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So far 2020 has been a giant disaster.  We got no sports.  We can't go out to eat.  Some of us aren't even allowed to work.  All thanks to the world wide pandemic that came from the Coronavirus.  So all we can do now is "quarantine and chill" until this awful virus goes away.  

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Notre Dame held it's first spring football practice this morning and afterwards head coach Brian Kelly was candid with the media in his press conference.

5th year senior and returning captain QB Ian Book and his 20-3 career record "need to complete a shitload of passes" and be himself this spring.  Sounds good to me.  Book will have to find new targets to throw the ball to as his top 3 of Chase Claypool, Cole Kmet and Chris Finke from last season are all off to the NFL.  One of the new targets expected to replace Claypool is redshirt sophomore Kevin Austin. 

Here are some highlights of Austin from today's practice...

 Austin if he can stay healthy and keep his nose clean should have a huge breakout season in 2020.  Team Austin up with WR Braden Lenzy, WR Lawrence Keys and TE Tommy Tremble and you are looking at 4 rising juniors with blazing elite speed all ready to make impacts this season in the receiving game for Book.

According to BlueandGold.com's Lou Somogyi the ND offense aligned like this today.

QB: Ian Book, Brendon Clark, DrewPyne
RB: Jafar Armstrong, C'Bo Flemsiter, Jahmir Smith, Kyren Williams, Mick Assaf
Note: Avery Davis moved to slot.

W Receiver (Boundary): Kevin Austin, Javon McKinley, Micah Jones
X Receiver (Field): Braden Lenzy, Ben Skowronek, Xaver Watts
Z (Slot): Lawrence Keys, Avery Davis, Kendall Abdur-Rahman
Notes: Joe Wilkins out with strep throat. Jay Brunelle out with clean-up work on shoulder. Also, Isaiah Robertson was not at practice while taking care of some academic work, per Brian Kelly.
Austin and McKinley both were standouts with their playmaking on some jump balls or back-shoulder plays.

TE: Brock Wright & Tommy Tremble, George Takacs
LT: Liam Eichenberg, Andrew Kristofic, Cole Mabrey
LG: Josh Lugg, Hunter Spears, Max Siegel
C: Jarrett Patterson, Zeke Correll, Colin Grunhard
RG: Tommy Kraemer, John Dirksen, John Olmstead
RT: Robert Hainsey, Quinn Carroll, Quinn Murphy
Notes: LG Aaron Banks is out this spring while recovering from foot fracture.
Later in more live work with no contact, Hainsey and Kraemer were both kept out while recovering from their fall injuries. Same with Quinn Carroll, who had ACL surgery last August.
In that situation, the No. 1 line had from right to left Lugg, Dirksen, Patterson, Grunhard and Eichenberg.

It appears those rumors of a running back being injured and another one possibly transferring are false at the moment.  All 4 RB practiced today while we wait for incoming freshman Chris Tyree to enroll this summer and add some much needed speed to the RB position.  

If you look at the overall depth of the offense it would be hard to find one better in Brian Kelly's tenure.  Even with starting guard Aaron Banks out with a fractured foot the offensive line has all 5 guys who have at least started multiple games ready to plug and play.  Hunter Spears has made the position switch from DT to left guard which as far as I can see is the only position change this spring.  The 2nd and 3rd stringers on the offensive line are all highly recruited sophomores now who have had a full season of strength coach Matt Balis program.  I can't remember a more deep and talented offensive line at Notre Dame.  In fact according to PFF they return 4 of the top 30 offensive linemen in the country.  That's insane and they should dominate every team up front not named Clemson in 2020.

Here are some more highlights from today's opening spring practice.

Crushed. 💪#BravesST | @austinriley1308 pic.twitter.com/ehVSVN9L84

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 3, 2020

Last season Atlanta Braves rookie 3B turned left fielder Austin Riley made an instant impact for the Bravos when he came up from Gwinnett and hit like a zillion home runs his first month with the big league club. The problem was pitchers adjusted to the hot hitting rookie after he smashed 18 homers and started throwing him sliders.

Riley couldn't adjust to the slider and suddenly his historic hot streak turned into a historic cold streak as he struck out 108 in only 80 games.  Riley basically was putting up Chris Davis all or nothing strike out numbers. 

Well this offseason Riley spent a lot of time when not hunting wild game by going to the cages and working on not only hitting the slider but also identifying it in his zone.  See the problem wasn't strictly not being able to hit the slider.  He can hit it.  The problem was he started swinging at pitches that were off the plate, especially the slider, and was late for the fastball.

Now that he can identify pitches he is laying off those sliders that start over the plate and end up 3-4 inches off the plate.  This spring he's hit two bombs including today's highlight above off the slider and last night hit a screaming line drive off the left-centerfield fence again on the slider.

Right now Riley is in a battle with Johan Camargo for the starting 3B position.  I've heard rumblings that manager Brian Snitker's preference is to have Camargo be the Opening Day 3B for the big league club and Riley start off in AAA Gwinnett.  I hope this isn't the case.  I personally think Riley is gonna have a huge season.  He's only 22-years-old and he's the future at 3B.  While Camargo is a good player I think he's more of a utility player and not necessarily an every day starter.  I don't think Snitker would platoon them right now.

Riley hit 33 homers between Atlanta-Gwinnett-Rome in just 123 games.  This year he's a year older, wiser, and more confident than ever he can play and perform at an elite level.  I think he's gonna hit a minimum 30 long balls so why not trot him out there Opening Day as the starter?  Camargo might hit 15.  Riley is no slouch defensively either.  Let Camargo spell relief for Riley, Dansby, and Ozzie in the infield every once in a while.  If he doesn't want to do it well tough luck.

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10 players boosted their NFL stock the most at the #NFLCombine2020
1. Simmons, Clemson
2. Taylor, Wisconsin
3. Claypool, Notre Dame
4. Wirfs, Iowa
5. Becton, Louisville
6. Henderson, Florida
7. Hurts, Oklahoma
8. Ruggs III, Alabama
9. Dugger, Lenoir-Rhyne
10. Mims, Baylor pic.twitter.com/VQeWIdKwzT

— SportsCrack Apparel (@sportscrack) March 3, 2020

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Use to answer emails on my uber rides, now I pump before my breasts explode💥💦

A post shared by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@ashleygraham) on Feb 26, 2020 at 12:14pm PST

Just another day on the internet. As you can see "model" Ashley Graham posted an interesting Instagram story today. She's in the back of an Uber with her massive jugs hanging out just pumping them away before they "explode." I don't even know if this is proper Uber etiquette but I got no issue with it. Free the milkjugs.

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The emergency backup goalie is in!

David Ayres, a Toronto Marlies Zamboni driver, makes his @NHL debut 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/MqBDYoA5dB

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) February 23, 2020

David Ayres, the 42-year-old zamboni driver just entered his first NHL game and helped preserve the win on the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice. GOAT. pic.twitter.com/xJPSVzehXM

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 23, 2020

David Ayres went from 42-year-old Zamboni driver to emergency backup goalie to NHL game winner

What a story, what a celebration for the Carolina Hurricanes pic.twitter.com/PPOqF4WX7b

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) February 23, 2020

This is what movies were made for. David Ayres, a 42-year-old Zamboni driver, made his NHL debut as an emergency goalie for the Canes the other night in Toronto and picked up the win. It's just an incredible story. Who would have ever thought it was even possible. It would be like the Atlanta Braves letting me catch because their two catchers got hurt. No one would believe it. But dreams do come true and for Ayres he is now a media sensation with his own shirt that's gone viral.

"It was awesome. Time of my life out there."

After coming in as the emergency goalie for the @Canes, David Ayres spoke with @SNkylebukauskas about picking up his first @NHL win. pic.twitter.com/pNaxv6z880

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 23, 2020

Jose Altuve getting the loudest boos you’ll ever hear at Spring Training. He was also hit by a pitch later on 😬 pic.twitter.com/ZqlRKbGTBb

— Kyle ⚾️ (@KyleNYY) February 24, 2020

And so it has begun.  Previous fan favorite Jose Altuve was greeted with a chorus of boos today as fans are gonna let the Houston Astros have it all season long.  Later in the game Altuve was hit with a breaking ball on his foot so it was hardly retaliatory.  But the over/under of 83.5 bean balls Vegas has for the Houston Asterisks seems really low right now.  I would go ahead and bang on that trash can as soon as possible if you know what I mean because that is a meat bet.

In the meantime go ahead and order the official SportsCrack Houston Asterisks shirt as seen here.  There is no better shirt to wear especially when the Astros come to town.

"I’m gonna have to look at another crying meme… that is what Kobe Bryant does to me.” - Michael Jordan pic.twitter.com/RHTV9ijLkt

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) February 24, 2020

The greatest basketball player of all time doing it again. Michael Jordan recreated his viral crying meme with a tear jerker today in memory of Kobe Bryant.

"I’m gonna have to look at another crying meme… that is what Kobe Bryant does to me.” - Michael Jordan 

And honestly who can blame him? I didn't even know Kobe or his daughter and I think I've shed tears at least 5 times. Granted I'm a baby but I could only imagine the hurt those closest to Kobe and Gigi are going through.  RIP Mamba and Mambacita.  And thanks for the laughs MJ.  We needed it.

I had to take a deep breath after inhaling this new Westworld trailer for season 3. March 15th can't get here faster. Shit we are looking at just over three weeks away! It looks like we got all the great characters back from the first two seasons and now we are gonna sprinkle in a little bit of that blue meth known as Jessie Fucking Pinkman which should absolutely blow our minds.

If season 3 lives up to the trailer's hype are we talking about Westworld as being one of the best television shows in history? Right now it's gotta be top 25 on my list. But if it wants to go up in the rankings it's gonna need to beat out some blue bloods and not just feast on FCS opponents. If it wants to be talked about as Tier 1 program Westworld Season 3 is gonna have to go out on the road and beat the likes of a Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones and Seinfeld among others.  That's no easy feat.

What if Season 3 is so great for Westworld we start talking GOAT shit about it?  Do we even see a season 4 or does it walk away knowing it's place in history?  If it happens then Aaron Paul knows he's the only actor to ever be on two top 5 programs.  That's big swinging dick shit right there.  That's scraping the ground with Moses Malone's third leg in the locker room legendary stuff right there.  One can only hope.

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