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Good morning! I predict you’ll get traded this season.
While You Were Sleeping: Two close calls
For a few minutes late last night, it looked like two big women’s NCAA Tournament upsets were brewing. Instead, we saw two escapes:
- Caitlin Clark and No. 1 seed Iowa squeaked past No. 8 seed West Virginia 64-54, though the game was tied at 52 with under 3 minutes to play. The Mountaineers got the game they wanted, but simply could not keep up offensively. Clark scored 32, giving her a women’s-record 1,113 points on the season.
- No. 2 seed UCLA also eluded upset against No. 7 seed Creighton with a 67-63 win, despite trailing for much of the first half.
Both teams are in Regional 2, which is about to get juicy. The Bruins get No. 3 seed (and defending national champion) LSU this weekend in the Sweet 16, while Iowa plays No. 5 seed Colorado for a chance to face the LSU-UCLA winner.
Explainers: What’s a hip-drop tackle, anyway?
Yesterday, NFL owners unanimously agreed to ban the hip-drop tackle, a move observed by some as overdue and by others as nebulous. Let’s lay out the parameters:
- NFL owners and executives are calling this decision a win for player safety. Their data showed 230 instances of the hip-drop tackle last year, up 65 percent from the year prior. At least 15 of those caused a player to miss at least one game. “I believe we’re trying to make the game safer,” said Rich McKay, NFL competition committee chairman.
- The players’ association expressed disapproval over the move. Why have hip-drop tackles exploded year over year? Players resorted to the technique to avoid using their helmets while tackling. The other major concern is enforcement: How can referees call this correctly in a fast-paced game? This season, there will absolutely be a maddening moment when a hip-drop tackle costs someone a game.
So what is it, anyway? It’s easier to show you first:
Now banned: pic.twitter.com/lMphF4x2Bw
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 25, 2024
That’s Ravens tight end Mark Andrews on the receiving end in November. After that game, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh slammed the hip-drop tackle. Andrews missed the rest of the regular season with an ankle injury and didn’t return until Baltimore’s playoff loss to Kansas City in January.
This is how the league describes the technique: when a defender grabs a runner with both arms and “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body,” then lands on the runner and traps his legs below the knee.
Read our full story here and prepare yourself for some more discourse this fall.
News to Know
Ohtani establishes timeline
In a press conference yesterday, Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani emphatically denied any knowledge of gambling malfeasance, again accusing his former interpreter of taking money to pay off gambling debts. If true, it’s easy to feel bad for Ohtani, allegedly swindled by a man he considered a close friend. Fabian Ardaya was in the room and properly noted how direct Ohtani was, and yet echoes something I can’t stop thinking about: How did Ippei Mizuhara gain access to Ohtani’s bank accounts? We’re still waiting on that answer.
Deion’s hard-line draft stance
Colorado coach Deion Sanders said yesterday that NFL teams should expect his quarterback son, Shedeur, and two-way Buffaloes star Travis Hunter to avoid landing with certain teams in the 2025 NFL Draft. “It’s going to be an Eli,” Sanders said in a podcast interview, invoking Eli Manning’s refusal to play for the Chargers, who drafted him first overall in 2004. Sanders had plenty more to say, of course.
More news
Predictions: Only the boldest MLB predictions for us
Yesterday, we linked Jim Bowden’s 24 predictions for the MLB season with a promise to circle back today. As we creep closer to Thursday’s Opening Day, I want to highlight two that are quite realistic, plus one that’s extremely fun:
1. Blue Jays manager John Schneider gets canned
Jim has this pegged as the year’s first manager firing, and we can all see it happening, right? Schneider’s team has made the playoffs twice, but failed to win a game. Jim predicts a sluggish start will be the last straw. Plus, bench coach Don Mattingly is the perfect interim manager candidate.
2. A feisty trade deadline?
Superstars could be on the move this summer. Jim has three mega-trades: Pete Alonso to the Cubs, Paul Goldschmidt to the Astros and — after the aforementioned Jays collapse — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the Giants. Hoo buddy. If three players of that caliber move at the deadline, the second half will be fun.
3. Aaron Boone takes first boot
Jim has a laser-focused prediction for the Yankees this year: Manager Aaron Boone earns MLB’s first ejection of the season for “arguing balls and strikes on April 19 against the Rays at home.” Also, the Yankees miss the playoffs, but Boone gets an extension after the team wins 25 of its final 32 games.
Other predictions won’t give you that amount of detail, but they’re all intriguing. Read all of them here, including fun bits on Juan Soto’s next contract and Alex Cora’s future.
Watch This Game
NHL: Bruins at Panthers (get tickets)
7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
These teams are one point shy of the NHL lead and tied atop the Atlantic division. Just 10 games left. This one’s important. Plus, the Bruins’ coach thinks the team needs to “wake the f— up.”
NBA: Warriors at Heat (get tickets)
7:30 p.m. ET on NBA League Pass
Miami is jostling to get out of the Play-In, but I want to focus on Golden State here. There is a real danger the Dubs miss the playoffs entirely as the Rockets surge up the standings. A solution? Find a viable No. 2 scorer ASAP.
Pulse Picks
How have the Columbus Blue Jackets become one of the worst franchises in pro sports? Aaron Portzline — an authority on the subject — tells us how in a deeply reported piece out this morning. There is some impressively bad stuff in there.
Chris Simon’s death has put a new spotlight on CTE in the NHL. Multiple former players lamented the league going “the Big Tobacco route” in its response.
Have the Knicks and Nets swapped destinies? John Hollinger has an interesting look at the divergent paths, plus plenty of other notes.
Andrew Marchand reports that ESPN is open for business. Conversations with the NBA and NFL about equity deals? Yes. Partnerships with Google and YouTube? Also yes.
Our flagship baseball podcast has undergone changes, including a new name: The Windup. See what’s in store here (plus peep the sweet new artwork).
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Takeaways from USMNT’s 2-0 win over Mexico in the Nations League final.
Most-read on the website yesterday: We saw two lightning-quick goals in international soccer over the weekend. Tim Spiers figured out how to score a record-setting goal in six seconds — or an even better one in seven. Fun read.
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(Photo: Mark Goldman/Getty Images)
