🏉 Brady's back, tell a friend

Good morning, it's Tuesday, 15 March 

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Martin Gabor are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching today

⚽ 7.00am - EPL - Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Selhurst Park Stadium, London - Optus Sport

🏏 9.00am - Women's World Cup - Australia v West Indies - Basin Reserve, Wellington - Foxtel, Kayo

🏏 4.00pm - Cricket - Pakistan v Australia - National Stadium, Karachi - Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEDT

🏈 Brady bucks the retirement trend 

Well, that didn’t last long. Just 40 days after he announced his retirement from the National Football League, superstar quarterback Tom Brady says he’s coming back to play next season. 

Golden points: Brady, 44, retired less than 2 months ago. Maybe he changed his mind after he was in the stands to see 37yo footballer Cristiano Ronaldo score a hat-trick. Either way, he says his place is on the field and not in the stands.

• Most people reckon Brady is the best NFL player of all time. He’s won 7 Super Bowls, has the record for most records and last year led the league in touchdown passes and completions. 

• There have been heaps of quarterback changes in the off-season, but Brady is going to stay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he won the Super Bowl 2 years ago.

• Conspiracy theorists are having a field day because this week marks 27 years since Michael Jordan announced he was coming back to the NBA after he also retired. Let’s get even wackier - this will be Brady’s 23rd season. Jordan wore 23. 

Key click: Spare a thought for the person who spent about $715,000 on what they thought was the ball that Brady threw for his last touchdown. That gives new meaning to the term ‘buyer’s regret’. 

🏏 Swing kings put Pakistan in a spin 

It was meant to be a case of come in spinner, but Australia looks set to go one up in their Test series against Pakistan after their fast bowlers dominated on day 3 in Karachi.

The score: Australia 9/556d & 1/81 leads Pakistan 148 by 489 runs.

Golden points: Spin was tipped to dominate but it was quick Mitch Starc who stole the show with 3 wickets to put the Aussies in control.

• Australia took 10 wickets on day 3 which is a fair effort because they only took 4 wickets in the first Test.

• Reverse swing was king, and that means the ball moves sharply through the air if one side gets really rough. It’s very hard for batters because the ball can move late. 

Watch it: The Test continues from 4.00pm (AEDT) on Foxtel and Kayo with Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne at the crease. It’s gonna be a busy day because the unbeaten women’s team is playing the West Indies at the World Cup. That starts at 9.00am.

🎾 Double trouble for Special Ks

The Special Ks have been the biggest talking point in doubles tennis this year, but their hopes of winning another title in Indian Wells are toast after they were beaten by team Sockner. 

Golden points: If the team names seem a bit confusing, don’t worry. The Specials Ks are Aussies Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, and they were up against Americans Jack Sock and John Isner.

• Kyrgios and Kokkinakis don’t have much doubles experience, which is why their win at the Australian Open was so special.

• Their win has inspired other singles specialists to team up, just like Sock and Isner. The Americans knocked out the top doubles seeds in round one and also won at Indian Wells back in 2018. 

Watch it: The Aussie assault in California is far from over. Kyrgios can now focus on the singles where he plays Casper Ruud later today. Alex De Minaur is also through to the next round after he knocked out good friend John Millman. You can catch all the action on Foxtel and Kayo. 

❄ Jakara's talent is crystal clear

She won gold in Beijing and could get her hands on some crystalware in France. So when she gets back to Australia, it’s only fair that Jakara Anthony stops in Duty Free to pick up a bottle of Cristal. 

Golden points: Anthony had another big weekend on the slopes in Italy to continue her very successful season.

• She won the dual moguls event, which sees skiers go head to head down a bumpy slope with a few jumps thrown in for good measure.

• That was her 10th medal of the season which sees her equal Alisa Camplin and Britt Cox as the most successful Aussie winter athletes in a season.

• Anthony is dominating the rankings and will win a crystal globe (or globes) if she can finish on top. That would go well with the gold she won at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

What’s next: The competition heads to Megeve in France for the final events this weekend. 

🏀 All the way with LBJ

If you follow NBA then you know what a triple-double is. If you don’t, it’s basically when a player has 10 or more points, rebounds and assists in the same game. Blocks and steals also count. Well, LeBron James has taken that stat to the next level. And then multiplied it by 1000. 

Golden points: LeBron James is the first player in NBA history to have at least 10,000 points, rebounds and assists. 

• He reached the milestone in Monday’s loss to the Suns when he passed to Carmelo Anthony for his 10,000th assist. 

• His numbers are ridiculous. LeBron is the 3rd highest scorer in NBA history and should pass Karl Malone into 2nd spot in the next week or so.

• He’s one of only 7 players to have 10,000 assists and he’s putting up these crazy numbers as a 37yo. He’s putting us to shame. 

Key click: If numbers are your thing then this breakdown of his achievements compared to other greats should be right up your alley. 

👀 Quick singles

🏉 It’s full steam ahead for the 4 new clubs who say they want the AFLW season to start in August. There were concerns Sydney, Hawthorn, Essendon and Port Adelaide wouldn’t have enough time to finalise their squads, but they say they are ready to go. 

⚽ Sam Kerr raised the bat for Chelsea but then saw yellow after she scored a very late winner in the Women’s Super League. The goal was Kerr’s 50th for Chelsea, but she was soon given a yellow card for taking off her shirt while celebrating.

🎾 Australia is into the Billie Jean King Cup finals without having to go through any qualifiers. That’s because they’ve replaced last year’s winners Russia, who have been banned from all team competitions.  

🏁 Max Verstappen will have to deal with a new challenger this season, and he’s meant to be really good. Well, it’s still Lewis Hamilton. But the Mercedes driver has decided to change his name so it will include his mum’s maiden name. 

🏏 England is in real danger of missing the semis at the Women’s 50-over World Cup after they were beaten by South Africa. The defending champs have now lost all 3 of their matches. 

🏉 The West Coast Eagles could be without a number of stars for their AFL season opener after COVID and injuries hit the club hard this week. Tim Kelly has the virus, a number of players are in health and safety protocols and Jack Darling has a foot injury. 

🙃 Left of field…

The luck of the Irish was definitely on Shane Lowry’s side after the golfer landed a hole-in-one on one of the toughest holes anywhere in the world.

Golden points: The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is the stuff of nightmares because of its location on an island surrounded by lots and lots of water. Throw in wild winds and this should be a nearly impossible shot.

• While everyone else struggled, Lowry made it look easy to become just the 10th player to nail an ace on the 17th. The fans went wild and so did he as he threw the ball as far as he could into the crowd. 

• Norway’s Viktor Hovland joined the party when he hit a hole-in-one, but this time it was on the 8th hole.

Watch it: Get the Guinness ready because these celebrations could last a while. 

📽 The highlight reel

There's a reason why football club Eibar are top of Spain's 2nd division. It helps when you can score goals in the first 10 seconds. 

📸 Photo finish

Perth Wildcats star Bryce Cotton hits a game-winning 3 in overtime last night to beat the New Zealand Breakers in the National Basketball League. 

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

Wide receiver Mike Evans caught the pass in the playoffs. It probably won't be Brady's last pass now he's out of retirement.