Survive and Advance (Hour 4)

It is the JR Sportbrief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.

I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody listening all over North America. I hope you've had a great Friday here in March Madness. I mean it's been a busy day. It's been a busy Thursday. It's been a busy week.

It's going to continue to be a busy weekend. You can stay locked in here on the Infinity Sports Network for all the up-to-date coverage of March Madness. Thank you so much to our producer holding down in New York City, Ryan Botcher.

And thank you to our guests who've come through and joined us as well. Earlier on in the show, we had a chat with Scott Doctorman, covers all things college basketball for the athletic. Last hour, we had a chat with Jim Gazola, who covers college basketball specifically for the McNeese Cowboys.

What I think is the biggest underdog story that we have here in March Madness. If you missed any of the conversations, you can go ahead and hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. Jameis Winston has decided to sign with the New York Giants.

Find that to be hilarious. I guess no Aaron Rodgers. He was visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers today. Mark Cuban said, I didn't agree with that Luca trade. Steph Curry has a bruised pelvis.

He'll be out of action, at least for tomorrow here in Atlanta, as the Warriors start a six game road trip. And then of course, we got basketball, plenty of it. Let me give you some of the updates about what we have going on in the world right now. This minute, this second, we got a good one. Well, no, this is not it.

This is actually the, it's actually the worst one. Well, the good one is Marquette. Man, the scores keep moving around.

Give me a break. Marquette currently leads, leads New Mexico 49 or now they beat him. Marquette leads 51 to 48. There's 12 minutes to go here in the game. Marquette has finally taken a lead here at New Mexico and Marquette.

They've played this one a close all the way through. Also, Kentucky has found themselves some room against Troy. Kentucky currently leads Troy 61 to 44. We have Arizona who's currently leading Akron 41 to 31. They just came out of halftime and let's see.

Yeah, there we have it. Those are the four games that are currently active. We only have three more games, four more games on a night. UConn and Oklahoma, they'll be in action in about 20 minutes. We have Xavier in Illinois. They'll be in action in about 40 minutes and an hour from now, Michigan State will take on Bryant. They should beat the snot out of them. And then we have Oregon.

They take on Liberty in a little more than an hour. And so workplace productivity has just hit the toilet. Ryan, workplace productivity is probably bad for every place except for us, huh? Yeah. Even still, we get a little distracted with some of the games.

Well, it's our job. Is it a distraction when you got to know what's going on? That's not a distraction. Well, sometimes you're focused on like Marquette and New Mexico and you kind of forget about Kentucky and Troy and Arizona and Akron because it's not a close game. Oh, let's not forget this.

And what's the watch? Right. That's true. That's true.

It's not a distract. I got all I got all the games on the screen at one time. Yeah, we do that.

Have that in the newsroom right now. I'm stuck to two. So. Oh, OK. Well, you ain't you ain't missing nothing. So don't worry about it. It's our job to talk about this stuff and notice this. It's no big deal. Not a distraction. And we have the games that actually completed earlier today, of which there are many to the shock of absolutely nobody.

Nobody. Duke, they mopped the floor with Mount St. Mary's. The final score there was ninety three to forty nine. Cooper Flag was back.

He didn't have to work too hard. Cooper Flag went out there, only had to play twenty two minutes. He finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks. I think it's safe to say that Cooper Flag, his ankle is a O K after the game. Cooper Flag, he didn't want to take a dump on Mount St. Mary's, but Cooper Flag basically said, yeah, we beat him by about 40 points. We beat him because we executed.

OK, great. Yeah, I thought we kind of just came out, executed our game plan, did what we were trying to do. We didn't take them lightly. We came out, we executed and we just jumped out to it. But yeah, I think it was a great execution by us. How humble, right? How humble. Oh, we didn't take them lightly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody knew that we were going to beat the living hell out of them. We beat them by forty four points.

But yeah, we didn't take them lightly. Up next for the Duke Blue Devils on Sunday, they're going to take on Baylor. Baylor barely got by Mississippi State.

The final score there is seventy five to seventy two. And this came down to a three pointer that ultimately did not go in like Baylor almost lost this game. Mississippi State had a chance to knock down a game tying three and the ball hit absolutely nothing.

