Sports
Tiger Woods’ Legacy at a Crossroads After Latest DUI Arrest
It is time to permanently take Tiger Woods off the pedestal.
Woods has often been given a pass for some of his miscues and personal failings, all because he used to be the best golfer on the planet.
Seven back surgeries and that major leg surgery have ensured that label will never again be the case.
That Tiger is long gone – like one of those prodigious drives he used to hit at Augusta.
We certainly can feel bad for the guy for having to endure that much physical pain.
In my view, having to undergo one back surgery would be one too many.
But Tiger is now 50 – and his latest DUI arrest displays he’s not acting that old.
Something about Tiger and vehicles just don’t mix.
Friday’s DUI arrest is No. 2 for Tiger and that’s not the type of thing you want to add on to.
His first one, in 2017, was also on Jupiter Island, Fla., and it was due to an abundance of prescription medications. Woods was found asleep in his car at 3:00 a.m. while it was on the road and the engine was running.
That’s a very, very bad DUI No. 1.
Since Woods didn’t have alcohol in his system on Friday, the assumption is that toxicology reports will again show heavy amounts of medication in his system.
Doctors and pharmacists are always quick to share with people how medications may affect them adversely.
The fact that Woods has had two of these incidents while driving vehicles is unacceptable. That’s putting a lot of innocent people in harm’s way in addition to himself.
That’s selfish, entitled and immature behavior. I guarantee you Woods didn’t only drive under the influence on just these two occasions.
Woods has been involved in two other car accidents, the worst being the one in 2021 near Los Angeles when he was reportedly going 80 miles per hour on a winding road.
He was badly hurt in the accident with the broken leg bone coming through the skin. He was quickly whisked into surgery.
That injury pretty much ended any chance of the formerly dominating Woods prowling on the golf course.
He famously won the Masters in 2019 after not winning a major for 11 years. It was his 15th major title. Everybody was on board that Woods could bottle up that performance and bring it out again at future majors.
But that ailing back wasn’t allowing Tiger to turn back the clock.
Who knew that the magnificent performance at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines was basically the top of the slope before the inevitable fall.
That five-day, 91-hole victory over Rocco Mediate when Woods played with two stress fractures in his left tibia was something to see up close.
Woods was often wincing after drives and other shots and somehow he kept pressing on. The birdie putt on 18 to force the playoff was amazing theater and a shot for the ages.
The following day, a Monday, Mediate was once again just one Woods’ missed putt away from winning his biggest title. Again, Woods knocked in the putt to force a 19th hole.
Tiger won the tournament on that next hole for his 14th career major at just age 32.
Two days later, Woods revealed he had played the tournament with a torn ACL in his left knee and would be undergoing reconstructive surgery.
Suddenly, a memorable performance became one of the best the sport has ever seen.
That Tiger, who wouldn’t submit to the pain and kept coming through to keep from losing is the one people want to remember.
They idolize the guy with five Green Jackets for winning the Masters, the dude who won four PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens and three Open Championships. The player who hunted people down on Sundays, the guy who hit amazing shots, the golfer who made tough putts look easy.
That’s the Woods people want in their image files, not a dude that is continually in the news for DUIs and other silly stuff.
That golfer we remember won’t be coming back. And entitlement only takes you so far.
We’ve reached that point. The pedestal no longer has room for Tiger to stand on it.
Sports
Huskies bark, bite as 'underdog,' bury Illinois again
Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley celebrates after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini in a semifinal of the Final Four of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images INDIANAPOLIS — A gift, and not one UConn coach Dan Hurley saw coming, became fuel for the Huskies long before the team bus pulled up to Lucas Oil Stadium early Saturday afternoon.
From Hurley’s vantage point, the overall national narrative wrote UConn into the Final Four as the underdog against an Illinois team the Huskies beat by double digits earlier in the year.
“You’re coming into the game as an underdog versus a team that you beat by 13 points earlier in the season, which was kind of surprising, that’s how we kind of came into the game. Obviously I’ve been waiting to say that,” Hurley said 12 minutes into the UConn postgame press conference.
