the mad sports man

Today it's Jamaica's turn their NOC was created and recognized in 1936. Their first Olympics was in 1948 in London and won their first medals. Arthur Wint won gold in mens 400m and silver in mens 800m. Herb McKenley won a silver in the mens 400m. They have been in every summer Olympics since except for 1960, under the British West Indies flag. First winter games was in 1988 (remember yhe Jamaican bobsled team?) and been to every games since except for 2006. They have 26g, 36s and 25b for 87 total. All but one medal has been in athletics. The lone exception - David Welker in 1980 in the 1km time trial in cycling. That was a  bronze.  First Commonwealth Games was in 1934 and missed 1938, 1950 and 1986. They hosted in 1966 and won 4s and 8b for 12 total. First medals won in 1934. A silver by William McCarthy is 200yd breaststroke (2:42.4) and a bronze by Bernard Prendergast in discus (40.23m).  First gold was in 1954 by Keith Gardner in 120yd hurdles. Overall they have 59g...

 In the south,  San Diego beat Creighton 57-56 and will face Florida Atlantic in one final four match ups.  In the Midwest, Miami (Fl) beat Texas 88-81 and will face University of Connecticut in the second final four match up. Both semi final games are Saturday. 

 Two elite 8 games done. UConn just finished beating up Gonzaga 82-54. Ouch. Earlier Florida Atlantic beat Kansas State 79-78. But who will either team face? Stay tuned. We will find out tomorrow afternoon. 

 The 1964-65 NHL season had (ya ya ya) 70 games and 6 teams. Highlights include: 1. Ted Lindsay returns after a 4 year retirement.  2. November 21, Terry Sawchuk records a shutout, recording one in 16th consecutive season. January 27, Ulf Sterner is first Swede to play in NHL,  playing 4 games with New York. 3.  February 4, Terry Sawchuk wins game 400. 4. March 11, NHL board of governor announces 6 team expansion for 1967. Expansion teams will form their own division. 5. March 22, Stan Mikita records most assists in season with 59. Playoffs: semi finals; Montreal 4 Toronto 2, Chicago 4 Detroit 3. Stanley Cup finals: Montreal 4 Chicago 3. Jean Beliveau is first Conn Smythe trophy winner. #1 draft pick in 1964 is Claude Gauthier by Detroit. He never plays an NHL game. 

 In the south,  Creighton beat Princeton 86-75 and will face San Diego State, who beat #1 Alabama 71-64. Meanwhile in the Midwest, Miami (Fl) beat #1 Houston 89-75 (all #1 seeds gone) and will face Texas, who just beat Xavier 83-71. Creighton vs San Diego State and Texas vs Miami (Fl) will play their elite 8 games on Sunday.  Who will be in the final 4? Stay tuned. 

 Florida Atlantic took out Tennessee 62-55 and will face Kansas state in the east region final. Kansas State beat Michigan State 98-93. In the west, University of Connecticut took out Arkansas 88-65, while Gonzaga beat UCLA 79-76. It will be Connecticut vs Gonzaga in the west region final. Rest of hhe sweet 16 finishes tomorrow. 

 Today we visit Bermuda.  Their NOC was created and recognized in 1968. Their first games was in 1936 and been to every games since except for 1980. Their first winter games were in 1992 and been to every games since except 2022. Only two medals. A gold be Flora Duffy in 2020 in the womens marathon and a bronze by Clarence hill in boxing mens heavyweight division. First Commonwealth Games were in 1930 and only missed 1950, 1958 and 1962.  They have 2g 2s 2b for 6 total. Can't miss them during the parade of nations, wearing their Bermuda shorts with their outfits.  Here is their flag. 

 Welcome to spring. It startat 3:24pm, so not that long ago. Now if the weather can smarten up and warm up, we'd all be happy. 

 Yup, that happened.  Arkansas beat Kansas 72-71. Also Princeton took out Missouri 78-63.  Stay tuned.  More may come. 

5 years after it happened for the first time, a 16 seed has beaten a 1 seed. FDU has just beaten Purdue 63-58. Wow. Upsets o'plenty. Stay tuned. There will be more. 

  Happy St. Patrick's day.  The one day of the year to wear green. Although one can wear green any time. One upset as Pittsburgh beat Iowa State 59-41. Half the games today are done,  so there's a possibility of another one.   Enjoy today's green post.

 Just happened. #15 Princeton beat #2 Arizona 59-55. Princeton is playing in the south region, where the Furman pulled off the first upset. Stat tuned. There will be more. 

 First full day, and it opens with the first of a few upsets as #13 Furman beat #4 Virginia 68-67. Anybodys bracket busted yet? Stay tuned. There will be more.

 Now for some mixed doubles.  The Canadian mixed doubles curling championship starts on the 21st and go to the 26th, with the winning team to represent Canada at the world's in Gangneung, South Korea from April 22-29. That would be close to the end of a busy curling stretch.  Stay tuned 

 It's the Ides of March. Ides meaning the middle of... .  The Ides of March is remembered for the assassination of Julius Caesar by roughly 60 people as he was going to the theater of Pompeii. So, there's your history lesson. 

 It's pi day. Or what's left of it. Pi day comes from the math formula resulting in 3.14. Seeing were in the third month and 14th day..... there ya go.  Also the first to of the 4 play in games for March Madness has been played. Tournament begins in earnest on Thursday. Gonna be good.

 Let's start with skiing.  Mikaela Shiffrin won her 87th career alpine race, passing Ingemar Stenmark on the wins list. She is only 28. She could get 100 soon if she stays healthy.  Brad Gushue has his 5th career Brier victory, becoming the first skip to win five. His 7-5 win over Matt Dunstone of Manitoba came 6 years after his first. Yikes. He is only 42.

Today we visit Ghana. They became an independent nation in March 1957. Their NOC was created in 1951 and recognized in 1952. First summer Olympics was 1952 and been to all except 1956, 1976 and 1980. Their first winter games was 2010 and been to 2018 and 2022. 5 Olympic medals - a silver and 4 bronze for 5 total. One bronze was in soccer in 1992 and the rest in boxing. First Commonwealth Games was in 1954 and been to every games since except 1986. They gave 15g, 20s, and 28b for 63 total. Majority of them - except one - was in athletics and boxing.  Most medals won at one games was 9 and done three times (1962 Perth, 1966 Kingston and 1974 Christchurch). Here is the flag of Ghana. 

 Few days behind. Brier has been interesting. Nunavut won its first ever game, Yukon won its 7th ever game, been a couple of games with 3 and 4 point ends and a couple of loose handles on the stones.  It got warm, then got semi cold again. Time to spring to show up. That is all.  Needed an excuse to make an entry. 

 Well hello March.  Nice to see you. What do you have?  Did you say curling? Well let's rock it. The Brier starting on Friday, the womens worlds later, and I think some mixed doubles. What else? Hockey? Well, lots of it. Beginning the run to a playoff spot. Baseball? Yup. Spring training games underway already.  What else? Oh yes, springtime is near. Need to warm up some. Okay a fair bit. And St. Patrick's day. Anything else?  No, I think we're good. Oh wait March Madness - a.k.a NCAA basketball tournament.   I think we've got it.