🎧Sports Brief: March Madness Is Upon Us; Dodgers, Cubs Open Baseball Season in Japan

College basketball takes center stage as desperate teams battle for a spot in March Madness...

Cooper Flagg (2) of the Duke Blue Devils dunks the ball during the second half of the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., on Jan. 11, 2025. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

What’s cookin’, sports fans? Welcome to the extra large and turbo-charged Epoch Times Sports Brief for Friday, March 14, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we’ve got some rockin’ good stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s brewing in the thrilling world of sports.

College basketball takes center stage as desperate teams battle for a spot in March Madness; an alarming injury to a top player throws a major contender’s tournament hopes into complete disarray; and it’s batter up for major league baseball as the defending champs toss out the season’s first pitch in a faraway land.

Also, a leading World Series contender loses their ace pitcher (and we don’t mean Ace Frehley) to a shocking injury, and a whirling number of NFL free agents score ginormous deals as the NFL carousel keeps on spinning—we’ll tell you who’s in, who’s out, and who’s still looking for a new home—home on the range.

We’ll barrel full steam ahead into each one of these rip roarin’ stories for you and we tip it all off with March Madness, Selection Sunday, and for some teams on the bubble, everything’s on the line.

March Madness Is Upon Us

Conference tournaments are underway across the nation and a number of crucial spots are still up for grabs, but we already have an inkling of what to watch for when the brackets are announced on Sunday and when the big show tips off next week.

So far this season, the SEC has been the strongest conference in the land, with a handful of teams at the top of the heap and any one of them could land a top seed. Bruce Pearl’s Auburn squad is a sure thing, rising Florida is definitely a team to keep your eye on, and both Alabama and Tennessee are gonna wind up with high seeds as well.

Award-winning Sports Brief host commentary: Bama, Tennessee, seeds ... thinking ... I got nothing. False alarm—back to the program currently in digress.

Another very strong team to watch closely is Houston, who’s been hovering near the top of the rankings all season long, while both Michigan State and Iowa State are gonna punch their tickets to the dance near the top of the field—and this ain’t no Sadie Hawkins dance.

Teams living on the edge right now include North Carolina, Xavier, Texas, Indiana, and Ohio State, who may be on the outside looking in after losing in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen teams have already qualified, the most notable among them being the amazing Gonzaga Bulldogs, who are eyeing a 10th-straight appearance in the Sweet 16. By the way, Connecticut is gonna be trying to cut down the nets for a third straight year but right now, they’re extreme longshots to win the whole enchilada.

Authentic Sports Brief host commentary: Attention Sports Brief Head Writer, dapper Davey Ross. Not every team plays for the whole enchilada; some play for the entire quiche, lobster bisque or even salisbury steak. Yes, Davey–there’s more to life than just goofy enchiladas. Now I’m hungry, thanks a lot, Davey! Now, back to the program.

We pivot now to another likely number one seed who’s had a rough couple of weeks; they just lost their star freshman to an injury, another key player as well, they’re limping into the tournament, and here’s the skinny ... the low-cal lowdown.

Duke’s Flagg Injures Ankle; Tournament Status Up in the Air

The Duke Blue Devils have just lost superstar Cooper Flagg to a significant ankle injury, and the fabulous freshman is now likely to spend the better part of this weekend collecting splinters on the bench. Flagg twisted his ankle last night in the first half of Duke’s win over Georgia Tech and he didn’t return to the game.

Head coach Jon Scheyer says with the NCAA tournament just around the corner, he doesn’t want to rush his star player back onto the court—and with good reason. Duke’s gonna need Flagg if they hope to make a deep run and they’re pretty much guaranteed a spot at the top regardless of whether or not they win this weekend’s ACC tournament.

For his part, the phenomenal Flagg’s averaging more than 19 points, nearly eight rebounds, and over four assists per game; he’s the ACC’s player of the year; and he’s all but certain to be the number one pick in this year’s NBA draft.

Meanwhile, the 29–3 Blue Devils have also just lost defensive specialist Maliq Brown with a dislocated shoulder, and his situation is not encouraging; when he left the game, he couldn’t even lift his arm, and he was hauled away from the arena on a stretcher.

As we mentioned last week on the Sports Brief, the team is also heading into the tourney without another crucial contributor, former associate head coach Jai Lucas. Toss it all in the pan and you’ve got a recipe for disaster as the NCAA tournament is about to get underway.

We step up to the plate now for a look at opening day baseball and the mighty Dodgers are lookin’ to run it back, knock it out of the park, and round the bases on their way to another World Series title, and it all begins in Tokyo, Japan, in just a few days.

Dodgers, Cubs Open Baseball Season in Japan

The Dodgers are gonna try to become the first team in 25 years to repeat as world champs when they open a two-game set against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

The boys in blue are gonna be led out of the dugout by all-world Shohei Ohtani, who’s the top dog in an absolutely power-packed lineup. You may recall that last season, Ohtani snagged his third MVP award after smacking 54 dingers to go with 59 stolen bases—and this year he could be even better. Now that’s a scary thought.

Sports Brief host commentary: It’s even scarier than that time I sang “New York, New York” on The Gong Show back in 1978. Jaye P. Morgan hit the gong after 8 seconds, but I gave it my best. I did what I had to do. But I digress, and now back to the program.

Meanwhile, he’s gonna be joined once again by World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, former AL MVP Mookie Betts, and recently re-signed outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. Any one of these monsters at the plate could arguably be the leading slugger on any other team—even the legendary Sports Brief softball team.

Meanwhile, they’ve added several prime arms to their rotation, including two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and promising MLB newcomer Roki Sasaki, who’s gonna be returning to his home country for the series. Toss in one of the best bullpens in the league and it’s hard to imagine the Dodgers losing a series, much less the pennant.

