By Francisco Guzman and Saeed Ahmed, CNN
March for college basketball fans means a month full of roaring crowds, dramatic upsets, buzzer-beaters, blood, sweat, and tears. But in the shadow of the novel coronavirus outbreak, there could be a new meaning to the phrase March Madness. With the big tournament just a week from tip-off, the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) has prepared for several scenarios to keep the disease from spreading.
CBS giving us a good dose of the past when we need it most. #MarchVegas #MarchMadness #LasVegas
By Matt Bonesteel
March 20, 2020 at 6:07 a.m. PDT
If things hadn’t gone completely haywire over the past couple of weeks, we would be hearing this song over and over and over again right about now and wouldn’t have minded it one bit: Read more…
by Scott Pianowski, Yahoo Sports
We’re wired to be binary with fantasy and life analysis. Zero-sum game. Winners and losers. Something goes up, something comes down.
But in some instances, everybody benefits. A win-win can be attainable. Heck, sometimes we get that rare win-win-win.
On my ledger, the Tom Brady news qualifies as a universal win. There’s something for everybody.
For two decades, the Patriots have been the NFL’s most enduring dynasty. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers haven’t seen the playoffs since 2007 and haven’t won a playoff game since Super Bowl 37.
So the goals in each organization are different. New England’s coming off a divisional title and a first-round playoff loss — and that’s a disappointment, a stained season, a “What went wrong?” year.
If Tampa gets that far in 2020, the city might throw a parade. It’s been 13 years since the Bucs savored a playoff appearance. Tampa’s franchise is screaming to be relevant again.
New England no longer has the offensive infrastructure to support a quarterback heading into his age-43 season. Oh, the Pats tried in 2019, they threw so many darts — and everything missed. N’Keal Harry was a first-round bust amidst a year of juicy first-round breakouts. Antonio Brown lasted one game, Josh Gordon got through six. Mohamed Sanu was an expensive acquisition, quickly injured. The tight end position was a mess.
Only Julian Edelman, at age 33, was a reliable downfield option.
The Patriots also had an uneven year on the offensive line, and after the season, OL coaching wizard Dante Scarnecchia (perhaps the best offensive line coach in history) retired. And New England doesn’t hold the type of resources needed to significantly revamp this offense.
So you can’t blame the Patriots for moving on from Brady before his age-43 season. They need to find their quarterback of the future, perhaps in the 2020 or 2021 draft, maybe on the pro market. They need to circle the wagons, rebuild, see if Bill Belichick can assemble one more dynamic championship contender. Even if Brady had returned to Foxboro, the Patriots at best were a medium longshot in the loaded AFC. Their roster can’t match up with Baltimore or Kansas City, and several other teams are in New England’s neighborhood. Read more here…