Caleb

2023 Master Predictions 

The 2023 Masters Tournament will be the 87th edition of the Masters Tournament. Of the four men’s golf championships, it will be the first held in 2023. Coming up soon, the Masters Tournament is scheduled to be played at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. According to CBS news, the biggest question people are asking is who will be the winner at Augusta National? 

Looking back at the 2022 Masters tournament winner, Scottie Scheffler, whose score was under par on 21 holes and beat Rory McIlroy in the end by 3 strokes, giving him a chance for a second consecutive win statistically. Rory McIlroy, finishing in 2nd last tournament, stated at this year’s press conference that he “felt last year that I maybe shed some of that scar tissue and felt like I sort of made breakthroughs, I’m feeling as sort of relaxed as I ever have coming in here just in terms of I feel like my game is in a pretty good place” (Morin, 2023). Rory’s confidence and close winnings gives unpredictable odds on the outcome of this upcoming tournament. Rory could easily come out as the winner and if he does it will complete his career grand slam. According to CBS, McIlroy with roughly 2.3 strokes per round, fits the model of the last 10 Masters champions ( Porter, 2023). 

Tiger Woods, at last year’s tournament, finished with the score of 13-over-par. After a history of 5 masters winnings in total, one of his worst tournaments since 2012 was last year when he shot +5 over par and tied for 47th place. Experts don’t show much faith in his chances of winning this year’s tournament. The Augusta Chronicle states “five-time champion Tiger Woods is listed at +7500” compared to Scheffler and McIlroy sitting at +700. Woods’ accident in 2021 seems to have put a damper on his playing skills, leaving him with pain and lacking the chance to rank high in this year’s tournament.

John Rahm, finishing in 3rd overall in the 2022 Masters tour, is another likely match against Scheffler and McIlroy. Stated by GolfDigest, “Rahm entered Bay Hill gaining more than 3.25 strokes per round”( Powers, 2023). He is predicted to sit at +900, just +300 more than Scheffler and McIlroy. The 2023 Masters Tournament is showing that we’re in for an unpredictable outcome with the given players going head to head.

Last month, NCAA basketball was on the national spotlight due to the annual March Madness tournament. As I do every year, I filled out brackets to try and correctly guess the outcome of the tournament. Like most people, I created more than one bracket to try and boost my near impossible odds of getting a perfect bracket. I joined a league which included my mom, dad, brother and myself and another league which consisted of my friends from OU. After the round of 64 concluded, I was checking the bracket standings in the league with my friends and began to notice that many of us had similar brackets. To get a better understanding of just how similar our brackets were I complied all the entries from the league and put them into Excel. I quickly realized my suspicions were true, our brackets were strikingly similar. I compared the different teams each user had picked to make it to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and National Championship game. It became clear to me that the higher seed was picked nearly every time, with very little variation between each user in the league. Afterwards, I did the same analysis with my family league. While many of us selected the same teams to reach the Sweet Sixteen and beyond, I noticed something different about my family league. The teams that my family members and I were picking were much more ambitious. For instance, nobody in the league with my friends had a seed lower than six making it to the Sweet Sixteen or beyond. However, in the league with my family, many of us had double-digit seeded teams reaching the Sweet Sixteen and beyond. I believe that the reason the picks were much more “out there” in the league with my family as opposed to the league with my friends was because of groupthink. With competition between friends, I am susceptible to much more criticism for bad picks as opposed to a bracket challenge between members of my own family. I believe this is what led to me and my friends being so timid in our predictions, we simply did not want to be ridiculed for picking a lower-seeded team and being wrong. I intend to elaborate on this theory by doing more in-depth analysis on the two leagues to determine what may have caused the differences between the entries.

In 2021, my first year at the University of Oklahoma, I decided to declare my major as undecided. At this time, I had no idea what I wanted to do for my career. However, one thing I knew was that I loved sports, and if any career filed fit me then it was going to be sports. After my first semester, I decided to change my major from undecided to journalism. For a time, I really enjoyed journalism. I was learning a lot of new information and I even got the opportunity to write for the OU Daily. However, after a year of being a journalism student I realized that it was not the career for me. Too many cameras, too many face-to-face interviews, and too many writing assignments eventually deterred me from pursuing a career as a sports journalist.

So, what next? After I realized journalism was not the career for me I knew I had to find a new major. I enjoyed my experience in Gaylord and wanted to stay in the college. After talking with others and getting advice from my teachers and advisors, I decided to change my major to public relations. I made this change because I thought I would enjoy a more behind-the-scenes role but still be able to show off my skills as a writer. However, halfway into the semester I realized that public relations was not the career for me. I was incorrect in my assessment of what a public relations professional does for a career and decided it was in my best interest to pursue a different degree.