It was an airball. Take a listen to this final call as Baylor beat Mississippi State earlier in the day to advance on and take on Duke. This is courtesy of Westwood one point to left Mississippi State down by three. Matthews fakes it to Hubbard, sends it to Hubbard, who will catch it from the midline.

They'll wave it off. It would not have counted. And this long and winding road to start the day in the eight, nine game goes to Baylor. Baylor, they held on. They got to do a whole lot more if they want to advance past Duke. One game that did end up in an upset. Twelfth seed Colorado State beat fifth seeded Memphis and Penny Hardaway as Penny Hardaway's team. Mind you, they beat him seventy eight to seventy. Colorado State is now going to move forward and and take on Maryland. The Terps went out and handled business as well earlier today. They smashed Grand Canyon eighty one to forty nine. There was no expectation that Colorado State was going to be here.

But now they are. I want you to take a listen to this final call. This is also courtesy of Westwood one. Lake will dribble out near midcourt. Rams players exchanging high fives. Memphis players begin to walk to the bench down to two down to one. And for a second straight year, the Colorado State Rams have won an NCAA tournament game. The Rams upset Memphis seventy eight seventy and Colorado State is on to the second round. One team that that was that was not upset, but certainly gave everybody a little bit of a scare was Alabama. The second ranked Alabama let Robert Morris hang around. Alabama won ninety to eighty one. Robert Morris was scaring the living hell out of them. Alabama did not play its best basketball in advancing to the next round. And their head coach, Mr. Fancy Suit Jacket Man, Nate Oates, he said we sucked. Well, he didn't say that, but he kind of did.

Listen to this. You know, a little little disappointed our defensive rebounding, but I'll say this. Our guys were resilient. We said coming into this tournament that we're going to welcome some adversity. Hopefully it's not self-inflicted. I thought tonight some of it was with the rebounds we gave up. But whether it's missed chats, whether it's for recalls, whether who cares what it is, if we face some adversity, let's welcome it. Let's handle it with the right attitude.

Well, maybe they learned their lesson here. Up next for Alabama is St. Mary's, who knocked off Vandy fifty nine to fifty six. We have St. Mary's in Alabama. We got BYU versus Wisconsin, Duke versus Baylor.

We got Auburn versus Creighton, Michigan versus Texas A&M, Ole Miss versus Iowa State. Florida is handing out an ass whooping. Is this the bleeding stop yet? What are we up to now? Did we get a fine one on one yet? It did end.

I'm looking to see the bug on the top to see if it's up there. Oh, here we go. Here we go. You were close. Yeah. Ninety five to sixty nine.

Florida ends up smashing Norfolk State. You said 90. Was it 90 to 60? Yeah. Yeah.

You were close. Now we have to wait to see what happens in this this matchup between a Yukon and Oklahoma. They'll go ahead and whoever comes out of that game will take on the Florida Gators.

I'm hoping it's Yukon. You know, I expressed earlier in the show my disdain for Coach Danny Hurley. I want to see him go on. And I want to see Florida eviscerate them the same way that they just did to Norfolk State. That would be a dream come true.

It absolutely would. Yeah, we've had a busy day in the world of sports and then also just out of nowhere on a Friday night, minding our business on the NFL side. Jamis Winston found himself a new job, according to Jordan Schultz from Fox. Jamis Winston is on his way to the New York Giants on a two year deal worth eight million dollars.

You think about how the musical chairs, the game has played out just over the past several weeks. We saw Sam Darnold, he goes to Seattle, Matthew Stafford, he stays in L.A., you think about Gino Smith, he goes to the Las Vegas Raiders. Where's Aaron Rodgers? Where's Russell Wilson? Well, Aaron Rodgers today, he was physically in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, meeting with the Steelers, and they said that no deal is imminent.

And why would it be? Because it's Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers wants to make everybody wait on their hands and on their knees just to go ahead and kiss his ass, to go out there and kiss the ring. Now, Russell Wilson, where does he go? Does he ultimately sign with the Cleveland Browns just to keep his career going?

It sounds kind of miserable. And then what happens with Kirk Cousins and the Falcons? Is he really going to start the season with the Falcons?

