🎧Sports Brief: US Drops the Puck as Canada Wins Fabulous 4 Nations Finale; Spurs Star Wemby Out for the Season; Boxers Lace Up Their Gloves for the Fight Card of the Century

United States' Brady Tkachuk checks Canada's Devon Toews (5) during the first period of the 4 Nations Face-Off championship hockey game in Boston, on Feb. 20, 2025. Charles Krupa /AP Photo

What’s cookin’, sports fans? Welcome to the extra large and turbo-charged Epoch Times Sports Brief for Friday, Feb. 21, 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.

The U.S. and Canada face off on the ice in a rousing 4 Nations finale; a blossoming NBA superstar’s career is in dire jeopardy, and in Saudi Arabia, a staggering number of championship belts are on the line in a boxing card for the ages.

Also, a future NFL Hall of Famer says farewell to the gridiron, and as the grapefruit and cactus leagues get underway, we’ll catch you up on what’s going on in the tart and prickly world of major league baseball.

We’ll do a full-court press on each one of these mildly earth-shattering stories and we begin by dropping the gloves on last night’s politically charged rock-em-sock-em showdown on ice for North American supremacy, and here’s the lowdown.

US Drops the Puck as Canada Wins Fabulous 4 Nations Finale

Connor McDavid netted the game-winner just over eight minutes into overtime as Team Canada triumphed over the U.S.A. in the championship match of the uber-successful first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off following an exciting tournament for players and fans alike.

The atmosphere at Boston’s TD Garden was at a fever pitch and anticipation was sky-high for this action-packed rematch following last Saturday’s 3–1 American victory in the round-robin game. Unfortunately, an early morning wake-up call from the commander-in-chief, President Donald Trump, to rally the troops just wasn’t enough to spur the red, white, and blue to the win. (Regrettably, Team USA sadly fell short of making hockey great again.)

Goalie Jordan Binnington was money in the crease for the Canadians, brilliantly stopping 31 shots, while tournament MVP Nathan McKinnon and Sam Bennett both found the back of the net for the team from the north.

Meanwhile, Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson drove the puck home for the U.S. and Connor Hellebuyck bravely guarded the net like a pit bull guarding a bucket of ALPO and sardines, until McDavid, who’s one of the top players in the world, finally drove home the game-winner.

Throughout the night, raucous fans for both squads cheered, chanted, booed anthems, and poured their hearts into the contest, with the current political backdrop adding a mountain of sizzle to the inaugural competition. Team USA’s coach summed up the contest when he said it was an “incredible display of hockey on both sides, and it was the best of the best out there.”

These two neighbors don’t need much prompting to spark a feud and with the next Winter Olympics in Italy less than a year away, the red, white, and blue is gonna be absolutely itching for a rematch when those shiny gold medals are on the line.

Sports Brief Host commentary: At three thousand greenbacks an ounce, you’d want a gold medal too.

We skate along now to the hardcourt and some very alarming news to share regarding a budding NBA icon who’s just been diagnosed with a potentially career-threatening medical condition. More now on this fast-breaking story.

Spurs Star Wemby Out for the Season

The San Antonio Spurs have just announced that they’re shutting down former number-one draft pick Victor Wembanyama for the rest of the season following the discovery of a certain kind of blood clot in his right shoulder.

The team says doctors found a condition called “deep vein thrombosis” in Wemby after he returned to Texas from last Sunday’s All-Star Game and complained of discomfort.

His loss is a massive blow to the Spurs, who are struggling to stay afloat in the competitive Western Conference playoff race. This season, the 21-year-old Wemby has played in 46 games for the Spurs, and he’s averaging more than 24 points, 11 rebounds, and nearly four blocks per contest. He’s also the reigning Rookie of the Year and did a pretty good job in his first All-Star Game five days ago.

Because he won’t play in the required minimum number of 65 games, he’ll no longer qualify for any of the major postseason awards for which he was a leading candidate, including Defensive Player of the Year and the All-NBA teams.