So, I decided to make my minor, sports business, into my major. Now that I am in the business college, I feel much more comfortable. For the first time, I can finally see myself doing the work I do in class as a career. I am much happier now that I have found what I think is the right fit for me. I plan to apply for internships this summer and am hopeful that I get a spot at FC Tulsa, a soccer team near my hometown. Working for a professional soccer team would be a dream come true, especially one so close to home. I plan to meet with my professor and my friends to work on my application, so I have the best chance of making the cut. It has been a long journey, but I think I have finally found what I want to do with my life.

With the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City, Missouri approaching, teams are wrapping up their offseason moves. However, one player who future is still uncertain in Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Jackson has been dominating the NFL news cycle all offseason as he and Ravens general manager, Eric DeCosta, have not be able to agree on a long-term deal. New information released by Jackson on Twitter added an extra wrinkle to the saga.

On March 27, Jackson released a Tweet from his personal account that read, “As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value.”

This information dropped at the same time Ravens head coach John Harbaugh sat down to talk with the press at the annual NFL owners meeting. The Baltimore Ravens posted the full presser on their website in which coach Harbaugh deflects speculation that the timing was anything but coincidental.

“I don’t think he pays attention to that stuff,” said John Harbaugh when asked if he thought Lamar intentionally scheduled his tweet to coincide with the coach’s press meeting.

Throughout the course of the press conference coach Harbaugh staunchly defended Jackson and reiterated that the Ravens plan to have Lamar as their starting quarterback. in 2023.

Harbaugh said, “Lamar’s handled it with class.” When asked if the relationship is still intact between Lamar and the Ravens Harbaugh responded, “Oh yeah, absolutely.”

Spotrac.com estimates Jackson’s market value at just over $40 million dollars. If Jackson were to sign the non-exclusive franchise tag that the Ravens placed on him in early March, then Jackson would be set to make around $32 million. However, if the Ravens bumped it up to the exclusive franchise tag, Jackson would earn about $45 million.

Furthermore, if the Ravens and Lamar are able to come to a long-term deal, it would be beneficial for both sides as it would clear up some cap space for the 2023 season.

While contract negotiations have stalled to the point where Jackson has formally requested a trade, and even made it public, there are still no signs that Jackson is going anywhere just yet.

Other teams have been asked about potentially having Lamar Jackson as their quarterback, but nobody has come right out and said they would love to have Jackon as their quarterback. According to yahoonews, the Jets, Lions, Commanders, and Falcons are all reportedly out of the race for Jackson.

On April 2, Chelsea FC posted a club statement on their website announcing the departure of head coach Graham Potter. The club statement was posted to the team’s Twitter account.

“Chelsea FC has announced that Graham Potter has departed the club. Graham has agreed to collaborate with the Club to facilitate a smooth transition.”

The club’s decision to fire Potter came less than 24 hours after the Blues fell 2-0 to Aston Villa at home.

The club statement also included a thank you to the former head coach.

“In his time with the club, Graham has taken us to the quarter final of the Champions League, where we will face Real Madrid. Chelsea would like to thank Graham for all his efforts and contribution and wish him well for the future.”

Co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said: “On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea. We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person. He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.”

Graham Potter has faced criticism for most of his time at Chelsea finishing with 12 wins, 8 draws and 11 losses. Despite Chelsea advancing to the quarter finals of the Champions League, the Blues currently sit in 11th place, the bottom half of the Premier League table.

The club statement announced that Bruno Saltor will become the interim head coach till a new manager is appointed. Saltor said in a press conference that it has been a “difficult 24 hours for all of us”, according to bbc.com.

According to yahoo.com, the Spaniard previously played at Brighton where he captained the team until his retirement in 2019. After assuming a development role on the first-team staff he followed Graham Potter to Chelsea in 2022.

His first game in charge comes across Liverpool on Tuesday, April 4 at Stamford Bridge.

Lastly, the club statement addresses the future for the football club. “Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the team as we focus on the rest of the season. We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League quarter final ahead. We will put every effort and commitment into every one of those games so that we can end the season on a high.”

According to yahoo.com, “Chelsea are set to begin an ‘exhaustive’ search for a new manager after Graham Potter was sacked less than seven months into the season.”

Yahoo.com writes that one of Chelsea’s top targets is former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann was sacked by Bayern last week and replaced quickly by former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel. Similar to Potter, Nagelsmann had his team in the Champions League quarterfinals but was sacked because of a poor domestic season with Bayern in 2nd place behind Borussia Dortmund.

Tottenham Hotspurs broke world football news after they confirmed the departure of head coach Antonio Conte.

