Bowie On The Radio | March Madness (Women’s Version) | Local Hoops | Local Puck | Valero Texas Open | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune on this April No Football Friday is Bowie on the Radio by Ryan McMullan. The Irish-English singer-songwriter hails from Portaferry in County Down, Northern Ireland. This tune was his debut single which he released in ‘18.
Well, it is April so we’ll set the Gram’s location at Madison Square Garden even though I’m typing this on my arse in Hoboken. McMullan is describing a night out hitting the Big Apple. You never know who you’ll meet in The City. I haven’t had the chance to meet John McEnroe but people forget, so I gotta remind them, I shook Roger Federer’s hand outside of the Bar at Eleven Madison Park while searching for a proper pint. Nice guy, it was like talking to a chiseled statue.
More details on his night in The City, presumably it’s a date night going well.
Since he’s from across the pond, hearing David Bowie on the radio must have made his trip to New York feel a bit like home. What’s cool with music is you can relate it to memories, but his date is going so well that he now realizes he’s having a new memory.
I have my own David Bowie story that I might as well share. When I was around 2 years old, my mother and I were waiting to pick up my aunties at JFK. David Bowie and his lovely wife, Iman, were walking by. My mom says he motioned to Iman that I had, “Nice red hair.”
After David Bowie complimented my red hair, nothing was the same. The New York City skies were so bright. I mean, c’mon, Bowie was a shooting star passing through JFK. My life peaked at 2 years old. It has been all downhill ever since.
One would think my mom and aunties would put on Bowie if they had a CD in the car stereo afterward. They had to at least play a tune of his when we got home. We’ll go with that now because it makes for a better story.
Do you understand the pressure and expectations that come with David Bowie saying you have “Nice red hair”? No, you don’t because David Bowie never told Iman that you have “nice red hair” while strolling through JFK.
Well, it’s a lot to deal with. Enough for somebody to want to drink a gazillion pints of Guinness!
That’s okay, I’m Tom Davis, but you’re not going to remember my name because there are a gazillion of me’s with the same one. I’d prefer you maybe remember Week to Week Notes. Anyway, here was my flow at 2 years old…
Sidenote: Jeez, I should be charging a premium for my 2-year-old feet pics.
Back to McMullan’s date, he wishes he could go back in time. I guess, he’ll just have to put Bowie on the Radio to rewind his great stay in New York.
This is an excellent tune so I apologize to Ryan McMullan for going with my own David Bowie story, but I can’t help it. McMullan has made other trips to New York since, including having a few proper pints at Keane’s Bar in Woodlawn. He’s performed there as recently as this past November and he’s got other great tunes such as Wilder & Come Over Love.
Well, it looks like tomorrow’s Saturday Sports I’ll have to put Bowie on the Radio.
On to the sports…
March Madness (Women’s Version)
South Carolina vs NC State
Tonight, Friday April 5th at 7 PM ET | ESPN
South Carolina is undefeated at 36-0. Their head coach, Dawn Staley, was just named the AP Coach of the Year for the 2nd time in her career at SC. Staley has 2 National Champions on her resume, winning with the Gamecocks in the ‘17 and ‘22. After serving her suspension, South Carolina’s C Kamilla Cardoso has averaged 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in the Tournament. South Carolina is undefeated because of their depth and defense. They have only allowed 56 points per game this season and have given up an average of 53.5 in the Tournament. In their Elite 8 matchup against Oregon State, their depth was on display as F Ashlyn Watkins came off the bench to contribute 14 rebounds and 4 blocks.
NC State is the #3 Seed out of the Portland Region. They had to upset #2 Seed Stanford and #1 Texas to get to the Final Four. In all 4 March Madness games, G Aziaha James has led the Wolfpack in scoring. In the regular season, she averaged 16.7 points per game and in this tournament, she has upped her game to 24.3 points per game. The lefty junior shooting guard has shot an absurd 57% from beyond the arc in this March Madness. If the Wolfpack wants another upset, they will need James and C River Baldwin to play great. Baldwin has been in foul trouble in the last two games, and NC State can’t afford the 6’5” senior to be sitting much with South Carolina's bigs.
Prediction: South Carolina 64 - NC State 56
*Caitlin Clark Watch*
Iowa vs UConn | Tonight, Friday April 5th at 9:30 PM ET | ESPN
Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes slayed the LSU Tigers. Clark dropped 41 points and put Angel Reese into pieces. It was Clark’s 4th 40+ point game of the season and the 13th of her illustrious career. What made it even more impressive is that she had 12 assists to go with the scoring. This week Caitlin Clark was named the AP Player of the Year, making it 2 years in a row. That said, for the Hawkeyes to win it all, it can’t be all on Caitlin Clark. They will need big games out of senior G Kate Martin and sophomore F Hannah Stueleke. Last game against LSU, Martin scored 21 points with 6 rebounds. Stuelke fouled out against the Tigers with 8 points, but in her previous two games had double-doubles with points & rebounds. Both Marin and Stueleke averaged over 13 ppg alongside Clark’s 32 per game.
UConn was the #3 seed out of the bottom right region. They are led by G Paige Bueckers who this season scored 22 points per game in the regular season. After dealing with injuries that forced her to miss last March Madness, Bueckers has balled out this tournament averaging 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 3.3 steals per game. Aside from Bueckers, the Huskies also have an inside scorer in Aaliyah Edwards. The 6’3” forward has averaged 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. One of the factors that as a fan of Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes I’m a bit worried about is who coaches UConn. The legendary coach Geno Auriemma has won 11 National Championships, the most in NCAA basketball history. This is Auriemma’s 23rd Final Four squad and his record in the Final Four matchup is 12-10 as they have only lost in the title game once in ‘22.