Illinois felt UConn’s intensity almost immediately and the Huskies made a full-court, do-or-die mentality the focus of their preparation. Even though the UConn banners arranged in Storrs celebrate a growing tradition of gold-plated victories, Hurley instead preaches an eat-off-the-floor philosophy. That chip on his shoulder Saturday isn’t going away by Monday night.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my guys and how hard they fought when most people probably didn’t think we were going to win the game,” he said. “Or at least a little bit of what I saw on TV today, you know, TNT and some of the different prognostications.”
UConn is back, and at 34-5 playing for a national title on Monday night. With program royalty on hand, from Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton to Khalid El-Amin and Charlie Villanueva, UConn reacted Saturday night like the more experienced team. When things went their way and when they didn’t, the Huskies had an answer.
“We’re a group of fighters. It’s not appealing to everyone,” Hurley said. “I’m sure there’s some people in here that it’s off-putting for. But we are a group of fighters. We are incredibly tough. We’ve got incredible will. We go into these games, we’re ready for battle. Again, for us it’s not a game that we’re just kind of running around in uniforms throwing the ball around, hoping it goes in. That’s not what we’re doing out there. We’re fighting. It’s a life-and-death struggle for us to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship, and then just to be able to prolong this season with each other and to make the people of Connecticut proud, to make the university proud and all the former great players.”
It was the 18th win for UConn when it held the opponent under 40 percent shooting. The Huskies guarded second-team All-American Keaton Wagler, who led Illinois with 20 points, all over the court. They doubled and swarmed, leaned into the wiry Wagler and dared someone else to carry Illinois to its second-ever championship game.
UConn designed a game plan to make Wagler work and stray from the secondary marksmen that helped Illinois average over 83 points per game this season. Illinois made 6 of 26 3-point tries and shot 33.9% in the game.
With UConn’s defense dominating, its offense did enough. Solo Ball, Braylon Mullins and Jayden Ross all made multiple 3s and UConn was 15 of 17 from the line.
Illinois trailed by double digits most of the second half until foul trouble — UConn’s 10th foul put the Illini in the double bonus with nine minutes left — helped the Illini score with the clock stopped to close the gap.
“Even when they had that run, we told ourselves we were fine,” UConn’s Silas Demery said.
Illinois (28-9) coach Brad Underwood said the Illini are heading back west for a short 90-minute ride down I-74 with a painful reminder about the slim margin between winning and losing. It has been a constant talking point this season.
“It’s why I have so much respect for Alex Karaban,” Underwood said of UConn’s senior forward. “He’s been to three of them. It’s freaky.”
In the last three meetings with UConn, Illinois has been held to its lowest scoring output of that season. That includes a loss in November of this season and a blowout in the 2023 Elite Eight. Maybe, Underwood joked Saturday night, it’s “the uniforms.”
“When they beat us in the Elite Eight, I told our coaches, that was a bad feeling. This is even worse,” Underwood said. “It hurts. My gut hurts so bad right now. I feel sad. I’m sad, if you want to know the truth. Seasons coming to an end hurts.”
Tarris Reed Jr. had 17 points to lead UConn, Mullins had 15 and Ball 13.
Hurley felt the offense had a chance to turn the game into a blowout because of the quality of looks UConn was getting. Illinois had the same reaction postgame, pointing to holding UConn to 35 percent shooting.
Even things that didn’t go their way broke right for the Huskies. After not scoring in the second half, Mullins wound up with the ball after Karaban missed a 3. He calmly connected with 52 seconds on the clock and UConn booked a couple more nights at the Marriott in Indy along with the most meaningful bus ride in the sport from Hurley’s experienced perspective.
“There’s no better feeling than being on that bus on Monday night, just being one of the last two teams standing, that bus ride to the stadium,” Hurley said. “It’s just a cool experience.”
–Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
Sports
Habs outlast Devils in shootout to earn eighth straight victory
Apr 4, 2026; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Montréal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield (13) swipes at the puck in front of New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen (34) during the first period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Salus-Imagn Images Oliver Kapanen scored in the fifth round of the shootout to extend the Montreal Canadiens’ win streak to eight games after Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J.
Cole Caufield failed to find his 50th goal of the season, but tallied a pair of assists in the win, while Ivan Demidov, Jayden Struble, and Cole Hutson all scored for the Canadiens (45-21-10, 100 points).
Both goaltenders impressed as Jakub Dobes made 35 saves en route to his fifth consecutive win, while Jake Allen stopped 26 shots in the loss.
Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer all scored for the Devils (39-34-3, 81 points).
Struble broke the deadlock with 4:02 remaining in the first as he sent a rocket of a shot into the top corner for just his second goal of the season.
Caufield picked up his second assist of the night just over eight minutes into the second period as he slid a sneaky pass across to Demidov, who made no mistake to bury the power-play goal and extend his point streak to five games (two goals, four assists).
Hutson stretched it to a 3-0 lead 9:28 into the middle frame as the puck bounced out to him with Allen sprawled out and an empty net in front of him.
Mercer finally solved Dobes as he sent a short-side snipe over the netminder’s shoulder with 6:52 left in the second.
Just moments after Bratt was denied on a short-handed odd-man break, Hughes made the most of the second consecutive 2-on-1 chance, cutting the deficit to one with 2:20 left in the second.
Caufield had his best chance at finding his 50th goal with 7:44 left in the contest as he fired off a high shot from the slot, but Allen got it with the blocker.
Meier knotted things up at three with just 2:15 remaining in regulation as he took a pass from Hughes and sent his shot off the post and in.
Dobes robbed Bratt at one end, before Allen stoned Kapanen at the other during an exciting overtime frame.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Clayton Keller's hatty surges Mammoth past lowly Canucks
Apr 2, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) looks to pass while defended by Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stephenson (9) in the second period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images Clayton Keller collected his third career hat trick in a four-point game to lead the visiting Utah Mammoth to a 7-4 victory over the cellar-dwelling Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Dylan Guenther and Lawson Crouse both scored once and added an assist for the Mammoth (40-30-6, 86 points), who pulled closer to clinching a playoff berth.
Kailer Yamamoto and Liam O’Brien also tallied, while Logan Cooley collected a pair of assists and goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 19 saves.
Utah, which has won six straight versus Vancouver, is firmly in control of the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot.
Linus Karlsson scored twice while Jake DeBrusk and Marco Rossi added singles for Vancouver (22-46-8, 52 points), which has lost eight of nine games.
Goalie Nikita Tolopilo stopped 17 shots.
Keller broke open a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal at 7:04 of the second period by deflecting Guenther’s high point shot. It was originally waived off but video review showed Keller’s stick was even with the crossbar at impact.
The Mammoth have scored on the power play in five consecutive outings, converting nine times in that span.
After a string of near misses, Utah extended the lead when Guenther buried a sharp-angled chance into a yawning net at 11:55.
To their credit, the Canucks kept fighting but could not draw even.
DeBrusk’s power-play goal 20 seconds into the third period, a nifty deflection of Filip Hronek’s point shot, made it a one-goal game. But Crouse restored Utah’s two-goal bulge with a top-shelf shot at 1:32 of the final frame.
Rossi again pulled the hosts within one with another power-play goal at 4:40, only to see O’Brien tally seven minutes later with a deke on a partial breakaway in his first game since Feb. 4.
Keller’s empty-net goal rounded out the scoring, and gives him 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in a four-game streak.
Both clubs staked and squandered a lead.
Karlsson opened the scoring at the 2:28 mark, but Yamamoto drew Utah even 11 minutes later and Keller potted his first of the game with 90 seconds remaining in the opening period to give the Mammoth a 2-1 edge.
Karlsson tied the clash at 2-2 by deflecting the point shot 125 seconds into the second period.
–Field Level Media
Huskies bark, bite as 'underdog,' bury Illinois again
Habs outlast Devils in shootout to earn eighth straight victory
