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Why MLB will crackdown on pitchers using foreign substances Why MLB will crackdown on pitchers using foreign substances USA TODAY SPORTS How NASCAR's Kevin Harvick has mixed up his training How NASCAR's Kevin Harvick has mixed up his training USA TODAY SPORTS 'The Last Dance' and Michael Jordan reminded us of a life lesson we needed to hear 'The Last Dance' and Michael Jordan reminded us of a life lesson we needed to hear USA TODAY SPORTS. SAN ANTONIO — Maybe it was a foul. Maybe it wasn’t. It depends on your vantage point, your perspective and your allegiances, probably. But then what about all the other calls, some of which went Baylor’s way until the one that didn’t? Sports are imperfect. That’s why they’re such a terrific reflection of humanity. Calls are made, calls are missed, and you are left to live with the outcome, good or bad. The easy story is that a no-call on DiJonai Carrington’s shot with one second left Monday night cost second-seeded Baylor a trip to the Final Four. That the referees, rather than the players, decided the outcome. But a 40-minute game never comes down to one play, one call. It’s a multitude of things that all add up to the final result, in this case a 69-67 win for UConn. There was DiDi Richards’ hamstring injury, which sucked all the momentum out of Baylor when it was up 10 points on top-seeded UConn. There was Paige Bueckers finding that extra gear that special players have, erupting for 10 points in the 19-0 run that swung the momentum in UConn’s favor. There were the free throws Baylor missed down the stretch. © Troy Taormina, USA TODAY Sports Huskies guard Evina Westbrook (22) and Baylor Lady Bears guard DiJonai Carrington (21) react after a play during the fourth quarter. There was even the questionable choice on Baylor’s last possession, a play that was too slow to develop before the call that didn’t come. Carrington had been sublime all night, but it wasn’t a great look, even before Olivia Nelson-Ododa stuck a hand in her face. Or, some would say, on her face. “I personally don't see it as a controversial call,” Carrington said. “I've already seen the replay. One girl fouled me in my face and one girl fouled me on my arm. At that point, you can’t do anything else.” But, really, would it have been any better to lose in any other fashion? A loss is a loss is a loss and, at this stage, it’s never going to be easy to take. “I’m not going to sit here and apologize for it,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after his team escaped to advance to its 13th consecutive Final Four. “If people want to talk about that the rest of the week, you're welcome to do that. It's not going to change the outcome. And it's not going to make me feel bad that you say it was a foul.” The referees had been letting both teams play all night. Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer would say all tournament. You cannot then ask them to make a call in that, most critical of moments. If there was a travesty, it was that Baylor and UConn were playing now, in the Elite Eight. If anyone got robbed, it was women’s basketball. This wasn’t an Elite Eight game. This was a game worthy of a national championship and, if not that, certainly the Final Four. Auriemma had said even before the game that Baylor deserved to be a No. 1 seed, and nothing he saw Monday night changed his mind. Bears coach Kim Mulkey said much the same, believing her team to be hurt by the games it couldn’t play because of COVID-19 outbreaks. (That might have been the only thing Mulkey said about COVID that made sense, but I digress.) These are two of the best programs in the country, and they had no business playing each other this early. “This was harder than winning some of the national championship games that we've won, without question. Without question,” Auriemma said. “This game was tougher than a handful of National Championship games or any Final Four game that you want to mention.” It’s a shame that this game will be remembered for one botched call, rather than the brilliance of Bueckers. But the real shame is that this game was played now, rather than Sunday night. No. 2 Baylor edges No. 6 Michigan in OT to advance to women's Elite 8. In Michigan women’s basketball’s maiden voyage into the Sweet 16, these maize and blue athletes masked as Cinderella at the ball were determined to keep dancing. All the way down to 0.9 seconds, against the defending women's national champion. It took overtime to settle things but despite the Wolverines (16-6) best efforts as they scratched, clawed, and fought their way back into the ballgame, it was not enough as the Baylor Lady Bears (28-2) squeaked by with a 78-75 win in the 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament. Baylor has now won 20 consecutive games. © Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports Baylor guard DiJonai Carrington (21) battles for the ball with Michigan forward Emily Kiser (33) during their Sweet 16 game. Several times throughout the game, Baylor had appeared to distance themselves from the Wolverines, even carrying a 12-point lead. Yet, Michigan kept fighting back behind big baskets from Leigha Brown and Big Ten Player of the Year Naz Hillmon — who hit the game-tying bucket with 17 seconds left