Greatness (and big money) define a dizzying Sunday

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While You Were Sleeping: Toronto gets it right

Extremely late-breaking news last night: The Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement with superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a 14-year, $500 million contract extension, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. 

One quick thing: 

• You have to applaud the Jays, who fumbled Guerrero’s self-imposed negotiation deadline this spring, for pushing through on what is a good-value deal — for now. And kudos to Guerrero for getting the number he always wanted. 

Read our full story here. It was a busy Sunday:

Greatness, Pt. 1: UConn’s tough road to destiny

Hindsight can be, in a word, hilarious. Think of the following fact: UConn women’s basketball won its record 12th national title yesterday, led by soon-to-be No. 1 WNBA Draft pick Paige Bueckers. Snooze. Unsurprising. Right? 

On the contrary, and this is why I love the stories of most title teams. The truth is far more complicated than a simple act of dominance: 

• We should start two and a half years ago, when Bueckers — already a young superstar — tore her ACL just months after missing most of her freshman season with a knee injury. She then missed the entire 2022-23 year. It was easy to wonder if Bueckers would ever get the chance to live up to her hype.
  
  
• Last season, we finally saw her rise. A Final Four trip stopped her short of glory, though, falling two points shy against some player named Caitlin Clark. Even then, this result was in doubt. Superstars were everywhere around her in the sport. Winning a title is hard, even if you’re Paige Bueckers and UConn.
  
  
• Just a month ago, the selection committee thought it would be difficult, too, giving the Huskies a No. 2 seed. To use our word earlier (and no disrespect to the No. 1 seeds), that looks hilarious now. 

But there were Bueckers and her Huskies teammates yesterday afternoon, cutting down the nets after flattening everyone in front of them in this women’s NCAA Tournament. Average margin of victory against No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four: 28.5 points. Absurd. Hilarious, even. 

Bueckers is the story here, and rightfully so, but she was far from alone: 

• Azzi Fudd, a senior, and Sarah Strong, a true freshman, led UConn with 24 points apiece. For Strong, she cements her place as one of the best freshmen in UConn history, which is saying something. Keep her name handy for next season. 

Two last thoughts before we move on: It is incredible (and frustrating for Trojans fans) that USC, without JuJu Watkins, gave UConn its hardest game of this tournament run. And shout out to The Athletic’s Austin Mock, whose data had the Huskies as the best team in this tournament before it even started. 

Let’s keep going:

News to Know

Pirates to reinstate Clemente tribute
Filed under “whoops”: The Pirates apologized yesterday for replacing a Roberto Clemente logo on the right-field wall with an advertisement for a canned vodka drink, saying they will reinstate the logo after family members were upset by the switch. The club also insists it was an honest mistake and miscommunication. Full backstory here.

More news

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Greatness, Pt. 2: Alexander Ovechkin does the impossible

In sports, the chase toward a milestone can feel like a season in itself. Sometimes it’s a sudden thing, like Barry Bonds’ single-season homer pursuit, which we had no idea he’d do before the year began. Others, it’s like Alexander Ovechkin’s race toward Wayne Gretzky, which we knew, health permitting, would happen at some point this year or next. 

For the latter, the record play is often a letdown — it’s been talked about so much that the end is almost a relief. We set the stage well yesterday, explaining the ins and outs of the entire situation. 

So let’s just focus on the moment — which was actually awesome — and the best parts about it: 

• Ovechkin scored career goal No. 895 about halfway through the second period yesterday against the Islanders, and it was nowhere near a fluky goal. Just watch:

The moment the history books were re-written 💥

🎥 @NHLpic.twitter.com/HKTT03OTha

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 6, 2025

• It felt like the entire sport celebrated the goal. Ovechkin was first, of course, sliding across center ice as an opposing team’s crowd roared for him, and for history. Gretzky cheered. Even Ilya Sorokin, the goalie who let his puck dart past, was happy. Honestly, a beautiful thing all around. 

For a better perspective, I chatted with Sean McIndoe, The Athletic’s excellent hockey writer and author of the upcoming newsletter Red Light: 

The history of this is obviously massive, but I want to know something simpler: What’s your favorite Ovi goal?

💬 The easy answer here is the time he scored while sliding on his back; I’ve seen that goal a thousand times and I’m still not completely sure that I understand the physics of it. But I’m going to go off the board just a bit and nominate this game winner against the Penguins in the 2018 playoffs, which helped boost the Capitals to a series win and, eventually, their first Stanley Cup.

We talked for years about Gretzky’s total being unbeatable. Do you think Ovechkin’s eventual number will actually be unbeatable?

💬 I think it’s unlikely that this record will be broken, but not impossible. Auston Matthews could give it a run if he can stay healthy and productive for another dozen seasons or so, and you never know who’ll come along and rack up big numbers. But it’s the longevity that’s truly amazing here — you’re just not supposed to be able to score at a nearly 50-goal pace for 20 straight years. That’s the part I just can’t see ever happening again.

Many thanks to Sean. Sign up for Red Light here before the NHL playoff run begins. Onward:

What to Watch

📺 NCAAM: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 1 Houston
8:50 p.m. ET on CBS
Kelvin Sampson, a living basketball legend, gets a shot at coaching the Cougars to his first national title after that incredible comeback against Duke on Saturday. The Gators, meanwhile, might actually be the best team in the country. This should be a tight one, and Vegas agrees (Florida favored by 1.5 points, per BetMGM). Our experts were split on the picks, too. 

📺 NHL: Blues at Jets
7:30 p.m. ET on NHL Network
The NHL’s hottest team, St. Louis, winners of 12 straight, face the league’s best team in Winnipeg. St. Louis is firmly in the playoff picture with four games left, but there’s still a bit of work to be done. Good game if you’re skipping hoops. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

It’s Masters week. Ludvig Åberg should be one of your early favorites and, as Brody Miller writes in a wonderful profile, is a different kind of golf phenom. Make time for this today. 

From the weekend: How one backpass in the Ipswich Town-Wolverhampton match caused two of the craziest minutes the Premier League has seen this season. 

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred spoke with The New York Times yesterday about robot umps, torpedo bats and more. It’s worth a read. 

Long before the torpedo bat craze? Maple bats remember being baseball’s newest obsession. 

You know who’s still surprised Duke lost? Duke, Cooper Flagg and most Blue Devils fans. Brendan Marks is great on a group searching for answers after a collapse. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on how Wayne Gretzky’s support of Donald Trump has stung Canadians. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The live blog from UConn’s big win. Relive it here.

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top photo: Carmen Mandato / Imagn Images)

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