North Carolina comes into the Final Four as the top-heavy betting favorite to win the national championship on Monday night. The Tar Heels’ odds are 5-7. No one else is better than 3-1. UNC is a nine-point favorite in their Saturday national semifinal against Syracuse. The Tar Heels have the most imposing frontline of all […]
There’s no coach I feel worse for this morning than Virginia’s Tony Bennett and no player that I sympathize with more than Cavaliers star Malcolm Brogdon. This is a coach and player that have done yeoman’s work in lifting UVA from an okay program to a national power over the last three years. And with […]
The Boston Bruins are in the midst of a meltdown. They’ve lost five straight games in regulation and a playoff berth that was once reasonably in hand in the balanced and difficult Eastern Conference is now in serious jeopardy. The problem is that the defense that was the staple of this franchise’s recent strong years […]
It’s been a crazy March Madness and for me that’s been in more ways than one. The action on the basketball court has been fast and furious with unbelievable moments—put me down as one who counts Middle Tennessee’s upset of Michigan State as the biggest in NCAA Tournament history. But for me personally, it’s also […]
If you’re not ready for the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, this podcast will get you there. TheSportsNotebook.com joined forces with Prime Sports Network in a 1-hour/15 minute show that broke down the bracket from a number of different angles. In my appearance with PSN host Greg DePalma, we did more than the standard routine of […]
John Elway once again showed he’s one of the top executives in football, in refusing to get into a bidding war over Brock Osweiler. Elway let the Houston Texans give an insane $72 million contract over four years to a quarterback who mostly rode a defense to a handful of wins before getting benched in […]
Illinois football made a huge splash this week when they hired Lovie Smith as head coach, inking him to a six-year contract worth $21 million. It’s a big-time move by a new athletic director looking to put an irrelevant program on the map. But will it work? There’s no question Lovie can coach. He was […]
By any reasonable standard Jeff Fisher should have been fired after last season with the St. Louis Rams. But as the franchise relocates to Los Angeles, not only has Fisher retained his job, but reports have surfaced that the Rams are actually negotiating an extension with the head coach. This is absolutely mind-boggling and begs […]
I was at the Wisconsin Badgers’ season opener back on Friday, November 13th and it was a true horror show. The Badgers let Western Illinois—a team currently 10-17—shoot 54% from the field, outplay them up and down the Kohl Center floor and steal a 69-67 upset. It was a vivid demonstration of what all of […]
The agent for San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick came out and requested a trade this week. This can’t be considered shocking—the 49ers are a bungling operation and woefully mishandled Kaepernick along with everything else the last two years. But the timing is a little odd given the hiring of Chip Kelly as head coach—presumably […]
The 1982 NFL MVP award holds a distinction for strangeness. In a year ripped apart by a strike there were only nine games played and the honor went to Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley. I’m a Redskins fan and I hold Moseley in high regard, but this was…well, it was stupid. It’s time to set […]
It would be nice if the Washington Redskins and Kirk Cousins could get together on a long-term contract, but the best thing for both parties is probably the Redskins using the franchise tag on the quarterback. Cousins is a free agent and looking to get paid after a season where he finished first in the […]