BSJ Daily Briefing 03.26.18: Marchand does it again, Belichick talks, Rozier fills it up, NCAA weekend

Good morning!

A few random thoughts while trying to figure out if I can ever picture Odell Beckham Jr. in a Patriots uniform, and if I want to...

• Well, that was a jam-packed weekend. It started with the Celtics announcing Kyrie Irving will miss the next three-to-six weeks after his knee procedure, and it ended with Brad Marchand continuing to climb the ranks of NHL elite players with his fifth overtime winner of the season.


• Bill Belichick talked on Sunday night, and if I'm a Patriots' fan, I'd be pretty pumped.


• Since when did Terry Rozier become Michael Jordan?


• Fairly disappointing weekend for the local when it came to the NCAA hockey tournament, as all three teams — BU, Providence and Northeastern — were shutout of the Frozen Four. Guess the NCAA (through a formula) knew what it was doing when they didn't give Hockey East a top seed or include a fourth team.


• Northeastern's loss to Michigan wasn't shocking (the Wolverines were seeded higher and are going to the Frozen Four after knocking off BU as well), but it was a bit of a bummer because it felt like the Huskies were in the midst of one of those once-in-a-decade seasons with all their success and that tremendous top line. But, alas, it wasn't to be.


• Did anyone care that the East Regional hoops final was here?


• In case you missed it, Cam Fleming signed with the Cowboys. We've certainly had our criticisms of Fleming over the years (and it was all justified) but you have to give him credit because he kept working hard and improved himself to the point that he was a serviceable backup tackle this past year and is now one going forward. It's a good example of how everybody in the NFL is a work in progress, whether it's players, coaches, general managers (journalists too ;)). No one is ever a finished product. Fleming got off to a very rough start to his Patriots' career (he was released at one point and signed to the practice squad) but he kept after it. The guy battled for this team, worked his tail off, was extremely durable, a good teammate and earned a lot of respect.


• Get ready for Matt Tobin as the tackle eligible.


• The Red Sox will play a real baseball game on Thursday. And the second-guessing of Alex Cora can commence.

.@ToreyKrug ➡️ @bmarch63 ? pic.twitter.com/PuSoo0FGBB

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 26, 2018

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