They're going to have to wait for an injury and somebody will be desperate to say we want to trade for him. I don't know, is it training camp? Is it the regular season? I just, in a small way, I feel bad for Russell Wilson. Like, Ryan, what team? There's no teams left.

It's the Browns, the Giants and the Steelers. And it looks like the Steelers somehow, some way, whether it takes another month, it's like the Steelers will end up with Aaron Rodgers. What happens to Russell Wilson? Does he really got to quarterback the Browns? Maybe the Titans need him as a backup to mentor Cam Ward.

Other than that, he's not in a spot where he can kind of look for a location. He kind of has to take what he gets. And he's not going to get any money. And he's not going to be the backup.

Not out the gate, right? No, he can't have that. Probably not. If he goes to the Titans or Browns, probably not. He'll start. He has to start.

For a little bit. Yeah, well, start until game number or, you know, wait till he pulls a calf or something, right? That might be training camp.

Oh, damn. What happened last year? Oh, you've seen the size of that guy's calves? I mean, he's bound to tear it. God, he's built like a tank. What a way to end a career for someone who was ultimately, he seemed like he might have been on a pathway with a few more good years, maybe one more, two more solid playoff runs. It looked like Russell Wilson was on his way to the Hall of Fame. And now it just looks like he's a journeyman that had the Legion of Boom take him to a championship.

Oh, it's just what a way. And then Kirk Cousins, where the hell is he going to end up? I guess Minnesota? I don't know. They say they want a backup, but why would you want to revisit that? And why would you want to trade a draft asset to bring back Kirk? Cousins. This NFL offseason from the quarterback perspective is it's been a wild one. Never thought Matthew Stafford was leaving L.A. Didn't expect Geno Smith to end up with the Raiders. I wouldn't be shocked if the Raiders still ended up going out there and drafting a quarterback. The New York Giants bring in Jamis Winston. Most certainly, they'll take whatever quarterback the first QB who's available or who's left. Cam Ward will probably be gone.

Will Chidor still be there? Next month's draft is going to be very, very interesting. NFL is wild. And then I guess the story that will dominate the summer won't be Aaron Rodgers. He'll be on a team by then.

We all know the Dallas Cowboys. There is no chance in hell between now and July that they tender a contract offer to Michael Parsons. Not happening. Michael Parsons will hold out. He'll do an interview on his podcast.

He'll do two interviews, three interviews on his podcast. Ryan, do you even think Michael Parsons will attend training camp or will he be gone and just show up before week one? Knowing the Cowboys, he'll show up to preseason week two and the realm there, they'll get the contract done like they did last year with C.D. and Dak. And then he'll be bad for a few a few months or two.

And then he'll be back. Oh, my goodness. The Dallas Cowboys are just a mess of an organization.

And if you want to think about another mess of an organization, I guess I guess you got to use and spend the money somehow, some way. And this is a good guy. I like him. I remember when he came out of Oregon State, actually. Yeah, I interviewed him the minute he was drafted. Brandon Cooks is back with the New Orleans Saints.

Congratulations to him. I got to be honest here, the New Orleans Saints, they are an NFL team that is going absolutely nowhere. I feel I feel real bad for all of my friends, all of my family down in Louisiana, down in New Orleans, because the Saints are they're keeping Derek Carr around. They're not doing anything but kicking the can on down the road.

What a wild world. I don't care what they did and who's coaching and Kellen Moore here. I do not care. They're not winning anything with Derek Carr. Shout out to the Saints fans. Lisa Cooks is back.

Congratulations there. It's the J.R. sport re-show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Let's take a look at the most interesting matchup at the current minute.

Yeah, New Mexico and Marquette. This is like a 12 round fight. They are tied at 55 all. About seven and a half minutes left to go in the game.

Arizona has gotten its distance from Akron, 54 to 37. Kentucky stopped playing games with Troy. They were playing that one close for a while. Kentucky now leads 68 to 48. There's about three minutes left in the game.

They're trying to close that one out. Arizona doing the same with Akron 57 to 40. It's about 14 minutes to go left in that game. We're going to keep you up to date with New Mexico and Marquette. That is the kind of the marquee sexy game going on right now.

