Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what sporting events you should watch on TV every week! Make sure you subscribe, so it comes straight to your inbox! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

If you’re familiar with what it is I do, you already know I went all in with NCAA Women’s Tournament coverage. First, enjoy me trying not to wake my 8-month-old at 1 in the morning while I talk about South Carolina’s upset win over UConn and UCLA’s shocker against Texas in the Final Four.

Then, I set aside my pain to break down UCLA’s blowout win over my Gamecocks in the national title game. What a pro!

I’m recuperating this week, but we’ve got a lot of sports action coming up, so get ready to lock in! I also have some other announcements on the way. For now, let’s get to the sports!

Our foray into the world of college baseball would have started last week if not for technical difficulties. Upon further review, this is a much better starting place. A top-5 matchup between a couple of programs that regularly turn out big league talent. Former Yellow Jackets include Matt Wieters, Kevin Brown, Mark Teixeira, and Nomar Garciaparra, who women kicked it with Lil Wayne like. The Seminoles have their own who’s who featuring J.D. Drew, Buster Posey, the Big Dumper Cal Raleigh, and the man currently known as Coach Prime, Deion Sanders.

But don’t just watch for nostalgia, because the current group of players is talented as well. 3 Seminoles (1B Myles Bailey, P Trey Beard, and P Wes Mendes) and 2 Yellow Jackets (2B Jarren Advincula and C Vahn Lackey) made the midseason Golden Spikes Award watchlist, which is basically baseball’s Heisman. Lackey played 8 positions in a single game earlier this season, which is wild athleticism from a catcher.

The policy here is to feature as many LeBron-Steph matchups as possible. I’m not a huge fan of either, but I recognize that we need to appreciate them while they’re here because of what they’ve meant to the game. If you were unfamiliar with Father Time, he showed you exactly why he’s undefeated this season. LeBron is flirting with his lowest points per game since his rookie season more than 2 decades ago. Steph just returned after missing a third of the year with a knee injury. I fear the end is closer than we think. Enjoy it while you can!

A little top-5 rivalry action! Defending national champion Texas is looking to bounce back after dropping two of three and its #1 ranking to Alabama. They’re going to have to shut down Sooners freshman C Kendall Wells, who just tied the NCAA freshman record by hitting her 30th home run. You’re wondering, and yes, the all-time single-season record of 37 is well within her reach. The Longhorns have their own star C in Reese Atwood. The 2024 National Player of the Year almost certainly had one more clutch performance in store for her final series against the Sooners. Tap in!

As I told you, I had the pleasure of attending the USMNT-Portugal match a couple of weeks ago. Now, the USMNT didn’t look great, but we’re supporting them anyway. Let’s keep that up by checking in on USMNT defender Antonee Robinson, who plays for Fulham. He’ll have his hands full against a Liverpool squad that features Mo Salah and Hugo Ekitike.

A palate cleanser after reliving that USMNT experience. Two of the best international clubs in the world, with the USWNT currently ranked 2nd in FIFA World Rankings and Japan not far behind at 5th. This is just a friendly, but these two always seem to find each other at major tournaments. In the past 15 years, they’ve faced off in the 2011 World Cup Final, 2012 Olympic Final, 2015 World Cup Final, and 2024 Olympic Quarterfinal. Only one of those matches was decided by more than a goal. Safe to say, this is a rivalry!

This was featured in Screen Shots last season, but the offenses reminded me too much of Gamecock football. However, through the first 2 weeks of the season, teams have been finding the endzone. I’m still being reminded of Gamecock football, though, as 3 Renegades played collegiately at South Carolina. That feels like a lot.

Sunday Night Baseball on NBC! Get used to it. It’s still very early, but the Braves look much better than they did last season, particularly when you consider Spencer Strider still hasn’t pitched yet and Ronald Acuña Jr. is struggling at the plate. Speaking of not hitting, Guardians star Jose Ramirez is also looking to get rolling this year. You know who did start the year off hitting? Ramirez’s teammate Chase DeLauter. The Cleveland rookie went 3 for 5 with 2 homers in his regular-season big league debut. He was just the seventh MLB player to do that.

The turnaround between the end of the college season and the draft always makes my head spin. It feels even worse since prolonged CBA negotiations have compressed the rest of the offseason. Is this the first draft since 2022 where you wouldn’t bet your life on who was going #1 overall? I’m not even going to pretend to have an idea of what the Wings will do. Drinking game idea: take a shot every time Holly Rowe brings up a personal tragedy!

Not a lot of information here, huh? We know the Suns, Clippers, Trail Blazers, and Warriors will be here in the West, but they’re still jockeying for seeding position. As for the East, well, that’s a mess. The Heat continue their Play-In tradition, but seeds 5 through 9 are still up in the air.

This video of a fan losing his pants chasing after a foul ball during the Cubs-Rays game on Tuesday raises several important questions. First of all, how does this even happen? With all due respect, this is not a small-waisted man, so why are his pants so loose at his not-small waist? Secondly, he had to know his pants were loose at his not-small waist, so why pursue the ball so aggressively, knowing what’s at stake? And the question you’ve been waiting for me to ask: why does he not have any form of underwear on? You know your pants are loose, and you want to chase after foul balls anyway, fine. But there’s got to be some sort of barrier between your ass cheeks and our eyeballs when the inevitable happens. We’re living in a society.

Fun fact: if the Trail Blazers make the playoffs, they’ll be the first team in NBA history to do so after losing their head coach to a federal gambling investigation into rigged poker games involving the mob! Allegedly.

For all of the hate the Dodgers get for buying talent, they spend just as much effort developing it as well. In a billion-dollar lineup featuring Shohei, Freddie Freeman, and Kyle Tucker, the hottest hitter at the moment is one Andy Pages. Los Angeles signed the Cuban back in 2018 for a whopping $300,000. Last year, his second in the big leagues, Pages hit .272 with 27 homers and 86 RBI. He currently leads the majors in batting average and hits. While I certainly expect him to cool off, it’s the pairing of homegrown talent such as Pages with those huge free agent acquisitions that really make the Dodgers a pain in the ass for everyone else.

As always, thank you for reading! Make sure you’re subscribed so you get this in your inbox first thing Thursday mornings! Also, share with your friends! See you next week!