Author Archives: Nick Sadowy

March Madness 2024 Preview

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March Madness Logo (Final Four) Download Vector

By: Nick Sadowy

Nick Sadowy is from Toledo OH, and is a Bowling Green State University student majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Journalism. Nick has a passion for sports including Football, basketball, and UFC, but he is also interested in baseball and golf.

March 10, 2024

OVERVIEW

March Madness is once again just around the corner. The tournament is where any of the 64 teams involved can achieve greatness and immortality in college basketball. The most exciting sports tournament in the world is almost here and this is the preview of a few basketball teams in the tournament.

PURDUE

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Purdue has been one of the country’s most dominant teams all season long. They have been led by 7’4 star center Zach Edey. Purdue has shown they can shoot the three-ball with any team, while also factoring in Edey’s dominance in the paint. The Boilermakers are looking to finally have that successful run toward the national championship.

TENNESSEE

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The Vols have been led by star senior Dalton Knecht all season. Knecht has been a national player of the year contender, but that is not all Tennessee offers. They also have forward Jonas Aidoo, who is averaging 12.1 pts and 7.6 rebounds with an impressive 1.9 blocks per game. With the duo of Knecht on offense and Aidoo on defense, the Vols have a real chance at making a run for the National championship.

KANSAS

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Kansas has had a somewhat disappointing season for their usual high standards as a basketball program. That however does not change the fact that come tournament time, this team is a dangerous one. They are led by the trio of Hunter Dickinson, K.J. Adams Jr., and Kevin McCullar Jr. When these three are all on the same page both offensively and defensively, it is really hard to stop this team. Come tournament time Kansas is a team to watch.

NORTH CAROLINA

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The Tar Heels have been led by star point guard RJ Davis all season long. UNC has many other weapons on the offensive end including Armando Bacot, Harrison Ingram, and Cormac Ryan. North Carolina hit a rough patch toward the middle of the season but they pulled things together toward the end of the regular season with a win against rival Duke which secured the regular season ACC championship for North Carolina. If Davis, Bacot, Ingram, and Ryan are all locked in on offense, this Tar Heel team will be very difficult to beat.

Other Contenders

Many teams still have an opportunity to get a good seeding in the NCAA tournament and it will be interesting to see how things shake out. Two heavy favorites not mentioned above include defending champs UCONN and the Houston Cougars. Some other teams to keep an eye out for are Marquette, Kentucky, Creighton, Duke, Iowa State, Baylor, and Arizona

At the end of the day, March Madness is exactly what it is advertised as, and that is complete basketball madness. Any of the teams listed above could be eliminated in the first round of the tournament by an underdog no one would expect to win. This tournament is always spectacular year after year, and this year is shaping up to be no different.

UFC 298 Preview

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UFC 298 | Honda Center

By: Nick Sadowy

Nick Sadowy is from Toledo OH, and is a Bowling Green State University student majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Journalism. Nick has a passion for sports and writing about sports.

February 16, 2024

OVERVIEW

UFC 298 is the second pay per view for the UFC in 2024. This is one of the most anticipated cards of the year headlining with UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski defending his championship against undefeated Ilia Topuria.

MAIN CARD

  • Roman Kopylov vs Anthony Hernandez – This fight is kicking off the main card with a middleweight bout. Anthony Hernandez is ranked at #15 in the middleweight division, while Roman is unranked and looking to change that. Whoever wins this fight will no doubt move up the rankings. Hernandez is well known for his grappling while Roman is known for his kickboxing ability. This will hopefully kick off UFC 298 with an entertaining fight.
  • Merab Dvalishvili vs Henry Cejudo – This bantamweight bout seems to have some high stakes for Henry Cejudo, who claims he will retire if he does not win this fight. Merab claims “he knows he has to beat me, otherwise he’s done.” Cejudo is a former champion and if he wins this fight he most likely will receive a title shot in the future. If he does not win, it will be a difficult road back and a road he seems unlikely to go through.
  • Ian Machado Garry vs Geoff Neal – This next fight features one of the younger undefeated fighters in the UFC, Ian Machado Garry. Ian Garry is 13-0 and is ranked #10, while Geoff Neal is ranked #8 in the Welterweight division. Garry tends to talk trash within the octagon to get into his opponents’ heads, this will no doubt be a factor in his fight against Neal.
  • Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa - This is one of the more anticipated fights of the year as it marks the return of Paulo Costa. In Costa’s eyes, he is one fight away from a title shot. There is no better way to earn a title shot than beating the legendary Robert Whittaker, who should not be taken lightly though. If he wins, he will probably be put in the title picture as well.
  • Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria – The main event of the evening features Volkanovski vs Topuria. Volkanovski has been champion for a long time, dominating the featherweight division. He has only 3 losses and 2 of his lightweight losses came from Islam Makhachev, who challenged him for the lightweight title twice and lost both times. Clearly, he has been dominant and has been a monster that no one can compete against in the featherweight division. For the first time in a long time, that has changed. Topuria is undefeated and looking to take the title away from Volkanovski. It will be interesting to see how their styles clash at UFC 298.

