We had another incredibly loaded sports day on Monday, which means we have another loaded Cheat Sheet. Let’s get right to it…
Warriors set an NBA record with 45 straight regular-season home wins
After losing on Sunday in the biggest upset by winning percentage in the history of the NBA (and looking very hungover lol), the Warriors almost made it losses on consecutive days, but Klay Thompson hit a crazy three to save the day in the final minute:
Klay Thompson saved the Warriors. https://t.co/cILPScsw4u
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) March 8, 2016
The Warriors ended up beating the Orlando Magic by a 119-113 final score, and have now won an NBA-record 45 straight regular-season games at home. Incredible:
Record! Warriors set a new NBA record for consecutive home wins, breaking the mark set by the ’95-96 Bulls. pic.twitter.com/cQhLcWxo97 — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 8, 2016
Golden State also remains one game ahead of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ pace with a 56-6 overall record on the season.
Oh, and Steph Curry hit his 300th (!) three-pointer on the season. He did it in classic Steph fashion, showing off awesome handles before hitting a deep stepback right in the face of Orlando’s Ersan Ilyasova:
Warriors’ Stephen Curry works Magic’s Ersan Ilyasova for his 300th three-pointer of 2015-16 (2 angles) pic.twitter.com/GSoJrbpniM
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) March 8, 2016
On a three Steph hit in the first, teammate Andrew Bogut knew the shot was going in before Steph even let it go… this is great:
Andrew Bogut knew Steph’s three was good before he even shot it. 😂 #savagehttps://t.co/gnGiedI72n — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 8, 2016
Bogut also got some tape out there for NFL teams with free agency about to start, in case they’re looking for a 7’0″ long-snapper:
Andrew Bogut not only unconventional, but crafty and resourceful in dishing out the #AssistOfTheNight! https://t.co/T749w2guP0
— NBA (@NBA) March 8, 2016
Maria Sharapova revealed that she failed a drug test
Maria Sharapova scheduled a press conference for Monday, and the speculation was that the 28-year-old tennis star may be announcing her retirement from the sport. Welp, that’s not what happened. Sharapova revealed that she tested positive for the recently banned substance Meldonium at the Australian Open in January:
In Sharapova’s press conference streamed live on her YouTube channel, she remarked that she had tested positive for the drug Meldonium. The tennis star said she had taken the substance since 2006 for “several health issues going on at the time,” including repeatedly getting sick and irregular EKG results. She went on to explain that she received a letter December 22nd from WADA about changes to the banned substance list for 2016 that she neglected to read, and that Meldonium was added.
Sharapova says she failed a drug test. Been taking same medicine for 10 years. On Jan 1st 2016, rules changed. Became prohibited substance — Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) March 7, 2016
While we don’t know for sure (and it would be naive to simply jump to this conclusion), it really does seem like she may have been taking this substance only for important personal health reasons over the last 10 years, and this substance was just banned in January.
do people really care like this about whatever happened with sharapova? i figured ppl would shrug this off. — Aht Uh Mi Hed (@bomani_jones) March 8, 2016
Regardless, Sharapova faces suspension from tennis (with the length still to be determined), and Nike has already “suspended their relationship” with her.
Erin Andrews awarded $55 million in civil lawsuit
A Nashville jury awarded the Fox Sports reporter and Dancing with the Stars co-host $55 million in a decision reached on Monday. Andrews had originally sued the ownership group of the Nashville Marriott where the video was recorded and stalker Michael David Barrett for $75 million. Barrett was reportedly found liable for $28 million in damages and the hotel companies (West End Hotel Partners and Windsor Capital Group) $26 million respectively.
Read more at Awful Announcing.
The dollar amount has brought out all sorts of obnoxious hot takes, and I thought Jay Mohr put it well for those people:
Sickening to read anti- @ErinAndrews tweets. If she had won 20k would you be ok with that? 10? What is YOUR safety and privacy worth? — Jay Mohr (@jaymohr37) March 8, 2016
Peyton Manning had his retirement press conference
Peyton Manning had the press conference to officially announce his retirement from the NFL on Monday, and the main talk after it was about a question USA Today’s Lindsay Jones asked him regarding the sexual assault allegations of his days at Tennessee. Some people had a problem with this being asked on what is supposed to be a celebratory day, but I thought it was perfectly fair.
Here’s some more Peyton Manning content from Monday:
Ty Schalter ranks his top-10 quarterbacks of all-time… and Peyton is at the top of the list. This won’t bring any debate!
Brad Gagnon looks back on Peyton’s 18 best games.
Ian Casselberry takes a look at Peyton’s finest, funniest moments in pop culture.
Quick Hits
– Eight schools have now secured auto-bids for the NCAA Tournament:
These are the eight teams that have already secured auto-bids into the NCAA Tournament: pic.twitter.com/IGjcFM8vJB — The Comeback (@comeback_sports) March 8, 2016
The final seconds of Iona’s win over Monmouth to make the big dance:
And the final seconds UNC-Wilmington’s win over Hofstra:
For Yale, their 54-year NCAA Tournament wait is finally over.
– Illinois officially hired Lovie Smith as head coach.
– The Eagles traded DeMarco Murray to the Titans, and made another deal where they traded Kiko Alonso and Byron Maxwell to the Dolphins. It’s pretty clear what new Philly GM Howard Roseman thought of Chip Kelly’s personnel moves.
Eagles are basically dumping all their ex’s stuff in the front yard. — Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) March 8, 2016
– Von Miller: “You might see Johnny Manziel in Denver.” I’ve been to a lot of places in Denver that Manziel may go, but I highly doubt Sports Authority at Mile High will be one of them (anytime soon, at least).
– An argument between two soccer fans about Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo resulted in one of the fans murdering the other fan. Come on people.
– The Orioles signed Pedro Alvarez.
– Conor McGregor needed to lose.
– NFL mock draft: How free agency changes things.
– This triple save may be the best goalkeeping you’ll ever see.
– Jared Allen is raising PBR bulls in retirement.
– A raccoon watching a baseball game.
– Get ready for 10 more possible Star Wars films.
– The Duck Tales reboot is on its way with a brand new, simplistic art style.
– JK Simmons will play Batman’s Commissioner Gordon in Justice League.
One last breath of gratuitous procrastination
Skiing… at a skate park:
