Alex Ovechkin is a bit of a beast
Plus: Judge ties Ruth...
Can high-level basketball players actually play NFL football? We’ll soon get another data point: The Carolina Panthers recently signed Coastal Carolina basketball center Colin Granger (6-feet-9, 225 lbs), who will try to make the transition to tight end.
Other college basketball players-turned-pro tight ends include: Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham, and Tony Gonzalez. Maybe there’s something to it, after all.
In this edition:
- 🏒 Alex Ovechkin is a bit of a beast
- 🏀 March Madness concludes
- 🤔 Hall of Fame trivia
On the clock: Today’s newsletter takes ~3.92 minutes to read (1,042 words).
First time reading? Subscribe here for free to get smart, witty sports news delivered to your inbox 2x/week.
🏒 Hockey
Alex Ovechkin is a bit of a beast
Washington Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin scored career goal #895 against the New York Islanders on Sunday, passing Wayne Gretzky on the all-time NHL scoring list. This puts the Russian forward in possession of a record that had stood since 1994—one many also thought would never be broken. Grizzly bears and vodka all around.
The play: The historic goal—preceded by chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” and followed by a self-described accidental belly flop—came from a place where Ovechkin has scored so many times in his 20-season career (watch it here). He’s scored 393 of his 895 goals (~44%) from the left circle or above it, according to NHL.com.
The key to history = consistency
To score 895 goals, an NHL player has to be like the tortoise and the hare. It requires netting an average of 44.75 goals/season across a 20-year career, or a little more than one goal every two games—a level that would land a player among the top-ten goal scorers each season, oftentimes higher.
- Ovechkin has led the NHL in goals a record nine times during his career.
- His highest goal total in a season was 65 in 2007-08, while his lowest was 24 in a Covid-shortened 2020-21 season.
- The actual Russian machine (sorry Bert Kreischer) also ranks third in NHL history in hits, which began being tracked by the NHL in 2005-06 (Ovechkin’s rookie season), and 11th all-time in power-play points—making him potentially the best fantasy player of all time.
The inevitable comparison: Wayne Gretzky retired after the 1998-99 season with 894 goals in 1,487 games across 20 seasons. Ovechkin has 895 goals—also in 1,487 games in 20 seasons.
But…Wayne Gretzky—widely considered the GOAT of GOATs; he beat out Michael Jordan in a 2020 Yahoo Sports fan competition—was a bit of a beast himself. The Great One still holds a sizable lead over anyone else when it comes to career points and assists. To put it into perspective: even if Gretzky had never scored a single goal, he would still be the NHL’s all-time leading points scorer.
Zoom out: The GR8 Chase has been a major late-season storyline for the NHL, which was already riding a resurgent wave of fan interest following February’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
License to predict: Henry Cavill leading race for next 007
The next James Bond casting race has Kalshi users picking their favorite to wear the famous tuxedo, with Henry Cavill currently projected at 25% to secure the iconic role. He was previously passed over when auditioning for the role in 2005.
- 🤵🏻♂️ Cavill leads the pack, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson trailing at 20%
- 🍸 Damson Idris and Richard Madden are tied as dark horse candidates at 9%
- 🤔 Some fans speculate Cavill is too famous for the part, citing exorbitant costs of securing an A-lister for a multi-picture deal
Got a hunch? Kalshi is the first CFTC-regulated prediction market, letting you bet on entertainment, politics, and everyday events.
⏱️ Catch Up Quick
Headlines
⚖️ House vs. NCAA: A legal hearing took place yesterday that could officially reverse the amateur model that’s governed college sports since 1906.
📺 The NFL expanded the pool of teams eligible to be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks.
🏀 The Lakers face off against the Mavs on Wednesday; it’ll be Luka Dončić’s first time playing in Dallas since being traded earlier this season.
⚾ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reportedly agreed to a 14-year, $500M contract extension with the Toronto Blue Jays.
👟 Grand Slam Track, a new racing series created by former Olympian Michael Johnson, held its debut event this weekend in the Caribbean.
🏎️ Red Bull's Max Verstappen won Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix; it snapped McLaren's two-race winning streak to start the season.
🌹 Arsenal FC is hosting a themed dating show; fans who are single and looking are encouraged to apply by April 11 via the football club’s website.
🎬 Zack Snyder is teaming up with Dana White and a Saudi Royal Adviser to write and direct a movie about UFC.