to force overtime. As Michigan nipped at their heels, there was always a play or some movement that teams of Baylor's caliber make, and it's what separates them and a handful of other schools when playing for the largest prize in women's college basketball. Once in regulation and once in overtime, Baylor's DiJonai Carrington produced clutch steals on possessions that could have either given Michigan a tie, or seen them take the lead. Carrington's efforts are just the beginning of the story for a Bears team that is headed to the Elite Monday night vs. the UConn Huskies, who took down another Big Ten team in Iowa earlier Saturday. Baylor forward NaLyssa Smith was a perfect 11 of 11 from the field for 24 points — the most made baskets for a player perfect from the field in the tournament since 2018. Moon Ursin added 20 points and Carrington 19 off the bench. Baylor's NaLyssa Smith is 9-for-9 from the field. Baylor leads 55-51 with 4:20 to play. The most makes without a miss in an NCAA tournament game since 2000 is 11 by Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan (2018). — ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) March 27, 2021. As Hillmon's night began by making four of her first five baskets, each bucket on every possession was met with extra effort from the Baylor defense, which set a defender in every player's face and forced Michigan to make extra passes. The non-Hillmon portion of the Wolverins' starting lineup struggled to help their teammate out, shooting just 26 percent in the first half. In the second half, just as in the second round game vs. Tennessee, Brown came alive for the Wolverines' offense. Brown shot 6 of 9 in the second half to net a team-high 23 points in the loss. Hillmon finished with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and seven rebounds. Phil Keoghan On Season One Of ‘Tough As Nails’: ‘An Opportunity To Not Only Entertain But Also Push A Message Out About Unity’ Ten-plus years ago Phil Keoghan, host of the The Amazing Race , had the idea for a different kind of reality competition. Tough As Nails is a show that pits contestants against one another in challenges that represent the hard work, grit and determination of millions of everyday people. Last week saw the end of the team portion of the competition and tonight at 9:00PM ET/PT, only on CBS and streaming on CBS All Access, viewers will get to see the thrilling conclusion of the individual competition. CBS’ Matt Weiss caught up with Keoghan ahead of tonight’s finale to discuss all things season one and the excitement of being renewed for a second season of Tough As Nails on America’s Most Watched Network. MW: Hey Phil, nice to see you again and congratulations on the renewal for season two! I want to know what were you doing when you got that news ? PK: I always said to the team , measure of success for us will be a pickup from one to two . I t’s hard enough to get anything on the air , but then to go from one to two, I think is almost harder . T o be honest with you I expected I’d have a bigger reaction , but I suddenly went into ‘OK we have to do that again .’ I got quite introverted to be honest with you . I t wasn’t like a jump up and down moment . I t was more like all right what does this mean ? H ow are we gonna do it? V ery excited deep down, one word to describe it would be emotional . I t’s been such a long , long journey to get to this point . MW: I t’s like you get the job and now you have to do the job . PK: Y eah , yeah . Y ou never know with something like this . Y ou put it all out there, y ou put so much on the line . Y ou ask so much of people and they give it everything they’ve got . T hen you just don’t know whether it’s all going to pay off or not . T hankfully it did and I’m just very proud of the cast and the team for giving everything , to following a vision . I’ve been working on this for so long . N othing in television gets made without collaboration and it’s very important that you stick to the conviction , you stick to your convictions of an idea and execute . Y ou have to find the right people to do that; t he people who really believe in you and believe in the project and w hat it stands for . T here’s just so many variables, so many things that can go wrong . D o you get the right cast, do you get the right challenges ? Did you get the right editors with the right sensibility ? W hat’s the music like ? I s America ready for a show like this ? Tough As Nails is a little more real and gritty as opposed to something that’s more fantasy wh ere it’s about finding love or being a singer or performing. T his is very gritty, i t’s very real . Y ou don’t until you try it, y ou don’t know . MW: And it paid off . I know this is a dream of yours for 10 years wanting to put this show together and tonight we have the season one finale . W hat does that feel like for you ? PK: Well first off, the team challenge exceeded expectations . T he team challenge ended up becoming as big of an element in the show as the individual . I think that’s where the show was groundbreaking – the format in terms of having individual and a team competition , so that nobody would go home at the end . The finale is all about who is the toughest of th e m all ? W ho’s the person who has that perfect combination of strength, endurance , agility , life skills and that mental toughness to be able to win . A fter coming off the finale of the team challenge , honestly, I was like , I don’t know if we can match that for excitement because it was , it was so good . I t was that moment where Lee picked M urph again or the second time after losing to him . It’ s one of the best competitive reality moments I’ve ever been involved in . T hen you think , I hope we can do that in the finale for the individual . I’m pleased to say , it does end up playing as big and as powerful as the team finale . MW: I really like the subplot tying into the individual competition, t hat four members of The Dirty Hands are in the top five but only one member of the Savage Crew made it. O n top of that , it’s also the oldest member of the top five who is the lone Savage Crew member . W hat’s going to play out tonight when we see that competition ? PK: Well, I think you hit on something , which is I said at the very beginning of the show in episode one , when you’re part of a team you’re part of a family . I don’t know if they fully got that at the beginning but as you see they really have become part of a family . F or Savage Crew it’s all about supporting M urph because he’s the only he’s representing the whole team . T hey’ve been living vicariously through him in the last few episodes . Sava ge Crew being the team that struggled the most , they were the underdogs , they came from behind . I n a way with M urph being the oldest , he is like the underdog in the individual as well . He’s up against much younger competitors who have all proven themselves over and over again . I think M iles comes into this with two wins, Danny comes in with two wins , M urph comes in with two wins . N ow we go into the final five and you’ve got to make sure that you don’t rule out Linda and Kelly who are bad asses. I mean , real b ad ass es. I t’s an exciting one . I think what you’re going to see is just great sportsmanship and great competition . I believe a satisfying finish . I think the audience will feel good about the winner and feel good about how it all comes together . MW: N ow that we’re at the end, it seems appropriate to look back over the entire thing . W hat were some of your favorite moments throughout the season ? T hings that really stood out to you . PK: In episode one , definitely Y oung running to Linda to help or get to the end in the overtime . Melissa beating out all the boys in the shoveling . One of the things we wanted to prove is that men and women could compete against each other equally . T he alternator challenge in episode three with M urph being the last to find an alternator and the first one to drop it off . Lee running off to some pick apart of f in another neighborhood . In four , the hustle and flow , where the teams were forced to work together in the individual challenge and then the overtime with Michelle and Lee , which is going to go down as an epic overtime . In five just how the team really , Savage group , really collapsed and then got into the van , into the damn van and they tried to rectify or get the team back together . T hey did ; by coming back and show six and proving that they could rally together . T hey almost get the win in six but then they do get the win in seven . T hen Michelle proving that she can go toe to toe at 62-years-old getting all the way to show seven going head to head against Myles and narrowly losing to him . I t was pretty awesome . T hen eight , the moment of Y oung and M urph in the overtime , felt really bad for Y oung only 17 seconds separating them . T hen finally Y oung , the OT OG , gets illuminated , punches out. T hen nine , for me the best moment was Lee picking M urph a second time . I t’s one of my favorite moments ever . W hat he did , put it all on the line , all the cookies were in one jar , i t was a w ang d ang doodle . I love Lee so muc h. I love all those lines . H e was an amazing find . H e was a walk up in Saint Louis when we were testing . T hose would be the highlights for sure . MW: Awesome. Last question before I let you go , this show is really about blue collar , everyday people coming together to do something greater than themselves . I think right now that’s something that’s a good message for everyone to hear and to watch . C an you speak to that the overall tone and how that message was delivered in season one? PK: Y eah , we’re living in a time where there’s a lot of energy being put into what divides us . B eing an immigrant myself , I came here be cause America represented unity in inclusiveness . T here’s different ways that you can use your voice to try to bring about change . T o some people it’s about peaceful protest or it could be NFL players dropping a knee and there is a freedom of speech in this country where you’re allowed to express your opinions i n different ways . I think with this show we felt like we had an opportunity to not only entertain but also push a message out about unity and coming together for sorting out differences , agreeing to work with each other for the betterment of everybody and understanding the basic things that really make a difference in the world . L ove of family and doing a proper day’s work , an honest day’s work . I felt like we were able to share a powerful message