Laine Higgins

1 month ago | wsj.com | Robert L. O’Connell |Robert O’connell |Laine Higgins

So when all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four for just the second time in tournament history, we had a hunch that the wildest contest in sports was saving something special for the end. What we didn’t anticipate was whatever just happened. This year’s Final Four didn’t produce one jaw-dropping comeback—it featured three of them. Every single game through Florida’s miraculous late triumph in Monday’s title game delivered twists and turns that defied any semblance of logic.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Laine Higgins |Robert L. O’Connell |Robert O’connell

Walter Clayton Jr. was held scoreless by Houston in the first half of the NCAA championship game on Monday. Then he roared to life to lead the Gators to a title. All season long, Florida had a weapon that no team could figure out how to neutralize. His name was Walter Clayton Jr. The former football standout was the closest thing that college basketball had to a cheat code. During the regular season, he averaged 18.5 points per game, making almost 40% of his 3-pointers.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Laine Higgins

On Sunday, Ovechkin finally got there. With a powerful wrist shot against the New York Islanders, he notched the 895th goal of his NHL career to surpass Gretzky and claim for himself what had seemed like one of the last untouchable records in all of sports. “I felt like I scored the goal, honestly when you scored the goal, I was so happy for you,” Gretzky told Ovechkin after the game. What made it all the more remarkable was that Ovechkin did it in his own way.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Laine Higgins

Wayne Gretzky, the skating prodigy known as “The Great One,” broke the record for most NHL goals in 1994—and proceeded to spend five more seasons firing the puck into the net. By the time he finally hung up his skates, his tally of 894 goals looked like it would never be broken. Then in 2005 came the arrival of a hard-charging, gaptoothed Russian teenager named Alex Ovechkin—and all of a sudden, Gretzky’s record began to look a lot less unbreakable.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Robert L. O’Connell |Robert O’connell |Laine Higgins

They play for Kelvin Sampson. Sampson, 69, pushes his team so hard that one of the first practices of the season left a point guard with a broken nose. He demands such relentless hustle that even the team managers have to run lines if he thinks they’re dogging it. He had some choice advice for one of his players early in Saturday’s game: “Wake the f—up!”“His coaching is mental warfare,” said junior guard Emanuel Sharp.