Sports ‘n Stuff 3/22/22

Odell Beckham Jr.  could be an addition for the Colts, as the Super Bowl champion wideout endorsed Matt Ryan’s arrival in Indianapolis. OBJ tweeting 

“Random thought. Bruh I really think Matt Ryan to the colts was actually (fire emoji) I think bruh will elevate and do sum special over there.”

For every team that’s still alive in the 2022 NCAA Sweet 16, ESPN  picked an all-time starting five — and ranked them. Check them all out at ESPN.com but for purposes of this story, who wins this matchup?

North Carolina:

G Phil Ford: Won the Wooden Award (1978); averaged 18.6 PPG and 6.1 APG in four years at North Carolina; AP All-America first team in 1977 and 1978; led team to 1977 national title game

G Michael Jordan: Won the Wooden Award (1984); hit game winner in 1982 national title game vs. Georgetown; averaged 17.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 1.7 SPG in three seasons at North Carolina; AP America first team in 1983 and 1984

PPG and 6.3 RPG for 1982 national title team; 1982 NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player

G Jerry Stackhouse: AP All-America first team (1995); averaged 19.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.7 BPG in 1994-95; led team to the Final Four in 1995

F James Worthy: AP All-America second team (1982); averaged 15.6

F Tyler Hansbrough: Won the Wooden Award (2008); AP All-America first team in 2008 and 2009. 

Coach: Dean Smith (won national titles in 1982 and 1993)

UCLA 

Good luck guarding both Abdul-Jabbar and Walton.

G Gail Goodrich: AP All-America first team (1965); won national titles in 1964 and 1965; averaged 19.0 PPG in three seasons at UCLA

G Reggie Miller: All-Pac-12 first team (1986, 1987); averaged 25.9 PPG in 1985-86; averaged 22.3 PPG and 44% from 3 in 1986-87

F Marques Johnson: Won the first Wooden Award (1977); averaged 11.6 PPG for the 1975 national title team; AP All-America first team (1977); averaged 21.4 PPG, 11.1 RPG in 1976-77

C Kareem Abdul Jabbar: Led UCLA to three consecutive national titles (1967-69); AP All-America first team three years in a row (1967-69); averaged 26.4 PPG and 15.5 RPG in three seasons at UCLA; AP player of the year in 1967, 1969

C Bill Walton: Led UCLA to national titles in 1972 and 1973; AP All-America three consecutive seasons (1972-74); averaged 20.3 PPG and 15.7 RPG in three years at UCLA

Coach: John Wooden (10 national championships, NCAA record)

Speaking of Sweet 16, The No. 6 seed Ohio State Buckeyes Women pulled off the upset on Monday night, downing No. 3 seed LSU 79-64 on the Tigers’ home court to punch their ticket to their first Sweet 16 since 2017 where they will meet No. 2 seed Texas on Friday.

Chris Holtmann has yet to take the Men’s team to the Sweet 16.

A particularly prized copy of the first-ever Marvel comic book fetched more than $2.4 million in an online auction. Known as the Marvel Comics #1 “pay copy,” it’s “arguably one of the top three comic books in the world of comics collecting,” said Vincent Zurzolo, chief operating officer of ComicConnect. The New York-based auctioneer sold the book Thursday night for a bit under $2,427,800.

The 94th Academy Awards will be held this Sunday on ABC at 8pm

At the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center

Honoring movies released in 2021

Nominated for Best Picture:

BELFAST

CODA

DON’T LOOK UP

DRIVE MY CAR

DUNE

KING RICHARD

LICORICE PIZZA

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

THE POWER OF THE DOG

WEST SIDE STORY

A federal appeals court shot down the New York Yankees argument against releasing that a letter allegedly showing that Major League Baseball hid the team’s sign-stealing scheme. This, of course, was bad news for the Yankees because the letter from Commissioner Rob Manfred to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman that the Yankees were pushing the limits by messing around with a dugout phone in 2017 — around the same time that the Red Sox were messing around with Apple Watches… all with the goal of getting batters an unfair advantage at the plate. It might take two weeks or more for the court to release the letter — but fans around the world will probably get to see it, which will allow us all to make our own judgements about just how much the Yankees might have been cheating.

The Cleveland Guardians scored 12 runs yesterday and managed to lose to the Rangers 25-12

Don’t know which was worse, their defense or the Cavs who were star struck by LeBron James and company losing to the Lakers 131-120. LeBron scoring at will ending with a triple double with 38 points.

Next up for the Cavs, a showdown with the Raptors Thursday in Toronto.

Today is Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Today in Sports History

1967 – Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing to be inducted into the United States Army. 

37 years ago – In 1985, Wendy’s fired their amazing “Where’s the Beef?” spokesperson Clara Peller. . . after Clara did  spots for Prego pasta sauce saying she’d FOUND the beef.

1993 – Cleveland Indians pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews were killed in a motor boat accident. Bobby Ojeda was also seriously injured. 

1994 – The NFL announced the addition of the two-point conversion. It was the league’s first scoring change in 75 seasons. 

25 years ago – In 1997, Paul McCartney’s original birth certificate sold at auction for $84,146 in the biggest-ever auction of Beatles memorabilia.

Celebrating Birthdays today:

Bob Costas is 70

Wolf Blitzer is 74

William Shatner is 91