that the country really needs right now . W e need to get back more to what unites us rather than what divides us; t here’s enough of that out there . I t’s not a criticism of anybody having an opinion , I don’t want to be that person . I t is nice to see unity , acceptance , healthy conversation about difference and understanding . I think with all of them in the van when they were talking , they all got insight into each other ’ s worlds . M aybe they will go away from this and they have a different understanding of what Lee’s life is like in his neighborhood being the go – to guy and putting on 10,000 roofs. T he moment with M iles and Linda talking about the challenges of being a young black man and what it’s like to work with and to have interaction with the police . T hese are healthy conversations that need to be had because it’s only through people stepping forward and having those conversations that will bring about change . I felt like the show , at the end of the day , it’s a competition reality show but I feel like there were some good underlying messages throughout the show , throughout the season . MW: Absolutely, there were so many great moments and messages throughout season one and I can’t wait to see what we have in store for tonight. Thank you as always Phil and all the best! PK: Thanks Matt, same to you! Tune in tonight for Tough As Nails ‘ season one finale at 9:00 PM ET/PT, only on CBS and streaming on CBS All Access. Check your local listings for more information. Jordan Nixon's overtime buzzer-beater vs. Iowa State moves No. 2 Texas A&M into Sweet 16. The Iowa State women's basketball team was well on its way to some school history Wednesday night. The Cyclones were just one quarter away from advancing to their sixth Sweet 16 and first since 2010. All the Cyclones had to do was hold on to a large lead in the final 10 minutes. Instead, Iowa State let a late lead and a return to the Sweet 16 slip away. Jordan Nixon's layup at the buzzer gave second-seeded Texas A&M a dramatic 84-82 overtime victory over No. 7 Iowa State in a women's NCAA Tournament game at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Iowa State got 32 points and 18 rebounds from Ashley Joens. The Cyclones poured in 16 3-pointers and led nearly the entire game. After building a 35-30 lead at halftime, Iowa State's lead grew to as many as 12 when Lexi Donarski hit a 3-pointer with 1 minute and 47 seconds left in the third quarter to give Iowa State a 56-44 lead. © Eric Gay, AP Jordan Nixon celebrates with teammates after beating the buzzer in overtime to give Texas A&M the win over Iowa State. Texas A&M clawed back and used an explosive fourth quarter to get back into the game. The Aggies outscored the Cyclones 27-18 in the final quarter to force overtime. A jumper by Nixon to cut Iowa State's lead to 75-73. Another layup by Nixon, who finished with a career-high 35 points, tied the score 75-75 with five seconds remaining. Iowa State's final two shots by Joens at the end of regulation didn't go in, forcing overtime. Kim Mulkey leaves Baylor for LSU after 21 seasons and three national women's basketball titles with the Bears. Kim Mulkey, who won three NCAA championships and has been one of the most prominent coaches of the modern era in women’s basketball, left Baylor after 21 seasons Sunday and accepted the job at LSU. The move, which sent shockwaves through women’s basketball, brings Mulkey back to her roots, having grown up 45 minutes away from Baton Rouge in Tickfaw. She also played at Louisiana Tech and coached there as an assistant for 15 years before going to Baylor, where she built an enduring national power. Her son, Kramer Robertson, played baseball at LSU. Mulkey won 86 percent of her games with the Bears and 11 regular-season championships in the Big 12. She won her first national title in 2005, did it again in 2012 with a 40-0 team led by star Brittney Griner and then for a third time in 2019. After so much success over so many years, it was widely assumed that Mulkey would finish her career at Baylor, where she was credited with total compensation of $3.04 million for the 2019 calendar year, according to the university's most recently available federal tax records. That amount includes $649,000 in bonuses. Baylor won the NCAA championship in April 2019. © Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports Kim Mulkey. But word began to percolate in recent days that LSU would make a strong push for Mulkey if Nikki Fargas left to take over as team president of the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA. Fargas’ resignation became official on Saturday. Mulkey has had a history of controversial comments, most recently after her team was eliminated in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament when she said that the NCAA should not test players for COVID-19 at the Final Four. In 2017, with Baylor embroiled in an investigation over the university and athletic department’s handling of sexual assault complaints, Mulkey ripped critics of the school and told Baylor fans to “knock them right in the face” if they said they wouldn’t send their daughters there. Mulkey, 58, will take over an LSU program that has struggled to break into the top 25 in recent years but made five consecutive Final Fours from 2004-08.