdown. Real Madrid beat Barcelona, 2-1 in “El Classico,” the battle of the rivals in the La Liga League. This was the first loss for Barcelona in 39 games. The winning goal was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. (Ronaldo, who is usually connected to smoking hot babes and Hollywood ladies like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, celebrated the game in his underwear). 

MLB (Major League Baseball)

  • World Series rematch. While today is opening day for most teams, yesterday Kansas City Royals took on the New York Mets in an opening day rematch between the two World Series teams. Kansas City won last year’s World Series and yesterday’s game. 

WWE (Word Wrestling Entertainment)

  • Super Bowl of wrestling. WrestleMania 32 took place in Dallas yesterday and it boasted more cameos than the Entourage movie. From the national anthem sung by Fifth Harmony to appearances by Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Shaq and Snopp Dogg, the WWE brought out their A-game.  The winners of night were the fans who saw a 20 foot dive off the top of a cage by Shane McMahon (who has been out of the WWE ring for 15 years) and a record breaking attendance of 101,763. In case you’re wondering, the new WWE Champion is Roman Reigns.

Overtime

  • The Masters starts this week in Augusta, GA. The Drive, Chip and Putt is for kids ages 7-15, who qualify for a chance to play the Sunday before the Masters. As if this wasn’t already an incredible experience for the kids, they received a surprise visit from three special people - Justin Rose (PGA golfer), Niall Horan (One Direction) and Justin Timberlake (needs no introduction).

Sideline stat

  • Golden State Warriors lost to the Boston Celtics, ending their 54 home game winning streak. San Antonio Spurs now have the longest active home winning streak at 39 straight games.

Coaches’ Corner

  • What is ‘the paint’ in basketball? The paint is the painted area in front of the basket and is also referred to as the key. It is literally painted on the basketball court in front of and around the basket and is a primary location for the offence to score and defense to defend the basket. There are specific rules that pertain to a player’s time in the paint. Dying to know more? Click here. 

 

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