Prediction: Iowa 81 - UConn 76
Week to Week Notes’ Women’s Bracket Review
Hit on 3 of the 4 Final Four teams, not bad. Let’s go Hawkeyes!
Since last weekend, the Knicks have dropped a spot. The Nets haven’t moved from the 11th Seed since January and are officially eliminated.
Manhattan
Today it was announced that PF Julius Randle will be out for the remainder of the season after he re-injured his shoulder last month. Randle this season averaged 24 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, so it’s defintiely a loss. The Knicks record this season with Randle in the lineup was 28-18. Without him, they are 17-13. Realistically for him to come back into the lineup this late in the year, it’s not as if he’d have been 100% up to speed for the playoffs anyway. In Randle’s absence, they will continue to play a small ball lineup that’ll feature Josh Hart as the defacto PF. Hart, despite only being 6’4”, is an absolute menace on the boards as his 8.3 per game puts him inside the top 25 of best in the NBA and in March, he had 11.9 boards per game. Last night against the Kings, Josh Hart also showed up in the scoring column with 31 points. It was his first time scoring 30+ points with the Knicks and also had 9 rebounds to go with 8 assists. They’ll need more of that.
Brooklyn
After today, I’ll only have to write about the Nets one more time this season. That’s a nice feeling because holy hell it ain’t easy to be all that optimistic about them. As a rebuilding team without their own draft pick, these are lean years so I have sympathy for their fans. Entering this year, the best-case scenario for the team was them making the Play-In Tournament, so while they won’t accomplish that, they have been able to develop a couple of young players that may be a part of the team’s future. C Nic Claxton will turn 25 later in April. This year he is averaging 12 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. In their latest win over Indiana, Claxton had 4 blocked shots to go with 13 boards. If he can continue to develop into a rebounder and shot blocker, he might be a hidden gem role player, which is all you can hope for in 2nd Round Pick from ‘19.
The Rangers currently lead all of the land in points. The Islanders’ are keeping their playoff chances alive. The Devils were out for revenge.
Manhattan
The Rangers and Devils started brawling as soon as the puck was dropped on Thursday night. This was a pre-planned war on ice that stems back from Matt Rempe’s hit on Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler. If you read March 15th’s A Pair of Brown Eyes you know where I stand on fighting in hockey. As an old-school puckhead, I loved what I saw. Let the men settle their scores on the ice, no need to run to the tabloids. Fun fact, Matt Rempe was one of the first 18 people to view that IG Story so Week to Week Notes will be backing the 21-year-old enforcer for the rest of his career. The Rangers would end up winning Thursday’s grudge match 4-3 as they scored 2 goals in the 3rd Period. Chris Kreider put one in the back of the net for his 36th goal of the season. The LW is now the 3rd Ranger of all time to score 300+ goals for the boys in blue.
Out East
Islanders’ defenseman Noah Dobson played hero on Thursday night in their win over the Blue Jackets. Dobson scored just his 9th goal of the season and first in about a month to give the boys out east a 3-2 lead. Usually, Dobson is on the passing end of goals as he leads the team in assists with 58. The Isles would hang on to secure the victory and they are now in the thicc of things, currently hanging on as the #2 Wild Card team in the standings. With 83 points on the season, the Islanders are now up 1 OT loss over the Caps and Red Wings. The Islanders are winners of 3 in a row and are winners of 5 of their last 7. They now 3 home games coming up, one of which is against the Rangers on Tuesday.
New Jersey
The Devils are virtually eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but hats off to them for showing a bit of fight. I just gotta say the way each of the boys smoovely drops their gloves is pretty sick. Must come with practice. Jersey is down 6 points (3 wins) in the standings with just 6 games to play and has now lost 3 in a row. One player still showing a bit of fight in the box score is LW Jasper Bratt who has now at least scored a goal or assisted on one in the last 6 games.
San Antonio, Texas | TPC San Antonio - AT&T Oaks Course | $9.2 million Purse | Golf/NBC
The Valero Texas Open is the final tune-up tournament before next weekend’s major at Augusta. TPC San Antonio was designed by golf course architect Greg Norman with the help of Sergio Garcia. They’ve been golfing an Open in Texas since 1922. Over the years, the name and course have changed quite a few times, but it’s always been in the general San Antonio area. Valero took over the naming rights in ‘02 and it’s been called the Valero Texas Open ever since.
Akshay Bhatia
Akshay Bhatia turned pro in ‘19 when he was only 17 years old. Last July he won his first PGA Tour tournament at the Barracuda Championship. On Thursday down in San Antonio, the young lefty had a round of a lifetime, as he shot a 63. Entering Friday he is 9 under par with a 3-shot lead. After starting the front 9 with 4 birds, he caught fire at the 14th hole and birdied 4 of his last 5. Currently ranked #87 in the world, Bhatia has an outside shot of qualifying for the Masters next weekend if he can continue his strong play. To qualify for The Masters the requirements are quite lengthy, but Bhatia could cut if he can get inside the #50 World Ranking. He would need to win and hope for some poor play from others ahead of him on the list.
Justin Lower
When Justin Lower wrapped up his round in the early afternoon, he was the lone leader at 6 under. The 34-year-old from Akron, Ohio, secured his PGA Tour card by winning the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in ‘21. Much like Bhatia, Lower had a bogey-free Thursday and he closed out his day with a nice birdie putt on 18. Lower came in 3rd place in the Mexico Open, so he must enjoy playing in the Tex-Mex climate.
Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth had a wild day on Thursday with many lows and one extreme high. After 13 holes, Spieth had already had 5 bogeys to go with 3 birds. On the 14th hole, he double-bogeyed a par 5, only to hit a hole-in-one 2 holes later on 16. That’s the thing with golf, all you need is that one shot to bring you back. It was Jordan Spieth’s 4th career ace while on the PGA Tour.