Unpacking a weekend steeped in tradition
Plus: Coastal Carolina football is offering fans free lunch...
Due to a recent bout of food poisoning after eating chicken wings—traditional, bone-in ones with no sauces, spices, or rubs—New York Yankees OF Cody Bellinger has sworn off the delectable sports-adjacent finger food for five years.
Maybe a dab of Sweet Baby Ray’s or a lemon-pepper epiphany will change his mind.
In today’s edition:
- ⛳ Unpacking a weekend steeped in tradition
- 🎉 Longest losing streak in college baseball snapped
- 🤔 Historic comeback trivia
On the clock: Today’s newsletter takes ~4.60 minutes to read (1,223 words).
⛳ The Masters
Unpacking a weekend steeped in tradition
All eyes in the golf world will be trained on Augusta National in Georgia starting today, as masters of golf converge on the club to compete in The Masters, the smallest but arguably most prestigious of the sport’s four majors. Here are some of the traditions that make the tournament unlike any other.
Cheap concessions: Food and drink prices at Augusta National this week may not be Coastal Carolina cheap (aka free; more on that later)—but they’re low enough to make a low-rider jealous. The most expensive item on the menu is a $6 beer or glass of wine, with $1.50 egg salad sandwiches and $2 soft drinks also available.
Exclusive drip: Official Masters merch—like a branded shirt, hat, or the infamous garden gnome—is only available for purchase at the course during the week of the tournament. Another thing that can only be snagged at Augusta the week of the tourney: the famed Green Jacket (Gold Jacket?), given each year to the tournament’s winner.
Speaking of winners: The year after a player becomes a Masters champion, tradition stipulates he host a Champions Dinner on the Tuesday before the tournament. The guest list includes all the other past winners who are able to travel to Augusta, and the menu is personalized to each winner. Scottie Scheffler’s offerings this year had a Texas flair, while Hideki Matsuyama’s 2022 dinner included sushi and sashimi.
No electronic devices allowed: All phones, cameras, etc. are banned on the course during the tournament, a fact that probably makes Rory “Phone Snatcher” McIlroy and thousands of spouses avoiding a check-in call very happy.
A small player pool: Less than 100 players typically participate each year, vs. other majors like the US Open that include up to 156. There are 95 players in the Masters field this year, the largest in a decade.
All the holes are named after flowers: This is an homage to the property’s former use as a nursery containing thousands of flowering plants and trees imported from various countries.
While we’re on names: The Masters is more strict about words than a Catholic school nun teaching in the 1950s. Broadcast partners are required to use “patrons” instead of “fans” (since it’s short for “fanatical,” which the event doesn’t like); “second cut” instead of “rough”; and “first nine/second nine” instead of “front nine/back nine,” among other things.
As for this year’s gameplay…Here are the betting odds + storylines to watch.
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⏱️ Catch Up Quick
Headlines de la semaine
🧑🎤 The Denver Nuggets are in their post-Malone era. The team fired head coach Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth on Tuesday, in a pair of decisions analysts described as “sus” “unprecedented” since they came so close to the Nuggets appearing in the NBA playoffs (just three regular-season games remaining). Malone, who led the Nuggets to an NBA championship in 2023, had his team in position to take home-court advantage in Round 1. Overall, the NBA playoff picture is coming down to the wire outside of the top two seeds in both conferences, with the regular season concluding on Sunday.
🏎️ Despite revved-up popularity, F1 can’t find a media rights buyer. Formula One, among the fastest-growing sports in the world, is seeking $150M–$180M/year for its new media rights package beginning in 2026, per a new Wall Street Journal report. That’s up to double what ESPN is currently paying, and a far cry from F1’s previous agreement in 2018 allowing the Disney-owned network to air races for free. However, the league has reportedly been unable to attract much interest at that price point, with analysts saying they’ll likely settle for a deal closer to $100M/year.
🏐 A new pro volleyball league is tapping into college fanbases. League One Volleyball (LOVB, pronounced “love”) is an organization with 54 junior clubs across the US that started its own pro volleyball league earlier this year. The six-team LOVB pro league is based largely in areas with women’s college volleyball hotbeds—including Omaha, Austin, Madison, and Salt Lake City—and each roster is filled with hometown players and former local college stars. Teams have succeeded at attracting local crowds thus far, with this weekend’s inaugural LOVB Finals (airing on ESPN2) seen as a major test for wider viewership.