There’s some good news, however: Wemby’s likely to be treated with some form of blood-thinning medication for his ailment, and the Spurs expect him to make a full recovery by the beginning of next season.

(We pause now for station identification. This is The Epoch Times Sports Brief program, podcasting with a butane-powered 1.21 gigawatt home-built, stainless steel magenta transmitter. And now, back to our program currently in progress.)

We take a big leap now to Saudi Arabia for what they’re calling the “Fight Card of the Century,” where tomorrow the haymakers are gonna be flying, division crowns galore are gonna be on the line, and the desert crowd’s gonna go absolutely berserk. More now on what promises to be a knockout event.

Boxers Lace Up Their Gloves for the Fight Card of the Century

A bunch of highly anticipated title fights are gonna take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, and the headliner is a light heavyweight unification rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. (Gentlemen – start your engines, lace ‘em up, put your mouthguards in, and no hitting below the belt!)

In case you missed it, Beterbiev snagged the WBA belt from Bivol in a majority decision when they fought last October to unify the titles, and he’s putting all of his jewel-encrusted, thoroughly ostentatious wraparounds on the line in this must-see do-over. Hey man—ditch the jewelry and just fight the fight.

So far, Bivol is the only fighter to go the distance with the undefeated Beterbiev, and he’s gonna be lookin’ for some serious payback when the opening bell rings. For his part, the 40-year-old Beterbiev is gonna be hoping to alleviate any doubt and land a thunderous knockout punch that leaves his opponent flat on his back and gasping for air—like just like the time Rocky put the hurt on Apollo Creed.

Meanwhile, there’s just been a snag in a couple of the card’s other long-awaited bouts. Last night, due to an illness, British heavyweight Daniel Dubois pulled out of his IBF title defense against Joseph Parker, who’s now gonna duke it out with Congolese challenger Martin Bakole instead.

A pair of unbeaten light heavyweights are gonna go toe-to-toe when Shakur Stevenson puts his WBC belt on the line against England’s Josh Padley, after his original challenger Floyd Schofield pulled out of the match earlier this week.

By the way, a middleweight title fight, a very competitive junior middleweight slugfest, and another brutal heavyweight throwdown are also on the docket for what they’re dubbing “The Last Crescendo.”

We gallop over to the gridiron now and in a shocking development, one of pro football’s best offensive linemen has just announced that he’s laced up his cleats for the last time. More now on a stunning career, a sad goodbye, and a short hiatus on the way to Canton.

Cowboys Guard Zack Martin Retires From NFL

Football insiders are reporting that Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin just met with team owner Jerry Jones to let him know that he’s retiring from the NFL.

The 34-year-old Martin is one of the most accomplished linemen of his generation. Since being picked out of Notre Dame in the first round back in 2014, he’s made nine Pro Bowls, was named a first-team All-Pro an astounding seven times, and was chosen for the NFL’s All-Decade team for 2010 to 2020.

Since entering the league, the durable Martin has suited up for 162 games and even more remarkably, throughout his entire career, he’s only been called for seven accepted holding penalties.

However, over the last couple of years, he’s been dealing with a number of mounting injuries, and he’s decided that it’s finally time to throw in the towel, call it quits, and go fishing.

Sports Brief Host commentary: Hey Sports Brief head writer, Davey Ross. Not all athletes retire and go fishing. Some do macrame, take up knitting, or become elevator operators. Just sayin’. Back to the program.

His presence will be dramatically missed by America’s Team, who haven’t been to the NFC Championship in nearly three decades and must now look to replace the anchor of what once was considered the top line in the entire league.

For Martin, following the mandatory five-year waiting period, they’ll fit him for a gold jacket, unveil a bronze bust that looks nothing like him, and place his likeness in the hallowed Hall of Fame.

