Your weekly roundup of sports news ending March 24rd, 2015.
Bracket Buster
It is (nearly) impossible to perfectly predict a NCAA March Madness basketball tournament bracket. Heading into the tournament, ESPN had reportedly 11.57 million bracket entries. After the last game had been played on Saturday, March 21, none of those brackets remained intact. The madness and bracket-busting began early on Thursday when two No. 3 seeds Iowa State and Baylor were upset by No. 14 seeds University of Alabama-Birmingham and Georgia State, respectively. According to mashable.com, all your pre-tournament scouting and analysis to come up with a perfect bracket won’t help you. The website estimates that the odds of predicting every game correctly is 9.2 quintillion to one. If you’re a gambler, you have better chances of winning the Mega Millions lottery twice in a row.
Max Verstappen to the max
Get ready to feel bad about yourself. Remember that first solo drive when you got your full license? You had just passed your test and were ready to take on the world, right? Well, last Sunday, March 15, Max Verstappen just put us all to shame. The 17-year-old became the youngest professional driver in Formula 1 history when he took part in the Australian Grand Prix. Verstappen still hasn’t registered for his regular driver license, yet he’s already competing against 20 of the world’s best drivers. In the season’s first race, Verstappen made his debut with the Toro Rosso team. Although he didn’t finish the race due to engine failure, there will be many more opportunities for the phenom to shine. The next stop on the F1 schedule is the Malaysian Grand Prix this Sunday, March 29.
Nash retires from NBA
Canada’s most renowned NBA star, Steve Nash, retired on Saturday, March 21, announced TSN. Nash, 41, is from Victoria, B.C. and played 18 years in the league, 10 of which were for the Phoenix Suns. During his time on the court, Nash won two MVP awards and was selected for eight All-Star teams. According to TSN, the point guard played in a total of 1,217 games and accumulated 17,387 points throughout his career. Nash was most known for his playmaking ability and he now sits third in all-time assists with 10,335. Before the current NBA season was set to begin, Nash was advised to sit out due to severe nerve damage in his back. It was an injury that had plagued Nash for the past two seasons, limiting his play to only 45 games. During the prime of his career, Nash was one of the games brightest stars.
