Welcome to Friday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.
FRIDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
NBA: Clippers at Heat, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
NBA: Bulls at Jazz, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: UNC-Asheville at VMI, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
College basketball: Siena at Loyola (Md.), 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
NHL: Ducks at Stars, 8:30 p.m. (NHL Network)
College hockey: UMass-Lowell at Boston College, 7 p.m. (NESN)
College hockey: North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
AROUND THE WEB:
‘¦ Jets linebacker Bart Scott, who famously proclaimed “Can’t wait,” after his team upset the Patriots in the playoffs in 2011, will be sent packing as part of the Jets’ offseason purge, according to the New York Daily News.
The loud-mouthed linebacker reportedly will be part of the team’s move to trim $27.7 million from its cap number, with fellow linebacker Calvin Pace and offensive tackle Jason Smith also headed out.
Scott joined the Jets in 2009, following Rex Ryan from Baltimore, where they had teamed up on the Ravens. He has battled the media and even his own team’s fans the past two seasons while the Jets have struggled to live up their hype. Scott has averaged 74.8 tackles in his four seasons in New York, but he had only 60 tackles this past season.
‘¦ Duke’s homecourt fans, known as the Cameron Crazies, are known for their creative chants, but on Thursday night some of them apparently crossed the line. NC State guard Tyler Lewis, whose grandmother passed away a week ago, was at the free throw line when some fans reportedly started chanting, “How’s your grandma?”
It’s not completely audible on the video, as other fans were chanting “Past your bedtime” or “Bilbo Baggins” to the baby-faced guard. But some people who were there, including a couple of NC State players, insisted that a small group of students started the insensitive chant. Others in attendance, including some defensive Duke fans, denied hearing it.
‘¦ The saga involving the Arkansas football recruit whose mother wouldn’t sign his letter of intent continued Thursday. Alex Collins got around his mother’s blockade by going to his biological father to have him sign the papers. The mother, Andrea McDonald, responded by hiring a lawyer, which was news to Collins when he held a private event at a sports bar near his South Florida home.
“The last conversation was basically about why I chose Arkansas and why I felt the love at Arkansas. She understood and supported me behind it,” Collins said. “She always supported me, it’s just the fact from her standpoint she wants to make sure this is the right decision for me and I’m not just picking a school and not understanding what I’m getting into. I’m leaving the state and I’m going to be four to five hours plane ride away and she just wants to make sure this is what I really want to do.”
Collins ran for 1,275 yards and 14 touchdowns on 155 carries as a senior at South Plantation High School.
ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On Feb. 8, 1960, who was named the first coach in Patriots history?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It always feels good when you can give them a little old-fashioned beatdown in your house, no matter what direction these teams are going. It’ll always be a rivalry. Everybody’s always going to watch.” — Celtics guard Paul Pierce, after Thursday’s 116-95 victory over the Lakers
STAT OF THE DAY: 16 – NBA players with 25,000 career points, with Kevin Garnett becoming the latest
‘NET RESULTS (mobile users, check the website to see the videos): Illinois knocked off No. 1 Indiana on Thursday night when Tyler Griffey somehow got wide open for a layup off an inbounds pass at the buzzer.
Marist’s Chavaughn Lewis hits a three-quarter-court shot at the buzzer to tie Iona at 94 and force a second overtime. Marist went on to win in the second OT, 105-104.
Rangers rinkside reporter John Giannone takes a puck to the nose but doesn’t miss a beat, even as blood trickles down his face.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Lou Saban
SOOTHING SOUNDS: The late Dan Seals, lead singer of England Dan and John Ford Coley before embarking on a country music career, was born on this day in 1948.