The winner of that game will advance to take on the winner between Michigan State and Bryant. We'll keep you up to date on every single game and every single matchup as long as I'm here. And damn it, I'm only here for about 40 more minutes. You can give me a holler anytime. It's real simple. 888-710-4ISN.

That's 888-710-4ISN. Speaking of matchups, we talked about this matchup last night. I am eagerly awaiting this matchup in this game for tomorrow. This is the game that I want to see outside of McNeese and Purdue.

Arkansas and St. John's. Calipari, Patino. I'm going to see these two guys going at it once again. Only one guy is going to advance. The other guy, he's going to be ticked off as all hell when the game is over.

That might be even better than the game. We're going to talk about Patino and Calipari on the other side of the break. And of course, at the end of the show, we'll go through a few things that took place this day in sports history. You're locked into the JR Sport Reshow coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Reshow here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Man, there's certainly a lot of games to talk about, not just today.

I mean, we've had basketball all week, all yesterday and basketball today. New Mexico has taken a lead against Marquette, by the way. 63 to 58. 65 to 58. There's about three minutes left here in the game.

I need glasses. New Mexico is certainly looking to pull away from Marquette. This is probably the biggest run that anybody has gone on here in the game as New Mexico is trying to pull away.

Late. Score is now 68 to 61. And we'll see.

New Mexico is doing the damn thing right now. Meanwhile, Kentucky getting ready to close out. Troy is 76 to 55. There's seconds left in that one. Arizona beating up on Akron now 64 to 46. And then it looks like we might have also had another game go.

No, no, nothing. Nothing new here on the final. We'll keep you up to date on all the games. Justin Rock will be through in a matter of minutes to give you the latest update on everything going on in sports.

But before we do that, I have to mention what I think is is one of the big games over the weekend. We got a rivalry. We have a rivalry between two coaches who are. They're stalwarts.

These guys have been around forever. These are coaches, coaches. They've coached at the professional level. They've coached at the college level. They are coaches. You got a basketball, you got money.

I will travel. That's the Arkansas Razorbacks and the St. John Red Storm. That's John Calipari and Rick Pitino. And the funny thing about this is these are two coaches. Who kind of just popped up on these new teams? OK, Rick Pitino, this is his second year with the St. John's Red Storm.

It was only a year ago, and you can thank NIL and transfers for this, the transfer portal. It was only a year ago that Rick Pitino was ripping his team to shreds. He destroyed his team so bad that Rick Pitino had to come out and apologize because he said, oh, we're not athletic and we're not good. And this is the worst experience that I've ever had coaching anybody. They're good kids, but they don't listen.

I couldn't even get them to do a bounce pass. He eviscerated his own players and then he said, sorry. Oh, I guess he hurt their feelings. But anyway, that that didn't hurt recruiting because these these guys are still getting paid. New guys come in, they get in cash and they've showed up big time for Rick Pitino heading into the tournament with a record of 30 and 40.

Just last night, St. John's waxed Omaha 83 to 53. And next up are the Razorbacks coached by Arkansas head coach John Calipari. He just got here because the well ran dry and the success stopped up in Kentucky.

And so he was coaxed in with NIL money and unlimited cash to go down to Arkansas. We got John Calipari and we have Rick Pitino. These guys are personalities in and of themselves. We talked earlier in the day about coach John Cheney of Temple at one point wanting to choke. He threatened John Calipari after a loss for running the score up.

So we got some big time personalities here. And keep in mind, at one point in time, Calipari was at Kentucky. Rick Pitino was at Louisville. Ultimately, he was at Louisville and we know he had success winning a title in 2013. And then he also had that title vacated due to some scandals. There was a sex scandal. Rick Pitino was like, I don't know what's going on.

None of my business. Rick Pitino got fired. John Calipari, this man, he's been a four final fours. He won a national championship in 2012 with the Kentucky Wildcats and might as well had an NBA super team.

And so they have past history. They have met four times in the NCAA tournament. And when Pitino was at Kentucky, he beat Coach Cal twice. He beat his UMass teams twice. And then when Calipari was at Kentucky and Pitino was at Louisville, John Calipari won both times. And so I guess you could call this a rubber match. There's no guarantee that we will ever see these two out on the basketball court again.

