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Good morning! ICYMI yesterday, we now have a Saturday Pulse and a refreshed weekend format. Enjoy.
Madness: Are we having fun yet?
There was a universal complaint after the first two days of the men’s NCAA Tournament: too much chalk. Where are the upsets? This is March Madness, right?
Sure, valid. We had no deluge of stunners. Even our possible double-digit-seed darlings — McNeese State and Drake — both lost yesterday. But chalk means that the best teams (theoretically) advance across the board, which means we get good basketball. Bright side, here!
That came to fruition Saturday. Oh, and we got a huge upset, too:
The women’s side is even chalkier, with one two legit upsets in the first two days of the tournament: Oregon and San Diego State, both No. 10 seeds, advanced with nice wins. Elsewhere, every higher seed won, and most by a large margin. The second round begins today, though.
More on that in a bit. Let’s keep moving:
News to Know
Blues call up Dvorsky
The St. Louis Blues, sitting in a wild-card spot with 11 games left in the regular season, called up ballyhooed 19-year-old prospect Dalibor Dvorsky yesterday. He is the club’s 2023 first-round pick and has already been tabbed as a future star. It’s unclear whether he will be simply insurance or a part of this team as it tries to make the postseason. Exciting nonetheless.
More news
- Speaking of prospects: Cam Smith might still make the Astros roster after the latest round of cuts.
- The Guardians signed pitcher Tanner Bibee to a five-year contract extension yesterday. Prudent move.
- The most shocking upset in wrestling history? Wyatt Hendrickson’s win over Gable Stevenson in the NCAA title match qualifies. Read our report.
- Abby Roque made history last night by scoring the PWHL’s first-ever “Michigan” goal. See it here.
- Colorado and Syracuse are officially playing a joint spring game. Pretty cool.
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Watch and Listen
📺 NCAAW: No. 5 Kansas State vs. No. 4 Kentucky
2 p.m. ET on ESPN
A real tossup game between Wildcats, with lower-seeded K-State a 2.5-point favorite (per BetMGM) in Lexington. Kansas State is getting healthy and put an 85-41 drubbing on No. 12 Fairfield on Friday. Watch all-Big 12 guard Serena Sundell, who has 28 points and 18 assists in her past two games.
📺 Soccer: Gotham FC vs. Orlando Pride
5 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Orlando, the reigning NWSL champs, started its title defense with a 6-0 romp over Chicago last weekend. Two goals already for Barbra Banda, who was second in the league with 13 last year. The 25-year-old Zambian forward may already be in a two-woman MVP race.
📺 NCAAM: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Arizona
9:40 p.m. ET on TBS
The last men’s game of the opening weekend, so you’ll want to savor it. Both teams have legit 7-footers doing heavy lifting: Nate Bittle (14 and 10 last game) for Oregon and Henri Veesaar (8 and 7 in 20 minutes) for Arizona.
Pulse Picks
As a reminder, on weekends we’ll use this space to both showcase our favorite content from The Athletic and share authentic recommendations for things our staff simply enjoyed.
This incredible story from Jon Krawczynski on how rarely used Timberwolves veteran Joe Ingles started a game so his autistic son could see him play, and how the team reacted. Sob.
Not Googling things when I can’t think of something in a conversation with someone. I try to come up with it and only Google if a week has gone by without figuring it out. — Zach Harper
Going for a run in a park with working water fountains. — Alex Kirshner
Ralph Russo’s fun dispatch on McNeese team manager Amir Khan, aka “Aura,” the biggest breakout star of March Madness so far.
“Invincible” season 3. — Chris Branch
Replacing my computer webcam with an iPhone camera — if you have a Mac, you just need something to prop up your phone. — Jacob Robinson
The video game “Cyberpunk 2077,” somehow as great as “Red Dead Redemption 2.” — Jason Kirk
This helpful explainer on the Cooper Flagg trading card market.
This is a serious one, but “Adolescence” on Netflix is the best series (and the most extraordinary filming) you’ll see all year, provided you can cope with the broad British accents. Spoiler: each episode was shot in one take 😳 — Phil Hay
A new go-to white T-shirt. — Torrey Hart
Most-clicked in yesterday’s newsletter: Our obituary for George Foreman. RIP.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Same as above.
(Top photo: Brian Fluharty / Imagn Images)
