— Good news for me and all Rams fans; the team re-signed coach Sean McVay, GM Les Snead to multi-year contract extensions. Since 2017, the Rams have a 92-57 regular-season record, which is the fifth best in the NFL; under McVay, they’re 10-6 in playoff games, 1-1 in Super Bowls.
— St Louis Cardinals traded 2B Brendan Donovan to Seattle Monday, in a 3-way trade:
Mariners get 2B Brendan Donovan
Tampa Bay gets 3B Ben Williamson
Cardinals get:
P Jurrangelo Clijnte (throws lefty and righty)
OF’s Tai Peete, Colton Ledbetter
Competitive balance Round B pick
— Some insurance companies won’t insure ballplayers who are scheduled to play in next month’s World Baseball Classic, so they aren’t going to play.
As many as eight players eligible to play for Puerto Rico haven’t been approved for insurance, including Francisco Lindor, and Puerto Rico is hosting some of the early round games.
Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa also won’t be playing in the WBC. Shohei Ohtani will be a DH, but he won’t be pitching.
— If you have a pitcher from the San Francisco Giants on your fantasy team, are you queasy that the right side of the Giants infield is going to be Rafael Devers/Luis Arraez?
Very good hitters, shaky in the field.
— There are 28 days in February; this year was the first time since 2015 that February 1st was a Sunday, so on a regular calendar, the month fits perfectly into four rows.
This won’t happen again until 2037.
— Famous birthdays, February 3rd:
Fran Tarkenton, 86
Blythe Danner, 83
Bob Griese, 81
Bake McBride, 77
Morgan Fairchild, 76
Fred Lynn, 74
Maura Tierney, 61
Vlade Divac, 58
Skip Schumaker, 46
Tyler Huntley, 28
— International NFL games next fall:
3 games in London
One game in Australia
One game in Brazil
One game in Germany
One game in Spain
— Before this season, Seahawks were 50-1 to win the Super Bowl, Patriots 80-1.
— Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn retired from coaching Monday, ending his 35-year coaching career. Malzahn was 105-62 as a head coach at three schools. Florida State led the ACC in total offense this past season.
— In the NBA, 76ers star Paul George was suspended 25 games for taking ‘improper medication’ whatever that means. George misses out on $469,691.72 for each of the 25 games he will miss, a total loss of $11,742,293. Yikes.
— NBA players who have played for the most teams:
13- Ish Smith
12- Chucky Brown
Jim Jackson
Tony Massenburg
Joe Smith.
— Movie of the Day: Groundhog Day (1993)- A TV weatherman from Pittsburgh is sent to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA for the fourth year in a row; he isn’t happy about it, and makes no effort to hide it. He and his two co-workers get stuck because in Punxsutawney because of a snowstorm.
This is where it gets strange; when the weatherman wakes up the next day, it is Groundhog Day again, and he lives the same day, over and over, for the rest of the movie.
I hadn’t seen this movie for probably 25 years; it is legitimately strange, but there are parts that are funny. Bill Murray is the weatherman, Andie McDowell/Chris Elliott are his co-workers.
— Since 2004, Gonzaga is 44-5 SU in the WCC Tournament.
Last four years, NC-Greensboro was 48-24 in Southern Conference games, which is really good, but SoCon is a one-bid league, and in those four years, UNCG is 0-4 in the SoCon tournament.
No bueno.
— Last weekend. there was a boxing card at Madison Square Garden; in one of the bouts, a guy got punched so hard that his hairpiece popped upward from the front, revealing a large bald spot that covered most of his head.
Why was he wearing a hairpiece?
What were the odds that this would happen, and the guy would still win his fight? (He did)
— RIP to Catherine O’Hara, 71, a terrific actress who passed away over the weekend; she was part of the great TV show Second City TV, was the mom in Home Alone, and won an Emmy for her role in the TV show Schitt’s Creek. RIP, ma’am
— OF Austin Hays signed on with the White Sox for one year, $6M; last year, Hays hit .266 with a .765 OPS in 103 games with Cincinnati.
— The tractor trailer loaded with baseball equipment took off for Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers Monday; pitchers and catchers report a week from today. On the truck……
20,400 baseballs
200 batting gloves
200 batting helmets
1,100 bats
20 cases of bubble gum
60 cases of sunflower seeds
Spring training can’t start soon enough.
