JUST BIDING MY TIME

It's still too early to comment about the teams since these spring training games are only mildly interesting for about 4 innings. After that, you're looking at a lot of players who probably won't make it to the majors for at least two years, if then. A-Rod's hitting pretty good, so is Beltran, but you can't pay too much attention to that since they're not really facing major league pitching.
In the meantime, we'll look at some of the other things happening in sports.

Cleveland Cavs
There seems to be a lot of talk about a lack of team chemistry here. The biggest question mark centers around Kevin Love. Does he get along with King James or not? Does he want to be in Cleveland at all? LeBron seems to be trying to keep it all together, but his celebrity status may be getting in the way, no matter how hard he tries to keep that from happening. One or two great players will not carry a team to a championship. You need that chemistry and it doesn't look good for the Cavs.
In the meantime, Steph Curry and the boys keep rolling.

Who wants to interview Gregg Popovich?
This may be the toughest job in broadcasting. Poppy won't deal with all the "fluff" questions ("Your team is down 12 points. What do you attribute to that?"  Popovich: "They scored more points.") A couple of days ago, I saw this. "Coach, you have a reputation for being a good coach. It's a pleasure to watch you work. Your team really responds..." "Yeah, yeah. Is there a question here? I've got a job to do."
Then, he left. Those interviewers better do their homework.
It reminds me of an interview with Bobby Knight I once saw. The reporter asked a question and Knight started to answer, then stopped. "What a ridiculous question," he said. "You're better than that. I know you. You're pretty smart. Try again." The reporter asked an entirely different question. "Now that's better," said Knight. "I knew you could do it. That's an intelligent, well-thought out question. Very good."
Then, he left. 

Good old ESPN
Once again, they pre-empted one of my favorite shows - The Sports Reporters - to air a special on some "breaking news." Peyton Manning has - are you sitting down? - retired. Why does that need an hour-long special? He doesn't even officially retire until Monday. Why do we have to relive his life complete with interviews with people we never head of? Didn't they learn anything from "The Decision?" Of course, they will eventually return to having pretty girls in sexy clothes laughing and flirting with their male counterparts. The real shame is that these ladies seem to know what they're talking about. This is serious business people. Treat these ladies with respect.    

Even worse when you pair ESPN with MLB
Unless you live in any major metropolitan area and regularly go to baseball games, you probably don't realize how badly these fans are treated by MLB. Read this article by Phil Mushnick of the NY Post:
 http://nypost.com/2016/03/06/no-saturday-1-p-m-mets-games-just-the-latest-mlb-money-grab/
And they wonder why attendance is dropping.

This could be the year of upsets. 
There isn't a college team that appears totally dominant this year. None of the major teams has less than 4 losses. There are going to be second seeded teams in the NCAA Tourny with 6 or even 7 losses. I was going to comment on how Syracuse might not get in because they will end up with 11 losses, but they won't be alone. We may even have teams with losing records in the tournament. Joe Lunardi, the Bracket King, has a nice head of hair right now, but lets see how he looks at the end of the week.

I pledge allegiance... 
I read that the Yanks Aroldis Chapman is applying to become a U.S. citizen. A citizen? This guy throws 105 miles an hour. We're not even be sure he's human yet.

The name game.
The Savannah Bananas. It turns out it's a baseball team. I thought it was the staff of a hotel I once stayed in Savannah.

***THEY SAID IT***
"In New Mexico, there is now a donkey baseball league. “Yeah, kid, we’re, uh, sending you down.” “To Class A?” “No. Uh, you ever ridden a mule?”  In a sign of the times, three donkeys tested positive for PEDs."  -- Brad Dickson

"Peyton Manning, in a speech last night at the Florida Forum “Many of you have probably heard that I have a significant announcement to make, so I thought I’d go ahead and make it with all of you here tonight. Papa John’s is offering 50 percent off tonight through Friday.”
Someday Manning may have the only funeral where they hand out pizza coupons."  -- Janice Hough
" Jason Day phoned Tiger Woods for advice on backing up a physical game with mental toughness. Not discussed: backing up an SUV."  -- RJ Currie

"Warriors guard Klay Thompson and two teammates, taking advantage of their road stop in Orlando, visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. Apparently they wanted to see the new Steph Curry exhibit."  -- Dwight Perry

" 54 years ago, Wilt Chamberlain seemingly scored at will. He also tallied 100 points in an NBA game.”  -- Fark.com

"Kobe Bryant had his dislocated middle finger popped back into place. Thank goodness. Without use of his middle finger, Kobe was totally unable to communicate with teammates during practice."  -- Brad Dickson
"On Steph Curry’s NBA wizardry: “He’s Picasso and everyone else is painting-by-numbers.”  -- Norman Chad
"Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA president: “Infantino immediately thanked all of the voters who’d accepted his bribes. Oh, I’m just kidding! Probably.”  -- Greg Cote
"About two dozen prisoners ran 105 laps inside the penitentiary walls at this year’s annual San Quentin Marathon.Though progressive inmates are reportedly pushing to replace it with a pole-vault competition."  -- Dwight Perry
"Last weekend at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Bud Crawford knocked down and then TKO’d “Hammerin’ ” Hank Lundy, who is now answering to “Topplin’ Hank Lundy.”  -- Brad Dickson
"Pablo Sandoval told reporters he reported to spring training with a fat ratio of 17 per cent. But enough about the man’s head."  -- RJ Currie
"The downside of MLB limiting mound visits to 30 seconds this season: “How will players be able to decide on good wedding gifts?”  -- Janice Hough  [Recalling the movie "Bull Durham"]

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