First, new NIT Bracketology yesterday. Look at it. Taste it. Savor it. One month and one half-month away.
Now…
NITe Train: Notre Dame
Goodness. Duke came to South Bend, managed to scrap together only 57 points, and Mike Brey honored his former boss by still handing him a 14-point road win. It looked like something from the B-team I starred for my freshman year of high school.
Notre Dame’s in a bit of a hilarious spot here, because they’re bad but the ACC is very bad, to the degree that the Irish could win the next five games in a row and still conceivably be projected as an NIT team. There were a lot of teams they could’ve afforded to lose to, Boston College wasn’t one of them, now they might have to actually go 9-1 down the stretch here to sink their NIT dreams.
As scripture reminds us, the NIT gate is narrower than a camel’s eye, but Notre Dame’s about as close to an NIT lock as you can get on February 1st. Well done, guys. Impressive work.
Big Night in Lubbock
We went through this in Bevo’s Fake Nuts earlier, but the scene tonight at Texas Tech should be awesome, provided there isn’t a riot. Or that the riot is fun and not destructive of anything but scooters and maybe a couch or two, supplied willingly. Chris Beard is cashing more checks than the financial ones. I have no idea what will happen but there’s a high probability of fun.
Hélio!
Hélio Castroneves, who returns to IndyCar for a full season this year, was part of the team which won the Rolex 24 this year, with fellow IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud also on the roster. Great moment, plenty of reasons to get excited for the Indy 500, which I believe is 118 days away. Milk and Hélio Castroneves are the top two. Of those reasons. To be clear.
Baseball Still Exists
Hard to tell, given the Manfred lockout, but baseball does still exist, and we had some news on it yesterday. Firstly, we bought Cubs season tickets, which we’re elated about. Secondly, Joe Kelly isn’t the cover athlete for this year’s MLB The Show, as the people in power continue to ignore the will of the people not in power (i.e., me).
The Senators Did Some Sens-ing
The Senators lost on Saturday to the Ducks, and I don’t remember anything noteworthy from the effort, so let’s focus on last night, when they beat the Oilers. Last night was all about Tim Stützle, the small German child the Senators employ as possibly the best player in the NHL in four years (one of the great things about knowing nothing about a sport is that you can make bold claims like this without having to ask if it’s in the least bit possibly accurate). Jimmy Stü, as he is known privately (it’s a Tkachuk thing)…
- Got in a fight.
- Described the fight as “really fun” after saying he “just tried to hit him as hard as I can.” Again, remember, this is a small German child. Really. 18 years old. Ok he’s 20 but he’s a young-looking 20.
- Scored the game-winning goal in OT with his friends, many of whom were hurt (shoutout to Josh Norris for rocking through that popcorn while Drake Batherson…had a beer?), hanging out behind the net.
In other Sens hilarity, they celebrated a sellout of the capacity-restricted Canadian Tire Centre, with these guys four of the 500 fans allowed in. It has to be so demoralizing to lose to this team. They play the Islanders tonight on Long Island.
Burnley’s Transfer Window Was…Ok
Speaking of demoralizing, Burnley didn’t get that Oršić guy from Croatia. Big blow. They did get someone named Wout Weghorst, who should fill in for Chris Wood nicely and is 6’6”, but overall, it was pretty close to a neutral signing window when there were hopes of them making a splash. They held onto Tarkowski, which is good for avoiding relegation, but they’re going to need to score some goals, and it currently appears they only have two people capable of doing that—Weghorst and Maxwel Cornet. Huge game on Saturday at home against Watford. Already sold out, partially thanks to Alan Pace (the ownership group’s chairman) offering some discounts to honor Ben Mee. Mixed vibes. Some good ones, though, so let’s focus on those. Need those.
***
Game of the NITe tonight is…hm. Not a clear one. Let’s sift, shall we? I see Providence/St. John’s, but neither of those teams is really all that close. I see Davidson/St. Bonaventure, and I guess the Bonnies are on the bubble? That’s already tipped, though. I think the only reasonable answer is that there isn’t a Game of the NITe tonight. Feel free to watch Texas play Texas Tech in its stead.
