| | | | | | | Presented By IBM | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker · Apr 08, 2022 | | 🎉 Happy Friday! An epic sports weekend awaits. Today's word count: 1,673 words (6.5 minutes). Let's sports ... | | | | | | 1 big thing: ⛳️ 18 holes down, 54 to go |  | | | Tiger Woods plays a shot on the fifth hole. Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images | | | | After 18 holes at Augusta, the field is chasing Sungjae Im — the first South Korean ever to lead or co-lead after any round at the Masters. Yes, but: The spotlight remains firmly on Tiger Woods, who's tied for 10th after shooting a one-under 71 and showing both flashes of greatness and signs of struggle. ICYMI: Watch every shot. "I'm right where I need to be." — Woods The intrigue: This is the 11th time Woods has shot under par in an opening round at the Masters. The last 10 times he did so? Nine top-10 finishes and four of his five wins. Go deeper: How's your Fantasy squad doing? Check here. |     | | | | | | 2. 🏈 Two Black coaches join Flores lawsuit |  | | | From left, Brian Flores, Steve Wilks, Ray Horton. Photos: Nick Cammett, Adam Glanzman, Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images | | | | Brian Flores' racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL grew on Thursday, with two plaintiffs added to an amended complaint. Details: Former Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks and longtime NFL assistant Ray Horton are now part of the lawsuit, which asks for, among other things, increased transparency in NFL hiring. - The lawsuit claims Wilks was discriminated against "in a manner consistent with the experiences of many Black coaches" by not being given a "meaningful chance to succeed."
- Horton's contentions focus on "sham interviews," including his 2016 interview with the Titans. The suit cites a 2020 podcast, in which Mike Mularkey says the Titans told him he'd be head coach before they went through a "fake hiring process" to comply with the Rooney Rule.
- Flores' attorneys also allege that the Texans "retaliated" against him this offseason by removing him from consideration for their head coaching vacancy "due to his decision to file this action and speak publicly about systemic discrimination in the NFL."
State of play: The NFL has responded to the Flores lawsuit, initially filed in February, by stepping up its diversity efforts. Last week, it announced the creation of a diversity advisory committee and a requirement that teams hire a minority or female offensive assistant. In related news ... Tom Brady was reportedly "very close" to joining the Dolphins this offseason as a minority owner and QB, PFT reports. But when the Flores lawsuit was filed, Miami pulled the plug. Go deeper: How the Rooney Rule failed minority coaches (Axios) | | | | | | | | 3. ⚾️ Opening Day: A celebration |  | | | Seth Beer walked it off on National Beer Day. Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images | | | | Opening Day should be a national holiday. On Thursday, MLB did its best to make it feel that way during a watch party at its NYC headquarters, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. - The event had a bit of everything, from an "MLB: The Show" station, a photo op with the World Series trophy and every baseball snack imaginable (hot dogs from a cart pre-wrapped in foil just hit different).
- "We just wanted this to be a celebration," MLB's chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak told me. "After the last two years, it's good to be back."
Photo: Jeff Tracy/Axios Scoreboard: Due to the Yankees-Red Sox rainout, the only game on during the event was Brewers-Cubs. But six more followed throughout the afternoon and evening. - Diamondbacks 4, Padres 2: Padres ace Yu Darvish threw six no-hit innings but Arizona DH Seth Beer sent the crowd home happy with a walk-off three-run blast on National Beer Day.
- Cubs 5, Brewers 4: In 2021, Corbin Burnes set an MLB record with 58 strikeouts before his first walk. In 2022, he walked the first batter he faced on five pitches. Baseball!
- Astros 3, Angels 1: Houston won, but Shohei Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to both throw (starting pitcher) and face (leadoff hitter) his team's first pitch of the season.
- Royals 3, Guardians 1: No. 1 overall prospect Bobby Witt Jr.'s first career hit was a go-ahead, eighth-inning RBI double.
- Mets 5, Nationals 1: Juan Soto hit a moonshot, but the Mets improved their MLB-best Opening Day winning percentage to .655 (40-21).
- Cardinals 9, Pirates 0: 40-year-old Adam Wainwright tossed six scoreless innings. That'll play.
- Reds 6, Braves 3: A modest proposal: Joey Votto should be mic'd up every game.
| | | | | | | | A message from IBM | | Can artificial intelligence predict the Masters? | | |  | | | | The Masters used IBM Watson to analyze five years of historical data on hundreds of players and more than 100,000 shots, enabling them to predict the scores of every player, in every round of the Tournament. You can check out how they did it here, and see the predictions in the Masters app. | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Photo: Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images | | | | 🏒 All hail, Auston: Auston Matthews made history twice on Thursday, setting both the Maple Leafs' single-season goal scoring record (55) and the record for most goals in a season by an American-born player (56). 🎾 Coaching change: Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams' coach for a decade, is now working with Simona Halep, raising questions about what this means for Williams' future. 🏐 Whole team cut: In a bold move, Grambling State's new women's volleyball coach has cut the entire 19-person roster. 🇺🇦 Must-see moment: Ukraine's Oleksiy Novikov won Europe's Strongest Man, and the reaction was so awesome. | | | | | | | | 5. ⚽️ Snapshot: EPL's sprint to the finish |  Data: Premier League; Table: Baidi Wang/Axios Manchester City looked poised to repeat as champions through the Premier League's first half, but Liverpool had other ideas, Jeff writes. Where it stands: The two clubs face off Sunday in Manchester, with just one point separating them and eight matches left for both teams. - Man City (73 points) went 16-2-2 in 2021 and have since gone 7-2-1. Liverpool (72) started 12-5-2 but haven't lost in 2022, going 10-0-1.
