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The number of people ejected from yesterday’s NBA game between the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Five players and two coaches were made to leave the court after a fight broke out in the second quarter of the match. Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said: “Obviously things went too far. But what you see is guys looking out for one another, guys trying to protect one another, guys trying to have each other’s backs ... Those are non-negotiables in our locker room.”

“It is with both disappointment and understanding [we] hear [the New Zealand Government has] decided not to back the 38th America’s Cup in Auckland in 2027. While the significant economic benefits of hosting the America’s Cup and other major events are well proven, such as €1.034 billion [$AU1.8 billion] of economic benefits in Barcelona in 2024, we understand there are other priorities for the New Zealand Government right now.”
Three-time defending America’s Cup champions team New Zealand has announced it will not host the next edition of the prestigious sailing race series in Auckland, pointing to a lack of financial backing from the government. Auckland hosted the 36th edition of the event in 2021. The 38th edition of the America’s Cup will be held in 2027.

Slovenian Domen Prevc holds the ski jump world record of 254.5 metres. Prevc eclipsed the previous world record of 253.5 metres at a Ski Jumping World Cup event last weekend. For reference, that’s almost two and a half football fields in length.

🏉 Wallabies winger Max Jorgensen is facing six to eight weeks on the sidelines after injuring his ankle in last Friday’s Super Rugby clash between the Waratahs and Hurricanes. The 20-year-old requires surgery after he was caught in an awkward position during a tackle. He is likely to miss the remainder of the Super Rugby season, and is not guaranteed to be healthy for the Wallabies series against the British and Irish Lions in July.

🏃‍♂️ Two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s father, on trial for the alleged physical and mental abuse of his children, told a Norwegian court he was ‘overly protective’. Last week in court, Jakob alleged he had been hit by his father Gjert, who was also his running coach, several times during his childhood. Gjert said: "I became a father very early, with an enormous need to protect. I became what one might call overly protective."

⚽ Matildas midfielder Katrina Gorry has been ruled out of Australia’s upcoming matches against South Korea on Friday and Monday. The 32-year-old, who plays club football for West Ham in the Women’s Super League, was injured in Sunday’s match against Chelsea. Melbourne City midfielder Leah Davidson has been called up as Gorry’s replacement. 

Wrexham AFC, the Welsh football club co-owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, has reported revenue growth of 155% year-on-year. The growth highlights the impact of overseas interest in the club generated by the docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.

The club’s annual report, released on Monday, showed £26.7 million ($AU55 million) in revenue through to June 2024. Reynolds and McElhenney took over the club in 2021, and it has gone from strength to strength ever since.

In its past two seasons, the club has been promoted from English football’s fifth league (the National League) to the third-highest league (EFL League One). Wrexham is currently second on the EFL League One table and is on track to be promoted again this year to the Championship League, one rung below the top-flight English Premier League.

‘Welcome to Wrexham’ is a fly-on-the-wall style documentary produced by Reynolds and McElhenney, which has followed the club’s journey since its Hollywood takeover.

The club said on its website: “While the documentary does not contribute any direct financial return for the club, it delivers incredible global exposure for the Wrexham brand and provides the club with a unique marketing platform that can be monetised through the delivery of TV exposure for our partners.”

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Even though it’s April now, ‘March Madness’ is continuing in the U.S. as the top teams in college basketball compete for a coveted national championship. Here’s what you need to know.

March Madness is an annual U.S. college basketball tournament held to decide the men’s and women’s national champions. Both tournaments begin with 68 teams, whittled down over seven rounds to the best college basketball team in the country. In every match, teams face the prospect of being eliminated or advancing to the next round.

The Round of 16 is called the Sweet 16, the quarter-finals are called the Elite Eight, and the semi-finals are called the Final Four.

The men’s tournament has been played since 1939. The women’s tournament has been played since 1982.

Every year, pundits around the world attempt to build a perfect bracket by picking the winners of every match before the tournament begins. It’s such a big deal that billionaire investor Warren Buffett awarded an employee at his company a $US1 million prize for correctly guessing 31 of the 32 results in the second round this year. Buffett had run the competition for 10 years without a winner.

The men’s tournament is down to a Final Four of Auburn, Florida, Duke and Houston. All four universities were the number one seeds in their respective regions. In the 45 years that the tournament has been seeded, it’s just the second time that all four top seeds have made the Final Four (the first was 2008).

The first final four match at 8:00am on Sunday (AEDT) is between two universities in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Auburn and Florida. It marks the first time two SEC schools have played each other in the final four. The last time these two teams met, in February, Florida won 90-81. Auburn is the tournament’s overall number one seed and is chasing its first national championship. Florida has won two national championships, winning back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.

Then, at 10:50am (AEDT), Duke and Houston will play for a spot in the national championship match. Duke is in the Final Four for the 18th time and has won five national championships. Its side is led by men’s basketball’s number one collegiate prospect, Cooper Flagg. Despite making the final four six times before, Houston has never won a national championship. Houston is currently on a 17-game winning streak.

The final four for the women’s tournament are UCLA, Texas, South Carolina, and the University of Connecticut (UConn). UConn, the number two seed in its quarter of the bracket, is the only team in the final four that did not enter the championship as a number one seed. UConn is led by women’s college basketball’s top professional prospect, Paige Bueckers.

On Saturday at 10:00am (AEDT), South Carolina will play Texas. South Carolina is in the final four for the fifth straight year and is the defending national champion. Texas is returning to the final four for the first time since 2003, but isn’t favoured to beat its SEC rival. The two sides have met three times this season, with South Carolina winning two of the matches.

Then, at 12:00pm, UCLA and UConn will face off. Historically, UConn is the most successful team in women’s college basketball with 11 national championships. UConn is led by Paige Bueckers, the likely number one pick in next month’s WNBA draft. UCLA is the number one seed overall and is playing in its first final four.

You can watch U.S. college basketball on Foxtel or Kayo.

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