And no matter of fact, Rick Pitino wanted to make it known. Hey, look. Yeah, we might be on the basketball court, but we're coaching. We're not playing against each other. Me and Calipari are not having a three-point contest. We're coaching players.

Rick Pitino, listen to him. He says, I don't go against coaches. I don't go against coaches. We go against teams. He's got to, he doesn't have to worry about me.

My jump shot's long gone. So he's got, he's got to prepare for our team. We've got to prepare for his players. He's preparing for our players. So John and I don't play one-on-one anymore.

Oh, those days are done. See, he said his jump shot is cooked. And John Calipari, I mean, for his own thoughts, he talked about his experience and Pitino's experience and John Calipari says, you know what? We can all look at history, but history doesn't mean anything. I didn't want the albatross around my neck of my history of coaching. You're supposed to win every game. No, no, you're not. Your job is to be about those kids.

And wherever the program is at that time, your job is to keep picking them up and make them better and make them feel good about themselves. Don't worry about what I've done in the past. It doesn't have any bearing on right now. What I've done in the NCAA tournament, they're talking about wins. It doesn't matter.

Final fours in the NCAA, none of it matters. Well, damn. Wow. Okay. Well, it was tough to swallow. It doesn't. Well, it doesn't. You can't take the pass.

You got experience, but you can't take the pass and apply it to the now. Coach Cal continued on. You know, let's talk about the now.

Hey, Cal, tell me about the team's journey. They're experiencing it right now. Each of them in their own way were in a dark place. And they, the battle they had was with themselves. They had to get through that first. Then they've had to figure out they needed each other. And now they're one heartbeat. Well, that was Coach Cal on CBS. He sounded upbeat, right?

He's given us poetry. He's talking about we're all on one heartbeat. Arkansas, they beat Kansas 73 to 69. That's very close, right?

You wanted to annihilate them. Meanwhile, St. John's Day did annihilate Omaha last night. It was close early on. Matter of fact, Omaha was beating them up early on, but then they smoked them 83 to 53. So you would think Rick Patino would be happy after the game. Well, I guess he doesn't have anything about one heartbeat.

He doesn't have any poetry. Rick Patino says, man, we stunk. We didn't play particularly well because they're a tough team to guard because we played great defense and kept giving up. Got them to take a lot of bad shots and we didn't chase the loose ball rebounds. And what I told them, basically, they're going to see a team the likes we haven't seen all year from a size athleticism standpoint. And if we rebound like that, we're going to have a long night. So we've got to do a better job. We can't give up 24 second shots and play great defense like we did. I mean, I get it. He could've just said we stunk at the beginning.

I mean, damn, he beat the team by 30 points. And let's hear from Rick one more time. Tell me about coaching and this whole experience against, against Calipari. Go ahead, Rick.

Tell me. The only time that John, he was at Kentucky is at Louisville. It's normal. Um, so I've always had great respect for John.

I've always said it is. I told our team, we have not seen this type of size and this type of athleticism all year. We have not seen that. Creighton has a seven, two center, but they have multiple guys, athleticism wise. We haven't seen this this year.

So we know what we're up against. Obviously they had a lot of injuries. That's why they opened the bow and five, but they got it together right now. And if they, I don't know where they finished in the sec, um, eighth nights in the sec, but if they finished eighth and ninth, what I watched today, I'm glad we're not in the sec because that's the talent level. And that conference is amazing to me.

Yeah. I wish, uh, I wish we saw a basketball game and, and I wish we saw these two have a fight after, I wish it's not going to happen, but I wish. And then as we discussed last night, I wish we saw a basketball game and then I wish we saw, uh, pretty sad. Rick Patino disappointed me.

I don't know if he disappointed Marco Boletti, uh, but, uh, Rick Patino came through in a boring black suit. Nothing. There was no, no bright red.

There was no white. Maybe he saves it for tomorrow. I'll be paying attention just like everybody else. It's the JR sport ratio here with you coast to Coast on the Infinity Sports Network. There's basketball going on this minute. We got some games that are wrapping up. We got some games that are just about ready to start. We have some games from earlier today. We got games for the weekend.