By the way, their opponent, the Chicago Cubs, have a pair of Japan-born players of their own, including impressive lefty Shota Imanaga, who’s set to take the mound for game one against Dodgers starter Yoshi Yamamoto in what’s sure to be an explosive showdown at the Tokyo Dome.

For the Cubbies, they’re facing a tall task just to crawl their way back to the playoffs. Over the last two seasons, they’ve finished with identical mediocre 83–79 records, and this offseason, they brought in both slugger Kyle Tucker and closer Ryan Pressly from the Astros in an effort to get over the hump and return to baseball prominence.

Sports Brief host commentary: Hey, head writer Davey Ross: There ain’t nothin’ wrong with mediocrity. I’ve made a career out of it. Back to the program.

In case you’re wondering, for most of the rest of the league, the regular season gets underway in just under two weeks from now, on March 27. Gimme a foot-long, a root beer, and a bag of cheap peanuts and I’m in heaven.

We stay on the diamond now and the big dog in the American League has just suffered another devastating blow to their championship aspirations, and this one could be the stake in the heart—a steak tartare in the heart. More now on what we’re learning.

Yankees’ Spring Nightmare Continues: Ace Cole Out for the Year

The spring nightmare for the New York Yankees continues as ace Gerrit Cole has just undergone Tommy John surgery and is now gonna be in sick bay for the entire season.

The Yankees were counting on a big bounce-back year from the 34-year-old, who’s just two seasons away from winning his first Cy Young award and who says his lifelong goal has always been to win a World Series championship with the Bronx Bombers. Well, that dream’s now a nightmare, it lives on Mockingbird Lane, and it’s just been put on hold for up to 18 months, but don’t feel too bad: he’s still bagging a nifty $36 million for his rehab efforts.

Sports Brief host correction: Show me the money. The aforementioned dream-turned-nightmare has just resumed dream status, 36 mil! Back to the program.

With Cole done for the year, everyone in the starting rotation moves up a notch and as a result, the Yankees are now gonna turn to either Carlos Rodon or recently signed Max Fried to be their number one guy on the mound. Meanwhile, hit-or-miss baby-faced prospect Will Warren slides in at the back end of an already weak rotation.

As we mentioned previously here on the Sports Brief, they’ve also lost last year’s rookie of the year Luis Gil for several months to a lat strain, and slugger Giancarlo Stanton could also be toast (burnt sourdough rye toast, dry—no butter or jam) if he opts for elbow surgery. Ouch.

With the young and hungry Baltimore Orioles, the boys from Beantown, the Boston Red Sox, and the Toronto Blue Jays charging up quickly from behind, any way you slice it or dice, the defending AL pennant winners are facing heaps of trouble, with opening day against the Brewers right around the corner. Trouble is brewing!

Finally today, a number of head-spinning moves in NFL free agency as the music slowly fades out on the league’s annual game of musical chairs. Here’s how it’s all playing out.

NFL Free Agents Find Landing Spots

Quarterback Sam Darnold has just landed in the Pacific Northwest with a brand new three-year, $105 million contract to become the next starter for the Seahawks; the reins of the hapless New York Jets have just been turned over to journeyman Justin Fields; and stiff-necked former Giant Daniel Jones is gonna look to climb the beanstalk and resurrect his dwindling career in Indianapolis.

Right now, a pair of highly touted veterans are still looking for new homes. They include four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, who’s being linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as former Super Bowl champ Russell Wilson, who’s visiting the needy New York Giants.

A number of high-profile wide receivers have also swapped teams, including former Seahawk DK Metcalf, who is now a happy Steeler with a massive five-year, $150 million contract. In Hollywood, the Rams made a pair of significant moves, picking up free agent Davante Adams and releasing former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp.

In another huge trade, left tackle Laremy Tunsil developed a case of Tunsilitis, so he’s leaving Texas and packing his bags for our nation’s capital, where he’s gonna protect the blind side of budding superstar Jayden Daniels for the Commanders. In return, Houston scored a boatload of precious draft picks and they’re gonna need every single one of them to replace one of the best linemen in the entire league.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles say farewell to a pair of big names as defensive tackle Milton Williams lands in New England, who’s overhauling their roster with a number of big-time signings, and Josh Sweat moves from Philly to the desert of Arizona.

And after a great deal of brouhaha that went absolutely nowhere, defensive lineman Myles Garrett has decided to remain in Cleveland, breaking the hearts of football fans everywhere. In fact, I feel a tear coming on right now, but I’ll try to hold it together.

Hey, we’re out of time now, so we’re gonna bust out, but we’ll be back next week with another edition of The Epoch Times Sports Brief.

If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions about the Sports Brief program, we’d love to hear from you, but only if you have kind, gushing, complimentary, platinum kudos for the multi-talented, under-fed, finely attired, well-coiffed, and generally ill-behaved Sports Brief crew. You can find us at [email protected].

Don’t forget the Sports Brief motto: Candy is dandy, but sports don’t rot your teeth—unless you’re in the cheap seats and you get hit in the mug with a foul ball.

For all of us here at The Epoch Times Sports Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times Sports Brief program is written each week by Davey “Home-Run” Ross.

Finally, as we do every week on this fine program, we leave you with a highly notable quote and this comes to us from John Wooden who said:

“Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.”

Wooden was an American basketball coach who won 10 NCAA championships with the UCLA Bruins during the 1960s and 1970s. Known as “the Wizard of Westwood,” he’s widely considered one of the greatest coaches of all time.

Enjoy another great weekend of sports, stay safe, play by the rules, and remember, let’s all continue to watch out for one another! Have a superb day today, and don’t forget to keep your eyes on the game. Bye for now.