📸 Snapped
Pics from the weekend
Florida earned its third men’s national title last night in a nail-biter over Houston. Through the first 30+ minutes, the Gators appeared more flustered than the Gemstone kids after walking in on Eli and Lori, as the Cougars opened up a 42-30 lead with 16 minutes remaining. But Florida rallied back and eventually took their first lead of the second half with 47 seconds to go—then held on for a 65-63 victory. Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. was named the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after becoming the first player since Larry Bird to score 30+ points in the Elite Eight and Final Four back-to-back.
UConn women earned their record 12th March Madness title. The #2-seeded Huskies dominated #1 South Carolina 82-59 in Sunday’s final, which marked a rematch of the 2022 national championship game. UConn guard Azzi Fudd dropped 24 points en route to earning the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, while her backcourt partner Paige Bueckers—the presumptive #1 overall pick in next week’s WNBA Draft—added 17 points. UConn’s victory, which denied South Carolina their third title in four years, represents the Huskies’ first national title since 2016—and the 12th in Geno Auriemma’s 40-year tenure as head coach.
Some MLB players are off to smoking hot starts: Yankees OF Aaron Judge—who tied Babe Ruth for the most homers in a players’ first 1,000 games with a team (321)—currently leads the MLB in homers (6) and RBIs (18). And A’s rookie SS Jacob Wilson started the season on a nine-game hitting streak, during which he didn’t strike out a single time.
…while others took a little while to get going: Red Sox 3B DH Rafael Devers had a historically terrible start to the season, going 0 for 19 with an MLB-record 15 Ks through five games. But over the next five games, Devers went 10 for 19 with just two Ks, boosting his batting average from .000 to .263.
Decoded: The real game behind college sports
Ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes of collegiate athletics? Extra Points pulls back the curtain on the most lucrative, complex ecosystem in sports. With exclusive insider reporting from Matt Brown, you’ll get four weekly deep dives that go way beyond the scoreboard:
- NIL contract breakdowns that'll make your jaw drop
- Athletic department budgets exposed
- Shoe deal negotiations unpacked
- The business of college sports, raw and unfiltered
🔢 Facts & Figures
By the numbers
Here are five stats from this past week that made our team say “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.
- 🏆 The 2025 Men’s Final Four teams all ranked within KenPom’s all-time top 10 by net rating, which dates back to 1997.
- 🤏 The Cincinnati Reds became just the second MLB team since 1917 to lose three consecutive games by a score of 1-0.
- 🎯 The Boston Celtics set a new NBA record for most three-pointers in a season; they’ve made 1,394 threes (and counting; there’s four games left), good for a rate of 17.8/game.
- 💰 Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 pro women’s basketball league with relatively lucrative player salaries, reportedly earned over $27M in its inaugural season to “almost” break even.
- 🏀 Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo became the first NBA player to ever collect at least 35 points, 20 rebounds, and 15 assists in a single game.
👀 Must See
Top plays
- 😲 Houston’s last-minute Final Four comeback stuns Duke (cue The White Lotus meme)
- 🏒 Cale Makar hits insane pump fake before hitting net
- 🥎 Kayley Lenger’s web gem saves extra bases
- ⚾ Victor Robles goes all out to snag catch-of-the-year contender
- 🏀 Haliburton’s ridiculous bounce pass alley-oop
🌐 Web Gems
Cool things to click
🤔 Interesting: Testing the torpedo bat, Baseball Bat Bros style.
🤪 Explore: The five most insane teams in the history of sports. One is a now-defunct NFL team created solely to sell dogs.
😍 Eye candy: Art, but make it sports.
🏋️ Get fit: The BarBend Newsletter offers science-backed fitness tips, workout plans, and expert supplement reviews to help you get stronger than ever. Subscribe now and get a free arm training guide.*
*A message from our partners.
🤔 Trivia
Springfield or nah?
The 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class was announced over the weekend, with Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard headlining the list of inductees. Also selected for enshrinement: WNBA greats Sue Bird, Maya Moore, and Sylvia Fowles.
Below you’ll find a list of former NBA players. Your job is to tell us whether they’re in the Hall of Fame or not.
- Charles Barkley
- Shawn Marion
- Chauncey Billups
- Robert Horry
- Chris Bosh
- Ben Wallace
- Bill Laimbeer
- Tiny Archibald
- Theodoros Papaloukas
- Walt Frazier
k
e
e
p
s
c
r
o
l
l
i
n
g
🤔 Answer
- Charles Barkley (Y)
- Shawn Marion (N)
- Chauncey Billups (Y)
- Robert Horry (N)
- Chris Bosh (Y)
- Ben Wallace (Y)
- Bill Laimbeer (N)
- Tiny Archibald (Y)
- Theodoros Papaloukas (N, the Greek legend never played in the NBA)
- Walt Frazier (Y)
