Yahoo Sports AM: The Burrito Boys, El Farolito SC, Are Soccer's Cinderella

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 NBA Play-in Tournament: The Warriors held off the Grizzlies, 121-116, to set up a Round 1 playoff series against the Rockets; the Magic blew out the Hawks, 120-95, to earn a date with the defending champion Celtics.

🥇 LA 2028 venues: Dodger Stadium (baseball), the Universal Studios lot (squash) and Venice Beach (triathlon) are among the new sites in the organizing committee’s updated venue plan for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

🏒 One spot left: The Wild and Blues both clinched playoff berths with wins on Tuesday, leaving the Canadiens (89 points) and Blue Jackets (87) fighting for the 16th and final spot.

🏀 Harrison breaks silence: Mavericks GM Nico Harrison spoke with media for the first time since the immediate aftermath of the Luka Dončić trade, saying he has “no regrets.”

⚾️ Dad strength: Alex Bregman powered Boston’s win over the Rays with two home runs and a career-high five hits — MLB’s first five-hit game this season — before heading out on paternity leave as his wife prepares to give birth to their second child today.

⚽️ Soccer’s Cinderella: The Burrito Boys

El Farolito celebrates after their second-round win. (Doug Zimmerman/ISI Photos/Getty Images for USSF)

39 of the 40 remaining contenders for the U.S. Open Cup title are professional teams. Then there’s El Farolito SC, aka the “Burrito Boys,” still carrying the flag for the nation’s amateur clubs.

Cinderella story: Like so many other darlings of the 111-year-old tournament that comprises all levels of U.S. soccer, El Farolito is an amateur side named after (and started by) a business. Specifically, a San Francisco taqueria with perhaps the best burrito in the city.

The reigning champions of the fourth-tier National Premier Soccer League, El Farolito are the last amateur club standing in the U.S. Open Cup for the second straight year — an honor that comes with a $50,000 prize.
And it’s not as if they swatted aside other amateur teams to get here: They beat two professional clubs, including a chaotic second-round comeback win over Monterey Bay, one of the top teams in the USL Championship (one level below MLS).

The rise of El Farolito: In 1983, a Mexican immigrant named Salvador “Don Chava” Lopez opened El Farolito bar in San Francisco’s Mission District, and soon began slinging “the most life-changing burrito in America” at its taqueria next door.

Two years later, the soccer-obsessed Lopez started a team that attracted many of the area’s best players. It helped that his bar, situated in the heart of the city’s latino community, was already a popular haunt for other soccer lovers.
El Farolito was a dominant force for three decades in the Bay Area-based SFSFL before joining the NPSL in 2018. This year is already their fourth USOC appearance since that move. Salvador passed away in 2021 but his son, Santiago, carries on his legacy as head coach.

What they’re saying: “I’m so happy and proud to be a part of this,” said star forward Dembor Benson. “It’s not easy to get on a bus and travel all those hours to win a game against pro players. It’s been nothing but joy since this team opened its doors to me.”

The first location of El Farolito in San Francisco (El Farolito)

Party like it’s 1993? The Burrito Boys are one win away from advancing farther than they have in any year since 1993, when they won the whole tournament. Of course, the U.S. Open Cup — and soccer in America — was much different back then, as U.S. Soccer notes:

Tilt your head back and you’ll see, up above the liquor bottles, a trophy in the shape of a soccer ball. It’s the 1993 Open Cup, won by El Farolito in the days before MLS’ flash and massive growth and after the old NASL and its own flash and massive growth (and eventual collapse).

This was a time, before the hosting of the 1994 World Cup, when the game in this country was sustained by ethnic clubs headquartered in bars, just like this one, or social clubs. Gathering after the game to share a drink and some food was as important as the result – more so in lean times.

A shifting landscape: El Farolito’s path to the 1993 USOC title included wins over fellow ethnic superpowers like the Milwaukee Bavarians and the United German-Hungarians of Pennsylvania, who they beat 5-0 in the final. Two years later, pro teams rejoined the USOC after a long hiatus and every champion this century has come from MLS.

The 1993 U.S. Open Cup trophy on display in the original El Farolito Bar. (U.S. Soccer)

Can they do the unthinkable? The Burrito Boys will look to continue their Cinderella run in tonight’s third-round match against USL Championship side Sacramento Republic (10pm ET, CBSSN). You can bet this super fan who made the trek to Utah for their first-round victory will be making the quick trip north to the state capital.

📊 By the numbers

🏀 24-7

That’s Golden State’s record since trading for Jimmy Butler, who helped the Warriors exorcise their play-in demons (0-3 in previous contests) on Tuesday night with a stat-sheet stuffing performance (38 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals). Stephen Curry added 37 points for the Dubs, who could be dangerous if these two keep cooking.

🏒 400 goals

Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews scored his 400th NHL goal in his 628th game, making him the sixth-fastest player* to reach that milestone. Of note: Matthews got there six games faster than Alex Ovechkin, hockey’s new goal-scoring king.

⚽️ 24 straight matches

Barcelona’s 24-match unbeaten streak (dating back to Jan. 4) came to an end on Tuesday with a 3-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarterfinals. The good news for Barça: They entered the second leg with a 4-0 lead, so they still advanced to the semifinals alongside PSG, which held off a furious Aston Villa comeback.

📉 -26.5 wins

No NBA team under-performed their expectations by more this season than the dreadful 76ers (24-28), who won 26.5 fewer games than their preseason over/under wins total projection. On the flip side, no team over-performed more than the Pistons (44-38), who won 18.5 more games than their over/under.

