Happy St Patrick’s Night, friends!
We can’t always count on having the luck of the Irish—or even green beer—but we certainly can count on challenges. Kara Lawson, Don Monson, Anthony Edwards and others remind us how we can turn rocks into shamrocks. ☘️
🏀 Quote
“We all wait in life for things to get easier. It will never get easier. What happens is you handle hard better."
Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson to her team in 2022
Lawson’s impromptu talk with her team in 2022 was recorded, shared on social media and went viral. “Handle hard better” became a catchphrase.
In an ESPN profile published Friday, Andrea Adelson explains the backstory and the impact Lawson has had by handling hard. Worth a read.
🏀 Story
It’s madness at Long Beach State as Dan Monson heads to NCAA tournament on his way out
By Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times
Love Bolch’s lede:
Last Monday, Long Beach State announced it would be seeking a new basketball coach. Five days later, Dan Monson reminded the school it already had one. In one of the maddest storylines of March, Monson’s team did not go quietly in what was supposed to be his final week on the job.
If you yell at kids on your lawn, you may remember Don Monson. Twenty-five years ago he led Gonzaga to its first NCAA tourney win, and then another and another as the Bulldogs made it to the Elite Eight and became the darlings of the 1999 dance.
Monson parlayed that run into the Minnesota job. Mark Few took over at Gonzaga and the Zags have made every NCAA tourney since.
Getting pushed out is hard. But Monson and his players are handling it. Do they have another run in them? It would be a Long shot, but what a Beachin’ way to leave.
🏀 Highlight
In case you missed it last week, here’s the best rejection I’ve seen since I was in high school trying to date.
With it, Anthony Edwards handled hard. He missed a free throw with 7 seconds left against Indiana that would have put his Timberwolves up 3, but hustled back and went all up and all out to stop a would-be game-tying layup. Gotta see it to believe it.
🎾 Stat
123: ranking of Luca Nardi last Monday before he upset his boyhood idol, #1 ranked Novak Djokovic, in Indian Wells
The young Italian came into the match with a 4-12 career record on the tour. Djokovic came in at 1095-215 and more Grand Slam singles championships (24) than any man in history. Doesn’t get much harder of a matchup than that.
“This is a miracle,” Nardi said. “I’m a 20-years-old guy, 100 in the world, and beating Novak. So, crazy. Crazy.”
🏀 Groaner
How would Kobe Bryant react to learning the base of his Lakers’ statue contains several errors?
Kobe would have a beef with it!
C’mon, you know he would. The man spent his life pursuing perfection and even hosted a basketball analysis show called Detail.
⚾️ Song
I Can See Clearly Now by Jimmy Cliff
This may be the new theme song for MLB, now that the league has revealed its new uni’s from Fanatics and Nike. The pants, you see, are a tad transparent.
Said one fan on X: “Whenever I’m nervous public speaking I just pretend people in the audience are wearing Fanatics baseball pants.”
Oh, well. Any excuse to play Cliff’s classic is fine by me. We can see clearly now. But what will happen to these chaps when the rain returns? 😳
⚾️ Trivia
Tommy John surgery turns 50 this season. Just six left-handed pitchers have won more games than John in Major League Baseball history. How many can you name?
Answer below.
Warren Spahn (363), Steve Carlton (329), Eddie Plank (326), Tom Glavine (305), Randy Johnson (303), and Lefty Grove (300) are the only lefties with more wins than John. All are in the Hall of Fame. John is not. But none of the others have Spahned thousands of career-saving procedures.
Aw shucks. 🌽 That’s it for this week. Thanks for stomaching Corny Sports. May luck be with you this week. And if it’s not, have fun getting better at handling hard.