On March 26, Tottenham’s Twitter account wrote, “We can announce that Head Coach Antonio Conte has left the Club by mutual agreement.” This decision came during the international break after suspicions that Conte’s exit was imminent.

Tottenham thanked Conte in its tweet saying, “We achieved Champions League qualification in Antonio’s first season at the Club. We thank Antonio for his contribution and wish him well for the future.” Tottenham also announced that Cristian Stellini will take over as the acting manager for the “remainder of the season, along with Ryan Mason as Assistant Head Coach.”

Antonio Conte was hired to lead the new Tottenham project in November of 2021, but less than a year and a half later the two parties have made the decision to part ways. Included in the tweet was a statement from Chairman of Tottenham Hotspurs, Daniel Levy. He said, “We have 10 Premier League games remaining and we have a fight on our hands for a Champions League place. We all need to pull together. Everyone has to step up to ensure the highest possible finish for our Club and amazing, loyal supporters.”

After just over a week of deliberation, the board’s top candidates are coming into the light. MSN.com reports that “Tottenham Hotspur are considering appointing Eintracht Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner at the end of the season, according to reports.” The Austrian coach has gained attention across Europe after he lead the German topflight team to its first European trophy in history when it defeated Rangers in 2022.

Another name that has appeared on Levy’s shortlist is former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino. He managed Tottenham from 2014-2019 and reached the 2019 Champions League Final where they fell to fellow English rivals Liverpool. Poch has not managed since he was fired from Paris Saint-Germain in 2022.

MSN.com reports that Levy is also looking into “recently sacked ex-Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann and Napoli manger Luciano Spalletti.

However, Glasner remains the most likely candidate as MSN.com reports he has not signed a new contract with Frankfurt and could have a release clause of only $5.4 million. If Frankfurt are content with parting ways with Glasner then “Tottenham could have him immediately” if they are willing to pay the release clause. “Levy still has plenty of time left to consider his options, but if Falk’s report is to be believed, he may well look to appoint the Austrian this summer.” reports MSN.com.

Earlier this morning, the UEFA Champions League had its inaugural draw for the round of 16 matchups. However, after a team’s ball was left out of the pot, the matchups had to be redrawn. This left many to speculate how this mistake was to occur. Many fans were upset that a Messi vs Ronaldo matchup was stolen away after the redraw. Others felt that the redraw gave their club a harder matchup that could have been avoided if UEFA had not messed up the first draw. After the redraw was concluded, one match in particular highlighted the first knockout stage. Leaders in their respective leagues, PSG and Real Madrid are set to face off in the round of 16. PSG is looking for their first champions league trophy after losing to Bayern in the final two years ago. Meanwhile, 13-time champions Real Madrid are looking to get back to their winning ways after a fantastic league start that has positioned them at the top of the La Liga table, 8 points clear of second placed Sevilla. After the botched draw, neutral fans will be excited to watch a star-studded matchup between PSG and Real Madrid.

Now that the semester is coming to an end, I think it is appropriate to look back on the last 4 months. Other than having to arrive to class at 9:30, this has been my favorite class of the semester. Intro to Media was the only class that I actually enjoyed being in and one of the few that I felt I learned useful information in. It has been a long journey, but I think I am more knowledgeable when it comes to communication than I was before I took this class. I have not only learned the history of mass communication, but I have also learned relevant information that I can apply to my everyday life. Tomorrow, I take my final exam for Intro to Media, and I am feeling optimistic about it. This class has persuaded me to declare a major in Gaylord, and I could see myself having a great future in this college.

Lincoln Riley’s surprise move to USC has left Sooner fans anxious of who their next head coach will be. Following Riley’s exit, several future recruits have decommitted from OU and many offensive players currently on OU’s roster have entered the transfer portal. This has left many Sooner fans wondering why the search for a head coach is still ongoing. Although no official announcement has been given by the University, many speculate that Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is set to become the new head coach. Venables had previously been employed by the Sooners for over 10 years before leaving to become the defensive coordinator at Clemson. Now, at age 50, Venables is set to be the savior that Sooner fans have been readily anticipating for the last week.

This Saturday, Oklahoma State faced off against Baylor in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington, Texas. OSU was ranked no. 5 in the country heading into the matchup against no. 9 Baylor, looking for their first college football playoff berth in school history. With a minute left, the Cowboys had 4 chances to get into the endzone from just a yard out. On 4th and goal, Cowboy’s running back Dezmon Jackson took the handoff from quarterback Spencer Sanders and sprinted towards the pylon. With the Baylor defender closing down on him, Jackson reached the ball as far as he could towards the endzone but came up just inches short of line to gain. Oklahoma State’s playoff berth was there for the taking but the Cowboys ultimately came up just short. Baylor was crowned Big 12 champions, winning their first Big 12 title game in school history.