By the way, right about now, we'd normally stop here for a commercial break, but like you, we don’t dig commercials, so we’re just gonna keep on trucking! Although, I am fond of the Gold Bond Medicated Powder commercial. Eh—maybe next week.

There’s just enough time for us to swing at one more pitch and this one’s a curveball. Major League Baseball is back and the spring leagues are in full swing, but the sport itself says they’re now looking for a new home. More now on what’s going on with our national pastime.

MLB and ESPN Call It Quits; Soto Buys Teammate a New SUV

After 35 years, MLB and the major sports network that’s been carrying many of their games, ESPN, are heading for the big D and we don’t mean Dallas. We’re talking about a divorce; irreconcilable differences and junk.

Following the end of this season, the two parties have mutually agreed to opt out of their current seven-year contract, which began in 2021 and averages nearly $550 million per year. (In baseball and divorce court, they call that the “Seven Year Itch.”)

For their part, MLB believes that the network has “scaled back” in their coverage of baseball in a way that’s not in sync with the sport’s appeal. They also say that they’re getting significant interest from a number of other networks and streaming services who are chompin’ at the bit to show their games. (It’s pretty basic—MLB is simply not in love with ESPN anymore. All is fair in love, war, and baseball.)

Meanwhile, on the field, new Mets superstar Juan Soto has shown up to spring training in Florida with his record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract and he’s finally found a way to spend a few of those hard-earned Benjamins.

The well-loved Soto just surprised his teammate, third baseman Brett Baty, with a brand new Chevy Tahoe SUV as a thank you gift for parting with his beloved number 22 jersey. Soto’s worn the double deuces his entire career and he completely shocked his grateful new colleague, who sauntered out into the team parking lot to find the present waiting, complete with a red ribbon on the hood and and a stereo cranking up “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Sports Brief Host commentary: Hey Soto—22 is also my favorite number and turns out, I also like free Chevy Tahoes—with red ribbons. Just sayin’. Back to the program.

Moving forward, Baty’s gonna be sporting lucky number 7 and he’s gonna need all the luck he can get just to make the team. With the Mets recently re-signing “Polar Bear” Pete Alonso to a two-year, $54 million contract, and with up-and-comer Mark Vientos penciled in to start at the hot corner, his spot in the dugout could be in serious jeopardy (just like that 1983 hit song from the Greg Kihn Band).

By the way, with the regular season right around the corner, it won’t be long now till we hear the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, and the charming sound of the old man in the last row kindly and gently explaining to the umpire that the last call he made was perhaps mildly inaccurate.

Hey, we’re out of time now, so we’re gonna make a break for it, but we’re gonna be back next week with another edition of The Epoch Times Sports Brief.

Truth is, we’re not really out of time, it’s just that one of the cable channels is running a Mr. Belvedere marathon right now and we simply can’t miss even one episode. We have no excuse—it’s just that we’re all Bob Uecker fans.

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, finely attired, well-coiffed, and generally ill-behaved Sports Brief crew and you can find us at [email protected].

Also, we’re still in search of a Sports Brief motto and we couldn’t find one using AI, so if you have a rockin’ good Sports Brief Motto you can share with us, that would be just groovy.

Send along your best Sports Brief motto to [email protected] or simply post your motto here in the comments thread. We really do need a Sports Brief Motto—a family-friendly Sports Brief motto. Something like: “It’s not winning or losing that counts, it’s how many points you win by.”

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 Ross—a fellow exercise enthusiast. True story: Davey and I rode our exercise bikes together last Tuesday for eight minutes and we got lost. We’ll never do that again. We had fun, but honestly, we were frightened.

Finally, sometimes every week on this almost award-winning program, we leave you with a highly notable quote and this comes to us from the late Kobe Bryant who said:

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”

Kobe was a shooting guard and small forward, and he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. A bona fide basketball legend.

America (no, not the band from the 1970’s, the country)—America, thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and engaging rundown of all the sports stories you absolutely need to know about.

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.