WHDD-BREAKFAST CLUB SPORTS TUESDAY MARCH 8, 2022

COLLEGE BASKETBALL No. 6 UConn wins 20th Big East title, tops Villanova

There wasn’t too much doubt that UConn would win its 20th Big East championship.

Now Geno Auriemma and the Huskies will turn their attention to trying to win a 12th national title. And they’ll need Paige Bueckers to continue to get healthier to do it.

Even without getting much from Bueckers, the Huskies had more than enough to beat Villanova 70-40 on Monday night in the Big East title game and win their ninth straight conference championship — seven coming when they were in the American Athletic Conference.

MLB points to Tuesday as deadline for 162-game schedule, full pay, service time: Sources Julius Randle's career-high 46 points rallies Knicks from 20 down to rout Kings Spurs' Gregg Popovich ties Don Nelson for most regular-season coaching victories in NBA history Chattanooga punches NCAA Tournament bid with 40-foot game-winner in OT Richard Sherman pleads guilty to misdemeanor charges related to July arrest: Reports Mexico suspends 5 state officials over fan violence at Atlas FC-Querétaro game Warriors' Draymond Green is targeting March 14 to return to the court Rookie Moses Moody scores 30 points vs. Nuggets; most by Warriors teen all-time Falcons WR Calvin Ridley suspended through at least 2022 season for betting on NFL games Why banning the shift is the best thing baseball could've done Now that baseball is planning on banning the shift for what’s left of the 2022 season, articles bashing the move are all over the web

MLB owners and the union ultimately decided that the shift was compromising the integrity of the sport. They both thought the defensive strategy of a shift was far too overpowering and that offenses weren’t going to be able to exploit it. Technically, they’re wrong because it’s always physically possible to defeat a defensive coverage — but is ‘hitting it where they ain’t’ plausible? Would it be realistic for hitters to hit 100-mile-an-hour fastballs the other way with consistency? It’s a question the owners and players association had to weigh when they voted on this issue.

Old school fans of baseball seem to be echoing the same talking point: They used to go the other way, so we should be able to ask players to do the same today.