BY JEFF YODER

FEB. 17, 2025 | SUBSCRIBE | WEB VIEW

Welcome Back 👋

The last action-packed sports weekend until March Madness has come and gone. Dueling All-Star showcases, the Daytona 500 and a Super Bowl parade overshadowed a crazy weekend in college hoops. We have takeaways (some good, some bad). Namely, the death of the NBA All-Star Game.

🚨 A Star is Born

Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes scored 55 points to set the NCAA Division I women’s freshman record (her own) on Sunday night. Blakes put up 53 just two weeks ago. She’ll be tomorrow’s college hoops feature story.

Letter Rip!

NBA

Here Lies NBA All-Star Weekend 🪦

Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

Steph Curry Wins MVP, But the NBA’s All-Star Weekend is Officially Cooked

Even half-court shots from the hometown hero can’t save this thing. The NBA put together a new format in hopes of rejuvenating the All-Star Game’s lack of competitiveness Sunday night. I was intrigued. Until I wasn't. Giant flop. I regret to stray from our usual “straight facts” recap, but this was a viewership kill-shot I had to review. The All-Star Game is officially cooked.

While the new format did produce a slightly more competitive game, the three-hour broadcast was reduced to roughly 30 minutes of on-court basketball while a barrage of commercial breaks and sideshows were too much to endure. More than two hours of musical theatrics and an uncontrollable hot-mic for comedian Kevin Hart left fans, and players, scratching their heads.

NBA vs. NHL: TV ratings are in a bitter war right now. Regardless of whether the NBA's viewership is up or down (or changing by the week), Sunday night’s All-Star product appeared to have forsaken all basketball fans in the name of sponsorship dollars. The juxtaposition between the NBA and NHL on dueling All-Star weekends was almost comical. The NHL had fist fights, national pride and drama in droves. The NBA had tired faces and bored fans with about four halftime wait periods. It couldn't have been more night and day.

The NBA All-Star Game Recap

Because we still have a job to do… Four teams of eight featuring 24 All-Stars, plus the Rising Stars team, competed in a three-game mini-tournament. Shaq’s OGs beat Chuck’s International Team (41-25) in a first-to-40 final game. The only saving grace was Steph Curry’s 12 points in the finale, including a half-court 3 and some fun home-crowd interactions. Curry won MVP.

Bonus: Some random fan won $100,000 from Mr. Beast… Might have been the actual highlight of the night.

📊 Reader Poll

What did you think of NBA All-Star Weekend? (vote if you watched)

Positive Experience

Neutral Experience

Negative Experience

Watch: NBA All-Star Game Highlights

CBS Sports: NBA All-Star Game Reaches New Low of Wasting Everyone’s Time

All-Star Saturday Night (Winners)

Skills Challenge: Team Cavs

3-Point: Tyler Herro

Slam Dunk: Mac McClung

NHL

4 Nations: Face-Off Fisticuffs 🥊

(Matthew Tkachuk & Brandon Hagel Trade Punches) -- Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images

3 Fights in 9 Seconds? 🇺🇸 USA Secures Spot in 4 Nations Final After Beating 🇨🇦 Canada (3-1) in Rough Rivalry Game

The spirit of an iconic hockey rivalry was revived Saturday night in front of a pro-Canada sellout crowd in Montreal. It didn’t take long for the passion to arrive in a stark contrast of the NBA's All-Star Weekend. The USA-Canada clash in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off featured three fights in the first nine seconds after Canadian fans booed the American national anthem. Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel set the tone and injected adrenaline into the building right off the puck drop. Two more immediate fights and 60 minutes of board-blasting must-see hockey ensued. Canada scored first thanks to Connor McDavid, but the USA won (3-1) with two goals from Jack Guentzel and another from Dylan Larkin.

This game had so many jaw-dropping moments. It was a ratings hit at nearly 5 million viewers on Saturday night. If you love old school hockey (and were as disappointed as we were with the NBA All-Star Game), these highlights hit.

Watch: 🇺🇸 USA Beats 🇨🇦 Canada (3-1) in 4 Nations Bloodbath

CBS Sports: USA-Canada: 3 Fights Off Puck Drop After American Anthem Draws Boos

NASCAR

Byron Repeats in Wild Daytona 500 🏁

Photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images

Rain Delays & Late-Race Wrecks Pave the Way for William Byron’s Daytona 500 Repeat

Race fans had to wait a little while longer for “The Great American Race” on Sunday. Rain delays paused the Daytona 500 for several hours before a chaotic string of crashes led to an overtime restart and a final-lap pass by William Byron for the win. The last crash swept up Denny Hamlin, Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric while Byron avoided the debris at the wall and sped from outside the top five to nothing but daylight and the checkered flag. He’s the fifth driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500s. Tyler Reddick (2nd) and Jimmie Johnson (3rd) were next across the line.

