Sarni's Scrolls: Caitlin vs. Pistol Pete -- Phony Comparison
Caitlin Clark is closing in on passing Pete Maravich for the Division I men's and women's scoring mark.
Maravich scored 3,667 points from 1967-70; Clark is at 3,650.
The Iowa star enters Sunday's regular-season finale at home against Ohio State (1 ET, Fox) 18 points shy of breaking the record.
Except it won't be a valid record.
Maravich played in a different era before the 3-point clock and shot clock.
Bill Walton, who played against Maravich in the NBA, said statistical comparisons between different eras in sports are problematic because of all the variables.
But what players can mean to a sport, and how they make people feel while watching them are more comparable.
"Caitlin is one of those rare forces of nature that when she's playing, you cannot take your eyes off her because she's just moving in this graceful and productive manner," Walton told ESPN.
Most importantly, the charismatic Clark passed Kansas Jayhawks legend Lynette Woodard for the major-college women's basketball scoring mark in the Hawkeyes' 108-60 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday night.
Woodard, who played in the final years of the AIAW from 1977 to '81, scored 3,649 points. The NCAA did not recognize women's sports until 1982.
"The AIAW record that Lynette Woodard held -- that was the real one," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. "There's no reason why that should not be the true record. At a school like Iowa, that has been so rich in AIAW history, I just make sure we acknowledge Lynette's accomplishments in the game of basketball."
"I wouldn't have the opportunity to be able to do what I'm doing every single night if it wasn't for people like her," said Clark, who announced she will enter the WNBA Draft (and be the No. 1 pick).
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The NFLPA has released its club report cards. The grades came in from 1,706 players, representing 77% of the NFL’s on-field workforce.
■ The Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings ranked at No. 1 and 2 for the second straight year. (The Vikings were first last year, and the Dolphins came in first this year.) By the numbers, NFLPA president JC Tretter said the Dolphins and Vikings were “in a league of their own.”
■ A second tier consists of the Green Bay Packers in third place to the Houston Texans in seventh. In between those two, in order, were the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers.
■ The bottom five, from 28th to 32nd, were the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders.
■ For the first time, players graded their head coaches and owners. Chiefs coach Andy Reid ranked first in the former category, with former Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels coming in 32nd. Miami’s Stephen Ross was first among owners, and Kansas City’s Clark Hunt was 32nd.
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Remember Anthony Kim?
Once the brighest young star of American golf, absent from the sport for nearly 12 years, returns this weekend to play the LIV Golf tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The 38-year-old, who was ranked as high as No. 6, will compete as a wild-card player for a guaranteed portion of the $20 million individual purse but not the $5 million up for grabs for the top three teams.
The financial figures are key for Kim, who last played in 2012 after sustaining multiple career-threatening injuries. He has long been reported to have a $10 million–plus insurance policy with the PGA Tour that would be voided if he returned to professional competition.
“I’ll tell my story when it’s the right time, but right now I’m focused on golf,” Kim said in a video posted by LIV’s social media accounts. “I’ve missed the competitive part of the game.”
“His persona was perhaps bigger than his game, and his game was quite good,” golf analyst Peter Kostis, who worked for CBS during Kim’s prime, told Front Office Sports. “He was a personality that the Tour hadn’t seen before.”
LIV streamed Friday morning beginning at 3 a.m. ET, and will be on tape delay Saturday and Sunday afternoons on The CW.
■ Update: Kim (+6) was last after the first round.
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The CONCACAF W Gold Cup enters the quarterfinals this weekend:
■ No. 1 Canada vs. No. 8 Costa Rica on Saturday 7 p.m. ET.
■ No. 2 Brazil vs. No. 7 Argentina on Saturday at 10:15 p.m. ET
■ No. 3 Mexico vs. No. 6 Paraguay on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET
■ No. 4 USWNT vs. No. 5 Colombia on Sunday at 8:15 p.m. ET
■ TV: Paramount+, ESPN+, Deportes
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ETC.
■ Messi and Inter Miami get a Fox telecast on Saturday... vs. Orlando City at 4:30 ET.
■ Rafael Nadal takes on Carlos Alcaraz in The Netflix Slam, an exhibition match at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET.
■ Caleb Williams made around $10 million in endorsement deals his final two years at USC.
■ In the wake of the ongoing offensive explosion, a new report from ESPN suggests that the NBA has officially begun a review to determine if the game has become too advantageous to scorers and whether changes need to be implemented to achieve better balance.
■ Alex Rodriguez and Bloomberg's Jason Kelly debuted their podcast "The Deal" on Thursday. The series "aims to shed light on the intricacies of investment strategies, crucial career decisions, and opportunities that slipped through the fingers of some of the most iconic figures in sports, entertainment, and business." Derek Jeter was the guest on the first episode.
■ Craig Dolch will receive the Tim Rosaforte Distinguished Writers Award at the PGA Tour's Cognizant Classic this weekend in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
■ Shohei Ohtani announced his marriage in a surprise social media post.
■ Reigning World Cup champion Spain defeated France 2-0 to win the inaugural Women's Nations League.
■ The four top teams in the PWHA make the playoffs with this twist -- the No. 1 seed can choose its opponent in the semifinals.
■ Hilarious bit on "UnSportsmanLike" on Friday. Michelle Smallmon had the day off, and ESPN moved Chris Canty from the middle seat to Smallmon's vacant right-side seat so he was head-on, opposite host Evan Cohen. But Canty, the former NFL defensive end who is 6-8, 350, said he was uncomfortable with the unflattering view. Solution: Canty moved back to his seat, and producer Rob Lorenzo, a "seat filler" a la the Academy Awards, took Smallmon's chair.
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■ A new NCIS spinoff series starring Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly is coming to Paramount+. The duo played fan favorites Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo on the original crime procedural.
■ Sydney Sweeney ("Euphoria") will host "SNL" for the first time with musical guest Kacey Musgraves, who returns for the third time.
■ Watch: "Elsbeth" (CBS). "Amusing, eccentric and analytical."
■ New website: LateNighter.com, featuring writers A J. Katz, Bill Carter and Jed Rosenzweig.
■ Carmen Electra officially changed her name from Tara Leigh Patrick.
■ "Miss Scarlet and the Duke" will continue without the Duke.
■ Alicia Keys' jukebox musical "Hell's Kitchen" will open in April... Keys' sons are named Genesis and Egypt.
■ An Oscars' 30-second ad costs $1.85 million -- 73% less than the Super Bowl.
■ Don McLean makes his Grand Ole Opray debut on March 9.
■ North Dakota is the coldest state after Alaska.
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THEY SAID IT
■ "I don't believe in space. I'm real religious, so I think we're alone right now. I don't think there's other planets and other stuff like that." -- Texas Tech DB Tyler Owens in a video posted on X by Bleacher Report.
■ "It's going to be really exciting. It's going to be like playing in the World Bu5aseball Classic every night." -- Juan Soto to The Athletic's about playing in New York with its large population of Dominicans.
■ "She's a girlie girl and a tomboy. She's doing a stereotypically badass male endeavor, but she also loves high heels." -- Serena Vilage on teammate Cole Brauer, the first American to sail nonstop around the world alone.