SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: (Singing) Georgia.
All right. Masters weekend at Augusta, college hockey - the Frozen Four down to two - and the WNBA draft. Michele Steele of ESPN joins us. Michele, thanks for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Sure. I didn't know you could sing, Scott.
SIMON: I can't sing. I think I just demonstrated...
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...As much, but I do enjoy it. Listen, the Masters - first two rounds have wrapped up in Augusta. Only half the players remain. Leading the way is Justin Rose, 8 under par, but a gaggle of players right behind him, including Rory McIlroy. Past champions, including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, did not make the cut. So what do you take from all this so far?
STEELE: You know, excuse my French here, but my takeaway is just how gosh darn competitive it's been, you know, if you take a look at the top of the leaderboard.
SIMON: Oh, your French is exquisite...
STEELE: Yes.
SIMON: ...But go ahead. Yeah.
STEELE: Thank you. Merci. If you take a look at the top of the leaderboard, 14 of the 25 best players in the whole entire world - they're within six shots...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...Of the lead. Scotty Shuffler three shots back, Rory McIlroy entering the weekend two shots back. Rory McIlroy in particular - he has not been in the top 20 since 2018, so if you're a Rory fan, you're excited. You know, Scott, there's something about Augusta National that just brings out the best of what the world has to offer, and that's what we're seeing play out right now.
SIMON: And so let us focus on two players. Jon Rahm of Spain and Fred Couples of the U.S. are in the hunt for kind of different reasons, aren't they?
STEELE: Yeah. You know, Jon Rahm was the defending Masters champion just a year and a half ago. And that's when, perhaps not coincidentally, he joined the upstart LIV Golf tour from the PGA Tour.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: He just has simply, I mean, essentially flopped in golf's majors in 2024. That seemed to be continuing into 2025 'cause he was struggling a little bit at Augusta this week. He barely made the cut. We'll see what he does this weekend. Now, as for Fred Couples, this is a fun story - 65 years old, opens with a 1-under 71 on...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ....Thursday, giving himself a pretty good shot at making the cut. Now, he would finish at 4 over. But I like what he said, Scott, after his round. He said, I get into that car. I'll come back tomorrow, have a nice lunch. I'll be fine.
SIMON: Aw.
STEELE: And you know what? We'll see him back next year.
SIMON: So the men's national championship of college ice hockey tonight in St. Louis - Western Michigan Broncos against the Boston University Terriers. Western Michigan's only won one of the top four overall seeds - still there - but BU is after redemption, right? They lost the national semifinals in the last two years.
STEELE: Yeah. You know, this is the Frozen Four you're talking about. It's college hockey's own version of March Madness. And if you're an NHL fan like me, you've got an eye on this game because of so many NHL prospects on the ice, especially on the BU side. Now, BU is favored in this game, but don't count out Western Michigan. They beat the overall favorite, the University of Denver, in double overtime in the last round. And here's something fun to watch - if you're not a huge hockey fan, BU has a couple of brothers who play together, Quinn and Cole Hutson. They come from a crazy hockey-playing family. The older brother, Lane, is leading the Rookie of the Year conversation with the Montreal Canadiens. The younger brother's playing - I love this team name. He's playing for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL. So Quinn and Cole Hutson - watch those brothers tonight. Lots of Hutsons in the house tonight, Scott.
SIMON: Aww. WNBA draft takes place Monday. Paige Bueckers, of course, of UConn is widely expected to be the overall pick. And a measure of the growth of the league, I gather, can be made because tickets to go to this year's...
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...Draft are a lot pricier, aren't they?
STEELE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yesterday's price, as they say, is not today's price for women's basketball. You know, the league saw tickets to the draft last year go absolutely bananas on the secondary market. Perhaps not a huge shock, since that was the Caitlin Clark class...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...Draft. And the league decided, you know what? Our prices are a little bit low compared to the demand for this thing. So they made a change. It's going to cost double to go as a fan. Last year, it was $50 for that lowest tier of ticket. This year, Scott, it's $100.
SIMON: Wow.
STEELE: Don't forget the fees on Ticketmaster. But you know what? All of those tickets are sold out. You're going to have to watch it on TV.
SIMON: Oh, my word. And the price increase - nothing to do with tariffs, right? We ought to make that plain this week.
STEELE: You know, as far as I know, we're not importing any tickets from anywhere else, so nothing to do with tariffs.
SIMON: All right.
STEELE: One of the rare stories not to do with tariffs.
SIMON: OK. Michele Steele of ESPN, talk to you soon. Thanks so much.
STEELE: You bet.
(SOUNDBITE OF BILLY BASS' "THE BREAKS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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