March Madness Is Here — Duke Barely Survives, and LeBron Makes History
No Minnesota teams were in the news today — the Timberwolves, Wild, Vikings, Twins, and the rest of the crew are keeping a low profile while March Madness takes center stage. We'll check back in when they're making no...
Minnesota Teams
No Minnesota teams were in the news today — the Timberwolves, Wild, Vikings, Twins, and the rest of the crew are keeping a low profile while March Madness takes center stage. We'll check back in when they're making noise again.
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NBA
LeBron James ties the all-time record for games played. LeBron suited up for his 1,611th NBA game, tying the legendary Robert Parish for the most games ever played in NBA history. The man is 41 years old and still showing up — he's expected to break the record outright in the next game, which will be a genuine piece of sports history worth watching.
LeBron's ownership dreams hit a snag. Speaking of LeBron off the court, his long-stated goal of owning an NBA team — ideally in Las Vegas — is reportedly running into obstacles with the league's expansion process. No resolution yet, but it's a storyline worth following.
Big news for women's basketball: The WNBA just agreed to a new labor deal (called a CBA, or collective bargaining agreement), and it's a landmark moment — the salary cap for teams is projected to exceed $10 million by the end of the deal. That's a massive jump that signals the league is investing seriously in its players.
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MLB
Gerrit Cole is back. The New York Yankees' ace pitcher made his first spring training start after missing all of last year following Tommy John surgery (a common elbow procedure that requires roughly a year of recovery). It's a big deal for Yankees fans who've been waiting to see if he's healthy heading into the season.
Spring training takeaways are rolling in. While a lot of attention went to the World Baseball Classic this month, the regular spring training camps in Florida and Arizona wrapped up with some notable storylines — including a rising star in Detroit and some roster questions for the Yankees at shortstop. Opening Day is right around the corner.
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NHL
The playoff race is heating up. We're getting close to the end of the regular season, and the race for the best record in hockey (which earns the "Presidents' Trophy") is getting interesting. Notably, the Buffalo Sabres — a team that hasn't made the playoffs in years — have charged into the top three in the power rankings, which is a big surprise.
Colorado Mammoth vs. Vegas Golden Knights tonight is a matchup worth noting because these two teams might meet again in the first round of the playoffs in April. Consider it a potential preview of things to come.
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College Sports
March Madness is here, and it's already delivering drama. Duke, the No. 1 overall team in the tournament, had a serious scare against Siena before pulling out the win. When the top seed is sweating in the first round, you know it's going to be a wild few weeks.
The Cinderella story of the day: High Point University's Chase Johnston — a seventh-year senior (yes, seven years) — became an overnight folk hero by hitting three-pointers to knock off Wisconsin. He went from total obscurity to March Madness legend in one afternoon.
Friday's slate is loaded: UConn, Miami, UCLA, and Missouri are all in action. If you want to tune in, it's the perfect time to fill out a bracket guess or just flip it on in the background.
Also in college sports: The NCAA is changing its targeting rule in football — players who commit a targeting penalty (a dangerous hit to the head) for the first time will no longer face an automatic one-game suspension. Coaches had complained about the rule for years.
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Other Sports
Real Madrid's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will miss six weeks with an injury, meaning he'll sit out some huge Champions League quarterfinal matches against Bayern Munich. The Champions League is essentially the playoff tournament for Europe's top soccer clubs — this is a major blow for Real Madrid.
A murder conviction in a case tied to the UFC world: Ibraheem Yazeed was found guilty of murdering Aniah Blanchard, the 19-year-old stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris. Blanchard was killed in 2019, and the case drew significant attention at the time. A verdict has finally come after years of legal proceedings.
Jack Hughes wants his gold medal puck back. The hockey star scored the golden goal for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but the Hockey Hall of Fame has the puck — and they say it belongs to them, not him. Hughes disagrees. It's a quirky little dispute over a genuinely historic piece of memorabilia.