🏈 NCAA
Coastal Carolina football is offering free concessions
If Kobayashi were to attend a Coastal Carolina football game, the school may be in trouble. CCU recently announced that fans patrons who buy a ticket will be able to select up to four free items per concession stand visit, with the menu including hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and fountain drinks.
There is no cap on visits.
The big question—why?
The school for several years has reported $0 in revenue from concessions, programs, novelties, and parking. It was one of only two FBS public universities to do so in 2022-2023, Sportico reports.
- This is due to a seven-year, $43M deal the school signed in 2020 with food service company Aramark that covers student dining and athletics concessions—putting the athletic department in the unique position of never directly collecting any revenue from gameday food sales.
- The school hopes its “meal deal” will draw more fans to its games, as well as increase the sales of other items—like merch—where the athletic department gets to pocket the money.
It’s working: The day after the announcement, the school saw its highest day of season ticket renewals and new sales, athletic director Chance Miller told The Myrtle Beach Sun News.
Zoom out: Coastal Carolina’s move comes as the average cost to attend a college football game keeps increasing. And it’s expected to continue going up—especially if the NCAA vs. House settlement gets approved.
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💬 Word on the Street
Overheard
“It was a big weight off our chest, I’ll tell you that much.’’
What happens when The Benchwarmers meet The Bad News Bears? It seems both teams get to enjoy a sweet—but fleeting—taste of victory.
On Tuesday, a pair of D3 college baseball teams from New York City came into a doubleheader having lost a combined 141 consecutive games. But by the end of the day, the two longest active losing streaks in college baseball had finally been snapped.
Stoppable force🤝movable object: Yeshiva University, a Modern Orthodox Jewish school, entered Tuesday’s doubleheader having lost their previous 99 games, while opponent Lehman College was riding their own 42-game losing streak.
- Yeshiva lost Game 1 to extend their streak to 100 games—but later rallied to take Game 2 and send both teams home with a W.
While futile, neither program is even close to the WOAT. Fellow D3 baseball squad Caltech lost 228 consecutive games between 2003-2013—and also went 29 straight years without winning a single conference game (1988-2017).
📰 News
What else is happening
- 🙏 Several members and family members of the Dominican Republic baseball community, including former MLB players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco, died in a nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo early Tuesday; the incident killed at least 124 people.
- 🌏 Manchester United is planning a postseason tour to Asia to generate more revenue.
- 🎟️ Manchester City is freezing ticket prices for the upcoming 2025–2026 season following a series of fan protests.
- 🏀 The two women's Final Four games drew an average of 3.9M viewers; that's down ~65% from last year but still marks the third-most-watched Final Four in history.
- 🏀 The men's Final Four averaged 15.5M viewers, up 21% from last year and the best mark since 2017.
- 🍺 Budweiser gifted specialty cans of beer to NHL goalies that haven't been scored on by Alex Ovechkin.
🌐 Web Gems
Cool things to click
⛳ Wouldn’t it be nice: The benefit of having Rory McIlroy’s genes.
⛹️ The lost scrimmage: Watch Caitlin Clark go off against the Iowa men’s practice team. Plus some additional context to the points barrage from her recent interview with David Letterman.
💡 Discover: Boston sports superfan Danny Healey serves up piping-hot takes, wild athlete antics, and laugh-out-loud stories for free. Think: if sports radio and a diary had a wicked funny baby.*
🚨 Right after Kim Kardashian: Add another comeback story to the list—the Vancouver Canucks become the first team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal deficit in the final minute.
🏀 Anotha one: Watch the Bucks go on a 34-3 run in the fourth quarter to erase a 24-point deficit against the Timberwolves on Tuesday. The Bucks won the game 110-103.
*A message from our partners.
🤔 Trivia
In honor of epic comebacks
Can you name the biggest single-game comebacks in each of the four major US pro sports leagues? (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL)
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🤔 Answers
MLB: Three teams in history have been down 12 runs and then gone on to win the game—the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) have done in twice, vs. the Seattle Mariners in 2001 and the Philadelphia A’s (now [Redacted] A’s) in 1925; while the Detroit Tigers did it against the Chicago White Sox in 1911.
NBA: In November 1996, the Utah Jazz overcame a 36-point deficit against the Denver Nuggets; they ended up winning 107-103.
NHL: 10 different teams have overcome a five-goal deficit and gone on to win the game. See them here.
NFL: In 2022, the Minnesota Vikings overcame a third-quarter deficit of 33–0 to defeat the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in OT.
