Jackson, Hurts, Tua NFL Week 3

 Lamar Jackson former Heisman Trophy winner at Louisville, has already won a NFL MVP with the Baltimore Ravens.

Tua and Jalen Hurts won the national championship together at the University of Alabama.

All three quarterbacks through Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season rank up there : each of them with yards from scrimmage, passing yards and rushing yards. 

Miami 3-0 - Philadelphia 3-0 - Baltimore 2-1 with a chance to be 3-0 after blowing a huge Week 2 lead vs. the Ravens.

It’s a long long long season. The NFL is a marathon, opposed to a sprint. Schedule wise and even MVP talk with these quarterbacks or even anyone else who may be mentioned.

The Steelers started 11-0 a season ago. Washington defeated them in Pittsburgh. The Steelers would go on to lose to the Browns at home in round one. 

And One x Marbury

 

Late 1990’s. Early 2000’s. Gentlemen from the University of Pennsylvania as well as Stanford University founded And One. T-shirt’s are eventfully how the company started. Those shirts had various basketball slogans. Eventually the company was able to sign a young Cooney Island Brooklyn native : Stephon Marbury. Marbury was drafted into the NBA following his freshman season at Georgia Tech. Now he was the “future” in Minneapolis along with Kevin Garnett. 

Marbury signed on the dotted line to endorse the brand. 

Then mix tapes given out for free by And One, led into more mix tapes. Which eventually led to the Mix Tape tour. 

Here in Philadelphia we first saw the Mix Tape tour for the first time live ! At a school playground in North Philadelphia home of Aaron Owens known as A.O representing the (215) on the And One tour ! 

Bill Russell A Champion On & Off The Court Transitions

Record after record. Championship after championship. In high school, in college, with the Celtics in the NBA : as a player and coach !

So iconic especially in the civil rights movement. Despite the on the court success for the Celtics, Boston in Russell’s day was a tough place to play for an individual of color.

August unfortunately begin with the passing of the 88 year old legend. Along with Wilt Chamberlain who passed in 1999, guys like him and Russell you think despite it not being feasible : that they could live forever.

Hopefully they can play a game of one on one, as they met again like 76ers / Celtics and Lakers / Celtics.

Rest well gentlemen. 

Vin Scully Passes

 In the world of baseball August is off to a rough start. Broadcasting icon Vin Scully passed away at the age of 94. Scully begin his Dodger broadcaster career in Brooklyn covering Jackie Robinson. Once the Dodgers moved west to Los Angeles, Scully took the 3,000 mile trek with the organization. As they say : the rest is history. Iconic call after iconic call for over 6 decades. Vin Scully retired in 2016. Such a great local broadcaster for the Dodgers. Such a great national broadcaster as well for network television. It was nothing like a World Series or All Star Game being called by Vin Scully. May he Rest In Peace. 

NBA Playoffs Mash 🏥 Unit

 The 2022 NBA Playoffs are just entering round one, week two. However the injuries are adding up. The Miami Heat are the top seed in the East, and took a 3-1 series lead Sunday in Atlanta. They had to play without their free agent point guard Kyle Lowry who is nursing a lower body injury.

A MRI revealed MVP candidate Joel Embiid of the 76ers has a torn thumb ligament, which requires surgery after the season. Philadelphia weren’t able to sweep in Toronto on Saturday. Their All Star point guard only played 15 minutes, Van Fleet seemed to injure his knee.

Phoenix is in a 2-2 series with the young Pelicans, Devin Booker is set to miss sometime due to a hamstring injury. Their 2021 Finals opponent Milwaukee took a 3-1 lead Sunday in Chicago. However they are missing All Star Kris Middleton for multiple weeks with a knee injury.

And those are just the big names, that are injured. So many more are around these playoffs. 

He Always Did The Wright Thing ✌🏾

 Unexpectedly after 20 plus seasons, on the Mainline : Jay Wright retires. Ex Villanova assistant head coach Kyle Neptune will succeed Wright as the Wildcats head coach. 

Neptune was previously the head coach at Fordham University, now he is back home with Villanova. 

Jay Wright is a Naismith Hall of Fame inductee. Also he has led Villanova to 4 Final Fours (including this past April) and a pair of National Championships (2016 & 2018).

Wright will remain at Villanova, as an assistant to the president of the school. 

Coach has left the Mainline campus better than when he found it in 2001. 

2022 MLB Season Is Here

 Despite a long winter. Despite an interesting winter. Despite an impatient winter. Finally ! Owners around Major League Baseball came to an agreement to play 2022 baseball.

Added was an universal designated hitter. Added were additional playoff spots. Here in Philadelphia the Phillies haven’t qualified for the playoffs since October 2011.

The Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays are a few teams to name, to watch out for this season around MLB. 

The season is entering it’s second week, 162 game marathon not sprint. 

Jayhawks Capture Title Comeback Fashion

New Orleans, especially when hosting the Final Four over the years never seem to disappoint. A couple of Monday nights ago at the Superdome, another chapter was added.

It’s no shock the 2021-22 Kansas Jayhawks became the men’s national champions, it’s how they did it. Double digit deficit in a championship game was erased, as the Jayhawks walked down the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Coach Bill Self now has two titles in his trophy case. The school / program captured their 6th title overall, their first since 2008.

Another Big 12 program won a national championship, Baylor did so the previous season, which for their men = 1st national championship. 
 

