Morning Perk: Zags, Zlatan and Roaring Returns

Monday morning. Your alarm goes off for the first time in two days, you head back to the office and then spend the first few hours of the workday planning out how you’ll survive until closing time on Friday. Luckily, Poker Central and Death Wish Coffee have you covered. The world’s strongest coffee gives you a “Morning Perk,” recapping the weekend sports action on Monday and then the best from across the internet on Friday.

“In like a lion, out like a lamb.” is in reference to the transition to spring that occurs during the month of March but for the sports world, the month of March should be roaring from start to finish. MLB Spring Training is underway, golf is finally back and, most importantly, March Madness is just around the corner. Those sports and more carried us through the weekend, one that was filled with action, drama and excitement.

POLL ALERT: Kansas is new No. 1 in men’s hoops; Gonzaga falls to No. 4 after loss to BYU; UCLA, North Carolina rise https://t.co/WvXnFrhhGN pic.twitter.com/WrhFvsUcsK

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 27, 2017

Coming into the weekend, the Gonzaga Bulldogs were the only men’s college basketball team that was still undefeated. They sat at 29-0 and had a ten-loss BYU Cougar’s team coming to play on their home court. Most expected them to get to 30-0, get through the rest of the regular season unscathed and win the West Coast Conference before entering March Madness as the #1 overall seed to go for the first undefeated season since Indiana went 32-0 in 1976. BYU didn’t let that happen though, as the Cougars won by eight, a result that caused Gonzaga to drop from #1 to #4 on the most recent AP Top-25 poll.

Relive yesterday’s thrilling #EFLCup final victory! pic.twitter.com/zFmMepB39m

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 27, 2017

We’ve been on a pretty heavy FA Cup kick over our last few “Morning Perks” and while we are still a few weeks away from the quarterfinals of that tournament, the English Football League Cup final was held on Sunday morning. Manchester United, helped by an incorrect decision in the first half and a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace claimed the title for the Red Devils and also made the world renowned club the most successful in England, with 42 major trophies to Liverpool FC’s 41.  

Congratulation to our 2017 champion @RickieFowler!!!! #winning #hondaclassic pic.twitter.com/uUgxXziOov

— #HondaClassic (@TheHondaClassic) February 26, 2017

While I was following The Honda Classic to see how my high school classmate Morgan Hoffmann would finish, the weekend was all about Rickie Fowler. The always colorfully dressed Fowler has shot out of the gates in 2017, notching three top-ten finishes, including a win in Florida this weekend. While Fowler has never won a major tournament, he has come extremely close before and the hot start this year could mean that Fowler will be more than just a contender heading towards Aprils’ The Masters.

Tim Tebow’s baseball journey hits Mets spring training https://t.co/0WvRMUZDmv #Mets pic.twitter.com/UNZwSVKZty

— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) February 27, 2017

Tim Tebow, Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback, was signed to a minor league contract with the New York Mets in September. While his baseball career has yet to really take off, he is expected to arrive at Met’s Spring Training facilities later this week, with the hopes of surviving cuts and to, here is to wishful thinking, be on the Met’s opening day roster. That isn’t likely to happen and it is disappointing that only a few years after leading Denver Broncos to the playoffs, Tebow’s football career is over and his MLB career might be before it even starts.  

WHY WERE THERE TWO ENVELOPES ON THE STAGE!?!?!?!?!

WE HAVE A CONSPIRACY. pic.twitter.com/u25ktaB7JL

— #GonzoForLonzo (@World_Wide_Wob) February 27, 2017

I DEMAND ANSWERS!

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