A Haircut, Basketball, A New Book, the NFL, a Big Bang, and Other Topics

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box......

• Well, the BIG NEWS out of Spring Training arrived via social media at Noon today: Andrew McCutchen cut he dreads!!! He looks good:

• Is there a more fun sports weekend than the opening weekend of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament?  We spent all of Thursday watching games deep into the night.  On Friday I met up with friends Fred, John, and Len and others at the Tilted Kilt and watched games all afternoon.  Lots of TV time on Saturday and Sunday watching the field of 64 being winnowed to 16.  I do regret not having had the foresight to get tickets for the Opening Round games that were held at the Consol.  I have great memories of seeing those same games at the Arena in 1997 and 2002.
• On the downside, watching all those games means seeing commercials - the same commercials - time after time.  We can argue all day as to which are the best and which are the worst ones.    My own nominations....Best - The AT&T commercials with Shaquille O'Neal, Clyde Drexler, Julius Irving, and Christian Laettner.  The Worst (and no other is even close) - The trailer for that movie with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart, a movie that shows promise of being one of the worst movies scheduled for release in 2015.
• I was dubious when the NCAA announced a few years ago that all opening round games would be telecast on CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV, but it has turned out to be utterly fantastic.  The way they show the scores of other games, and the network on which it is being televised, thus enabling you to switch to another game, is the most viewer friendly thing on television.
• That said, isn't it amazing how four games being played simultaneously can all manage to be in a commercial break at the same time?
• As great as watching all these games is, I have to say that the endless cycle of foul-time out-free throw-time out-foul and on and on is extremely tedious.  I know that it has become an intricate part of the strategy of the college game, but surely there has to be a better way.
• A special shout out to my SABR and Facebook Friend Susan Petrone of Cleveland.  On Tuesday, her novel, "Throw Like a Woman" was officially released.  I have already downloaded it on my Kindle, and it will be the next book that I read.  Good luck, Susan!

• I know that we are very late to this particular party, but Marilyn and I, throughout he magic of syndication and reruns, have become completely hooked on "The Big Bang Theory".  We are far from caught up on all of the adventures of Sheldon, Leonard, Penny and the rest of the gang, but there is seldom an episode that we watch where we have not laughed out loud throughout the show.  Truly one of the funniest sitcoms ever.

• Did you notice that NFL has announced that one of the games that will be played in London next season, between Buffalo and Jacksonville, will start at 9:30 eastern time and will not be broadcast in network television.  Instead, it will be streamed over some yet-to-be announced Internet streaming service.  This is the first shot across the bow, folks. If the money is there from some Internet giant like Netflicks, Google, or Amazon, and it will be, be prepared for one day seeing the Super Bowl through your computer, telephone, or Apple Watch.
• Speaking of SABR, the Pittsburgh Chapter's next meeting will be on April 25, and I have already put together a presentation for that meeting.  It's been a while since I have done a presentation, and I am looking forward to it.  Makes you want to show up, doesn't it?