CONCLUSION

This card has a lot of entertainment value and intriguing high-stakes storylines at hand. Can Volkanovski stay dominant at featherweight? Will Cejudo retire if he loses? Who will challenge for the middleweight title between Costa and Whittaker? In any case, this card should be a really great watch and should bring compelling fights.

Super Bowl LVIII Results in OT win for Kansas City

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Chiefs' Steve Spagnuolo makes coordinator history with 4th Super Bowl win

By: Nick Sadowy

Nick Sadowy is from Toledo OH, and is a Bowling Green State University student majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Journalism. Nick has a passion for sports and writing about sports.

February 14, 2024

OVERVIEW

The 2023-2024 NFL season comes to an end with the Kansas City Chiefs edging out a victory over the San Francisco 49ers with a final score of 25-22. This game had a very slow start with a 0-0 score at the end of the 1st quarter but had an exciting finish with the final play happening in the final seconds of overtime.

Chiefs

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Travis Kelce (R) vents to Coach Andy Reid (L)

Kansas City wins back-to-back Super Bowls and their 3rd Super Bowl in 5 years. This win cements them as a dynasty led by their superstar Quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Early on in the game, the Chiefs struggled heavily, barely able to get a first down. Star tight end Travis Kelce had one catch for only one yard, basically getting shut down the whole first half. He took out his frustrations on head coach Andy Reid yelling at him in frustration to get himself more involved in the big game. Coach Reid seemed to game plan more around Kelce in the second half leading to Travis’ to finish with 9 catches and 93 yards, which were a big factor in the Chief’s victory.

49ers

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Dre Greenlaw’s injury came with 9:26 left in the 2nd quarter

The San Francisco 49ers once again lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the 2nd time in 5 years. The 49ers seemed to have the worst luck with injuries in prior seasons just trying to get to the Super Bowl, and that same luck followed them into this game. Star linebacker Dre Greenlaw tore Achilles just from running onto the field to play defense. Greenlaw was one of the 49er’s best defenders this season and was a key member of the 49er’s defense.

The Niner’s offense seemed to struggle for the most part all game, only scoring 2 touchdowns in the entire game. The main playmakers for the 49ers got shut down for most of the game, with Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk essentially being nonfactors for a combined total yards of 94. The only weapons that the 49ers utilized were the NFL’s offensive player of the year Christian McCaffrey and the unlikely use of Jauan Jennings. These two had the only 49ers’ touchdowns and had a total of 202 all-purpose yards.

2nd Half and Overtime

The 2nd half and Overtime of the Super Bowl is really where the game picked up from the entertainment factor. Most of the scoring occurred in both the second half and overtime. This was only the 2nd time in NFL history that the Super Bowl has gone to overtime and the first time ever that it implemented the new overtime rules where both teams have an opportunity to score a touchdown.

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Mecole Hardman scores winning TD pass in OT victory for Chiefs

The 2nd half ended with a score of 19-19 which allowed the game to continue into overtime. The 49ers only ended with a field goal which made the score 22-19. This gave Kansas City an opportunity to score a touchdown and win the game. This is exactly what happened, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs down the field to score a touchdown to Meccole Hardman to make the final score 25-22, making Kansas City 3-time champions in the Mahomes era.

Conclusion

Super Bowl LVIII started off as a game that could have been forgettable but turned out to be quite the opposite. This Super Bowl had one of the most exciting finishes in NFL history. Most likely we will be seeing Kansas City in the future as they try to go for a three peat. However, we may see the San Francisco 49ers sooner rather than later because of the talent on their roster.