As much as the sight of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton batting back-to-back makes me feel things, it's still very difficult to get excited about anything that happens in Spring Training. This is especially true now that we're just a week away from real games getting underway. After watching this A+ hype video from the MLB Twitter account, it's time to just get on with it already:
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/976889086739976192
Oh yes. Very much ready.
But before meaningful baseball games arrive, the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers decided get get the proceedings going early, by participating in a full-on bean-fest the likes of which is usually reserved for a sweltering hot day in mid-July when tempers flare between two teams that are tired of looking at the standings and seeing they are 13.5 games back. Check out the highlights, complete with multiple ejections … in a Spring Training game!
Spring Training? More like Spring Paining (I'm so sorry).
Onl..

Tim NwachukwuWhen Purdue center Isaac Haas went down in the Boilermakers first round NCAA Tournament game against Cal State Fullerton, it was a crushing blow for a team that appeared Final Four-bound. The senior started all 35 games this season, averaging 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. To make matters worse, Haas fractured the elbow late in the second half of the Cal State Fullerton game, one that was all but over when it happened.
After making it clear he still wanted to give it a go in Purdue's second-round game vs. Butler, Haas went through a warmup with an elbow brace that the NCAA would soon deem prohibited in typical NCAA fashion. Per the NCAA's website, Rule 1-26.2 reads:
“Elbow, hand, finger, wrist or forearm guards, casts or braces made of fiberglass, plaster, metal or any other non-pliable substance shall be prohibited.” Furthermore, Rule 1-26.4 states that, “Pliable (flexible or easily bent) material covered on all exterior sides and edges with not less tha..

Kent Smith(Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)Tanking is not a new phenomenon in the NBA; just this fall, the league passed new reform to curb deliberate losing for the 2019 draft. Has that stopped teams from doing everything in their power to limp to the finish line? Absolutely not. In fact, the case has been made that tanking has never been more prevalent, with almost a third of the league doing their damnedest to lose as much as possible since January. Particularly astonishing, since there's not a “can't miss” prospect in this year's draft.
But, even amongst this wave of failure, give the Memphis Grizzlies props. They just took tanking to a new low.
The Grizz lost to the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night, in the same way Paris lost to the asteroid in “Armageddon,” coming out on the business end of a 61-point deficit.
“They were out there just laughing,” said Memphis guard Tyreke Evans. “It was embarrassing. The whole thing.”
As the Hornets should have been. T..

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Matthew Ashton – AMAWhen you grow up with a name that sounds like the Norse word for lightning bolt and an ability to score goals like this and this and, umm, this, chances are you're going to develop a bit of an ego. And so it is, and has always been, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic—self-professed Swedish soccer god and the biggest ego in sports. Now 36 and coming off a serious ACL injury, however, the Big Z is finally entering the twilight of his career, a fact made abundantly clear by Friday's revelation that, after a over a decade leading the line at Manchester United, PSG, Barcelona, and Inter Milan, Zlatan is officially headed to the [gulp] MLS.
Signing with the LA Galaxy on a two-year, $3-million-dollar Designated Player deal, Zlatan's arrival is unquestionably the biggest storyline in the MLS so far this season, but in typical Zlatan fashion, he didn't wait for someone to roll out the red carpet for him, taking out the following full-page ad in Friday's edition..

Keegan Bradley earned a reputation as a strong match-play golfer at the 2012 Ryder Cup. Since then, however, he's been anything but

Join Jack Nicklaus and his son Jackie for an emotional viewing of the 1986 Masters, where the Golden Bear played what many call the best nine holes of major-championship golf ever–with his son at his side as his caddie.

Loyola-Chicago continued their improbable run through the South region on Thursday night, taking down Nevada in a close game to ensure a berth as an 11th-seed in the Elite Eight.
The Ramblers' Cinderella story is the type that makes the NCAA Tournament so much fun to follow. The program hasn't been this far in March Madness since its championship in 1963. Heck, Loyola-Chicago hadn't even made the tournament in 33 years.
And as the Ramblers continue to survive and advance, it has put more of a spotlight on their 98-year-old team captain, Sister Jean, who has been the team chaplain since 1994. And in the past couple of weeks, she has become quite the celebrity. Sister Jean has appeared on ABC's “Good Morning America,” NBC's “Access,” and according to ESPN's Darren Rovell, she has been tweeted about more than anybody else—player, or otherwise, during March Madness. That's celebrity status.
So it's no surprise Sister Jean stole the show again on Thur..

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) Laura Davies had a nightmare round days after contending for a title at age 54, and Caroline Hedwall, Jackie Stoelting and Hee Young Park topped the Kia Classic leaderboard.

Davies shot a 10-over 82 on Thursday at rainy Aviara Golf Club – four days after tying for second behind Inbee Park in the Founders Cup, and five days after shooting a 9-under 63 in the Phoenix event.

Fighting Achilles tendon and calf problems in her left leg, Davies opened double bogey-bogey-par-bogey. She bogeyed Nos. 9, 10 and 12, had another double on 15 and bogeyed 16. The 82 was the World Golf Hall of Famer’s highest score on tour since also shooting 82 in the 2013 Marathon Classic. On Monday, she jumped 208 spots to No. 155 in the world.

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Hedwall, Stoelting and Park shot 66 in the final event before the major ANA Inspiration next week at Mission Hills. Ariya Jutanugarn, also coming off a second-place tie in Phoenix, was a stroke back with 2015 champion Cri..

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Latest on the Dell Technologies Match Play (all times local):

7:45 p.m.

Cameron Smith of Australia won his second straight match on the 18th hole, this time taking down Hideki Matsuyama.

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The second day of Match Play ended with Patrick Cantlay losing the lead for the first time all day on the 17th hole, only to drive near the green and get up-and-down for birdie to beat Yusaku Miyazato.

Smith, Cantlay and Matsuyama all have a chance to emerge from Group 5.

Going into Friday’s final day of round robin, 20 players already have been mathematically eliminated, a list that includes defending champion Dustin Johnson, last year’s runner-up, Jon Rahm, and Zach Johnson.

Five matches are between players already eliminated.

In Group 10, Kyle Stanley plays Russell Henley and the winner can get into a playoff as long as Paul Casey loses. Casey plays Matt Fitzpatrick, who already has been eliminated.

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6:30 p.m.

Jordan Spieth and Patrick R..