UNC Kansas The Road Ends Here…

 March Madness 2022 edition comes to an end Monday night. April 4th a men’s college basketball champion will be crowned.

On Saturday Duke & Villanova went down respectively against the Tar Heels & Jayhawks. Hubert Davis in year one and Bill Self nearly 20 years, run these Blue Blood programs.

8th seeded UNC won the East Region. Top seed Kansas won the Midwest Region. New Orleans the Crescent City is set to crown a champion.

Coach Davis looking to bring a title back to his alma mater. Meanwhile Coach Self is in search of his second title. 

There’s A New Dawn In Town

 There’s additional hardware coming back to Columbia. Sunday night in Minneapolis the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the UConn Huskies for the women's national Championship.

It’s head coach Dawn Staley 2nd title 🏆 in 5 years. UConn was undefeated in previous title game. Here at Sports247365 we could not be any more happier, for Coach Staley a fellow Philadelphia native. 

She’s coming off a gold medal 🥇 this past summer. Staley led the USA 🇺🇸 Women's National Team to another gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. 

There appears to be no slowing down, anytime soon for the coach or her program. As a life long Eagles 🦅 fan how ironic : Staley second title came in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is the city in which the 2017-18 Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl. 

Duke / UNC Will Make Final 4 History

 ACC has seen so much history over the years between Duke and North Carolina. What college basketball 🏀 hasn’t seen until this upcoming weekend in New Orleans : the pair of programs facing off in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course it would finally take place in the Coach K retirement tour. Duke are the West Region Champions as a two seed. First year head coach and Tar Heel alum Hubert Davis has UNC, New Orleans bound as East Region Champions (8 seed). 

Winner of the game will play next Monday for the National Championship. North Carolina went into Duke during final game of the regular season and won. Spoiling Coach K last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The two never met in Brooklyn during the ACC tournament. Eventual conference tournament champion Virginia Tech came in between that. 

✌🏾 4th Final Four 4 Coach Wright

 2009

2016

2018

Now in 2022 is probably the most improbable of them all. When it comes to Final Four appearances for Villanova head coach Jay Wright. Their are no current NBA Draft picks projection wise on this 2021-22 Wildcat roster. For a program that has won 2 of the last 5 national titles.

Led by Collin Gillespie, Justin Moore ( injured Achilles in Elite 8 done for the season ) and Jermaine Samuels they get things done the Nova way. 

Fundamentals are key on the Mainline as well as defense. Making your free throws as well as team rebounding is key too. Wins vs. Delaware, Ohio State, Michigan, and Houston has got Villanova heading to New Orleans on Saturday.

Midwest champion and the number seeded Kansas Jayhawks await. As per usual especially without Moore, many won’t give Villanova a chance in the National Semifinals. 

Kyrie Is Back ! (At Barclays Center)

 Couple of milestones this past week for Kyrie Irving. Earlier in the week Kyrie turned 30. Later in the week the New York City vaccination mandate has been lifted.

Zero count them zero home games prior to Thursday, was Kyrie allowed to play in. A few weeks ago while attending a Nets home game Kyrie visited the team locker room at halftime. Five letter word : fined. As in the Nets organization was fined by the NBA. 

Currently 8th seed in East and probably looking at a play in game, means the Nets are DANGEROUS. Especially for potential playoff opponents at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. More now than ever with Kyrie not having to be a part time player any longer. 

“What Are They Going To Say Now ? !”

 Say it with me : The St. Peter’s Peacocks 🦚 are the first 15th seed to advance to the Elite 8. Friday night here in Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center, they walked 2nd seed Purdue down and won !

Gone are the Boilermakers from the Big Ten Conference. Murray State was taken care of in the 2nd round. Round one victim from the SEC : Kentucky !

If Jersey City wasn’t on the map before, they are now !

Former Seton Hall Pirate Shaheen Holloway / 1996 McDonalds All American Game MVP is their head coach. 

Next up on Sunday, another blue blood : University of North Carolina. Winner of the East Regional final will head to New Orleans for the Final Four.

During Friday's post game interview with CBS coach Holloway simply said “What are they going to say now ?!” 

Road To Minneapolis (Women)

 Here in Philadelphia, when it comes to women's college basketball we are all in on the Gamecocks. Their head coach is legendary Dawn Staley from Dobbins High School. After high school = University of Virginia, the WNBA and an Olympic gold medal ( as a player and as a coach this past summer ).

As the Gamecocks head coach Staley and number one South Carolina won it all in 2017, they look to do the same in 2022.

Nonetheless defending National Champion : Stanford is lurking. 

Their are also lower seeds remaining from upsets on opponents home court as we enter Sweet 16 time.

South Dakota knocked off Baylor at Baylor. 

The Road To New Orleans (Men)

 Readers, subscribers it’s been far too long ! Our first article in a calendar 📅 year. How ironic our last article was about March Madness.

We are now in 2022. The road to the Final Four in New Orleans has reached it's second weekend. Philadelphia (East), San Antonio (South), Chicago (Midwest) and San Francisco (West). 

Thus far it’s guaranteed at minimum one double digit seed will appear in the Elite 8. Coach K basically in his last dance has number two Duke going up against Texas Tech in the regional semifinals. 

Number one seeds that remain after Baylor second round exit to UNC : Arizona, Kansas and Gonzaga.