The Final Four stage is set, and personally, I’m hoping UConn’s Paige Bueckers can stamp her college legacy before heading to the WNBA. Off the court, Angel Reese reminded everyone why she’s that girl, and Hailee Steinfeld had a few choice words about the Buffalo Bills’ biggest rivals. Meanwhile, David Beckham’s (early) 50th birthday looked like the Met Gala of sports (but like, actually fun). Oh, and one college may have just cracked the code on how to keep football fans happy (no, it’s not by winning). Now, let’s get to the other sports highlights…
— Claudia Rupcich / Writer / Richmond, VA
Let's Discuss
What to look out for in our latest episode.
Wait, What Just Happened on the Ice?
What’s going on: If figure skating hasn’t been on your radar, you’ll want to change that. For the first time ever, the US team won three of the four events at a single world figure skating championship. The highlights: Alysa Liu became the first US woman to win at Worlds since 2006 (even she was in disbelief). Also on the podium: Ilia Malinin, who landed six quads (yes, six of these) to win the men’s title. And Madison Chock and Evan Bates captured their third straight ice dance world championship (the crowd’s response says it all).
Our take: The US’s performance is nothing short of a comeback, creating momentum ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics. Whether it can continue depends on a lot, including if Russia — historically a skating powerhouse — is allowed to return to Olympic competition. Still, there’s a lot of hope for a sport that’s been in a gold-medal drought. As Liu put it: “I mean, ‘Go Team USA,’ that’s kind of all I can say.” We couldn’t agree more.
Our Well Played co-hosts and friends of the show tackle listener Qs.
The men’s Final Four is full of No. 1 seeds. Why are people calling it “chalky,” and what does that mean for the tournament?
Chalk is a betting term that goes back to when horse racing odds were written on a chalkboard. Heavy favorites got more action, and simply became known as "chalk." In the NCAA tournament, it means fewer upsets and a March without the madness. Many analysts blame the transfer portal and NIL (name, image, likeness) opportunities. Big schools and powerhouse programs that can get players a lot of money become irresistible to student athletes. And since there is no penalty for transferring schools, there’s nothing stopping all of the talent from going to the top programs.
No one knows exactly how it’ll impact the tournament in the future. But one thing is for sure: Many miss the Cinderella stories and the buzzer-beaters that came along with them.
