Sports this 'n' that

 NBC looked to its previous coverage of the NBA Tuesday night on what was billed as "Throwback Tuesday".

Bob Costas returned to the network to call the game, with analysts Doug Collins & Mike Fratello. Hannah Storm & Jim Gray were on the sidelines. Costas, who'd recently announced his retirement, was in rare form.

If NBC wants the ratings, maybe more of these "Throwbacks" would help.

More NBC: The network has signed Detroit Tigers play-by-play man Jason Benetti away from Fox to call their soon-to-be-revived Game of The Week. Benetti has also called college football & basketball for Fox, and before signing with the Tigers, had succeeded Ken Harrelson as the voice of the Chicago White Sox. Fox agreed to release Benetti from his contract early so he could go to NBC.

Fox, meanwhile, has also lost PBA bowling-----to the CW. Seems Nexstar, CW's owner (which also owns WTEN in the 518), is serious about their sports portfolio, having added NASCAR's O'Reilly series (formerly Xfinity), college basketball & football, the LIV golf tour, and WWE NXT in recent years.

Before the World Baseball Classic opens tomorrow, teams are playing exhibitions against MLB clubs, with mixed results. For example, Team USA blew away San Francisco. In Tampa, the Yankees demolished Panama, 11-1. The A's similarly routed Brazil, 14-4, in Arizona. The exhibitions continue today before tournament play starts tomorrow.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar will miss the 2026 season after testing positive for PED's for the 2nd time.

You'd think by now, players would figure out what to look for to avoid such hazards.

WWE's NXT division crowned a new North American champion last week, and it's really a feel good story.

Myles Borne (real name David Bostian III) is legitimately deaf, the result of having had Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of The Newborn upon his birth. Predictably ridiculed by then-champion Ethan Page, Borne finally earned a title match vs. Page on the February 24 episode, and defeated Page after Hank Walker, Tank Ledger, & Shiloh Hill intercepted an attempt at outside interference from Evolve champ Jackson Drake and his Vanity Project mates, Ricky Smokes & Brad Baylor, while NXT champ Joe Hendry held off Ricky Saints. Borne won an impromptu rematch with Page last night while both were in tearaway civilian clothes. Something tells me they'll meet again in a tuxedo match.

As bodybuilder-turned-actor Lou Ferrigno became a hero to not only the disabled but television viewers everywhere as The Incredible Hulk (1977-82), so, too, has Borne become a hero.