Byron was as far back as 9th when the final lap began. He led the race five separate times for a total of 10 laps.

Daytona 500 Results

1. William Byron

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Chase Briscoe

5. John Hunter Nemechek

Watch: Full Daytona 500 Highlights

SBLIX 🏆

A-Grade Parade for the Birds 🦅

Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images

Millions Flock to Downtown Philadelphia for Wild Celebration of SBLIX

Ain’t no party like an Eagles parade. Rocky Balboa would've been proud. The Birds celebrated their Super Bowl LIX victory Friday afternoon (Valentine’s Day) in another outrageous takeover of downtown Philly. The 3.5-mile route was long enough to see Eagles players become completely unhinged, kicking beer-can field goals and crowd-surfing with fans. Eagles GM Howie Roseman took a flying beer can to the forehead and proceeded to deliver a speech with a bloody gash — “I bleed for this city!” Running back Saquon Barkley pulled the Eagles ball boy from the crowd in a moment that went viral. Jalen Hurts looked gassed after his week-long media circuit included Disney World, Jimmy Fallon, The View, and many more stops. It ended with a simple Hurts speech on the Rocky steps.

Job, complete. Philly rides into the offseason.

📸 Eagles Super Bowl Parade Photos

HIGHLIGHTS 🎥

⚽️ Soccer

EPL: Man. City def. Newcastle (4-0)

New Signing Omar Marmoush Nets Hat Trick

ITA: Juventus def. Inter (1-0)

Conceicao Scores Deciding Goal in 74th Min.

⛳️ PGA Tour

Ludvig Aberg (-12) Takes Genesis Open

Holds Off Maverick Mcnealy (-11) by 1 Stroke

🏀 NCAA Basketball (Top-10 Matchups)

M: #1 Auburn def. #2 Alabama (94-85)

Johni Broome (19 pts, 14 reb, 6 ast)

W: #3 Texas def. #5 LSU (65-58)

Texas Rallies From 12 Down (21-for-21, FTs)

W: #7 UConn def. #4 South Carolina (87-58)

Fudd (28 pts), Snaps SC’s 71-Gm Home Streak

Men’s NCAA Basketball Scoreboard

Women’s NCAA Basketball Scoreboard

🚨 Bonus: Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes (55 Points)

NCAA Division I Women’s Freshman Record

NEWS 📰

Other News Stories

🎾 Jannik Sinner Accepts Ban

The No. 1 player in men’s tennis has accepted a three-month ban after testing positive for a banned substance last spring. (Sports Illustrated)

🏈 More Justin Tucker Accusers

Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker was accused of sexual misconduct by seven more Baltimore-area spas and massage therapists (16 total). (CBS Sports)

🏀 Basketball Hall of Fame Finalists

Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Sue Bird and Maya Moore headline the group of nominees for this year's Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class. (ESPN)

🏈 Saints Coordinator Search

The New Orleans Saints are interviewing Brandon Staley and Christian Parker for defensive coordinator. (NBC Sports)

🏈 Aaron Rodgers ‘Pleaded’ With Jets

Jets QB Aaron Rodgers reportedly “pleaded” with the Jets to stay before the team decided to part ways with the 41-year-old quarterback. (Bleacher Report)

SCHEDULE 🗓️

Tonight's Must-Watch List

🏒 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off

🇨🇦 Canada vs. 🇫🇮 Finland (1:00 pm, TNT)

🇸🇪 Sweden vs. 🇺🇸 USA (8:00 pm, TNT)

🏀 NCAA Basketball

W: #13 Duke at #2 Notre Dame (6:00 pm, ESPN)

M: #3 Duke at Virginia (8:00 pm, ESPN)

M: #13 Arizona at Baylor (10:00 pm, ESPN)

*All Times ET

THE TEAM

Writer & Editor: Jeff Yoder

Assistant Writer: Marissa Kasch

Social Media: Aaron Yorke

Please consider supporting The Sportsletter, an independently operated and bootstrapped publication. Many thanks to everyone who already supports us!

Did Someone Forward You This Email? Subscribe Here
Feedback? Contact Our Editor: Jeff@TheSportsletter.com

*Sponsorship Has No Influence on Editorial Content*

Not Loving The Letter? Unsubscribe