Sarni's Scrolls: Clark Closes In On Hoops History

Iowa star is No. 2 on women's basketball career scoring list

Higher and higher.

Caitlin Clark moved to No. 2 on the Division I women's all-time scoring list behind former Washington star Kelsey Plum on Wednesday.

The phenomenal Iowa star added 35 points to her all-time total (3,403) in the No. 3 Hawkeyes' 110-74 victory over Northwestern.

Plum, who starred at Washington from 2013-17, tops the women’s scoring list with 3,527 points. The men’s leader is LSU’s Pete Maravich, who finished his career with 3,667 points.

"It's not something I'm after," Clark said, per On3. "I just keep playing the game, keep having fun and this is what comes along with it."

Clark is currently projected to break Plum's scoring record on Feb. 15 against Michigan.

The Hawkeyes will return to the court Saturday to take on Maryland. (8 p.m., Fox).

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Jeff Hafley leaving Boston College for the defensive coordinator job with the Green Bay Packers is a bad omen for college football.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel revealed that his sources believe that Hafley “wants to go coach in a league that is all about football,” and that college football as a whole has turned into mass fundraiser that includes NIL and “recruiting your own team,” to keep them to stay out of the transfer portal.

Kirk Herbstreit explained why the trend of college coaches leaving for the pros will likely continue.

"CFB in its current state will be seeing more and more coaches heading to the NFL,” Herbstreit tweeted. “Without boundaries and regulation that make sense coaches that get real opportunities in the NFL will be gone. This trend will continue until there is a new governing body and it creates a CBA with a players entity or union that would include issues like NIL-Transfer Portal-and eventually revenue sharing.

“The sport is spiraling out of control as we know and many these coaches are sticking around and waiting. Just a new reality for the sport.”

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Rod Carew, Miguel Cabrera, Roberto Clemente, Edgar Martínez, David Ortiz, Ivan Rodríguez, Sammy Sosa... some of the great who've played in the Caribbean Series.

Now, for the first time in Caribbean Series history, the tournament of Latin American and Caribbean winter league champions will be played at a Major League stadium, from Feb. 1-9 at Miami’s loanDepot park. 

The best of the 2023-24 season from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico (Pacific League), Nicaragua, Panama and Curaçao will face off in a round-robin format, followed by the semifinals, a third-place game and the championship game on Feb. 9.

In addition to making history with Nicaragua’s debut in the event, the Caribbean Series will return to Miami for the first time in over 30 years.

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The 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend is underway from Toronto.

■ Thursday: The All-Star Player Draft was held to determine each of the four teams for the All-Star Game on Saturday... The NHL Alumni Man of the Year and the Professional Women’s Hockey League 3-on-3 Showcase.

■ Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN: The All-Star Skills competition, featuring five new events. The competition includes: fastest skater, hardest shot, accuracy shooting, passing challenge, one timers, stick handling, one-on-one, and the obstacle course.

■ Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC: The All-Star Game, which returns as a 3-on-3 tournament... The four teams’ captains are Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Hughes & Quinn Hughes... Sean McDonough will call the game with analyst Ray Ferraro between the benches, and Kevin Weekes and Emily Kaplan reporting from the benches.

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ESPN is televising the 2024 Pro Bowl Games in Orlando, featuring NFL’s stars competing in 10 made-for-television skills competitions and highlighted by a 7-on-7 Flag Football game on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN). Peyton (AFC) and Eli Manning (NFC) will again coach the teams.

New this year, Scott Van Pelt and Dan Orlovsky will call the flag football game, with contributions from Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears and Michelle Beisner-Buck, who will be roaming the sidelines. 

In between quarters, Move the Chains, Gridiron Gauntlet and Tug of War skill competitions will take place live on the field. Laura Rutledge and Robert Griffin III will commentate on the trio of competitions.

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The PGA Tour this week completed an investment deal of up to $3 billion with Strategic Sports Group to form a new for-profit commercial entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, that includes equity participation by players. 

The deal, valuing PGA Tour Enterprises at about $12 billion,  represents a major financial jolt for men’s pro golf. The new group carries a combined net worth of about $50 billion. 

But what’s just as important -- in the changing world of sports television -- is the deep well of operational experience within the Fenway Sports Group-led group, involving nearly every U.S. major sports property, as well as the Premier League.

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ETC.

■ The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the second of the eight PGA Tour signature events, has a $20 million purse for a field of 80 golfers. Athlete celebs: Tom Brady. Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald, Alex Smith, Buster Posey, Pau Gasol.

■ The LIV Tour opens season 3 at Mayakoba, Quintana Roo, Mexico. All eyes on Jon Rahm.

■ Pickleball Slam 2, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf vs. John McEnroe and Maria Sharapova at Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, FL.

■ The "Last Dance" was called off. Cristiano Ronaldo (calf injury) missed Al-Nassr's friendly against Inter Miami and Lionel Messi on Thursday in Saudi Arabia.

■ The 2024 NBA Draft will expand to two nights (from the traditional one-night event), with Round 1 on Wednesday, June 26 and Round 2 on Thursday, June 27.

■ Cal Ripken Jr., Grant Hill, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who went to Johns Hopkins) and former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke are part of the investor group that has agreed to buy the Orioles.

■ Mike McCarthy, Mike McDaniel. Mike Macdonald.

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■ In February for Black History Month, USA Today is publishing the series "29 Black Stories in 29 Days." The newspaper examines the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

■ Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo became the ninth active D-1 coach with 700 career wins.

■ Top sports media columnist Andrew Marchand is leaving the New York Post for The Athletic.

■ Paris is downsizing the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony, July 26 on the River Seine, to around 300,000, half the original plan.

■ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on the cover MLB The Show 2024.

■ A pristine case of 44-year-old hockey trading cards, valued at $2 million, is being auctioned off.

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■ CBS televises the Grammy Awards, Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. Performers include SZA, Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Burna Boy, Dua Lipa, Joni Mitchell, Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott, and U2.

■ Taylor Swift is nominated for six Grammys, including Album of the Year for "Midnights." She has won 12.

■ "Curb Your Enthusiasm" returns for its 12th and final season on Sunday (10 p.m., HBO).

■ Former New Jersey senator and basketball star Bill Bradley stars in a new documentary, "Rolling Along: An American Story," about his life based on his one-man show.

■ Axios reports Joe Biden's years-long love of "Morning Joe" affects how the White House is run and who the President listens to.

■ New York Times puzzles and games were played more than eight billion times in 2023. Wordle recorded 4.8 billion plays.

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■ Humans can interpret a chicken's mood by tuning into their calls and clucks, according to scientific studies.

■ TV Insider's February cover story: "100 Hot Romances To Stream."

■ Amelia Earhart's lost plane may have been found... 87 years after she disappeared with it in the Pacific Ocean.

■ San Francisco's South of Market (SoMa) is the most expensive neighborhood in the U.S. ($5,415 per square foot).

■ Techno-optimists are the new, powerful, well-funded political movement rising fast in America, according to Axios.

■ Watch: "Masters of the Air," Apple. During World War II, airmen risk their lives with the 100th Bomb Group, a brotherhood forged by courage, loss and triumph.

■ Apple's Vision Pro ($3,500) -- Tech's supposed Next Big Thing -- debuts today.

■ Happy Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil has guessed longer winters in 84% of his predictions.

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THEY SAID IT 

■ "Elmo is just checking in! How is everyone doing?" -- Elmo