Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a terrific start.
Much is being made of the growing popularity of women’s college basketball. Numerous stories highlight how television ratings are way up. Where I live in the northeast, the sport has been popular for more than two decades, galvanized by the success of the UConn women’s basketball team. But what is behind five million people tuning in to watch a women’s game now?
To me, it is easy to figure out. The women offer an exciting brand of basketball, there are more competitive teams now and you have interesting story lines heightened by a growing list of star players. It not just UConn’s Paige Bueckers anymore. It is Caitlin Clark of Iowa, JuJu Watkins of USC, Angel Reese of LSU and so many more. It is no longer UConn coach Geno Auriemma. It is Dawn Staley of the University of South Carolina, Kim Mulkey of LSU, Lindsay Gottlieb of USC and so many more.
Don’t believe me? Listen to the words of Gottlieb, before her team played UConn Monday night, with the winner of that game advancing to the Final Four.
I think we would all tell you, right, it’s USC against UConn, and it’s LSU against Iowa. But star power drives narratives in athletics. It’s why the NBA took off, you know, when there were faces to it, going all the way back to Magic (Johnson) and Larry (Bird) and Michael Jordan.”
-Lindsay Gottlieb
Gottlieb nailed it. There are now more “faces” to the game, covering the entire country. That is why women’s college basketball is now a must-see for sports fans. Star power and compelling story lines draw interest. It is nothing more complicated than that.
By the way, I am writing this before two, big women’s tournament games Monday night. Defending champion Iowa plays LSU in the rematch of last season’s title game, followed by UConn against USC. These are two regional finals with star power. Meanwhile, Staley’s Gamecocks and North Carolina State - itself a great story - have already punched their tickets to the Final Four. Women’s college basketball is a big deal and Gottlieb’s quote tells you why. Enjoy the games.
Baseball’s first billion dollar player
In his first four games, Juan Soto has shown no inclination of being bothered by performing in New York’s spotlight. It seems successful players who join New York teams have a tendency to start off slow. It took the 25-year-old Soto about a nano second to get acclimated to the New York Yankees.
Soto had a major role in every one of the Yankees victories, in their season-opening four-game sweep of the Houston Astros. Acquired by New York from San Diego in the off season, Soto is hitting .529, going 9-for-17 with a home run and four RBIs, entering Monday’s game at Arizona. He also threw a runner out at home plate in the ninth inning of the Yankees win on Opening Day.
Soto is a free agent after this season. At his age, if he has a monster year, it is not out of the realm of possibility to see the club with the winning bid spending one billion dollars to acquire his services. Will it be the Yankees, the Mets or the Dodgers? They seem to be the most likely bidders.
The Dodgers proved creative in their $700M contract to Shohei Ohtani by deferring most of the contract to avoid a luxury tax hit to their payroll. It may take something like that to sign Soto, but with his age and talent, do not doubt me. He could land that billion dollar contract come 2025.
My gripe with golf
Stephan Jaeger won his first-ever PGA tournament on Sunday, capturing the Houston Open, after Scottie Scheffler missed a short putt on the 18th hole, that would have sent the tournament into sudden death. Scheffler was on the verge of winning his third straight tournament and is the world’s number one ranked golfer.
I am happy for Jaeger, and I am sure Scheffler is kicking himself for missing an even shorter putt in the second round of the tournament on Friday. However, the hole which probably cost Scheffler the tournament was the 121-yard, par-3 15th hole at Memorial Park.
On Saturday, using a wedge off the tee, Scheffler dropped his shot within inches of the hole, but there was so much backspin on the ball, it rolled off the green and into the nearby creek. Instead of getting a birdie, Scheffler ended up with a double-bogey on the hole.
I understand, when they design these courses for the pros, they have to make them as difficult as possible. However, no player should be penalized with a shot, because a green and fringe have so much slope to it, that if you land it near the hole but miss, the ball rolls into the creek.
To his credit, Scheffler never complained about his fate on that 15th hole, but that’s how close he came to winning three straight. Meanwhile, congratulations to Jaeger. With the victory, he has now earned a trip to the Masters, the weekend after next.
That is going to do it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for your support and have a terrific week.
DAN LOVALLO