Friday, March 19, 2021

THE YEARS BIGGEST SPORTS WEEKEND

 Whatever sport you into, there's probably something on TV this weekend for you, with the possible exception of tennis.

**Baseball - Granted it's only spring training games, but by this time, all the minor leaguers who have little chance of making opening day have been sent down, so the best players will be on the field. There are 14 on the schedule all three days. 42 games is probably too many for me these days, I can't drink that much beer any more. They're televised on each teams network.

**NASCAR - There are three races scheduled this weekend - two on Saturday and one on Sunday, all at Atlanta Motor Speedway on FS1.

**The NBA - There are 25 games scheduled for this weekend. I will not watch any of them. 

**College Basketball - Unless your cave doesn't have cable, you know this is the start of March Madness. Actually, it started the last two nights with 4 NIT games and 4 NCAA games. The NCAA games were the First Four Games or what they used to call, The Play-in games. Eight teams that didn't make it into the 64-team field, but were deemed "kinda good," 

 they got a second chance. Not the best endorsement for your program, but at least it's not the NIT. I heard that most coaches actually asked the team if they wanted to play in the NIT. Some teams (Duke, for one) said no. Still, they were worth watching. Three of the six on last night were one point games. The only blowout was the NC State/Davidson games which was really over with 10 minutes left in the 2nd half. 

The NIT has two games today and two games on Saturday. The final games are next weekend.

The NCAA Tourney has 28 games scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The games start at noon today and probably won't end till about midnight, with the same schedule on Saturday. There could be as many as five games on at the same time. I love college basketball and there is only one thing I won't like about the next two days: I don't know how many times I'm gonna hear all those cute phrases and trite comments we've got to suffer through until Sunday morning. 

"You have to know where so-and-so is every minute." There's only ten guys on the court and you came with four of them, how hard is it to find five guys, especially with different uniforms.

"He's good off the bounce." I assume they mean the ball.

""He can score from anywhere." On the court, on campus, in the back seat...I mean anywhere.

There are more and you'll know them all by Saturday night.

One thing I have noticed. The coaches all wear masks but a lot of them pull them down when arguing with the ref or berating their players. 

**Women's GymnasticsThere championship tournament is on Saturday. Two 2-hour events involving 4 teams in each event. Total score wins. The players are given scores based on the quality of their performance, so it's all kind of subjective except for when they fall, but they don't do this very often. It is televised so there is one problem. Four teams and four different exercises all going on at the same time, so you get a split screen with four events at once. It's hard to watch. I tried to tape it one year, but Spectrum TV called me and said "Are you crazy? If you want to tape all four exercises, you need three more TVs."

At any rate, this should fill up your weekend. 

One sad note: One of my favorite fighters - maybe my all-time favorite - Marvelous Marvin Hagler died this week from an undisclosed illness. He was 66. He was a true champion, ducked no one and gave his all every time out. His championship bout against Tommy 'The Hitman'  Hearns may have been the best fight ever and certainly the best I ever saw.

***THEY SAID IT***

"A brawl reportedly broke out at a New Hampshire retirement centre during a bingo game. It looked like a hockey fight, except with more teeth."  -- RJ Currie

"The Mets and Yankees will be allowed to start the season at 20% capacity. Presume they’ll make up for it with concessions. So will beers at Yankee Stadium be offered on a low-interest payment plan?"  -- Janice Hough

"The Mariners produced four straight ties in spring-training games March 3-6 — 8-8 against the Cubs, 9-9 against the Rockies, 2-2 against the White Sox and 1-1 against the A’s.And just in case baseball’s rulesmakers go getting any more bright ideas, M’s players are suddenly practicing penalty kicks."  -- Dwight Perry

"Ravens coach John Harbough paid the entire $2200 plus restaurant bill during a Baltimore charity event. So he covered the spread."  -- Jamison Hensley

"Dish Network and Draft Kings  just struck a deal that will allow fans to place bets on sporting events from their televisions during the games. Okay, we're going to need another $1.9 trillion bailout very soon."  -- Brad Dickson

"When we all have a couple days to guess at teams we’ve never watched play and cannot name a single player on, but we’re about to get passionately involved in their winning and losing."  -- Janice Hough

 "After Texas punched its ticket (ugh!) to the NCAA Tournament by defeating Oklahoma State, Texas guard Matt Coleman III, into an ESPN microphone, declared, “This is what I came to school for!” The colleges continue to serve as false fronts for basketball programs. In other businesses, that’s called racketeering. It’s a felony."  -- Phil Mushnick

"A Husker school record was just set in the men's 60-meter dash. The record was set by coach Bill Moos trying to get away from reporters asking why he's afraid to play Oklahoma."  -- Brad Dickson

 "Top-seeded basketball teams have to avoid COVID-19 as well as upsets in this year’s NCAA tournament. It gives new meaning to ‘survive and advance."  -- Bob Molinaro

Chad Picasner

 

 




Friday, March 12, 2021

AHH, SPORTS, SPORTS AND MORE SPORTS

Sports on TV makes retirement wonderful again.

**On an off-day workout, the Mets practiced their "We-won-the-World-Series" celebration. They have this event where they try to make 27 outs without making an error. When they accomplished it, they all ran to the center of the diamond and celebrated. Sounds crazy, but not unheard of. During the 1982-1983 college basketball season, NC State coach, Jim Valvano had his team practice cutting down the nets on a regular basis at the end of a workout. Valvano claimed it instilled a championship mind set in his players. Think that was silly? That team won the National Championship as one of college basketball's all-time Cinderella teams and the net-cutting was perfect. 

**It appears that Syracuse University's chances of making the NCAA Tournament are pretty slim. They lost a heart breaker to Virginia yesterday on a last-second three point shot by a Cavalier who hadn't scored the whole game.  Buddy Boeheim continues to amaze with his long distance accuracy. He was 11-20 from the three-point line in two games in the ACC Tournament, a shocking 55%. I hope SU gets into some kind of post-season tournament. He is fun to watch.

**Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, also called March Madness or The Big Dance, I think I enjoy this event more than the World Series or the Super Bowl, for a number of reasons.  First, the matchups are very even. In what other sport can a team from say, Gonzaga University (approx 7500 students) compete successfully against an Ohio State University (approx 61,000 students). Ohio State may have 53,000 more students but they can only put five of them on the floor at once. Secondly, every game is one-and-done, so the players go all out and it seems every game is a nail biter. Before the pandemic, there would be two sets of cheerleaders, both crying at the end, one because they won, one because they lost. It's indicative of how emotionally involved both teams are. Third, even if you've never heard of a school before, it's difficult to not root for one or the other because of the obvious efforts the players give. Lastly, there is always a "Cinderella team," a team that has no business lasting more than one round, that you really enjoy watching and rooting for them...unless they're playing your team. Of course, there are the multitude of basketball brackets run by friends, co-workers or your neighborhood tavern, where you can make your picks based on careful research and information, or you can go by team colors or mascots.

**Speaking of which, Annie-O and I have had our own two-person bracket for years and I, the Expert, have yet to beat her. And no buzzer-beater is involved. I'm usually out of it before we get to the Elite Eight. That's when I hear that dreaded phrase, "But that's good for you, Honey." This year it's going to be different: I'm going to cheat.

**MLB is going to institute a number of experimental rule changes in the minor leagues this year, some good, some not so good and some idiotic.

1) Infielders must all have two feet on the infield dirt. Not a bad idea as it will cut down the extreme shifts somewhat.

2) A 15-second pitch clock. Okay, but maybe a little too extreme. This will take some watching.

3) Pitchers must step off the rubber before attempting a pick-off. I like this one because it will stop all the left-handers who have gradually eased their moves to the point that 95% of them are actually balks. This will increase the number of stolen bases against lefties which will add to the excitement of the game and increase the value of the player that has speed as a bit part of his game. 

4) Increase the size of the bases by three inches. This is the idiotic one. This is as bad as the three inch glove extensions they allow players to wear. They should dump both of these things. Now!

**Sunday is Selection Day for the NCAA Tournament. Sunday night is whining day for those teams that didn't make it. Next week, I'll write about the teams, the team mascots and the  matchups. So Monday will be Sarcasm Day for Chad.

***THEY SAID IT***

"Replay struck, as three reviews, all lengthy, were enacted during the final minute.  One was for a baseline possession that was reviewed at least five times before it was decided by a group shrug."  -- Phil Mushnick

"The Minnesota Vikings are turning their practice facility into a community COVID-vaccination site. Hardcore fans are demanding to take their shots downfield."  -- Dwight Perry

"The NCAA says March Madness Tournament basketball teams will need a minimum of FIVE healthy players on their roster. Uh, so if does this mean if someone fouls out do teams play four on five like they did in youth leagues sometimes?"  -- Janice Hough

" A study of beer drinking among MLB fans found Blue Jays patrons lead the majors in one category: starting to drink before the opening pitch. Another joke that just wrote itself."  -- RJ Currie  

"Players hate going to the NBA All-Star Game — as they should — and get upset when they’re not invited.”  -- Nick Canepa

 "Any NBA player who complains that a teammate was snubbed  in the All-Star selection process must name the player he'd remove from the team."  -- Bob Molinaro

"Los Angeles, for example, could sell 11,200 seats to Dodger Stadium at 20% capacity. So all Dodger game crowds will look like game crowds in the first or last three innings."  -- Janice Hough

"Earlier on Fox, the last minutes of Wisconsin-Iowa, a close one, took the time it takes to cook a 15-pound turkey."  -- Phil Mushnick

"Archaeologists working north of Pompeii have uncovered a ceremonial chariot — leaving scientists amazed at the stellar condition of the iron elements, bronze decorations and mineralized wooden remains.Not to mention the NASCAR sticker on the rear bumper."  -- Dwight Perry

Chad Picasner