Good Friday morning to you. Welcome to the weekend preview edition of the Sports Curious podcast. I'm your host, Amy Bush on Sick Read. Let's dive right in. First, we have to start off on a sad note with the loss of OJ Simpson, who died at age 76 yesterday from cancer. While OJ had his ups and downs with the legal system, he was a Heisman Trophy winner, an NFL MVP, a Hall of Famer, and the first running back to eclipse the 2 ,000 yard mark in a single season.
Now many people are asking will they test his brain for CTE, which is a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries that we've seen in far too many NFL players. No word on that yet, so stay tuned for more on that. Moving on to golf and the Masters. Well, this started behind already yesterday with Mother Nature delaying tee times, which means with darkness, the first round will be finished this morning. The second round will then begin at 8 a .m. Eastern time.
And it will continue through the completion of the first round. Liv golfer Bryson DeChambeau had a great first round, claiming the top spot after round one round. And the number one player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, is just one shot behind him. Now, Scheffler's wife is pregnant with their first child and due toward the end of the month. But he's admitted he would leave the Masters if the baby was ready to be born.
It has fans all making the same jokes that the only thing that can stop Scottie Scheffler is his pregnant wife, Meredith. Now, Tiger Woods had a great first round. But he will have to finish Friday morning, which will be a tough, long day for him on Friday. He'll finish, he played until dark on Thursday night. Then he'll have to wake up early to finish the first round this morning. Then he'll go right into playing the second round.
Stay tuned for more on that lastnightsgame .com and follow us on social for more Things Masters. Major League Baseball. We have some federal charges against Ipe Muzahara, the former interpreter for baseball superstar Shohei Otani. Now, he allegedly stole $16 million from Otani, according to the US attorney in Los Angeles. Now, he made unauthorized transfers from Otani bank account from November 2021 until January 2024.
He averaged 25 bets a day, ranging from $10 to $160 ,000, with some 19 ,000 bets in all. His betting records, according to a spreadsheet obtained by authorities, reflected the total winnings as $142 million. But... total losses of $183 million during this span, with a total negative balance right around $40 million. All this is happening while the Dodgers are sitting happily in first place in their division.
Moving on to the NBA, it's the final weekend of the NBA regular season, with games ending on Sunday. And spots for the playoffs are on the line, especially the NBA play -in tournament, where the 7 -10 seeds will be playing in their own tournament, which will then result in the winners of that. claiming the two final spots in the playoffs. High profile teams like the Golden State Warriors and the Lakers are jockeying for a spot in the play -in tournament.
So it'll be some intense games when it comes down to Sunday. We'll have more on the play -in tournament on social media next week. Last but certainly not least, let's talk about UFC 300. This is a huge milestone in the martial arts world. And to celebrate this number, the cards are stacked with three title fights and 12. current or former champion stepping into the octagon.
The most coveted belt on the line, the BMF or the bad mother belt, will be presented to the winner between Justin Gagey and Max Holloway. And they'll be presented by retired UFC legend, Mark Coleman, who was until recently in a coma after saving his parents from a house fire. Now the other two co -main events include the women's straw weight title between Zhang Weili and Yan Shanshan.
And this marks the first time in UFC history that a championship bout for the coveted gold belt will take place between two Chinese athletes since adding an extra layer of significance to the event. And of course, there's the main event, the lightweight title Alex Pereira will take on Jamal Hill. That's all we have for this weekend.
Of course, if you want more on the Masters and all the great fun things that happen around Augusta National and that great green jacket, check out this week's podcast and the Sports Pre -Curious podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Of course, you can find the transcript of this. podcast lastnightsgame .com.