Justin Thomas captured the 46th Players Championship yesterday, an extraordinary feat on one of the toughest tests in golf, and one of the toughest tournaments, right after the majors, to close out. The players consider TPC Sawgrass a Major Championship venue and many in the media and fans would say it is, too. It’s such a marquee event on tour and always a captivating tournament. JT shot 64, 68 on Saturday and Sunday. He said Sunday was the best tee to green ball striking round he’s ever had. He sank a clutch 5 foot par putt on the 17th, the Island hole, and finished it off with a clutch par on 18. He took a one shot lead over Lee Westwood with a birdie on 16. Westwood had tied him with a birdie on 14, but bogeyed the 17th before finishing with a birdie on 18 to finish solo second.

Justin now has 14 tour victories on his resume at age 27, he’ll be 28 on April 29th, and is the only player to win 14 PGA titles, a major, the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, and a Players Championship before the age of 28, besides Tiger Woods. Justin Thomas is the favorite at Augusta National right now in my opinion.

But the most powerful moment in the tournament came afterwards when NBC/Golf Channel interviewer Steve Sands asked Justin what his late grandfather would be thinking. Justin was extremely close to his grandfather who passed away a couple of months ago. Justin broke down and got some words out, saying he’d be proud of him. It was extremely moving. Awesome moment in sports. JT is quite a champion.

Another powerful moment happened in sports yesterday and today when the great 20 year veteran quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees, announced his retirement. Drew played at Purdue and is the Big Ten record holder in completions, 1,026, attempts, 1,678, and yards 11,792. He took his team to the 2001 Rose Bowl. That’s not done very much at Purdue.

He was the first pick in the second round by the San Diego Chargers in 2001. After making a Pro Bowl in 2004, Brees suffered a dislocation in his right shoulder joint, and a tear of the labrum and rotator cuff in 2005. He took his chances as a free agent in 2006. Then Miami Dolphins Coach Nick Saban, before his massive success at the University, recruited him to Miami. In his book, Coming Back Stronger, Brees called Saban, “an intensely, serious coach,” and was tempted to play for him. But the Dolphins owner overruled Saban and Miami didn’t offer Brees a contract. Breesy then went to visit with the Saints. New Orleans had just been devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. New coach Sean Payton showed Brees around the city and Breesy saw all the destruction in the city and was moved. In his interview this morning on the Today Show ,with Hoda Kotb, Drew called his decision to join the Saints, “Divine Intervention.” Drew is a deeply spiritual man. The rebuilding and reemergence of the great city with Brees as its centerpiece happened magically. Brees led the Saints to the playoffs 9 times in 15 seasons, after the franchise, which was established in 1967, had only had 7 winning seasons and 5 playoff appearances from 1967-2005. Brees holds NFL all time records in pass completions, career completion percentage, and career passing yards. He is second in career touchdown passes to Tom Brady. They had quite a competition going on the last 2 seasons. He’s also 3rd all time in regular season career passer rating and fourth all time in postseason passer rating. Most importantly, he led the Saints to the Super Bowl Championship in 2009, Super Bowl 44. He was a 13-time Pro Bowl quarterback.

I know he wishes he could have had a couple more Lombardi Trophies, but some tough luck in the playoffs prevented him from winning more of the coveted Super Bowl rings.

But what a career. Drew told Hoda this morning that he hopes he left New Orleans a better place than he found it. There is no doubt about that. What a legacy he left. But he’ll remain a New Orleans native and luckily, Drew will join the Sunday Night Football crew on NBC to work with Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and company. Can’t wait for that. He also talked about his wife Brittany, and their 3 boys and their daughter. He’s a true family man who is also dedicated to his charity work in the New Orleans area. He’ll always be a Saint and no doubt a First Ballot Hall of Famer. We’ll miss him. Walter, Brownie and I loved our Saints and we loved Breesy. He was an institution in football and leaves an indelible legacy. Can’t do much more than that.

Bracketology 2021

In his 2020 book, The Back Roads of March, the Unsung, the Unheralded, and Unknown Heroes of a College Basketball Season, John Feinstein writes about the Cinderellas of the 2018-19 season, the year that Virginia won it all. He talks about teams like UMBC, Maryland Baltimore County, which had upset Virginia in the 2018 tournament, the first No.16 seed to ever defeat a No.1 seed. Other teams like Virginia Commonwealth, teams from the Ivy League, the Patriot League, the teams that get no credit, but work extremely hard, maybe even harder than the Power 5 teams that get all the publicity. It’s a superb book. Feinstein writes about a sign he always sees in the historic Palestra, one of the oldest and most revered gyms in the country where the Big 5 in Philly play; the University of Pennsylvania, Penn, La Salle University, Saint Joseph’s University, Temple and Villanova. It’s unknown who wrote this piece about basketball on the sign. But this is what it says.

To win the game is great… to play the game is greater.. but to love the game is the greatest of all…

So with that said, and after a couple of months of deep thinking walks in Oak Mountain State Park, transcendental meditation in my basement and several acupuncture appointments with some of the world’s greatest accupuncturists, here is White’s World’s 2021 Bracket.

Can the Crimson Tide duplicate its football magnificence in 2020-21, which the Crimson Tide has done 6 times under Nick Saban. Can Gonzaga become the first team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to go undefeated and win 6 games in the tournament and finish 32-0? What about the great Baylor team, Texas or Oklahoma State from the Big 12? Or Big Ten Champion Illinois, or Iowa or Michigan? Houston is another stellar team and the champion from the American Conference. Can LSU, Arkansas or Tennessee make a run.

Can we have another Sister Jean moment? The 101 year old and going strong Loyola-Chicago Chaplain has her team on the cusp of possible greatness once again after making it to the Final Four in 2018.

Virginia was the last national champion 2 years ago in 2019, which seems like a decade ago. It’s been a long 2 years. Auburn was a missed double dribble call from making the championship game in 2019 when Virginia’s Ty Jerome double dribbled in the back court before finding Kyle Guy who attempted a game tying 3 at the buzzer, was fouled, and sank all 3 free throws to send the game in overtime where UVA won. It was a tough to take for the Tigers and the Tiger fans.

It’s super to have the tournament taking place in the bubble in Indianapolis. All the discipline it took from the players and coaches, just like football, to make it to this point makes it so worthwhile for the players, coaches AND fans. Nothing like March Madness. A 2 1/2 week extravaganza. As Sly Croom said, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Here’s my Bracketology for 2021.

Bracketology