Sarni's Scrolls: Move Over Taylor Swift And Beyonce

USA Today assigns a writer to cover Lionel Messi full-time

Safid Deen has been covering the NFL for USA Today. All 32 teams.

On Wednesday, he got a new beat.

Lionel Messi.

Not Inter Miami, the team.

Messi, the player.

The only other stars on Planet Earth who get such special treatment: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

This specialized coverage of Messi comes after his first (partial) season in Major League Soccer, which was a boon for the league and Inter Miami.

Deen, who first covered the Miami Dolphins for the Sun-Sentinel before joining USA Today and is based in South Florida, will cover his play, business dealings, and worldwide celebrity. 

The decision is a significant sign of growth for soccer in America

■ On the field: Messi scored a sliding kick in the 92nd minute of the match to save Inter Miami, resulting in a 1-1 draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday night.

■ Off the field: Messi has surpassed 500 million followers on Instagram, joining fellow soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo as the only people in the world to reach the milestone.

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Nick Saban, who is transitioning from retired coach to ESPN commentator, said he wants to have a voice that will bring "meaningful change" to college football.

"What we have now is not college football -- not college football as we know it. You hear somebody use the word 'student-athlete.' That doesn't exist," Saban said in an interview with ESPN.

 "I do know I'd like to impact college football the best way I can, whether it's being a spokesperson or anything else.

"Listen, I'm for the players. It's not that I'm not for the players. I want to see the players have a great quality of life and be able to create value for themselves. But we've gone to nobody talking about education, nobody talking about creating value for their future, to talking only about how much money can I make while I'm in college."

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Caitlin Clark recorded her 16th triple double, fifth this season (24-14-10) in Iowa's 101-85 win over Illinois on Sunday.

Clark is now at 3,617 points; she will need 33 to pass Kansas' Lynette Woodard for the women's major-college record. Woodard, who played in the pre-NCAA era from 1977 to 1981, had 3,649 points and is the AIAW major-college record holder. Pearl Moore, who played at Francis Marion from 1975 to '79, is the AIWA small school/overall record holder at 3,884.

Clark is 51 points from passing LSU's Pete Maravich, the NCAA Division I men's and women's record holder at 3,667. Maravich played from 1967 to 1970, before freshman eligibility.

■ Historical marker: Iowa has added Clark’s name and number to the exact spot on the court where she became the NCAA women’s basketball all-time leading scorer.

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Who boasts America’s best football tailgates? 

The World Sports Network crunched the numbers.

NFL

■ 1. Kansas City Chiefs

■ 2. Arizona Cardinals 

■ 3. Buffalo Bills

■ 4. Baltimore Ravens

■ 5. Denver Broncos

■ 6. Green Bay Packers; 7. New York Jets; 8. San Francisco 49ers; 9. Los Angeles Chargers; 10. Detroit Lions.

College 

■ 1. Kansas St.

■ 2. Michigan 

■ 3. Utah

■ 4. Ohio State

■ 5. Clemson

■ 6. Tennessee; 7. TCU; 8. Alabama; 9. Georgia; 10. USC.

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Stars from the PGA Tour and LPGA will be featured in the ninth edition of The Match as Rory McIlroy and Max Homa tee it up alongside Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang in the mixed-skins format at The Park Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday night.

Unlike previous versions of The Match, this one will not feature teams. Instead, the four golfers will compete by themselves across 12 holes of skins hoping to collect the most money for charity along the way.

Odds via Sportsline consensus

■ Rory McIlroy: +185

■ Max Homa: +240

■ Lexi Thompson: +370

■ Rose Zhang: +380

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ETC.

■ Former SI writer Peter King announced his retirement in his "Football In America" column today... and wrote he believes the Bears will trade down and keep Justin Fields.

■ Netflix has ordered a documentary about the Montreal Expos and the team’s departure from the city.

■ Shohani Ohtani is scheduled to make his Los Angeles Dodgers debut in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Chicago White Sox.