- Chelsea (59) sits in a distant third, with Tottenham (54), Arsenal (54), West Ham (51), Manchester United (51) and Wolverhampton (49) rounding out the top eight.
- Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table: Everton (25) are in danger of being relegated for the first time since 1951. Only Arsenal has maintained its top-flight status for longer (since 1920).
Elsewhere in Europe: The big five leagues are all at roughly the same point in their seasons. Three title races are nearly decided, while Serie A's finish could mirror the Premier League's. - 🇮🇹 Serie A: AC Milan (67 points), Napoli (66), Inter (63) and Juventus (59) are locked in a tight one.
- 🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Madrid (69) holds a commanding lead over Barcelona, Atlético and Sevilla (57 each).
- 🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Bayern Munich (66) are looking for their 10th straight title, leading Dortmund (57) and Bayer Leverkusen (51).
- 🇫🇷 Ligue 1: PSG (68) lead Marseille (56) and Stade Rennais (53) as they seek their eighth title since 2013.
Go deeper: How Guardiola and Klopp left the league in their wake (The Athletic) | | | | | | | | 6. 💩 All-time droughts on both coasts | | Giphy The Sacramento Kings and Buffalo Sabres were both officially eliminated from postseason contention this week. Why it matters: We're currently witnessing the longest playoff drought in both NBA and NHL history. Longest playoff droughts (all-time): - NBA: Kings — 16 seasons (2007-present)
- NHL: Sabres — 11 seasons (2012-present)
- MLB: St. Louis Browns* — 41 seasons (1903-44)
- NFL: Washington Redskins* (1946-70); Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals* (1949-73) — 25 seasons
Of note: The longest active droughts in the NFL and MLB belong to the Jets (11 seasons) and Mariners (20). *Now the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Commanders and Arizona Cardinals | | | | | | | | 7. 🌎 The world in photos | | Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images BOSTON — Denver beat Michigan, 3-2 (OT), and Minnesota State beat Minnesota, 5-1, to advance to the Frozen Four title game. - By the numbers: Denver is seeking its ninth championship, which would tie Michigan for the most ever, while Minnesota State is making its first title game appearance.
Nikola Jokić hugs coach Michael Malone. Photo: Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images DENVER — MVP favorite Nikola Jokić became the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season as the Nuggets clinched a playoff berth on Thursday. Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images ATLANTA — A close-up view of the PitchCom system used by Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson (and others) this season to relay signs. | | | | | | | | 8. 📺 Watchlist: So many sports | | Giphy Napping on the couch during the Masters is the real "tradition unlike any other." But this weekend is so stacked, we actually advise against it. - ⛳️ Masters: Coverage all weekend (ESPN, CBS, ESPN+, Paramount+, Masters.com)
- 🏒 Frozen Four final: Denver vs. Minnesota State (Sat. 8pm, ESPN2)
- ⚽️ Premier League: Liverpool at Man City (Sun. 11:30am, USA)
- ⚾️ MLB: Mets at Nationals (Fri. 7pm, Apple TV+); Red Sox at Yankees (Sat. 4pm, FS1; Sun. 7pm ESPN)
- 🏀 NBA: Warriors at Spurs (Sat. 8:30pm, NBA); Celtics at Grizzlies (Sun. 7pm, TNT)
- 🏒 NHL: Capitals at Penguins (Sat. 3pm, ABC)
- 🏎 F1: Australian Grand Prix (Sun. 1am, ESPN; re-air 9am, ESPN2)
- 🏁 NASCAR: Blue-Emu 400 at Martinsville (Sat. 7:30pm, FS1)
- ⚽️ MLS: LAFC at LA Galaxy (Sat. 7:30pm, Fox)
- ⚽️ Friendly: Uzbekistan at USWNT (Sat. 5:30pm, Fox)
- 🎾 Tennis: Charleston Open (Fri.-Sun., Tennis)
- 🥊 UFC 273: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan-sung Jung (Sat. 10pm, ESPN+ PPV)
- 🥊 Boxing: Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata (Sat. 7am, DAZN); Mikaela Mayer vs. Jennifer Han (Sat. 10pm, ESPN)
- ⚾️ NCAA Baseball: No. 3 UVA at No. 8 Miami (Fri. 7pm, ACC); No. 23 TCU at No. 7 Texas (Sun. 1pm, ESPNU)
| | | | | | | | 9. ⚾️ MLB trivia |  | | | Wrigley Field, you're beautiful. Photo: Quinn Harris/Getty Images | | | | Rank the seven ballparks that hosted games on Opening Day by oldest to newest: - Wrigley Field (Cubs)
- Busch Stadium (Cardinals)
- Kauffman Stadium (Royals)
- Angel Stadium (Angels)
- Truist Park (Braves)
- Nationals Park (Nationals)
- Chase Field (Diamondbacks)
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 😈 1 rivalry thing: Memorable moments |  | | | Coach K leaves the floor for the final time. Photo: Lance King/Getty Images | | | | On the heels (get it?) of UNC beating Duke, and with Manchester City unveiling a statue of 2012 hero Sergio Agüero, we compiled our top 10 "stick it to your rival" moments. | | | | | | | | A message from IBM | | The Masters app is serving up AI insights on every player in the field | | | | | | | | IBM Watson natural language processing capabilities analyzed more than three million articles about every golfer at the Masters. The resulting player insights are then made available on the player profile pages in the Masters app. See how they did it. | | | | Enjoy the weekend, Kendall "My Orioles are still undefeated" Baker Trivia answer: Wrigley Field (1912), Angel Stadium (1966), Kauffman Stadium (1973), Chase Field (1998), Busch Stadium (2006), Nationals Park (2008), Truist Park (2017) 🙏 Thanks for reading. Follow us at @kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy, and tell friends to sign up for Axios Sports. |  | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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