🏁 37 races in 38 weeks

Welcome to the only off weekend all season for the NASCAR Cup Series, which will take a rare break from racing on Easter Sunday. When you count the All-Star Race next month, NASCAR’s top level races 37 times in 38 weeks from the Daytona 500 (Feb. 16) through the championship race at Phoenix (Nov. 2).

*Who’s ahead of Matthews? Wayne Gretzky (436 games), Mike Bossy (506), Mario Lemieux (508), Brett Hull (520) and Jari Kurri (608).

🎓 Piecing together the chaotic future of college sports

The future of college athletics rests over the next few weeks on decisions from a retiring judge, a divided congress and schools that don’t abide by NCAA rules. Buckle up!

From Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger:

A pillared goliath along Constitution Avenue, the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium stands as one of the capital city’s most iconic buildings, roughly a half-mile from the Washington Monument and with a bird’s-eye view of the U.S. Capitol.

The 90-year-old auditorium has hosted some of the nation’s most defining and historic events. This is where dignitaries established NATO in 1949, where President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement and where the 9/11 Commission released its findings.

Last week, the Mellon Auditorium hosted something else: a gathering of university presidents, college athletic directors, coaches and congressional staff members as part of the latest lobbying effort from the power conferences for a federal college sports bill.

Within this gaudy setting, around the fully stocked bar and among the distributed hors d’oeuvres, some of the most powerful people in college sports shared with one another an exasperated message: ‘What the hell do we do now?’

State of play: As an industry, college sports is barreling into its most pivotal moment in decades. Will the House settlement be approved? Will Congress pass federal legislation? Will the football transfer portal be a free-for-all? Three things to watch over the coming days and weeks:

The Settlement: The $2.8 billion House vs. NCAA settlement is now before U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken for a final decision. Attorneys filed a brief on Monday that notably did not include changes urged by Wilken regarding team roster limits. If approved, schools can start directly paying athletes on July 1 under a quasi-salary cap (~$20.5 million in Year 1).
The Senate: Five U.S senators have met several times over the past six weeks about drafting a federal bill to regulate college sports compensation. It’s a bipartisan coalition, with Republicans Ted Cruz (Texas) and Jerry Moran (Kansas) joined by Democrats Cory Booker (New Jersey), Chris Coons (Delaware) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut).
The Portal: The settlement delay has paved the way for a potential spending spree in football once the 10-day portal opens today. Without an approval, another uncapped portal cycle could mean $50+ million being spent on transfers as schools race to frontload* deals.

*Frontload is a term to describe universities designing booster-backed NIL deals in a way that distributes a majority of the compensation to athletes before they become subject to the new Deloitte-run clearinghouse on July 1.

📚 Good reads

⚾️ Jake Mintz: Jackie Robinson Day is pure celebration — and that’s the problem

If MLB wants to honor Jackie, it must do more than have its players wear No. 42. It needs to carry the full weight of Robinson’s legacy — not just his number — on its back.

🥊 Ben Fowlkes: 40 years later: How Hagler-Hearns heralded a new age of boxing with an all-time classic fight

Later it would go down as the greatest eight minutes in boxing history. But in the months leading up to that historic night 40 years ago, there were serious doubts that Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns would ever take place. And what a shame that would have been.

🏀 Dan Devine: 2025 NBA Awards Ballot

For the sixth time, the NBA league office has given me an official ballot for year-end awards. Here’s how I decided to use it.

📺 Watchlist: Play-in games

The NBA play-in tournament continues tonight with Heat at Bulls* (7:30pm ET, ESPN) and Mavericks at Kings (10pm, ESPN).‌

What’s at stake: The losers go home. The winners move on to Friday’s play-in finale, where they’ll face the losers of Tuesday’s games (Hawks and Grizzlies) for their conference’s No. 8 seeds.

More to watch:

⚽️ Champions League: Inter (2-1) at Bayern (3pm, Paramount+); Real Madrid (0-3) at Arsenal (3pm, Paramount+) … Quarterfinal, second leg.
🏒 NHL: Red Wings at Devils (7:30pm, TNT); Golden Knights at Canucks (10pm, TNT) … Regular season ends Thursday.
⚾️ MLB: Mariners at Reds (6:40pm, FS1); Royals at Yankees (7:05pm, Prime)
⚽️ U.S. Open Cup: Third round (7-10:30pm, Paramount+) … Eight games.

*Déjà vu: This is the third straight year the Heat and Bulls are meeting in a win-or-go-home play-in game. Miami came out on top in each of the last two.

🏒 NHL trivia

The defending champs won their first Stanley Cup last year. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in just three short days.

Question: Which three teams have won three Stanley Cups this century?

Hint: Two went back-to-back.

Answer at the bottom.

📬 Mailbag: Moments of the century

What are the top 10 sports moments of the 21st century? Luke and his dad got my brain churning and now I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ll share my Top 10 list tomorrow, but I’d love to get your take, too.

Email me: Shoot me a note ([email protected]) with the 21st century sports moment(s) that would top your Top 10 list. If you have any particularly good stories involving those moments (perhaps you were in attendance that day?), please share them!

Trivia answer: Lightning (2004, 2020, 2021), Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017), Blackhawks (2010, 2013, 2015)

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#Yahoo #Sports #Burrito #Boys #Farolito #soccers #Cinderella

Yahoo Sports AM: The Burrito Boys, El Farolito SC, are soccer’s Cinderella