■ A game-used Babe Ruth glove from the 1916 season was pulled from auction hours before bidding was scheduled to end... "to conduct further research into its background."

■ Swingle is a baseball-themed version of Wordle. Instead of guessing a random word, you're tasked with identifying a well-known MLB player from a vast database.

■ The Cespedes Family Bar-B-Cast returns Monday @Yahoo Sports.

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■ Athletes Unlimited announced that all four of its month-long pro women’s sports leagues — basketball, softball, volleyball, and lacrosse — will broadcast games on ESPN platforms.

■ The LPGA led all women’s sports properties with 1.1K sponsorship deals. The pro women’s golf league saw its sponsorship total increase by 25% in 2023, then bagged major deals last month with TUMI, Rhone, and Ally.

■ The WTA saw the greatest year-over-year boost among all women’s sports properties. The tennis tour, which topped 1K total deals, saw 26% growth in 2023...  Coco Gauff was the highest-paid woman athlete in 2023, while nine of the list’s top 15 are also tennis players.

■ Longtime Alabama football play-by-play broadcaster Eli Gold will not return for the 2024 season. Gold missed the 2022 season as he battled cancer. He returned in 2023, calling the Crimson Tide’s home games and the Iron Bowl.

■ The Florida Man Games, “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth,” featured a mullet contest, a mud duel and an “evading arrest” obstacle course Sunday in St. Augustine.

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■ SAG winners: "Oppenheimer," "Succession," "The Bear." Lifetime Achievement: Barbra Streisand.

■ Coming attraction: "3 Body Problem," the upcoming science fiction television series created by "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo, based on the novel series of the same name by Liu Cixin. The series is expected to premiere on Netflix on March 21.

■ Eva Longoria is the latest in the line-up of stars to join the upcoming fourth season of "Only Murders in the Building."

■ Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino are teaming up for the third time in "The Movie Critic," the director's final film.

■ Longtime couple Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick will star in "Consequence," their first movie together in 20 years.

■ Michael B. Jordan is global ambassador for David Yurman and the face of the brand's first High Jewelry collection, "The Vault."

■ R.I.P. Flaco.

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■ Discoverer's ranking of the Best State License Plates: 1. New Mexico ("Design's incredible colors, with turquoise background, vibrant yellow lettering."), 2. Colorado, 3. Arizona, 4. South Dakota, 5. Florida.

■ Taking over TikTok: "Who TF Did I Marry?," Reesa Tessa's 52-part video on her messy marriage and divorce to a man she claims to be "a pathological liar."

■ Pitbull's co-owned Miami Grill is expanding to Las Vegas with a Walmart location.

■ KFC is introducing Chizza in the United States. Chizza, an international hit, is two fried chicken filets topped with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.

■ Cinnamon Toast Crunch Iced Coffee!

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THEY SAID IT

■ "Some people actually told me you can relax, now you’re in the playoffs. Hell no! My goal is to win more than one race. This is not relaxing here. ... The goal is for you to not be surprised when the 99 is in victory lane.” -- Daniel Suarez, after Sunday's NASCAR race victory in a three-way photo finish that ended a 57-race winless streak.

■ "When are we going to ban court storming? Like, how many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched or they get pushed or they get taunted right in their face? It’s a dangerous thing.” -- Duke coach Jon Scheyer, after Blue Devils star Kyle Filipowski was injured by Wake Forest fans storming the court after the Demon Deacons upset the Blue Devils on Saturday.

■ "I’ve got more fire than ever, honestly, especially over the past two years and what I’ve gone through. Whether it’s in Denver or somewhere else. I hope it’s Denver. I hope I get to finish there. I committed there. I wanted to be there. I want to be there.” -- Broncos QB Russell Wilson on the "I Am Athlete" podcast.

■ "I have no regrets with the Commanders. Contrary to what some think and what has been put out in the media, I was not fired. I, actually just chose not to stay. Learned a lot and that is always a good thing.” -- Former Washington offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy in an email to ESPN. Bieniemy was hired as associate head coach by UCLA.