We got NFL quarterbacks who have new jobs. When we come back on the other side of the break, of course, we're going to kind of roll things out and share with you a few things that took place this day in sports history. But right now it's about the now. It's a news flash this minute, this second with Justin Rock. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network.

Man, what a show. It's been busy. When it comes to March Madness and, man, I don't think there's a comparable day in regards to action outside of coverage of the NFL draft.

It's minute to minute, second to second. There's always some news. There's just always the unexpected.

These shows are always some of the best and some of the most fun to do. We do have some scores that have gone final in the course of the break. And right before we went to break, you heard the news flash as well from Justin Rock. New Mexico, they ran away at the end of the game from Marquette. They end up winning 75 to 66. Kentucky, they handled business against Troy, 76 to 57.

They ran away at the end. New Mexico awaits the winner between Michigan State and Bryant. Also, we got some games that are in the process of starting to finish up right about now. Arizona State beating the hell out of Akron, 88 to 57. It's about three minutes to go in that game. And just underway, UConn off to an 11 to 4 start versus Oklahoma. In a matter of minutes, Illinois will take on Xavier. We have Michigan State versus Bryant, as I just mentioned. And the final tip off for the entire night, for the evening, you have Oregon versus Liberty. I told you about the matchups that I'm looking forward to over the weekend. I can't wait to see Coach Cal and his Arkansas Razorbacks take on the St. John's Red Storm and then Rick Pitino. And then, as we had discussed earlier in the show, we had our guests come on by Jim Gazolo to talk about McNeese as they get ready to take on Purdue.

Those are the two matchups that I am really looking forward to. And so, man, we got basketball all weekend. Stay at home. I don't know if you're I don't know if you're not going at home. Go to a bar. Not going to a bar. Go to a friend's house.

I don't know. Do some work and turn on the phone. Turn on the radio. Listen to the Infinity Sports Network.

You got options here. We appreciate you for hanging out with us. You know what? This is the end of this show. And at the end of every show, we take you through a few things that took place this day in sports history. It's time for this day in sports history.

It is the J.R. Sportbrief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Today, as it's been all day, is March 21st. The year is 2025. But we got to go back in time. That's what this segment's about. We're going to go back to 1959 because on March 21st, 1959, Cal, the Bruins, they beat West Virginia for the NCAA title.

They beat them 71 to 70. And some guy you may have heard of him. His name is Jerry West.

He ended up dropping 28 points, except for Cal beat West Virginia. Take a listen to this. Yeah, we got audio from 1959. This is courtesy of Telesports Digest. West Virginia still battles hotly down to the final gun, and Willie Akers cuts the lead to one point again.

But it's too late for anymore. California's underrated Bears, least considered of the four final contenders, win 71 to 70. First title for the West Coast in 17 years. Yeah, you got to love that. Oh, all old stuff sounds the same.

Got that little horn in the back. You got to love vintage. I love vintage. March 21st.

Let's hit the fast forward button by a few years. 1964. UCLA.

They go 30 and 0. And they beat Duke in the national championship game 98 to 83. John Wooden missed the I got. I got more titles than anybody walking around with 11 of those suckers. He told everybody.

Well, he didn't tell anybody anything. He just kept on winning and winning and winning. But this was title number one. Number one.

Listen to this. This is courtesy of the PAC 12 YouTube channel. UCLA and Duke squared off in the NCAA men's basketball final in Kansas City. Despite having no starter taller than 65, the Bruins led by Gail Goodrich and tournament MVP Walt Haslam dominated the Blue Devils in the 98 83 victory to take home their first national championship. John Wooden's Bruins would go on to win an unprecedented nine more NCAA titles in the next 11 seasons. Yeah, that's that's 10 titles.

Look at my math. I got 10 titles and that was title number one. And he didn't stop there. How about this day in sports history?

March 21 1970. UCLA. They beat Jacksonville 80 to 69.

That was their fourth straight title. I mean, I could be here all day playing UCLA highlights. So we don't have a highlight there. Okay, be here all day.

So then end of the show. March 21 2014. You probably remember this because it was recent. Mercer upset Duke in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Mercer beat Duke. I remember Coach K's face.

