Masters trivia
Over the previous five Masters tournaments, only one golfer has finished in the top-10 four times. Who is it? Answer at the bottom.
O.J.’s tough, complicated legacy
When O.J. Simpson passed away from prostrate cancer at 76 Thursday in Las Vegas, it’s understandable a lot of people will find it difficult to sort out how they feel about his death.
No doubt, it’s a wide assortment of emotions like sorrow, anger, contempt, ambivalence and everything else in-between.
Given Simpson’s roller-coaster ride of fame — ranging from a 20-year run as a football superstar, to commercial pitchman, to being a defendant acquitted of murdering his ex-wife,
and her friend,
— he was a polarizing figure to the very end.
Hopefully, O.J.’s family can finally gain some peace as it processes one of the most complicated celebrity lives in history.
Simpson, Nicole Brown Ron Goldman
A different kind of UConn payoff
Much has been made about how the UConn men’s basketball program has taken over the college game in the past quarter century with six national titles.
In addition, the Huskies’ dominance really paid off for those bettors who went all in on UConn bullying its way through two consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
According to BetOnLine, anyone who placed a $100 bet on UConn to cover the point spread as a favorite in all 12 games and rolled it over every game through Monday’s 75-60 title win over Purdue would have earned a total payout of — drum roll, please — $230,000.
Not only did team win those dozen games as the favorite by an average margin of 21.7 points, it also covered by an average margin of 13.3 points.
Here’s the insane numbers: Over two NCAA Tournaments, the Huskies trailed for a total of 30 minutes, 42 seconds, but only 51 seconds in the second half. The only time UConn trailed after halftime came in the opening minute of their first two March Madness games last year against Iona and St. Mary’s.
It’s just an amazing streak of excellence.
Quick-hitting nuggets
Looking at the male players selected to the 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class —
Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Michael Cooper, Doug Collins
Walter Davis
and — it strikes me as an even mixture between HOF-worthy and the Hall of Very Good . ...
Former St. Augustine High and Western Kentucky quarterback the third-oldest NFL prospect at his position at 24 years, 2 months, is projected as a sixth or seventh-round selection by draft analyst of The Athletic. Brugler also lists South Alabama QB Carter Bradley (6-3, 213), son of former Jaguars’ head coach as a priority free agent . ...
In the last 10 Masters, the eventual champion has been no worse than tied for second entering the final round. Seven of the ten champions were leading going into Sunday, with
(2023),
Dane Brugler
Brooks Koepka Francesco Molinari
Jordan Spieth
(2019) and (2016) the only thirdround leaders who failed to win the green jacket . ...
Trivia answer
The only golfer to finish in the top-10 four times in the last five years at the Masters is defending champion
who finished T5 (2021), T7 (2020) and T9 (2019). He was T27 in 2022.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette