This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us here at FTW today. We appreciate you.
Shohei Ohtani’s been lucky over the last week. The sports betting scandal involving his interpreter would be headlining news if not for the constant excitement of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments. He and the Dodgers have had a bit of cover on this one.
But that cover comes off on Monday.
RELATED: Everything we know about the Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal
Ohtani will address the situation to the media for the first time. At the very least, we know he’ll be making a public statement where he’ll have a chance to clarify his involvement in the situation.
I’ll make the long story short for those who may be out of the loop. The story boils down to this: a reported $4.5 million of Ohtani’s money was paid to an illegal bookmaker’s gambling operation to pay off gambling debts. We’ve been told the debt belonged to Ohtani’s friend and former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
But the story has been so muddled that people don’t know what to believe. First, Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani knew about this and intentionally paid off the debt. The next minute, Ohtani’s lawyers released a statement disavowing everything Mizuhara said and claiming this was a “massive theft.” But if he knew, how was this a theft? Did he know? What in the world is going on?
READ MORE: This isn’t the sports betting scandal you think it is
Ohtani needs to finally clear things up because all the questions and unknowns about the situation have only made things look worse for him. It’s certainly plausible that he was paying off a friend’s debt, but it’s also not unreasonable for someone to think this might be a cover for Ohtani to hide a bad gambling habit.
And, if that’s the case? Whew, boy. Do even more questions come into play? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Speaking of addressing the media…
Kim Mulkey’s weekend press conference, where she threatened to sue the Washington Post over an upcoming story, was bizarre. That feels like the only appropriate word for it.
RELATED: Kim Mulkey threatens a lawsuit ahead of a rumored report
We don’t know what’s in the report, but now we all desperately want to know because Mulkey drew so much attention to it here. She is livid about it:
“I’m fed up, and I’m not going to let The Washington Post attack this university, this awesome team of young women I have, or me without a fight. I’ve hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue The Washington Post if they publish a false story about me. Not many people are in a position to hold these kinds of journalists accountable, but I am, and I’ll do it.”
Kim Mulkey isn’t new to controversy. It follows her, as we pointed out here. But if Mulkey felt the need to get ahead of it like this, then there’s clearly a big problem here.
We’ll have to wait and see what it is.
Shame on you, Bill Self
After getting blown out by Gonzaga over the weekend, Kansas’ head coach revealed that he’s been thinking about next season for the last month, Prince Grimes writes.
“For the last month, I’ve been thinking about next season”
– Bill Self 😳#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/YfGseyZkjK
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2024
Look. I can understand not being that excited about this team. It’s not Self’s best. And Kansas has a ton of talent coming in next year that should make it one of the best teams in college basketball again.
But to openly admit this for your team to hear? Man, that’s wild. Keep this to yourself, big dog. Prince agrees:
“What Self said isn’t actually the problem, though, and shouldn’t be interpreted as him quitting on the season. In fact, him acknowledging he can do better to improve the roster is actually a statement of accountability — an admission of his own failure to put together a team he could believe in this year. Where he went wrong is that he said it out loud. Self should have kept this to himself.”
His team deserved more respect than this.
Quick hits: Cameron Brink is the best … Charles Barkley roasts Grand Canyon … and more
— Cameron Brink had two NSFW words for an official after fouling out against Iowa State. Meg Hall has more.
— Charles Barkley says Grand Canyon’s second half vs. Alabama was the “dumbest game of basketball.” Here’s Charles Curtis with more.
— Angel Reese is so petty and I love it. Andrew Joseph has the scoop here.
— Robert Saleh says he’s hoping for more “quietness” with the Jets this season. Is Aaron Rodgers retiring? Here’s more from Robert Zeglinski.
— Jack Gohlke forever. Here’s Charles with more.
— Flau’jae Johnson is standing with Kim Mulkey no matter what. Here’s Blake Schuster with more.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks for reading! Let’s do it again tomorrow. Talk soon! We out.
-Sykes ✌️