It was hilarious to me. They beat him 78 to 71. I want you to listen to this final call in 2014 courtesy of CBS. Cook got it. Two tenths to go. Mercer has pulled the upset and Duke is gone. A 14 has beaten a three. What a wild two.

A wild three days of the tournament. Mercer ends the game on a 20 to 8 run. Man, love Kevin Harlan can't stand Reggie Miller. It's like when Reggie Miller talks it's just like I wish I could zip his lip shut. Anyway, hey, after the game, Coach K, he actually went to Mercer's locker room.

And he said, you know what? Y'all are good. And if anybody was going to beat us, y'all deserve to beat us. Listen to Coach K. You guys have a hell of a basketball team. I mean, I love the game and you guys play the game really, really well. And your coach coaches well. And we have to be beaten. We got beaten by a hell of a basketball team.

So good luck to you. Oh, the kind of gentler. Coach K, you appreciate it. How about that?

You don't get that too often, right? I guess only Coach K could do that. Hey, March 21st, the year was 2019, 2019, the year before the world went into the toilet.

Oh, my God. Anyway, Ichiro Suzuki was in Japan. He was on a baseball field in the Tokyo Dome. It was his final game. Ichiro Suzuki retired after playing two games after the start of the season in Japan. The Mariners ended up beating the Athletics, formerly of Oakland, five to four. Ichiro was on the field in the bottom of the eighth and then he got a curtain call.

Listen to this. Well, the great Ichiro Suzuki stays in this game and it is a tie. The whole thing is changing moment by moment because this is a this is a big league game that the Mariners are trying to win.

And now wait a minute. Scott Service has come out and the Mariners players are going to gather. This will be the moment for the final time coming off a major league field. And Ichiro was so bad ass to watch.

They won that final game five to four. He was all for four that day with a strikeout. He was able to wave goodbye to everybody in Japan.

That is like there's certain things that you can't write. You think about Ichiro Suzuki bursting onto the scene. I remember in 2001 watching this guy and just waiting for him to fall off.

He never fell off. He was Rookie of the Year. He won MVP. He was a different type of contact hitter. And I remember watching Tony Gwen and he was just so smooth with the swing. Ichiro was ridiculously aggressive.

He saw the ball and he swung at it and just decide to punch it wherever the hell he wanted to. And he did that from 2001 to 2019 in the big leagues. He finished the majors, his major league career with three thousand eighty nine hits.

You count in his work in Japan. Ichiro finished with four thousand three hundred and sixty seven hits. That is the most and professional baseball history. So we know Pete Rose is the hit king for MLB. You talk about Ichiro.

He's the hit king for baseball professionally on planet Earth. Yeah those are a few things that took place this day in sports history. Got some teams that are trying to make their own history in March Madness. Arizona is seconds away from defeating Akron. Ninety three to sixty four. Yukon and Oklahoma, they just got underway. Yukon leads them twenty one to sixteen.

That game just starting. Hey Ryan, thank you for a good show. Appreciate you coming through on this Friday and helping out, man. Oh, no problem. No problem. I'm here.

Oh, thanks. So humble and so modest. What are you looking forward to this weekend? No game standing out to you? Well, of course, Arkansas St. John's just being here in New York. Everybody cares about St. John's again out of nowhere.

Yeah. And then on top of that, McNeese, of course. I want to see if Yukon wins and how far they go. Yeah, I'd like to see Yukon win and then get annihilated by Florida.

That would be a that'd be a dream. Anyway, thank you so much to everybody who came through and joined us. Of course, just last hour, Jim Gazzolo joined us. He covers McNeese. And then earlier in the show, we had a great chat with Scott Dachterman, courtesy of the athletic. The J.R. Sportbree show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. It's over. It's a wrap. I'll be back with you on Monday, six p.m. Eastern, three Pacific.

We'll know who is advancing outside of this round of 32 to the sweet 16. Tom flies when you're having fun. You can find me online everywhere at J.R. Sportbree. The show is over. Don't move.

Bart Winkler is coming up next. Thank you so much for listening. And thank you again to Ryan Dolcher. Please be safe. Be smooth. Be cool. Be amazing. J.R. Sportbree, done.